Ascension

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An Excerpt From: ASCENSION

Copyright © LAUREN DANE, 2007

All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc.

Kari awoke, feeling like she was wrapped in cotton. Her eyes opened to find she wasn´t in the hospital. Confused, she looked around and saw that she was in a large room with wood-paneled walls. Light shafted over the blankets on the bed. A real bed, not a hospital bed. Flowers burst from vases on every conceivable surface, filling her view with a riot of color. Beneath the sweet scent of the wildflowers there was the clean smell of beeswax on the furniture. More distant, fresh air and the crisp scent of pine trees and verdant moss. Faintly, she heard water lapping against a shoreline of some sort.

She continued to study the room until her eyes focused on Dr. Kennedy, who sat on a nearby chair reading a mystery novel.

"Dr. Kennedy? What´s going on? Where am I?"

Looking up, Dr. Kennedy placed her book aside and stood with a smile. "Kari, you´re awake. Good." Getting up, she quickly checked Kari over and stepped back, apparently satisfied with the results.

"Where am I?" Kari repeated.

Dr. Kennedy smiled and took a deep breath. "Well, Alice, you just fell down the proverbial rabbit hole. I´ll start simple. You´re at Star Lake Lodge. It´s up in the Northern Cascades about an hour north of Leavenworth. You´ll be here for a while."

"What? Why?" Alarm began to creep through her system.

"Well, the why is pretty complicated and I´m not the one to tell you everything. Your life changed that night in the alley, Kari. It wasn´t a dog that attacked you. It was a wolf. A werewolf."

"A what?" Kari laughed. "Am I on drugs? My head injury is worse than I thought because I swear I heard you say I was attacked by a werewolf."

"No, you aren´t on drugs and your head is fine. And yes, you heard correctly. You were attacked by a werewolf."

She sat up and winced, a bit dizzy. "So you´re the one on drugs then? There are no such things as werewolves."

"Ah, but there are, beautiful."

Kari turned in the direction of that deep voice and found herself looking up into the face of the most breathtakingly handsome and masculine man she´d ever laid eyes on. He was easily six-and-a-half feet tall, broad-shouldered. Thick, muscular arms and thighs and a long lean stomach were obvious markers of his strength. He had large hands with beautifully long fingers. Wheat-blond hair brushed his shoulders, loose, holding a slight wave through the thick silk that made her fingers clench with the desire to touch it. Eyes the gold-brown of whiskey took her in. Lips, full and ripe for kissing, held a natural smile. His voice flowed over her like water over a river stone, smooth and deep. The man was a complete package of devastating attractiveness. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Kari felt her body respond to him.

"Kari, I´m Andreas Phinney. Welcome to my home." Reaching out, he took her hand in his and electricity flowed back and forth between them, bringing a gasp from her lips. Smiling in a cocky, self-assured way, he planted a kiss on her palm.

"Why am I here and when can I go home?" A bit breathless, Kari pulled her hand out of his grasp.

Andreas sat down on the bed next to her. The heat rising from his skin in waves enveloped her, dizzying her. "Kari, the next few days are going to be hard for you but please believe that I will do everything I can to make them easier. Not just me but everyone here. Before we get to any long explanations, let´s get some food into you. Are you hungry?"

Annoyed, she waved her hand at him. "What? No, I´m not hungry. I want to know what the hell is going on here!" Well, she was hungry actually, but fear was overtaking hunger pretty well right then.

Andreas sighed and looked at Dr. Kennedy. "Elaine, can you please go and ask Anna to prepare a tray for Kari and bring it up? She and I are going to talk a bit."

As Dr. Kennedy left, Kari backed up against the headboard, scanning the room, looking for something to use as a weapon.

"You don´t have to fear me, Kari. Not ever. I would never hurt you." Andreas´ voice was soothing.

"Yeah, well, forgive me for not believing that. I don´t know you. I´m in your house. And no one seems to want to tell me anything other than some farcical nonsense about werewolves."

"All right. From the beginning, the unabridged version. I´m a werewolf. The leader of the Cherchez Clan. My father and grandfather before him held the position I hold now. You were marked by a werewolf in that alley on Saturday. Michael-the wolf who changed you-got a bit excited and lost control. He´s very sorry and will continue to be until you are well enough to decide on his punishment. You weren´t supposed to be marked for another few months so that we could ease your transition."

Mouth open in shock, Kari sat there speechless. He seemed so normal. Hell, Dr. Kennedy seemed normal too. Just went to show how people could be totally lucid and yet completely batshit crazy at the same time.