Illusion (Shifters Forever More Book 4)

by Elle Thorne

  “Is there anything you didn’t think of?”

  “Couldn’t have done it without input from Doc—trained at the best medical school on the West Coast, Mac—who is a vet, and a schematic of the lab you left behind in Notre Dame.”

  “Do I even want to ask how you got a hold of that?”

  Griz flashed a lopsided grin. “Speak of the devil.”

  Doc appeared from behind Griz. “Sorry. Was running late. Had to assist with a delivery.”

  “Circe?” Allegra asked.

  “No. Not her. Not so far. A shifter out of town. Not one of our Bear Canyon Valley citizens. Yet.”

  Griz raised the brow on the unscarred side of his face. “Something I should know about?”

  “In due time,” Doc said. “But for now, let’s talk about this!” With a sweeping wave he indicated the laboratory. “You like?” he asked Meri.

  “Ohsoverymuch!” Her words ran together in her haste to discuss this with another person who’d been trained in medical science.

  “Oh, one more thing, before we discuss all the wonderful projects we can get into here at the lab, Meredith.” He turned to Griz. “Flix sent message. They had funeral services for one missing Dr, Meredith Morales—”

  Meri gasped. “What?”

  Doc put a hand on her shoulder. “Your father took part in the charade, just as he and Griz designed. Flix called to report on the whole thing. Said he couldn’t get a hold of Griz.”

  Griz raised his phone. “No signal in here.”

  “I figured as much,” Doc continued. “So, Flix said that thanks to George Morales putting on a good show of grieving, and a body that was procured through means we won’t discuss now, and a death certificate signed by a coroner who owed a favor”—Doc snapped his fingers—“voila, Dr. Meredith Morales is very much deceased and buried after being properly mourned.”

  “So no one is looking for me?”

  “Not anymore,” Griz affirmed. “Though they are still looking for Dunnigan Youngblood.”

  “Whoever they are,” she muttered.

  “There is more than one set of they,” Griz said. “So, we’ll have to make sure we keep our guard up and somehow find a way to prove that Dunnigan Youngblood is no more. It will take a lot more effort to make him disappear.”

  Dunn took a bow.

  Meri slapped his bicep gently. “This is not a joke.” She couldn’t bear the idea of not having him around. Couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. She turned to Doc. “So…projects?”

  “Well, I know you have curiosity about the particular genetics and cytology, at the very least, when it comes to shifters,” he said. She acknowledged with a nod. “And I need help in determining an antivenin for the fatal venom delivered during dragonstrike.” He headed to a whiteboard and to take notes. “Dragonstrike is a blow from the tip of a dragon’s tail. It’s what gave Griz his scar.”

  Griz traced it with a fingertip. “Sorcery kept me from dying. We need to find out how to keep others from dying because not everyone has their own troop of witches following them around, saving their lives.”

  Meri thought of something Allegra had mentioned to her. “But if the only dragons that exist are the ones here in Bear Canyon Valley, and they are all your friends, then why would you need that?”

  “The purpose is twofold. First, if,” Allegra said. “What if there are others? Ones that hide like we did. What if those tried to hurt one of us or one of our friends?”

  She understood that. “And second?”

  Allegra’s smile was bittersweet. “Maybe dragons would be hated and feared less if there was a way to stave off death from dragonstrike. Then they’d stop hunting us. Maybe.”

  Meri had seen too much of greed and hatred of late to think anyone would stop just because there was a way to cure dragonstrike, but she was willing to give it a try, if it would help her new family. “I’m on board.” She was itching to get started.

  “Good,” Doc said. “Several of Bear Canyon Valley’s shifters have agreed to provide samples.”

  She frowned. “Do you think the witches will share the science behind the sorcery they used to heal you, Griz? That might come in helpful.”

  Griz nodded. “The only one that is alive still is Allegra’s grandmother. I’m sure she’d help.”

  Allegra’s eyes filled with tears. “We lost my mother long ago.”

  Meri hugged her good friend. “I’m so sorry.” She’d heard Allegra’s story. Her mother vanished. Presumed dead. The not-knowing sucked. It didn’t serve to make her feel any better that her mother was murdered, not in the least, but at least she knew what had happened to hers.

  “Let’s talk about something else.” Allegra put her hand on her baby bump. “There’s too much good happening for us to dwell on the past.”

  Meri could get behind that.

  “There’s one more thing,” Griz said. He’d slipped out, unnoticed and now returned. “Come with me.” He stepped outside the door.

  All followed.

  In the tunnel, a pair of matching cribs of mahogany and curly maple, handcrafted, detailed, meticulously sanded, stained, and finished.

  Griz waved with flourish toward the furniture. “There is a crib, after all. As you suspected. Actually, two cribs. Call this the encore.”

  Dunn put one arm around her, one on her stomach. “Happy?”

  She leaned against his shoulder. “So very.”

  * * *

  Dunn and Meri stood on the porch of the treetop house. They’d been brought here by Salvatore and Matteo, another of the dragon shifters of Bear Canyon Valley. Allegra had wanted to make the trip, to bring Meri, but she couldn’t. Doc had told her she needed to stop the shifting and flying for her baby’s sake as her pregnancy had become higher risk. Dunn wasn’t sure about all the technicalities of it. He was far from a scientist, and even when Meri tried explaining it, he didn’t get it.

  So they’d had Matteo take Allegra’s place.

  Doc had also told Meri he didn’t want her riding on dragons much longer. That this was her last hurrah until after the baby was born. She had pouted, but she’d succumbed. So here they were, enjoying the last time for a good few months until she gave birth.

  “Want to feel her kick?”

  “Hell, yes!” Dunn smiled, tearing his eyes from the glowing sunset. They would be spending the night here, a special night in the place where they’d first consummated their love. Where they’d been joined as a couple.

  He let her place his hand on the spot and the fluttering beneath his hand was strong. “So, are you sure it’s a girl?” He humored her, because how could she know without a sonogram, which she’d refused when Doc offered her the opportunity to have a gender reveal

  “I feel it.” She looked up at him. “Stop patronizing the pregnant woman.” She butted him with her forehead lightly on his jaw then leaned upward to kiss his jaw. “It’s a girl. I’ve decided on the name.”

  She’d asked his advice. And he’d listened to her choices, but ultimately, he wanted her to have the final say. “Oh, yeah? Do tell.”

  “Sabrina, after my mother.”

  That hadn’t been one of the names she’d mentioned before. “I love it. Why the change?”

  “When Allegra said she planned to name her baby—if it was a girl—after her mother, it struck a chord in me. I can’t not. It’s the ultimate tribute to my mother. She told me to hide when she heard the men break the door. She said, “Don’t come out for anything.” And I didn’t. Not even when they were killing her.”

  “I know it’s hard, but imagine this. If you had come out, they’d have killed you, too. That would have broken her heart, witnessing that.” He wished he could take her pain away, and prayed having a baby would give her some peace and purpose.

  Not to mention the new lab she’d been spending almost every waking moment while he’d been working with Griz’s nephews on an ongoing project. A project to find and dismantle an underground research center that had been
performing experiments on shifters. A place Sara Dark, a bear shifter, had escaped from.

  Griz’s nephews Cross, Lance, and Judge were mapping out quadrants and trying to eliminate locations. How an entire research center was kept secret was beyond Dunn, but he’d seen Razorpeak, so he knew it was possible.

  She kept her head on his shoulder, quiet, both of them enjoying the sunset. After a measure of silence, she finally spoke again.

  “Dunn?”

  The tone in her voice worried him. “Yeah?”

  “I don’t really like you being involved in that Crossroads thing.” She turned her face toward him, looking him in the eye, letting him know she meant business. “If they found out you’re…”

  “I’m just doing research. I’m not going anywhere. Griz already told me he doesn’t want me going out on any missions. He doesn’t want me to leave the valley, for that matter. The entrance to one of the tunnels that will be accessed from our cabin is almost complete. He’s putting final touches on the ladder going down, because we’d have to take a baby with us if we were making a quick escape for any reason.”

  She chewed on her lip.

  He took her hand in his. “Sweetheart. I’m not going anywhere.”

  Still she stared at him, her face solemn. “Swear it.”

  “I swear it on…well, shit. On anything. On everything. Okay?”

  The sun’s final rays made her face glow, they lit up her eyes, making it look like the amber flames of a shifter. In his mind, his bear bellowed.

  “Wishful thinking, bud. She’s not, nor will she ever be a shifter.”

  Another roar.

  Yeah, she’s ours, forever.”

  Meri’s lips curved into a smile. “What’s he saying?”

  How connected she was to his bear was eerie. And if it hadn’t been his bear—virtually his other half—Dunn would have been jealous. “He’s glad he’s yours. You’re ours. Hell, you know what I mean.”

  She laughed and leaned closer, her lips close to his ear, her breath warming his cheek. “The feeling is mutual. And it’s forever.”

  Dunn pulled her closer, off her chair and into his lap. Locking lips with hers, he explored her sweetness, all the cinnamon and spice of her.

  Forever. He could get behind that.

  Afterword

  What’s next?

  Passion

  Another book of the Shifters Forever Worlds, a place teeming with shifters!

  * * *

  Please refer to the website for newest releases as we spend time with our Shifters Forever and all the wonderful spin off series!

  ElleThorne.com

  Thank you for reading!

  The Shifters Forever Worlds

  SHIFTERS FOREVER SERIES

  Are you ready for it?

  I have a whole world full of shifters to share with you. I’m listing them here, in the suggested reading order, though I’ve tried to make it so that you can pick up anywhere in the series as we all have probably done that at one point or another.

  Many of these are organized in box sets for savings. Be sure to visit www.ellethorne.com to see which box sets are out!

  * * *

  Where’s the best place to start? Well, probably with Shifters Forever.

  SHIFTERS FOREVER

  Grizzly bear shifters and their mates steam up the pages in these swoon-worthy paranormal romances. From trespassers with hidden agendas to curvaceous women who are ready to take a chance, the stories in this collection will capture your heart.

  •Protection

  •Seduction

  •Persuasion

  •Invitation

  •Temptation

  •Attraction

  * * *

  ALWAYS AFTER DARK

  A spinoff with the white tiger from Shifters Forever: Vax, born Vittorio Tiero. He’s the one that helped Kane out during a shifter battle. Follow the Tiero family, a group of white tiger shifters, as they head to America to find love... and heart-stopping danger. Full of romance, suspense, and gritty drama, this red-hot collection is sure to entertain!

  •Controversy

  •Territory

  •Adversary

  •Sanctuary

  * * *

  NEVER AFTER DARK

  Another spinoff that takes place in Europe. Here we visit cities along the Mediterranean and meet the old school Tiero white tiger shifters who are resistant to change.

  •Forbidden

  •Forsaken

  •Forgotten

  •Foreplay

  * * *

  ONLY AFTER DARK

  Taking place in New Orleans, the Arceneaux shifters, led by Lézare, Vax’s white tiger cousin—on his mother’s side—are sure to capture your hearts. The Arceneaux are the black sheep of the family. Lézare doesn’t cave to public opinion. He dictates policy in the area he rules and he shuns old school European rules and regimes.

  •Desirable

  •Insatiable

  •Combustible

  •Undeniable

  * * *

  MORE ONLY AFTER DARK

  Another spinoff that takes place in New Orleans. The Arceneaux shifters and the Matthieu witches wreak havoc and find love within this city set on the steamy Louisiana coastline.

  •Inevitable

  •Inescapable

  * * *

  BITTER FALLS FOREVER

  This romance features Mae Forester’s nephew Dane Forester, a freewheeling, sexy, successful, movie star who uses every role and every woman to escape and forget the heartbreak he left in Bitter Falls.

  •Unbound

  * * *

  BARELY AFTER DARK

  This series features more of Mae Forester’s nephews! Grizzly bear shifters steam up the pages in these swoon-worthy paranormal romances. From trespassers with hidden agendas to curvaceous women who are ready to take a chance, the stories in this collection will capture your heart.

  •Cross

  •Lance

  •Judge

  * * *

  Ever After Dark

  Get ready to be introduced to the white tigers you learned to love in Always After Dark, Never After Dark, and Only After Dark. See their heritage. Visit Giovanni Tiero and his brothers Federico and Tito. Get reacquainted with Isabel Tiero and meet her sister Capriana Valenti.

  •Stonebound

  •Formidable

  * * *

  Shifters Forever After

  This series follows a group of polar bears in New York. Russian and rumored to be mobbed up, they are a powerhouse of shifters, determining the fate of many on the East Coast. Mikhail Romanoff, Layla’s father, runs this outfit with an iron fist. Layla’s sexy cousin Malachi features prominently in this series.

  •Complication

  •Fascination

  •Motivation

  •Captivation

  •Flirtation

  •Infatuation

  * * *

  Forever After Dark

  A series which takes place in Denver, Colorado. Enter a world of secrets and forbidden love. Panther shifters who who share their worlds with elementals must decide who they can trust—and who they can’t live without.

  •Notorious

  •Scandalous

  •Delicious

  •Perilous

  * * *

  SHIFTERS FOREVER MORE Grizzly bear shifters, dragon shifters, sorceresses, elementals, and all types of other paranormal beings and their mates steam up the pages as the Bear Canyon Valley clan sorts through trespassers with hidden agenda, hidden military compounds, top secret experiments and curvaceous women who are ready to take a chance. The romances in this collection will capture your heart and leave your head spinning!

  •Confusion

  •Decision

  •Possession

  •Illusion

  •Passion

  •Impression

  * * *

  FINALLY AFTER DARK

  Follow a pack of
dire wolves as they encounter Valkyrie and Berserkers and determine the origins of their kind throughout the ages, while discovering their fated mates.

  •Origins

  •Challenge

  • more to follow!

  I do hope you’ll be able to join me on this wonderful journey with our Shifters Forever Worlds Shifters and their mates!

  Hugs, Elle!

  * * *

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