by Selina Woods
On silent paws, seven hunters leaped over the car while two charged around it from the front and the rear. The enforcers, caught completely by surprise, had no guns and could not shift in time. I feared the killing would be noisy with screams of panic and agony, but my rebels had gone straight for their throats.
Only small cries and gurgles reached me as the lions and tigers swiftly killed them, leaving their bleeding bodies on the pavement by the car. Three switched forms to seize the rifles, then all of them melted back out of sight. Here we go. I hissed at Nigel, and though I heard nothing, I knew the signal had been passed along.
A minute or two later, two wolves crossed into the backyard near the kitchen door, in full view of the windows. Tearing into one another with vicious snarls and growls, often rearing back on hind legs to snap at one another’s throats, I waited, tense, expectant.
Sure enough, Barney bolted from the house to stare as Kanata also emerged, striding forward into the yard.
He had a firm grip on Skyler’s arm and dragged her with him.
That wasn’t the plan.
“What the hell are you doing?’ Barney yelled at the wolves. “Get out of here.”
Perhaps Kanata suspected a trap, for his expression tensed, grew tight with his brows furrowed. “Joe,” he called, “Benjy. You guys get over here.”
The wolves broke away from one another, leaping to the side, and circling around behind the three of them. Skyler struggled to escape his hand, her expression terrified, and I had no idea if it was real or feigned. Kanata yelled for his enforcers again just as I, Jonas at my side, emerged from hiding. From all sides, my rebels stalked their prey, ringing around Barney and Kanata.
“Hi, Kanata,” I said cheerfully. “How are ya?”
Barney’s face paled, recognizing not just us, alive and unburned, but also his peril. He turned to run to the house, only to discover the two wolves blocking his path to the door. Kanata, his upper lip sliding back from his teeth, yanked a knife from his belt and rested it against Skyler’s throat.
“Ragnor,” he replied, his grin a grimace. “How nice to see you again.”
He glanced around at the twenty-two shifters and knew now help wasn’t coming. “Tell them to back off, Ragnor,” he ordered as I stepped closer. “Or your lady love is dead.”
“Kill her, and you’re dead,” I informed him lightly. “Let her go and surrender, and you will be banished from New Orleans, alive. All we want is our city out from under your thumb. Your choice, of course.”
“You’d really let me live?” he sneered.
“Once we have control, you’re inconsequential and helpless. Your death accomplishes nothing.”
“But Barney is another matter,” Jonas snarled, his fangs bared as he and Nigel, with two other lions, stalked his former friend. “We execute traitors and spies.”
“No, Jonas, please,” Barney begged, sweating freely, his eyes bugging from his head. “Kanata forced me to do it, I swear. I never wanted this to happen.”
“Shut up, you sniveling coward,” Kanata growled, glaring at him. “You came to me, remember? You wanted a city of your own to rule over, and you needed my help. Stupid bastard.”
Barney made the mistake of shifting and trying to run. Jonas, Nigel, and the others were ready for that, as four wolves and a tiger blocked his escape path. He skidded to a halt and spun to face his attackers; his fangs bared to fight. Jonas charged in, roaring his rage, and struck Barney full on. As much as Jonas wanted the pleasure of killing Barney himself, I couldn’t afford to have him ripped up or even killed.
Thus, Nigel and the others lunged in. Barney stood no chance against four of them. He went down under their combined weight, their fangs and claws shredding his hide, spilling his intestines, slowly killing him as he screamed in agony and terror. At last, they backed from his bloody corpse, their tails lashing, and as one, they turned to stare at Kanata.
He visibly gulped, dread, near panic in his eyes as he flicked his gaze back to me. Skyler stood silent, waiting, the knife at her throat trembling slightly, yet I saw no fear in her expression. In fact, she smiled.
That girl has something plotted.
“Drop the knife and let Skyler go,” I said, my head lowered as I stalked him. “Live and go where you want. Or die as your pal did.”
“You’re lying, Ragnor,” Kanata snapped. “You’ll kill me either way.”
“Then kill her.”
Kanata gaped, shocked, and in that instant, Skyler shifted to her lioness. Small, quick, she twisted in his grip and slashed her claws across his face. In his human form, Kanata could not possibly hang onto a lion, even one as small as Skyler. His blade slipped from his hand as Skyler fought not to escape him but chew her way through his belly muscles.
He shifted to his tiger, snarling, at the same moment I charged in. His heavy paw knocked Skyler aside, but that only got her out of my way. I struck him with all my weight, my fangs ripping into his neck, trying to get at his throat. His claws raked my shoulders and back, while his teeth tried to crush my windpipe.
But I had a protective mane, and he didn’t. I could afford to let him bite and rend without much harm even as I sank my fangs deep into his neck. Kanata knew what I tried to do, and lunged backward, panicked, trying to escape me. I had a firm grip and wasn’t about to let go. Like a terrier, I hung on as he dragged me across the yard, chewing my way down to his jugular.
I struck it. Like a broken dam, his hot blood flooded my mouth. Knowing there was no stopping it, I let him go.
Kanata stumbled away from me, panting, staring at me in horror as his heart pumped his life’s blood down his neck, staining his fur, dripping onto the soil under his paws. “You,” he gasped, taking a step toward me as though still wanting a fight, “oh, shit.”
He collapsed, his jaws agape as gore pooled beneath him, slowly spreading in the grass and dirt. Skyler stood beside me, as did Jonas, Nigel, Gibson, and my rebels, circling around as the tiger who had preyed upon them for the last twenty years bled to death in front of their eyes.
Kanata was dead.
Three days later, after my soldiers had finished cleaning out the rest of Kanata’s enforcers from the city, Jonas called a meeting at The Den. After inviting the unit commanders, as well as Nigel, Gibson, and me, he stood atop his bar and gazed out over the very crowded place. The door stood open to let air in, and Skyler stood behind him, gazing up.
“We are free from Kanata,” Jonas began, lifting his beer bottle high. “Thanks to all of you, and our revered leader, Ragnor, who led us to this victory.”
Yells, cheers, whistles erupted from the shifters within the bar, their drinks raised. “Ragnor, Ragnor, Ragnor!”
I blushed, wishing furiously that Jonas had not done that. “Get on with it,” I grumbled while Nigel, beside me, grinned.
“I called you together,” Jonas went on as the yelling died down. “We now need to elect a council to run this city, as well as form a citizens militia to keep order and prevent another Kanata from muscling his way in. Now I propose that Ragnor be the president of this new government.”
“Now wait—” I began, but before I got further in my protest, Nigel and Gibson both stood up, one to each side of me. I also stood, confused.
“I’m afraid Ragnor cannot be your leader any longer,” Nigel said, gazing around. “While he certainly deserves the position, for there is no one better suited, his destiny lies elsewhere.”
I gaped. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Yeah,” Jonas added. “What are you talking about?”
Nigel pointed to his lightning bolt tattoo. “Gibson and I are part of a secret brotherhood on a quest to find certain lions—four of them, to be exact. Ragnor is the eldest of four brothers, and his mother is waiting for him in Denver.”
Flabbergasted, unable to speak, I stared at the eyes staring at me, unable to form words. Skyler grinned. “I knew you were special, Ragnor.”
“Just who are you, Ragno
r?” Jonas demanded.
“I’m just an orphan,” I protested. “Nobody.”
“While that is not true,” Nigel continued, “we cannot tell you who he is. Nor can we tell him; that is for his mother to do.” He turned to me and dipped his chin in a near bow. “Will you accompany us to Denver, Ragnor?”
“Um, well, I guess so,” I stammered. “But not without Skyler.”
She came out from behind the bar to take my hand, smiling up into my face. “Where you go, Ragnor, I go.”
“Wait a minute,” Jonas snapped, blustering. “Skyler, you can’t just up and leave.”
“Denver is a safe city, Jonas,” Nigel told him. “No harm will come to her.”
Denver. That place that has called to me for all my life. I have to go. I gazed up at Jonas. “I love Skyler, Jonas,” I said quietly. “I want her for my mate. May I have your blessing to have her as my mate, and take her with me?”
He stared at me for a long moment before he finally grinned. “I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have as a son-in-law than you.”
Preferring to have had a quiet, private ceremony to tie the knot with Skyler; that wasn’t to be. We were formally mated in front of my rebel troops and half the citizens of New Orleans in the old stadium. As her father, Jonas officiated and spoke the words that bound Skyler and I together. Nigel insisted we leave for Denver the following day, thus the ceremony was hastily gathered.
Under the yells and cheers of the vast crowd, I blushed and ducked my head while Skyler smiled happily and waved to everyone. We were ushered into a big SUV that Nigel obtained and driven to a fairly decent hotel where wine and food awaited us. “We’ll be back to pick you up at dawn, kids,” Nigel said with a grin as we got out. “Have fun.”
In our room, Skyler gazed around happily, then wrapped her arms around my waist. “We are actually hitched,” she sighed, her chin on my chest. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it.”
I kissed her tenderly, lovingly, feeling my shaft harden in my jeans, I undressed her slowly, with care, her silky skin under my fingers. Her hands lifted my shirt from me, her hand in mine taking me to the bed with her. With a breathy giggle, Skyler fell back upon it, gazing up, her golden eyes wide with love and lust. “I certainly turned you into a creature who loves sex,” I muttered as I bent over her.
“You did. Now tease me until I scream.”
While I didn’t exactly make her scream, she did moan with pleasure as my fingers stroked her to near orgasm before dropping her back down. “I hate you,” she hissed through her teeth, her fingers digging into my shoulders as she pulled me down. “Take me.”
I did. I sank my erection deep into her, kissing her, my tongue toying, dancing with hers as I plunged in and out. I made love to my mate, my beautiful Skyler, her hips moving in a slow, sweet rhythm with mine, feeling her love for me in her hands, her mouth, the way she held me to her as if she would never let me go.
In a stunning crescendo, we climaxed at the same time, my shaft blasting my seed into her womb as her body shuddered under mine, her moans drifting into my ear. I slid my arms under her back as my thrusts slowed, the exquisite pleasure leaving behind a wonderful languor. I kissed her throat, feeling her teeth against my skin.
“I love you so much,” I muttered into her mouth. “I am yours forever.”
Skyler kissed me, her golden eyes gazing into mine. “My Ragnor, my lion, I love you.”
Epilogue
As Nigel drove us into the city of Denver, I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. The place was clean, cleared of rubble and junk cars, those leftovers from the wars, and people strolled openly, without fear, on the streets. Faces smiled, laughed, children played on the sidewalks. Nowhere in evidence was the terror of gangs and enforcers, signs of predators preying upon the weak.
“I think we’ll find your mother in here,” Nigel said, pulling to the curb beside a grocery store.
Trepidation filled me. Ever since I learned I was not truly an orphan and had family who had been searching for me for the last nineteen years, I worried over what she would think. Skyler, sensing my worry, slipped her hand into mine. “It’ll be all right,” she murmured when I glanced at her.
Swallowing hard, I nodded, then got out when Nigel opened the rear door for me. Gibson opened Skyler’s as though we were important people. That made my misgivings even worse. They had kept the secret they were supposed to keep, and I had no idea who my mother was and why she was obviously important.
Entering the store, I glanced around by habit, Skyler’s hand still gripped in mine. There were only a few shoppers wandering around, and a tall woman behind the counter, gazing at us curiously. My mouth dry, I walked slowly toward her, escorted by Nigel and Gibson. Then shock flooded me.
I recognized her from my dream.
A tall lion shifter with gray lining his black hair joined her, both staring as hard at me as I did them. I recognized him, too. What the hell is this? Not knowing what to say, I cleared my throat. “I’m, um, Ragnor. This is Skyler.”
The woman’s eyes were mine in shape and color, as was her mouth, and her red-gold hair had only a few strands of silver. Her lips trembled as she smiled, striding out from behind the counter, the male following her wearing a wide grin. “You answered my call,” she murmured, taking me in her arms. “You finally came.”
I recognized her unique odor. I knew it, had carried it with me from childhood, and never dreamed I’d ever smell it again. My arms crept around her, and I buried my face in her hair. “Mother. I came home. I’m finally home.”
Shifters Escape
(Shifters Hunt)
Book II
Story Description
Shifter Escape: (Shifters Hunt) Book 2
by
Selina Woods
Declan the lion-shifter might be slender in stature, but he’s never backed down from a fight. Orphaned and alone, his greatest weapon is having nothing to lose. Until he meets her. Jae is kind, generous, and everything good in an otherwise brutal world. But by trying to protect her, Declan might have just started a war they have no hope of winning.
Chapter One
Casting a swift glance over my shoulder, I discovered the three thugs still chased me. Putting on more desperate speed, as they would kill me if they caught me, I hurtled over the remains of a motorcycle in the alley littered with trash, rubble, and broken glass. Though I’d hoped to lose them by ducking down between the two dilapidated structures, they stuck on my tail, their snarls of rage clear even with the distance between us.
“Stop, you little prick,” Jonesy yelled at me.
“Like hell,” I hollered back.
This whole shitstorm began when Jonesy and his pals found me on the street and tried to shake me down for my “taxes” owed to the big guy. Growing up in the gutters and shabby apartments, I had no job and survived by stealing food and clothes. Thus, I had no money to pay any taxes. It didn’t help matters that I mouthed off to Jonesy, a big lion shifter, and informed him he could find his money up his ass.
Jonesy, like all the gangsters that enforced the big guy’s laws, didn’t take kindly to being mouthed off to. While I was a lion shifter too, I had nothing compared to the size of the enforcers. But I was fast. I shifted into my lion form and bolted, making them chase me down the sidewalks and past folks who quickly got out of the way.
A fence at the end of the alley threatened to halt my escape. I was small, quick, and also nimble, and that had saved my life more than once. I leaped to the fence, then balanced atop it, swung right, and jumped to the rubble piled against the building. From there, I scrambled higher and cast a quick look down. Jonesy tried to imitate my move, hit the fence, and immediately broke it.
The wood splintered under him, and he fell back, his heavy lion body crashing into his pals. I laughed.
“Eat a salad, fatso,” I called down, then loped higher up the rubble and onto the rooftop.
His roar of rage followed me even as he
scrambled up, snarling; I knew I was still in serious trouble. Once they got their paws back under them, they’d be clawing their way up the piles of broken cement. Galloping across the roof, I soared across the space between it and the next rooftop where I knew there was ductwork I could fit into, but they couldn’t. Hitting the asphalt shingles, I skidded to a stop and glanced back.
Jonesy and his friends had reached the roof and spotted me, racing across. I galloped to the duct’s sheet metal opening, switched back into my small and slender human form, then slid inside. I barely fit, which meant if Jonesy and his friends tried it, they’d get stuck. Before I let myself drop, I grinned and waved.
“Later, boys,” I called in a falsetto.
Just as I slid down the pipe, Jonesy roared, “I’m gonna kill you, Declan!”
The duct led to a T junction where my legs hit, and I could go no further. However, by turning to my left, I could crab walk my way several feet, then drop down into what had once been an office. Broken and splintered desks, chairs, and machinery littered the place, and I shifted once more into my faster lion with heightened senses. Jonesy would be leading his pals through the rooftop door and down the stairs.
They wouldn’t know what floor I was on.
Listening intently, I crept silently to the hallway, looking around for any possible danger, then padded down it to the stairwell. With the door half off its hinges, I had no need to open it. Rough voices echoed from above me, informing me that Jonesy and his friends had begun their search.
“This is no good,” I muttered, retreating from the stairs.
While there were plenty of places to hide in these old buildings, they could easily follow my scent and thus find me, trapped like a rat in a corner. Trotting down the hall, I stuck my head through the broken window and gazed down to the street below. On the seventh floor, it was too far for me to jump, and there was no handy fire escape to climb down.