Shifters Forsaken: Shifter Romance Collection Bks 1-5

by Mia Taylor

  Ryker whipped his head up and glared at them.

  “Do you mind? I’m trying to absorb this.”

  They shrugged and left him to his reading.

  There wasn’t much more to the file and Ryker knew that building their life together was going to be much easier when they were together.

  He closed his eyes, folding the file and pressing it to his chest as if he was trying to learn it through osmosis.

  In a few hours, I’ll see you, Alison Parsons. We did it.

  ~ ~ ~

  She wiped her palms hastily against her jeans and checked her watch again.

  Is the plane delayed? Rui wondered, looking up at the arrival board.

  Everything was on time but her nerves were making her think that it was much later than it was.

  “You’re making me nervous,” the man at her side confessed. “Do you hate flights?”

  Rui looked at him and smiled tightly. For a year she had been in San Francisco and adjusting the best way she could under the circumstances, but being away from Ryker was proving to be the most difficult thing she had ever done in her life. She was wary of strangers even though she found that people in California were much friendlier than they were in Miami.

  “I’m just waiting on my husband,” she replied. “I haven’t seen him in over a year.”

  The stranger’s eyes grew large.

  “He in the service?”

  Rui bit on her lip.

  I’ve already said too much. I’m always doing that.

  It was one of the many reasons she knew she needed Ryker at her side.

  Andrew. His name is Andrew now.

  “Something like that,” Rui mumbled, turning away.

  “Are… are you Dr. Alison Parsons?” the stranger asked. Cold fear washed through her and her instinct was to deny it, but she realized how foolish that would be.

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  His eyes almost popped out of his head.

  “I read your paper on genetic anomalies and I had to Google you! I’m sorry I didn’t recognize your face earlier.”

  “You read that?” Rui asked in disbelief. “Wow… it was published in such an obscure place.”

  The older gentleman laughed and Rui noticed how attractive he was for an older man. There was something elusively familiar about him.

  “I try to read as much as I can on medical advancements,” he said. “I’m—”

  “ALISON!”

  She whirled as Ryker’s voice boomed across the airport and before she could stop herself, she flew toward him, her arms outstretched, the man at her side all but forgotten.

  “Oh, cara mia, I missed you so much!” he breathed in her ear. “Look at you as a blonde. You’re sensational.”

  She couldn’t take her face out of the curve of his neck, deeply inhaling him.

  “Never stay away from me that long again. I was terrified. God, Ry—”

  “Andrew,” he hissed automatically and she squeezed him even harder.

  “This is why I need you here with me. Never leave me again,” she repeated. “I will never forgive you if you do.”

  They barely managed to part but Rui wanted to look at him, memorize his scruffy, unshaven face and kiss his lips warmly.

  “I want to take you right here in the airport,” she murmured. “But I think the customs agents frown upon that.”

  “They do,” he agreed. “But I assume we have a house.”

  She nodded eagerly and tugged on his arm.

  “You don’t have any luggage, do you? I didn’t get to bring anything with me.”

  “Nope. All brand new, a fresh start just like we planned it.”

  Rui paused and studied his face. “Are you okay?” she whispered. “Any regrets?”

  “Just that I wasn’t here sooner.”

  Their eyes locked and Rui might have stayed there forever if the sound of someone clearing their voice didn’t cause them to turn.

  “Please, forgive me for intruding on such a joyous occasion,” the man with whom Rui had been speaking said. “Honestly, I feel like such a jerk, but I just wanted to give you my card, Dr. Parsons. I think you and I could have a lot to talk about on the subject of genetics.”

  He handed a simple, white-backed card to Rui and she accepted it, shooting Ryker a small smile.

  “And you must be the long-lost husband,” he said, smiling at Ryker. “Welcome home. You must be very proud to have such an intelligent wife.”

  “I am,” Ryker replied skeptically but Rui didn’t want to waste another minute on anything but her husband.

  “Thank you. I will give you a call as soon as R-Andrew is settled.”

  “I look forward to hearing from you! And again, please forgive the intrusion.”

  The man turned away and left the couple alone.

  “Who was that?” Ryker asked. “And how does he know my wife is brilliant?”

  Rui chuckled and glanced at the card in her hand.

  “His name is Daniel Wexley,” she replied, grinning. “And everyone knows your wife is brilliant.”

  Ryker whooped and slipped his arm around her waist, nuzzling her neck.

  “Yes,” he agreed. “But no one more than the man she married.”

  Shifters United

  Shifters Forsaken

  Book 5: The Sequel

  By: Mia Taylor

  Prologue

  Deep breaths. Deep, deep breaths.

  It was so much easier said than done. Each time she inhaled, it expanded her lungs in a terrifying way. She wondered if her chest was about to explode under the pressure but Fallon knew she had little choice but to confront what she had done. There was no running from this now.

  Her impulse had, of course, been to flee but she knew that would do no good. Daniel would hunt her down to the ends of the earth. He wouldn’t rest until he knew what had happened to his children but Fallon knew she would sooner die than ever tell him the truth. Which made her decision to return to Ashbridge all that odder.

  She knew why she’d come back—there was nowhere else to go. Logically she knew that even if she wasn’t murdered the second Daniel laid eyes upon her, she still would not be able to stay, but nothing mattered now. Her mind wasn’t clear. She didn’t have a direction now that her ultimate goal had been fulfilled.

  My boys are safe. They will be placed with good homes and live good, full lives.

  She wondered if the constant refrain would make it so but Fallon was no fool.

  Or maybe I am a fool. A big idiot who should have seen everything that happened far before it did. How could I have been so blind, so stupid? Why would I ever believe that someone like Daniel Wexley could love me? I was homeless, poor and futureless. He is Daniel Wexley.

  She reminded herself that his name and attractiveness meant nothing now, not when she knew who he was and what he and his sister were capable of. Still, she knew he was untouchable, even if he was a monster.

  Fallon swallowed the lump of fear in her throat and entered the house. She paused in the foyer, her heart sinking as the reality of the situation sank in.

  There would be no little feet running toward her to greet her with a rush of kisses and hugs. There would be no chorusing of “Mommy!” to meet her ears ever again. The only memories she would have for years to come would be those of her children screaming for her as she left them alone in the rain.

  Fallon shoved the thoughts aside and closed the stained-glass door at her back. She knew if she dwelled on all she had lost, she would never confront Daniel in all his fury.

  The house was eerily silent. She longed to hear something, anything to indicate where her husband was, but there was nothing, just an ominous quiet which only enhanced Fallon’s deep anxiety. Would he be waiting around a corner to shoot her? Would he grab her from behind and cover her mouth so she could not scream?

  She had been gone for five days, and as she moved toward the back of the house, dread overwhelmed her.

  The door had been
unlocked, just as she had left it when she had taken the boys to Louisville, and an insurmountable fear clutched at Fallon’s heart.

  Did I kill him when I knocked him out with that lamp?

  A small whimper escaped her lips and she had to pause and take a breath before continuing forward where she had left Daniel in the study.

  Oh my God… what have I done?

  She stopped outside the ajar study door and inhaled, pushing it open before she could lose her nerve entirely. She fully expected to see a corpse lying at her feet, the remnants of a man she had once loved with every fiber of her soul.

  A long breath whooshed out of her mouth. There was no sign of her husband. In fact, there was no sign of anything that had happened when she had left the house. The lamp was back in its proper place, the blood cleaned.

  Had there been blood? She couldn’t recall.

  But that didn’t ease Fallon’s mind for a second. If anything, her panic magnified a hundredfold and Fallon suddenly knew she’d made a terrible mistake coming back.

  You need to get out of here.

  She couldn’t say why there was a newfound terror in her heart. She’d had no doubt that Daniel was going to kill her anyway but that hadn’t stopped her from returning.

  Perhaps the fuzzy haze that had followed her back had finally lifted and she knew she was not ready to die, not that day or any other in the near future. To die at the hands of someone like Daniel Wexley when she had endured so much already was unbearable.

  She whirled but before she could move one foot, she was staring into a set of cold, emerald eyes, framed by a bright red bob of hair.

  “Hello, Fallon. I knew you’d come back.”

  Her blood formed ice crystals and the brunette stepped back into the office as if to ward off the impending outcome.

  “Daniel didn’t think you would but I knew you couldn’t stay away. I mean, where else were you going to go, right? It’s not like you have any money. Your future is impregnably tied with ours, isn’t it?”

  “What do you want me to say, Beatrice?” Fallon said. She was stunned at how steady she managed to keep her words despite the way her insides quivered. She had never been more fearful in her life but she would not go down in a fit of histrionics.

  Even though they will never know it, I will not falter for my boys.

  “I want you to tell me where you took the boys.”

  Fallon scoffed, again impressed at how hard she managed to sound.

  “That’s not going to happen. I don’t care what you do to me. My children are not going to be used for your sick schemes.”

  “You have no idea what you’re preventing by keeping the children from us,” Beatrice told her, stepping closer. Her voice was softer but her eyes still radiated with malice.

  “They’re gone, Bea. You need to accept that.”

  “No,” Beatrice chuckled. “I won’t. And neither will my brother.”

  They stared at one another, a clash of dark eyes against light. Fallon had never realized until that moment how much Beatrice embodied the devil with her red hair and blazing irises.

  “Then I guess we’re at an impasse, aren’t we?” Beatrice said almost lightly and shrugged. To Fallon’s surprise, she looked away, nodding her chin in a way to indicate that she should leave.

  “You better go, Fallon.” Fallon was certain she had misheard her.

  “What?”

  “Go. Daniel will be home soon and God only knows what he’ll do if he catches you here. You should thank your lucky stars that I found you first.”

  The day I am grateful for anything you’ve done, Beatrice, is the day I tell you where my children are. Neither are bound to happen in this lifetime.

  “Go?” Fallon echoed. “Where would you like me to go?”

  Beatrice peered at her speculatively. “Why did you come back? You had to know what was waiting for you here if you did. Daniel is not simply going to welcome you home when you’ve stolen his children.”

  “They are my children and I don’t care what he does.”

  Understanding lit Beatrice’s face.

  “You were hoping he would just kill you, maybe get himself locked up so that he wouldn’t go looking for the kids?”

  Fallon wondered if she was as transparent as Beatrice made her feel. She hadn’t even realized it was a thought she had entertained but the more she thought about it, the more it made perfect sense.

  “I have nowhere else to go, remember?” Fallon shot back but this time she heard the waver in her voice.

  “He won’t kill you. He’s not stupid. Or if he does, I assure you, he won’t take the fall for it.”

  Fallon waited, knowing that Bea was far from done with her power trip.

  “But there are other ways he can make you suffer, Fallon.”

  She had no doubt in Beatrice’s words.

  “So you should go before he comes back.”

  Fallon stared at her. “Why are you letting me go?”

  “Because we’re women, Fallon. We need to stick together in this man’s world.”

  Fallon didn’t believe one word.

  They didn’t work this hard to create these shifter children just to shrug and let me off the hook.

  “Is that it?” Fallon asked from between clenched teeth.

  “What else?”

  “I could turn you in for child abuse,” Fallon told her and characteristically, Beatrice began to laugh.

  “Child abuse?” she snorted. “Look around you, honey. There is not a judge alive who will believe that. If anything, you’re going to get yourself locked up for parental interference. Nice try, though.”

  Fallon remained rooted in place, her mind racing. She knew there was no conceivable way that Beatrice would simply let her go so easily. There had to be a reason for it.

  Maybe they are going to make my death look like an accident. Maybe that’s why she’s trying to get me out of the house. A piano is going to fall on my head the second I walk out that door.

  “Fallon, I can’t guarantee you protection if Daniel comes back but if you leave now, you might have a shot.”

  “I need money.”

  It pained her to admit it but she had nothing, not when Daniel had maintained full control of her life for so long.

  Beatrice nodded and reached into her purse, withdrawing a stack of bills which Fallon was certain she did not regularly carry around.

  “Fallon, tell me where you took the kids. I will ensure that they aren’t harmed—”

  “You’ve already harmed them enough!” Fallon spat, wrenching the money out of her sister-in-law’s hands. “You’ve screwed with their DNA, making them into monsters!”

  “They are not monsters,” Beatrice grunted. “They harness a power which—”

  “You’ll never get your hands on.”

  Fallon shoved past her and hurried away before Beatrice could change her mind. She didn’t know where she was going but at least she had enough cash to get her as far away from Ashbridge as she could go.

  I’ll go north. Maybe I’ll be able to sneak across the border to Canada somehow.

  She didn’t dare seek out her passport. The Wexleys had friends in high enough places that they would find her if she used any of her ID.

  “Fallon!”

  She paused but she didn’t turn as Beatrice strode toward her.

  “This isn’t over. We will find those boys one way or another.”

  Chills of apprehension shot through Fallon and she suddenly understood why Beatrice was letting her go.

  She thinks I’m going to take her to the boys.

  Fallon rushed away, unwilling to meet Beatrice’s eyes, her heart hammering wildly in her chest.

  I will never lead them to the boys, not in a million years.

  She stifled a sob and burst from the house, choking back her tears.

  When she had left the boys with the sisters in Kentucky, she had clung to the hope that one day she would go back for them, knowing fully well tha
t it was impossible. She was their mother, after all. She could not give them up without a second thought. The memory of their hurt faces, their plaintive cries still reverberated through her skull.

  But Beatrice had made it clear that there would be no escape from the Wexleys, not until they found her four sons.

  I must never lead them to the boys, even accidentally.

  The problem was, Fallon didn’t trust herself not to do it. What if Daniel found her and tortured her? What if she couldn’t contain herself and went back?

  I have to ensure that it never happens, not even years from now. But how?

  Fallon could think of only one way.

  She needed to erase any memory she had of her sons.

  Chapter One

  Present Day: Cypher

  He rubbed his slate eyes and sat back against the cool leather seat. His body was vibrating slightly, the aftermath of the concert still in the depth of his bones.

  “You okay?” Chloe asked worriedly. “You’re pale.”

  “I’m good, babe. I’m just trying to unwind. I kinda hate these one-offs. I almost prefer the tours, you know? It’s easier to keep going full force.”

  “If you keep going full force, you’re going to collapse on stage one of these days,” his wife sighed. Cypher grinned wickedly.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing. Imagine the free publicity we’d get. I can see the headlines now: ‘Elevated Lead Singer Down for One Song Before Finishing Set.’”

  “You’d be a lousy journalist. That is the worst headline I’ve ever heard.”

  Chloe didn’t smile, concern shadowing her blue irises as she leaned forward to grab his hands.

  “You need to rest, Cypher. You’re not doing yourself or me any favors like this. Between your concert schedule, rehearsals, recording and the powwowing you’re doing with Briar and Vaughan, you’re going at full steam ahead.”

  Cypher peered at her for a long moment, sensing the undertones of her words.

  “And I’ve been neglecting you,” he finished, guilt seizing him. “I’m sorry, Chloe. Come here.”

  He gestured for her to draw close to him and she did, slipping off her pod seat and sliding into his lap.