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Bjorn will do anything to make Ari his, even if it means finding a way around the rules. Because if there's one thing he wants, it's for her to be happy.
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Book 2 in the Paranormal Council Novella Series. A shifter romance with a standalone couple.
1
Ari watched her twin sister’s litter play in the garden of their suburban home. They weren’t able to shift yet, but in another couple of years they would, and she definitely didn’t envy Christine that. Fox shifters were mischievous by nature, and having four little ones about was sure to be hard work. Their Mum had always told them that the two of them had been a handful, even before their younger brothers had come along, ten years after them.
“You could always retire from the council and have some of your own.” Chris handed her a glass of cold water, which she took gratefully. It was hot, and being in the city only seemed to make it worse.
“You sound like Mum.” Ari sighed. Their Mum was desperate for her to settle down with ‘a nice fox shifter’ and have a litter. Something she’d been even more keen on since discovering that, if she mated, Ari would lose her position on the Shifter Council. Ari had never been sure exactly why her Mum was so against her being a Council member. Even if most shifters weren’t aware of who she was, it still gave her the power to change things. “It’s not for me,” she muttered, receiving a disbelieving look from Chris.
“One day, you’ll meet the right fox and you’ll change your mind,” she said with certainty as she watched her litter with an adoring face. But all Ari could focus on was the other issue she faced when it came to her family’s plan for her; they expected her to mate with another fox. Without meaning to, her mind wandered to one of her fellow Council members, but she refused to dwell on that. At least she refused to until later. The two of them had been foolish to think that they could have an affair, and now, like the fool she was, she was beginning to realise that it meant something more than just sex. Perhaps it always had. Which brought her back to the issue of her family wanting her to mate, or at least marry, another fox.
“I’m not ready for children,” she said, but if she was honest with herself, that wasn’t entirely true. While it wasn’t something she wanted to rush into, she’d thought about it more and more recently, and in a worrying amount of detail. Chris laughed, proving that even after the two of them had gone their separate directions in life, her twin knew her better than anyone.
“I don’t believe you. More than that, I think you’ve met someone,” her sister teased and all the blood drained from Ari’s face.
“Chris! I could lose my seat if a rumour like that gets out!” She glanced around reflexively, even if she knew that the two of them were alone, she couldn’t help but be a little paranoid.
“That’s not a no.” Chris smirked at her.
“I haven’t met anyone,” Ari lied, forcing her thoughts away from Bjorn’s kisses lest her sister work out the direction her mind was taking her. She technically wasn’t lying either; it’d taken Bjorn, and the tension thrumming between them, months to wear her down and kick start their affair. An affair that she wasn’t convinced she’d be able to stop even if she wanted to. He was like an addiction to her; a tall, dark and handsome addiction that did amazing things to her body.
“Mmm.” Ari knew that Chris didn’t believe her, but she wasn’t ready to admit anything yet. Chris had inherited their Mum’s sense of tradition, and that didn’t pair well with Ari’s bear shifter lover. “How’s work?” Ari was grateful for Chris’ change of subject.
“It’s good, I won my case last week.” She followed her sister’s gaze to where the litter was playing a game of hide and seek, one that seemed to involve a lot of pouncing.
“The murder?”
“Yes, it was easy to prove the woman was innocent.” Particularly because one look at the case notes had told Ari that a necromancer was the true culprit. She’d alerted the Councils, and Bjorn was looking into it using his PI connections, but the real culprit had yet to be caught. “Are you coming back to work?” Chris had gone on maternity leave when she’d had the litter, and had then added on a sabbatical, but their boss was becoming more and more demanding about her coming back.
“I don’t think I will. How could I leave them?” While she wasn’t sure she felt the same way as her sister, she could understand. Growing up, family life had been important, and their parents had instilled the same values in their children. Some of that lived on in Ari too, but she liked to think that she’d added some more modern values somewhere along the way. That was partly why it was so important for her to be on the Shifter Council, and why she’d become a lawyer; it made her feel as if she could make a difference.
2
Despite himself, Bjorn’s attention focused on the door every time it opened, desperate to see Ari the moment she arrived. He knew that he probably shouldn’t be so obvious in his attraction for her, especially not in the Council chambers, but he just couldn’t help it. Technically, what the two of them were up to went against Council rules, and if they were discovered then they’d both lose their seats. And yet, that wasn’t enough to make him want to stop, especially since Ari had revealed the truth behind mating. He’d been labouring under the illusion that mating required a bite, but apparently, it didn’t work like that. All true mates needed to do was meet, and since learning that, barely a moment had passed when he hadn’t thought of Ari; the truth that he’d thought he knew fast becoming something he was sure about.
“Sorry I’m late.” Her lilting voice broke through his thoughts and he had to stop the grin spreading across his face. Everyone knew him as the gruff bear shifter who was too jaded to smile at anyone, and he couldn’t go about ruining that reputation, even if he had felt himself softening to the outside world more recently. To his surprise, Ari threw him a small smile as she sat in the only empty Council seat, the other three having arrived shortly after he had.
“Anything wrong?” Nathalie asked from her seat next to Bjorn. He was surprised to see her wearing a powder blue suit rather than the white dresses that she normally preferred. He’d never really understood why unicorns were so focused on the colour white, but they all seemed to be, and for Nathalie to be wearing any colour at all was odd. Her skin shimmered in the dim light of the Council chamber, but Bjorn had long since stopped noticing her ethereal beauty, which paled in comparison to the auburn-haired vixen sat a few seats down.
“Court ran over.” Ari waved a hand dismissively, though Bjorn could tell from the tight set of her mouth that there was something more going on. If he was lucky, he might have a chance to get it out of her later. “But more importantly, how are we coming on with the necromancer problem?” Their eyes met as she looked at him, not a hidden look this time, as this was an issue that the other Council members knew they were working on together.
“No name yet,” he responded briefly.
“I have a meeting with a necromancer representative tomorrow,” Alden added. He was sat between Nathalie and Ari, and often stayed quiet unless he felt he had something valuable to add. Bjorn liked that about the guy, he didn’t have time to suffer fools.
“Just a representative?” Ari responded, her smile slipping slightly, revealing to Bjorn how down cast the whole situation was making her. While working on her previous case, she’d noticed that the murder victim showed all the signs of being targeted by a necromancer, and she’d instantly told the Councils about it. He’d then had to watch as she worked herself to the bone to get the accused woman acquitted of the charge, showing a rare determination that not many had. It was one of the many reasons he liked her so much.
“You know what they’re like Ari,” Bjorn interrupted before Alden could reply, only to receive a death glare for using her nickname. He cursed inwardly, not knowing how it had slipped out. They were normally so careful about keeping their relationship under wraps and not raising suspicion. Which was often difficult, especially considering ho
w little he knew about the other Council members in comparison to how much he knew about Ari. He wasn’t sure how it’d got to this point, but like everything else between them, it had just clicked into place.
“Can we use the nymph support to force them to be more cooperative?” Nathalie asked softly.
“Are we sure that we want to call on them so soon?” Alden countered. A hissing laugh came from the seat next to Bjorn.
“So, we make a big deal about marrying that panther to a nymph and you don’t want to use that! Typical bird. I thought you were supposed to be wise?” Drayce bit out. Bjorn had always wondered why he was on the Council, particularly when he seemed so uninterested most of the time. Alden’s head swivelled round to look Drayce in the eye, and the two stared off, neither of them saying a word.
“Boys!” Ari interrupted, clicking her fingers and breaking the staring contest. Beside him, Nathalie sighed. As much as he hated it, this was often how the meetings went. Drayce seemed to hate everyone and it riled the normally calm Alden up the wrong way. “We can at least ask Aella if they’d support us, I know she’s trying to get the High Council to introduce stricter rules around blood slaves, so she might have something for us on that front.”
“Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any way of telling who even is a necromancer, they keep their records even more under wraps than we do.” Even as he spoke, Bjorn found himself getting annoyed at them. They were worse than vampires as far as he was concerned. Sure, there were vampires that went off the rails, but their Council liked to make a big song and dance about punishing them. On the other hand, the Necromancer Council seemed to stop just short of encouraging their people to kill so they could practice their art. It was all very shady.
They moved on from the Necromancer issue, and Bjorn was grateful that there didn’t seem to be too much going on in the shifter world, other than a disagreeable divorce relating to a false mating; a cautionary tale to any shifters attempting a relationship with each other. He’d glanced towards Ari while they were talking, but she was studiously avoiding his gaze.
3
She watched as the other three left the Council chambers, packing away her own things slowly in the hope that she could snatch a few private moments with Bjorn. If she felt like being sensible, then she knew that the two of them really needed to talk about what they were doing. It was dangerous, and could lead to them both of them losing their positions, as well as risking a false mating. And yet, there was a part of her that wasn’t willing to stop.
A firm but gentle hand gripped her elbow and spun her around, lifting her by the waist so that she was sat on one of the desks. Bjorn stepped so that he as standing between her legs and brought his lips to hers without saying a word. The pent-up desire between them took hold and came through their kiss, causing whimpers to come from Ari as her teeth lengthened. She pulled away from his kiss before she did something stupid like nip his lip and draw blood. Doing that, even without meaning to, would bind them together in a way that she wasn’t ready for. But that didn’t stop Bjorn. He feathered kisses down her neck and she leaned back, allowing him access and arching her back more, causing Bjorn’s bucking hips to press in close to where she wanted him most. Her hands tugged at his shirt and he stepped back, whipping it over his head and throwing it to the floor. His jeans quickly followed suit. Ari took a moment to appreciate the view, before ridding herself of her own clothes and perching back on the desk completely naked; she knew it was wrong, but being in the Council chambers only added to her excitement. Just like it had the other times.
Bjorn stalked towards her, a predatory glint in his eye, sending shivers down Ari’s spine. They’d tried to stop more than once during the six months or so they’d been sleeping together. It hadn’t worked. Their record for staying away was a week, and that was only because Bjorn had been away with his PI work. It was a week that she didn’t want to repeat ever again. She pushed the thought away, not liking what it meant for their relationship, or for her Council seat.
“I want you,” Bjorn growled, stepping back between her legs, the heat he was throwing off warming her. He kissed her again and Ari was too desperate to do anything but guide him into her. Bjorn groaned deeply, and she let out an involuntary moan, revelling in the sensation of being with him. It took mere moments for the tension to begin to mount within her, building more and more as he thrust into her, his muscles flexing under her greedy hands. Bjorn trailed kisses down her throat again and he began to nip gently on her skin, making her blood sing with pleasure. Her nails scraped across his back, but she couldn’t bring herself to worry about whether she was leaving any marks, and from Bjorn’s grunts and moans, he didn’t mind either.
The sensation of lengthening teeth against the sensitive skin of her throat broke through the pleasure surrounding them, and she hastily pushed him away.
“Bjorn! BJORN!” She tried desperately to bring him out of the haze he was in, but nothing seemed to work. His eyes were blazing with lust as he looked over her. Nothing could hide his lengthened teeth as his inner-bear come through.
After a few moments of staring, Bjorn came back to himself and a look of horror crossed his face. Ari shivered, suddenly feeling cold in the empty Council room. Bjorn handed her his shirt, which she hastily put on, buttoning it as he pulled on his jeans.
“I guess we need to talk.” she could see the reluctance in the set of his jaw, but was impressed that he’d admitted it. In her experience, men never wanted to talk about relationship stuff. There was no denying that it wasn’t just sex between them anymore, she had her doubts about whether it ever really had been. But Ari had also been ignoring that thought, hoping that some solution would present itself in time. Or that she’d suddenly stop thinking about the sexy bear shifter in front of her.
“I guess we do,” she admitted. She’d rather be in the courtroom than deal with anything like the feelings swirling around inside her, but it was too late for that now. “You just tried to bite me.”
“I know, I’m sorry.” Her heart sank, as much as she had tried to tell herself that his was the reaction she wanted, she was lying to herself and knew it.
“We can’t risk mating Bjorn.” He looked at her oddly, as if he wanted to contradict her, but she wasn’t about to let him. “We’d both lose our positions on the Council, not to mention our standing in society if we revealed we’d falsely mated. Plus, there’s my family…” she trailed off, looking at the floor and not wanting to elaborate. Ari wasn’t normally afraid of saying what she thought, and considering she was a lawyer, she didn’t have the option to be; yet there was something about this situation that was making her nervous.
“Your family?” He raised an eyebrow, a confused look in his eyes as he waited for her to elaborate.
“Never mind that; our positions, Bjorn. We could lose them.” To her surprise, Bjorn cupped her face in his hands and their eyes met.
“I would give up my position for you, Ari.” There was a sincerity in his dark eyes that scared her. Almost as if he was telling her the truth; and she didn’t know whether the possibility of him lying to her, or that of him telling the truth, scared her more.
“I’m…”
“Not ready for that. I know, but the minute you are, is the moment you’re mine.”
A thrill went through her, even if she wasn’t ready to accept that there was more between them. He kissed her chastely once, and left quickly. Almost as if he was worried about what he’d do if he stayed. He was still shirtless, the marks from her fingernails giving her inner-fox a deep sense of satisfaction, almost like the vixen had marked her territory.
The real problem was that it felt like a part of Ari left with him.
4
It had been four days, three hours and six minutes since he’d last seen Ari, and it was killing him. He loved her, and wouldn’t even try to deny it, not when he’d known it for a while. More than that, everything he’d told her was true; he would willingly give up his position on the
Council for her. He’d willingly give up anything for her. The only reason he’d applied for a seat on the Council in the first place was so that he had somewhere to belong to. His family were all gone, victims of Russian hunters who were after their pelts, and for years, he’d had no one.
Until he’d met Ari. Despite promising himself he’d never let anyone in again, and so avoid the risk of losing them, Ari had quickly wormed her way into his future plans; even if she didn’t know that yet. As far as Bjorn could tell, the main thing standing in his way was Ari’s desire to make a difference, and her way of doing that was being on the Council. He wasn’t about to make her give up her seat for him, and that had made him determined to find another way.
A knock sounded at the door, bringing him to his senses, and he looked up to find Kemnebi Davis stood in the doorway. The panther shifter was dressed in a formal suit, with a five o’clock shadow on his jaw. While Kem was a big man himself, he was shorter and not quite as broad as Bjorn, not that that would make him any less intimidating to anyone that wasn’t like them.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Kem dropped into the chair on the other side of Bjorn’s desk, relaxing back into his seat. Bjorn gave a quick envious glance at the glinting gold ring on Kem’s left hand before snapping himself out of it. While the two of them hadn’t been on the friendliest of terms before Kem had married and mated, he was one of the only people that knew about Bjorn’s relationship with Ari, even if he had found out accidentally. And so, when he’d needed advice, he’d bitten the bullet and called him.
“I need to find a way for a mated shifter to stay on the Council.” Bjorn shrugged. Kem had proved himself trustworthy enough in the past two months, and as much as he could, Bjorn had started to see him as a kind of friend.
The Paranormal Council Complete Series 1-5 Page 6