by Cecilia Lane
Forbidden Mate
Book One: Shifters of Bear’s Den
Cecilia Lane
A Shifting Destinies Novel
Copyright © 2017 by Cecilia Lane
Cover Art by Kasmit Covers
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Forbidden Mate: Shifters of Bear’s Den #1 by Cecilia Lane October 2017
Contents
Forbidden Mate
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Dangerous Mate: Chapter One
Newsletter
About the Author
Also by Cecilia Lane
Forbidden Mate: Shifters of Bear’s Den Book One
An Alpha Bound by Duty
Bear shifter Callum Strathorn has a job to do. With his father’s health declining, it’s up to Callum to take over as Mayor of Bearden.
When Leah Arden crashes her car near Bearden, Callum leads the first responders. He pulls the lovely woman from the wreckage, but as her wits return, she sees things that humans should never see. Forbidden things, like a mysterious town and a man shifting into a bear.
Callum has no choice. To protect his town and his clan, he keeps Leah captive in Bearden while he figures out damage control. He soon finds himself with a fiery and furious female on his hands. And if things couldn’t get worse, the stubborn and aggravatingly sexy woman smells and tastes just like his fated mate.
A Woman on the Run
Leah Arden lives a life haunted by secrets. She can't stay in one place for long or her past will catch up with her. With nowhere to turn, she doesn’t trust anyone, not until she meets Bearden’s gruff but handsome mayor.
Callum’s slow, sexy smile and quiet strength make her yearn for more. But when he lays down the law and forces her to remain in Bearden, she grows desperate to find a way to escape. Even if that means betraying the one man who makes her want to put down roots.
As Leah’s secrets unravel, the danger grows, looming over her and all of Bearden. Callum's enemies are looking for weakness, and he handed them one on a silver platter. Can the town’s alpha keep his people safe, especially the woman who is fated to be his?
Step into the world of Shifting Destinies, where the men and women you meet might just be a little more than human. Their towns are protected by magic, and their hearts are open and ready for love. But watch your step - more than darkness lurks in the shadows.
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Chapter 1
The cheap motel door rattled with the continued pounding of knuckles. “I know you’re in there, Leah! Let me in. Now!”
Leah tossed a look over her shoulder and continued throwing her clothes into her duffel bag. “Not a fucking chance, Jamin,” she muttered under her breath.
“You know you can’t escape. We’re at your door!” He shoved that fact in her face with another round of blows that threatened to rip the door off its hinges. “Let me in and we can talk this out like adults.”
Ha. Funny, Jamin was. In a totally not sort of way. He’d rarely cracked a joke that didn’t have some other meaning behind it.
His words sunk in, though. We, he said. He’d only referred to himself in his tirade. She crept toward the door and tried to spy through the peephole. Too bad he’d covered it with his finger.
She forced herself to slow down her thoughts. She could pack. She could slip out the window. But Jamin wasn’t alone, so she’d need to be careful.
“You stole from me, you bitch.” Jamin hissed close to the door. Maybe someone passed in the hall and he wanted to get his threats done before the cops arrived. Unlikely, given the sort of place she’d picked to stay the night. “Give it back and you can walk away.”
That set her off. Her, the bitch? Leah ground her teeth together and laced up her shoes.
“Should have thought about that before you stuck your dick in everything that moved,” she shouted and regretted it immediately. Hot-headed actions would only make for cold regrets, her mother used to say.
“I’ll break down this fucking door!” Jamin yelled and slammed hard against the thin barrier. Shoulder, if her guess at the impact was correct.
“Asshole tax!” she shouted right back and angrily zipped up her bag.
Her eyes landed on the precious item Jamin had personally come to recover. A map to nowhere, as far as she could tell. It showed the entire North American continent and torn edges looked made it seem a small portion of a world map. Markers dotted the countryside and no amount of research had yielded anything. Those markers were placed over unused, uninhabited land.
Which meant he—or whoever made the map—probably had something hidden away there.
Maybe it was a petty move to steal the map and go after his buried treasure, but she’d been so angry when she left two nights ago. Asshole thought he’d been clever in keeping his latest side piece secret, but she knew. She’d dated the man off and on for years and knew his tells. The sudden burst of gifts followed by cold shoulders made her curious enough to dig for information.
He shouldn’t have left her alone in his condo. All it took was a quick picking of the lock to his office and she had access to his laptop. He didn’t even bother locking the screen. It was almost like he wanted to get caught.
Was she so terrible for extracting a price when she’d tried to give her heart? All she wanted as a little safety and a lot of loyalty. She didn’t even care if he wanted to spend the weekend watching games down at the bar. She just wanted someone she knew would come home to her at the end of the night and not try to reshape her face with his fists.
She thought she found that with Jamin. He’d plucked her off the streets and yeah, they dabbled in a little theft together. But that was to survive. It was them against the world until she decided she had enough of that world and wanted to go straight. Then it was Jamin against her.
At least she learned something from her mother after watching her being stepped on all those years. She’d never, ever let someone keep her down for long.
The door thumped again and speckles of wall scattered on the thin, dirty carpet. Shit. He
really was going to break down the door to get to her.
She snatched up her duffel and stuffed the map in the outside pocket. She’d been reduced down to less multiple times in her life. Sneaking out the window with a few spare outfits in her hand was delightful compared to the first time she ran.
The screen popped out like it was made for quick escapes. Leah glanced at the bushes below her and threw her bag out first. Then it was her turn to slither through the opening to the constant thumping music of fists on her door.
She huddled down in the bushes. No one moved in the parking lot. She could see her rental car only a few feet away. That part of her brain that stayed vigilant forced her to leave her junker behind when she left Jamin. He couldn’t track what he didn’t know she drove.
She’d been careless and used her bank account two towns over. She was sure he’d found her from that mistake because no one lurked by the secret car she made sure to park far away from her motel door.
Leah sprinted the last few feet to her freedom. She gripped her keys hard in her fist, ready to stab anyone that tried to stop her, before she shoved them into the lock. No one did. No one even stuck their head around the building or peeked through curtains.
She shot one final look toward her motel window. Shit. Jamin glared out at her and mouthed words she couldn’t hear. She rolled down the window and shoved her middle finger at him.
Then she peeled out of the parking lot like her life depended on it. Maybe it did. She’d never seen Jamin so pissed. Angry enough to throw a punch or smash a bottle over someone’s head, sure. But he kept the rest of that anger locked inside.
She drove for a good half hour before pulling over on the side of the road. No one followed her. Hell, no one even seemed to use the road at that hour in such a small town.
Think, Leah. She blew out a long breath and urged her heart to stop racing. Cards and bank accounts were out. He knew her car, so she’d need to ditch it as soon as possible. She’d worked so damn hard to stop running, and he forced her right back into that life.
Fucking Jamin.
She flicked on the overhead light and tugged the map out of her bag. She’d been close enough to the first marker when Jamin found her. Leah traced her fingers over the map. She was even closer now. With nothing left to lose, she pulled back on the road and drove toward the spot Jamin wanted to keep secret.
Maybe she’d find cash buried there and not need to worry about him finding her again. She could take his money and disappear to some tropical island where she’d drink cocktails on the beach all day.
Yeah, right.
Thoughts she didn’t want swirled in her mind. Mostly of her mother. The woman let her father do as he pleased. Leah swore from an early age that wouldn’t be her life. And yet, she’d let Jamin off the hook far too often. No more. Asshole tax, she shouted at him, and meant it. She wasn’t going to wait around for him to strip her of her safety just like he’d stripped her of loyalty. Daddy had no loyalty to Momma, and there was no safety once the words started to fly.
Not. Her. Life.
Lights appeared in her rearview and Leah let loose a cloud of curses. Panic clawed at her throat. No one else used the road. She had Jamin and an unknown number of thugs after her. She couldn’t even taste hope that some lone farmer was heading home from the bar.
The lights zoomed closer and her panic jumped even higher. He wouldn’t hit her, would he? Not like this. He’d want it personal, and he’d want to take back what she stole from him.
The lights were bright and close enough that she couldn’t see anything beyond the glare.
Leah swerved to the other empty lane, then back again. A trio of vehicles, if she counted correctly. All coming too fast.
“Fuck,” she chanted under her breath. She pushed her foot on the accelerator and urged the little car faster. The engine groaned with the effort but the hand on the speedometer jerked just a bit higher.
Still, the lights shined ominously in her mirror. Two behind the lead car fanned out to block both lanes.
The road veered suddenly into an incline up the mountains. She twisted the wheel hard enough to avoid hitting the guardrail and rolling off the edge, then sped into the next straightaway. She was glad of the dark. She couldn’t peer over the side and imagine tumbling down.
The churning gears of the engine behind her raised her attention. She glanced up long enough to see the lights of the front vehicle shooting closer.
“Son of a—!” Her rental jerked with the force of the blow. She slammed her foot hard on the brake and skidded to a stop.
Eyes wide, she glanced through the window and saw death coming for her.
Lights grew in size as the other vehicle drove straight for her. She didn’t have any time to escape. The impact crunched into the passenger door and sent her car rolling over the side of the road.
A scream ripped from her throat as the car flipped. Thank God and Shiva and Odin and every other deity ever worshipped for the creator of seat belts. Death wanted to claim her and those straps holding her down tight kept her in the world for just a little bit longer.
Leah drew in a shaky breath once the car rocked to a stop, thankfully sitting upright. Her entire body trembled with the adrenaline dumped into her veins. She needed to move. Jamin was still up top, and he was out for blood.
She clutched at her shirt and scraped away glass from the door handle. But it wouldn’t budge when she tried to pull it. She tried again and again, and it still stuck.
Crunching and scraping reached her ears. Fuck. They were coming for her.
Desperate, she unlocked her seat belt and kicked at the door.
“Shit. Someone’s coming. Get out,” Jamin whispered into the night. Rustling and curses faded away as the bastards hurried away from their crime.
Leah wanted to shout at them and call them cowards. But the shock of the night stole her voice and left her shaking. She’d survived, but for how long? And who was scary enough to drive Jamin away from his prize?
A large, angry animal roared in the night.
Chapter 2
Callum wanted to strangle someone. The mess of paperwork on Pop’s desk had grown overnight. He sighed and took a seat. The pile wasn’t about to get any smaller if he stared at it.
He gulped at his coffee and tried to find a place to begin. Pop’s assistant had tried to make piles according to importance, but even those were running into one another and the highest priority stack towered over the others.
One thing at a time, boy, his father would say if he were in any position to talk.
The mantra had helped over the years, especially in his role as Bearden Fire Chief. One thing at a time, he said to himself as he cleared burning rooms. One thing at a time, he urged while handling the crew under him.
At least the gear requests and incident reports were forms familiar to him. He shuffled through the priority paperwork and wanted to ball them up and practice his free throw with the garbage can. Delivery schedules, building expansions, even cattle and produce production had made their way to his desk.
The day had barely begun and he already wanted to crack open a cold beer. Nothing but liquor was housed in the bottom right desk drawer. He’d checked the first day he covered for Pop. It’d do in a pinch, but definitely wasn’t his preference.
Much like everything in his life lately.
He’d do as temporary mayor, but all he wanted was to take his place back in the firehouse. He’d settle for a quick lay to ease the tension for him and his inner bear, but he really wanted something more.
More. What a fucking joke. Bearden didn’t offer more. Bearden offered the same thing for everyone. Lives were led according to plan, behind the safety of an invisible wall put up by the town’s founders with the aid of fae magic. Shifters and other supernatural folk were safe in the enclaves and humans with their need to kill anything different were kept on the other side.
He’d been fine with his lot in life until Pop got sick and someone nee
ded to step up to babysit the town.
His bear rumbled in his chest and Callum tried to push the beast back. The animal had been restless lately, even more than usual. Even more than could be solved with someone temporary. He wanted to settle and find a mate. Find some meaning and direction. Stop the madness of just barely hanging on with everything Callum needed to get done.
He had no one to go home to, no one of interest in his life. He spread his hand over a stack of papers. Irritation lay within that stack, along with problems he couldn’t control.
Callum let go of the growl he’d tried to keep stifled and set himself to work. The papers and reports wouldn’t disappear just because he wished them away.
He desperately needed to find a replacement for Pop. Ephraim Strathorn was a legend among the townsfolk. Tough and noble, with a reputation for plunging into the deep end of hard work. He was a difficult man to replace and hardly anyone was willing to try. Even his deputy mayor had declined to take the position when Callum hounded him.
Wolfden was his next shot. If no one in Bearden wanted the job, then their sister enclave might have someone ambitious enough to take over. He’d be willing to give a damn wolf a try if it meant he could find some peace back in the firehouse.