by C. D. Gorri
Truth was he liked the Devlin brothers. Even Nate whose last name was actually Cordoza. They ran the Barvale Clan with care and concern for its members unlike anything he’d ever seen.
Hell, they’d welcomed him and his cousins with open arms. Even after one of them had nearly bashed Nate’s brains in by accident of course.
Bowie had a lot of experience fighting growing up. One of the perks of everyone hating your fucking guts. But his cousins merely had size and strength. They’d needed help and Nate and Daniel had been there to sharpen their skills.
Now that they were all mated, the Devlin men were more cautious than ever. They did not want anything to ruin Christmas for the newest members of the clan. Mainly Daniel’s daughter, Mia, and her brand-new cousin, Jordan, the son of the Clan Alpha.
“Uh oh,” the toddler giggled.
“Oh god- I mean gosh,” Bowie blinked rapidly.
Mia squirmed on her father’s shoulder and the telltale scent of a dirty diaper needing changing began to fill the office.
“Oh, Mia, another one?” Daniel sighed and stood up with the now wiggling toddler.
“I guess we will leave you to it, boss,” Bowie said eyebrows raised as the triplets behind him started coughing and making haste for the door. He’d annoyed his boss enough for one day. This was as good a time as any to leave.
“Cowards,” Daniel grumbled as he walked to the changing table he had in the corner of his office, “and Bowie?”
“Yes, boss?”
“I am putting you in charge of escorting a guest of the Clan this week-”
“But what about running security for the Barvale Holiday Lights Festival and the parade this weekend?”
“You can do both. Yes you can,” he cooed the words since he was looking at his daughter at the time, but it still gave Bowie the heebie-jeebies to see the big man using baby-talk.
“But-”
“No buts. In fact, the flight lands in an hour. I already texted you the number. You’ll have just enough time to meet the plane.”
“You got it,” he said with his teeth clenched while Daniel tore open the plastic little fasteners on his daughter’s soiled diaper.
Playing tour guide was just fine with Bowie as long as it meant getting the hell out of that office.
“Hey, can you-”
“Sorry, boss, I have to leave now if I’m going to catch that plane!”
He hightailed it out of there before his big bad boss could ask him to do something horrifying, like toss the dirty nappy in the trash can.
He liked and respected the man, but Bowie had zero experience with cubs. Mia was a cutie, but he had just as much desire to handle the nasty stuff that came out of the little one’s bottom as he did picking up one of the Clan’s guest visitors.
Lately, it had been a series of old men who wanted to marry off their daughters to one of the famous, and let’s not forget extremely wealthy, Devlin brothers. Poor bastards did not know they’d all gotten mated within the last six months.
He’d suggested they put an ad in the paper or something, but Marcus had growled, and Nate had cuffed him in the back of the head. Bowie took the hit, knowing he’d deserved it. Being a wiseass was second nature to a guy who’d grown up with zero friends and family besides his three cousins.
Triplets were a rarity amongst Shifters. They’d been gawked at and whispered over most of their lives in their small hometown. As a result, their parents had kept them pretty sheltered. They hadn’t made many friends as kids or later as adults.
Far as he knew, only one had ever dated. She’d been a local girl and that had ended badly from what he could recall. Bowie supposed that was why they’d bonded with him, the original outcast.
He sat in his Toyota Tundra and opened the windows. The temperature was in the teens, but he was used to it. He roared down the road that would lead to the highway as fast as his custom 4x4 rims and oversized tires would allow.
He sure did love his new truck. It was the first time he’d ever been able to afford the luxury of a brand-new vehicle. The black matte truck was perfect for a man of his size. He’d been able to get the newest model available complete with a souped up interior. All leather seats, custom stereo, GPS, fitted rubber mats lining the floors, and best of all, the new car scent.
Custom speakers delivered the best sound for the classic rock he’d always preferred. Though right then it was difficult to find with all the sappy Christmas music cramming the stations.
Fuck it. He was almost there anyway. Besides, Bruce Springsteen did a damn fine Christmas carol if you asked him. Living in the Boss’ home state and listening to him was also kind of fucking awesome. He grinned and hummed along with the tune, following the signs to the parking garage.
Bowie hated the fucking airport. Filled to the brim with travelers for the holidays. It always made him feel kind of empty knowing all those people were going to see loved ones and there he was, pretty much all alone.
Boo fucking hoo. What he needed was to get laid. Hell, ever since he’d come to Barvale, he’d only been with one female. Hardly his style. She was alright though if a little clingy.
He’d met the woman at the local watering hole, Bar None. It was much smaller than The Thirsty Dog, a trendier, larger place run by a member of the Macconwood Wolf Pack over in Maccon City. Fucking place was like a Shifter magnet. Far too many people for Bowie.
Yeah, it might be time to visit Bar None and see if Sheila’s around and wants to have another go, he thought. His Bear agreed.
Sex was a great way to work out his Polar Bear’s aggression and dominance issues. There was none of that pressure about getting mated with Sheila. She was a Shifter, single and willing, and was not the type to get truly attached.
He parked the truck and walked over to the monitors showing the late arrivals. Of course the flight he was looking for was blinking away up there.
Fucking hell. Shit was going to take another ten minutes to land! That meant at least thirty in the goddamn airport.
He walked to the nearby coffee stand and ordered a large iced coffee black with no sugar. Glaring at the kid who asked him if he was sure he wanted iced about seven times. Bowie threw some bills on the counter and snatched the cup from the judgy little shit.
Yes, he wanted iced. He was a fucking Polar Bear! Not that he could say that. Normals would shit themselves if they knew Shifters existed. He stood at an empty tall table and sipped from the cup. No straw, thank you very much. He wasn’t gonna be responsible for killing sea turtles and shit.
Last time he’d refused a straw at the diner, Locke had asked him why and he’d explained. Much to the amusement of his three enormous jack ass cousins. Fuck them.
Bowie liked animals. And not just because he was one. He’d always had a soft spot for them. Probably because he’d spent more time around them than people.
Shit, even as a kid he was always in the woods or by the sea near the small Alaskan town where the White Bear Clan dwelled. He’d been born there on the outskirts. Funny, he missed those quiet places and moments, but not the Clan. Never that. Hard to miss a place where everyone hated you. New Jersey had been good to him so far.
Shit. Now he was getting sappy. He looked at his phone. Sheila had sent him a text nearly every week since the last time they’d hooked up. He hardly recalled the brief encounter except to say it had calmed his anxious Bear. Maybe he’d take her up on her standing offer this weekend.
The big move to the Southern states had been good in more ways than one. He wasn’t a pariah around here. Bowie had managed to find solace in this Clan of mainly Black Bears and the odd Grizzly. He’d hunted and run under cover of the moon through the piney woods surrounding Lake Ursa.
The Barvale Clan owned the lake and the land surrounding it for miles. It really was a slice of paradise. And interestingly enough, the females here were plentiful.
Having no past meant having a lot of options. Once more the available and truly pretty Sheila sprang to mind. Hi
s Bear wasn’t exactly eager to see the woman again, but the beast agreed sex was good. Smart Bear.
Of course, he didn’t want Sheila getting any wrong ideas about the two of them. A quickie now and again did not a relationship make.
Besides, he’d told her he wasn’t looking for anything other than scratching an itch the last time they’d hooked up. Shit, that was a few months ago. No wonder he was feeling out of sorts.
Yep. He needed to get laid. Period.
CHAPTER 2
Roxanne searched through the crowd for her escort. She was certain her father had arranged for her to be “looked after” for her duration with the Barvale Clan.
Over the years of working for her father, Alpha of the Winter Falls Skulk, that phrase had come to take on a new meaning. Looked after was code for bored to death.
The winter solstice was coming soon and with it the Skulk’s annual mating celebration. She needed to secure the rights for her fellow Fox Shifters to run on the grounds surrounding Lake Ursa before the next full moon. That was her mission. It was also why she’d been called home from her first real vacation in three years.
Grrr. Her Red Fox took that moment to growl and snarl in her mind’s eye. Her animal didn’t like it when her father took advantage of her any more than Roxie’s human half did.
So, here she was. Back in New Jersey not ten hours since she’d departed for a weekend of fun in the sun on an exclusive beach in the Caribbean. A dream vacation. One she’d secretly planned and saved for all year.
Ugh. She was disgusted with her father for assuming she’d hop on home to fix this mess without so much as a please or thank you. She was just as disgusted with herself for proving the old man right.
Roxanne had gotten the rights to run on a neighboring Pride’s territory annually some years ago, but someone botched the entire thing.
Someone. Grrr. She knew exactly who it was that ruined everything. Again. Stupid Alpha males.
It seemed certain members of the Skulk had pissed off the neighboring Lion Pride with their flighty ways. Certain members being Roxie’s brother and heir to the Skulk, Thomas.
As a result of his playing footsie with the Lion Prime’s daughter, the entire Skulk had been uninvited to spend the winter solstice run on their lands for the first time in the five years since Roxie had gained the permissions for them to do so.
All of her hard work had been undone with a few callous words from Thomas who had broken things off with the Prime’s daughter after he’d found out she’d wanted more than a quickie in the back of his sleek sportscar. Ugh. Men!
Despite the name, Winter Falls was strictly urban. A small city, but a city nonetheless with crowded concrete sidewalks and streets, huge high rises made of steel and glass, and virtually no place to run.
Even the playgrounds came complete with rubber mats beneath the equipment. There was no place for a Shifter to simply roam, play, or just stretch out on the grass. Certainly no place to engage in the orgiastic rituals of the winter solstice mating run.
It was tough on the Winter Falls Skulk and the Fox Shifters who called the town home. The need to run and Change was ingrained in their DNA. The Winters family was responsible for the well-being of the Skulk, serving as Alpha family for over a hundred years.
Her father was the Alpha and Thomas was his heir, and yet, it always fell on Roxanne’s shoulders to get things done. She’d had to work doubly hard to keep the lines of communication open with neighboring Shifter Clans and Packs in order for her Skulk to be allowed to run on their territories.
She’d been primed for this her entire life. Always neat and tidy, she’d been instilled with the importance of leading a virtuous life and always doing her duties. That went with being an Alpha’s daughter.
Roxanne was an excellent student. She’d had private tutors and only brief periods in elite Shifter run schools. There she’d learned all she’d needed to know about deportment, manners, and social graces in dealing with various Clans, Prides, Packs, and her own Skulk.
She was her father’s head negotiator, his liaison between the Skulk and the rest of the Shifter world. Of course, that was all easier said than done for a single female Fox. Working among Alphas of any kind was not easy. It was simply their nature to try and dominate those around them.
Even her own father and brother proved to be too hotheaded to handle sit downs and meets with other powerful, dominant Shifters. That duty was delegated to Roxanne. More often lately now that her father was getting on in years.
He and his son treated her like nothing more than a bother most of the time, then when they needed something it was all “go do this now” and not a thanks in sight!
She’d learned early not to let her emotions get the better of her. Shifters could scent them after all. Daddy was not the emotional type. He had no time for her female sensitivities as he called them.
It was important to never let her guard down. She’d learned that the hard way. As a young woman, she’d let her anger be known during a meeting with some Brown Bears from a neighboring Pennsylvania Clan.
She hadn’t liked the way the Alpha’s son had hinted that he’d be more than willing to share his bed with her during their mating ritual. In fact, she’d managed to keep her cool until he placed his hand under her skirt and on her upper thigh mid-negotiations. The resulting claw marks she’d left across his face had gotten her grounded for a month.
After that, she’d earned the moniker Ice Queen. It was fun for a while. No one dared touch her without invitation and even then, too many were put off by her reputation.
Unfortunately for her, the relief she felt from being left alone wore off once she’d experienced her first heat with no male to share her bed. Ironic that she was responsible for securing the site for her Skulk’s annual mating celebration when not one male amongst them was man enough to mate her!
Not that she’d be satisfied with the floundering wusses anyway. The only men she knew worth anything were related to her. And can she just say, ew. Incest was not her thing. At all.
She’d considered using a dating app or service, but her Fox scoffed at the idea. It wanted her mate and no other. Too bad she hadn’t found him yet.
In the meantime, she’d hatched a plan to finally rid herself of the pesky little problem of her virginity. Maybe then male Shifters wouldn’t be so averse to the idea of having sex with her.
It wasn’t only normal men who were threatened by a smart, tough as nails woman. Shifters tended to want domesticated, docile mates. Sigh.
Roxie was anything but. She’d forged her way to the top in her family owned and Pack run business of Winter Falls Inc. The advertising firm was known for their solid marketing plans and their ability to deliver for even their most difficult clientele. The Ice Queen had quite the rep there as well.
Her clients were some of the most prominent businesses in Winter Falls. They might not want her during the winter solstice, but how they clamored for their Ice Queen in the boardroom. Mad sigh.
However well earned, the nickname annoyed the shit out of her. Still, Roxie knew better than to react. She’d bitten back the hurt and frustration time and again, continuing as her father’s liaison despite the wounds to her pride.
Always at the beck and call of her Alpha and Skulk, Roxanne had no love life to speak of and very few friends. She had nothing real of her own. Just her job and even that was wearing thin. All the more reason she’d been determined to take this little vacation.
“Excuse me,” a rotund man carrying a cup of coffee and an oversized carry-on bag pushed by her, spilling the contents of his drink on her high-heeled sandals. She didn’t even have time to change when she’d gotten her father’s call. So there she stood, still clad in her vacation ensemble.
Dammit. She forgot it was cold as heck in New Jersey for the blissful few moments she’d been in the middle of the Caribbean Sea. Her short, wrap around dress was splashed with tropical flowers and a side slit showing off her long legs. For a curvy chi
ck, she had killer legs and she knew it.
Figured it was only fair to use them to snag herself a man willing to help her with her pesky little problem. It was only days till the solstice. She did not want to spend the night doubled over in pain.
Last year she’d been so desperate she’d bought a vibrator to ease her through the heat that overtook her and the rest of the entire adult female population of the Winter Falls Skulk during their yearly celebration. Mating fever was a real thing.
She was desperate to have a real, warm man this year. Not a piece of plastic. This vacation had been her only chance. Ugh. Hell, she’d even splurged on a spray tan. Sigh.
Her milk white skin never managed anything beyond a pink burn that left all too quickly with her Shifter healing abilities. She’d endured the stinging smell of the chemical tan despite it singeing her nostrils for the pleasure of appearing relaxed and carefree on her now non-existent vacay. Sigh again.
She really had to stop overthinking things. She could always go back when this was over. Maybe catch some mid-week beach party? Maybe some sensual stranger could be the answer to her prayers? Otherwise she’d have to look for someone here. In Barvale?
Hmm. As usual her father had laid it on thick, without her the Skulk would have nowhere to run and the population would diminish and they would have no new members to induct, no births to celebrate, yadda yadda.
Okay, so maybe this time it was worse. Without the Clan’s lands, they could potentially miss out on the opportunity the winter solstice offered them to find their fated mates. Something about that day was truly special. It was a blessed and magical time. The winter solstice run had never not happened. Who knew what would become of them if they could not run this year?
Thank goodness her father had remembered their ursine neighbors. After securing an invitation to the Barvale Holiday Lights Festival, Samuel Winters, aka dear old Dad, had decided his dutiful daughter would have better success at securing the area for their run.