Not My Shifter/ Sinfully Cursed (Shifter Paradise) (Volume 1)

by Kate Allenton

  Quinn left his father sitting in the room. He replayed the conversation over and over in his head. Carlton wasn’t the man she needed. She deserved better and wasn’t that ultimately what mattered most. All of his statements hit a bit too close to home.

  His thoughts turned to Parker. He had feelings for her, and he definitely lusted for her, but was that enough? Did he have enough to offer her? Didn’t she deserve better than a half-breed like Quinn who had been insistent that he wanted nothing to do with his fairy heritage?

  She did. She deserved so much more than Quinn could give her. He was damaged goods. He was a damn half-breed. He had no mother, and his father was in jail. Not to mention, she’d almost been killed because of Quinn’s problems.

  Quinn returned home. His mind played different scenarios as he internally argued what to do about the little fairy. In the end it came down to what was best for Parker. He wanted to see her happy, even if it couldn’t be with him. It was the only thing that mattered. He owed her that much. He was going to lose the one woman who meant more to him than any other.

  Quinn moved through his house in a daze, never really concentrating on anything due to the war raging inside of him.

  His doorbell rang, pulling him from his stupor. He crossed the room and pulled it open, leaning against the frame.

  “Why haven’t you called me?” Parker demanded.

  “This isn’t a good time.”

  She planted her hands on her hips. “I don’t know what was on that DVD, but I have a good mind to go find Carrie and make sure your mother gets an earful for putting you through this.”

  Quinn hadn’t called her, and yet Parker still cared, which was just another reason he had to let her go to move on.

  Quinn straightened and crossed his arms over his chest. “Go home, Parker.”

  She stepped into his space. “I can tell you’re hurting. Let me help you.”

  He leaned down so he was eye level with her. “What we had was great sex, nothing more. You’ve said it yourself. I don’t love you, and I never will, so please…just leave. There’s nothing left here.”

  She stepped back. Her bottom lip trembled, and it took everything he had not to kiss the hurt away.

  She clenched her fists. “You don’t mean that.”

  He shrugged. “Listen…we’re just two different people. I’m not Fae anymore, and I’m not your damn king. Go home so we can both move past this.” He shook his head and stepped back into his house. “I can’t be in your life.”

  Parker nodded. “Fine.” She spun on her heel and marched back to her SUV. “Don’t come begging to win me back.” She pulled the door open and turned. “I’ll turn you into the dog you are.”

  She slid into the SUV and slammed the door. He watched as she spun out in his yard and hit the gas, speeding down his drive and out of his life.

  Quinn closed the door and leaned against the wood. He nodded. “She’ll get over it.”

  He pushed off the door and moved into the living room. He picked up the mail and paused. The look on her face had almost killed him. He’d almost given in and dragged her into his arms. He needed her, god did he need her, but she deserved better. She deserved someone a little less screwed up than him. She deserved happiness, and that wasn’t something he could give her, not when his own life was in shambles.

  Chapter 13

  Weeks went by, and she never called. He couldn’t blame her. He blamed himself. He missed her more than a person should be allowed to miss another. He missed her smile and her banter. His heart ached in his chest to the point he’d gone to a physician to see if he was having a heart attack.

  He rubbed the soreness as he walked back into the house from getting the mail. There wasn’t a place in his house he could go or look that she hadn’t touched. He saw her everywhere. She’d not only brightened his days by getting him through the toughest time of his life, but he missed her. He picked up the phone for the millionth time and set it back down. He’d realized his mistake too late, and didn’t know how to fix it. He didn’t just lust after Parker McKenna. He loved her, and worse than that, he needed her.

  “I’ve ruined everything.” He plopped down in a chair at the kitchen table and buried his head in his hands. “I sent her away. I’m worse than my father, I’m a fucking coward.” He shook his head and tugged on his hair.

  “You’re not very bright for a descendant to the throne.”

  Quinn’s head popped up, and he reached for his gun. Standing in the middle of his living room was the last person in Paradise Falls he’d ever thought to see in his house.

  “What do you want, Zander?”

  “As much as it pains me to say it, I want you to go find your fairy and smooth things over.”

  Quinn shook the confusion from his head. “You’re joking, right?”

  “I’m afraid not, Officer Montgomery.”

  Quinn crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t follow.”

  Zander crossed the room and sat down at the table. “If I can’t bite her to make her submit, then I’m afraid it is up to you to control your woman.”

  Quinn’s head started to throb. “You must not have heard. She isn’t mine, and you’ll be happy to know that I ruined any chance of ever getting her back.”

  Zander leaned back in his chair and grinned. He closed his eyes and held out his hand. An ancient book appeared in his palms. He thumbed through the book and slid it across the table.

  “Page 215, paragraph 5, and subparagraph 2.”

  Quinn held the spot and flipped the book to the cover. Laws of the Fae.

  He flipped the book back open and scanned the words. He shook his head as he read. “She’s going to kill me.”

  Zander leaned forward against the table. “I’d pay good money to see that.” He gestured to the book as he stood. “Feel free to show her the exact wording so she understands the ramifications of both of your choices.”

  Zander moved to the middle of the room. “I would suggest begging on your knees, fairy king.” He popped out of the room before reappearing. “A word to the wise; this time don’t screw it up.”

  Quinn stood. “What’s in it for you?” Quinn lifted the book. “Why show me this?”

  Zander grinned, giving Quinn a glimpse of his sharp teeth. “She’s pissed and hurt, and when that happens to any woman, it’s no good for anyone, especially if she’s a cop, my patrons would agree. Now go fix this and act like the king you are.”

  Quinn rubbed his hand over his hair and down his face. He grinned, feeling like a loon “She’s going to be pissed.”

  ****

  Parker McKenna stormed down the hallway to her desk. Men and women alike, carrying guns just as lethal as hers, parted to get out of her way. It was almost humorous, but it wasn’t. After everything that had happened, she just wanted to be left alone to plan and plot ways to hurt Officer Montgomery. She reached for her lip-gloss and glanced down at the little stick. At one time it had taken only a little to calm and soothe her moods. Well, not anymore. She tossed it in the trash. “Who am I kidding?”

  She pulled out the rest of the assorted flavors from her desk and discarded those as well. She plopped down in her chair and glanced around. No one made eye contact with her. Everyone avoided her. She was starting to feel like Devlin, and she could live with that.

  “McKenna. Get. Your. Ass. In. Here!” the chief bellowed from his office.

  She sighed and stood. What was it this time? Another resident who wanted to argue a ticket? Or maybe Zander was pissed at her again for doing daily search and seizures at his club. She grinned as she made her way into the chief’s office. There was nothing he could say to her to hurt her feelings. Hell, she didn’t feel anything anymore.

  She walked into the office and paused as she noticed Quinn sitting in a chair across from her boss. The jerk looked good too. He was leaning back in the chair, relaxed. His ankle rested on his knee. He was clean-shaven, wearing jeans, a dark blue shirt that matched the color of his eye
s, a black leather jacket that Devlin would have confiscated for her own closet. His grin stretched from ear to ear. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her gaze back to her boss. “What the hell is he doing here?”

  “He’s your new partner.”

  She spun on her heel to leave. “Like hell he is.”

  “McKenna, sit your ass down.”

  She stopped before she cleared the doorway. She let out a breath and slowly turned around. Maybe she was going about this all wrong. “Sir.” She smirked. “You remember the mess you had to clean up last time we were paired together. I can guarantee, whatever the assignment is, that it will be ten times worse this go-round. Do you really want that?”

  The chief leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “McKenna, you have no choice.”

  She smirked. “Sure I do. You know how you’ve been telling me to take a vacation.” She pulled her badge and laid it on his desk. “Consider this my notice.”

  She turned and walked out of the office, stopped by her desk, and grabbed her purse and keys. Working with that man wasn’t an option. She enjoyed her freedom too much. If made to work with him, she would not only turn him into a dog, she would kill him.

  Parker grinned like the cat that ate the canary the entire way home. Walking out had made her feel better, giving her an instant gratification and sense of relief. Quinn Montgomery was history. She tossed her keys and purse on the table as she walked into her house. She went straight for the freezer, pulled out her half-eaten gallon of chocolate ice cream, and then got a spoon from the drawer.

  An hour later, while she lay on her couch rubbing her upset stomach, her doorbell rang. “Go away. No one is home.”

  It rang again.

  “I said no one is home. Go away.”

  It rang a third time. She rolled off the couch, marched to the door, and yanked it open with an intent to cause bodily harm to whomever was behind the interruption of her vacation.

  Quinn stood on her porch. Remi barked and ran to the door and tried to lick his legs. Traitor.

  “Do you remember the animal I threatened to turn you into if you ever came back?”

  Quinn grinned. “A dog.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  Quinn pulled on a string that was tucked down into his shirt. He pulled out the amulet and held it up. “I came prepared, and I need you to hear me out before you try any other spells. It’s important.”

  She clenched her fists and disregarded his statement until he showed her the book that was tucked underneath his arm.

  “This is official Fae business.”

  He handed her the book.

  “Page 215, paragraph 5, and subparagraph 2.”

  Parker took the book and walked back into her house. She heard her front door shut and knew that he’d followed her. “What are you talking about?”

  She sat down and started flipping.

  “Page 215, paragraph 5, and subparagraph 2,” he said again. “It’s been brought to my attention that, according to that book and the laws of our kind, that when I declared you as my chosen queen, well, I screwed us both without even realizing it.”

  Parker’s eyes widened. Her hands stilled, and she glanced up. “Oh no you didn’t. You aren’t king.”

  She glanced down again, flipped quickly to the page, and ran her finger down the text to find page 215, paragraph 5, subparagraph 2.

  Any male, while in the capacity of king, who announces and declares his chosen queen to the subjects of his land will be declaring his intentions. From that point forth, the queen shall be immediately recognized by the public and treated as such. Their marriage shall be binding from the moment of declaration until the ceremony has officially bonded the two.

  Sixty days hence, with no binding ceremony, the king will forfeit his claim of marriage, and the declaration shall go unrecognized and considered broken.

  Parker plopped down on the couch and slammed the book closed. Her eyes were glazed as she stared at a spot on her wall. This wasn’t happening. No… This isn’t right. He’s not king.

  “You aren’t the king anymore. You gave it up.” She stood and held the book back out to him. “I’d like you to leave.”

  He stood. “Parker, it reads, ‘any man, while in the capacity of king’….” He stepped closer and put his hand over hers on the book. “I was in the capacity when I declared it.”

  She shoved the book at him and yanked her hand back. “You were joking.” She shook her head. “That passage doesn’t apply.”

  Quinn hugged the book to his chest and tilted his head. “I’m afraid it does. Face it, Parker, by the laws of our people, we’re married.”

  She stormed over to the kitchen bar and yanked a calendar off the wall. She was in the process of counting days and flipping pages when he spoke again. “Forty-two days.”

  She glanced up.

  “Forty-two days, and if we aren’t married, the vow is broken.”

  She grinned. “Perfect.” She walked to the door and pulled it open. “Thanks for stopping by. Now if you don’t mind…”

  He moved to the door and paused. He lifted a hand to her cheek but didn’t lean in to kiss her. His hand was warm and inviting and gave her a taste of what she’d been missing. She shook her head and cupped her hand over his. “I told you not to beg because it won’t do any good. It’s too late, Quinn.”

  He leaned in and pressed a tender kiss to her lips. “I’ll never quit trying.”

  Parker’s breath hitched. No, no, no, he wasn’t doing this to her. “Please leave.”

  “One date, one proper date, you promised.”

  “That was before. There’s no way to take back what you said.”

  He leaned his head against hers. “Not even if your king demands it?”

  She patted his hand. “Not even then.”

  He handed her the book and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be by tomorrow to drop off your things.”

  For forty-one days straight, two things happened like clockwork. Parker stayed up reading the sacred book, and Quinn was on her porch waiting on her when she came home from work. He’d withdrawn his request to work with her unit the very next day and she’d returned to work. He’d wormed his way in the night after his visit when he’d come to return her overnight bag. He’d brought her a plant, and not just any plant, but a fern, and on top of that, he’d named it Wilma.

  Her heart had started cracking that night. The next night it had been chocolates, the night after, her favorite ice cream. The night after that had been pizza and a movie, and the night after that he’d brought a new collar and dog bowl for Remi. Every night she’d let him stay longer and longer. She’d missed his company as much as he’d claimed to miss hers.

  His stays turned longer each night. He’d broken through some of the pain and hurt he’d caused, and they’d talked. Well, he had; she’d just listened. She’d learned the contents of the DVD and had listened to what happened when he’d gone to visit his father. He’d told her intimate details about his childhood and growing up. Therapy for him? Maybe. Did it help her to better understand him? Definitely.

  On the forty-second day, she pulled up expecting to see him sitting on her porch where he had been for the last month and a half. He wasn’t there. Her heart sank into her toes. She glanced down at her phone. No missed call and no text. She got out of the SUV and bounded up the steps to her door, hoping that maybe he’d left a note. There was no sign he’d even been by. She’d been anticipating seeing him all day. She had stuff to tell him. Stuff from the book that he needed to know. Stuff that might change the status of whatever it was they had.

  She stepped inside the house and leaned back against the door. Flower petals were strewn on her floor in a line, but they didn’t lead upstairs like she would have assumed. They lead to her back door. She followed them, pushed the French door opened, and stepped out onto her porch.

  The pedals continued down the steps and around the house
and stopped in front of a building. A building that hadn’t been there yesterday. Her hand flew to her mouth, and a tear slipped down her cheek. The building was a greenhouse. She moved to the door, unsure that she wasn’t hallucinating, and pushed the doors open.

  Quinn was standing in the middle of the greenhouse. His black tuxedo stood out against the various colors from of plants and flowers that surrounded him. “Why?”

  He grinned. “’Cause it makes you smile.”

  Another tear slipped out. “How?”

  “A lot of hard, quick workers and a nursery.”

  She ran her fingers over Wilma’s leaves. She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  He took her hands in his and placed a gentle kiss on both. “It’s simple really.”

  She tilted her head and clenched her bottom lip between her teeth to keep it from trembling.

  Quinn reached up and stroked her tear away. “I love you.”

  She shook her head and lowered her gaze. Her words came out a whisper. “No, you don’t.”

  He lifted her chin with the crook of his finger. “Yes, baby, I’m afraid I do.”

  He lowered to one knee and pulled a box out of his jacket pocket.

  Her hand flew to her mouth. He wasn’t…he wouldn’t….oh my god… he was.

  He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles again. “There was a time when I didn’t think I even knew what those words meant.” He cleared his throat and looked up, holding her gaze. “I understand it now. It’s a feeling that seeps into not only your heart but also your soul. Love is one of life’s greatest blessings, even stronger than death. I love you, Parker McKenna, and I freely give you my heart and all that I am.”

  He flipped open the box. “Please be my queen.”

  She stepped back and let her hand drop. “About that…”

  He rose to his feet with a dejected look on his face. His head dropped forward.

  She quickly stepped toward him, cupped his cheeks, and kissed him. “You misunderstood. Yes, I’ll marry you, but you need to understand what that means.”