Royal Mate

by Juniper Hart

  She whipped her head up and gaped at him. “Really?” she whispered. “You really want to do that?”

  He nodded. “I want to be with you. In my mind, we already are. There is no reason to hide it from everyone else anymore.”

  Kristy eyed him, biting on her lower lip. She would be lying if she said the thought of being with him didn’t fill her with happiness, but was she ready to tell her brother?

  The same fears she’d had regarding their relationship before still existed, despite Keegan’s confessions.

  “Does Jeremy know you’re a…?” She let her sentence die, unsure of what was the appropriate word to use.

  “Lycan?” Keegan finished for her. “No.”

  Kristy’s mouth dropped open in shock.

  “What?” Keegan laughed. “I don’t tell him everything.”

  She closed her mouth, a small smile forming over her lips.

  What have you got to lose? she thought. You finally got the boy you’ve always wanted, and he is your fearless protector.

  Kristy snuggled back against Keegan’s naked body and nodded.

  “Yes,” she breathed. “Let’s tell the entire world.”

  She felt Keegan relax against her, and she realized that he had been worried she would refuse. It amused her to think he wasn’t as fearless as he seemed to be.

  Dawn brought the end of the storm, and Kristy woke up, lovingly gazing at Keegan’s face.

  It still seemed like what had happened between them in the cave had been a dream, but as his blue eyes fluttered open, she saw that it had not been.

  “The rain stopped,” she told him.

  He nodded. “It usually does,” he replied, smiling.

  Kristy sighed deeply. “We better get back before they do send search and rescue out for us,” she muttered, grabbing for her sodden clothes.

  “You’re probably right. I imagine they were probably out all night looking for you.”

  Kristy groaned suddenly and looked at Keegan in despair. “Crap!”

  “What?”

  “I have to tell the Swedes that I didn’t find their ring,” she said, remembering why she had come to the cave in the first place. “And what’s worse is that if it was at the sandbar and I missed it, the rain probably washed it away by now!”

  Keegan snickered slightly.

  “What’s so funny?” Kristy demanded. “I don’t want to tell them I couldn’t find it! I feel like I’m going to spend the entire day grovelling for forgiveness, even though it’s Inga’s fault for bringing the stupid thing with her in the first—”

  “She found the ring.”

  Kristy stared uncomprehendingly at Keegan. “What?”

  “Inga found the ring in her bag,” he repeated. “She had apparently put it there for safe-keeping and forgot. It was only until they got back that she remembered.”

  “What?” Kristy cried again. “You have got to be kidding me!”

  Keegan laughed and shook his head. “Nope.”

  Kristy didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  But as she looked at her lover, she knew she was exactly where she was supposed to be, and she did not regret it for an instant.

  Maybe what I owe Sven and Inga is my gratitude, she thought.

  It was exactly then that Kristy realized that it was actually possible for people to be as happy as the newlyweds had appeared to be; after all, she was experiencing that same happiness in that moment.

  THE END

  Click Here to Read the Entire Shifter Pursuit Series

  2

  Shifter Pursuit Series: Small Town Girl

  Erica bobbed her head rhythmically, barely noticing the looks of the other passengers as she muttered along to the lyrics of Diddy in a lone tone.

  Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and Erica peered back at the stern-looking gentleman in the seat behind her with inquisitive blue eyes.

  She popped her earbuds out. “Yes?” she asked sweetly.

  “Miss,” he said curtly. “Would you mind not swearing? My wife finds whatever you are mumbling very distressing.”

  Slightly embarrassed, Erica cranked her neck further to the man’s wife, who wore the same reproving expression as her husband.

  “Of course,” she replied, sighing as she sat back against the seat, sinking slightly lower as if to disappear.

  You’re back home now, she reminded herself, gazing around at the townsfolk riding the bus with her through Camden. Gotta remember to keep the big city out of here before someone drops into cardiac arrest by use of the word “damn.”

  In all fairness, “damn” was not the word she had sung repeatedly through their trip along I-13 toward Dover Marketplace.

  Erica sighed quietly, leaving her iPod off as she stared out the window, wondering how it could only be July.

  Two more months in cursed Delaware, she thought mournfully, but the sentiment was not genuine agony. Despite being a big city girl born in a small-town girl’s body, Erica loved her family.

  Over the past years, she had been invited to her friends’ homes in various cities throughout the United States for summer vacation, but she always passed, knowing that she would regret not having spent time with her sister and parents.

  They already hate that I go to school so far away, Erica thought ruefully as the bus steered toward the mall.

  She rose, ready to meet her sister for lunch, skipping down the steps onto the platform.

  Pausing to readjust her wide-brimmed hat, she glanced down at her chic minidress to ensure her belt was still securely sashed against her flat stomach. She nodded at herself in satisfaction before wandering toward the entrance of the mall to find Hailey.

  Passersby cast Erica curious glances, not recognizing the attractive, stylish woman to be a part of their tiny community of three-and-a-half thousand people.

  It was not that Erica wasn’t proud of her roots; quite on the contrary. She loved everything about the small town—she simply knew she did not belong there.

  As she approached her sister, her platform shoes stomping against the ground, Hailey saw her and ran to greet her, pulling her into a hug.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry I couldn’t come and get you!” she breathed. “I wouldn’t have had enough time to go and come back.”

  Erica waved her hand dismissively. “Don’t worry, I enjoyed the ride! I offended a bunch of old people with my music choices,” she replied, and Hailey laughed, her cheeks growing pink with familiar embarrassment.

  Hailey was exactly the opposite of Erica: shy, reserved, and very much country.

  Still, they were closer than any two sisters could be, and Erica desperately missed her when she was away at school.

  “You must be bored out of your mind,” Hailey said, leading Erica toward the only restaurant in the mall, a Waffle House. She looked at her nervously. “It’s all right if we eat here, isn’t it?” she asked worriedly. “I mean… I don’t know of any nicer place where we can go quickly before I have to get back to work.”

  Erica smiled patiently at her sister and reached for her arm to link hers through. “You know I’m still the same sister you’ve always had, right?” she asked, laughing.

  “I know,” Hailey said, exhaling slowly. “It’s just that you’re so fancy now.”

  Erica scoffed. “I’ve always been fancy,” she retorted as they waited to be seated. She lowered her voice dramatically. “Remind me to grab some spray cheese. Mom and Dad don’t have a single can, can you believe that?”

  Hailey burst into laughing and shook her dark hair, so alike her sister’s. “For as healthy as you eat, I can’t believe you still indulge in that crap,” she teased.

  Erica shrugged. “Everyone needs a vice,” she said, winking one of her blue eyes at her.

  The hostess sat them, and the sisters fell into an easy chatter.

  “So, what’s going on with you and Kevin?” Erica asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is he going to get off his butt and propose already?”

  Hailey fl
ushed and stared down at the table, making Erica laugh. If anyone was shyer than Hailey, it was her boyfriend, Kevin.

  “I hope so,” Hailey whispered, and now Erica arched both of her eyebrows.

  They had been dating for two years, and as far as Erica knew, their relationship was solid. She wondered if there was anything holding Kevin back from proposing to her sister.

  Might be worth investigating, she thought wryly. Especially since I have nothing but time on my hands while I’m home.

  “How about you?” Hailey asked, apparently eager to change the subject. “Any boyfriends?”

  Erica thought back to something she and her sorority sisters had been told some time ago: something about strange creatures and finding a mate. Erica hadn’t known what to make of it all.

  She shook her head. Now was not the time to think of such nonsense. “A few,” Erica joked, grinning, but Hailey looked aghast.

  “Who?” she demanded, and Erica reached into her purse for her cell. Her face lit up with interest as Erica opened a dating app.

  “Well,” Erica drawled, holding out her phone for Hailey to see. “There are these three guys back at home whom I’m going to meet when I get back in September—provided they aren’t all married by then.”

  Hailey giggled.

  “And then,” Erica continued, “there are two here in Delaware whom I’m hoping will fill my days while you and Mom and Dad are at work.”

  Hailey’s blue eyes widened in disbelief. “Five guys?” she gasped. “Wow! How do you do it, Erica?”

  Erica cringed. “I technically don’t have any guys right now,” she reminded Hailey. “Only potentials.”

  Hailey nodded her head. “So, when do you meet the ones here?”

  Erica studied Hailey’s face and realized that her older sister was living vicariously through her.

  I got to leave Camden and go to college while she is stuck here, answering phones for a mall lawyer.

  “I think I’ve been putting it off,” Erica confessed. “But I should get on it.”

  “Yes!” Hailey agreed enthusiastically. “You should message them right now and tell them to meet you this week!”

  Slowly, Erica nodded and pulled up her messages. “You’re right,” she conceded. “There’s no time like the present.”

  Walt was devastatingly handsome.

  It was the first thing Erica noticed when he sauntered into the café where they had arranged to meet, a few blocks away from her family’s home.

  Once she laid eyes on him, her heart stopped for a fleeting second, blood rushing to her face.

  Woah! He is much better than Jerry from yesterday, she thought, recalling the boring date with the IT nerd from Harrington. Sure, Jerry had been nice, but Walt was the epitome of everything sexy. And he knew it.

  It was apparent in every move he made, from the way he opened the door to the café, right down to his swagger at the table. He grinned down at her cockily, his bronze face accenting brilliant white teeth and glittering hazel eyes.

  “Wow,” he declared, flopping unceremoniously onto the chair in front of him. “Your pictures don’t do anything for how hot you are in person.”

  Erica was sure she had never been more turned off in her life. All of Walt’s appeal vanished right then and there.

  “Emily, right?” he continued before she could even utter a word, and she gaped at him.

  “Seriously?” she snapped. “You can’t even get my name right? It’s Erica!”

  His smirk didn’t fade as he shrugged his broad shoulders and puffed out his chest, snapping his fingers for the nearby server.

  “Close enough,” he replied.

  Is this guy for real?

  Erica looked around, as if she were expecting a crew and cameramen to jump out and announce that she was on a prank show, but she was not so lucky.

  “Are you the one who sent me pics of your tits?” Walt asked, his voice grating on her as he continued snapping louder and clapping his hands to catch the waitress’ eye.

  It was clear to Erica that she was deliberately ignoring him, and she took a small pleasure in that.

  “Because I gotta say, your tits are awesome!” Walt continued, turning fully around to yell for the waitress. “Hey, honey! I’ve been calling you for ten minutes now!”

  Erica had had enough. “I have to go,” she gasped. “You’re… I can’t… Just, wow.”

  She couldn’t finish her thought coherently as she snatched her black clutch from the table and jumped from her seat.

  “Woah! Wait!” Walt yelled after her, but Erica didn’t turn around, desperate to put as much distance between her and the primate at the table. She hurried up Willow Grove Road, traumatized that she had even endured five minutes with such a man, shaking her head in disbelief.

  How has he not been tarred and feathered? Erica wondered, making her way to her parents’ house on Plum Street.

  She shuddered, determined to shower off the entire encounter.

  At least Hailey will find this amusing, she thought, not noticing the figure slowly following her slowly as she made her way home.

  Her cell chimed, and Erica’s brow furrowed slightly. She didn’t recognize the number, and as she opened up the text, she froze, scowling.

  It was a picture of a man’s penis.

  You’re a pig, she texted back immediately.

  She waited for a cocky response, but she didn’t get one, and so Erica blocked his number.

  He’s pathetic, she thought, shaking her head. What is wrong with these men?

  Ever since meeting Walt two days earlier, she’d been receiving obscure messages via text and email. Some had been pictures of male genitalia while others were flirty, stupid messages.

  Something is wrong with this guy, she told herself, reaching for her earbuds and iPod. I should report him to all dating apps for being such a weirdo. How do these creeps get away with it? Do women ever fall for this kind of crap?

  Erica sincerely hoped not.

  Slipping the device into her armband, she began warming up for her jog, stretching out her arms and legs before leaving the house.

  Erica jogged every morning around ten, starting at the house and doing a three-mile loop around her neighborhood. The path varied from time-to-time, depending on her mood, but Erica was a creature of habit most days, enjoying her regime as it was.

  It’s worked for me for years, she reasoned as she ventured out toward the street, turning on her music. She started on the sidewalk at an even pace, her body working up to a faster stride, and soon she was almost running as she made the trek.

  Abruptly, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, as if she was being watched.

  Erica slowed her pace and looked around the residential neighborhood, trying to appear nonchalant, but the feeling would not subside.

  Someone was undeniably staring at her.

  She whirled fully around and tried to look in every direction at once, but she saw nothing.

  An elderly couple was working on their garden and a young mother was chasing her toddler around their front yard. No one looked like they didn’t belong, yet Erica could not shake the sensation that she was being watched. Closely.

  You’re imagining things, she told herself firmly, picking up the pace again. She chided herself for having stopped and breaking her stride, knowing she was uncharacteristically nervous. It’s because Walt has been sending you those disgusting emails and texts, she reasoned. He’s got you on edge.

  However, Erica couldn’t help looking over her shoulder as she ran off back toward her house.

  Darkness covered the sky at once, and Erica cringed without looking up.

  Great. Now it’s going to rain, she thought. On top of everything else…

  She bolted home, determined to beat the water, but the landscape had suddenly gone impossibly black. Fully sprinting now, Erica charged down her street and rushed inside the front door as the first splatter of rain pelted against the windowsills.

/>   Thunder growled, causing Erica to start, falling back against the door, her hand on her heart.

  Wow. Drama queen much? You’re turning into MJ, she chided herself, thinking of her sorority sister, who always seemed to have much more on her plate than she could handle.

  Despite knowing there was no actual reason to lock the door, Erica still did it, stepping away from the threshold afterward. She couldn’t recall the last time the door had been locked in their house.

  Whatever. Dateline is filled with stories about unsuspecting women who never lock their doors.

  Inhaling, she took the stairs to the second floor two at a time and entered her bedroom, where a thousand knives of terror pierced her heart.

  Sitting on her bed was every piece of underwear she owned, strewn over the comforter.

  Gasping, Erica’s hand flew to her mouth as she whirled to look around, terrified that whoever had done this was still in the bedroom.

  She willed herself to be calm, to breathe, but she was beginning to panic.

  Her head jerked to the side, and dizziness overwhelmed her when she saw a pair of bright eyes peering inside the rectangular window of her bedroom.

  They were not the eyes of a person, but rather a prehistoric creature with wide nostrils, flaring and angry as they looked directly into her fear-stricken eyes.

  Erica fell back against the wall, tightly closing her eyelids to shut the picture out, shaking her head as she tried to come to terms with what she was seeing against the black sky backdrop.

  When she looked again, the creature was gone.

  You’re imagining things, she told herself, trying to still her trembling hands as she ran to her dresser to find her cell phone and call 9-1-1. The stress is putting you over the edge.

  “Camden Police,” a woman answered, “what is your emergency?”

  Erica took a deep breath, trying to contain her terrified gasps. “Someone broke into my home.”

  The dispatcher asked for the address, and Erica could barely tell her the information she needed.

  “Is the intruder still in the house?” the dispatcher asked.