by Meg Ripley
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GET CAUGHT BETWEEN DRAGONS
Special Ops Shifters
The Complete Series Collection
Meg Ripley
Shifter Nation
Copyright © 2020 by Meg Ripley
www.redlilypublishing.com
All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be used or reproduced in any form without written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quoted passages left in an online review. This book is a fictional story. All characters, names, and situations are of the author’s creation. Any resemblances to actual situations or to persons who are alive or dead are purely coincidental.
This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only; this copy is not available for resale or to give to another reader aside from any transaction through Amazon’s e-book lending program.
Disclaimer
This book is intended for readers age 18 and over. It contains mature situations and language that may be objectionable to some readers.
Contents
Daddy Soldier Bear
Fake Mate For The Soldier Lion
Captured By The Soldier Wolf
Christmas With The Soldier Dragon
Co-written with Lark Sterling
Preview of Her Earth Mates: A Shifter Reverse Harem Romance
About the Author
Daddy Soldier Bear
Special Ops Shifters
1
Nikki brushed her blonde hair over her shoulder and took a deep breath. There was something about heading into a clan meeting that always made her feel more alive. Maybe not as alive as when she was in her bear form, running free and letting her inner beast take control, but her clan had agreed long ago to have all their meetings as humans. It was a little safer that way.
“Do you have all the notes from the last meeting?” Nikki asked as she pulled into the garage and checked her hair in the mirror.
Piper, her sister and her second-in-command, bobbed her head from the passenger seat. “I do. But there’s something I wanted to talk to you about before the meeting.”
“Can’t it wait?” Nikki loved her sister, but she also knew that Piper wasn’t as serious about clan business as she was. It was exactly why Nikki was Alpha, really. There was no doubting Piper’s dedication, but the girl still had some growing up to do. She stepped out of the car and through the door that led into the kitchen, pleased to see that someone had already put on a pot of coffee.
Piper fetched a couple of mugs from the cabinet. “No, not really. I feel like I’ve been trying to talk to you for weeks. But you never answer my phone calls anymore, and the only time I see you is at these meetings.” She turned to the fridge to get the creamer.
Nikki sighed, relenting. They’d arrived at the clubhouse early anyway, so she had a few minutes. “All right. I’m sorry. I’ve been really busy lately. There’s a lot going on, and all these people depend on me.” Nikki personally felt a great amount of comfort in being with her own kind, and she had a feeling she wasn’t the only one.
“I get it. I do.” Piper leaned against the granite countertop and smiled at her sister. “I care about everyone, too, but that’s exactly why I want to talk to you.”
A quick spark of adrenaline burned in Nikki’s veins. That sounded like trouble. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong, not really. I’m concerned about you, Nik. You keep yourself locked away all the time and never do anything unless it’s clan business. You’re going to get burned out, and you can’t take care of everyone else if you don’t take care of yourself first.”
Nikki narrowed her eyes at her little sister. “So what, you’re my mother now?”
Piper shoved out her bottom lip, a gesture leftover from their days when they were cubs. She could still do it just as well as she had twenty years ago. “Someone has to be.”
Setting her mug down, Nikki faced her sister. “I appreciate it, kiddo. But what do you expect me to do?”
“First of all,” Piper held up an indignant finger, “don’t call me kiddo. I’m only a couple of years younger than you, and that’s not very much now that we’re both adults. And second, what I want you to do is go out and have fun. There’s a new club opening downtown we could hit up, or we could relax and go see a movie together.”
So that’s what this is all about, Nikki mused. Piper just needs a little sister time. “Sure, we can do that sometime, just not this weekend. I’ve got plans with my guys.” Clint, Max, and Neal always showed her a good time, whether it was the weekend or a Wednesday at noon. She couldn’t resist them, and she didn’t even want to try.
If it were possible, Piper’s face turned even more sour. “Yeah, that’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about—”
“Nikki!” Clint’s voice barked through the spacious kitchen.
Nikki felt her insides lurch in his direction even before she spun around to look at him. Clint’s auburn hair and matching stubble made him look like a highlander outlaw, and she imagined that body of his wouldn’t look too bad in a kilt if he wanted to live out his heritage. Max and Neal flanked him.
Damn, they’re hot. Nikki tugged her lower lip with her teeth. How did I get so lucky? “What is it, boys?” she teased. “Can’t you see I’m busy?”
But Clint wasn’t in the mood for jokes or games. The guys were just as serious about club business as she was. “We’ve got an issue that can’t wait.”
There was always something, but that was fine. Nikki wasn’t the kind of person who’d sit on her hands. She liked to act, and problems meant she had a chance to find the solutions. “What is it? Something we should bring up at the meeting?”
Piper cleared her throat and tapped the clipboard of notes in her hand.
Clint ignored her. “You’ve heard that Justin and Matt have been fighting?”
Nikki rolled her eyes. It was no surprise that a few of her bears would get into it every now and then. After all, every one of them had an animal side, and sometimes that part of themselves was difficult to control. “So I’ll tell them to knock it off.”
“It’s more than just a few blows this time.” Max stepped forward, his dark eyes burning. “They got into it at Justin’s place, and it’s completely trashed. Broken furniture, busted drywall, everything.” He pulled out his phone and showed her several pictures. It was bad.
“Did they shift indoors? What the hell were they thinking?” Nikki frowned down into her coffee mug. She enjoyed taking care of her clan, but sometimes her job would be much easier if the others put in even a fraction of the effort that she did.
“That seems to be the case,” Clint confirmed, “and Justin rents. It’s got to be fixed, and right away before the landlord finds out.”
Nikki growled deep in her chest. She knew what he meant. The kind of damage they were talking about couldn’t be explained away by a simple drunken fight between a couple of guys. The holes in the walls were too big, and any normal human would probably be dead or hospitalized if they’d been involved. “I agree, but then what’s the problem?”
Neal ran a hand through his cropped brown hair. He was the least commanding of the three, but his boyish charm was irresistible. “They each think the other one should pay for it. Neither thinks they’re at fault, but it’s clear to us that Matt should pay up.”
“You sure about that?” There had been problems between Justin and Matt for quite some time, and Nikki had often
been called in to settle their disputes. In her opinion, neither one of them was innocent. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they were both at fault for this.”
“Sounds like we need to sit down with them and really assess the situation,” Piper offered. “If this has escalated to more than a bloody nose here and there, we’re going to have to take some permanent action. Are there any witnesses?”
Clint’s eyes were hard as he stared at Piper. “Of course not. They know better than to shift in front of anyone else.”
“But not smart enough to wait until they’re outdoors, alone in the woods somewhere?” Piper challenged.
“That’s enough!” Nikki snapped. “You three, head down into the meeting room. I’ll be there in a minute.”
“We can’t put this off any longer,” Max argued. “You need to make Matt pay.”
Something shifted and swirled inside Nikki, and she knew he was right. But she could also sense her sister waiting for her with her practicality and logic. It was like there were two people warring inside her. It was a sensation Nikki should’ve been used to, since she was always fighting with her inner bear, but this time it was different. “Get downstairs, and I’ll be there in a second,” she repeated.
Max’s fists were curled at his sides, and the muscles in Clint’s neck looked like they were about to explode from his skin. Neal bobbed from side to side on his feet like a boxer preparing for a fight. Nikki expected another argument from them, but they eventually retreated down the wide wooden staircase that led to the meeting room in the basement.
Nikki felt her muscles loosen slightly now that they were gone. “I guess I’ve got my work cut out for me tonight.” It wouldn’t be an easy meeting where they could go over a few notes and make sure everyone was okay. No, those days were long in the past.
“Listen, Nik—”
Nikki put up a hand to stop her sister. She turned away and looked through the French doors that led out onto the back deck and overlooked the surrounding woodland. It was a scene that always comforted her, knowing the wilderness was never that far away. It was one of the main reasons she’d bought this house to use a meeting place for her clan. The sprawling home was much more modern than the copious amount of historic buildings that graced Eureka, California, but it was out of the way and discreet behind a stone wall and a gate. There were plenty of extra bedrooms in case someone was down on his or her luck and needed a place to stay, and anyone who needed some time in their other form could slip out the back door and lumber off into the woods.
Without another word of explanation, Nikki turned and headed down into the meeting room. She drew in a deep breath as they went through their opening ceremonies, tuning her ears purposefully as Piper went over the notes. She held her head regally as both Justin and Matt told her their sides of the story.
Her eyes slid from one to the other. The aggrieved men watched her with anticipation, as did everyone else in the room. It was a comfortable place, with wood paneling on the walls and a thick carpet, but she could feel the tension writhing through the air like thick smoke. Nikki knew that every decision she made impacted not only her and the people involved, but the entire clan. Her calls set precedents and laws that everyone else would be compelled to obey. She had to do everything right.
“I hope the two of you understand that this can’t go on,” she intoned, finally breaking the silence. “You’ve been fighting long enough. It might have all started over a woman, but your beef with each other has changed so many times since then, you don’t even know why you’re fighting anymore. But it’s becoming a much bigger problem, and it’s one that I can’t turn a blind eye to.”
Clint, standing at the back of the room with the other two, lifted his chin in the air. He didn’t have to say anything out loud for Nikki to know exactly what he was trying to communicate. Her heart twisted at having to defy him and the other two. After all, Clint, Max, and Neal were fated to her. The type of pull she felt toward them was more than an instinct. It was a command from her body and her heart. But she also had a destiny with this clan. Nikki ripped her eyes away from her mate and focused on Justin and Matt.
“The two of you will split the cost of the repairs,” she announced. “You’re both at fault, and you’ll both pay. And to really drive this lesson home, you will do the repairs together.”
Justin groaned and Matt rolled his eyes.
“If the two of you want to act like children, I’m more than happy to treat you as such,” she reminded them before dismissing the meeting.
Piper caught up with her on the stairs a few minutes later. “Look, we really need to talk.”
“I thought we already did,” Nikki said impatiently. God, does everyone have to be so needy today?
“But you need to hear this. Now,” Piper hissed. “I heard some of the others talking after the meeting.”
Nikki felt an exhaustion in her bones that was becoming more and more common lately. It made her want to go upstairs and lie down instead of making the drive back home. “I don’t think I care right now, Piper.”
“You should,” she cautioned. “They’re talking about you. They’re saying you only do what’s easiest for you instead of what’s best for the clan.”
They’d reached the top of the stairs now, and Nikki pulled Piper aside into the office. She threw herself into the leather chair behind the cherry desk. There was so much work in front of her, and the drama wasn’t helping. “Look, I don’t have the time or the energy for gossip right now. Some of our members are always going to have problems with me. It makes sense, since most of them have pretty strong personalities. They don’t like being told what to do, and they’ll have to get over it. Gossiping about it isn’t going to do any good.”
“But—”
“Just stop!” Nikki slammed her fist down on the desk, sending a cup of pens crashing to the floor. “I said I didn’t want to hear it! I don’t understand what your problem is lately, Piper. Are you jealous or something?”
“What?” Piper took a step back and tipped her head to the side, her lips curling and rolling in either confusion or rage. “I’m not jealous. If anything, I’m one of the few people around here who still respects you now that—”
“Excuse me?” Nikki jumped to her feet, sending the chair crashing into the wall behind her. “You want to come in here and tell me how to do my job, and then try to act like you’re the only one who’s in the right? I’m fucking tired of this, Piper! I made you my second because I thought you deserved it, but now I’m starting to wonder.”
“What’s going on in here?” Clint filled the doorway, his shoulders back and his wide chest forward.
“It’s none of your business!” Piper snarled.
Nikki felt her skin ripple with the urge to shift. How dare Piper talk to us this way? She’d never respected her bond with her triad, and if there was any tension in the clan they needed to address, it was that.
“I beg to differ,” Max argued before Nikki had a chance to respond. “You’re getting her upset. We’re not going to tolerate that.” He folded his arms in front of his chest.
“She’s a big girl; she can handle herself,” Piper retorted. “You might be her mates, and whatever the four of you do after hours isn’t my business, but you’re forgetting that I’m second here. If I need to have a discussion with our Alpha, then that’s my right.”
“Come on, Nikki. You don’t have to listen to this bullshit. Let’s go home.”
Neal’s soft, emerald-green eyes absorbed Nikki. She knew there was still plenty of business to take care of there at the clubhouse. But the only place she truly wanted to be was at home with her men. They were her rocks, and their pull on her was a strong one. She felt sorry for anyone who hadn’t felt that magical pull yet. They were truly missing out.
“That sounds perfect.” Leaving the chair and desk in disarray—and her sister spluttering angrily behind her—Nikki allowed her men to fold her into the safety of their arms as they escorted her out of th
e clubhouse.
2
Dr. Drake Sheridan collapsed into his office chair. He’d already worked a long night shift at the VA, but that didn’t mean his workday was over. He and the men he’d served with had made a commitment to shifters all over the country, and he wasn’t about to give it up now.
The morning sun was lighting up the interior of his office, coming through the massive window behind his back and warming his shoulders. He was just about to get a cup of coffee when his second phone—the one used strictly for Force business—rang. “Sheridan here.”
“Oh, thank god I could get a hold of you,” rushed a breathless voice on the other end. “Listen, I don’t know if you’ll be able to do anything for me, and I know you guys probably handle stuff that’s much bigger than this normally, but I thought I’d give you a try, and if you can’t, then I’ll figure something else out—”
“Hey, hey…slow down,” Drake said soothingly. This wasn’t the first person he’d talked to over the phone who was at their wit’s end. The regional conclaves served the clans well when they needed something, but no one contacted the Special Ops Shifter Force unless the situation was dire. “Why don’t you start by telling me who you are?”
“Oh, sorry.” The caller took a deep breath. “My name is Piper Clarkson. I’m the beta of the Eureka, California bear clan.”
“Thanks for calling, Piper.” Instinctively, Drake was using his bedside voice, knowing that the way he spoke was often more important than what he said when someone was scared. “Tell me what’s going on.”