by Katie Reus
Dark Protector
Moon Shifter Series
Katie Reus
He walked away once; he won’t do it again.
Wolf shifter Aldric Kazan is no stranger to pain. Since the loss of his mate a century ago, he won’t allow himself to fall for someone again—not even the feisty female who stirs things in him that he thought were gone long ago. But as a supernatural investigator, he’s forced to team up with the same woman he vowed to stay away from.
She let him in once; she refuses to do it again.
Natalia Cordona refuses to back down from any challenge—even if it means joining forces with Aldric, the sexy and brooding man who won’t get too close. Locating missing vampires before a volatile war breaks out seems nearly impossible as the duo struggle with their explosive and undeniable attraction. Now it’s up to Natalia and Aldric to trust each other to stop an all-out war from breaking out that would destroy the harmony they’ve all worked so hard for.
Dark Protector
Copyright © 2016 Katie Reus
Cover Art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Editors: Deborah Nemeth; Julia Ganis, JuliaEdits.com
Digital formatting by Author E.M.S.
* * *
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
eISBN: 9781942447931
Table of Contents
About DARK PROTECTOR
Copyright
Dedication
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
Epilogue
Thank You for Reading!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Complete Booklist
Dedication
For every single reader who asked for Aldric and Natalia’s story.
Chapter 1
Arthur kept his posture relaxed as he waited alone in the woods. It was unusually cold for October in upstate New York. Already in the twenties. He wore a thick coat, though not to protect himself from the weather. As a three-hundred-plus-year-old vampire the weather didn’t bother him much. But he had on a protective vest. Not that it would help if someone decided to take a head shot.
He was fast though. Faster than a bullet. And…he had to take this meeting. His coven had been feuding with the Kinley lupine shifter pack for over a century. In the past decade things had finally settled down. Partially because over twenty years ago, some foolish members of the supernatural races had decided to go public with the humans about their existence. So now they had to play a lot nicer or risk fallout from the neurotic humans who thought they were all monsters in the dark, waiting to drain them dry.
As if vampires, shifters and other supernatural beings hadn’t been around just as long as humans.
It had only been a matter of time anyway, he supposed. With all the technology out there nowadays, one of those vampire or shifter videos on YouTube was bound to be believed.
An icy wind whispered through the bare trees. The moon glowed high in the sky, illuminating the thicket of trees and snow-covered ground.
He didn’t bother looking at his watch. The male he was waiting for, the second-in-command to the Kinley pack, was late.
It could be a power play, or the male might have gotten caught in the sudden onslaught of snow not long ago. Arthur was betting on the latter. He would have gotten caught but he’d simply flown over it. Now all was quiet.
Arthur hadn’t even told his own mate where he was going tonight. He’d just said he had a meeting. Which wasn’t a complete lie, but he didn’t like withholding information. A lie of omission was still a lie, especially to a mate. But this meeting was too important to their races. At first he’d been surprised that the male had reached out to him, but once he’d explained he wanted to discuss an ongoing relationship between a member of Arthur’s coven and one of the Kinley pack, he’d agreed.
So Arthur had gone to a ridiculous sex club run by one of his people, left his phone and left via underground means so it would be difficult for anyone to follow him. The owner of the club was a friend and had allowed him the use of one of the private exits. He hadn’t asked questions either. Which was why they were friends.
At a sudden shift in the air, he straightened, inhaling deeply. The icy air cut at his lungs. Someone was out there, headed his way. A lupine shifter?
But… He inhaled again. Not the male he waited for. He knew that scent. This scent was…not shifter. Not animal either. Something was wrong with the smell—it was chemical, not natural.
Instinctively going into battle mode, he called on his gift, harnessed that inherent ancient power inside him and lifted his body into the air. Not all vampires could fly, maybe five or ten percent, and he was one of the few.
As he glided higher, passing bare tree branches, he swiveled in the air, scanning out below him for—
Something sharp pierced his neck. He automatically reached for the stinging area, his gloved hand pulling away a…dart.
Scanning the trees quickly he looked for the perpetrator. Already his body was slowing, his flight jerky. There.
A hooded figure crouched on a pine tree branch halfway up the spindly trunk.
His eyes started to droop, the poison working its way through his veins. The pain silver would inflict wasn’t slicing through him, eating away at his insides and organs. He was simply slowing down. Which might mean someone wanted him alive.
No! He refused to be captured like an animal.
A burst of adrenaline poured through him as he ordered his body in the other direction, flying through the trees at a jagged, out-of-control pace.
He couldn’t go higher, but he could move forward at least. Except he was moving nearer to the ground every moment, flying into a crash landing no matter how hard he tried to order his body higher.
A branch slapped him in the face as he raced through the biting, whipping air. Under any other circumstance he’d stay and fight. Now he could barely control himself, knew he wouldn’t last in hand-to-hand combat.
Rage surged through him. He couldn’t believe he’d been taken down by a fucking dart.
He couldn’t contact anyone either. Not when they’d agreed to go completely dark.
His only hope was to escape whoever had attacked him, and pray he awoke before the attacker found him. Unless of course he was wrong and even though this wasn’t silver, it was something else that would kill him.
He plunged in a sharp vertical drop as whatever was pump
ing through his system took hold, moving faster and faster through his bloodstream.
He slammed into the icy, white ground, face-first.
He growled, lifting an arm to drag his body somewhere, anywhere. But there was nothing but forest and snow all around him. The very reason he and the lupine shifter had picked this location to meet in the first place.
This lack of control over his body had all his muscles tightening as he strained. His mate might never know what happened to him. That was the only thing he could think of now. He never wanted to cause her an iota of pain. He growled low in his throat, trying to will his body to work.
“It’s useless to fight the drug,” a female voice whispered from somewhere behind him.
Because of the wind, or maybe because he was quickly losing consciousness, he couldn’t pinpoint where exactly. Nothing made sense anymore. He groaned, trying to move away, his claws digging into the snow and earth. He pulled himself, muscles straining, but…he didn’t budge an inch.
“That’s right, just let go.” Her voice was soft, musical. And…familiar.
Another sharp sting hit his neck right before a furious blackness swept him under.
* * *
Natalia stalked across the main yard of the Armstrong-Cordona ranch where she lived with her pack. Once just the Cordona pack, they’d recently united with a pack of incredibly strong males and had a new Alpha: Connor Armstrong.
She didn’t bother knocking when she reached Ana and Connor’s place. Since they were the pack’s Alpha couple, their home was always open unless the front door was locked. Then it was clear the two were getting busy and everyone should stay away.
As soon as she stepped inside she scented cinnamon. Immediately her mouth watered and she followed the scent trail to, of course, the kitchen. Homemade baking was the very reason she’d come here. Because she planned to liberate some cookies to bribe a certain enforcer who was mated to her best friend. Or attempt to bribe the annoying male anyway.
She needed to get off the ranch, like yesterday. And Jayce was her ticket out of here if he would just listen to reason.
The house was quiet, though that made sense for a late morning Wednesday. Most people were out working on the ranch or at one of the many businesses the pack ran.
Today was one of Natalia’s days off from the various jobs she picked up and…it gave her too much time with her thoughts. She shoved aside anything that distracted her from her first mission and opened the pantry door. She knew exactly where her cousin kept stashes of the best cookies.
“Hey, peanut.” Ana’s voice startled Natalia as she stepped into the kitchen.
She spun from the open pantry door, knew she probably looked guilty as her cheeks heated up. “When did you get so good at sneaking up on people?”
Ana grinned and tugged once on Natalia’s ponytail. “Since my mate started teaching me just how stealthy I can be.”
“You’re getting good.”
“Will you hand me the slow cooker from the pantry?” Ana asked, moving to the refrigerator.
“Yeah.” She picked up the oversized black oval-shaped pot and set it on one of the counters before returning to the pantry.
“You stealing food again?” Ana didn’t turn around as she started pulling fresh veggies from the refrigerator.
“What do you think?” Now that her oldest sister had moved out to be with her new mate and her other sister had moved out to live with hers, it was just Natalia and Gloria. And yeah, she could cook but she wasn’t the best at baking. Right now she needed something really good.
Setting a bundle of long, uncut carrots on the counter, Ana turned to look at her as she stepped out of the pantry. Natalia had two big containers of cookies in hand. One was for herself—because bribery or not, a girl had to eat.
Ana’s dark eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “You planning on eating all those by yourself?”
Natalia plucked out two of the cinnamon sugar butter cookies. The scent alone made her mouth water. They wouldn’t make it out of the house. “Maybe.” She hadn’t really given an answer so that distinct acidic scent of a lie didn’t roll off her.
Ana snorted. “Don’t give me that. What’s going on with you? You’ve got a mischievous look. Is this about Aldric?”
Natalia snorted. She was not talking about that male. “Please.”
Her older cousin watched her carefully. “Connor gets home tonight. Why don’t you come by? Maybe we can talk about putting you on a job that will keep you busier? You did really well with…” She trailed off and Natalia figured she knew what Ana was going to say. She’d done really well with Aldric on his bounty hunting assignments. They weren’t pack related since Aldric wasn’t a member of their pack. But the truth was, Natalia had done well with him.
She’d loved the adrenaline and adventure. And she freaking missed it too. Since that jackass hadn’t been around in months she was determined to convince Jayce to put her on another mission. Hence the cookie bribery.
Her cousin cleared her throat. “You’re ridiculously organized and I know Connor needs a new assistant on an upcoming contract we just got.”
Talking about contracts and new jobs was so…normal. Over a year ago they’d dealt with the psycho APL—Antiparanormal League, a bunch of nuts who hated them because they were different than humans—only to deal with more insanity with vamp blood dealing and an evil, dark vampire hell-bent on mayhem and destruction of the world only six months ago.
Now, a year after that first scuffle with the APL, things were so different. Settled, even. There were multiple new matings, three very new cubs so tiny and adorable she could hardly stand it, and they had new packmates living on the ranch. Life here was wonderful again. Or it should be.
She cleared her throat. “Ah, maybe. Thank you.” She shoved another cookie in her mouth, not wanting to talk about taking on an assistant job. She wanted to get off the ranch, and if Jayce gave her a job, she’d be gone for a while. Exactly what she needed.
Ana covered the short distance between them in two strides and pulled her into a tight hug. Feeling pathetically needy, Natalia set the two containers of cookies to the side and hugged her back tight. As a lupine shifter she needed physical contact as a rule, but now she needed a damn hug.
“Men can be so stupid,” Ana murmured against her hair. “I’m so sorry, Natalia.”
The words made her feel better. And worse, since her cousin saw right through her. She wasn’t fooling anyone, no matter how hard she tried to hide her pain. God, getting off the ranch sounded like the best thing right about now—and she was damn determined to convince Jayce to let her in on whatever his next mission would be. She was a Cordona female and they didn’t do freaking pity parties.
Sniffling, she pulled back and managed a half-smile. “Thanks. I’ll be fine, I just, ugh, men are stupid.”
Dark-haired, petite Ana laughed lightly. Even though she was in her late sixties, she looked as if she was in her mid-twenties. Thanks to shifter genes they aged much slower than their human counterparts. “I’m here if you need me.”
“I know. Thanks.” With a sideways glance Natalia grabbed the two containers from the table and took the batches of confectionary goodness as she exited the kitchen.
Ana just sighed as if she’d expected it, and turned back to the pantry. Natalia knew Ana would have more snacks for the pack hidden so she didn’t feel too bad taking them.
Stepping out into the cool fall air, she inhaled the fresh scents. North Carolina was beautiful this time of year, though it was colder than normal.
The pack’s homes spread out in a sort of circle from the main house. Recently more houses and cabins had been built to accommodate their growing pack. Though they were on hundreds of acres of property, mainly forest, the homes were close together. Not so close that mates couldn’t have privacy, but packs needed to be together for a multitude of reasons, their biological nature being one, and also for safety.
A training facility had recently
been built next to one of their parking structures so she headed that way. Jayce, enforcer for The Council—and now a pseudo member of their pack since he was mated to one of her packmates—used it to train his two newest female enforcers.
When she stepped inside she scanned the huge warehouse structure. A huge strip of it was simply mats lined up. There was also a big cage the guys basically used to cage-fight in like complete barbarians. A trampoline was in one corner and along one wall was a bunch of workout equipment—some of which she had no idea what they were. And she didn’t actually care. She preferred to get her workouts in wolf form. The place smelled like sweat but it wasn’t unpleasant. The earthiness of it pleased her lupine nature.
Most of the males on the ranch used this place frequently now that it had been built. Probably more for male bonding than anything.
She’d taken a few steps in but when she realized she was alone, turned to leave.
“Natalia?”
Turning at Jayce’s voice, she saw him striding out from the door that led to the shower area. He wore cargo pants, a T-shirt and as usual his enforcer blades were strapped to his thighs. Her heart rate sped up. Now or never. She just had to convince him to take her on his next job. She was about to lose her damn mind here on the ranch. “Hey, just the male I was looking for.”
“Everything okay?” he asked, jogging toward her.