Shawn Spring Shifter Seasons

by Raines, Harmony

  “Yes?” They were all grateful to hear her voice even though she sounded about ready to chew someone’s head off.

  “Gerald is double-crossing you,” Joanna said quickly.

  “Of course he is,” came the snappy reply. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less.”

  “Fiona, you need to be careful. Gerald wants to get his hands on your treasure.” Joanna’s fear that Fiona was not taking this seriously enough grew.

  “I thought he might.” Fiona huffed. “Listen, I want to take this guy down. And I wanted to make it too tempting for him to ignore me. I realize it’s a gamble, I really do, but I’ve met men like Gerald Comer before and I know how to handle him. And I knew I had backup.”

  “It’s risky. For all of us,” Joanna replied. She hated the idea of Shawn never making it home to Jane. She also hated the idea of anything happening to any of them. She couldn’t live without Shawn and he would never be happy if anything happened to Joanna.

  “It was risky for Yvette. But she took that risk. Alone.” Fiona’s voice cracked with emotion, her usual hard exterior splintering as she drove toward her fate. “I have to do this for her. I need to know she is safe and that will only ever happen if Gerald is behind bars. Now, you can either help me or stand aside.”

  “You have a family of your own,” Shawn said over Joanna’s shoulder. “What happens to them if something happens to you?”

  “Nothing is going to happen to me,” Fiona said firmly. “I am not going to let a man like Gerald Comer ruin anyone else’s life. Including my own.”

  “Okay.” There was no point in arguing with Fiona. “We’re with you.”

  “So, what is the plan?” Fiona asked. “I assume you have a plan.”

  “That’s why I called,” Joanna said with infinite patience. “We’re going to need to work together on this.”

  “What do you need me to do?” Fiona asked.

  Joanna quickly explained how they were going to take out the men inside so that only Gerald was left standing. “There’s more,” Joanna added.

  “Is there?” Fiona asked.

  “I’ve come up with an idea. One that will mean Gerald won’t believe in dragons.” Joanna only hoped her crazy plan would work. “You would need to be in the right position and the timing would have to be perfect.” She explained her plan to Fiona.

  “I like your idea. And I think between us we can pull it off.” Fiona let out a long breath. “Thank you for being here with me. Now, let’s take this bastard down.”

  “Language,” Shawn said but Fiona had already ended the call.

  “Are we ready?” Trent asked, eyeing his traveling companions critically.

  “We are,” Joanna replied and took hold of Shawn’s hand. “Side by side.”

  “We’re in this together.” Shawn smiled at her, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. He was scared. She could read it in his expression. This was not what he did. Shawn was a doctor, a man who saved lives, and yet here they were about to go into battle.

  A small fight is not a battle, her wolf told her.

  It is a battle, Joanna replied. One that will seal the fate of people like Clara’s sister, Gilly, and all the other women caught up in this.

  We will win, her wolf told her firmly. We are strong.

  Joanna simply hoped they were strong enough.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven – Shawn

  His cougar had never really fought before. Not for his life. Not for the life of his mate and other people who were depending on him.

  “We need to move,” Joanna said as Trent stopped along the road from the hotel and they got out, running toward the back entrance that led into the kitchen. Or so they hoped.

  Joanna had been here yesterday and gotten a good look around, but they were all acting with the belief things would work out for them rather than any hard scientific fact.

  Shawn liked facts. Being a doctor was all about tests and results made by machines that didn’t act on instinct.

  “Are you all right?” Trent asked Shawn. “You could always wait in the car.”

  “No, I’m fine. I have your backs. Or your fronts, whatever you need.” Shawn gave a short laugh and ran his tongue across his teeth as his lips stuck to them. “I’m nervous.”

  I’m not, his cougar replied. I’ll fight with teeth and claws until the bad guys are crawling on the ground begging for mercy.

  “I’m nervous, too,” Joanna said before Shawn had a chance to answer his cougar. “It’s a good thing, believe me.”

  “It’s what keeps you alive,” Trent agreed as they went around the back of the hotel. “It’s what stops you from believing you are invincible.”

  “Thanks.” Shawn ran his hand through his hair and inhaled the scent of his mate as she sidled up beside him. His courage rocketed. With Joanna by his side, he would take them all down. He needed to protect her and keep her alive. For both their sakes and for Jane.

  “Fiona is around the front keeping Gerald busy, but not for long.” Joanna looked over her shoulder toward the front of the hotel. They could all hear the conversation between Fiona and Gerald.

  “Is she really calling him out and asking him if this is a setup?” Trent asked.

  “She is.” Shawn chuckled. “Come on. Let’s do this.”

  Trent nodded and they ran together into the backyard of the hotel. Trent went first, running up the steps to the back door which led into the kitchen. He turned the handle and the door swung open, revealing five men, and one woman, who was holding a baby.

  “Baby,” Trent said to Shawn and he dashed forward, his arms open to take the baby from the woman.

  “Let’s do this nice and quietly,” Shawn said to the woman as she backed away, the baby pressed tightly against her body.

  “I’ll hurt her,” the woman threatened.

  “Do you really want to do that?” Shawn asked as the room behind him exploded in a tornado of fur and fangs.

  The woman’s eyes went wide but she didn’t relinquish her grip on the baby. “I’m going to leave with her, and you are going to let me.”

  “That is not going to happen,” Shawn replied.

  “She’s my baby and I can do what I want.” The woman challenged him with her words but her nervousness as Joanna’s wolf snarled and took out one of the men drew a gasp from her lips.

  “The baby is staying here. She needs a medical examination.” Shawn tilted his head to one side as he assessed the woman. “Why don’t you give her to me and leave?”

  “No.” She shook her head and tightened her arms around the baby.

  Snarls and hisses mingled with groans as two men and a wolf lay on the ground injured. For a moment Shawn’s heart stalled. Was that Joanna’s wolf? But then he saw her, a magnificent creature snarling and snapping at another of the men in the kitchen.

  Shawn switched his attention back to the woman and baby. They were running out of time, Fiona and Gerald would be here any moment, he had to get the baby.

  “Mimi? Is that baby Mimi?” A woman appeared in the open kitchen doorway. She fit the description of the young woman Joanna had spoken to yesterday. “It is. That’s the dress I bought for her.”

  She ran forward but the woman holding the baby backed away, heading toward the door leading into the hotel.

  “Give me the baby.” Shawn slid his hands around the small child and eased her toward him, but the woman was not letting go.

  Not until the young woman, Clara, pulled her fist back and smacked it into the other woman’s face.

  A shocked expression crossed the woman’s face and for a moment she stood still, dazed, her eyes unseeing. Then she fell backward, her arms flailing as she slipped to the floor. Shawn tightened his grip on the baby and cradled her close. She was safe at last.

  Shawn held the small baby who had been rescued from an uncertain future. As he looked down at her tiny hands and her gentle face, his heart ached. It was as if he was looking at Jane all those years ago.

  “Take the
baby.” He handed her to Clara before he turned his attention to the ongoing fight in the kitchen. Two men were left standing. They had armed themselves with knives and were brandishing them at the snarling wolves.

  Trent is a wolf, too. I never would have guessed. He looked more of the bear type, his cougar said.

  Time for us to act. Shawn shifted into his cougar and leaped through the air. More agile and stealthy than the two wolves, he lashed out as he sailed past the first guy with a knife and sent the metal blade spinning across the kitchen floor to land under one of the stainless-steel cabinets.

  Trent immediately took out the guy, his sharp claws raking down the guy’s legs and bringing him to his knees before Trent lashed out with a large paw and knocked him unconscious.

  One to go. His cougar looked up. Gerald and Fiona were coming this way. Shawn swung his head around and snarled at Joanna. She had to go. If this plan was going to work completely, she had to hide before Gerald entered the room.

  Joanna’s wolf nodded and ran forward, dodging past the unconscious men on the floor before leaving the kitchen through a side door.

  We just need to take out this last guy. His cougar assessed the situation and moved to stand side by side with Trent. This needed to be resolved quickly, but Shawn’s cougar had lost the element of surprise. He wouldn’t catch the guy unawares.

  Trent jumped onto the countertop, snarling as he approached the man with the knife. Shawn sidestepped and approached from the guy’s left. He could not take both of them out at once, but the sharp knife could inflict a mortal wound on either of them.

  Shawn lifted his paw and patted the guy’s foot. He lunged forward and Shawn dodged back out of the way. Before the guy had a chance to act, Trent’s wolf disappeared, the next instant, Trent reappeared in his human form and swung his fist at the guy’s head.

  Bringing the knife up, he lunged at Trent’s midriff. Shawn saw his chance and cat-leaped onto the guy’s back, bringing him crashing down to the floor.

  Trent jumped off the counter and landed lightly, before drawing his fist back and knocking the guy out.

  “We need to go.” Trent ran for the door, ushering Clara and the baby out.

  “What about my sister?” Clara asked.

  “We’ll make sure she’s safe.” Trent put his arm around them both, shielding Clara and the baby as they left the hotel.

  Shawn’s cougar crouched behind the counter, hidden from Gerald and Fiona as they entered the kitchen through the hotel. He wasn’t going anywhere while Joanna and Fiona were still in danger.

  “What the hell happened here?” Gerald asked as they entered the kitchen.

  “Where is the baby you promised me?” Fiona spat as she stood in the doorway. Shawn sensed that she hadn’t entered the kitchen. Perhaps Joanna’s crazy plan might work.

  “Baby?” Gerald asked incredulously as he leaned down and checked the pulse of one of his men.

  “Yes, the baby. The one I said I would pay you for. Or have you forgotten?” Fiona asked tartly.

  She is certainly trying to goad him into action, his cougar said.

  Let’s hope it works, Shawn replied as they held their breath and waited for Gerald’s next move.

  The mayor straightened up. “Are you responsible for this?”

  “Yes, I can be in two places at once,” Fiona replied caustically. “I thought a man like you would run a secure operation. I was wrong. This place is a dump and your men are incompetent.” She backed away from Comer.

  “Give me the diamond.” Gerald’s tone was nasty, threatening, and demanding as he thrust out his hand.

  “No. You don’t have the baby I wanted. So no diamond.”

  “But I’ve got something,” Gerald said quietly. “I have your secret. Dragon shifter. I’m sure there are plenty of people who would pay a high price to hunt you.”

  Fiona laughed. “You really fell for that, didn’t you?”

  “Don’t think you can walk away. I know what you are. I saw your eyes glow, I saw the smoke…” Gerald’s threatening tone made Shawn’s blood boil. He wanted to leap out and scratch the mayor’s eyes out.

  “Smoke and mirrors,” Fiona said as Trent entered the kitchen behind Gerald. “We set you up and you fell for it, you greedy little man.”

  Gerald glanced over his shoulder at Trent. “I know what you are. Where else would you get a diamond that big? It’s priceless.”

  “This piece of glass?” Fiona held up the diamond and then dropped it on the floor where it shattered into a million pieces. “And I’m not a dragon. I’m a wolf.”

  Shawn crept forward and looked around the counter. Fiona’s eyes glowed amber as she stepped backward through the doorway. Slowly she began to fade, and the air filled with static electricity.

  Shawn’s cougar held his breath as Joanna’s wolf appeared and leaped forward, knocking Gerald to the ground. He cried out in fear as drool dripped from the wolf’s fangs onto his face.

  “Now, now, there’s a good wolfy.” Trent stepped forward and batted the wolf away.

  While Gerald’s attention was fixed on the wolf, Fiona returned to the world in human form and slipped out of view.

  As Trent read Gerald his rights, Shawn’s cougar slinked out of the hotel, into the backyard where Joanna’s wolf joined him. They shifted behind the shelter of the wall along the side of the street, unseen from prying eyes.

  “I need to go and help Trent arrest them all,” Joanna said. “Backup is on its way.”

  “I’ll wait here for you,” Shawn assured her.

  “I’ll be as quick as I can.” She kissed his cheek and went back inside.

  “We did it.” Fiona had gone out the front entrance of the hotel and circled around the back.

  “Remind me never to underestimate you,” Shawn told her.

  “I am a formidable force. So I’m told.” She grinned. “It was kind of fun. Especially when I switched places with Joanna. He really did believe I was the wolf.”

  “I think crushing the diamond probably made him believe you weren’t a dragon shifter. What kind of dragon are you if you destroy your own treasure?” Shawn asked.

  “A sleight of hand,” Fiona replied. She took the large diamond out of her purse and showed it to Shawn. “Perfect.”

  “So it’s true. Dragon shifters really don’t like parting with their treasure.” Shawn slipped his arm around Fiona’s shoulders. “I’m glad you are safe, Fiona.”

  “Thanks, Shawn.” She put the diamond back in her purse and then drew out a small box. “And you’re right, I do not like parting with my treasure. Unless it’s for a very special reason.” She took hold of Shawn’s hand and placed the box in it. “Such as an engagement.”

  “An engagement,” Shawn replied. “I thought you were already married.”

  “You know what I mean.” Fiona punched him lightly on the arm.

  “You don’t have to do this. You’ve done enough for me already,” Shawn told her. “You already gave me the greatest gift when you gave me Jane.”

  “This is just a thank you from me to you. For raising a wonderful daughter and helping me with this.” She nodded toward the hotel. “Yvette has been on my conscience ever since that night. This has given me closure.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Shawn said as he opened the box to reveal a diamond-encrusted ring. “I’d say it’s too much, but nothing is too much for Joanna.”

  “Then give it to her the first chance you get,” Fiona advised.

  “I will.” He grinned. “I just hope she says yes.”

  “How can she refuse?” Fiona asked. “Joanna is the perfect mate for you and the perfect mother for Jane.”

  “Unless Yvette helps us find Jane’s biological mom.” The specter of losing Jane still haunted him.

  Fiona shook her head. “Lance asked her.” She placed a hand on Shawn’s arm. “Yvette has no idea who Jane’s mom is. Or was. She doesn’t have a clue as to who the people were who handed Jane back to Gerald. Sure, she might r
emember something else, but I don’t think you have to worry about losing Jane.” Fiona leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “She is your daughter, Shawn. She always has been, and she always will be. You two were meant to be together just like you and Joanna are meant to be together.”

  “Fate.” Shawn gave a low laugh. “I think you might be right.”

  “Of course I am.” Fiona winked at him, her eyes a deep amber. “And no one argues with an old dragon shifter.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight – Joanna

  “Oh, dinner smells wonderful.” Joanna entered the kitchen, her damp hair hanging around her shoulders. She’d had a leisurely shower where she’d washed the stresses of the day away. Now she was dressed in sweatpants and a loose T-shirt and was ready to eat. “I am starving.”

  Jane looked at Shawn, her cheeks flushed with excitement. Something was going on.

  “Before we eat,” Shawn began, “There is something we would like to ask you.”

  “There is?” Joanna brushed a damp tendril of hair away from her face. “Is it something I’m going to like?”

  Maybe they are going to give us a key to the house, her wolf suggested. Or maybe it’s that vacation we talked about. Her wolf stretched out leisurely, happy after a day consisting of fighting and seeing Gerald Comer finally arrested.

  “Yes. You’re going to like it,” Jane assured her. A smile spread across her lips and she reached her hand up and took hold of Shawn’s hand.

  “Did you make brownies?” Joanna asked. She inhaled deeply. “I don’t smell them.”

  “No, it’s not brownies. Or cookies.” Jane couldn’t contain her happiness.

  “Your dad got you a dog?” Joanna arched an eyebrow at Shawn. “If he did, that was some fast work since I’ve only been in the shower for ten minutes.”

  “Twenty at least.” Shawn chuckled as he reached in his pocket.

  “I was in the bathroom for twenty minutes but not in the shower for that long,” Joanna insisted, still unsure of what was going on between father and daughter.

  Jane pulled on her dad’s hand to get his attention. Cupping her hand to her mouth, she said, “Are you going to ask her?”