20 Shades of Shifters_A Paranormal Romance Collection

by Demelza Carlton

  He immediately stood and Samantha slid across the bench until she could stand beside him. She seemed as eager as he was to leave and spend time alone together. They had some celebrating to do and plans for the future to map out. It wasn’t long before he needed to head back to Colorado and there were a lot of things to settle in the meantime.

  “Thanks for lunch, Nate,” Samantha said. “We both appreciate you coming out today and supporting us. I only wish your mother felt the same way you do. Miranda, we’ll see you soon. Thank you for standing beside us today.”

  Barry placed his arm around Samantha and they walked out of the diner together. If anyone had taken notice of a wolf shifter having physical contact with a cougar, it wasn’t apparent. He wasn’t naive enough to believe they weren’t going to experience discrimination because of their relationship. Throughout his childhood, he was used to standing out for being different. Overtime, he had built strong walls around his feelings. Samantha had not.

  His cell phone rang and he looked to see who was calling. The display showed his mother was on the other end. He debated whether to pickup the call or let it roll to voicemail.

  Barry stopped and nudged Samantha. She looked at his phone and paled. “Pick it up. Let’s not play games with your mother.”

  “Hello,” he answered the phone in a generic tone and fashion. The last thing he wanted to do was add fuel to the flame if his mother was upset.

  “Your father and I want to talk to you and Samantha,” his mother said. “Lisa and the pups are here. We’ll meet you at Samantha’s.”

  “Hold on a minute and let me talk to her, it’s her house after all,” Barry answered.

  Samantha leaned against the diner’s window and closed her eyes. He had tipped the phone in her direction so she could hear what his mother had to say. She took several deep breaths and then nodded her head.

  “Come over in an hour,” Barry instructed his mother. “It’ll give us time to get to her place and prepare for your arrival.”

  He ended the call before his mother could comment. They needed to retain as much control as possible. His mother had the capability to devastate Samantha. It bothered him that his mother had the ability to hurt his mate with her words or actions.

  “What do you think she wants?” she asked.

  “Baby, you need to brace yourself. I doubt it’s a welcome to the family discussion we’ll be having.”

  Samantha didn’t utter a word, just nodded. Her rounded shoulders and downcast head showed she was already admitting defeat before the first shot was fired. There was nothing he could say to boost her spirits. He was struggling with his own fears of what his parents would say.

  Chapter 14

  If Samantha was going to have a confrontation with her best friend, she would rather have it in her own home. She wondered if she could still consider Nancy in that light. If the shoe was on the other foot, would she condemn her or welcome her into the family?

  She had furnished her living room with a high-end furniture store’s merchandise. As her business grew, she purchased piece by piece until she had completed the set. The blues and browns in the fabric looked rich against her wood floors and paneling. She sat back on the couch and waited for Nancy and her husband to arrive.

  Various points of discussion assaulted her mind. They were all negative. Her paranoid mind couldn’t come up with any positive scenarios about the upcoming meeting. Maybe the fact they wanted to meet at all should be considered positive.

  Barry handed her a glass of white wine. “Thank you,” she automatically replied.

  He sat beside her and placed one arm around her shoulders. “You are welcome. I figured you could use a drink. It’s promising my parents want to talk to us. Although, I would have preferred if they had waited until tomorrow. You’ve been through enough for one day.”

  “What do you think they want to discuss?”

  “I haven’t a clue,” Barry admitted. “It’s frightening I have no idea how my parents are going to behave. My mother tends to overreact, so her initial negative aggressive attitude wasn’t surprising.”

  “Did you know she believed we were mates early on and that was why I was no longer invited to family functions?”

  Barry’s eyes grew wide, taken aback by her comment. He didn’t immediately say anything. She believed he was trying to remember any signs he had inadvertently displayed or actions his mother had taken in retaliation to her son’s growing infatuation.

  Her own memories were hurtful ones. She had been part of a family and then pushed aside with no explanation. For a couple of years, she went to Idaho to spend holidays with her sister’s family. She had felt out of place in Lynda’s home. Eventually, so overworked, she enjoyed spending time alone in November and December.

  “She could have paved the way for us all those years ago.” Barry’s voice was harsh.

  Samantha was surprised by his cold tone. It was more than disappointment evident in his voice, but hatred. She needed to address how he felt and the negative thoughts he had related to his mother.

  “Parents want the best for their children,” she said. “A mixed mating is rare and both parties are normally censured from their families and community. Your mother didn’t want that for you. Maybe she felt you would outgrow your feelings for me.”

  “Bullshit,” Barry growled.

  “Look at it this way. If your mother had come to me when I was twenty-nine and told me her fourteen-year-old wolf shifter was my mate, I would have laughed in her face. I was fond of you, but I never had any amorous feelings until we met years later at the bar.”

  Samantha couldn’t believe she was defending Nancy’s actions, but what she said was true. If her friend had mentioned her son’s attraction all those years ago, she would have done everything in her power to dissuade the boy.

  Barry rose and walked toward the mudroom. “I need some air.”

  She knew he was going to shift and run off his frustrations. If she wasn’t expecting Nancy and Dave, she probably would have joined him.

  The door bell rang and Samantha swore under her breath. Nancy and her husband’s timing was unfortunate, but there was nothing she could do about it. She would have to meet with Barry’s parents alone.

  When she rose, she brushed out the wrinkles sitting had created in her skirt. She had dressed professionally for the council meeting and should have changed into something more comfortable as soon as she arrived home.

  Samantha steadied herself, unlocked and opened the front door. Nancy and Dave stood before her, both carrying a suitcase. She knew Barry’s things were in each of the bags. Her best friend’s eyes were swollen from crying. Were any of her tears related to losing her best friend or only her son?

  “Come in.” She stood back and allowed the Simpsons to enter her home. “We’ll talk in the living room.”

  Nancy and her husband sat in the love seat opposite the couch. Barry’s parents’ eyes surveyed the area looking for their son.

  “Barry needed to run off some of his aggravation from this morning’s meeting,” Samantha explained.

  “He left you to meet with us alone?” Nancy asked in surprise. “I expected more out of him than that.”

  Unlike defending her best friend earlier, Samantha sat and took a sip of her wine. She was not entertaining this couple, so she didn’t bother to offer them a glass. The sooner they said what was on their minds and left, the happier she’d be. This was not a social call.

  “Nate told us about the meeting this morning,” Dave Simpson stated. “I was expecting a very different verdict. You and my son have an unnatural relationship. The council caved, but that doesn’t mean I have to welcome you into my home. As far as I am concerned, Barry is dead to me.”

  Dave Simpson rose and stormed out of her house. Samantha was having problems swallowing due to the obstruction in her throat. She couldn’t make eye contact with Nancy.

  The two women sat in silence. Both struggling with what to say to each other. Ye
ars of a friendship had come to this impasse.

  “My husband comes from a strict, isolationist shifter family,” Nancy said in an attempt to explain her husband’s behavior. “They were admittedly against allowing humans into our town, believing shifters could not survive being so close to their natural enemy. I was raised with very different beliefs.”

  Nancy leaned forward and took possession of Barry’s abandoned wine glass. She took a healthy sip and returned the goblet to the table. This was such a familiar sight. When the bridge group met at either of their homes, they would share a glass of wine together after the other two left.

  “I can’t remove Barry from my life as if he no longer lived,” Nancy claimed. “What if you two have children? I would never be able to see my grandkids.”

  “Even if one of the litters are cougars?”

  “Grandchildren are grandchildren, regardless of what they shift into,” Nancy answered. “I just don’t know how to balance my relationship with Dave while still having Barry and you in my life.”

  Tears welled in Samantha’s eyes. She could understand the turmoil Nancy was feeling. They both had so much to lose.

  “Give Dave time,” Samantha finally said. “Change is harder for some people to digest. You have your marriage and the relationship with your children, their wives, and the pups to consider. It’s a relief we have your support in the meantime. Barry starts his residency in a week. We’ll see where things stand during the holidays.”

  “You are going to Colorado with him?” Nancy asked.

  “I was wavering, but I just decided I will,” she said. “My business can be conducted anywhere. It will be actually easier flying out of Denver International, than having to drive to Sacramento and make a connection at a larger airport. Nancy, I need to make things work with Barry.”

  Her friend nodded. “Take care of yourself and my boy. I will keep chipping away at the barriers of Dave’s belief system. It won’t be easy, but he loves his son. Of that I am certain.”

  Samantha rose to walk Nancy to the door. When Samantha reached for the doorknob, Nancy grabbed and hugged her. Her friend opened the door and scurried out. She wondered how long it would be before she saw Nancy again.

  Barry ran up the steep slope that bordered the back of Samantha’s property. She had inherited a large lot with acres of woods. Having been original settlers, her ancestors had claimed the most mountainous section in the area. His wolf could run free without fear of discovery.

  It felt wonderful allowing his wolf the freedom to race through the forest without worrying about other properties, roads, or people. He hadn’t realized the toll the council meeting had on his nerves. The cause was easy to identify. His love and empathy for Samantha.

  He never realized it was possible to love someone so intensely. His parents had a solid marriage, but he never saw a hint of passion between them. It was doubtful his father would have sacrificed his standing in the community or his beliefs for his wife or any of his sons. Today had been a clear indication he read his father correctly.

  When the wind shifted, he noted the scent of another wolf. He slowed to allow his pursuer to catch up. The wolf was still too far away to identify him from his scent, but he had a pretty good idea who followed.

  Barry shifted into his human form. “Hello, Father.”

  An enormous timber wolf appeared and paced before him. His dad had black fur on his legs, rather than the typical light gray. None of his sons inherited his unusual coloring. One of his ancestors had been a black wolf.

  He stood there, fighting the urge to pace himself. If his father stayed in his animal form, they would not be able to have a conversation. His father was in control and would shift when he was ready.

  Within an instant, his dad stood before him in human form. His brothers inherited their sire’s girth. The leaner frame he inherited was from his mother’s side of the family.

  “Stop the path you are taking, son,” his father said. “Wolves need to mate with other wolves. Miranda is a beautiful woman and appears interested in you. If you don’t have romantic feelings for her now, they will grow with time. My relationship with your mother started with the foundation of friendship.”

  He knew he’d never be satisfied with another woman. Finding a true mate was rare. Most people settled, like his parents had. After experiencing what was possible, Samantha was the only woman for him.

  “I have found what I always dreamed of having and with the only woman I have ever been attracted to.”

  His father scowled and fisted his hands. Most discussions between them started as an argument and nothing ever got settled. Because of this, Barry had lived life on his own since graduating from college. He found excuses not to return home during holidays and summers. If it hadn’t been for the possibility of spotting Samantha, he would have stayed away completely.

  “You are throwing your life away on a whore,” his father shouted.

  Barry charged forward and grabbed his father by the throat. Anger made him stronger than he’d ever been before. For the first time in his life, he wanted to hit someone. “Never call her that again.”

  He released his father and spat at the man’s feet. Anger still consumed him.

  “Your mother’s so called friend went from one man to another,” his father sneered. “She never had the decency to mate and settle down with a cougar. I should never have indulged your mother’s desire to develop friendships outside the pack. I could barely tolerate having the woman in my home.”

  He remembered the thinly veiled loathing his father had for Samantha. Every accomplishment she shared with his family, his father belittled. It destroyed him each time he saw a hurt look on her face.

  “Forget your ridiculous dreams of being a doctor. Come home and work in the family business. I worked hard to establish something I could hand down to my boys. It’s my legacy to you.”

  His father never understood him. Everything he had achieved was despite his parents’ support, particularly his father’s.

  He always knew this day would come and he’d be alone. By some miracle, he wasn’t alone. He had Samantha.

  “You have nothing I desire,” he told his father. “Despite every obstacle you put in my way, I’m a doctor. There is nothing you can do to stop me from mating with and marrying the woman I have always loved.”

  “Then you are truly dead to me.” There was a finality in his father’s delivery. A chill ran down his spine.

  His father shifted and took off running. He should have been depressed by his father’s words. Instead, he was oddly elated. His fear of being disinherited by his parents had occurred and he felt free for the first time in his life. Deep down inside, he always knew his father wouldn’t be a part of his life going forward. But it was all right, he had the future he always desired.

  He headed back to Samantha’s, rather than continue to run. He wasn’t concerned his father would endanger his mate. She was dead to him as well.

  He entered the house through the patio door and dressed once he entered the mud room. Under normal circumstances, he would have showered, but he didn’t want to delay being with her another moment.

  Samantha was in the living room nursing a glass of wine. Two empty bottles were on the table.

  The doctor within him emerged. “Did you drink all of that on your own?”

  These were unusual circumstances. He wasn’t going to jump to the conclusion she drank too much. At least, for the time being.

  She took another sip from her glass. “Your mother helped after your father stormed out. She just left. An unmistakable howl sent her running. I always hated your father for bullying her.”

  He had witnessed his mother surrender to his father’s will time and again. On the rare occasion she spoke up, he punished her. His father never physically abused her, but held her emotionally hostage.

  Impromptu weekend getaways were taken without his mother joining them. He’d overheard phone calls where she had to pull out of playing her b
ridge game, even though she had planned to play. He now knew how important those games were to his mother. It was her one opportunity to escape.

  Barry took Samantha into his arms. “If I ever force my will on you or discount your feelings, you need to call me on it.”

  His former fear was his father expelling him from the family. Now it was becoming like his father. He wouldn’t be the cause of Samantha suffering as his mother had.

  Chapter 15

  Although Samantha felt she had every reason to throw herself a pity party, she kept thinking about Nancy. Her friend had looked so lost. For the first time, she saw fear in her friend’s eyes directed toward her husband.

  She had known Nancy wasn’t happy in her marriage, although she never verbally commented on it. Her face only lit-up when she talked about her children. After years of observing them, Dave never looked at Nancy the way Barry looked at her.

  It didn’t surprise her when Barry asked her to point out whenever he acted like his father. Based on the man he had become, she doubted Barry would ever treat her the way Dave manipulated and belittled Nancy.

  Dave made no secret about how he felt about her. He was always just short of being rude when she was a guest in his home. Nancy’s discomfort related to his behavior was obvious. It had been a relief when invitations to their holiday celebrations dwindled down to none, although she missed being with the rest of the Simpson family.

  Nancy had severed Samantha’s relationship with her family, particularly Barry. But she never stopped being her friend. She now questioned Nancy’s recent actions toward her son. Had what just occurred been strictly Dave’s doing and Nancy was helpless to do anything about it?

  “There may be hope for a future with your mother,” she commented.

  “My parents aren’t true mates, like you and I are.” Barry tightened his hold on her. “I can understand my father’s feelings on the subject, but not my mother’s. She settled for security instead of waiting for her true mate. It’s clear she recognized what we are to each other, yet she wanted me to give you up and mate with Miranda.”