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In My Mate’s Sight
Cassidy K. O’Connor
Cover Art by Crimson Phoenix Creations
Editing by Ink It Out Editing
Man’s best friend also happens to be woman’s best mate.
Caeden Shepperd is new to town, and being the only dog shifter around makes things a little awkward and sometimes difficult for him, but working for the sheriff’s department helps. When a protection case comes in as a favor to a fellow employee, Caeden is up for the job, but he wasn’t expecting to be that type of companion. But one look and he knows he’ll do anything for her.
After witnessing a murder with the killer still at large, Koira Scott’s mom immediately calls Koira’s aunt for help. Koira lost her sight at an early age, which her mother thinks puts her at a disadvantage, so she moves her far away in hopes of protecting her. What Koira wasn’t expecting to find in the new town was the handsome deputy, or the department’s seeing eye dog, Thumper, but both make her feel safe.
When Koira’s past comes after her, Caeden’s loyalty knows no bounds. He’ll stop at nothing to protect her. When her eyes are opened to the truth, will it make a difference? Or is she too far in to let go?
Dedication
To all the women in my life who support me and put up with me I will be eternally grateful for your friendship.
I want to thank my sister Jennifer for pushing me to write this story.
Thank you to my mother Patti for wanting to push the “norms” and asked me to write a dog shifter.
Thank you to my sister Sheri for helping create an intricate extended family of characters for us to play with.
Thank you to my editor Chelly, she never backs down from a challenge and forgives me when I give her ridiculous deadlines.
Dear reader,
In this story, you will meet many characters that we hope you will fall in love with. If you’d like to know more about their stories, check out the below books by Gracen Miller and Sheri Lyn.
Gracen Miller:
Kissing Sassy (Siren Song 1)
Sassy Vigilante (Siren Song 2)
Sheri Lyn:
Check Mate
Demon Mate (Releasing Aug. 2017)
Table of Contents
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
~Other Books by the Author~
~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
Chapter One
“Sheriff, I have a favor to ask, mind if I sit down?” Constance Harper had worked for Sheriff West Graelin since he moved to town six months ago and she felt completely comfortable coming to him with her problem.
“My door is always open to you, come on in.” West leaned back and stretched his arms, glad for the break. He had been doing paperwork for the last two hours and his eyes were starting to cross from boredom. He would much rather be driving around town on patrol.
He was surprised to see the nervousness radiating off of her. Concern instantly had him leaning forward.
“It’s my niece, Koira, she lives up in Washington. My sister Carla called hysterical, turns out Koira was witness to a murder and the perp hasn’t been caught yet. Carla is afraid he’ll come after her and asked me if she could stay here for a while.” Questions rolled around West’s brain but she didn’t take a breath long enough for him to interrupt. “She’s a stubborn thing, my niece, so while she did agree to come here, she’s insistent she stay on her own. She worked hard for her independence and doesn’t want to lose it now. I need a couple of days off to go up there and help her get everything settled.”
“You can take all the time you need. Can I do anything to help out?”
“Actually, there is something. See the thing is, Koira is blind, has been since she was thirteen. Barbara Wolfe helped me find an apartment for her to rent and she promised she would have the pack keep an eye on her but I just don’t think it’s enough.” The thump of her foot tapping nervously against the floor had West getting up to walk around the desk and pat her shoulder affectionately. “She has never lived anywhere but that small town and I’ve never taken care of anyone who is blind. I don’t know how she’s going to manage all on her own, and what if the killer tracks her here?”
The more Constance talked, the higher-pitched her voice became. He had never seen her lose her calm before, he knew he had to take this seriously for her sake. “If she is blind, how did she witness the murder?”
“Apparently she was close enough she heard his voice and swears she could identify him by his scent as well. The police don’t have anything else to go on so they are pretty irritated that she is going into hiding. The only reason they finally gave in was because I work for you.”
He’d heard of witnesses being able to identify perps based off their voice but it’s not really reliable and doesn’t hold up well in court. If that’s all the police had then they were going to climb an uphill battle. “While you are gone, I’ll reach out to the police in her area to get details on the case. Rook and I will check out the apartment and see if we can make it easily accessible for her. I also have the new guy, Caeden, itching for a case so how about I ask him to keep an eye on her while she’s here?”
Relief flooded Constance’s face, “That is brilliant, I forgot Caeden is a shifter and what better kind? I’ll tell Koira that I got a seeing eye dog for her to help her out. You are so smart, I’m going to go pack up now and get myself to the airport. Thank you for all your help, I feel so much better.”
Like a tornado she was up and out of his office before he could correct her. West never intended to ask his newest deputy to act as someone’s seeing eye dog. He figured he would ask the rookie to check in on her a couple of times a day but being her pet was a bit much. Brogan, his other deputy who was a wolf shifter, would balk at the idea but maybe Caeden, being a dog shifter, wouldn’t think it so offensive?
Chapter Two
West pulled up to the small apartment building, glad to see it was well-maintained. He couldn’t hide his smile seeing his mate, Rook, talking on the sidewalk with Barbara Wolfe. She was the local wolf pack leader, which earned her respect, but she was most loved for her antics when a couple first gets mated. She loved nothing bett
er than pushing their boundaries and helping give them the tools to become more intimate.
Eager to be close to Rook, he gave Barbara a quick hug and his mate a much longer and more affectionate welcome. It was the clearing of her throat that pulled them out of their haze. West liked to believe his obsession with Rook was simply because they were still in their honeymoon phase and not because they were mates. If the latter was true then he was screwed because that would mean the longing and urges would never calm down.
“I missed you both at dinner last Sunday.” Barbara gave them a disapproving look and waited for them to beg forgiveness.
“We’re sorry, truly we are. I was being good and ready to go but this guy jumped my bones and we never made it out of the house.” Rook playing the victim with an angelic look on his face fooled no one.
West prayed his cheeks weren’t burning red because they sure felt like they were. He still hadn’t gotten used to how open these shifters were with their bodies and mating.
“Deader and Skarlet are a newer couple than the two of you and they managed to keep it in their pants long enough to show up.”
“You’re absolutely right, we are so sorry. We promise to be there this Sunday.” West thought his apology sounded good till Barbara rolled her eyes and huffed at him.
“I would have thought after our shopping excursion a few months ago you would have stopped being so formal with me. I was just giving you both a hard time.” At the mention of his mortifying trip to the drug store with her, he was sure his cheeks were definitely on fire now. “Enough about you two, tell me about the girl. Constance didn’t say much, just that she needed a first-floor apartment for a while for her niece.”
“She’s a witness to a murder and hiding out here till the guy is caught. The crazy thing is she’s blind so she can only identify him by his voice and smell.”
“Is she a shifter? It’s unusual for a human to have that good of a sniffer.” Barbara opened the door to the apartment as she waited for his response.
“To my knowledge, she is human, though I have heard if you lose one of your senses, the rest sharpen.”
“Okay, so what are we doing here?” They all looked around the tiny apartment trying to decide what to do next.
“I promised Constance I would make sure everything was easily accessible for Koira.” West dragged his hand through his hair, realizing the task at hand wasn’t in his wheelhouse.
“I don’t know about you all but I have no experience with blind people. I have no idea what we need to do.” The concern on Barbara’s face echoed his own.
Rook had been standing silently till he remembered the bag in his hand. “Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I stopped at the bookstore and thought this would help us out.”
He held out a book for them to see, How to Baby Proof Your Home.
“You didn’t?” West dragged his hand down his face, trying to hide his laughter.
The look of pride fell from Rook’s face, replaced by confusion. “What’s wrong with it?”
“She’s a fully grown adult, I don’t think she would appreciate being treated like an infant.”
“Don’t listen to him, Rook, that was a better idea than either of us had. Now let me see that.” Rook stuck his tongue out at West as he handed the book to Barbara.
Chapter Three
After thirty minutes of wandering aimlessly around the apartment with little idea what to do, Barbara gave in and left to go shopping for the basics. Neither man was thrilled with her abandonment, especially since they had accomplished very little.
A buzz on the counter had West reaching for his phone. “Caeden is here, he says he needs help carrying stuff in.”
“The new guy? Why’s he here?”
“I told him the basics of what we’re doing and told him he would be on witness protection. I may have neglected to tell him they are expecting a seeing eye dog and not a man.”
Rook’s face shifted from shock to humor, “I can’t wait to see his face when you tell him. I don’t know many shifters that wouldn’t be offended.” Rook clapped him on the back as West looked genuinely nervous about his newest officer’s reaction.
Whistling a happy tune, Rook sauntered out of the apartment with West trailing. He enjoyed a little vindication for mocking his book purchase earlier.
Caeden Shepperd, the only dog shifter in town, had impressed West from day one. The rest of the shifter community had teased him mercilessly and some rudely for being less than them. Caeden treated everyone with respect and kept a level head through it all.
West was surprised to see the boxes and roll of material in the back truck. Caeden had asked for the afternoon off to get some items for the apartment but this was more than West could have imagined.
Both West and Rook, comfortable in their relationship, didn’t mind taking a moment to appreciate the strength and muscles Caeden flexed as he lifted four boxes and walked past them with a nod and a smile.
Once the last of the items were brought inside, Rook let out a low whistle. “Unlike the rest of us, it would appear the newbie knows what he is doing.”
“Well, I didn’t know anything about a blind person’s home this morning. It only took a few internet searches to give me enough to get started. Here’s a list of everything I got supplies for. She won’t be here for two more days so we can re-evaluate again once all of this is done.”
“Google is great but come on, this is impressive.” West’s appreciation for the cleverness of his new hire increased.
“My step-sister is in a wheelchair; when her and her dad moved in with us, we had to make some changes for her. I had a little bit of an idea of how to get started.”
West realized he knew very little about Caeden, he let out a deep breath at the list and set it on the counter. “Okay, let’s get started.”
Chapter Four
“I must say, you boys have done an amazing job while I was gone.” Barbara returned with bags in hand, not looking the least bit sorry for ditching them.
“It was all Caeden’s doing, we just followed his directions.” Rook grabbed the bags from her and carried them to the kitchen.
“Leave those there, dear, I’ll worry about them tomorrow.” Barbara set down her purse and turned to the stranger standing behind her.
Nerves danced in Caeden’s stomach as the town matriarch approached him and circled while studying him. He knew of her and knew enough to stay away till he was ready to be thrown into the marriage market. Her reputation was well-known and while he could concede all of her success stories appeared to be living their dream, he was not ready for such a commitment.
“I heard a lot about you but they were not accurate on how handsome you are.” She stepped closer and smiled devilishly, “I love dogs, I don’t suppose you would shift and let me see your animal?”
Caeden didn’t know how to respond, she had a completely straight face so she was serious. Part of him felt like she was cataloging his attributes and scoring him. He suddenly understood why so many women were against beauty pageants.
“We’ll bring him by next time we go on a pack run.” Rook winked at Caeden who was grateful to him for distracting her. “How about he shows you what he’s done so far.”
“I’m sure you already noticed the rubber mat starting at the door, we have it running through all of the main walkways. At each door entrance, there is a second thicker mat so she will know she has reached the next room.” Barbara followed along as he took her from room to room. She was impressed to see the mats did run everywhere, including to the bathroom. Occasionally she noticed he would put a sticky note on a wall but never said anything. Curiosity was killing her but she was willing to be patient and let him explain it.
“I picked up several different types of material and we’re covering the cabinets with each one so she can connect a material to the contents inside. I’m looking into how to make braille labels but this is the best I could figure out with a few hours’ notice.”
�
�The rumor mill seriously understated your attributes, I should have met you as soon as you arrived. What a waste to have you alone all this time. Are you into blondes, brunettes, or maybe fiery redheads?” Caeden could see the gleam in her eyes and knew he was in trouble. He had a bad feeling he was going to start getting a lot more visitors.
“The sticky notes aren’t on your list, what are those for?” West could see his deputy needed rescuing and knew exactly how he felt.
“I read about this technique called trailing, apparently visually impaired people run the back of their hand along walls as they walk to help them avoid obstacles. The article said we should move any shelves or cabinets that would be in her way. I knew we were all too tall so I used Mrs. Wolfe as a gauge to guess roughly where Ms. Scott’s hands will be. I didn’t see much we need to move so we can save that for tomorrow.”
“That will be perfect, I’ll bring along some friends with me to stock the kitchen and make everything homier for her. I’ll pack lunch for us all.”
“Sounds wonderful.” Caeden’s words dripped with sarcasm.
“Before you go, I do have something awkward to talk to you about.” Caeden had never seen the sheriff look so nervous. He nodded and waited for him to continue. “Constance got it in her head that I was asking you to watch over her niece as a seeing eye dog and not as a deputy. She ran out of my office before I could correct her. I know I can’t make you do it so if you are uncomfortable, I will call her and set her straight before she gets here. If you do agree to do it, I will owe you one.”
“West Graelin, that is so demeaning!” Barbara gasped in shock.
For a long moment Caeden said nothing, everyone held their breath waiting to see what his reaction would be.
After a heavy sigh, he finally spoke up, “If you order me to do it I will but otherwise, I’d like time to think on it. Can I let you know tomorrow?”
Sassy Ever After: In My Mate's Sight (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 1