Shifter Legacies Special Edition: Books 1-2

by Mark E. Cooper

  “Going to live with my parents isn’t something new. It’s a backward step. Whose side are you on anyway?”

  Yours. What will we do after Ryder?

  Life after Ryder was something she preferred not to think about.

  She pulled on the blouse and buttoned buttons. The jacket and pants were dark grey and very elegant. They would have cost her more than a month’s salary—if she’d still had one. She had been using and discarding clothes at a ferocious rate since the attack. Luckily, jeans and sweatshirts were cheap, and she had managed to save the expensive duster Stephen had given her, so she still had a nice coat. It was hanging in the closet. Her sneakers were in there too, but they were very shabby. There were bloodstains that no amount of washing had been able to remove. They were fit only for the garbage can. Lephmann obviously agreed, because he had supplied a pair of shoes that matched the outfit she was wearing; nice-looking ones too.

  She frowned at them. What kind of man knew anything about women’s shoes; knew they should match the outfit, should look good without being flashy, and shouldn’t have too high a heel in case she needed to run? What kind of man thought so much about her needs, and knew so much—too much—about her state of mind? Was she really that easy to read? She shrugged and put the shoes on. She fluffed her still-drying hair a little, and ran a hand over the pants. They were form fitting and felt very good on her skin. She hadn’t worn something this nice in months. Wearing it now made her feel better.

  After Ryder? Smoke reminded.

  “I was thinking.”

  No you weren’t.

  She sighed. There was no hiding anything from Smoke. “I guess we look for a job, and start over.”

  And what about Lawrence? What of a pack?

  “If the Alley Dogs are anything to go by, I think we’re better off on our own. As for Lawrence, I have no idea what he feels for me, or what I feel for him. He’s nice, but… I don’t know, Smoke. I’m not looking for a man.”

  Maybe you should start.

  “Maybe.”

  She left the bedroom and found herself in a narrow and carpeted corridor. She turned right and followed the sound of Lephmann’s typing into the main cabin. Lawrence was sitting on a comfortable couch reading a book. He looked up and smiled when she entered.

  “You look better,” he said. He put the book face down on the seat beside him to hold it open, and stood. “Did you sleep well?”

  “Fine, thanks.”

  Lawrence reached out and tipped her chin up a little. “Does the tooth hurt?”

  His touch sent tingles through her body, and Smoke shifted restlessly beneath her skin. Lawrence’s thumb stroked her cheek, and Smoke surged up, but this wasn’t the Change. It was something else. Chris tried to tell herself she didn’t like being touched… only she did. It felt so good. She gasped when Lawrence’s Presence roared out of him and into her chest. Their beasts met in an orgy of heat that slowly spread through her body. In her mind, a pair of wolves fought, biting each other playfully. Farris’ Presence rolled through her body leaving her panting. Slowly, the feeling ebbed, and she realised Lawrence had lowered his hand.

  Farris likes me. Smoke said, sounding smug. He thinks you and Lawrence should mate right away.

  What just happened?

  Farris came to visit me.

  He can do that?

  You felt his Presence within you. What do you think?

  She still had a lazy smile on her face when she realised Lawrence was waiting for her to say something. “I… what?”

  “The tooth?” Lawrence said with a knowing smile.

  “Oh yeah… the tooth. It hurts? Yeah it sort of hurts a little. It didn’t heal like the rest, but… What did you do to me?”

  “Didn’t you like it?”

  “Oh yeah,” she said, and couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her.

  Lawrence grinned. “Maybe I’ll show you how to do it one day. The tooth will be fine after your next change back from wolf form. Hungry?”

  “Starving!”

  Lawrence chuckled. “I’ll get you something. Make yourself comfortable. I won’t be long.”

  Chris sat and checked out the back cover of Lawrence’s book. It was a romance novel about a homicide cop who falls in love with one of her suspects. She shook her head and put the book back the way she found it. She wouldn’t have pegged Lawrence as the romantic type. More like an action-hero fan.

  It’s fate.

  Don’t start that!

  Start what?

  You know.

  She looked up to find Lephmann watching her. He had his portable computer before him, but she hadn’t heard him typing for a while now. She fidgeted under his gaze, knowing he had just witnessed something she would rather keep private. She needed to figure out what she felt for Lawrence before showing it to the world.

  “Thanks for the clothes,” she said to cover her embarrassment.

  A smile flickered and was gone on his face. “Lawrence is a better judge of women’s clothing than I will ever be.”

  And of women, too?

  Oh, do shut up.

  “I should thank him, then.”

  Lephmann did something with his computer. He put it aside and stood to make himself a drink at the bar. “Want something?”

  “A beer would be good.”

  Lephmann nodded and ducked briefly behind the bar. He came back up holding a bottle. “Will Empire do?”

  Empire was the best. The Brits were good for more than governing Europe. “Empire is fine, thanks.”

  Lephmann poured himself Glenlivet over ice, the scent very distinctive, and then returned.

  She took the beer, popped the lid off with a thumb, and caught it midair. Lephmann raised an eyebrow at the display. He sat opposite her and crossed his legs to enjoy his drink. They sat in a companionable silence for a short time, drinking.

  “Lawrence told me about your day.”

  “A hard day.”

  Lephmann nodded. “What do you think of Jonas?”

  “A man of many parts,” she said, straight-faced. “He looks very cute in pink, but very scary in fur. A good man to have on your side—he would make a very bad enemy. He pushed me further than I thought I could go and taught me a lot of things about myself. Some of it saved my life.”

  “I’m glad he did it, then. He likes you a lot.”

  “You’ve spoken to him?”

  Lephmann nodded again. “He called while you were sleeping, wanting to know how you were. I told him you were fine. You are, aren’t you? You didn’t have to kill anyone, and you managed to come away free of any entanglements.”

  “Yeah, I’m okay. I have Toni’s word she won’t let anyone come after me. So I’m good. When you see Jonas again, you can tell him he doesn’t have to worry about me. I’ve learned my lessons.”

  Lephmann stared hard into her eyes. “Have you, have you really?”

  She nodded. “I know what it is to be a shifter now. I have to start living in their world. It’s my world too, now.”

  “Thank all that’s holy for that. I never thought I would hear you say those words, Chris. Jonas isn’t the only one who will be relieved to hear that you understand that.”

  “Oh?”

  “Stephen was worried for you. I was too.”

  Lawrence came back with a tray of food, and Chris used the opportunity to look away from Lephmann. He was making her uncomfortable with his talk of worrying about her.

  She took the tray and tucked into the food. There were no pancakes this time. Lawrence had kept things simple with a big plate of burgers and a huge heap of fries. There was enough for three, but Lephmann said he’d already eaten. Chris ate most of it, with Lawrence helping out toward the end.

  “Better?” Lawrence asked when she finished.

  “I’m stuffed.”

  “You needed it. The fight took it out of you.”

  “Good thing Jonas fed me up before we left for George.”

  Lawrence nodded. �
�Jonas knew what he was doing. You don’t want to get in a fight when you’re hungry, Chris. Bad things can happen.”

  She had a flashback of the fight with Janine in the desert. The thought of what had nearly happened there threatened to sour her stomach. She forced the image of eating a Human heart out of her head by concentrating on the here and now.

  “So,” she said. “Sanctuary.”

  “Won’t be long now,” Lephmann said, checking the time. “Maybe twenty minutes.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “What do you want to know?”

  “Everything.”

  Lephmann grinned. “Everything?”

  “Sure. I don’t know anything about it, so I don’t know what questions to ask.”

  Lephmann leaned back and interlocked his fingers in his lap. “Very well, let’s see. Have you ever heard of Roosevelt’s Folly?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “I don’t know what they’re teaching people in the schools these days,” Lephmann grumbled irritably, and began his lecture.

  According to him, Congress had made repeated attempts to create a national park out of the Teton mountain range and its lakes in the late 1920s, but the elves blocked it. Congress had wanted to create a national park that would have swallowed up over 350,000 acres of forestland the elves held as sacred. After his success at declaring the Jackson Hole National Monument in ’43, President Roosevelt tried again, but the elves wouldn’t budge. Their refusal effectively killed the Teton National Park idea, and the entire area—now known as Grand Teton—became a no-go zone for humans.

  “How big is it?” she asked.

  “Including the town, Sanctuary spans well over a million acres. Most of it is densely forested, perfect for hunting in beast form—we are very careful to preserve game stocks. There are twelve peaks in the Teton Range; they’re ours as well. We have all six of the glacial lakes at the base of the mountains, and we also managed to lay claim to Jackson Lake including the old monument site.”

  She whistled. “And you own all that?”

  “Me personally?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Not hardly!” Lephmann laughed, and Lawrence grinned. “I might be president of the Society, but it doesn’t mean I own it or Techtron. I work for them; I don’t own them. No man does. I set it up that way on purpose. No one lives forever, Chris. I want the Society and Sanctuary to endure, not fade away when I’m gone.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “It’s perfect for shifters, Chris,” Lawrence said enthusiastically. “You’ll see.”

  Lephmann nodded.

  She supposed she would see. “How did you acquire the land if the elves were so hot to keep it for themselves?”

  “Ah, now that’s a story in itself, but basically, Queen Caoilfhionn approached me about a partnership when I became President of Techtron and started NSPCL.”

  Caoilfhionn was a name that very few people had not heard. She was Queen of the Unseelie elves, and had been for something like six hundred years. An inconceivably long time to Chris, but not to the elves, who were supposedly immortal. No one really knew for sure. Elves didn’t like talking about it.

  She grinned. “I bet she read the contracts with a microscope.”

  Lephmann sighed. “You have no idea how right you are. Legally, Techtron jointly owns Sanctuary in partnership with the Queen as representative for her court. Neither party can dispose of any part of the land without the other’s agreement—not ever. Caoilfhionn is a very shrewd woman. By simply signing a contract, she effectively buffered her people’s land from interference in both real and legal terms. Her people’s ancestral lands are now part of Sanctuary, an area that Human property law enforces. She thought that signing with a corporation like Techtron would make it harder for the government to play games with its treaties and agreements. I agreed with her, but more importantly, Myles did too. Techtron would tie the government in legal knots forever should it try anything here, and they know that.”

  “And where does NSPCL come in?”

  “The Society protects and maintains Sanctuary. The elves are silent partners—very silent. I haven’t heard a word from them regarding Sanctuary since we moved in, but they’re watching. I’m sure they’ll make their displeasure known should we do something to upset them.”

  Chris had more questions, but just then the flight attendant joined them. He was pure Human and quite short, wearing dark trousers and a dark waistcoat over a white shirt. They had met only briefly just before takeoff.

  “We’ll be landing shortly, Mr. Lephmann,” the flight attendant said.

  “Thank you, Sam. Tell Charlie the flight was excellent as ever.”

  “I’ll tell her, Sir.”

  Lephmann closed down his computer and secured it on the seat beside him. Chris had asked him what he was working on at the beginning of the flight, but his attempt to enlighten her regarding the costs involved in the manufacture of AI computer components in zero gee had made her eyes glaze over.

  She checked her seatbelt and then turned to watch out the window as they came in to land. The airport consisted of two runways with their attendant taxiways, a small air-traffic control centre with its standard but obsolete tower, a tiny comp that was little more than a waiting room for use in bad weather, and a cluster of warehouses and hangars with a huge Techtron logo painted on their roofs.

  The pilot swung onto her final approach heading, slowed the plane to a crawl, and realigned her engines so that they hovered briefly before descending gently to the ground. Chris had to give the pilot her due; she was smooth. The bump as they came to rest was less than an elevator would have given them.

  She unbuckled her seat belt and rose to her feet. David preceded her off the plane, and Lawrence came last.

  “So this is Sanctuary,” she said, looking around.

  Lephmann smiled. “No, this is an airport. The elves didn’t want it on their lands, but we wouldn’t have built it any closer for a number of reasons; security for one, privacy for another. The real Sanctuary is quite a few miles from here via road. Our people run the airport. They keep nosy outsiders away.”

  Made sense. Shifters looking for a place to call their own, a place where they could be themselves without fear, wouldn’t want nosy humans wandering by. She closed her eyes and turned her face toward the sun. She didn’t realise that Lephmann had similar ideas until Lawrence chuckled. She opened her eyes to find him looking blindly into the sun.

  “Listen to that silence,” Lephmann said, his eyes still closed.

  “It’s great to be back,” Lawrence agreed and winked at Chris. “You want us to give you some privacy, David?”

  Lephmann’s lips twitched. “Smart arse.”

  She rolled her eyes in amusement. A familiar face was waiting for them by a dark green and expensive-looking, 4x4 SUV. Ronnie smiled and nodded to her when she approached, slapped Lawrence on the shoulder in welcome, and gave Lephmann a warm hug. Chris watched this, wondering if they were a couple. She couldn’t think of a tactful way to ask.

  “Welcome back,” Ronnie said. “Geoffrey would have picked you up, but I thought I had better do it.”

  “Good idea,” Lephmann said.

  “Why?” Chris asked.

  Ronnie shrugged. “You know, a woman alone with three men.”

  “Oh puh-lease…” she said, rolling her eyes. “Give me a break.”

  Lawrence chuckled and climbed behind the wheel. Ronnie joined him up front, leaving Chris and David together in the back.

  * * *

  24 ~ Sanctuary

  By the time Chris finally arrived in town, her legs were stiff. The drive had been a tiring one and the day was well along. Lawrence found a space outside the guest house where they planned to stay, and pulled over. Chris climbed out and walked the stiffness from her muscles, taking the opportunity to study the town she would be calling home for the next few weeks.

  Apart from its tiny size, Sanctuary—she
had no other name to call the town—looked no different to hundreds of other small towns. That surprised her somehow, though she didn’t know why it should. Large or small, a house was a house, a bar was a bar. Shifters lived in cities and towns all over the Republic, and apart from certain telltale characteristics like their eyes and sometimes their teeth, they looked just like humans most of the time. So why should a town built by shifters for shifters be any different to one built by humans? No reason. No reason at all that she could see, but she still felt… well, almost let down by how ordinary Sanctuary seemed. If not for the towering peaks and tree-covered slopes visible over the roofs, she could have believed herself in any of a thousand small towns scattered throughout the Republic.

  Sanctuary consisted of one major street, Main Street, which was simply a continuation of the road that had brought them here, and maybe a dozen cross streets. According to Lephmann, the town had a permanent population of less than two thousand, but a transient population that rose and fell with the seasons. The town was simply a place to supply visiting packs with a few basic necessities, and was somewhere to leave their belongings while they roamed the forests on four feet. Main Street had stores, guest houses, a few restaurants, and a fast food place. The homes built along the side roads were spacious and widely separated from one another. They had huge front yards, and she assumed they had big gardens out back. Seeing so much openness reminded her of Geoffrey’s explanation regarding shifter etiquette; they needed privacy. They certainly had that here. The streets were wide, the homes large, the gardens huge, and then there was that inviting view that almost begged to be explored.

  A large stone-clad building dominated the end of Main Street. She thought it might once have been a school. She wondered what it was used for now; not for teaching, because she had never seen or heard of a shifter child.

  Lawrence joined her. “What are you doing?”

  She pointed out the building. “A school?”

  “Oh, sure, there aren’t many kids there, but there are some.” Lawrence noted the look of outrage on her face. “What’s the problem, don’t you like kids?”

  “I like them just fine, but shifters can’t have kids… can they?”