by A. C. Arthur
A Cougar’s Kiss
A Shadow Shifters Rebellion Novel
AC Arthur
Contents
A Cougar’s Kiss
Also by AC Arthur
Glossary of Terms
Prologue
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
Awaken the Dragon
Also by AC Arthur
About the Author
An Artistry Publishing Book
A COUGAR’S KISS,
First Edition: 2019
Copyright © 2019 by A.C. Arthur
All rights reserved.
www.acarthur.net
Cover Art Design © 2019 by Croco Designs
All rights reserved. This book is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, locations, events and incidents (in either a contemporary and/or historical setting) are products of the author’s imagination and are being used in an imaginative manner as a part of this work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, settings or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
A Cougar’s Kiss
Shadow Shifters Rebellion, Book 2
Shya Delgado has been sheltered from the world above and left with a residual ailment for which there is no cure. She has spent her life reading and dreaming of what could be and when the sexy renegade cougar shifter is sentenced to guarding a comatose Faction Leader, she begins to dream even more, only these dreams are in real time and what Keller makes her feel is so much more than Shya could have ever imagined.
Keller Cross had a plan for revenge that was sidetracked by the Shifter Assembly Leader. Now, Keller’s stuck babysitting when an alluringly curious jaguar shifter, determined to break free of the shell that was forcibly put around her, dares him to take a chance on desire.
But this unlikely shifter duo will never find happiness as long as the Faction Leader is on his deathbed with the secret to who betrayed the Shadow Shifters locked in his mind. In the midst of their tumultuous passion, Shya and Keller will take the shifters into the next and most deadly stage of their rebellion.
Also by AC Arthur
The Shadow Shifters (in reading order)
The Awakening
TEMPTATION RISING
SEDUCTION’S SHIFT
PASSION’S PREY
* * *
The Damaged Hearts Trilogy
MINE TO CLAIM
PART OF ME
HUNGER FOR YOU
* * *
The Unveiling
SHIFTER’S CLAIM
HUNGER’S MATE
PRIMAL HEAT
* * *
The Rebellion
A LION’S HEART
The Wolf Mates Trilogy (in reading order)
The Alpha’s Woman (Story appears in CLAIMED BY THE MATE VOL.1 Duology and the GROWL Anthology)
Her Perfect Mates (Story appears in CLAIMED BY THE MATE VOL.2 Duology and the WILD Anthology)
Bound to the Wolf (Story appears in CLAIMED BY THE MATE VOL.3 Duology and the HUNGER Anthology)
Glossary of Terms
SHADOW SHIFTER TRIBES
Topètenia — The jaguars
Croesteriia — The cheetahs
Lormenia — The white Bengal tigers
Bosinia — The cougars
Serfins — The white lions
Acordado — The awakening, the Shadow Shifter’s first shift
Alma — The name of the spa at Perryville Resorts Sedona. Means “soul” in Portuguese
Amizade — Annex to the Elder’s Grounds used as a fellowship hall
Companheiro — Mate
Companheiro calor — The scent shared between mates
Companheiro connection — A telepathic link between mates
Curandero — The medicinal and spiritual healer of the tribes
Elders — Senior members of the tribe
Ètica — The Shadow Shifter Code of Ethics
Joining — The official union of mated Shifters
La Selva — The name of the restaurant at Perryville Resorts. Means “the jungle” in Portuguese
Oasis — The underground world created for the Shadow Shifters after The Unveiling
Pessoal — Secondary building of the Elder’s Grounds which houses the personal rooms of each Elder
Rogue — A shadow shifter who has turned from the tribes, refusing to follow the Ètica, in an effort to become their own distinct species
Santa Casa — Main building of the Elder’s Grounds that is the holy house of the Elders
Stateside Assembly — Body of shifters selected to help govern the Shadow Shifters living in the United States
The Assembly — Three elders from each tribe that make up the governing council of shifters in the Gungi
The Stateside Assembly Leader — The shifter who has been selected to lead their people, guided by social equality and dedicated to upholding the laws of the Ètica
STATESIDE SHIFTER HIERARCHY
Stateside Assembly Leader Roman
“Rome” Reynolds
Mountain Zone Faction Leader
Sebastian “Bas” Perry
Pacific Zone Faction Leader
Jace Maybon
Central Zone Faction Leader
Cole Linden
Eastern Zone Lead Enforcer
Dominick “Nick” Delgado
Eastern Zone Lead Enforcer
Xavier “X” Santos Markland
Mountain Zone Lead Enforcer
Jacques Germain
Lead Guards
Ezra & Elijah Preston
A COUGAR’S KISS NAME PRONUNCIATIONS
Decan (dee-k-an)
Kyss (kiss)
Nisa (nee-s-ah)
Keller (kel-er)
Zyon (zai-aan)
Shya (shi-yah)
Prologue
He was an animal. There was no doubt about that. His chest heaving with each new breath the cat took as it crossed the mossy surface. How long had he been running? How far had he gone? It didn’t matter. He wasn’t there yet. The cat wouldn’t stop until it was there.
Death followed him like a heavy dark cloud with its booming voice of doom echoing in his ear day after day. He’d done its bidding, fed the darkness that had been growing in him for years. But he wasn’t done.
There was more. He could feel it in the strength pouring through his veins, the burn that raced through his flanks, and he smelled it in the tangy scent of the wind. His lips pulled back from his sharp teeth and those teeth dripped with anticipation of feeding the hunger once more.
Destruction was the animal. Fear was the people. Death was the only answer.
His paws sank deep into the damp forest floor and he pushed further, ignoring signs in his peripheral, warning lights flashing, tires screeching. Adrenaline pulsed through his two-hundred-pound body as it burst from the trees onto the asphalt. He didn’t stop. He couldn’t stop.
The blare of car horns ripped through the air, the scent of rubber tires burning against
the rain-slicked roads as they skidded, tickled his nose. He kept going, opening his mouth to let loose a ferocious growl for those who didn’t know he was coming. Then he leapt into the air, landing on top of a wet car hood. Human eyes stared wide with fear at the cat through the windshield. He roared again, this time pressing his face closer to the window. The car door opened and the human bolted out, running, stumbling to his knees, then jumping up to continue his trek as far away from the cat as possible.
Good. They should all fear him. Not just tonight, but forever, because that’s how long he was going to keep running.
That’s how long he was going to keep killing.
Oasis
“He’s still not up yet. It’s been three months.” Bas sat down heavily in one of the mesh-back chairs in Rome’s private office and ran a hand over his full beard.
Nick was already sitting in the matching chair closest to Rome’s desk. “Ary says there’s nothing medically wrong with him.”
“Then why isn’t he up?” Bas’s tone was clearly agitated and matched that of each of the shifters sitting in this room.
They all wanted something to happen. For Cole to wake up and tell them where he’d been for the last twenty years. For Ewen Mackey to end his vow of silence. For the humans in the world above to stop freaking the hell out and accept that the shifters belonged on this earth just as much as them. For this nightmare that they’d been living since that fateful night in D.C. to finally be over.
But they were out of luck, it didn’t seem like any of that was going to happen.
“He’s breathing and he’s here safe with us. Maybe we just need to be thankful for that.” Jace tried to keep things positive.
Nick, Bas and X each gave him sour looks. Rome’s face remained impassive. Correction, it remained in that pissed-off frown it had been in since they’d discovered Cole was missing. The Assembly Leader carried that look like a badge and the only thing Jace had seen to change it in all these years was the First Female Kalina or Nisa.
“We need him to wake up,” Bas countered.
“Why? He’s not going to get up from that bed and be ready to face the Ruling Cabinet and whatever they have waiting for us above ground,” Jace fired back.
Of all the shifters in this room, he had been closest to Cole. While Bas had been close in proximity and the three of them did have a bond separate from Rome and his crew, there were things that he and Cole had been through that none of them knew about. Did that mean he should miss the guy the most? Maybe. Did it also mean that he was more than ready to find whatever it was that reportedly dropped Cole in the street like an orphan? Hell yeah.
But it also meant he knew how important it was to not rush this and to make sure that every step they took next was the right step. There was no more margin for error. In the time that Ewen had been with them, the Ruling Cabinet had increased its bounty for Shadows, dead or alive. Mercenaries, hitmen, international assassins and even local law enforcement were hunting shifters above ground. And the rogues were on a feeding spree. The Shadows who were still living in secret, stayed hidden. Just like they did down here. It was the worst-case scenario personified.
“We need him to wake up because it’s time to go back.” Rome’s words were spoken in his deep, level tone. He was sitting back in his chair, one elbow propped on the leather-covered arm, a finger moving over his recently clean-shaved chin.
X nodded at the Assembly Leader and stepped forward from where he stood beside Rome’s desk. Twenty years had passed and none of them looked old, but they were stronger, wiser and with physical changes they’d made themselves perhaps, but because of their shifter blood their aging process kicked into gear at different times—when they had their Awakening as a teenager, and not again until they reached eighty or ninety years old. So, X still looked like a pro-wrestler in his prime with his bulky frame and meaty fists.
“We’ve completed new safety protocols, synced mobile transmitters and comlinks with the Holodeck and assembled the top members of the Shifter Tactical Team across all tribes and zones. The plan we’ve been tweaking since first building Oasis is now ready for implementation.” X spoke like one of the computer systems he worked with so frequently. “In short, we’re ready to reclaim our time and space above ground and kick the asses of anyone who gets in our way.”
The corner of Jace’s mouth began lifting in a smile because the latter was said in that don’t-fuck-with-me tone that was all X, the Topétenia shifter that would rip the throat out of anyone or anything daring to get in his way.
“Tactical teams are assembled and ready to ascend above ground on command. Briefings have been sent to each of your boards on a secure link that only those in this room can access. We’re not sitting still any longer,” Nick spoke in his much smoother, former attorney, tone.
Bas stood, the worried look still in his gray eyes, but his shoulders were squared, fists clenched at his sides. “Who’s staying with Cole while we take back what belongs to us?”
“I’ve got that under control,” Rome answered with a pointed glare at Bas. “He’ll be watched and protected at all costs. And when he wakes up, we’ll have what we lost. We’ll have it all back or we’ll burn it all down.”
Chapter 1
Oasis
Medical Center
Later that night
Keller Cross hated hospitals.
The nauseating scent of illness combined with incessant beeping, buzzing, blaring that signaled death was imminent, all made him cringe inwardly each time he stepped foot into a facility. It was his weakness, something he tried like hell to never let anyone see. Weakness meant he could be destroyed and if he could be destroyed, his enemy could win. That wasn’t an option for him, not now, not ever.
So, when Rome dished out this punishment for Keller’s participation in the unapproved mission with Decan three months ago—and most likely for another infraction of the esteemed Assembly Leader’s rules that he hadn’t committed—Keller had taken it in stride. For twelve weeks he’d spent at least fourteen hours each day sitting six feet from a hospital bed where Faction Leader Cole Linden slept like a fifty-year-old baby.
Day-in and day-out the FL who had been missing for the last twenty years lay in that bed with the cream-colored blanket pulled midway up his chest, arms flattened at his sides, chin tilted up, eyes closed. The rise and fall of his chest said he was breathing as did the machines on the other side of the bed that Keller tried valiantly to ignore. There were needles in his arms with tubes running to more machines and paraphernalia that monitored everything from his temperature to his heart rate. There was no question the guy was being taken care of, with or without Keller sitting there keeping watch. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea who he was watching him for. They were in what was reportedly the safest place for Shadow Shifters—Oasis—the underground sanctuary built on the orders of the Assembly Leader, which meant there was no one here that wanted to harm the comatose Topétenia shifter.
At least there shouldn’t be.
Keller knew from experience that things weren’t always what they seemed. Case in point, Rome thought Keller was a traitor against the Shadow Shifters and thus felt the need to keep him trapped in this underground fortress until he could figure out what else to do with him. When, in fact, Keller knew the best solution for getting the Shadows the respect they deserved above ground, with the other shifters and humans. He knew how to bring the Ruling Cabinet down and to rebuild a life for them all. And he still planned to do just that, regardless of what Rome thought.
He leaned back in the chair arms crossed over his chest and stretched his legs out dropping one ankle over the other. It was nearing midnight when his shift for the day would be over. His cougar’s green eyes narrowed as he took another glance at the FL. Still asleep.
With a slow movement he lowered an arm and stuffed his hand into his pocket. His fingers wrapped around the comlink until he could press two buttons. The minute it beeped he talked.
&nbs
p; “How long will it take you to get to my room? I’ve got some news to share.”
The reply was quick, “Twenty minutes.”
“Good,” he snapped. “Be there.”
He pushed the buttons again and pulled his arm back up to rest on his chest.
A machine beeped, one long, slow blaring sound that pierced his eardrum and had him cursing fluently. Two red lights on the device flashed for about ten seconds before going dark once more. And silent, thank the gods.
He pulled his legs in and leaned over his knees. Seconds later he stood and bent back into a stretch. It was when he came forward again that he saw it.
The FL’s eyes were open.
You’re being ridiculous. Just walk up to him and say something. What do you think he’s gonna do, bite your head off?