Shifters in Seattle: Box Set Books 1 - 5

by Thorne, Truli

  Okay, forget keeping it together.

  She was letting go and enjoying the fuck out of this.

  She pulled him closer and pressed her body against his, reveling in his hard resistance to her ample softness. She felt his sturdy length rise against her belly.

  Oh, yeah. She was getting knocked up tonight.

  When they finally parted, Peter smiled down at her, his green eyes sizzling with heat and desire. “Your kisses are magical,” he said.

  She blinked up at him. Speechless for once in her life.

  “You okay to drive? I hate leaving you now, but I need to meet Gregory.”

  She just nodded and opened her car door, sliding into the driver’s seat.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” he said, giving her another kiss on the lips, this one brief and sweet. He closed her door.

  She took a few minutes to gather herself before starting her car. She lifted a hand to her mouth, running a finger over the bottom lip, pressing into its springiness. Her lips were tingling.

  Somehow she hadn’t expected baby-making would be so much fun, but tonight was full of promise now. It was time to focus.

  Home. Snack. Bath. Date. Baby!

  As she pulled out of the parking lot, Shaun suddenly jumped in front of her car, slamming a hand on the hood. She screeched to a stop.

  “Are you trying to fucking die?” she yelled.

  He motioned for her to roll down the window.

  She gave him an inch. “What?” she said.

  “I need a ride to my apartment.”

  “Call Uber.”

  “Come on. I want to talk with you.”

  “I have plans.”

  “Please? Just give me a chance.”

  “Do you think I’m a fucking idiot? I may be sexy, but I do have a brain.”

  He pulled out a gun. “Unlock this door. Move over to the other seat. Now.”

  Fuck! Cleo wanted to just drive away.

  She had to think of her baby. An egg right now on its way to her uterus. Maybe for the last time ever. She unlocked her door and scooted into the passenger seat.

  “Good girl,” he said as he got in, putting the gun on his lap. “You play this smart and you won’t get hurt.”

  “What the hell is your goddamned problem?”

  “I want something. And I’m going to get it.”

  She scowled at him. “Unless it’s a fucking smack in the face, I’m pretty sure I can’t give it to you.”

  “No, but Peter can. And since I have you, he will give it to me.”

  “He doesn’t care about me. No more than any other employee.”

  “Shut up. I saw you kissing just now.”

  “He does that with all the women. He’s a player.”

  “He’s been under my surveillance for months. He’s never touched anyone. Never even flirted with anyone. Except you.”

  “Really?” Cleo said, her heart lifting. She so wanted to believe that she didn’t even care that Shaun was the person telling her.

  “Shut up,” he ordered. “Don’t you know what he is?”

  “He’s a wonderful man,” she gushed.

  “He’s a wolf shifter.”

  “He is not!” What a ridiculous accusation. He couldn’t be a wolf shifter. That would be too fabulous.

  “Of course he is. He’s just really good at hiding it.”

  Shaun must be crazy paranoid. She shrugged. “Whatever.”

  If Peter was actually into her, then she could let herself admit that she was into him.

  Maybe that she even loved him.

  She felt a rush of pleasure.

  Cleo looked around, realizing she should be paying attention to the direction he was driving. He turned onto Washington Street. “Were are we going?”

  “I told you. My apartment.”

  “Are you kidnapping me?” She needed to get away from him and go back to her apartment before Peter arrived for their date. “Please tell me you really just need a ride home. That’s fine, honestly. I won’t call the police. I swear.” She wanted to give him an out before things went too far.

  She’d do anything to get back to Peter and have everything normal again.

  “I have him on video talking about shifting,” Shaun bragged. “I recorded him talking with Gregory.”

  “So what? You can change an audio recording by pushing a button. It’s simple technology.” She looked behind them to see if any cars were following. There weren’t.

  “Hey, hey. Stop looking around. Settle down.” He picked up the gun with his left hand and pointed it at her.

  “What the hell is your problem?”

  He made a quick turn down an alley and screeched the car to a halt behind a trash Dumpster. “This is my building.”

  She looked out. They were next to a tall metal skyscraper, the kind of generic building that Cleo hated.

  “Here’s what’s gonna happen,” Shaun said. “You come upstairs with me and in exchange, I let you go when Peter gets here. If you don’t come upstairs with me, I’ll shoot you right here and right now. Either way, I get what I want, which is the mayor, in my apartment.”

  No way was she getting shot and discarded into a Dumpster. She wanted to see Peter. She’d do anything for him, she realized.

  “Fine.” She unbuckled her seat belt. “Let’s go.”

  She hoped that she would see someone, anyone, on the way upstairs, but the building might as well have been deserted. He took her up to the second floor and down the hall to apartment 205.

  She remembered: 205, 205.

  He unlocked the door and shoved her inside.

  “Sit down,” Shaun instructed as he pushed her onto a couch.

  His apartment was horrific, with dozens of heads of wild animals mounted on the walls. Not only deer, but she also counted three wolves and two boars and an elk. A bearskin rug lay on the floor in front of a fake fireplace.

  Piles of animal skins lay next to paper bags of stuffing and racks of fabric and thread.

  “What is all this?” Cleo asked.

  “My hobby. I’m a taxidermist.”

  “You stuff dead animals?”

  “Just for, you know, fun.” He nodded proudly. “It’s an art.”

  Cleo felt nauseous. She lifted a hand to her mouth. “It’s sick.”

  She slid down until she was sitting on a chair.

  “I’m texting your boyfriend,” he said. “Now we wait.”

  She had to get the hell out of there.

  He sat down in front of a laptop on the dining table, the gun beside him, pointed straight at Cleo’s head.

  12

  When Peter got the text from Shaun, he had been on his way to meet Gregory.

  He’d wanted to convince the wolf shifter that it was time to let the world know who and what they were. No one else was in as good of a position to make the announcement as Peter: a well-liked mayor who had lived a life of service.

  Peter wasn’t ashamed of the truth.

  But it wasn’t just about him. This concerned all shifters, everywhere.

  They would have to to call a shifter council meeting. That would take time, so it was necessary to convince Shaun to give it to them.

  But first Peter wanted to get Gregory on board.

  Tonight he would let Cleo know she was his fated mate. Tomorrow they would begin to see the results of Cleo’s survey. And he could finally lead the life he so wanted to live.

  But then, this happened: “I have Cleo. Come and get her before I do something you might regret. 81 Washington #205.”

  It was from Shaun’s cell number.

  “WTF?” he texted back, making an immediate U-turn.

  No response.

  Peter raced down Washington. He got to the apartment building in seven minutes and was at #205 in eight. He kicked in the door and ran inside.

  “Cleo?” he called out.

  “Peter!” she called back. And then, “Oooof!”

  Peter burst into the living room in time to se
e Shaun strike Cleo’s face with the back of his hand. Without a thought, Peter shifted.

  He roared to full height and grabbed Shaun by the neck, hauling him into the air.

  “No!” Shaun flung his limbs around.

  Peter’s grip never wavered. He snarled, his teeth inches from the man’s mean, pale face.

  Shaun’s eyes bulged in terror. “Bear!” he screamed in a high-pitched voice, like a child, tossing his head back and forth.

  Peter flung Shaun into the wall of animals and he fell to the carpet, animal heads raining down on him.

  Finish him, his bear said.

  Instead, Peter crouched by Cleo, tenderly running the back of his paw across her face. Was she okay?

  He stared into her eyes, happy that she didn’t look at all terrified by his bear-ness. She only seemed relieved to see him, despite the bright mark across her cheek where she’d been slapped.

  Shaun would die for this.

  On the other hand, if Peter killed Shaun, he could never tell the people of Seattle that shifters were safe to live by their sides.

  He chuffed at Cleo, licking the top of her head with his thick tongue.

  He turned back to Shaun, who was getting up and backing away from Peter. Shaun’s eyes darted around the room, moving from the gun to the door to Peter and back to the gun.

  Peter grabbed Shaun again. It was like picking up a baby. There was no resistance, only the trembling of a terrified child.

  “I’m sorry,” Shaun pleaded. “Don’t hurt me!”

  Kill him, his bear said.

  But how could the mayor kill the assistant DA and not go to jail for his crime? He couldn’t.

  Just eat him, his bear said.

  “Don’t hurt me!”

  Peter roared into Shaun’s face to silence him. He tossed Shaun against the wall again. This time Shaun didn’t get up.

  Peter nudged him with his giant bear paw.

  Nothing.

  Peter shifted back into his human form, and without losing a step, yanked the power cord from the laptop. He tied Shaun’s hands behind his back and leapt back to Cleo.

  “Are you okay, my love?”

  She nodded.

  “I told him you weren’t a wolf shifter,” she said.

  He caressed her face, careful to not touch the tender red cheek that was already bruising.

  She smiled but seemed shaken. “You’re a bear.”

  “I’m a bear shifter. God, it feels good to say that out loud.”

  She let out a quick laugh. “What are you going to do with him?”

  “That depends on Gregory.”

  “I need to get out of here,” she said. “The dead animals...”

  He pulled her into an embrace. “Can you wait a few more minutes?”

  She nodded and sunk into his arms.

  He found his cell phone and dialed. “Gregory. Where are you? Yes.”

  As he paused to listen, he looked at Shaun crumpled on the floor. He really was a pathetic human. Peter knew he could never bring himself to kill him. “Eighty-one Washington, number 205.”

  He looked down at his own naked body. His clothes were in tatters spread across the floor from when he had shifted. “And bring me clothes. I don’t care. Anything.”

  After he hung up, Peter held Cleo.

  He thought of telling her right there and then that she was his fated mate, but he knew this wasn’t the right time. This horrific moment. In this apartment of death.

  He wanted her to forget all about what happened and just remember that Peter had been there for her. He would always be there for her.

  Gregory was quick. He arrived with sweats for Peter and a punch in the nose for Shaun, who had woken up in time to receive it.

  “I want to go public about being shifters. We’ll send him to jail for blackmail and extortion.”

  “No,” Gregory growled. “He dies tonight.”

  Shaun whimpered.

  “It’s time to go public,” Peter said, pulling on the sweats. “Just look at him. He’s pathetic.”

  Shaun had shuffled around until he was leaning against the wall, the stuffed heads of animals he had killed surrounding him on the floor as though they were ganging up on him.

  “If we destroy him, someone else will find out. And then what do we do? Kill again? When does it stop?”

  “What’s the matter with you?” Gregory snarled into Shaun’s face, ignoring Peter’s logic.

  “Gregory. Listen to me!” Peter yelled to get the wolf shifter’s attention. “We need to let the world know we’re safe. We can’t destroy every human who gets in our way. That only proves to the people who fear shifters that they’re right to be afraid. It proves that we are as dangerous as they claim.”

  “We are dangerous. I am, anyway. Aren’t you?” Gregory said.

  “I don’t want to be.”

  Gregory towered above Shaun, still furious. “You recorded me? Secret cameras? Microphones?” He was like a dog with a bone and Shaun was the bone.

  Shaun whimpered at his feet.

  “I mentored you!”

  “I’m sorry!” Shaun started crying.

  “This is how you repay me? You piece of shit. I’ll kill you.”

  Shaun looked away, miserable and panicked, his eyes searching out the gun.

  Gregory untied Shaun’s hands and yanked him up until he was standing in front of him, trembling. Gregory raised a hand overhead and as he moved to strike, Shaun jerked away, falling hands-first into the electric fireplace.

  Flames burst out of the insert, igniting the nearby bags of stuffing material and then the bear rug. The fire leapt across the taxidermied animal heads, detonating one after another like dominoes.

  “What the fuck?” Gregory growled, and hauled Shaun back to him.

  Cleo exclaimed and covered her mouth as noxious fumes drifted toward them. Peter scooped her up and carried her toward the door as the couch also burst into flames. She clung to him, tucking her head into his chest, as smoke alarms in the living room, kitchen, and hallway blared out one by one.

  Once they had burst out of the apartment, Gregory grabbed ahold of Shaun. “You’re staying with me,” he said, as Shaun’s neighbors opened apartment doors to see what was going on.

  “Fire!” Cleo cried out to the neighbors. “Call 911!”

  While the neighbors panicked and ran for safety, Shaun kneed Gregory in the balls.

  “You little fucker!” Gregory doubled over, momentarily losing his grip on Shaun, who darted back in his apartment, slamming the door in their faces.

  In a fury, Gregory kicked and pounded on the door, trying to open it. Peter tried the doorknob but it was already burning hot. He yanked his hand away.

  Cleo coughed. The smoke had followed them into the hallway.

  “Come on!” Peter said.

  “Just go!” Gregory yelled, still kicking the door. He yanked a shirt-sleeve over his mouth and breathed through it. “Get out of here!”

  “Come on!” Peter shouted, as he carried Cleo to safety, leaving Gregory alone in the hallway.

  Out in the street, the air was wet and clean and they gulped it in.

  In moments, the fire department arrived in full force, with sirens and ladders and hoses of water.

  Gregory appeared after a few minutes, shaking his head. “I couldn’t get him. I couldn’t get him out.”

  Cleo, Peter, and Gregory waited near the fire trucks. The building residents crowded around Cleo and Peter, glad to see their mayor on the scene.

  Shaun never appeared. Finally, they had to give up, realizing that he must have died in the fire.

  “There’s no pressure to tell the world your secrets,” Gregory said. “Now that Shaun is gone.”

  “I’ll wait to tell,” Peter said. “But not forever.”

  Gregory pulled out his phone and made a call while Cleo and Peter held each other tight. Peter never wanted to let her go, and now he didn’t have to.

  “I’m going to get the bodie
s of the wolf shifters from the morgue,” Gregory said after he’d hung up. “Julianna Lee is meeting me there.”

  “Where will you take them?”

  “Whidbey Island. To the wolf shifter sanctuary. They’re family. They deserve a proper burial.”

  Even though Shaun’s death wasn’t what Peter had wanted, it was convenient. It gave him time to decide when and where to go public. He still wanted to do it, but now he could build a strategy.

  He wanted to do that with Cleo by his side.

  “We can postpone our date tonight,” he said to her, tenderly brushing her hair off from her face. “Today has been crazy. Too crazy.”

  “Postpone? No!” She pulled away and looked up at him with alarm.

  “We can do it whenever you’re up for it.”

  “No, it has to be tonight!”

  “Why?” Peter reached out and took her hand.

  “It just does.” She paused and looked down. “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “Do you mind if we stay in? The TV room at the mayor’s mansion is about all I could take right now. Netflix and pizza?”

  “Yes,” she said, leaping back into his embrace. “That sounds perfect.”

  13

  As Peter drove Cleo to the mayor’s mansion, she had a lot on her mind. Her one shot at having a baby, and it would be with a shifter?

  Ignoring for a second her own feelings about Peter, would she want to do that to her baby? Make her or him a bear shifter?

  What did that even mean?

  She wished she could talk with Amy and Steph about half-shifter, half-human babies. But she didn’t have time for that. It was now or never. She had to decide: Did she still want to get pregnant?

  Yes. Every part of her screamed Yes!

  Life is too short to not do what you want and need to do.

  But could she really trick Peter into being the father, after all they’d been through?

  “How you doing?” he asked as they arrived at the mayor’s mansion.

  “I’m fine, honestly,” she said. Even though she didn’t feel fine. She was covered with soot and smelled like smoke. She pulled off her booties and left them by the front door. “Mind if I take a shower?”

  “Let me draw you a bath,” he said.

  “A bath? Really? Oh, my god, that would be amazing.”