Table of Contents
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
Part I
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
Chapter 17
Part II
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
Part III
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Part II
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part III
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part IV
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part V
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part VI
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part VII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part VIII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part IX
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part X
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Epilogue
Part XI
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Part XII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part XIII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part XIV
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Epilogue
Part XV
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part XVI
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part II
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part III
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part IV
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part V
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Epilogue
Part VI
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part VII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part VIII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part IX
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part X
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Part XI
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part XII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part XIII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part XIV
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part XV
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part XVI
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Part XVII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part XVIII
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Part XIX
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Part XX
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Extended Epilogue
Kane
Alexander Shifter Brothers
Selina Coffey
Copyright © Lovy Books Ltd, 2017
Selina Coffey has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held
by the publisher.
Lovy Books Ltd, 20-22 Wedlock Road, London N1 7GU, United Kingdom.
Join Selina’s mailing list today and receive a complimentary copy of Billionaire V Bodyguard, her latest release.
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Dedication
For Annie.
Contents
Personal Note
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
Author’s Note
Contemporary Romance Collection
Paranormal Romance Collection
Extended Epilogue
Sneak Peak - Cade
About the Author
Personal Note
Hey there,
Thank you so much for buying my book. As thank you, I thought I’d spoil you rotten with some free bonus books!
Take a look at the Table of Contents for more information.
Selina
Chapter 1
“Damesha, please, I can’t keep a dog in my apartment. You’re allowed pets,” the voice on the phone pleaded.
Damesha Parker sighed, staring down at her smartphone where her best friend Erika’s voice floated from. She absolutely did not need this today. Her best friend had found a Beagle wandering the street and now she wanted Damesha to take care of her. That was just like Erika, saving the world through other people’s graces.
She finally had to laugh and agreed, telling her friend to bring the dog over before she hung up the phone. Erika might be saving the world, but Damesha was going to be saving this dog.
“What am I going to do with a dog? Sheesh!” she said, pulling her soft blue sweater around her as she sat back down. Just as she did, she heard a knock on the door. Getting right back up, she peered through the security hole to make sure it was Erika. This was New York City after all; you didn’t just assume you knew who it was and open the door to whoever could be out there.
She opened the door with a laugh as a streak of red and white ran past her, straight into her living room. Erika quickly walked into the room, a short woman with long blond hair and skin so pale her dark brown eyes seemed to be swimming on their own. She was beautiful, but in an unconventional way. Her pale appearance gave her an angelic look that could be deceiving as Erika was a fiercely loyal friend and advocate for all kinds of causes.
“Seriously, Damesha, this dog is going to be so good for you!” Erika hugged her much darker friend and stared up into the woman’s blue eyes, her own brown ones shining happily.
“Girl, I’m leaving in a week, what am I going to do with a dog? A dog of all things?” Damesha went into the kitchen to prepare the usual cup of hot tea that Erika asked for when offered. She passed a mirror on the way and saw what people usually saw, a dark-skinned African-American woman, tall, with a fine bone structure, high cheekbones, and almond-shaped eyes that many said reminded them of statues of Cleopatra.
It was her startling light blue eyes that usually caught people’s attention, many staring and gasping when they saw the color. At twenty-eight years old Damesha still could not get used to the attention, though she’d learned to endure the questions people felt obliged to ask upon meeting her.
Damesha heard the tap of toenails behind her and looked down as something soft pushed against her leg. Kneeling down, she patted the dog.
“You’re so little but somehow so big, aren’t you?” Damesha smiled at the dog who seemed to smile back. She was petting the dog under the chin, looking her over for injuries or problem areas when the dog hunkered down and skittered away at the sound of an unfamiliar noise.
Damesha stood up quickly and turned the kettle off. The whistle of the kettle on the stove had scared the poor dog. Damesha knelt back down, her lithe frame bending down to her knees easily, to comfort the startled dog.
“Awwww! It’s okay baby, it’s just the kettle.” The dog looked up at Damesha with frightened but trusting eyes. Damesha held her hand out once more and the dog walked to her with an uncertain expression. “You poor love. Imagine what your life has been like! Let me see what we can feed you.”
Damesha made the tea and found a leftover hunk of beef roast she’d been planning to heat up for dinner. She shred the beef into a bowl and put it down for the now quivering dog. Damesha was amazed as the dog ate carrots and potatoes as well as the meat.
“You were hungry!” The dog looked up at Damesha with a happy smile, her whole body waving as her tail wagged happily. “Alright, you can stay.”
Damesha heard a cheer from the living room and went through, carrying two cups of tea.
“If this dog eats my entire house, I’m blaming you. Now, what are we going to name her?” Damesha laughed once more as the dog jumped into her lap, settling into a position that let Damesha know she was guarding. She stroked the dog’s head, smoothing down her head, loving the silky feel of the dog’s fur.
“Rover?” Erika offered with a laugh.
“No, I hate names like that. We need a real name. Hmm.” She tapped her lip and watched as the dog jumped down, sniffing around the apartment, getting her bearings.
“Orphan Annie?” Erika said suddenly, her expression one of sudden enlightenment. “She’s on her own, she’s got red fur, well some of it’s red, and she’s been saved by a benevolent caretaker!”
“Hmm. I really don’t know about the orphan part but Annie might work. Annie?” Damesha called out to the curious critter now inspecting a carpet as though it was a deadly beast about to snap and bite her snout. The dog looked up when Damesha called out and came back to the woman that smelled like love and friendship.
“Do you like that name? Are you an Annie?” Damesha laughed as the dog propped herself on Damesha’s legging covered knees and swiped a long tongue across her cheek. “Annie it is then. Girl, I hope you like to travel!”
Annie’s response was a wiggling body and more puppy kisses as Erika and Damesha loved on her. This wasn’t how Damesha was planning to spend her final weekend in the city but you did what you had to for friends. Besides, she’d known Annie was coming, she’d dreamed about her the night before. Damesha didn’t try to talk with people about it anymore but she was a little bit psychic.
As a child, she’d tried to talk to her elders about it, warn them about some of the things she’d seen in her dreams, but her grandmother had quickly hushed her, telling her to keep such things to herself. Damesha hadn’t understood exactly why she was supposed to keep quiet, but after years of getting into trouble for warning people about things that were going to happen, she’d learned to keep her mouth shut. It was bad enough being stared at because of her eyes. Making people think she was crazy didn’t help.
The power had started to dim over time, instead of getting flashes of the future when she touched someone or from her dreams, things had kind of settled down to a low hum of feeling something but not always being sure what. Kind of like when you have a vivid dream but can’t remember it five minutes after waking up. Sometimes she could hear people’s thoughts, a gross invasion she tried to avoid because it just made her feel dirty, but trying to block it didn’t always work out the way she wanted it to. Sometimes she heard things, things she didn’t want to hear, and there just wasn’t much she could do to stop it.
Damesha put Annie’s lead on as she exited the car, amazed at how well-behaved the dog was. Annie, the most awesome dog ever, didn’t even need to be potty trained. Damesha was certain the dog hadn’t grown up on the streets but had been abandoned there recently by some cruel owner. Annie had definitely been abused; she responded to every noise with fright, even paper rattling in the wind, but she was getting better.
Damesha hoped the staff in the restaurant would come
out to serve her. She’d been driving for days now and some places across the country weren’t very accepting of dogs. Damesha hadn’t seen many other places and none with tables outside. Damesha smiled as a pretty, petite waitress with gray eyes and black hair in a bun came out to take her order. Damesha ordered her food and poured a bottle of water into Annie’s travel bowl.
It had been a whirlwind week but she’d managed to fit in a visit to the vet for Annie. Annie’s shot had been updated, the vet confirmed that the “S” tattoo on Annie’s belly meant she’d been spayed somewhere along the way, and gave her a clean bill of health. He also estimated Annie was around two years old by her teeth.
Damesha was keeping an eye on Annie, letting her explore under the table, when a cop drove by. Damesha rolled her eyes when he stopped suddenly and backed up, pulling in next to Damesha’s little red economy sized car. Here we go.
Damesha braced herself as tall, overweight, and very sweaty older man got out of the police car and hitched up his khaki-colored pants before walking over to Damesha. She told herself maybe he just wanted to ask her a question about where she was from but she’d driven from New York to Kansas over the last few days. This wasn’t the first time a cop had felt a sudden urge to talk to her.
“Morning, little lady. What brings you to these parts?” the man asked from behind mirrored black sunglasses, his cowboy hat shading his face.
“I’ve come to do some research. I’m a writer.” Damesha had learned long ago you keep your answer short and simple when the police talked to you. She sat at the table, without moving a muscle that wasn’t vital to breathing, staring straight ahead.
“Right. A ‘writer’. And what do you write about then, missy? Romance in the ghetto?” The disbelief and sarcasm in his gratingly high voice made Damesha go still with shock and anger.
She knew better than to take the bait, but she was about to retort when the waitress came back. Damesha held her tongue as the waitress set her food down and offered her condiments. It was probably for the best, Damesha really didn’t want to get arrested so far from home.
“Leave it and be about your business,” the policeman growled at the woman. Though his voice was high, something in his tone made the woman stop and stare at him.
Kane (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 1) Page 1