The Shifter's Mate

by Eden Cole

  “So am I,” she agreed. “Although I warn you, it will get worse before it gets better.” He raised an eyebrow at that comment but didn’t respond. Worse, it seemed, was closer than she thought.

  Her mother, not known for keeping to her agreements, began to push for control of Serenity’s body. Serenity should have been on her guard, but she had been lulled by watching Jon’s face and listening to him speak, something she thought she could do for hours. The words in her mind had been uttered before she recognized what they were. Like she’d done on too many occasions with Salacity and Sky, her mother had used her physical body to cast a spell, one that put Serenity’s spirit in a semi-sleep. With it, her mother could make use of Serenity’s body without hindrance.

  “This is for your own good, darling. He’s an ordinary human after all, and from the way you two get along, I can tell you’ll hand your heart to him before a month is out. Now rest. Let Mom handle everything.”

  “Mom, no,” Serenity called out, but her voice was weak, and she was sluggish like she’d been drugged. All she could do was watch and listen.

  Her mother began by fanning herself. “It’s hot in here isn’t it? No, it might be you getting me all overheated.” She pinched open a couple of buttons on Serenity’s dress and fanned some more while she pushed her breasts forward. Serenity watched Jon’s eyes widen and focus on the amount of cleavage she’d just revealed. The lust in his dark eyes was plain. His fork clattered to his plate, and he became still like a wild animal surveying its prey.

  Having him watch wasn’t enough for her mother. She ran a cloth napkin over her chest, down into the valley between her breasts, and then tossed it on the table. If Serenity had control of even her heart, it would be thumping hard right now when her mother rose. She rounded the table, and with a pout pushing out her lips, she sat down on Jon’s lap. Serenity was not surprised to find his cock rock hard beneath her ass. Her mother wriggled on it to Serenity’s shame.

  “Mom, please!”

  “Let’s fuck right here, right now,” her mother suggested to Jon.

  She’d gone too far. Jon drew back a little, his expression changing. “While there’s nothing I’d enjoy more, this isn’t the place. We would end up in jail.”

  Her mother harrumphed. “Oh you’re no fun. Let me see if I can find someone willing to make me scream in ecstasy.” She stood up and whirled to face him while surveying the restaurant. By this time, all eyes were on her, especially since she decided the amount of skin she flashed still wasn’t enough. Two more buttons followed the previous she’d undone. She pushed the silky material aside, just short of showing off Serenity’s deep rose areolas.

  Jon leaped to his feet, almost knocking over his chair. He caught it in time and set it right. With a snap of his fingers, he had a waiter and had paid the check. Without a word, he shuffled them toward the door. Moments later they were in his car, and Serenity’s mother had made Serenity climb on Jon’s lap. She put a hand down over his crotch and squeezed. He covered it, keeping it still.

  She moved in for a kiss, and when their lips were no more than a quarter of an inch apart, he let loose a low growl that sounded feral. Her body shivered, and it made her think of wild animals and white hot sex. In response, her mother moaned, but Serenity wept in silence because she wasn’t the one to enjoy Jon.

  Jon moved back from the kiss before their lips touched, and he raised her hand instead to his lips. He planted feather touches along her palm and flicked his gaze up to her eyes. His dark eyes seemed blacker if possible, and then without warning, he bit her hand. She cried out.

  Serenity felt a jerk in her abdomen, and then with the clarity that comes with being in one’s right mind, she knew her mother had somehow been forced out of her and the spell broken. If by some miracle Jon took her out again and they made it to the all out sex stage, she would have to let him know that she wasn’t into biting. His teeth were razor sharp, it seemed. However, for now, she was happy for the accident. She was free before anything worse could happen.

  Under full control, she climbed down from his lap and fixed her clothes. “Um, I can’t explain why I behaved like I did, but well...uh...I think it’s best if we call it a night.”

  Jon watched her in silence for a few minutes, and then he smiled. “Like I said, beautiful woman, you’re unlike anyone I’ve ever met. I’m going to enjoy getting to know you.”

  The Shifter's Mate

  The Shifter's Mate

  Chapter Four

  Jon woke up the next morning with a grin on his face. He could not believe the madness that had happened the night before. And he’d been seconds from having sex with his girlfriend’s mother. He shivered in disgust. The woman was drop dead gorgeous, but it was Serenity he wanted. Of course since she was using Serenity’s body at the time, he had found it hard to resist. Her body was all a man could want and more. When she’d flashed those lovely breasts at him, it had taken all the willpower he could muster not to take the gift offered to him.

  Of course he could see her mother’s spirit. All animals could see into the spirit realm, and after all, he was a panther shape shifter. They didn’t know that, and he wanted to keep it that way for now. Most humans could not understand his kind and presented fear when they found out his kind existed. He had assumed Serenity was just like every other human, which was why he kept quiet in the first place, but from what happened last night, he thought there was much more to that family than met the eye.

  The woman he wanted had a ghost for a mother. Yet, he was sure he’d seen her in the flesh the night of the party. Others had seen her as well, and most of the men there had been human from the scent of them. He’d spent his life with animal instincts, sniffing out potential enemies as easily as breathing. The Powers women were something else. They smelled like humans, but they were more. He looked forward to finding out their secrets before he revealed his own.

  Resting an arm over his head and staring at the sunlight reflected on the ceiling, he brought Serenity’s face to mind. With all the mayhem that was her life, would she enjoy living at his house in the country? “Get control of yourself, Jon.”

  He sat up. So that was it. Somewhere in all this, he’d made his decision to have Serenity as his mate. His mother had told him for years that he’d know the moment he met her. And the oldest in his clan, Mordecai, had said he had a dream that the States was where Jon would find his mate. All had listened to Mordecai’s wisdom over the years. The old panther shifter had never steered them wrong. That alone was why Jon had come. Yet for the last three years, he’d wondered if he had come to the wrong city or didn’t make himself known enough by going out to clubs and bars.

  They weren’t his idea of fun. He loved peace and quiet, a calm life living close to a forest where he could run free in his shifted form. What would Serenity think of that, he wondered. Were they truly as compatible as they seemed? He stretched his arms up over his head and stood up. A cold shower the night before had helped him ease the pain of arousal, but a warm one this morning would get his blood flowing. He would have a full week of work, and then this weekend he’d convince Serenity that last night didn’t matter. They could begin again. If he could get her away somewhere her mother could not follow, things would develop naturally, and he could begin to woo his mate. Excitement at the prospect stirred his cock.

  Serenity might be looking at him as a potential lover, but he had more in mind. Much more.

  * * * *

  Serenity hadn’t heard from Jon in days. Sure, he had said he looked forward to getting to know her better, but in the light of day after he’d had time for a cold shower or even working out his sexual frustrations on his own, he might be thinking she was either crazy or a dirty whore. He may have decided not to call her again. And how could she take Lenny in for his follow up visit and for the shots he was due? She couldn’t show her face at the pet hospital, and it was all her mother’s fault!

  “Mom,” she shouted in the hall at her house. Her mother had
kept low for a couple of days now, but Serenity wasn’t giving up. She would put her parent in her place once and for all, and Serenity had plans to search her special book for just the right spell that would banish her mother from her home. That might be drastic, but she’d had it with the woman’s interference in her life.

  Serenity did not believe in influencing humans with magic unless it was absolutely necessary, but when a couple of clients with big restoration projects would not return to her, she’d had no choice but to tweak their memories. With the terror of Serenity’s haunted house gone from their minds, they were both free to decide on their own to give Serenity their business. However, she would not overlook her moral code again.

  “Darling, what’s all the shouting about?”

  Serenity spun around to find her mother at the top of the stairs. Dressed in a shimming nightie and an eye mask shaped like a butterfly on her forehead she was the picture of lovely innocence. Serenity rolled her eyes. “Cut it, Mom. A spirit does not need to sleep. You’ve said so a number of times when you woke me up at three a.m. out of boredom.”

  Her mother sighed, and her appearance changed to the dress she’d been wearing the day she cast the spell on herself out of heartbreak. “You’re still no fun, Serenity. Even after I gave you a few days to appreciate what I did for you with that man.”

  “Appreciate!” Serenity sputtered. “You interfered with my life. I’m twenty-six, Mom. I don’t need you to fix anything. If I date a non-magical person, damn it, that is my business!”

  “Language, Serenity,” her mother admonished.

  Serenity growled. She lifted a hand and snapped while dropping a few choice words. Their surroundings changed in an instant. All around was darkness. The only reason Serenity and her mother could see each other was because she arranged it that way. “Do you want me to lock you in here, Mom?”

  Her mother scanned the area although there was nothing to see. “The void? This cannot be it. You don’t have the power, Serenity, and you wouldn’t dare do that to your mother!”

  “Try me.” She put a hand an inch or two above her. “I’ve had it up to here with you. I won’t stand for your meddling in my business or my personal life. If you don’t back off, I swear to goodness, you’ll regret it. I will lock you in the void for a solid year.”

  Her mother rushed forward and extended her hands as if to clutch Serenity’s, but her ghostly fingers passed through Serenity’s. “Please don’t do that, darling. You know that would make me crazy. I have to have color. I need life.”

  “Really? Think about that the next time you are tempted to take over my body. In fact, why don’t you travel or something, give us all a rest.”

  The older woman pushed her lip out in a pout, but Serenity felt no compassion. She stood there glaring at her mother, unmoved.

  “Just do me the tiniest of favors, Serenity, and I promise I will go away. I know you don’t love me, so I won’t bother you after this one thing.” She crossed her heart and held up a hand.

  Serenity ran a hand through her hair and then flipped it over her shoulder. She blew out a heavy breath. With a snap, she brought herself and her mother into the library, which she had fast restored to the way she liked it after the dance. “What favor, Mom?” she asked as she ascended to her loft.

  “I’ve found a clue to where your father is.”

  Serenity stopped on the stairs and turned back. “What?”

  “Well, where he was at one time,” the older woman admitted. “In Washington State, a small B&B there. I just know that witch he ran off with is using her magic to cover his tracks, but I have friends who can trace her. To some degree anyway. One of my friends has uncovered what he believes is your father’s lingering aura. If you could let me use your body to—”

  “No!”

  “But Serenity, this could be my only chance. You wouldn’t deny me that.” Serenity saw real anguish in her mother’s eyes. The woman had loved Serenity’s father, and it had devastated her when he walked out. She’d been so heartbroken, she’d cast the spell over herself intending to end her life. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on Serenity’s mood, the spell had gone wrong and taken her mother’s body but left her spirit. In fact, they had no idea where her body was or if the spirit form her mother took was a manifestation of her physical self, just on another plane. She’d spent years trying to find something to reverse the spell without success.

  “Mom, you know you should let go and move on with your life. He obviously doesn’t want to be found or want anything to do with his family.” She wasn’t without her own hurt in this situation.

  “How can I?” Her mother held her arms out to the side. “How can I move on, Serenity? You tell me. And you and I both know that I suspect that bitch he ran off with had something to do with my ending up like this.”

  Serenity rolled her eyes. Some days her mother blamed Serenity’s father, an ordinary human who had never exhibited any abilities in magic whatsoever. Serenity’s love life was in the toilet, and it looked like Jon wasn’t going to call. She was at a standstill currently with her business, so there was no reason why she couldn’t do this quick investigation for her mother. After all, Serenity longed to know why her father had cut line and left her and her sisters along with their mother. She wanted to talk to him, if only once to resolve the pain in her own heart.

  “Okay, Mom, I’ll do it. I’ll go to Washington State, and whether there is anything for me to find there or not, you stay out of my hair when I get back. Deal?”

  Her mother clapped her hands together like a child. “Oh, darling, you won’t regret it. I know this is a good lead. I feel it in my bones.”

  “I said is it a deal, Mom?”

  “Yes, fine. It’s a deal.” Her mother sighed. “Okay, now come on, Serenity. You really should make lunch. Your sisters will be here shortly.”

  “Why would they—” The bell sounded at that moment. Serenity grumbled and left the library with her mother floating behind her.

  “You pulled a nasty trick on them the other day, and it’s good that you offered to cook for them to make them feel better. I think they may have been doing a little cooking of their own, a spell to get you back, I mean.”

  Serenity eyed her mother over her shoulder. She suspected that if her sisters were doing any such thing, it was their mother that was egging them on. She wasn’t scared of Salacity and Sky. Let them bring it on.

  The Shifter's Mate

  The Shifter's Mate

  Chapter Five

  Serenity gathered her bags in one hand and opened the taxi door with the other before stepping out. The trip to Washington State had turned up little for the three days she’d been there. Her father had stayed in the bed and breakfast all right, but that had been more than a month ago according to the records and a small spell she used to discern which of the registry names was the fake one he used. At least they had that. If her father didn’t know she knew the name he was using, maybe he would use it again. Serenity intended to turn over all the info to her mother. Let one of her ‘friends’ handle it.

  She’d taken possession of her luggage and paid the driver before her weary mind registered the fact that Jon’s car was in the drive. Her heartbeat kicked into high gear. Excitement made her quicken her steps to the front door, and she had to fight to keep a grin from spreading from ear to ear. He had come back, but why was he still here if one of her sisters told him she was out of town and wasn’t expected until evening. She’d been bumped up to an earlier flight and hadn’t had time to inform her family.

  After unlocking the door, she shuffled inside and set her bags down. Music she’d told Salacity she hated blared from one of the sitting rooms. She regretted telling the woman she could stay while Serenity was out. She should have known it was the wrong choice. Stopping in the hall to check her appearance in the mirror, she straightened her clothes and tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear. To keep it from flying all over her head during travel, she’d pulled her
thick hair back in a bun. Jon would think she looked like a school teacher, she thought in disgust. It couldn’t be helped. She didn’t want to wait another minute to see him again.

  When she neared the room where the music came from, her ears rang. She winced and uttered a spell. Silence reigned. She laughed knowing they’d think the player had malfunctioned. With any luck, she will have ousted her sister before she figured out Serenity had caused it.

  The door way stood open, and she was just about to turn into the room, when Salacity’s words reached her. “I’m sure you understand how I feel, don’t you, Jon? I mean you’re a handsome man, but I…I met someone else. That’s where I’ve been these last couple of days. With him. We hit it off right away.”

  Serenity froze. Her sister was using her voice, and since Jon hadn’t demanded to know what the hell was going on, she guessed Salacity had also transformed herself to look like Serenity. Damn it! She’d known before she left that Salacity hadn’t forgiven her. Sky had because that’s how sweet a girl she was, but not the grudge-holding Salacity.

  She fumed. This was kindergarten stuff. They’d pulled this nonsense as kids against whoever had been hired to watch over them at the time after they lost both their parents. Salacity with her antics had driven away most of the staff their trustees had hired. Now she would pull this kind of prank on the man Serenity was interested in? This was too much.

  She backed from the door and scoured her mind to recall the old transformation spell they had used as children to look like each other. Who needed to be identical triplets when they had magic? Serenity recalled and uttered the spell. She reached up and yanked the pins from her hair to let it fall down around her shoulders and down her back. A few buttons undone on her blouse finished the look, and she strolled into the room.