by Kasey Belle
HIS FOXY LADY
THE SHIFTERS OF SANCTUARY
BOOK 2
KASEY BELLE
COPYRIGHT© 2018
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His Foxy Lady (A Howls Romance): The Shifters of Sanctuary, Book 2
Text Copyright © 2018 Kasey Belle
First E-book Publication: June 2018
Cover and art copyright © 2018 Anna Josey/Sin City Book Art
Digital Formatting by Kasey Belle
ALL RIGHT RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, incidents are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.
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
Chapter 17
Epilogue
Thank You
Acknowledgements
About The Author
Please Stalk Me
Other Works
Love is the catalyst that causes change.
Love is the balm that brings healing to the soul.
Thomas S. Monson
Prologue
Nikki stared out the window of the Humvee not really seeing the desolate scenery as it passed by. She was too busy trying to quell the dread sitting in the pit of her stomach like a lead balloon. She had a bad feeling about their little mission. If Betsy hadn’t volunteered, Nikki sure as hell wouldn’t be here. But, she couldn’t let her best friend go alone. There were too many variables. Too much that could go wrong. Nikki couldn’t have Betsy miles away from her if all hell broke loose and the mission went FUBAR. She needed to be there to protect her friend. Nikki may only be a fox, but she still possessed the enhanced abilities that came with being a shifter. They made her stronger and faster than her human bestie. She also had incredible instincts and right now her Spidey senses were tingling. She wanted to demand they turn back and forget the whole thing.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t how the Army and the powers that be worked. Once an order was given or a mission was planned, and all players were present that was it. It was, “Yes, sir/ma’am.” Then, no matter what happened you rode that shit out until it was over. There was no “No thanks, sir. I don’t feel like it.” or in Nikki’s case, “I changed my mind. I’m not going― neither is Betsy.” Well, one could utter the words, your ass may belong to the government, but it was still a free country. However, there would be consequences for the insubordination. Usually a shit ton of paperwork followed by disciplinary action at best; a dishonorable discharge at worst.
“Hey, don’t worry.” Betsy reached over and placed a hand on Nikki’s knee. “We’ll be fine. It’s not like we’re raiding a Taliban stronghold. We’re strictly a humanitarian venture. We’ll get in, do our thing, and head back to base.”
Nikki wanted to scoff at Betsy’s naiveté. She’d been in long enough to know it was never that easy. They saw the proof of that every day at the hospital. Just because they weren’t going out to fight the enemy that didn’t mean what they were doing wasn’t dangerous. They were part of a delegation including U.S. coalition members delivering medical supplies and aid to a severely understaffed remote clinic. Unfortunately, no matter how noble their cause, the enemy wouldn’t see their presence as anything but a threat. They were infidels worthy of a death sentence because they dared to stand against tyranny and offer help to innocent civilians. The same people the Taliban loved to murder, rape, and torture for their own sick delight.
“Yeah.” She offered Betsy a smile she didn’t feel. “I know. Easy peasy.”
“Lemon squeezy.” Betsy responded with a cheeky grin turning Nikki’s fake smile into a real one. Her best friend had added on that ridiculousness since they were children. Nikki never understood what lemon squeezy had to do with easy peasy other than it rhymed, but it always made her laugh.
After several bumpy and spine jarring hours, they finally arrived at their destination. Nikki let out a breath. So far, so good. The men ordered her and Betsy to remain in the vehicle. A few of the soldiers watched over them while others checked the clinic and scanned the surrounding area. Nikki hated the terrain here. The rugged hills afforded the enemy too many places to hide. She started to get antsy wondering what was taking so long when finally, one of the men who’d been sweeping the clinic stepped out the door and signaled to the men guarding their Humvee. A young Specialist who barely looked old enough to shave―Greene if Nikki remember correctly―opened Nikki’s door releasing them from temporary captivity.
A man, wearing a wide smile and a white lab coat, walked out of the clinic to greet them. Progressive men were few and far between in the region, found mostly in the larger cities where they had access to the outside world. Nikki had actually met a couple. She hoped that was the case here. She wasn’t in the mood to be sneered at for the simple fact that she was born with a vagina.
Dr. Ahmad Khan introduced himself and shook their hands. That told Nikki he wasn’t a misogynistic, you-better-walk-two-feet-behind-me-or-I’ll-have-you-stoned kind of guy. Yeah, she had definite issues with how the males treated the females around here.
Ahmad, as he preferred to be called, actually turned out to be quite personable. His family was from Afghanistan but had left when he was a ten and immigrated to the U.S. He had returned to help his people. Nikki wasn’t sure if he was noble or stupid considering health workers were increasingly becoming victims of targeted attacks. Ahmad gave them a quick tour of the clinic while the men unloaded the supplies.
The patients were mostly women and children as suspected. The women were only there because their husband’s and families allowed it. Nikki shutdow
n her bitter thoughts before she was tempted to start an ill-fated revolution. The point was the women were there for treatment and that was a good thing. Over the next hour, she and Betsy helped with vaccinations for the children and administered TB tests. The area, as with many others like it, was seeing an uptick in drug-resistant tuberculosis. Two-thirds of those affected were women. Which was one of the biggest reasons the disease was running rampant in the region. Not all the women were allowed to undergo treatment.
As they went to leave, Ahmad bid them farewell with an invitation to return. No. Fucking. Thank you. Nikki loved helping people, but she’d rather stay on base where they had internet and equality. Her ears registered the sound before the round impacted the side of the building. Then all hell broke loose. They’d been ambushed. Nikki dove for the ground and scrambled for cover realizing she was alone. Where was Betsy? Nikki glanced around but didn’t see her. “Betsy!”
One of the soldiers who’d accompanied in their vehicle now laid still on the ground five feet from her. Nikki crawled over and realized it was Greene. She looked him over and found the blood was coming from a wound under his arm. She placed her fingers on his neck checking for a pulse, briefly closing her eyes when she didn’t find one. The bullet most likely pierced his heart. He was too fucking young to die, but then so was she. Fire burned in her gut as she thought those words. Damned if she was going down without a fight.
“Fuck this. No way,” she muttered. She wasn’t going to sit here and take it up the ass from those caliphate-seeking motherfuckers. Bolstered by her own will to live, Nikki picked up Greene’s weapon and fired in the direction of the insurgent gunfire. She ducked behind a low stone wall when the assholes returned fire and called out for Betsy once more. Again, there was no answer. Where the fuck was she?
“Lieutenant Hendrix.” Sergeant Smyth shouted as he poked his head around the corner of the building. “She’s here. We need you.”
No. No, no, no, no. She kept up the litany in her mind as she army crawled toward Smyth’s location. She nearly vomited at the scene that greeted her. Hargrove, the team’s medic, pressed on Betsy’s chest, the sterile pads useless as blood seep through his fingers, and her best friend gasped for air.
Nikki’s training told her Betsy was bleeding out and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Her heart screamed at her to do something. Anything.
“Her lung collapsed,” he said over his shoulder. “I need to do a needle thoracentesis. Can you take over?”
His words got Nikki moving. She grabbed a handful of sterile pads and quickly replaced his hands with hers. “Where the fuck is the doctor?”
Hargrove sneered. “Probably hiding.” Ahmad didn’t seem the cowardly type, but what the hell did she know? The possibility of violence and the reality of it were two different animals which usually elicited completely different responses. Hargrove pulled a 14-gauge intravenous catheter from his med kit and placed it in the second intercostal space along the midclavicular line.
“Medevac is on the way,” Sergeant Smyth muttered.
They wouldn’t get there in time. When Nikki pressed harder on Betsy’s chest, she realized the world around them had gone quiet except for their own heavy breaths. How long it had been that way, she didn’t know. Her sole focus had been on Betsy. Nikki glanced up at the sergeant. “Did you get them all?”
His eyes darted toward Betsy. A sad expression overtook his normally hard face. Smyth nodded. “Fucking A. We did.” His eyes zeroed in on her shoulder. “You’re hit.”
She glanced down at the bloody torn fabric wondering when it had happened. Nikki frowned. Now that he’d mentioned it, it kind of fucking hurt. “Flesh wound. I’ll be fine.” Smyth didn’t argue. He was also a shifter. Except, he was a grizzly, not a fox like her.
Smyth kneeled next to Nik. “Here, let me take over.” He leaned in and put his lips near her ear and whispered. “Comfort her. Hold her hand. Talk to her.”
Nikki pulled back and looked at him. She saw the truth as she knew it in his eyes. It was hopeless. He mouthed, “I’m sorry.”
Blinking back tears, Nikki cradled Betsy’s head in her lap. “You’re going to be fine, Bets.” She brushed Betsy’s hair off her forehead. “Hang on. Help is coming.”
“Too late,” she whispered. “I love you, Nik. Sister of my heart.”
“Don’t. Don’t leave me.” Tears ran unchecked down Nikki’s cheeks.
Betsy coughed. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth. “Take care of Casey. Tell her I love her. I’ll always be with her.”
“You’ll tell her yourself when you see her.”
Betsy shook her head. Her expression sad yet resigned to her fate. “Promise,” she whispered.
“I promise. I’ll love her like she was my own. Like you know I already do.” The moment the words left Nikki’s lips Betsy smiled, peace filled her eyes, then she was gone. It was as if all she’d been waiting on was to hear Nikki’s vow before she took her last breath.
Nikki broke down. She gathered Betsy in her arms and sobbed. Her soul shattered. What would she say to Betsy’s parents? How could she look Casey in the eyes knowing she’d failed her mother? How could she go on without her best friend, her sister?
Chapter 1
Present Day
“When does the new hire arrive?” Jim asked Koda as they exited the barn and made their way over to the paddock.
“She’ll be here sometime after lunch. She wasn’t sure when exactly.”
“Army? Right?”
Koda nodded. “Yep. First Lieutenant. Army Combat Nurse.”
“Damn. I bet she’s seen some horrific shit.” Jim couldn’t even imagine, nor did he want to.
“Trust me. She did.” The muscles in Koda’s jaw flexed. No doubt thinking about what he experienced during his deployments and not just the life-altering injury that ended his career. Koda had lost his left leg just below the knee when the vehicle in front of the one he was in ran over a roadside bomb. You wouldn’t know the man wore a prosthetic if nobody told you. He moved with such an easy grace. However, his mind was another matter. What happened over there would always haunt Koda.
Jim let the subject drop knowing his friend wasn’t a sharer. “What’s her name again?”
“Nicolette Hendrix. Her daughter’s name is Casey. The little girl is seven. Sweet kid. I know I mentioned to you that Lieutenant Hendrix has PTSD. We’ll need to go over her list of possible triggers with the men. I’ve discussed them with her, but I want to do it again face-to-face. I don’t want us to miss anything and inadvertently cause her to have an episode. They’ll happen I’m sure, but we don’t need to be the cause.”
“Sounds good.” Jim took a swig from his water bottle. The cold water refreshing his dry throat. “It’s just the two of them?” He asked. Jim didn’t remember Koda mentioning a husband or boyfriend, but he needed to know if there was one. Jim wasn’t sure why it mattered, but it did.
“According to the employee paperwork, Nikki and Casey will be the only ones occupying their cabin.”
“What about the kid’s father?” Nothing pissed Jim off more than a man who didn’t take responsibility for his own children. He’d seen a lot of that when he was on the circuit. One of the guys would get a buckle bunny pregnant then disavow all knowledge of said coitus. Certain assholes still refused to acknowledge the fact that they procreated even after the DNA test proved otherwise. Jim was thankful casual sex had never been his thing. He’d never had to worry about being sued for child support, not that he would have considered becoming a father a bad thing. It’s just he couldn’t imagine having a child with someone whose last name he didn’t even care to know. Absolutely not a life goal.
“Don’t know. Didn’t ask. Can’t ask―” Koda shot him a pointed look. “―because that kind of shit will get you sued.”
“Right.” Jim leaned against the fence railing and watched Max exercise Lady Grey. The horse had come a long way in the year they’d had her. She was still som
ewhat skittish when it came to loud noises and sudden movements, but the constant fear and fight-or-flight responses were gone allowing her gentle nature to shine. He thought for sure Koda would have passed her on to an equine non-profit to live out her days in peace, but the man had decided to keep Lady. Jim had to admit it was a smart decision. It had taken her months to become comfortable with them. He didn’t think the horse would have adjusted well to a new home. A new environment would have, at the very least, set back the progress she’d made.
Max transitioned Lady Grey into the horse’s version of a trot which was more of prance if you asked him. Jim and Koda snickered. It was no wonder Lady Grey failed as a race horse, regardless of her bloodlines. Her old owner, the abusive piece of shit, tried to turn her into something she wasn’t. He attempted to beat the natural dainty and sweet tendencies right out of her. Lady Grey had the scars on her hide to prove it. Fucker. Jim wanted just five minutes with the asshole. That rat bastard would never harm another animal again after Jim got through breaking every bone in the prick’s body.
He shook off the rage inducing thoughts, nothing good would come from them. He placed his mind on a safer and often amusing topic. “How’s Ella feeling?”
Koda sighed. Ella’s independence and refusal of Koda’s coddling aggravated the hell out of the man but was a constant source of entertainment for Jim and the rest of guys at the sanctuary. She certainly knew how to push Koda’s buttons.
“She says she feels fine. I don’t see how that’s possible considering she’s seven months pregnant with what I’m certain is a beach ball not a baby. That woman is gonna be the death of me.”
Jim laughed and slapped Koda on the shoulder. “That woman is the best thing that ever happened to you. And, if I were you, I’d keep that beach ball comment to myself.”
Koda inclined his head and shot Jim a look that said, duh. “I’m not stupid. I like my balls where they are, thanks.”