Fairytale Shifters

by Alexa Riley

  That day in the woods, I took her from Dominic’s arms and carried her back to my house. The little cub was shivering with cold and fear, but as soon as she was cradled in my arms, she stopped. It was like our connection was made, and from that moment on, I didn’t leave her side.

  After three days I finally was able to talk her through shifting back to human form. It took her a long time, and I know it must have been painful, but she was so strong. I was so proud of her, and after it was complete I wrapped her up in a blanket and just held her in front of the fire. She looked so young, maybe around fourteen, and I didn’t want to scare her with questions or make her start talking if she wasn’t ready. I just wanted to keep her safe.

  Winnie. That was the first word she ever spoke to me, and it was all she could remember.

  I had let her sleep in my bed with me when she was a cub, but after she shifted, I let her sleep in the guest room. I’d lie there in the middle of the night, feeling so lonely without her. There wasn’t ever any sexual attraction, to her. Male shifters can’t even get hard until their mating heat hits. No, what I felt for Winnie was different. It was a strong pull, and I didn’t know how to explain it. I couldn’t tell anyone, and I damn sure couldn’t talk to Winnie about it.

  When she crawled into bed with me that first night, I pretended to be asleep. But as soon as she dozed off, I pulled her to me and held her close while she slept. I never did anything other than hold her and make sure she was safe. I never admitted how happy I was that she felt the need to be near me.

  Every night she would sneak in my room, and I would hold her while she slept. After almost a week, I knew it needed to stop.

  I started to get anxious if I was separated from her for too long, and when her scent started to fade from me, I tried to find ways to accidentally brush up against her and get it back on me. I was becoming obsessed and I knew it.

  Peter Stockton was one of our pack’s best hunters, and I knew he had two young girls about Winnie’s age. When I asked him to watch over Winnie and protect her as he would his own family, he agreed. Gwen didn’t like my decision, but she’s young and doesn’t understand the way the pack works. He’s a part of us, and he will do his duty just as I will do mine.

  I have a responsibility to protect everyone, and I can’t let myself be pulled in another direction by a lost little cub. I can’t spend my days pining for something that isn’t mine and won’t be mine. I can’t put the safety of the pack in jeopardy because I feel protective. That’s not what my life's about. My life is about duty and honor, and in order to fulfill those, I have to let her go.

  I’ll always watch her, but I can’t allow myself to dream of things I can’t have. It doesn’t matter what I want. The pack is my ultimate responsibility.

  Pushing away from the stream, I turn and make my way back home. One day Winnie will mate with someone and I’ll be able to move on. My wolf growls at the thought, but I ignore him.

  Maybe one day I’ll be able to fill the void she made in my heart.

  Chapter 1

  Winnie

  Present…

  “You okay?” Gwen looks at me with concern in her big blue eyes. I hate how much they remind me of Stone. I can hardly look at her without thinking of him. It’s not a reminder I like because each time it nicks away at my heart. No matter how many times I try to push past my feelings for Stone, I know I’m just lying to myself. Just when I think they’re gone, one small thing sends them all flooding back. I figure if I keep lying to myself enough, maybe I’ll start to believe it.

  Gwen always seems to have that look on her face with me. I know she cares, but lately it’s making me feel a little pathetic. If anyone should be asking how someone is doing, it’s me to her. She just found her mate and is already expecting two little girl pups.

  Gwen invited Ruby and me over to hang out and catch up. Dominic, Ruby’s mate, tagged along, and X is here as well. With both Gwen and Ruby expecting babies, their mates never seem to be far from them. The male shifters tend to hover over their mates during pregnancy. I wonder if my mate will do that. What am I saying? I don’t even know if bears mate.

  “Yeah, just kind of sad. I still can’t remember anything. And I’ve been all over the place today,” I admit to her. I feel like my hormones are going crazy. Maybe it’s because my only two friends are both pregnant and it’s giving me an itch myself. Seeing them so in love and happy makes me ache for the same.

  Being a bear in a town full of wolves, I have no idea if mating is different for us. But lately I’ve been trying to find out. For the longest time I tried to remember the life I had before I came to be a part of the Gray Ridge pack. But after a while I just let it go, thinking that one day it might come back to me. It hasn’t yet, and it’s been almost four years.

  Now I’m back to pushing myself to remember and I still keep coming up with nothing. Even being close to Gwen, I still don’t feel like I belong, and I’ve been tossing around the idea of leaving the pack. To go where, I have no idea. College? Maybe. Something has to give because I feel like I could crack. I’m starting to think I might feel more accepted in the human world. It’s not like I even shift anymore. I haven’t since Stone found me.

  “You’ll know when it happens. You’ll feel it,” Gwen tells me, reaching out to hold my hand. I know she’s talking about coming of age. Since I don’t know anything about before I came to Gray Ridge, my age has always just been estimated.

  Gwen seems to think I’ll be like a wolf and won’t find my mate until I’m eighteen. Whether that’s true or not, no one really seems to know. What’s even weirder is when I talk to Stone about finding out about bears mating, he gets all awkward.

  Awkward is not a word I would have ever thought I’d use for Stone, but it’s what he does. Hell, I’m awkward about it, too, but my need to know pushes me past that, so I keep asking him. He keeps giving me the brush off, and it’s hard to ask a man you have a giant crush on when you can finally get the sex on.

  “From what Dominic says, you feel it when it happens,” Ruby chimes in softly, smiling at me. I really like Ruby. She seems to fit with me more than anyone else. She has wild red hair and a curvy body like I do. All the shifters around here are tall and lean. I kind of stick out, but since Ruby is human she doesn’t carry their traits, so we kind of have that in common, too. Well, except for what her mate Dominic gave her during mating.

  Like me, Ruby is an outsider who was invited into the pack. I feel like she gets me a little better than most, but if you ask me she still seems to fit better than I do.

  “Yeah. You’re right. I’m just super emotional today. I keep crying. Sorry,” I tell them both, trying to give the best smile I can. I don’t want this to turn into a pity party. I came here to have a good time, to get my mind off things, and mostly to get away from my stepsisters. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was pregnant,” I joke about my tears, making everyone laugh.

  “Tell me about it. The last time I was this crazy with hormones I was—” Gwen pauses for a moment as if a thought hits her. “Winnie, you don’t think—”

  She’s cut off by the front door bursting open, making me jump to my feet, to reveal Stone standing in the doorway.

  Xavier and Dominic are in front of us in under a second, both half-shifted as if ready to fight.

  Stone stands there, breathing hard and looking like he just ran a hundred miles. He’s nearly rabid as he looks past X and Dom, glaring at me. His snarl echoes through the room, making my heart thunder in my chest. I don’t feel fear, though. No, it’s something else. Then one word leaves his lips.

  “Mine.”

  He’s on me before anyone can move, lifting me to his body. My legs go around his waist, and my hands go to his shoulders as I try to keep myself balanced. My back hits a wall, and I don’t even register moving. Before I can say anything, Stone buries his face in my neck, and I feel his teeth. The sharp fangs are on me before I make a sound and he bites. Hard.

  I expect
to feel pain as my body tenses with anticipation, but instead white-hot passion like nothing I’ve ever felt rips through me. My eyes fall closed as a moan pours from my mouth. My body jerks, grinding against him as the pleasure shoots through my body all the way down to my toes.

  When I sink back to reality, I feel Stone’s tongue swipe the spot he just marked, and my eyes pop open.

  “Mine,” he says against my skin.

  I see everyone in the room just staring right at us. It’s then I realize I just came in a room full of people as Stone claimed me as his.

  Gwen’s eyes look like they’re about to bulge out of her head, and both X and Dom look like they’re not sure what they should be doing. I think they’re waiting for me to say something, but I’m not sure what to say.

  I thought when mates found each other, they were all over one another. Well, Stone’s all over me, but all I want to do is push him off me. I feel my heart start to beat faster, and I’m sure everyone in the room can hear it.

  Stone seems unconcerned with everything as he continues to lick and nuzzle at my neck as everyone stares at us.

  How long have I wanted Stone’s attention? How long have I begged him to see me, to let me stay? Now it seems I have it, and now I don’t want it. As part of me wants to welcome it, the other part reminds me he’s only picking me because he has to. Nature made him do it.

  The thought makes a sob rip from my throat.

  Stone freezes at the sound, and a growl from deep in his chest fills the room. He quickly places me on the floor and turns like he’s going to protect me, not knowing he’s the cause of the sounds.

  “You need to calm down, Alpha,” I hear Dom say. I can’t see anything around Stone’s big body. I try to slide out from behind him, but he backs up, pinning me in so I can’t retreat.

  “Mine,” he says again, like he doesn’t know another word. I’ve never seen him like this. So out of control.

  “No one is saying she’s not yours. I can just smell her blood,” Dominic tries again.

  My hand reaches for my neck to touch the spot where he bit me.

  Stone turns to look down at me, running his hungry eyes up and down my body, making me feel naked. My traitorous nipples harden his stare.

  “Did I hurt you?” His words come out deep, and I can tell his wolf is trying to break free. I just stand there, staring up at him, not sure what to say. Before I can stop myself I lash out.

  “When haven’t you hurt me?”

  Chapter 2

  Stone

  “What?” I look down into Winnie’s tear-filled eyes in confusion. The way she says it, it makes me know she doesn't mean the bite. I’d never hurt her. Everything I’ve done when it came to her was for her own protection. To keep from hurting her.

  I’d followed Winnie to Gwen and Xavier’s house today. I always watch her, so this wasn’t anything new. It’s a habit I haven't been able to drop over the years, no matter how many times I tried. No matter where she is or what she’s doing, I’ve always got my eyes on her. I get restless whenever I lose sight of her. But today, I knew where she was going, so I waited before I trailed them.

  When I got closer to the house and caught her scent, something inside me was set on fire. It was different. My wolf went crazy, and I needed to get to her as soon as possible. I tore through the woods, getting to her as fast as I could. My animal knew she was mine, and I needed to claim her. It took everything in me not to shift.

  After all this time and these years of longing, I understand what the pull was and why I always had a need for her. A need like no other.

  When I first burst into the room and had her in my arms, I felt whole and complete for the first time in my life. All the fear and frustrations of being alpha melted away, and the only concern was my Winnie.

  The taste of her skin on my teeth and biting down to mark her as mine was the single greatest moment of my life. Feeling her pleasure rock through her body and into mine made me want to take her to the floor and breed her right then and there. I wanted to mate her body at that very moment and bind her to me for all eternity.

  I feel my brow furrow in anger. I never should have made her feel hurt. I’m mad at myself for keeping my distance, but it was the right decision. I knew she had a crush on me, and I thought it was best not to play into it. She was too young. Too sweet. I’ll make this up to her. I’ll fix this.

  “You’re my mate.” I start to pull on her arm, but she doesn’t move. She pulls back against me, and I look at her big brown eyes in shock.

  No mate has ever refused before, and I don’t know why it’s happening now. How she is doing it. She should feel the pull like I do. Have the need to be close to me. I’m the alpha. Is she not proud to be mated to me?

  “Winnie. Come. Now.” I feel my wolf growl at being denied what we want. She’s ours, and no one will take her from us. Even if she doesn’t want us, we will convince her.

  “Let go of me, Stone.” Her words are firm, and like always she makes direct eye contact with me.

  The growl rips from my throat, and I look down at her neck to see where I’ve marked her. She’s mine. There’s no stopping this.

  “Stone, back away from her and give her some space. We’ll figure this out.”

  I hear Dominic behind us, and I let out another growl. I won’t be taken from her. I don’t care who I have to go through. Gripping her arm tighter, I try again to pull her to me.

  “I’m not going with you, Stone. Let me go.” Winnie says the words, something flashing in her eyes, but I don’t believe them. We are meant for one another. It’s destiny. We are fated mates.

  “Stone, don’t make me do it.” I hear the click of Dom’s tranquilizer gun and turn around fast, pushing Winnie behind me.

  I’m beyond the power of speech right now, so I show him my teeth, and snarl. I can feel my eyes changing and the hair on the back of my neck growing. My fingernails ache, and I’m slowly shifting in anger.

  “Fuck. Do it, Dom. He’s losing his skin,” Gwen says, and I look back to Dominic in time to see him pull the trigger.

  I manage to turn back around to grip Winnie by her arms. But when her hands go to my chest, it’s not to pull me closer, but to push me off her.

  “Winnie,” I whine, but the word sounds like it comes from a distance. It’s as if my own voice is in a tunnel, and then it all goes black.

  I wake up on the cold cement and look around groggily. Xavier is on the other side of the bars, and I can’t help but let out a short laugh. We were in the opposite position not so long ago, with him in the cell and me on the other side.

  I push myself up on my hands and knees and then slowly get off the floor. I walk over to the bars of the cell and grip them to steady myself. I take a deep breath to try and tell if Winnie is close, but all I can smell is the lingering drugs.

  The drugs are in my system, but I’m a shifter, and I know they’ll fade fast. In a few minutes they’ll be completely gone, and there isn’t a cell on this earth that will keep me from my mate.

  “Where is she?” My voice is deep and gravely, as if I haven’t used it in a while. I feel my wolf pacing inside me, not liking the feeling of being caged. I take a deep breath and try to gain some control. Losing it won’t get me anywhere, and as an alpha, I need to show that I can control my own wolf.

  “She’s upstairs talking to Gwen. She wants to talk to you, but she wants to do it while you’re behind bars. She’s not ready to be your mate, and she wanted you to listen to her,” X says. He always gets straight to the point.

  “I’m no danger to her. I’m her mate. I will always protect her. Now let me out of here.” I grip the bars tighter, needing to get out. This is insanity. Why doesn’t she want me? Doesn’t she feel the pull like I do?

  “I think bears are different than us. Gwen is explaining to her what she should be feeling, and that’s not what’s happening to Winnie. She’s mad you pushed her away for so long. You were not a worthy friend, so she thinks you won’t be a
worthy mate.”

  His words hit me like a boulder to the chest, the pain bleeding down to my heart. I need to make this right. I will beg her to forgive me. I will crawl through broken glass if that’s what she asks. She is mine, and I will prove to her that I never meant to hurt her.

  “Please.” It’s a word I never have to use as alpha, but it comes so easily when it comes to her. I lean my forehead against the bars. “Please, Xavier. I need to speak to her. It hurts.” I know he recognizes the pain I’m feeling because I once caused him to feel it.

  The ache in my chest is growing and spreading through my body. Being separated from your mate is painful in the beginning, especially if the mating heat starts. I just had no idea how bad it could be. I’ve heard people explain it before, but this…I never thought it could hurt this deep. Down to the marrow of my bones.

  “I know all about that pain you speak of, Stone. You remember when you locked me away in this cage? I will be better to you than you were to me. But you will hear Winnie out first.”

  I look up into his eyes, and I see that I was wrong in how I treated him. I nod slowly, recognizing that I didn’t do right by him and Gwen when they were going through their mating heat. It seems everything I think is for the best keeps blowing up in my face. What kind of alpha does that make me?

  X turns, walking away and going up the stairs. After what feels like hours, but is probably only minutes, he comes back downstairs, followed by Winnie.

  “I will be over here if you need me. I’ll try not to listen, but I probably will because my hearing is better than yours,” X tells Winnie, before walking over to the corner of the room and sitting down.

  I look to Winnie, and after she takes a deep breath, she looks up, her big brown eyes locking with mine.