Southern Shifters: Fast & Furless (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Yvette Hines

  “That is?”

  “What’s your hypothesis on why I was given away?”

  Simon scratched behind his ear as he considered her question. “My best guess would be that it happened soon after birth. I’m sure they tested both your blood immediately. When they saw all of your amazing traits that would soon come to fruition like your ability to run and move with almost no detection…they most likely sold you to the government. Not for monetary gain, but something else they may have wanted. We may never determine what that was.”

  “Selling was selling, no matter the type of currency exchanged,” Bhric tossed out.

  Just wanting to leave, Brita held out her arm to the doctor and allowed him to get more blood with one of the fresh syringes he kept in his pocket.

  When that was done, she was the first to leave the office. Alek followed her out, but she held up a hand. “Don’t, Alek. I need to be alone.”

  “I know. I’m just making sure you get to your vehicle without hindrance.” He reached out then brushed the side of her face with his knuckles.

  Her heart pounded, her body yearned for him. She warred with herself. Should she turn to him and receive the support and shelter she knew she could find in his arms or leave? She’d never depended on anyone before and she could start right now.

  Without a word she walked away.

  ~YH~

  Alek sat in the small bar by the loaner house. He had no way of knowing if Brita would ever come back. Was she still in the area? Had she returned to Pigeon Forge? Or had she taken off completely? He had lost count of his shots of whisky, but he was finally feeling a buzz, but not enough to stop the questions rolling around in his mind.

  It hadn’t helped that when he got back to the house his father had called him, asking him to return home in the next few days. ‘Things need to get settled,’ was what he had said.

  Bhric and Calder sat on stools beside him at the old, warped and pockmarked bar. Neither man had said anything in the last two hours since they came upon him there. It didn’t take much thought to know that his cousin had been concerned for him and had set out with a purpose to look for him. Well, Bhric hadn’t had to look far. Alek had been at the same place for the last twenty-four hours. They had been matching him drink for drink. They were up to around eight. To his right, his cousin was just now beginning to do a little head shaking. The bear of a shifter on his left appear to be taking it smooth as if he were drinking the life blood of the south, sweet tea.

  His jaguar wasn’t happy with him at all. The heavy amounts of drinking had only compounded the fact that his feline/canine blend wanted him to go after her. The liquor had subdued his animal carrying out the threat of shifting and taking over.

  “You know when your mate returns, she’s probably not going to be too pleased about find…” Bhric rubbed his eyes. “You in this state, Alek.”

  “North Carolina? She knows I’m here.” He was seeing two of Bhric and everything around him was fuzzy and dim. “She left me here.” He tried to manage a growl, but it didn’t even make it past his lips. “Brita left me alone. Shi-eet! Doesn’t she know…I need her?”

  “I’m sure she needs you too.” Calder smacked him on the back.

  Alek barely caught himself from tumbling off the stool into a puddle of his own sadness sprawled on the floor.

  “Shit. Watch that paw, bear.” Alek eyed the large man, or he hoped he was staring at the right one since Calder had three faces swirling around before him. “I’m an alpha with no mate. What kind of fuck sense does that make?”

  The mammoth sized man chuckled. “She’ll be back, Alek. Don’t worry.”

  “How do you know?” Alek looked right.

  “Another one!” Bhric called out to the bartender.

  “Another what? I don’t want another female, I want mine. Brita.” Alek felt a tap to his shoulder and glanced left.

  The three Cals were now smiling at him. “She’ll return because just as much as your drunk ass needs her, she needs you. It is how it works with mates.”

  “How…you get so knowle—…knowl—” His tongue didn’t seem to want to work right. “Smart?”

  “When you’re always the outsider looking in…you see a lot.” That was the bear’s comment.

  Alek’s pickled brain hoped the big male was right on this one.

  ~YH~

  “I was wondering when you were going to make it here,” Niki commented after opening the door.

  “Is this a bad time?” She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her jeans feeling more than a bit uncomfortable.

  “Works for me if it works for you.”

  “I had some things to work out on my own.” She met Niki’s gaze as her twin stood at the house door. “When I found myself in more mental circles I figured it was time to go back to the beginning.”

  “Me?” Niki took a step back. “Come in.”

  “Thanks.” She entered and was immediately enveloped by the scents of Dean and Niki’s unique mate scent, the aroma of food that had been prepared most likely for dinner and something else—the innocent, sweet scent of a pup.

  “We can talk in the kitchen. Dean is upstairs working on some things.” Niki led the way into the kitchen. “Coffee? Black?”

  “Thanks.” Brita should have anticipated her twin would know how she took her coffee.

  “It is how I like mine. Like my life, straight up and to the point.” Niki turned the coffeemaker on then pulled down two mugs.

  “Same here.” Brita sat.

  Niki leaned against the counter by the pot. “What’s on your mind?”

  Brita looked across the room at her. “You could read it?”

  “That’s still strange for me. Having to handle a connection with a mate is one thing, then add in it a connection with a sibling…” Niki didn’t finish her sentence.

  “I only have a link to you as far as I know. I think the bond between Alek and me is too new.” Brita lifted her shoulders and let them fall hard. “Or maybe that’s something else they took from me.”

  “But they didn’t win, Brita.” Niki moved toward her then took the seat next to her. Not touching but close.

  “Sitting in that clinic and hearing the things Simon said, it sure does feel like they won.” Brita exhaled. All the driving she did and everything over the last day still sat in the center of her chest a crushing weight.

  “No. Hell no. We are not going to even imagine they got the upper hand.” Niki slapped a hand against the table, grabbing Brita’s full attention.

  Brita met icy blue eyes with her aquamarine ones. “Explain it to me. Make me see this different.”

  “First off, you’re back. They trained you, probably wanted you a quarter of the way to Seattle, Washington by now. Far away from all of this. But, you fought against all the mental programming garbage and came back.” Niki rose when the coffee beeped. “Trust me, I know how hard it is dealing with that shit. It’s like your head and your heart are at fucking war and you’re being ripped in two. And it hurts like hell and you want to scream.”

  “Tell me about it.” Her twin had hit the nail blunt and direct on the head.

  “Of course I did.” Niki returned with two steaming mugs.

  Brita laughed. “I can easily disguise my scent and existence when I want to, but I can’t figure out a way to keep you out of my head.”

  “It will take practice for us both. Over the last day I’ve been thinking about other times we were together at the clinic and you commented on something I thought or if I said something based on what you were thinking but because I wasn’t used to anyone else’s voice in my head besides my own and Dean I didn’t recognize you were actually speaking. Or that a window was sorta open in the back of my mind that gave you access.”

  “I did the same thing.” She gingerly sipped her coffee and loved the aroma and the bitter taste of the dark brew. “Do you think Dean can hear my thoughts when you do? With your link and all?”

  Niki burst out laughin
g. “No. I called the doc and clarified it.”

  They sat in a comfortable, companionable silence and drank their coffees. Brita picked up on the sound of Dean tapping on a keyboard from above and even the soft snores of the new addition.

  Breaking the silence first, Niki asked, “What was it like for you? Being part of a secret group for the military?”

  “A political assassin.” She took a breath, digested her own words then actually thought about it. “Exciting. Mostly because I had nothing else to base life off.” Brita cupped her hands around the mug and absorbed the warmth. “However, with every mission, every kill, I shredded off a part of myself. I know these people were bad, evil to the core with the things they were doing around the world. But, I stopped being able to look myself in the mirror. I just existed. Feeling empty, a shell of a person.”

  She sighed heavily then continued, trying to tell about it without getting sucked into the emotions connected to it. It was still a raw place for her. “I started paying attention to my team mates and what they talked about when they would start a story with ‘back home’ or ‘my family just sent pictures of’. Too many ‘ah, I can’t wait to get out of this hellhole and get home’.” Brita ran her fingers through her hair, still hanging loose around her shoulders. The way Alek liked it, the way she’d become accustomed to wearing it now.

  “You started to miss being a part of a home you’d never even experienced.”

  “Yup. I did. That’s when I started figuring out what I wanted. Investigating how to get out. I finally found a loop hole and once I’d fulfilled my part of the agreement they had to do theirs. The government doesn’t like to give up, but in the US they will play fair when you lay it out in black and white, and a lot of I’s and T’s.”

  Niki reached across the table to take hold of her hand.

  Brita stared at their clasped hands—one a shade darker—but the same. “Earlier I was angry and said some pretty hurtful things.”

  “I hear your next line. If you wouldn’t let me apologize don’t you do it to me?”

  “Got it.” She smiled. “Is it just me, or are the sisters just a little off like the doctor?”

  “Yes. Oh, yes.” Niki squeezed her hand before pulling away. “I’m starting to believe we got the only sane genes. On another day with something a lot stronger than coffee and a hell of a lot more of it, I’ll tell you about Carmen.”

  Brita saw a few flashes in Niki’s mind of their sister, who seemed more than a little insane. Deceased. That was something she didn’t think she could handle right now. “Deal. I guess it is time for me to find Alek.”

  Niki picked up their mugs then went and placed them in the sink. “I know where he is. But, before you do that, you want to see your niece?”

  Her heart became fluid with warmth that spread throughout her body. “Yea. I do.”

  “Follow me. She’s sleeping but that’s one of the best times to hold her. Otherwise you’re chasing her.” Niki groaned, but her eyes were filled with wonder and love as she headed up the stairs.

  “I think Alek wants me to go back to his prowl with him. But, he’s going to be an Alpha…I’m not sure I’m the female to be by his side. I’m all jacked up.”

  Halfway up the stairs Niki halted then turned and looked at her. “Brita, I was all kinds of fucked up when I discovered I was pregnant. With my background, and our own screwed up mother, another story, I didn’t think I could do it. I must say myself, it’s going pretty damn well.”

  Brita took the words to heart, using them to bolster her own courage. If Alek even wanted her after her twenty-four hour ghost stunt.

  “He will.” Niki called out as they continued up the stairs to the little miracle.

  Chapter Seven

  “Hey drunk ass. I know someone that’s looking for you.”

  Alek and his two drinking partners in crime turned at the sound of the female voice. Spotting Niki standing in the doorway of the bar, Alek tried to string two words together and settled on one. “Who?”

  “Get your ass up off the stool and find out. Or if you’re too wasted I’ll get Calder to toss you off it,” Niki teased.

  Pointing a wavering finger at Calder, he warned, “Keep your big mitts off me.” He slid from the seat and toggled toward the door.

  “Keep it straight, buddy. You don’t want to jack this up.” Niki directed him toward the door like she was landing a plane on an airstrip.

  He chuckled then was thankful for the cold night air that smacked him in the face, a blessed wake up call. Taking a few deep breaths he walked out into the night and that’s when he saw her. Brita.

  She leaned against the side of her vehicle across the parking lot closer to the house than the bar. The area was poorly lit by human standards, but with the area being filled by shifters of all walks, it was as clear as day.

  “Go get your mate,” Niki urged. “But if you fuck it up or hurt her, I know her twin sister will kick your ass.”

  Alek had no doubt Niki was right. However, at the moment he didn’t care about anything or anyone else but the captivating woman before him. With single minded determination he headed toward her. His brain was still trying to fight off the effects of all the alcohol he now felt like a stupid ass for consuming.

  “Hey there, shifter.” She smiled at him and his world became a wondrous place.

  “Hi, sweetness.” He stopped two feet away from her. He wanted to drag her into his arms, but wasn’t sure how she was feeling at the moment. “Calder said you’d be back.”

  “That’s one intelligent, wise bear shifter.” She maintained her position, standing there with her hands behind her back, a cushion between her and the driver side door of the Jeep.

  “You get everything in your head straightened out?” he asked, wishing things weren’t so awkward between them.

  “Some. Still some shit to deal with, but I think I have time.” She gave him a side look, shadows in her eyes that blended into the surrounding night. “Do I?”

  “With me?” When she nodded, he assured her, “Always.” He moved a step closer. “I’m not trying to rush you. I’d be a fool not to think with all you’ve been through this wouldn’t be tough for you.”

  “Is that why you got drunk?” she accused.

  He dragged a hand down his face. The alcohol would take more than some fresh air and a pretty face to dissipate from his system. “That was a dick move. But, honestly I had to do something to keep from going after you. Most likely making the situation worse.”

  “We all do things at times we wish we hadn’t.” She kicked a pebble away with the toe of her boots.

  “Like closing yourself off to me.” He removed the last foot between them then cupped her face. The feel of her soft, warm skin drew him closer, tempted him.

  “Yeah, like that.” She lowered her gaze, ashamed.

  “I’ll try my best not to smother you when you need space, but you have to let me help you. Even if it’s just being beside you through it.”

  She rolled her bottom lip between her teeth that appeared sharper than usual as she nodded.

  “Promise?” He needed to hear the words even in his alcohol addled brain.

  Her gaze met his, desire making them luminous. “Promise.” Her breath smelled of the robust scent of coffee.

  He desired a taste. He leaned in to brush along her nose with the tip of his, needing more contact.

  Lifting a hand she stroked the side of his face as her thumb caressed his lips.

  The heat in her eyes directed at him was just an addition to the scent of her arousal perfuming the night air between them. “I’m sorry.”

  “No. No sorries.” He kissed the pad of her thumb. “We are who we are, without apologizes. If we can’t accept that then what is all this mate shit for?”

  He has a point.

  “Damn right I do.” He kissed her, desiring to show her how much he missed her and needed her in his life. Her scent was driving him out of his mind. He wasn’t sure if it was be
cause of the time apart and him wanting her so bad, or if the liquor was causing him to imagine things. He’d been hot and hard for her many times before but this felt more intense.

  Ending the kiss, he guided his mouth down her neck as he started to lift her shirt. “I want to take you into the house where we can stay in bed for days again. Not sure I’m going to be able to hold off from having you.”

  “When have we ever?” She lowered her hands then gripped his ass, pressing against him.

  He groaned. Pulling her shirt up and over her head, he stared at her round, pert breasts before him. The deep tan hue of her nipples fascinated him. “Lovely.” Squeezing them together he buried his nose between them and took in her unique scent. He licked left to right, tasting one nipple after the other.

  “Oh, Alek, that feels so good.” She arched her back, bring her boobs higher to his mouth.

  “Let me make it even better.” He drew one taut point in his mouth and sucked hard.

  She was bucking and moaning before him. The sound ignited the blaze in his body and made his cock pulse. His teeth stretched, his jaguar was waking up, extending. Alek made a small pierce on the side of her nipple, marking her there.

  Brita purred. A new sound from her, he loved it.

  “Do that again.” Then he did the same to the breast.

  She purred loud as she cupped his cock.

  He was now the one purring. “I need inside you.”

  Hybrids were highly sexual beings. Fucking was the main source of play, followed by hunting and fighting. No one coming from the bar would think twice about him taking her out in the open. Except a few humans that found their way to the bar. But usually they were so inebriated by the time they poured into cabs that they wouldn’t believe what they were even seeing.

  “Yes.” Their hands fumbled and batted at each other as they undid both of their pants and shoved them down, both eager.

  Alek shifted them so they were by the hood of her vehicle instead of the door then flipped Brita so she was bent over ass up.