The Shifter’s Prisoner

by T. S. Ryder

  The branches of the trees bent low against the weight of snow on top of them and Kiara couldn’t help but smile wistfully at the sight. It seemed only yesterday that the forest was in full bloom of summer, every corner of it teeming with life. There was a deep magic in the turning of the seasons and you didn’t need to be a witch to notice it. She rubbed her hands together and blew into them, warming them against the cold. She was ready.

  She placed the ingredients for her spell on the still damp stump, carefully arranging them in a circle in the correct order. Spells were trickier now that she couldn’t shift into dragon form but what she had lost in power she had gained with experience. Despite the traumatic events of the past few months there had been more than a few positives that she had come out with. For starters she no longer had to find excuses or lie to her mother when going out to practice magic.

  That alone had allowed her a substantial amount of time to practice magic. Her mother had started tutoring her in the ways of spell casting as well. Kiara had thought she was doing well on her own but there were a hundred different ways in which an experienced tutor could affect your magic. Little things that Kiara hadn’t even thought of such as the position of the celestial bodies, the direction of wind, the time of day, even the mindset of the spell caster; they all contributed to the efficacy of the spell.

  And then there was also Spence, of course. Kiara’s cheeks turned hotter at the mere thought of him. Even though most of their time was divided equally between magic practice and make-out sessions, having a partner to practice magic with made a world of difference. Her mother had told her that she was almost at an expert level of spell casting now. She hoped it was true. There was no way the spell she had in mind was going to work otherwise. The last time she had tried it, she had the power of a dragon backing her up. This time it was just her own skills, talents and intentions.

  Kiara breathed deeply, pushing her doubts and misgivings to the back of her mind. Her breath washed through her body, like a clear, cool wave wiping away everything, except for the singular purpose that she would forge into magic. She closed her eyes and centered herself, reached deep within her soul for the magic that coursed through her as surely as her own blood and began weaving her spell. It was an intense few minutes of concentration. Everything around her fell away. The world and everything in it was reduced to the single point of focus in front of her.

  Kiara could feel a drop of sweat dripping down her temple. She could feel the magic throbbing in her veins, threatening to break free, threatening to explode right out of her. So intense was her concentration that she didn’t even notice the flap of mighty wings overhead. It wasn’t until the deep, thundering voice of Sindri rang out that she opened her eyes.

  “You have been practicing your magic.”

  Kiara opened her eyes at the sound of his voice “Oh…You’re….you’re here…,” she stumbled.

  Sindri seemed amused by her reaction. “You seem surprised….yet you were the one who cast the summoning spell.”

  Kiara panted softly. The toll that the spell took on her was something no normal witch could withstand. She wasn’t exactly sure why she hadn’t passed out or worse. “Well, I wasn’t exactly sure it would work,” she responded.

  “You summoned a dragon without knowing if you were strong enough to withstand the effects of the spell?” Sindri asked.

  Kiara winced slightly. She knew it had been a gamble. She had heard that the greater the creature being summoned, the more strenuous the spell was, and there were few creatures more grand than dragons.

  “Well….when you put it like that…,” she said awkwardly.

  Sindri remained silent for a few moments before bursting out into laughter. The sound of his cackling echoed in the snow-covered forest and for a moment, Kiara had to cover her ears with her hands to withstand the cacophony.

  “Child, I don’t know if that’s the stupidest or the bravest act I have seen a human commit,” he said.

  Kiara blushed and looked down at her feet, half sunk in the snow.

  “Well….what is it?” The massive dragon leaned back slightly, his gaze focused on the witch who had grown so much in skill and power in the short time he had known her. Kiara bit down on her bottom lip, contemplating her words for a while before she looked up at him and sighed.

  “I wanted to invite you over for a Christmas meal,” she said.

  Sindri was taken aback. “A kriss…mus….meal?” He looked up at the gray, overcast skies seeming to search his memory. “I’ve never had a …..krismus….what does it taste like?”

  Kiara couldn’t help the laughter that fell from her lips. It was only at a stern glance from the dragon that she quietened down.

  “It’s...uh…it’s not an animal…Christmas is a festival that we celebrate….with our friends and family,” she explained.

  Sindri blinked at her words. “Friends?”

  Kiara smiled and shrugged. “After what we’ve been through, after what you did for me, I had thought we were friends.”

  Sindri kept staring at her for a few moments and Kiara held her breath. She wasn’t sure whether she had offended the ancient dragon or not.

  His answer came in the form of a sudden hiss of magic. The dragon’s scales expelled a sort of green vapor that cloaked his form top to bottom, hiding him from her view. When the vapors parted, in place of the dragon stood a handsome man, dressed in all black, with the sole exception of the red scarf around his neck. Steam rose from his form as the snow melted around his shoes.

  “Wow,” was all Kiara could say.

  Sindri looked down at himself and then back up at her. “It’s been some years since I took the form of a man. I trust this is satisfactory.”

  Kiara bit down on her lip, biting back the flirty comment that came to her tongue “It’s….it’s more than satisfactory. I didn’t know you were a shifter as well.”

  Sindri scoffed and waved his hand. “I am a dragon of ancient blood. Taking the form of a pink human for a few hours is no concern.”

  Kiara smiled and locked her arm around his. “Well, pink human,” she couldn’t resist the snarky comment as they started walking out of the woods. “I hope you kept that dragon appetite of yours. My mom kind of went overboard this year.”

  “Your mom...” Sindri smiled at the mention of Kiara’s mother “Yes, I have sensed her magic. A most skilled practitioner of the art.”

  There was something in his voice that made Kiara peek out the corner of his eye at him. There was a grin on his lips and a faraway look.

  “Wait….you know my mom?” Kiara arched a brow at him and Sindri immediately looked away, hiding his face as he pretended to study the sky. “Only her magic. Her spells…well, like I said, she seems to be an adequate performer.”

  Kiara grinned. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A dragon had a crush on her mother.

  “That’s not what you said. You said she was a…What was the term? ‘A skilled practitioner of the art.’”

  Sindri huffed a small puff of air and continued to avert his gaze from hers. They walked together in silence for a while. The only sound was that of their footsteps crunching on the snow and after a while the faint hum that Kiara recognized as the sound of Christmas carolers going from house to house. She looked up at Sindri as his attention was drawn towards the sounds, the smells and the lights of the human festival.

  “Come on,” Kiara said, tugging at his arm, leading him towards the feast that awaited them both. “There’re a lot of people I want to introduce you to.”

  *****

  THE END

  Claimed by the Gorilla Shifter

  Description

  A curvy girl in search of a fresh start PLUS her hot high school crush who is now a billionaire PLUS a dangerous stalker preparing to attack!

  Hayden is a single billionaire. He’s a shark in the office, but outside of his company’s walls, he’s a gorilla. But only when he chooses to shift into one...

  Keeping his
secret is difficult, and he’s found it just as difficult to find someone to love him for who he is and not what he has. When he gets a call from his younger sister, asking to let her best friend and his high school crush stay with him, he’s almost too eager to help out.

  Kaelyn is ready to start her new life. She’s just graduated college, has a great new job lined up and now she’ll be staying with the hot older brother of her best friend. Who also happens to be a billionaire.

  But when things at her new job start to go wrong, she worries Hayden will ask her to leave rather than deal with the trouble her stalker might cause.

  Will Kaelyn be able to handle the stalker on her own, and what will happen if she can’t? Will Hayden finally find real love and be able to protect not only his secrets but his heart as well?

  Chapter One

  Hayden Lynch sat at his large desk, staring out of the window at the city below him. The view from his office was incredible. That was why he choose this building for his company’s headquarters. Who wouldn’t want an office like this, with one wall full of windows to see the world from? It made him feel like he was on top of everything, even on days when he wasn’t.

  He’d just come from a particularly stressful meeting. Meetings discussing new takeovers were always stressful, full of strategy and techniques. He needed these few minutes to let his mind unwind before he went on with his next task, reviewing sales numbers from the previous month.

  The intercom on his desk buzzed. His assistant’s voice came through.“Hayden? Can you take a call from your sister?”

  “Absolutely, Sandy. Thank you.”

  The phone rang a second later and he picked it up.

  “Little sister. What can I do for you?”

  “Well,”Gabrielle said,“Buy out my company so I can travel the world and not have to work another day in my life?”

  He sighed.“Your company is already a division of my company. And you barely work as it is. And you travel plenty.”

  “Oh.”She laughed.“Right. Well, in that case, then maybe you can just do me a teensy weensy little favor.”

  Hayden braced himself. Gabby’s teensy weensy favors were usually anything but. Though she may not be asking him for a new acquisition, she was definitely up to something big.

  “I’m not buying you a new house,”he said.

  “Oh, please. Three is enough. No, it’s really not that big of a deal at all.”

  “Right. Let’s hear it then.”

  “Do you remember my best friend from high school, Kaelyn?”

  “Of course.”How could he forget her? She was around the house constantly. During their freshman year of high school, the only year they were all in the same school together before Hayden went off to college, Kaelyn and Gabby were inseparable. She had practically been a second sister to him. He’d even had a little crush on her.

  “Oh, good. Well, she’s just graduated from some huge tech school with a computer science degree. Stanford, have you heard of it?”

  He rolled his eyes.“Hmm. Don’t think so. Is it a popular school?”His company sought a lot of talent from Stanford. It was only the top school in the state. She was being ridiculous on purpose. This must be big.

  “Didn’t think so. You really should get out once in a while. How is your dating life anyway?”

  “Is this your big favor?”

  “No. And it’s a little favor, I swear,”she said.“I just need you to let my dear friend Kaelyn use one of the many, many rooms in your huge mansion to sleep and keep her things in when she moves out of her dorm. Only until she can get her own place and get on her feet. She just got a new a job and everything.”

  “So you’re asking me to let Kaelyn move in.”

  “Only for a few months, I swear. You’re just so close to her new job, and I’m nowhere near her. And I know that you’re the kindest, most generous big brother a girl could ever hope for.”

  “You’ve got me confused with someone else. But that’s fine. When is she coming?”

  “Oh, thank you, thank you! She’ll be thrilled. She was going to stay in some cheap hotel until she could find a place. She’s moving out of the dorm next week.”

  “Email the details to my assistant so I can have everything ready for her arrival.”

  “I will,”she said.“Thank you so much. Really.”

  “Does this mean you’ll come to visit sometime soon? Maybe bring that nephew of mine?”

  “That’s a good idea. Yes, let’s plan for something soon. We all miss you.”

  “Miss you, too. You really need to move back to California.”

  She laughed.“You couldn’t drag me from Hawaii if my life depended on it.”

  “Guess you have a point. I should be the one coming to visit you. It’s been too long.”

  “Absolutely. Thanks a million, Hay. Really.”

  “Anytime. Be good.”

  “Wouldn’t dream of it.”

  ***

  The rest of his week was busy. Anytime a new acquisition was happening, the hours grew long and stress levels rose. He’d lost all track of the days. The city below him was lit up against the dark sky. Evening was creeping to nighttime.

  He yawned and glanced at his schedule for tomorrow. He really needed to find some time to workout. He hadn’t all week and was starting to feel antsy from too many hours in the office. He’d even taken to pacing when he could, just to be up and moving.

  At the bottom of tomorrow, it said‘Kaelyn arrives’. He’d completely forgotten. He tried hard not to bother his assistant after office hours. She deserved to have a life and certainly Lynch Corporation wasn’t her entire world like it was his. But this was important and it shouldn’t take too long. He decided to text rather than call so he didn’t interrupt anything.

  “Sorry to bother you after hours, but I’ve just realized Kaelyn is arriving tomorrow. Is everything in place for her?”

  He received an answer back within minutes.“Absolutely. A small moving van is arriving at 3 p.m. to bring her things from her dorm. There is a new key waiting for her and a list of the codes and passwords for the security systems and wifi, and your home staff has been alerted. Her room is ready and a basket will be awaiting her. I’ve left room in your evening schedule for you to spend time with her if you should desire to.”

  “You are the best. Thank you.”

  “Anytime.”

  This was exactly why he had no problem making sure Sandy was one of the highest paid employees he had. He demanded a lot of her and she was always ahead of him and on top of things. She never had a bad attitude and she never missed a thing. He wondered if she was just as efficient when it came to her husband, kids, and home life, or if he stressed her out so much that she needed time at home to do nothing. Although she always assured him the work was not too much, and she never complained.

  He looked over his schedule again. Kaelyn was coming at 3 p.m. He had meetings until 4 p.m., then he’d hit the gym and be home by 6 p.m. That should be enough time for her to settle in. Maybe he’d take her out for dinner to welcome her.

  He sent a text to his housekeeper, who oversaw all his personal staff.“Tomorrow evening, after Kaelyn arrives, I would like to take her out for dinner, if she’s up for it. Please be ready to have something made if she’s not.”

  He got a fast response.“I will make sure we have something available, Mr. Lynch.”

  Hayden stood and stretched. Though it had been a long, stressful week, it had been a good week. At times like this, he always felt grateful for his staff and all the hard work they did, both in his company and in his home. They made his life so much easier. They kept his privacy and his secrets.

  Chapter Two

  When he got home that night, it was dark already. This was a perfect time. He got into his car and drove until he reached the forest. When he got to his favorite spot, he parked and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He walked to the twisted tree that had his scent all over it.

  Hayden kicked off his sho
es first and stuck them in the bag. Then his t-shirt and shorts. He tucked the bag into the crevice in the tree and stood naked in the moonlight. He took a deep breath and fell forward onto all fours. The transition happened quickly, as it always did. He felt his bones thickening and stretching beneath his skin, hair growing on every part of his body in thick black and silver sections. His head grew narrow and his mouth became a snout. He stood tall for a moment and beat on his gorilla chest before roaring and taking off at a run.

  He followed the scents through the forest, letting them lead him. He ran for several miles until he caught the scent he was looking for. He turned and ran after her.

  It didn’t take long to find her and her sister. When they heard him approach, they called back in shrieks and bounded to him. There was some grunting as they greeted each other, then they took off running together. After a while, they caught up with the last member of their gorilla shifter family and ran together a few miles before coming to a stop in a cave they’d discovered years ago.

  One by one, they shifted back to human form, standing naked in the dim light of the cave.

  “Hey,”Hayden said to them.“How’s everything?”

  “Haven’t seen you in a while,”Katherine said.

  “I know, I’m sorry. I’ve been online, though.”They had an online group where they stayed connected and discussed things in the human world. He’d posted earlier that he was coming out for a run. None of them had responded, but clearly, since they were all here, they’d gotten the message.

  “Another family came through a few days ago,”Bella said.