Emerald City Shifters (Bundle)

by Kit Tunstall

  Tula completed her transformation as he finished speaking, rising on her back paws to tower over him.

  Considering how twitchy he had been previously, he seemed remarkably unaffected by the sight of the human/bear-shifter looming over him. He switched his target from Aislinn to Tula, firing without hesitation. Tula grunted at the impact of the bullet, but she lumbered on toward him. He fired three more times before the old woman stopped, dropping first to all fours and then to the floor with a small whine of pain.

  Shayla wanted to rush to her to check on Tula, but she couldn’t make herself move as the gun returned to her and Aislinn, this time focusing squarely on her. She wanted to call his bluff, but it seemed pretty obvious he wasn’t bluffing. She had no idea how many bullets remained in his gun, but he must have a fairly sizable caliber if four shots had been enough to incapacitate Tula. She glanced away briefly from Brogan and the gun to look at Tula, reassured when she saw her sides heaving, though the strange breathing was a concern.

  “Don’t worry. I’m sure she’ll survive. She’s just down for a bit. I need the child now so I have time to get away before she’s up and around, or that Kade fellow can return and stop me. Hand her over.”

  She glared at the scientist, shaking her head. “You’re not getting my baby.”

  He let out a sharp sigh. “Don’t you understand that you won’t recover the same way these people do will if I shoot you? You’ll be dead. Be sensible and hand over the child.”

  “Over my dead body.”

  He seemed to lose the last shred of patience as he strode forward, pressing the gun against her forehead even though she tried to rear back. She was pinned against the wall, and there was nowhere to go. Shayla clung to Aislinn anyway. “You can’t have her.”

  He let out a sound of frustration before swinging his arm back. At first, she thought he was adjusting the aim of his bullet, but she realized he was choosing a different route as the gun approached her temple at a rapid pace. She tried to flinch away, but there really was nowhere to go. The hard, cold metal connected with her head, and she could feel consciousness slipping away in a matter of seconds. Her arms loosened their hold on Aislinn, and she felt Brogan pulling the baby from her. Shayla summoned the last of her strength and tried to hold on, but when he hit her again with the gun, she was completely out that time.

  ***

  Kade let out a roar, barely holding back the urge to shift to his bear form when he entered the cabin and found his grandmother injured and Shayla unconscious. Aislinn was nowhere in sight. He wasn’t alone, so he sent Jamie Scarborough to check on his grandmother as he rushed across the room to Shayla. His hands shook as he searched for a pulse, convinced he might not find one from all the blood pouring down the side of her head. Relief swept through him when he found a strong pulse seconds later. It seemed to indicate she would make a full recovery, but he was no doctor. He stroked her face, hoping she would waken soon, as he looked over at Jamie and his grandmother.

  Tula had shifted back to her human form, and in doing so, bullets had popped out of her body. They lay scattered on the rag rug, and the holes in her body were rapidly healing. She looked gaunt and gray, and he knew she needed protein quickly. He didn’t have to tell Jamie that, because the younger man was already rushing to the refrigerator in search of something that would aid Tula’s healing.

  “It was that CPS agent,” rasped Tula as Jamie returned to her with a slab of raw salmon.

  Kade grimaced. “He’s no CPS agent. I don’t know what he is, but he’s not with Child Protective Services. Tru initiated the DNA test, and she also started digging into the investigation, only to discover there isn’t one, and there is no Jeffrey Brogan working for CPS.”

  “He’s a scientist,” said a reed-thin voice.

  Another surge of relief swept through Kade as she spoke. He turned to look at Shayla again, a ragged exhale escaping him when he saw the alertness in her eyes. “What kind of scientist?” His mouth seemed to form the question independently of his brain, because his thoughts were consumed with finding Aislinn and breaking Brogan in half for what he’d done to his family.

  “I don’t know if he’s a lab technician or a geneticist, but he ran the DNA tests on Aislinn and realized she was special. He buried the information so he could take advantage of it himself, ostensibly for noble scientific purposes, but probably because he sees dollar signs when he looks at our baby.”

  The few sentences seemed to have exhausted Shayla, and she slumped against the wall more than she had even a few seconds ago. Kade leaned forward and picked her up carefully, moving her from the floor to the couch as he accepted a handful of paper towels Jamie had brought him without him needing to ask. He pressed them carefully against the side of her head, where two deep gashes continued to release a steady flow of blood. “I’m going to send the doctor to look at you, and then I want you to stay in the cabin. I’m going to find our daughter. I promise you that.”

  “No, I want to come with you. I can hold her when you find her.”

  He let out a small sigh. “I understand you want to be there for her, but I don’t think you can even stand up right now. You’ll just slow us down. I don’t mean to be brutal, but we need to move quickly and find him before he gets off the island.”

  She seemed reluctant, but she stopped arguing. “I guess you’re right.”

  He winked at her. “I’m always right. It’s good that you’re realizing that now.”

  “If my head wasn’t pounding, I’d roll my eyes. Go find our daughter.”

  “I should wait with you until the doctor arrives.”

  It seemed to take a large measure of strength for her to lift a hand and waive it vaguely in the air. “I don’t think you have to worry about us. We’re not his target. I’m particularly not his target, because I’m just human. He’s not interested in me, and Tula is still recovering, so she’s no threat to him. He won’t be back here. I think it’s obvious he has some escape plan in mind, so you need to get her before he gets away from Bear Island.”

  Kade accepted the wisdom of her words with a brief nod, though it went against his instincts to leave his injured mate behind. He turned to Jamie. “Get Doc Buroh here right away, and don’t leave them after you’ve fetched her. Your job is to protect my mate and my grandmother.”

  The younger man nodded, looking slightly nervous at the prospect, though his chest puffed out with pride at being selected for such an important task. Kade didn’t have it in him to remind the kid that he was the only one available at the moment.

  He pressed a tender kiss to the side of Shayla’s head that wasn’t bleeding before standing fully erect. “I’ll be back soon with Aislinn.”

  He didn’t wait for a response as he rushed from the cabin, shedding his clothes as he did so. As soon as he cleared the steps, he shifted to his bear form, his senses instantly heightened. He could smell everything a thousand times better now, and he had little trouble picking up Brogan’s scent and following his trail. He also picked up other members of the clan, as they shifted and joined behind him. They might not know exactly what was going on, but they sensed danger and were responding by providing him support and backup.

  He quickly realized during Brogan’s snooping, the man must have discovered the small cove at the edge of the island where they kept a few boats in case of an emergency. It was separate from their main marina, where they had three larger boats that could accommodate everyone on the island in the need of evacuation. These were used for shorter trips or smaller groups of people. They were decked out as fishing boats, though none of his people needed to use a boat to fish. It was far more efficient to go swimming in the ocean and catch a fish in bear-form.

  Realizing his destination, Kade increased his already-brutal pace until he could feel his muscles burning. He wasn’t concerned about Brogan being able to escape, because any of them could probably swim long enough to catch up with the motors on the boats.

  What worried him was the idea
of Brogan taking an infant out on the open sea in one of the small fishing boats. It was a glorified motorboat, and it certainly wasn’t up for a long trip, like the distance to Seattle. He also didn’t know Brogan’s level of boating experience, but assumed it couldn’t be much if the man thought it was safe to take a motorboat across the Strait to get back to Seattle. He’d run out of gas halfway there, and unless he took oars, he’d be stranded there.

  For his part, Kade didn’t care if the man was stuck in the middle of the ocean until he starved to death, but he wasn’t going to let his daughter be a casualty.

  He caught up with Brogan near the top of the bluff. Brogan hadn’t begun the descent down the side that would take him to the small cove, so Kade shifted into his human form in order to speak. “Stop now, and give me back my daughter. It’s over, Brogan. You can still walk away, but you can’t take Aislinn.”

  The man teetered at the edge of the cliff for a moment, clearly startled by Kade’s words and presence. He glanced behind him, meeting Kade’s gaze. “I have everything riding on this. Prestige, scientific inquiry, and possibly even a Nobel prize. I’m afraid I need the child. You can always have another.”

  A chorus of growls accompanied his insensitive words, but Kade’s was still issued in his human voice. The others were definitely from bears.

  Brogan seemed to realize at that moment that it wasn’t just Kade he was facing. His eyes widened in the rapidly approaching twilight as he took in the sight of multiple bears standing behind Kade. Kade had no idea how many of his people had joined him, but he knew it must be an impressive or terrifying sight, depending on one’s perspective. “Give me the baby.”

  Kade sensed Brogan’s hesitation and uncertainty, and he also realized from the other man’s body language and the scent of fear rolling off him that he was panicking. That close to the edge of the cliff, it was a recipe for disaster, and Kade gave up on the idea of a cautious approach. He shifted back as he began to run, certain Brogan would be going over the cliff any moment, either from panic or from Kade’s assistance. First, he had to get to Aislinn.

  Jeffrey started to topple backward just as Kade reached him. He used a paw to hook on to Brogan’s shoulder, his claws keeping the other man from falling, though the scientist screamed from the pain.

  Kade ignored his cries as he used his other paw to gently extract Aislinn from Brogan’s tight hold. When she was freed, he set her carefully down on the ground as far away as he could reach, aware of someone from his clan moving behind him in human form to whisk the baby to safety.

  Jeffrey was windmilling his arms, and his body wasn’t at all secure. He continued to slide backward, and only Kade’s claws kept him from falling. “Let me go. Let me go,” he shouted again. “Don’t hurt me.”

  Kade supposed his conscience should twinge, but he didn’t experience even a small dart of guilt as he retracted his claws and complied with Brogan’s demand that he let him go.

  Brogan screamed as he started to fall, but his cries didn’t last long. He collided with the rocky outcropping below, less than ten feet from one of the fishing boats that would have secured his escape, or at least allowed him to get partway to Seattle and off Bear Island.

  Kade turned away from the gruesome sight of his broken body, certain the other man couldn’t have survived that. He’d have to deal with it soon enough, but first, he needed to get Aislinn back to her mother and assure himself they were both fine. He was certain his grandmother had healed by now, but he wanted to check on her too.

  At that moment, his family took precedence over the body of the man who had tried to tear it apart.

  Epilogue

  Three days later, Kade decided, mostly due to her own insistence, that Shayla had healed enough to accept his mating bite. It was just the two of them in his bedroom, since Tula had volunteered to take the baby for the night. She’d had a gleam in her eye that revealed she knew exactly what was so special about tonight, and she clearly approved.

  Kade kissed Shayla again, his hands roaming over her soft curves before delving between her thighs. She was slick with need, but he held himself back another moment, wanting to be sure she knew what was coming. “And you understand why I’m going to bite you?”

  She nodded, looking unconcerned. “It’s so your scent will be on me, and others will know we’re mated.” Shayla quirked a brow. “I think it’s unnecessary though. I can’t imagine any of your clan trying to claim me. They all hate me.”

  He growled. “They don’t. They’re wary of outsiders, but they’ve already accepted you.”

  She nodded, seeming to remember the outpouring from the community in the past few days, with numerous offerings of food, companionship, and childcare forthcoming from the people who had been like ghosts around her until that point. “I hope you’re right. I know you are,” she said more firmly. “Either way, I’m okay with you marking me as yours to ward off the other horny bear-shifters.”

  “That’s the practical side of it, but it’s also pleasurable for both of us.” He could see her skepticism, and he couldn’t blame her. The idea of being bitten probably sounded frightening, but he had already explained the procedure to her, and she seemed excited, if a little frightened.

  He couldn’t resist any longer, so he moved between her thighs and slid his cock inside her, making them both cry out with satisfaction at being joined together. After establishing a rhythm that pleased both of them, Kade gathered her close to him and buried his face against the bend of her neck. As she started to tighten around him a few minutes later, heralding the approach of her release, he barely held his own in check, wanting to be sure she received her pleasure first.

  When her convulsions increased around him, and he was certain she was coming, he surrendered to his own orgasm with a hoarse shout and allowed his teeth to elongate slightly as he did so. He bit her shoulder, not hard enough to draw blood, but deep enough to mark her with his scent. As he’d expected, rather than detracting from her pleasure, it seemed to increase the intensity of her orgasm, and she almost screamed his name as she tightened around him, fingers clawing against his buttocks to pull him deeper inside her.

  He was already as far as he could go, and he clung to her as the last pulses of his seed left him. He knew she wasn’t ovulating, but the idea of her carrying his baby filled his chest with warmth. Due to quicker pregnancies among his kind, they could give Aislinn a sibling in seven months after the next time she ovulated.

  Afterward, they collapsed together in a sweating heap, properly mated for the first time. A wave of satisfaction swept through him, and this one was deeper than sexual release. He was satisfied to his soul and content in a way he’d never been before. “I love you, Shayla.”

  She was panting slightly, still recovering from the intense bout of lovemaking, so he was unsurprised when it took her a moment to reply. “Love you too,” she said in a slightly broken voice.

  He liked the idea of breaking her with passion and putting her back together with love. She could do the same to him anytime. He curled up against her, and with his mate in his arms, Kade slept deeper than he had in years.

  ******

  One Night With A Bear (Emerald City Shifters, Book Four)

  Blurb

  One night with a bear becomes so much more…

  When Dr. Jade Barnes impulsively stops at a bar before leaving for a four-month archaeology dig, she spends a single night with a stranger, not even learning his last name. When she slips away the next morning, she doesn’t realize she isn’t leaving alone.

  When they meet again, Cody surprises her by how well he takes the news of impending fatherhood. There are further surprises awaiting, like the fact he’s a bear-shifter. Initially that terrifies her, but she soon appreciates his strength and protectiveness when someone targets her for an unknown, but nefarious, purpose.

  Cody can protect her body, but it’s her heart in danger when the stubborn bear-shifter makes it known he’s going to claim her as his mate, an
d he’s not above using every dirty trick he knows—including killer foot massages and kisses that make her whole body tingle.

  Chapter One

  Jade braced herself as the gawky young man who’d been eyeing her for the last twenty minutes seemed to work up the nerve to approach. She had come to the bar hoping for some companionship, but this guy had to be at least ten years her junior, and he reminded her of the kids she taught at the university every day. There was no way it was going to happen, and she’d hope that by ignoring him, it would take care of itself. No such luck.

  He sat down at the bar beside her, all fake confidence and swagger, slamming his empty glass onto the bar. That earned him an annoyed look from the bartender, and she barely bit back a giggle when the kid flinched. He wasn’t quite the stud he pretended to be. It softened her slightly toward him. Not enough to actually accept any of his overtures, but she’d try to be gentle with her letdown.

  “Hey, how you doing?”

  She managed a neutral nod, thinking he sounded so much like that old character on “Friends.” What was his name? Joey, that was the one. It had been years since she’d seen that show, and she had a feeling this kid had never seen it unless he’d watched it on Netflix. “I’m fine.” She didn’t inquire about him, hoping to cut short the conversation.

  Apparently, the kid just didn’t get subtlety. “May I buy you a drink?”

  She looked down at her mostly full Bloody Mary. “I’m good.”

  He was starting to look shaky, and she was amused when he shot a glance over his shoulder. She could well imagine his friends at the table were giving him a thumbs-up or other signs of encouragement, delusional young men that they were.

  “Do you come here often?”

  Jade shrugged. “Upon occasion. It’s close to work.” Which also meant it was close to the university, which was a downside. She really had picked the wrong bar this evening if she’d hoped to meet someone to take home.