Highland Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by Unknown

  And he saw her dreams. Davina’s memories of her love for him. Any shred of disbelief Broderick may have had until now faded like smoke on the wind. She was, without doubt, Davina’s soul inside Monika’s body, Davina reborn.

  However, more importantly…he learned what Monika truly was…a supernatural creature in her own right. Shielding her from the experience, Broderick lived the day Marcus attacked her family through Monika’s eyes…

  “No, little treasure,” her mother corrected. She took the pestle from Monika and demonstrated how to grind the herbs in the mortar. “Roll your hand thus. You won’t tire as quickly.”

  “Ah.” Monika grinned. “Thank you.” She took the mortar and pestle back from her mother and worked at repeating the same motion Katrina just performed.

  “Kat,” Symon said, pulling a jar from the shelf. “Should we add—”

  The door crashed into splinters and Monika screamed, falling to the floor as she recoiled from the flying wood pieces.

  “Kat!”

  Scrambling back into the corner, Monika screeched as her mother was hurled across the room like a rag doll by a creature from a nightmare. Wolf-like face with pointed ears and snarling teeth. Bulky, muscular man-like body covered with wiry black hair. Claws the length of her hand. She gasped when her father pulled the shiny silver knife from his belt and lunged. “Papa!”

  The blade sunk into the monster’s side. The werewolf bit her father’s shoulder.

  Monika’s screams mixed with her father’s tortured cry. She stood, her mouth open, the noise piercing her ears. Flames roared in the hearth, scorching the ceiling. The cottage crackled as fire licked the walls and roof. Her mother stirred and Monika ran to her side, talking the flames away from her. When she tried to ask the flames to stop eating their house, her mother’s dress caught fire. Monika used her hands to cover the fire on her mother’s dress, putting out the flames, but the house still burned.

  “Go, Monika,” her mother slurred, blood oozing out of her mouth. “Get out.”

  “Not without you!” I’m a Fire Witch. I can control the fire. “Papa!”

  “Monika! I can’t reach you! Put out the fire!”

  “I can’t!” She sobbed while keeping the flames from touching her mother. “Mama!” Hooking her arms under her mother’s shoulders, she yanked with all her might.

  “That’s it, honey!” her father encouraged. “Pull Mama! You can do it!”

  Monika kept the flames from touching her mother, willing them away from her clothes and skin, pulling on her arms and dragging her from their burning home.

  An agonizing groan of wood pressed down on Monika followed by a startling crack.

  “Monika!”

  Her father cried out and a hand yanked her by the collar, away from her mother.

  As she fell backward, she shrieked and the cottage crashed in a blazing heap on top of Katrina. “Mama!”

  Symon wailed and flames covered his back. Monika ran after her father and pushed the fire from his body. Thankfully, he was not burned too badly. She stared at their home reduced to a smoking inferno…her mother burning inside. She and her father wept in each other’s arms. Monika had blamed herself for killing her mother since she was the cause of the fire. Eventually, she learned her mother was already dead when Marcus threw her across the room. The blood from her mouth was the fatal sign Katrina would not have survived, even if Monika had been pulled from the burning cottage.

  Broderick retreated from her memories, ensuring none of them seeped into Monika’s current train of thought. To help him overcome the trauma of that horrid day and to keep his promise, he shared with Monika some of his favorite moments of their marriage—painting Davina’s portrait, their journeys at sea, the first time he fed from her, her Amorous Invitations.

  He reached his peak, trembling as he clutched to Monika. She cried out with him and bucked against his hips, clinging to his back. When he broke from the crimson kiss, he was on his knees, Monika straddling his thighs and panting. He licked her blood from his lips, savoring every last drop. She stared at his mouth, her lips parted in awe, then kissed him. He groaned.

  “That is my new favorite position,” she whispered against his mouth, panting.

  He smiled. “Feeding while I make love to you?”

  She nodded. “Every night.”

  He shook his head and gasped for air. “Not every night. You need time to recover.” He brushed his thumb over her mouth as he cupped her face. “But I would much rather feed from you than anyone else, so I will indulge as often as possible if it is to your liking.”

  “To my liking?” She fell back in his embrace, playing as if she’d fainted, her arms dangling.

  Broderick chuckled and brought her upright. Reflecting over the last few days, he recalled how fire seemed to respond to her emotions, how easily she had struck the kindling in the kitchen house, the heat of her skin—so hot each time she touched him. He fixed his gaze on hers. “You hide your magick well, my little Fire Witch. And your grandmother is a High Priestess?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but the Grove we belong to hasn’t assembled in a few years due to the persecutions. We meet for important events, like a birth, death or handfasting. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

  “Having fed from you, I can understand why.” The tears he fought so hard to hold back slipped down his cheek.

  “Oh, darling!” She kissed his tears away. “What is this?”

  He released a ragged breath. “What you endured the day Marcus attacked your home. You were such a brave wee lass.”

  “Such a heart you have, Broderick.” She spread kisses all over his face.

  “Only for you, Blossom.” As with most feedings, the memories from the blood took a few moments to settle, sort and solidify with his own experiences. Like a fog lifting, certain events over the last few days came into view…and deep-seeded hatred boiled in the pit of Broderick’s gut. The obscene odor of rutting animals…the semen on that bush…and the clearing surrounded by trees where Monika performed her spell…where she fingered herself to a climax. That wasn’t a rabbit in the brush…it was Marcus. Red clouded his vision.

  “Broderick?”

  Her trembling voice snapped him out of his dark, murderous thoughts and he gazed at her wide, sapphire eyes, regret slicing through his heart. “God’s blood, I am sorry.”

  “What were you just thinking?” She swallowed and the corner of her lips attempted a smile.

  He sighed and shook his head. “Sometimes it takes a few moments for all the experiences of the person I’ve fed from to make any sense. Let’s just say Marcus Sparenland is dead werewolf.”

  “What did—”

  He covered her mouth with his, licking, sucking and nibbling her silent. “Later.” Some blood dripped from her wound and he licked the small gash, enticing his fangs to come out once more. Piercing the pad of his thumb, he healed her throat with his blood.

  “Ohhh, that tingles.” She touched her neck. “What did you just do?”

  Lying down on his back, he held her waist to keep her straddling his hips. “Vamsyrian blood is healing. I usually heal the wound when I feed, so as not to leave a trace.”

  Her eyes sparkled with speculation. “What else can Vamsyrian blood heal? How can you use it? Just as a salve or will it work to heal diseases?”

  Broderick frowned. “Unfortunately, it does have its limitations. It cannot cure diseases, but it can be consumed by a mortal to heal internal damage caused by a disease. It can mend wounds, such as cuts, scrapes, burns and the like. If the blood is applied directly to a broken bone, it will mend, but an incision must be made first. It can also be the antidote to poisons or—”

  “Poisons?” Monika’s mouth dropped open and she stared off into the distance, tapping her chin in thought. “Oh, my Gods.” She darted her eyes to Broderick and leaned forward, placing her hands on his chest. “It’s you. You are the final ingredient for the cure! Vamsyrian blood is the answer to the cure!
”

  She hopped off Broderick and scampered into the common room. When she returned, she had her mother’s book in hand and—much to his disappointment—was wearing his shirt. Flipping through the pages, she found an entry and trailed her finger over the strange script, which Broderick recognized through her memories as the Theban Alphabet. Her mind swirled with so much activity, Broderick had a very difficult time keeping it at bay.

  He sat up and shook his head, amazed at how rapid this woman could ruminate ideas. “Perhaps you should put your necklace back on.”

  She dragged her eyes from the book and regarded him with scrunched eyebrows. “What? Oh!” Monika threw her head back and laughed. “Just a moment.” She scuttled back into the common room, chortling. Putting her head through the chain of the necklace, she settled on the bed and continued her studies.

  Broderick sighed and collapsed onto his back. “Thank you.”

  She shook her head, grinning. “Here. My mother wrote, ‘Balance is the key.’ Her previous studies—”

  “Remember, I know everything you know up until I fed from you.” Broderick rolled to his side and propped his head on his hand. “You had already discovered the four elements connected to the herbs.”

  “Correct! What I just realized is Mama and I weren’t including the fifth element—spirit.” Monika slapped her hand onto the book. “Of course! I thought she needed four elements and four properties of the herbs, thereby creating a balance. But there are five elements —water, fire, earth, air and spirit. How could I forget? There are only four properties of the herbs—hex-breaking, exorcism, purification and protection. The Vamsyrian blood becomes the fifth property.”

  “But how is the Vamsyrian blood both an element and a property? And why not just give the werewolf Vamsyrian blood? Why the herbs?”

  “Even you said the blood couldn’t cure a disease, but it could cure the damage from the disease. I’m thinking it works the same way. Spirit is the missing element and the Vamsyrian blood is not only that, but transcends the spiritual and physical planes through healing. That is the final ingredient to obtain the balance my mother was looking for! The Vamsyrian blood is both an element and a property— spirit and healing—thereby reuniting the balance between the spiritual and physical plains. It’s no wonder she couldn’t find the spirit element. She probably would have needed to find a Spirit Witch, and they are hard to come by.”

  Now that he’d fed from her, this entire world of magick users opened to him—Elemental Witches. Water, Fire, Earth, Air and Spirit, all wielding the powers of nature based on the sign under which they were born. Monika, an Aries and thus a fire sign, was a Fire Witch. Spirit Witches, however, were a rare breed. Monika and her family knew little about how they were manifested. Intriguing.

  He grinned and shook his head. “You fascinate me, woman.”

  Monika leaned over and kissed him. “Why is that, my darling?”

  “I’ve never met a woman as learned as you. Now that I know your past, how important education is to Elementals, all is clear now. You are quite remarkable and so is the breed from which you come.”

  She pecked him on the lips and rose to put the book on the table in the other room.

  “Now that you have the cure, what are you going to do with it?”

  A frown settled upon her face as she returned to the bed. “At this point, I still don’t know it will work. As much as I don’t want to, I’m afraid I have to test the cure. We have three werewolves on which to test it—Marcus, Brynner and my father.”

  Rick nodded. “Marcus might be agreeable since he has been searching so long for the cure. But his history proves he will not be a willing subject unless we force him.”

  “I wouldn’t mind leaving him cursed. Serves him right for everything he’s done—not to give him what he wants most. But I would rather risk his life than Brynner’s or my father’s.”

  “Now that I know all you know, I am very confident this will work. We should try it on Brynner.”

  “Broderick, he’s—”

  “I know what he means to you, Monika, but Marcus is too dangerous to be around without me at your side.”

  “We already know the ward works against him in human form, so I could use it to trap him. It worked well on you.” She jutted her chin forward and crossed her arms.

  “Yes. But you’ll lose that if he’s cured.”

  “I’ll just be sure to have a source of flame nearby as protection.”

  Broderick sighed. “You and I both know you won’t use your powers.”

  Monika’s smile faded and she nodded, bowing her head. “Fire gets out of control so quickly, but I’ve practiced for ten years. I have a better command of my emotions and the element.”

  Broderick didn’t want her to face Marcus on her own, but he also had to admit two things: she was a formidable force who indeed had more control than he gave her credit for; and once she set her mind on doing something, she would see it through. He shook his head. “I’m not going to try and talk you out of this. You know how I feel. I don’t want you near him, but you have also proven you know how to take care of yourself, much to my relief.”

  “Thank you.” Monika squeezed his hand and smiled. “I know I can do this, and if Oma is home soon and goes with me, he’ll have two powerful witches to contend with. She also knows how to control my fire, being an Air Witch.”

  “Wind fuels a fire, Monika.”

  “It can also blow it out.” She leaned over and puffed out the candle at the bedside.

  Broderick narrowed his eyes and smirked. “You, lass, are hardly a candle flame.”

  She closed the book and placed it on the floor, then stood and lifted his shirt from her curvaceous form, tossing it over the end of the bed. Crawling on her hands and knees, she rolled Broderick onto his back and straddled his hips. “Now where were we?” She seized his hardening shaft with her hot hands.

  Broderick closed his eyes and sighed, all worry fading with every stroke. She shifted her weight, then engulfed his cock with her heat. He grunted and grabbed her hips. “Aye, Blossom. Right about there.”

  She placed her palms on his chest and rocked Broderick to the heights of heaven.

  * * * * *

  His ears flattened against his head and hair bristling along his spine, Marcus hunkered down in the shadows…his lips curling back in a snarl. His body trembled as he peered through the partially opened shutters watching her succulent arse rise and fall on top of the Vamsyrian. Not so opposed to fucking a blood sucker, I see. He garnered all his strength to keep from tearing through the cottage and ripping both Monika and the Vamsyrian apart. After what he’d heard, however, he couldn’t. Not only did they have some kind of ward around the dwelling, but the Vamsyrian had the cure he needed. No wonder Katrina couldn’t find it. The cure was hidden within my enemy.

  Very quietly, Marcus withdrew from the back garden and leapt over the tiny fence, then slinked off into the forest. Once far enough from the cottage, he ripped through any tree within his reach, shredding the trunks into splinters. Fucking bitch thinks I’m going to stick around and test her cure. Hunched over and panting, he snickered. Think again, my dear. And when I finally get the cure myself, you won’t have that damn ward to protect you. He’d tear the Vamsyrian to shreds to get the blood he needed then administer the cure himself. His cock hardened painfully as he imagined finally getting his hands on Monika and burying his shaft inside her.

  Chapter Twelve

  Brynner, Analise and Johanna stood before Monika in the common room of their farmhouse as she explained the situation. “Only after I’d translated the text did I learn the truth through my mother’s notes.”

  Brynner frowned and crossed his arms. Analise and Johanna clutched each other’s hands, worry creasing their brows.

  “When I’d put all the pieces together and figured out he was actually Marcus Sparenland, I confronted him.”

  “If you told him you wouldn’t give him the cure, I could hardly blame
you.” Brynner raked his fingers through his light-brown hair as he paced the length of the room. Analise twisted her smock while her eyes followed her husband.

  “I actually didn’t have the complete cure. By happenchance, I learned the final ingredient last night. I was hoping to force him to take the cure this morning.” She sighed. “However, he wasn’t at The Red Stag when I went there just an hour ago.”

  Brynner narrowed his eyes. “Do you believe he’s actually left?”

  Monika shook her head. “No, I don’t, but I know he won’t be easy to find nor will he be a willing test subject. At least if I caught him in his room, I would have had him trapped.”

  “By yourself?” Brynner harrumphed. “I know you’re brave, Monika, but I didn’t think you were stupid.”

  “Brynner!” Analise scolded.

  “All is well, Analise.” Monika cocked an eyebrow at Brynner. “Aren’t you forgetting?” She reached toward the hearth and called a small portion of the flames to her. The three of them hissed a collective gasp as fire engulfed Monika’s hand without burning her skin. She spread her fingers wide as she rotated her hand one way and then the other before she curled her hand into a fist and the flames died.

  Brynner smiled. “I haven’t seen you do that in years.” He nodded. “Yes, I did forget.”

  “I took precautions this morning by warning everyone that Marcus might try to infect more people. Everyone in the village assures me they’ll stay indoors until the cycle of the moon passes. But I can’t help the people in Vollstadt.”

  “Can’t we build a trap for Marcus?” Johanna asked.

  “Unfortunately, I think he may have learned about the cure and is waiting to see what I’ll do. We do have at least three more weeks before the next cycle, so if you want me to work with Broderick to trap him, I—”