by Sky Winters
Adeline watched the battle with wide eyes, her hands gripping the fence. She wanted to do something, to help in some way, but she knew that a mere human couldn't hope to fight against those wolves, shifter blood in her veins or not.
The two sides clashed ferociously, wolf howls and bear roars filling the air. But the bears could turn the tide, and after the dust had settled, the bodies of the wolves lay in the dirt of the property grounds. Relief rushed through Adeline upon seeing that not a single bear was lost.
The men shifted back into their human forms, and so did Bethany moments later. Adeline ran to the gate and pushed it open, joining the Swift clan.
"Bethany, my baby girl!" said Aaron as he wrapped his arms around his daughter.
"Daddy!" shouted Bethany, hugging and holding her father tight.
"I'm so happy you're safe," he said, letting go.
"Yeah, Adeline got me out."
The rest of the clan greeting Bethany with joy and warmth as Aaron approached Adeline.
"I don't know what to say," he said, taking Adeline's hands into his. "I thought she might've been lost. I thought we all might've been lost."
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore," said Adeline.
"Daddy, I can turn into a bear!" said Bethany, a wide smile on her face.
"Looks like we've got a new member of the Swift clan," said Atticus, looking over the girl with a warm smile.
"I knew this day would come," said Aaron, "but at least she's got her family now; together, we can show her how to become one of us, how to use her powers to protect others."
"And we can start by reclaiming this forest for the Swifts," said Atticus, looking over the property grounds.
"Is there…room for someone like me in all of this?" asked Adeline.
Aaron squeezed her hands tight.
"I wouldn't have it any other way."
CHAPTER 22
Adeline sighed as Aaron kissed the soft, delicate skin of her neck. She closed her eyes, a wide smile on her face as he moved over her, the scent of his body wrapping around her. Letting her eyes open just a bit, she watched the way the winter sun streaming in through the bedroom window played on his body, the light cutting across the taut, strong shapes of his upper body. He continued to kiss her, his hand now on her inner thigh, the feeling of his palm on her skin so close to her sex sending waves of anticipation running through her body.
"I want you so badly," Adeline said, her voice breathy, the words barely formed through the pleasure.
Aaron didn't need to hear another word. He positioned himself above her, supporting his brawny, muscular form with his thick, ropey arms, the muscles flexing with his weight. Adeline couldn't wait to have him in her; their lovemaking had only grown more pleasurable since they'd begun to officially live together. She wrapped her fingers around the girth of his cock, taking in a sharp breath as she took sweet pleasure at the feeling of his member in her hand.
"Someone's eager," he said, his green eyes flashing a knowing glint.
"You know I'm no good at waiting," said Adeline, her mouth forming a sensual, playful smirk.
"That's right; you're a girl who goes for what she wants."
But before the conversation could continue further, Adeline placed the head of Aaron's cock on the entry of her sex, closing her eyes once again. She loved the anticipation of him right on the edge of her, knowing that just a few moments later she would be completely filled with his long, hard prick. Then, with a slow glide, she pulled him into her slowly, at a pace that allowed her to feel every inch of his thick cock fill her up.
"God, you feel so fucking good in me," Adeline said, taking a deep breath, the tight heat of pleasure already building in her pussy.
"The feeling is more than mutual," said Aaron, now sliding in and out of her slowly.
Adeline wrapped her legs around Aaron, bringing her hips closer to hers, imploring him with her body to drive himself deeper and faster into her. They'd made love enough times to where Aaron understood immediately what she wanted. He picked up the pace, rocking his hips into her, fucking her harder and fast. Moans began to slip out of Adeline's mouth as he pounded her harder and harder, filling her repeatedly with his perfect cock. She opened her eyes just enough to watch his body work, to watch the muscles of his sculpted form tense and flex as he plunged into her again and again, her full breasts shaking and quivering with each impact of his hips into hers.
Then, a sly grin crossed Adeline's mouth. Grabbing Aaron's hips, she guided him over to his side, rolling their bodies until she was on top of him, his cock buried in her all the while. Aaron crossed his hands behind his head, his biceps flexing as he did. Slowly at first, Adeline rode him, bucking her hips up and down, letting him move in and out of her, the pleasure almost too much to bear. Looking down at his sculpted pecs, his broad, strong shoulders, and his gorgeous face, she knew that her orgasm was not far at all.
Her pace quickened, the sound of flesh on flesh filling the air. Aaron moved his hands down to her hips, grabbing hold of her soft curves and lifting her up and down on his cock. Adeline leaned forward, placing her hands his rock-hard chest, bouncing herself up and down on top of him, the pleasure building and building by the second.
"Oh, cum in me," she said, her voice breathy and pregnant with passion.
Aaron grunted, his face tightening as he approached orgasm. And as he approached, so did Adeline. She felt herself being pushed to the brink of pleasure, ready to fall over the precipice and into pure ecstasy.
And moments later, it happened. Her orgasm exploded through her body, muffled shrieks slipping out of her mouth as she covered her lips with her hands. The orgasm rushed through her, the hot, pulsing pleasure rocking her body. Aaron came as she did, and the feeling of him erupting into her only increased the orgasmic joy that filled her body. She rocked her hips harder and harder, draining every drop out of her lover. Soon, her orgasm ebbed, and she collapsed in a heap on top of him.
They lay like this for a time, Adeline resting her head on his now-sweaty chest, listening to his heart beat a pace that slowed by the second, feeling the rise-and-fall of his breath.
"Have I told you how much I love it when you ride me?" he asked, breaking the silence.
"Why do you think I love to do it so much?" asked Adeline, tapping the end of his nose with her finger.
"Oh, don't act like you're not getting anything out of it, too," said Aaron, his tone playful.
"I can't argue with that," she said with a smirk.
A little more time passed, the two of them enjoying the afterglow of their lovemaking.
"Well, I think it's probably about time we get up," said Aaron. "The rest of them are probably wondering what we're doing in bed so late."
"Oh, I think they've probably got some ideas," said Adeline.
She rolled out of bed, Aaron giving her naked rear a playful slap as she did. Minutes later, they were dressed and up, ready to start their day. Through the bedroom door, they could hear the bustling of activity from the rest of the family. Stepping out into the hallway, the spotted the rest of the Swift clan children and all, gathered in the living room.
"There they are!" said Atticus, his twin boys on his lap. "We were wondering when the two of you were finally gonna roll out of bed."
"Nothing to get up in a hurry for," said Aaron. "We're finally done with all of the cleaning, after all."
Adeline looked around the inside of the home. Finally, after weeks of the combined effort of the family, the Swift compound was back up to its full glory. The place was clean, the shattered windows were repaired, and most importantly, the wolf menace that had plagued them was eliminated, possibly for good.
"Come down and grab some coffee," said Tessa, the rest of the wives sitting with their husbands.
"Yeah, Dad!" said Bethany, looking up from the infant cousins that she was playing with.
"Alright, alright," said Adeline as the two made their way down the stairs.
As Aa
ron poured her a cup of hot, steaming coffee, Adeline reflected on the events of the last few weeks. After the wolves were taken care of, the Swift family all returned to their rightful home at the compound. The place was brought back to working order, and the Swifts soon fell back into the routines that they'd been forced to abandon. But now, Aaron, Adeline, and Bethany were part of the clan. And they couldn't be happier about the arrangement.
Months passed this way, the Swift clan living in contentment and peace. After a time, Adeline had the inclination to go down to Jenny's shop to thank her for her guidance and help. But when she entered the store, she found not a soul within. The place seemed abandoned, no trace of anyone there but the scent of coffee lingering in the air. Looking around, Adeline found a note written on thick stock paper, the name "Adeline" written on it in ornate letters.
My little fox-
I hope that in the last few months you've found the peace you've been seeking. The time has come for me to move on, however. I'm sure you'll come to the shop eventually, and when you do and read this note, know that this place is now yours. Run this little store as you see fit, and provide guidance to lost souls like yourself along the way.
- Jenny
Adeline set the note down, looking around the small space that now belonged to her. It was like the last piece of the puzzle fell into place. She now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt where she belonged.
Over time, the woods under the shadow of Bear Mountain became a haven for shifters once again. The bears that had spread over the country began to return, and the Swifts were always more than happy to help them get settled in their new home. Adeline's coffee shop became a favorite stop of shifters, along with the other, more human, citizens of the city. But only those truly in the know were aware of the story behind Adeline's little shop.
Adeline and Aaron were married. The ceremony was small, intimate affair, the woods of Bear Mountain the setting for their nuptials. Soon after, Adeline had one last flash of knowing, of intuition. She knew, she could sense, that she was pregnant. The news was celebrated among the family, and Aaron, Adeline, and Bethany were overjoyed at the news.
One day, as Adeline was working behind the counter at her shop, the place buzzing with shifters and humans alike, Bethany happily employed as her after-school helper, Aaron reading the paper at his sunny table near the window, a profound sense of peace overcame Adeline. It had been a long journey, but her long search was over at long last. She finally was where she belonged.
Bonus Stories
LA Shifters
PROLOGUE:
“Ready for this?”
Antonio, the large wolf with black fur and green eyes, turned at the words.
Magda, shifted from her bear form to human, stood close by the edge of the pen where she was kept. “I guess it’s a moot question, really, but I thought I’d ask.”
Antonio shifted quickly, skin and bone forming and growing then transforming until he stood on two legs, his skin bare of the fur. The wind blew across his skin and goose pimples rose. “I’d say yes, but that would be a lie.”
Magda grinned. The dim light flashed off her large white teeth. “Are you ready enough?”
Antonio moved closer, but still stayed below the shelter, out of sight of the zookeepers, if any should happen along. “As ready as we can be.”
Magda nodded. Her long brown hair waved around her cunning face. “It won’t be easy.”
Antonio said, “Never expected it to be. How we’ve stood it this long is anyone’s guess.”
It was anyone’s guess. The zoo had captured them all at some point, bringing them into the zoo under the assumption that they were the animals whose forms they could shift into. High doses of tranquilizers kept them complacent, and the food they ate was always laced with those drugs.
Shifting was dangerous—for a lot of reasons. For one, all of them were in cages with actual non-shifting animals. Those animals harried them daily and forced the shifters to the edges of the pens. The keepers assumed that they were just not assimilating, and they weren’t, because they couldn’t.
Antonio had thought he was the only shifter caught in that hell until he had seen Magda one night. She had been enraged enough, and awake enough, to shift right there in her pen. She’d almost been killed because the bears had gone on the attack. She’d had to shift back and fight to stay alive. The keepers had come in with their sedation tools and their sprays, and Magda had ended up in a pen just for herself because she was deemed untrustworthy.
She was also marked as a zoo failure, and while the zoo, on the surface of things, did not kill its animals unless it was necessary, she had pretty well punched her own ticket that night.
It was just a matter of time before they took her down. That went for both the keepers and the actual bears pacing in their pens, which were connected to hers even if they were separated by a slim band of trees and glass.
Antonio said, “You shouldn’t be shifting yet. What if you are spotted? The whole thing could go up in flames. The cameras might spot you and then what? There’s no way to explain a naked woman in a pen where a bear was a moment before. You’re being foolish.”
Magda snorted. “I have to. I can’t stand not to.”
“I know.” He put his weight on the other foot, his eyes searching the pens.
“The keepers should stay where they are for a few more minutes,” Magda replied. “Now’s our best chance.”
“Yeah.” Antonio lifted a hand, raking his fingers through his thick hair as his nostrils spread and his head lifted. He sniffed the air, but the scent of humans lay too thick everywhere to know if any were nearby. “Just keep one eye out for anyone, will you?”
“I will.”
“Get going then.”
“I didn’t need your permission.”
The words made Antonio grit his teeth. “No, you don’t.”
Magda paused. “I’m not staying here anymore. If I have to die here tonight, I will. I would rather be dead than be here and alive.”
Antonio’s heart sped up. He scanned the surroundings again, seeing nothing but shadows sifting and crawling out there along the concrete pathways. “I’m with you, no matter how this pans out.”
Am I willing to die here tonight? Yes, he was. He understood that even as his mind scrawled past all the risks she was taking and resentment at her willingness to take those risks simmered up in his being.
Because Magda was in a position to pass things on, she had told him about the others. At night, when they were herded from their outside enclosures and into their pens, he had spotted a few other shifters, or thought he had. Magda had confirmed that there were others here, just as eager to escape as she and Antonio were.
Revealing themselves as shifters would be disastrous. They all knew that from experience. No way did any of them want to become the pet project at some lab, stuck full of needles and having their brains scanned while being forced to shift constantly for ‘research.’
By the law of nature, they were all enemies. Wolves, bears, and tigers were not meant to be friends. In the wild, they would have fought and killed each other. Here, they had to work together or die.
This was their only shot, and they all knew it.
The zoo had to cut power in the cages and pens tonight, and keepers would be standing guard to make damn sure no animal escaped while they did the routine maintenance that he, Magda, and Patel had all been waiting on for an entire year.
This was their chance, and they would have to take it.
They had a plan.
As soon as the power went out, Magda, who was alone in her pen and stood the best chance of being able to get out without being eaten by non-shifting bears for her troubles, was going to climb her enclosure in bear form, because she was more capable of scaling the great height of the tree in that form.
But the branch that stuck out from the enclosure would never hold her in bear form, so she would have to reach it and shift then drop onto the paved and concrete
walkway.
It was going to hurt. Even with her mutated healing abilities, she was going to be wounded, and naked.
A naked woman toppling onto the path would be noticed, but since the power was going to be out, the cameras would be out, too, which would give her the perfect chance to get into the keepers’ lockers and grab clothing for them.
Antonio knew Magda was not all that keen on helping the other shifters escape. The only reason she was doing so was because if she did not, they had all threatened to not only shift and reveal their secret, but to tell hers as well.
No way would anyone let a shifter escape. The government really would track her down to the end of her days and that chip they all had implanted under their skin would certainly aid in her capture.
That was why she had agreed to help free Antonio and Patel. Patel was a surgeon and capable of removing the chips, and Antonio had contacts in LA, unlike Magda and Patel. He could get them into shelter for the next few days, and get them food and other things they needed.
Once dressed and in possession of the keys, Magda would unlock their pens. It was risky, because they could all go down in flames if she were caught.
Antonio chewed his lips as he watched her shift yet again.
This was it.
His heart picked up again, his pulse ticking away in his throat. His gaze moved across the landscape, his mouth opened as he tasted the air, trying to separate old scent from new.
The branch gave a low warning creak, making his head jerk upward. “Be careful, dammit.”
“I am being careful,” she snapped. “I don’t want to break my legs or something, you know. Even if they will heal, I’ll be in misery for days. What’s more, there’ll be no way I could run.”
Magda climbed the tree and when she reached the fork of the branch, she shifted again. She paused, looking down, and Antonio’s heart thumped painfully in his chest as he shifted back to wolf form.
What if she lost her nerve? What if she could not bring herself to jump from that branch, knowing how much pain she risked?