Shifter Fated Mates: Boxed Set

by Mandy M. Roth

  Another of his buddies leaned forward. “Tell us you at least fucked her before you split. She may be a pain in the ass but she’s hot. You don’t make it home so much anymore now that you’re in the service. Mind if I have a go at her?”

  “I don’t give a shit what you do. I don’t want her. She’s dead to me.” He put his hands up. “Wait, I meant to say, Sandra Dee is dead to me. She’s a tease. You’re right, she’s a pain in the ass that I’ve wasted my life on.”

  She backed up quickly and accidentally bumped into a waitress carrying a tray of empty bottles. They crashed to the floor bringing with them the attention of the patrons. Glancing up, Deryn found Kane staring at her with a look of shock on his face. “Deryn, what are you doing here?”

  Her bottom lip trembled as she searched for the words to answer him. “I made you a promise and I have never let you down.”

  Kane set his pool stick on the table. “But your uncle said you were gone--that you decided to go out of town with your grandmother. He said you didn’t want to go anywhere with me, that you ran like hell at the first chance to get out of it.” He bit his lower lip. “He said you’d never be caught dead at something like your prom with me.”

  “I thought you said you dumped her,” Doyle said, laughing. “Looks like Soto is whipped. She shows up and he folds like a little bitch.”

  Kane glanced over his shoulder at Doyle and Deryn did her best to hold in the tears that wanted to flow freely. “My uncle never listens fully to anything my grandmother says. She told him we’d be back in time for me to meet you.” She glanced down too hurt to meet his gaze. “She took me to get a dress not out of town. I didn’t own one. You knew that. You know I don’t like wearing them. I told you on the phone when you said you wanted to take me--that I should tell Robbie no and go with you instead.”

  “Deryn, I didn’t mean what I said. I was angry. I talked all the guys on my Ops team into taking leave, too. I want them to meet you. I called them and told them to meet me here instead of after your prom because I thought you took off on me. They should be here any minute. I want....”

  She exhaled slowly. “You what? Wanted to show off the thing you’ve wasted your life on? The tease? Did I miss anything?”

  “Oh, look, Sandra Dee opted for virgin white,” Doyle said, laughing as he took a shot. “Who would have guessed it? Oh, I bet this means Soto is going to go running out of here with her with his tail between his legs. It’s not like she’ll let him stick it anywhere else.”

  Anger took hold of Deryn and she stood tall. “You know what, I’ll save him the embarrassment. Don’t bother, Kane. I thought you actually wanted to go to this thing with me. I didn’t realize I was such a burden.”

  “Deryn.” Kane made a move to come to her but Doyle grabbed him by his shoulder.

  “Let the bitch go. You’re better off without her. You said it yourself.”

  Infuriated, Deryn eased Kane’s class ring off her thumb and threw it at him. He caught it with ease. She knew he would. It was part of his shifter abilities--quick reflexes. “Deryn, don’t do this.”

  “Do what? Give you what you want? Freedom? I can’t give what I didn’t take, Kane. Correct me if I’m wrong but I’m not the one who asked me to wear that. Am I?” Lifting her dress off the ground, Deryn ran towards the door, no longer bothering to hide her tears.

  “Deryn, wait!” Kane shouted.

  Doyle laughed. “Let her go, man.”

  She ran out of the club and straight into what felt like a brick wall. She staggered backwards. Strong arms shot out and around her.

  “You okay?” a deep voice asked.

  Nodding, Deryn refused to look up. A hiccupped sob tore free from her as she lost her battle with her tears. “I’m fine.”

  “You don’t sound fine.”

  Wiping her eyes, Deryn glanced up briefly, catching only a glimpse of emerald green eyes. They were familiar to her but she couldn’t place them. Her mind was too fogged. Too caught between two realities to allow her to think clearly. “I’m fine. Really. Thanks.”

  “I’m not trying to overstep my bounds here but it’s dark and they’re calling for a storm tonight. Should you be walking around this time of night by yourself?”

  “I’m not by myself,” Deryn said, lying but not caring. She wanted to walk and clear her head.

  “Hey, listen, I’m not going to lecture you on being in a bar at your age but I am going to suggest you come in and let me call a ride for you.”

  “Captain,” another voice called out, “you coming or you planning on robbing the cradle. Not that I’ve got anything against that.”

  Deryn clenched her fist. “I’m eighteen, asshole.”

  “Hey, little lady, I’ll take you over my knee and teach you to respect your elders.”

  “Rodriquez, would you please shut up?” The man touched Deryn’s chin but she refused to meet his gaze again. “I’m sorry. You’re right, he’s an asshole. Ignore him. We all do. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

  “You didn’t. I just want to go now. Thank you.” Grasping her locket, Deryn stared at the ground and shifted awkwardly, not liking how tall heels made her. Thankfully, the man before her was even taller than her.

  “Is that a good luck charm?” he asked.

  “Is what a good luck charm?”

  He chuckled. “Your locket.”

  “No. Umm, I don’t think so. It’s something my grandmother gave me. It was hers, then my mother’s, now mine. Why do you ask?”

  “I was hoping to strike up a conversation and get you to at least look at me.”

  Another man moved up next to the first. “Captain, let the girl be on her way. It’s past her bedtime.”

  The man sighed. “Rodriquez, do me a favor and go inside before I’m forced to kick your drunk ass.”

  Deryn used the opening to walk away from the man. She wanted to be alone, not psychoanalyzed by some guy who had trouble keeping a leash on his buddies. She sensed him watching her as she walked away. Her entire being told her to trust him but she ignored her inner voice. She turned down the corner and headed towards her house.

  Increasing her pace, Deryn found herself jogging as best she could in heels. A dark shadow moved past her and the air around her chilled considerably. She stilled.

  Turn around and run back to the bar. Run to the man with the green eyes and Kane.

  Paralyzed by fear, Deryn couldn’t respond to her inner voice. Instead, she glanced around as her breathing came in the form of shallow pants. She knew what would happen because she’d already lived it once yet she couldn’t get her mind and body to fall into sync. She knew that vampires surrounded her, watching her from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.

  At the time, she was unaware of her destiny. Unaware she held the power within her to fight them off or at least fight most of them off. Deryn also knew the next three hours of her life were spent at the hands of a gang of vampires that were anything but merciful. No. They toyed with her. They beat her and did things she didn’t even want to think about let alone relive. In the end, they left her long enough to go live it up--party and brag about their latest conquest. It was their need to boast and Kane’s insistence to find her and apologize for what he’d done that kept her alive.

  “Wake up, Deryn!” she yelled at herself. “Wake up! Now!”

  Something shot past her again, this time ripping her locket from her neck with a sinister laugh. Deryn spun around, trying to find the source of the laugh but found nothing. Her body shook. That was different. She couldn’t remember her body shaking on its own the first time around. It did it again, seemingly of its own free will.

  “D-e-r-y-n,” a long drawn out voice said from afar.

  That hadn’t happened in the original version of events either. Evil felt as though it were pressing in on her from every angle. Deryn’s body shook again, this time it felt as thought hands were on her shoulders. She blinked and for a split second she found herself sta
ring at Issac.

  “Issac?”

  A partial laugh came from him. It sounded anything but jovial. “Yes.” He nodded. “Yes, Deryn, it’s me. Concentrate on my voice and I’ll take you to Kane.”

  “To Kane?” Her mind fogged once more and she fought to stay in control. “But I’m mad at Kane right now.”

  “No,” Issac held tight to her shoulders, appearing with her on the dark street, “you were mad at him then, Deryn. Not now. You were hurt more than anything. Hurt he’d say such awful things about you. Anyone would be. Those buddies of his were asses. Plain and simple.”

  “How do you know?”

  He smiled. “I’ve been sharing this memory with you. I’ve also got a sneaky suspicion something really bad is about to happen and I don’t want to see you have to relive that. Can you focus on me and my voice? Can you do that?”

  Issac glanced around and stiffened. “Deryn, Kane is here, he’s talking to me now. He wants you to snap out of this more than you want you to snap out of it. Rodriquez is here now too. He and Ondrea are pinning Kane down to keep him from touching you. I don’t know what will happen if someone from your past ... someone who was there that night, touches you.”

  “Kane is the one who found me the next morning,” she whispered. “I don’t know how he managed to find me but he did.”

  “Kane,” Issac said, turning his head and looking in a direction that Deryn saw nothing but darkness in. “How bad was she when you found her? Is it a point I can take her to safely?” He shook his head and his eyes widened. “No! She’ll relive it as it were real. Look at her neck! She wasn’t wearing a necklace here, in our time but she was then and look--see the red lines from where a vampire just ripped it from her. What happens in this vision will happen to Deryn’s body now, too.”

  “Issac.” Deryn pushed him to the side as she spotted a dark figure rushing at her. “Get out of the way!”

  It slammed into her and her body lifted into the air. When she hit the hard, cold ground, pain radiated through first her head and then her entire body. Blood pooled in her mouth and she knew she’d split her lip open.

  Another shadow appeared. This one took the shape of a man. The very sight of the pale man from that night so many years ago sent Deryn’s heart into overdrive as she watched him hover over her.

  “I can smell your innocence, your youth,” he said, his voice cold. “You are beautiful.” He put his out. “Come look at what I found! It might be one worth keeping.”

  “No, not again. Not again.” She tried to get off the ground but something pinned her down. “Kane!”

  Another shadow swooped down. This one struck out and kicked her in the gut and clawed at her face. She blocked the majority of it with her arm while she stifled a scream.

  “Deryn, focus on me!” Issac shouted, suddenly lying on the ground next to her. He touched her cheek lightly and a tear came to his eye. “I can’t break this spell alone, Deryn, and it’s killing me to watch you go through this. I can feel your terror. The hopelessness you feel and your pain.”

  “You can feel my pain?”

  He nodded. “Get Kane out of here. If he breaks your hold and touches her she’ll relive hell.”

  A spark that hadn’t been with her the first time lit deep within her. The idea of someone else suffering because she wasn’t strong enough in the present time to separate herself from it all sickened her. Reaching out, Deryn touched Issac’s arm. “I won’t let you hurt, too.”

  “That’s the spirit. Now, focus on me and I’m going to have the colonel hold you down, okay?”

  “Why?”

  His brows drew in. “Because your body just lifted about four feet off the ground before slamming back into it with the force of train, Deryn. Not to mention you’ve got some vicious claw marks appearing on you. I don’t want you to get hurt here, too.” He glanced at something behind her. “Besides, I don’t think the colonel is going to give me a say in the matter. He wants to hold you, Deryn. I vote we let him. Answer something for me first.”

  She nodded.

  “The man you ran into when you were leaving the bar, do you know who he was?”

  Deryn’s eyelids fluttered and she felt her mind beginning to fog once more. “No.”

  “Are you sure? I think you do know. You just aren’t putting it all together, Deryn. He was just a Captain then but I think you know. Who did Kane say was coming to the bar? Think hard.”

  “His Ops team.” It sunk in and her eyes widened. “Green eyes. Alejandro?”

  Issac smiled. “Yes, Deryn, he was there that night. I felt you instantly trust him. I also felt his fierce need to protect you. He didn’t understand then what kind of danger you were in but his instincts told him to try to keep you with him just like they’re demanding he comfort you now. We don’t have enough people here to control Kane and the colonel. I really do not want to find one breathing fire down my neck while the other takes my head clean off. Help me out. Let’s let the colonel hold you.”

  Deryn was speechless. Thankfully, Issac wasn’t. He pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. “Colonel, when is the next time you met Deryn?”

  Issac continued to stare at something behind Deryn. “Then I think it’s safe for you to touch her. In theory, she’ll end up in the moment she next saw you. From there I can draw her out of it all. I can’t do that when she’s terrified.”

  Deryn wasn’t fast enough with her protest. The second she felt warm arms wrap around her she felt as though she were falling again. When her mind cleared again, she found herself standing in a dense jungle.

  “Where are we, Deryn?” Issac asked.

  “We’re here, in this realm, I think. I’m not entirely sure but the purple trees are a good indicator I’m right.”

  “But we met you Earth side early this morning. Why aren’t we there?” Issac stood next to her and looked around the jungle. “I thought it would work, Deryn.”

  “It did,” she whispered, taking Issac’s hand in hers. “This is the next time I saw Alejandro.”

  “But....”

  Shaking her head, Deryn sighed. “Before I came I dreamt of him here. Only Ondrea knows that. Well, now you do, too. I had to tell someone about what was going on so I told her.”

  “Wait, you’re telling me you’ve been dreaming about the colonel being here?” Issac arched a brow. “Why?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. Hell, I thought his name was Marido right up until I met him this morning.”

  The laugh that came from Issac took Deryn by surprise. She gave him a questioning look and he bit his lower lip. “Umm, sorry. I’m not going to get stuck watching you and the colonel have sex, am I? Aww, man. I was able to feel your pain. I refuse to feel what’s it like to be with the colonel. That’s just not right.”

  Ignoring Issac, Deryn turned and watched a scene she’d seen unfold in her dreams countless times. A large black jaguar appeared in the center of the brush. It moved slowly and was clearly injured. Without thought, she ran to its side. “Issac, make this stop, please. I can’t watch him die again. I can’t.”

  “What do you mean, watch him die?”

  “What you can’t see is that there is blood oozing from his chest,” she pointed at the black jaguar, “in a second, he’ll lie down and morph into a man--the colonel. Then something I can’t see will rush out from the tree lines and attack him. He’s too weak to fight back. It’s almost like he doesn’t even want to try to defend himself. Like he’s given up. The dream will change then and it will show him, lying there dead and alone. He’s always alone. I hate seeing him alone. Please. Take me back to the vampires. I’ll do that instead. I don’t want to see him like this.”

  “Shh, Deryn,” Issac touched her cheek, “if you’re here, then he’s not alone and he’s fine. He’s holding you right now.”

  She snorted. “He held me earlier. I was in pain and he held me and helped to ease it. Why can’t I ease his pain? Why can’t I ever help him? I can never stop it. In the
dreams he dies each and every time. Why can’t I stop it?”

  “How do you know you aren’t helping him?” Issac asked, his voice low. “We’re alone now, Deryn. Ondrea and Rodriquez took Kane away from here because he was too upset and would have touched you. Speak freely. I’ve shared your feelings long enough to know you fully understand that Kane’s behavior around the colonel isn’t just based out of a need to see you safe. He’s jealous. He sees the colonel as a viable threat for your attention. I also know you wouldn’t do or say anything in front of him to hurt his feelings. You can talk now.”

  “There is nothing to talk about.” It was a lie and she knew it. Problem was, so did Issac.

  He shook his head. “I feel what you feel right now, Deryn. I know these dreams bothered you, more than you admitted to Ondrea. Why didn’t you tell Kane about them?”

  “Every ounce of me is screaming to keep this to myself, Issac. Why do I feel compelled to tell you?”

  He snickered. “Side effect of a truth spell. So, why haven’t you told Kane about it?”

  “Because he would have worried himself sick about Alejandro and me.”

  “You?” he asked, watching as the jaguar lay down on its side, just as Deryn said it would.

  She went to it and dropped to her knees. “It’s okay, I’m here.” She stroked it gently. Putting her hand in the air, she willed a sheet to appear and it did, just as it always did in her dreams. She watched as the jaguar morphed into a man.

  Issac gasped. “Shit, Deryn, you weren’t kidding. It’s the colonel and it looks like something tried to rip his heart out of his chest.”

  Deryn covered Alejandro with the sheet, leaving his upper body uncovered. Running her hand through his hair, she leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Don’t give up. Please fight back. Get up. Please.”

  “Deryn,” Issac said, softly. “Alejandro isn’t dead or dying. In reality, he’s fine. This is your dream, remember?”

  She glared at him. “That doesn’t make it feel any less real to me! That doesn’t make it hurt any less. It was horrible to go through nightly when I didn’t know him. Now that I’ve met him and like him--I mean, really like him, I can’t go through it again. I can’t, Issac.” She touched her stomach lightly and tried to push the horrible events in the dream from her mind.