He raised his hands as if to imply he wanted no trouble.
But she had already dumped the whole thing on the ground and found what she wanted. Thank god Thayer hadn’t been interested.
The tomahawk glowed dimly in the last pink rays of sunlight. Its stone head was just the right shape to have notched the ring of seats that made up the original circle.
Bonnie fed her own anger into it. The sorrow she felt after reading the tale of the Lenni Lenape. Her sense of loss at being uprooted. Her loneliness. Her fear.
The glow brightened until the stone shone clear in the twilight.
Raising the axe over her head, Bonnie ran for the circle.
When she brought the tomahawk down the first time, the fog let it through, but Bonnie sensed the tension. Like gelatin beginning to form, she felt the steam coagulating, and lopped at it again.
The second time it pulled like taffy, and she had to wrench her arm back to retrieve the tomahawk.
The swirling arms no longer attacked the spirit animals. Instead they pulsed, turning toward Bonnie.
She was a librarian, not a fighter, and she wondered how many more times she could attack or how much damage she could withstand.
But then she thought of Tokala.
Maybe she had it wrong. Instead of fear and anger, she tried to channel the love she felt for her newfound mate into the blade.
Instantly, light intensified until it was almost too much to bear.
She let out a primal scream, and when she brought the tomahawk down for the third time, it connected like a steel hammer on a pane of glass.
An ugly squeal accompanied the dissolution of the thing.
But Bonnie only had eyes for the animals.
Collapsing to the ground, she dropped the tomahawk and watched as the doe regained its color. It swirled in place for a moment, meeting her eyes as if to thank her, then broke away and disappeared into the sky. The hawk followed it, then the bears.
A wave of peacefulness settled over Bonnie.
They were going home.
She did it.
The crow twirled once toward the heavens and seemed to think better of it. It wheeled swiftly in the air, and then rocketed straight into Cressida, nearly knocking the wolf off her feet. She shifted back into human form, and stared in wonder.
By the time Bonnie looked up again, the only spirit left was the fox.
His beautiful fiery fur swirled in the pull of the spirit world. His soulful eyes studied hers sadly.
Bonnie watched him, knowing this was the end. And it was for the best.
Instead of moving upward, he began to shrink.
Down he circled, down and down until he was so tiny, she could barely see him.
She blinked away her tears, and all that remained of him was the wooden fox totem.
No.
It wasn’t fair.
He had given everything to save his tribe. How could he spend another hundred and fifty years encased in wood?
Bonnie covered her eyes and wept like a child, long, hitching sobs wracking her body, trying to remember his song, so that she could sing it to the lonely little figure, so that she would never forget.
“Bonnie,” Cressida whispered harshly from across the circle.
Bonnie looked up at the sound of a groan, like a house settling.
The wooden figure expanded, pushing upward like a tree growing in a time-lapse film.
Up and up it came, fox features stretched out of proportion, until it stood as a man. Tall and lean and lightly muscled.
Tokala moved toward Bonnie, his colors filling in with every step. Warm copper skin, sad eyes the color of a midnight lake, shining black hair. He stood before her, real. Real as in her dream.
“My brave love,” he said to her, his eyes sparkling.
Bonnie launched herself at him. If he wasn’t real, she needed to know right away.
He caught her up in his warm arms and swung her around in a circle, laughing.
Then he placed her down, carefully, so carefully.
She lost herself in the promise of his eyes.
Somewhere, Grace was asking if everyone was okay.
“I know what we need to do now,” Cressida said in a tone that sent shivers down her spine.
Bonnie put them out of her head.
Tokala bent to kiss her.
Chapter Sixteen
Before Tokala’s lips could brush Bonnie’s, Mac cleared his throat loudly.
Bonnie whirled on him with an involuntary growl, for the second time in twenty-four hours.
Mac looked amused this time.
“I just wanted to offer you two a ride home,” he said, looking up in a tree, and mercifully away from Bonnie’s burning cheeks.
“Um, sure, is that okay with you?” she asked Tokala.
“I am in favor of the plan that gets me into your bed fastest,” he said, nodding down at her.
Bonnie blushed even more deeply than before, and Mac cleared his throat again.
“Where is your horse?” Tokala asked.
“Oh wow,” Mac began. “A lot of things have changed…”
“You know what, we’ll walk,” Bonnie announced, grabbing Tokala by the arm and yanking him toward the stone steps.
“Wait,” Mac said, removing his coat and offering it to Tokala.
Tokala nodded his thanks and shrugged it on. It just barely covered the best of his assets.
Bonnie tugged at his arm again.
He rumbled a deep laugh, and followed her.
Chapter Seventeen
Bonnie opened the door to her apartment and they stepped inside.
The place felt immediately smaller with Tokala there. His huge frame nearly touched the sloping ceiling.
He looked unconcerned with his surroundings though. Bonnie wondered absently whether the cozy space reminded him of the wigwams where he would have spent his life… before.
“Would you like something to eat—” she began.
“I want my mate,” he said firmly, removing Mac’s coat and letting it fall on the floor.
Something in the timbre of his voice made her insides quiver.
“But doesn’t all this, fill you with questions?” she asked, gesturing to the apartment and the world around them.
“No,” he told her. “The world changes. Even when I was a boy. I’ll learn about it tomorrow, or a moon from now. It’s all the same to me. We have all the time in the world for questions. My only urgency is you.”
The room faded away at the edges, and for Bonnie there was only Tokala.
He stood strong before her, studying her with his beautiful dark eyes. Waiting for her to come to him.
His chiseled physique should have been intimidating, but Bonnie had felt protected in those impossibly strong arms. Just as she’d felt known and cherished in his sparkling eyes, though he hadn’t even asked her name.
Bonnie had been alone for so long, telling herself she wanted a mate, but secretly enjoying her solitude, just a little.
As she stepped forward, she said a silent good-bye to the solitary life she had built for herself. She would never be alone again.
And if she thought she was the new kid in town, it was the tip of the iceberg compared to what Tokala would experience.
They were going to have so much fun together.
He smiled down at her and she reached up to cup his face in her hands.
He slid his arms around her waist and lifted her until her eyes were level with his.
“You saved me, little wolf,” he told her.
She smiled.
“You will not have to do it again,” he told her darkly.
“I like adventures,” Bonnie heard herself protest.
“I can see that,” he replied, one brow raised.
Everything about this just felt so right.
Which was a good thing, because he was letting her slide back down his body now, so slowly.
She felt the hard planes of his chest under her hands an
d the steady beat of his heart. The throbbing heat sliding against her thighs, and then her belly, was both familiar and new. Her whole body ached for him.
When her feet touched the ground, he grabbed a blanket from the sofa, and laid her gently on the rug before the cold fireplace, with the blanket under her head.
“Tentay,” he said carelessly over his shoulder.
A fire began to crackle in the grate, filling the room with a warm glow and the delicious scent of burning wood.
“Oh,” Bonnie breathed.
But then he was slipping her dress over her head, the feel of the cool air on her skin, and the anticipation making her forget all about the fire.
She closed her eyes.
Tokala’s hands were hot against her skin. He struggled with the cups of her bra, before plucking the whole thing off in two pieces.
She looked down at him as he bent his head to taste her breasts.
Her head fell back against the blanket again at the first touch of his tongue. The sensation was so strong it was almost painful. He lapped and tugged at one nipple and then the other, his big hand pressing against her belly, as if to quell the yawning ache there.
Her hips began to rise to him, and he trailed hot kisses down her belly.
Bonnie bit down on her lip to keep from whimpering, as he ripped her panties off.
Then she felt his face between her legs, nuzzling, scenting her.
“Beautiful little wolf,” he praised her, his voice low with desire.
Bonnie could only moan in answer.
When his tongue touched her opening, she lost track of her own sounds.
He ravished her slowly, his tongue stoking and coaxing, when Bonnie was already burning.
She raised her hips to him, helplessly.
Tokala groaned, the vibration adding to Bonnie’s suffering.
He lifted his tongue to explore and gently manipulate her clitoris.
Bonnie cried out again as he fixed his lips against it, licking and sucking madly.
Her whole body was on fire, clenching on emptiness. She felt that she might actually combust if he didn’t fill her.
“Please,” she whispered, “please, please, please,” as if it were the only word she could remember.
She nearly cried with relief when she felt him crawling up to her.
There was no mischief in his eyes now, only hot desire.
“Be ready, love,” he told her.
But she was ready. She bucked her hips against him frantically.
At last she felt him, rigid and throbbing against her swollen opening.
He pressed himself into her so slowly. Bonnie’s body stretched and smarted.
When he was fully seated, she felt her body latch down on him fiercely.
His eyes closed in helpless ecstasy.
He opened them again and gazed at her.
She saw a swirling sky of loved ones. Heard the song of the watchman in her own voice. Looked down into the sparkling brown eyes of a sweet papoose with a tuft of russet hair.
Did that mean?
He watched her, waiting.
She smiled happily, pulling him closer, wrapping her hands in the silk of his beautiful hair.
When he began to move inside her at last, Bonnie saw stars with her pleasure.
“Oh, love,” he whispered, his voice rough.
Their pleasure was an ocean, a galaxy.
He slid a hand between them and brought her to the stars.
Bonnie felt herself lift nearly out of her body. Pennsylvania, Tarker’s Hollow, Copper Creek, the past, the present, the future faded into one small thing below, before she crashed down into her own home, onto the rug before her own little fire, trembling and moaning brokenly in the arms of the man who loved her.
As Tokala shouted his own climax, Bonnie saw what he saw.
The world - so beautiful, always changing, always the same. Singing the song of man and woman, woman and child.
She would not be alone for Christmas this year after all.
The End
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Ainsley Connor is determined to turn her back on her shifter past.
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Shifter Beneath the Mistletoe…By Charlene Hartnady
Her hands grip the steering wheel and her foot slams down on the brake. Everything around her seems to slow. All except for her heart, which just about beats out of her chest. Adrenaline surges as the wheels lock on her car. There is a god-awful screeching noise as the tires skid across the asphalt. It’s too little too late and her vehicle collides with the large, furry beast with a hard thud. Metal twists and bones snap like twigs.
The creature is flung from her vehicle, landing in a mangled, bleeding heap. One of its legs kicks out uselessly. Jackie can’t believe it’s even still alive. Despite the danger, her years of veterinary training kick in and she gets to work to try and save its life. She should never have taken her eyes off of the road, not even for a second.
Tyler is on his way to Sweetwater. It’s Christmas Eve and the night of the Christmas Festival. More importantly, it’s his turn to find a mate. First, he’s got to lose his babysitters. The last thing he needs is his pack mates staring over his shoulder while he tries to win the female of his dreams. That is, if he can even find her.
So focused on escape, he doesn’t see the vehicle approaching until it’s too late. As he lies on the side of the road, broken and bleeding, he can’t help but think that it’s such bad luck. Can’t help but to feel seriously sorry for himself. That is, until he catches a noseful of her scent and feels her soft little hands on him, then he thinks that maybe it’s fate…
Shifter Beneath the Mistletoe
(A Christmas Novella)
Charlene Hartnady
Chapter One
The gathering storm clouds looked ominous. Dark and angry. Maybe it would be a white Christmas after all. Jackie sighed.
“Deck the halls with boughs of holly…” She changed the radio station. “Jingle bells…Jingle Bells…” She changed it again. The next station was no better. A duet, something about love and eggnog and Christmas cheer. Jackie turned the radio off with an even heavier sigh.
It wasn’t that she was a scrooge or anything. It was just that this was the first year that she would be staying in Sweetwater for Christmas. Her family was only a five hour drive away. However, she had to work today! Who the hell worked on Christmas Eve? To make matters worse, she was also on stand-by for the entire holiday.
She had been invited to Christmas lunch by her best friend, Angie, but she felt like she would only be a third wheel if she intruded on their day together. She didn’t really belong. Angie and her hubby were great people. Their two kids were adorable. If she was really honest with herself, she was maybe a little bit jealous of them and what they had together. Going would remind her too much of everything she was missing in her own life. She had two fai
led relationships behind her and no real prospects for the future. At this rate, she might just end up as a spinster complete with twenty cats. So far she had two, so eighteen more to go and her road to spinsterhood would be paved.
Though on the other hand, there were a ton of things that she still had going for her. Jackie loved her job. She really did. There was nothing better than making a difference. Saving a life or sometimes having to end one. Always doing what was in the best interest of the animal in question, no matter how difficult. Her patients were way better than any human ever could be. They were so loving, so trusting. It was all that innocence and unconditional love that made her feel happy and needed. There was nothing better than receiving a wet kiss or running her hands through soft fur. It lifted her spirits like nothing else could.
Screw it.
So what if she was alone this Christmas. Jackie glanced down, she switched her radio back on just as the soppy duet reached its climax.
She lifted her eyes just in time to see a large object in her direct path. It was hairy and moving quickly. Jackie slammed on the brakes. Her tires locked. There was a skidding, screeching noise. The vehicle veered slightly to the right. She grit her teeth, wanting to close her eyes, but couldn’t. She was unable to take them off of the still moving object. An animal of sorts.
Dammit!
For a second there, she thought that the creature would make it, and then came the impact. There was a loud thud. A sickening noise as metal hit flesh. The creature catapulted, flying through the air in an almost graceful manner before landing hard in a heap of mangled, broken limbs.
Her heart was beating wildly in her chest, her hands were white knuckled on the wheel. She was panting. The whole thing had only lasted mere seconds and yet she could feel that she was sweating. Her foot hurt from the pressure she had exerted on the brake pedal. There was a ringing noise in her ears.
“Oh god!” She whimpered, covering her mouth with her hand.
From the size of the heap of fur, it had to be a bear of some sort. The creature shivered and one of its legs kicked out uselessly before stilling.
Shifter Wonderland: Twelve BBW Paranormal Holiday Shape Shifter Romances Page 18