Aris: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Stratham Dragons Book 1)

by Sarah J. Stone

  He rushed out and Kevin looked thoughtful. It might work. It just might.

  Luke Claw frowned at the papers in front of him. A political alliance with the wolves? He wasn’t letting those cunning creatures anywhere near his territory. And besides, given what he had read the formal declaration, the wolves would try to infringe on his lands. The numbers from his pack had already dwindled due to the last attack. They needed to feel safe before they let other shifters near them.

  “Kayla!”

  There was no response. He growled and rubbed his temples, and then shouted in a deafening roar, “KAYLA!”

  The teenager who had needled him and begged him to let her work as his assistant walked in annoyed. “I was on the phone, Luke.”

  She ignored his scowl and sat down in the chair across from him. “What?” she said

  Luke tossed the papers towards her. “Write a letter, declining their offer.”

  His assistant picked up the papers and scanned them. Her eyes widened as she looked at him. “Are you sure? Wouldn’t they be an asset to us?”

  “You want more bloodshed at our door?” His dark words made her pale, and she quickly shook her head, taking the papers as she left.

  Luke sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. Shit. Her parents had been killed in the panther’s attack. He shouldn’t have said that.

  Kevin marched in twenty minutes later, frowning. “What did you say to Kayla? The kid looks like she’s been crying.”

  “What do you want?” Great. I made her cry again, Luke thought to himself. He ran a hand through his shaggy brown hair, feeling guilty. “I’ll talk to Kayla. Why are you here?”

  “You need to get out.” When Luke bared his teeth at him, Kevin raised a hand. “Just hear me out.” He leaned forward, saying, “You go out, see if some woman catches your eye. You haven’t let anyone near you, Luke. You need this. This will even make the elders back off.”

  When Luke gave a considering look, Kevin jumped at the chance. “You’re sniping at everyone here. Even Kayla. Go out tonight. Everyone is on edge and you know it.”

  “The Pack needs–”

  “I will be here, and so will Sheila and Ronnie. I’ve called them back.”

  Luke’s golden eyes glinted. He may be an asshole, but he always put the needs of the pack first. “I’ll go. If it gets the elders off my back, I’ll get out.”

  He made a face when his first lieutenant looked elated. “Don’t look so thrilled. This might come to nothing,” he warned. “Now get out. I have work to do.”

  Kevin practically skipped out, making Luke call him a particularly nasty word. However, his friend just showed him the finger and left, grinning gleefully.

  When he scented another visitor a few minutes later, Luke was about to scowl until he saw who it was. His four-year-old intruder was pretending to be a hunter. The little bear cub sniffed at the doorway and looked up at Luke who pretended to be busy in his work. The alpha of the Shadow Claw pack could smell the glee of the child as he quickly darted under the desk. He winced when he heard the boy stumble and hit himself, but when there was no cry of pain, he carried on with the little game.

  Two seconds later, he felt something grab onto his leg. He jumped in surprise. Leaning down, he picked up the little bear cub by the scruff of his neck and brought him close to his face. The cub showed him his teeth, licked his nose affectionately, and shifted in a shimmer of light.

  A tiny naked boy grinned at him and said, “I caught you!”

  “When did you get here?” Luke frowned. “I didn’t even hear you.”

  Keenan wrapped his arms around his alpha’s neck, “I’m going to be a Hunter one day.” Then he pulled back and said, “Why is Kayla sad?”

  Luke put the boy on his desk and walked over to a small chest that stood in the corner of his office and contained clothes of all sizes. Pulling out a small pair of jeans, he helped Keenan put them on. “I was mean to her,” he said.

  Keenan patted Luke’s cheeks and smiled innocently. “You should say sorry. Mama said that when you do something bad, you should say sorry.”

  “Then shouldn’t you go say sorry to the pack nanny? She’ll be worried sick.” Luke ruffled the boy’s head.

  At Keenan’s guilty look, his alpha put him on his shoulders and carried him out of the room. His gaze fell on his subdued assistant. She refused to meet his eyes, and he sighed inwardly. Putting the boy down, he ushered him out of the room. “I have to say sorry to Kayla,” He whispered to Keenan who grinned and ran off.

  He made his way towards the girl and leaned his hip against her desk. She refused to acknowledge his presence.

  Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “You okay?” he asked.

  “No.” Came the mumble as she typed on the laptop.

  “Would you accept an apology?”

  “No.”

  Why are teenagers so hard to deal with? He had never been this difficult. But then again, he had been isolated from his pack and had wandered the woods in a black rage.

  Sighing again, he dragged Kayla into a hug. She stiffened at first and then relaxed. When he felt his shirt become wet, he felt really bad. “Come on, kid. I wasn’t thinking.” He ran his hand over her hair in a comforting manner, and after a while, her tears stopped and she sniffled.

  “You haven’t hugged me in a while.”

  “I know.” Releasing her, he flicked her nose, making her howl and cover it with her hands as she glared at him. He smirked at her and said, “That was for making me feel guilty.”

  He evaded her kick, “Come on. Don’t you have a class at three? I’ll drop you off.”

  Kayla grabbed her bag and closed her laptop, rushing after him. “You’re going out?”

  “I have been forced to,” he muttered darkly. “This is blackmail.”

  Kayla grinned, “Where are you going?” She wiggled her way under his arm and he let her. He was the alpha and that didn’t just mean forcing his pack to obey him, but also giving them the comfort and affection they needed. After last year’s attack, they had lost half their numbers and had been forced to bring in other bear shifters who wanted to leave their packs. He glanced down at the young girl who was chattering away and felt relieved that she had started smiling again. Her parents had both been sentinels and had not survived the attack.

  “Well?”

  Luke glanced down at her. “Well what?”

  “Is it true?”

  He raised his brow. “I wasn’t listening. Is what true?”

  Kayla tugged painfully at the arm around her neck. “Hey!”

  “Don’t ignore me!” She scowled at him. “I asked you if you were going to mate with Fiona?”

  “W-What?” Luke looked absolutely horrified. “Where did you hear that?”

  The girl looked smug. “I knew it was a lie,” she said as she made a face. “I don’t like the new packmates. They’re very mean.”

  Luke gave her a sharp look and asked, “Are they bothering you?”

  Kayla shrugged. “They don’t feel like family, and they’re always looking down on us. I don’t like it.”

  Luke ruffled her hair with his free hand, making her shriek. “I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. Come on. Go grab your stuff.”

  He watched Kayla run to her room, and he wandered over to the fridge in their large common room to look for something to eat. Taking out a bottle of juice, he was about to gulp it down when his eyes fell on one of the elders sitting in a corner, reading. Crap, he thought to himself. If she saw him drinking straight from the bottle, he wouldn’t hear the end of it.

  Scowling, he fetched a glass and poured some juice in it. He could swear he saw her smirk but she seemed very focused on what she was doing. The elders were usually the maternal females. All the children in the pack would go to them, and they were very protective. The last alpha had nearly destroyed the pack, ruling them with an iron fist. It was when Luke had killed him and taken his place that he had implemented the Pack Laws. He washed the gl
ass. He had a very strong feeling that the elders liked to bully him until he snarled at them. He remembered his experience as a child. The alpha at the time was named Dorran.

  Luke had admired Dorran beyond anything. He remembered that time as the most prosperous time in the pack’s history. However, Dorran’s right-hand man, Malcolm, had sold out the pack, slain his alpha, and took his mantle. Nobody had been safe. Luke’s father had been a lieutenant in the pack, and when he had refused to accept Malcolm, the latter handed the entire family over to the panthers. Luke still remembered that day. Malcolm had made the entire pack watch, especially the elders and the pups as the panthers dragged the family away.

  Luke was fifteen. His parents were tortured and killed. He fought back so that he could escape and save himself. He returned to the pack five years later, wild and vicious, to take on Malcom. After the ensuing blood bath, he became the leader of the pack.

  He glanced back at Abigail. She had been there when he had returned. She was the only one from his broken pack who had stood up to him. He scowled. She was such a frail woman. He shouldn’t fear her.

  “What are you scowling at, boy?”

  He nearly jumped.

  Abigail was peering at him.

  “Nothing” He muttered, sticking his hands in his pockets.

  “So you’re going out tonight?”

  It annoyed him that it sounded more of an order than a question. “You hags are not really giving me much of a choice.”

  When she tossed the knife at him, he snarled. Her love affair with knives was still going strong. She had been a lieutenant during Dorran’s time.

  “Show some respect, Luke.”

  He ducked his head and escaped.

  Seeing Kayla, he grabbed her by the arm and marched her towards the garage. On their way, they passed some of the new packmates. It was mostly women who had joined. He didn’t quite like the way they looked at him, like he was a piece of meat for them to sink their teeth into.

  He saw the way they looked at the girl by his side, and he pulled her into him, protectively, snarling at them. Smelling their fear satisfied him. As he and Kayla sat in the car and he barked at her to put on her seatbelt, they drove in silence to Kayla’s university.

  They lived deep in the woods. After Malcolm had joined forces with the panthers and given away their location, the first thing that Luke had done was to relocate the entire pack into a deeper, safer location. Nobody had protested, having been forced into constant submission by Malcolm. The entire hierarchy of the pack had been destroyed.

  It had taken Luke ten years to rebuild the pack and gain their trust. However, the tragedy in his own life had left him unable to connect to anyone. He had taken on a grieving Kayla and Keenan. He couldn’t be a parent to them, but he could be a protector, and they needed the safety.

  “How’s your boyfriend doing?”

  The teenage girl’s eyes widened, “What? Who? Oh, shut up, Luke! Jack is my friend.”

  “Sure, he is. Then do you mind if I eat him?”

  She punched him in the arm, glaring at him, “Don’t you dare!”

  “I don’t know, kid. He looks pretty tasty to me.”

  Luke was sure she was about to scream when, instead, she pondered over something and gave him a smug look. “We can’t eat humans. The Pack Law says so.”

  “I’ll make an exception.”

  “I’ll tell the elders.”

  The smirk fell from his face and he scowled. “You’re such a snitch.”

  He stopped the car as they reached the entrance, and as she got out, he told her, “If any of the new females say anything to you, anything at all, you come to me, okay?”

  That was his alpha voice and Kayla nodded.

  As he drove back, he scowled. He had a feeling these new females would be trouble.

  CHAPTER 2

  The bar was loud as Luke walked in alone. Kevin had offered to come with him, but Luke had declined. As he wandered in, he noticed the scantily-dressed women and although they were attractive, he didn’t find them all too appealing. Bear shifters had a very high and aggressive sex drive that most humans could not handle, so they mostly stayed away.

  Aside from going to human universities and making use of their facilities, Luke made sure that the pack kept a healthy distance from them. However, these teenagers always went for the forbidden fruit. He was forced to keep an eye on Kayla’s new ‘friend.’ The girl was not stupid, but like a typical female, she enjoyed the attention showered on her by a human male who treated them like delicate pieces of china.

  Luke snorted. Females, he thought.

  He ordered a drink and when the waitress winked at him, he forced a smile which must have looked horrific, seeing how she moved away quickly.

  Hands on his drink, he looked around. The elders were so insistent he either find a mate or just ‘let loose’ that it was starting to piss him off. Couldn’t they see that he was too busy trying to pull the pack back together after last year? He didn’t have time for women. One of the nosy ones, Heather, had demanded to know whether he was gay.

  That had been the most humiliating experience ever.

  As he threw the gin and tonic down his throat, a soft scent assailed him. Slamming the glass down on the table, he looked around quickly. The scent was fading. He didn’t see anyone new. However, he kept his eyes open. The amount of perfume these humans insisted on wearing was making him gag.

  He made his way towards the bar where a lone woman was sitting and sat down a few seats away from her. Ordering a beer, he looked at her. Her eyes were brown, as was her hair. She wore very simple clothes which confused him. A loose, beige blouse which hid anything and everything, paired with black pants that were far from form fitting, it felt like she was making an actual effort to be inconspicuous.

  Then, someone opened the door and with the direction of the wind changing, her scent hit him like a brick wall. It was soft and spicy, making his mouth water. She must have seen him gape at her because she gave him a dirty look.

  He chugged down the beer and ordered another one. Maybe I should talk to her, he thought to himself. This human had a unique scent. As he picked up his drink and took a seat closer to hers, he realized that although she didn’t have the scent of a supernatural being, she didn’t smell completely human. He frowned. Was she human?

  The woman ignored him, pointedly.

  “Nice dress.”

  Luke winced inside. He had zero skills when it came to flirting.

  His lack of confidence was proven true when the woman gave him a dirty look and sarcastically asked, “Really?”

  He tried again. “Are you from around here?”

  He could see the bartender trying his best not to laugh, and that just put him in a bad mood.

  Before the woman could retort with a stormy look on her face, two girls that he was sure were underage sidled up to him.

  “Hey! Can we buy you a drink?” they asked.

  Lucas frowned. They were both drunk and smelled like they had been doused in a tub of perfume. When they grabbed onto his arms, he shook them off.

  “No thank you,” he responded.

  The one with the short, pink dress which barely covered her boobs pressed them against his arms and gave him a coy look looked at him. “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “As sure as I’ll ever be,” he said, pulling away from her.

  He heard the woman he had been trying to flirt with unsuccessfully snicker. He scowled at her, but she looked amused. The other girl pouted. “Don’t be like that,” she said

  “Look, kids,” he said, ignoring the insulted huff from one of them, “it’s past your bedtime, so get lost. Are they even old enough to be drinking?” he demanded from the bartender who eyed the two girls, no longer grinning.

  As the bartender asked them to show their IDs, Luke saw that the seat beside him was empty. The woman was gone.

  He scowled and ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He sipped at his beer. Her scent
had been so addicting.

  Brooding, he looked at the vacated spot and then noticed that her half-finished drink had not been removed. He saw her pale hand first and then watched her return to her seat, wearing a dark scowl. She threw back her unfinished drink in a single sip.

  She didn’t pay any attention to him, and he might have been offended had he not found himself extremely distracted by her. She gave the impression that she did not want to stand out in the room and went the extra mile to do so. He sniffed inconspicuously, and raised a brow when he smelled her hair dye. It was one of very bad quality. He recognized this brand as one he had banned amongst the teenage pups.

  Some of the teenage girls had decided to opt for a different hair color each day. They had been very eye catching but had caused the entire den to be vacated because of the terrible smell. He had personally destroyed each hair dye box left in the vicinity.

  He studied her hair. If she was a shifter, then she wouldn’t have been able to stand the smell. Luke frowned. Her hair seemed ordinary – black. Why had she dyed it? Maybe she was one of those females who liked to change hair color on a frequent basis.

  “What’s your name?”

  She seemed quite drunk when she turned to look at him, and Luke hid his amusement. “Why should I tell you?”

  Luke shrugged, “So that I know who I’m talking to?”

  “Good thing we’re not talking then.”

  For a woman who had just tossed down quite a few shots of tequila, she certainly wasn’t out of her senses. But Luke had seen stranger things, so he just watched her.

  The bartender seemed comfortable to her, so Luke assumed that she must be a regular client. As he ordered a coke, he asked the man, “With the number of drinks she has had, isn’t she drunk yet?”

  The bartender shook his head. “I have never seen a person more able to hold her liquor than Cassie. She has come by once a week for the past three months.” He started cleaning a glass with a rag, “Same day, same time. She’ll probably have a beer now and leave.”

  But she didn’t.

  She had more than one beer, and an hour later, she was quite well and truly drunk and even the bartender was eyeing her worriedly.