The Shifter’s Secret Baby (Shades of Shifters Book 3)

by T. S. Ryder

  "We'll manage," Mary promised. "It's not the life I wanted, but I've basically been raising them already."

  "And it overwhelmed you so much that you ran away," Andre whispered. "Do you really want to take on this much responsibility again?"

  "I have you now. And you're great with them." Mary propped herself onto her elbow and kissed him deeply. "I just don't want too much to be put on Amy and Julia, you know? I want them to have time to continue their studies, especially since Peter's decided to go to university."

  "And what about you? I know that you want to finish high school. Can you really do that when we're taking care of six little children?" Andre's expression was worried. "And then farm work is never done—"

  "We'll make it work," Mary said forcefully. "There's free daycare in town if we need it."

  Andre nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, we're going to make this work. I'm just worried about you is all."

  "I'll tell you if it gets to be too much," she promised. She paused a moment, the feeling of his heat against her body stirring up the desire that her pregnancy had made somehow more powerful. A sly grin crossed her face. "You're sure they're asleep?"

  Andre caught her meeting and nodded. "Let me lock the door so they don't walk in on us."

  Mary giggled, slipping her underwear off and propping a pillow under her lower back while Andre rushed to the door. They hadn't had much time for lovemaking since they moved to their new farm. Mary's Wolf barked playfully, and as Andre returned, she felt his Bear reply in like.

  It didn't take long for their souls to merge. As Mary gazed up at her soulmate, grasping at his body while his hands roamed hers, she knew–this was all she wanted.

  Life, for now, was perfect.

  Chapter Fourty Five

  The full moon hung low in the sky. The green leaves of the poplar trees glowed silver and a light breeze blew the scent of the forest to the farmhouse. The sky was cloudless and the stars were almost as bright as the moon.

  Andre wiggled his fingers, growling playfully as he chased the children around a red wagon. They all shrieked with laughter though Lydia had recently decided she was too old to be caught up in such “baby” games. She bounced on her toes, clearly torn between her newfound maturity and her desire to join in. Andre caught little James and tossed him in the air, eliciting cries of “me too” and “again”.

  The door to the house opened and Mary danced out. Her sparkling green eyes twinkled as she lightly clapped her hands, calling attention to herself. James ignored her, tugging at Andre's hair and demanding to be thrown into the air again.

  "It's time to get going," she called, and instantly James was kicking to be set down. Andre laughed.

  Lydia ran to Mary and whispered in her ear. Mary smiled and nodded, and the girl disappeared into the house. The rest of them scattered to the bushes, where they would quickly strip down and embrace their Wolves.

  Andre stepped over to Mary, panting. "Wolves!"

  "They've worn you out already, have they?" She laughed.

  Andre shrugged with an embarrassed smile. "They're always hyper on the night of the full moon."

  "Well, we only have half an hour to midnight and Neal won't embrace his Bear." Mary shook her head. "I'll get the rest of the children in the wagon if you'll go help him."

  Andre nodded, pressing a kiss to Mary's temple as he passed her. He took the stairs to the nursery two steps at a time, anxious to get his little son to embrace his Bear before midnight and the involuntary shift to Wolf happened. He was a rarity, Neal, having a soul that was both Wolf and Bear. But he was a happy, healthy little fellow, with Andre's black eyes, Mary's black hair, and a laugh that was twice his size.

  Neal sat in his room, having made a blanket nest on the floor. Unlike the rest of their brood, his energy spike didn't happen until after the full moon, and it lasted for a good three days before he got back to his calm self.

  Andre crept over to his son and knelt beside him. Neal smiled sleepily at his father and Andre smiled back.

  The pain of Isadore and Eve's death had not gone away, but in the eighteen months since Neal was born, Andre had felt it shift. When he thought of them, images of their dead bodies no longer haunted him. Instead, he remembered the good times and the happiness they shared together. He was as happy now with his odd little family as he had been then.

  "We have to go out to the run, bud," Andre said, easing Neal into his arms. "Can't you be with your Bear? You know it hurts if you don't have it when it's midnight."

  "Not tonight," Neal said, his babyish lisp muddled further by how sleepy he was. "Tomorrow."

  Andre laughed and kissed his son's head. "What if Daddy embraced his Bear, too? Come on, you know you love running with your brothers and sisters."

  He tickled Neal's feet and peals of laughter rang through the home. Andre heard the impatient little yips and playful growls from outside that told him that the rest of the family was waiting on them.

  "Help me?" Neal tugged at his sleepers.

  Andre undressed Neal, and with a little encouragement, the toddler wrinkled his nose and embraced his Bear. He was still in the spindly-legged stage, not quite used to walking and Andre carried him down to the yard.

  Mary waited at the door and took Neal, kissing his fuzzy face while she took him to the wagon where the rest of their children waited with their Wolves, tails wagging, climbing all over each other. Andre paused, soaking in the sight of the love of his life settling their little Bear-Wolf son among their adopted Wolf children.

  Peace and contentment filled his heart. He had a family once again.

  Mary trotted next to Andre as he pulled the wagon. The children jostled each other, but the occasional stern woof from her kept them in order.

  The moon's call filled her blood, and she couldn’t stop herself from dancing around the wagon, nipping at Andre's heels from time to time. He gave her an indulgent glare and she wagged her tail, spanking the ground.

  Soon they were at their destination with its wide fields, frosty with the first freeze of the year. The others were already there causing the children bounded off to greet their brothers and sisters, as though they didn't see them every single day.

  Mary hid behind Andre, repressing her Wolf so she could unhitch him from the wagon. The night air made goosebumps rise on her arms, but soon she was safely wrapped in fur once more.

  Neal tumbled out of the wagon and Mary hurried to him, licking his fur to make sure he was okay. He stood on his back legs and wrapped his front legs around her neck, biting at her ear and making a purring noise.

  Peter, Amy and their little girl jogged over to join them, rubbing heads and wagging their tails as greetings. Nearby Julia chased a young man, a human from town she had confided to Mary was her soulmate. His eyes were bright and his cheeks flushed as he dodged her attempts to tackle him. A little further, Conrad Milton and David Monroe roughhoused.

  The children dashed back to Mary and Andre, growling and biting at Andre's thick fur.

  Mary's blood sang, as her gaze was drawn to the moon. It seemed closer than ever before and she could see every crater in its pearly surface.

  There was a long moment of silence as all Wolves turned their faces to the call of the moon. Luna sang to them, and as one, they threw back their heads and sang too. The humans who had joined them cupped their mouths and howled, as the few Bears attending stood on their back legs and roared their solidarity. Neal's thin, puppy howl joined the song, and Mary glanced down to see he had transitioned smoothly from Bear to Wolf.

  The children gathered around Andre and Mary. Tongues lolled out and tails wagged. They watched eagerly. Wolf and Bear shared a glance and as one, they started forward, running together at a speed even Neal could keep up with.

  Mary let the air rush around her. She was aware of each of the children and every other Wolf, Bear, and human in the field. They all ran under the moon, connected by her silvery light.

  And she thanked Luna that this life was hers.

/>   *****

  THE END

  The Bear Detective's Mate

  Description

  A personal assistant who comes under attack PLUS a hot Bear detective assigned to protect her PLUS a conspiracy they have to uncover!

  Curvy Ana Medina is sick of unlucky romances and focuses on her job - being the PA to a Senator fighting for Shifter Rights. But they have enemies and when there’s an assassination attack on the Senator and herself, she is put in protective custody.

  Detective Joseph Baker has found his mate. At least, that’s what his Bear tells him. Joseph doesn’t want a mate, but no matter how he tells his Bear to shut up, he can’t help himself when he’s around her. He’s supposed to protect her, but her luscious curves, delicious scent and mocha-kissed skin call out to him.

  Police rules forbid intimacy between the two, which proves to be a challenge. All Ana can think about is the muscles that ripple all over him, his dress shirt that stretches over his perfect pecs and those buttons strained to keep it closed. Too bad he’s proving himself to be a class-A jerk.

  Joseph tries to protect her any way he can but the attackers will stop at nothing and Ana and Joseph have to work together to uncover a conspiracy, even if that means that Joseph has to pretend to be her boyfriend.

  Can they resist the undeniable attraction to each other? Will they stay alive under the string of attacks? And can they find out who the enemy is?

  Chapter One

  Ana Medina turned off the video camera. Her boss, Senator Seth Fischer, was practicing the speech he would make before parliament the next day and had elected to record it so he could hear for himself how it sounded.

  Everything needed to be perfect if he was going to convince the other senators that the proposed Shifter Registry was unconstitutional and posed a risk to shifter lives. It could neither be too harsh nor too mellow; he could not attack his opponents or even appear to be doing that or they'd argue his arguments were against a straw man and not the real issues; he had to deliver it passionately, but not emotionally.

  It was a headache, but Ana was more than happy to help him perfect his delivery. After all, the Shifter Registry Act was just one step away from a Shifter Detainment Act and she wasn't going to just sit around and watch American citizens have their hard-earned rights stripped from them. Ana wasn't a shifter herself, but that made little difference to her. People were people.

  "Let's see the playback," Seth said. He sat in his chair, loosening his tie. "Politics are going to be the death of me."

  "You're making the world a better place," Ana replied comfortingly. "Little shifters all over the country are watching you on television, thinking that they can be anything they want to be, because you are standing up to the voices that would tramp them down."

  "Thank you, Ana. It means a lot, especially these days." He smiled at her.

  But before she could return the smile the window shattered. Glass sprayed every which way. A flower of blood bloomed on Seth's shoulder.

  Ana acted on instinct, throwing herself over the senator's desk to tackle him to the ground. Bullets ripped holes in the wall where his head had been and Ana spread her body out over her boss, trying to shield as much of him as possible. He tried to shift her off him, but she held tightly. A PA was replaceable. A senator with Seth's popularity was not.

  The door burst open and two security guards rushed in. Both zeroed in on the window, standing on either side with their guns drawn, but the bullets had stopped. Not that their handguns could do much against a sniper rifle. One of them drew the blinds, blocking the room from the shooter.

  It was only then, after the immediate danger was over, that Ana actually realized what had happened. It wasn't some random shooting, it had been as assassination attempt. Her limbs began shaking and her throat went utterly dry.

  Somebody had just tried to kill the senator. She had no doubt that they would have had no problems killing her, too, if she happened to be in their way.

  "Are you okay?" Seth gripped his arm but peered up at Ana with worried eyes.

  "I'm fine."

  She realized she was still laying over him and pulled herself up. If she and Seth didn't have the brother-sister relationship that they did, that could have been very awkward.

  "You were hit," Ana said. "We need to get you out of here and bandage that up. I'm going to call 9-1-1."

  She fished her cell phone from her pocket and reported what had happened, still crouched behind the desk with her boss, peeking warily at the window. But with the blinds drawn and the two guards in the room, it seemed like the attack was over.

  Seth winced as he clutched his injury. He attempted to stand and Ana had to loop her arm around his waist to support him. She might be in shock, but from the pallor of his face and the fact that he had been shot, Seth was clearly off worse. He wasn't letting that stop him, though.

  "Ward, call up the captain of the seventh precinct. He's an old friend of mine and I want his team handling this."

  One of the guards nodded and whipped out his phone. Ana helped Seth to another room, this one without windows. The guards cleared everybody out of the surrounding rooms, just in case. Ana helped Seth lay on the floor and went to her desk of get her first aid kit.

  Until the buildings around them were cleared and it was determined that there were no more snipers in the area, Seth wouldn't be leaving the building. She had to get the bleeding under control.

  Snipers.

  Ana choked back bile. Just our luck that there would be an assassination attempt now when shifter tensions are running so high...

  "Do you think this is going to help my case?" Seth asked as she finished wrapping his arm with a bandage. "Assassination attempts on a senator… we might be able to swing a few fencers to our side on their American pride alone."

  "If anybody can do it, it's you."

  They were safe now, and that Seth was still thinking politically helped her know he was going to be okay. It was only an arm shot, after all.

  "So you want to work it into your speech? Maybe replace the cultural section?"

  Seth shook his head. "I'll give the media a separate address about this. We will not be intimidated and all that. Reminding people that the way Western culture sees shifters is fairly rare is important to refute the necessity of the Registry."

  Ana nodded.

  Different cultures the world over had different approaches to how shifters were seen, but during the European colonialization period, the attitude that they were devil-worshipping witches took hold, and shifters were slaughtered wholesale–burned at the stake, hanged, hunted down. It was sickening, but what was even worse was that there were still people out there with that attitude.

  Overall, though, the tides were changing, especially with other countries like China decrying the treatment of shifters in America. Seth's election was proof of that. He was only the third shifter to ever be elected to a senator's position and had so far served longer than either of his two predecessors.

  It helped that before he came out as a shifter, he was an insanely popular movie star. Admittedly very hot, he was the epitome of the all-American man. He had even been used as the poster boy for an anti-shifter group before he came out as a shifter. This wasn't the first attempt on his life since he went into politics, fighting for shifter rights.

  But he had been elected and that meant a lot.

  Of course, the fact that he turned into a golden retriever, man's best friend, probably helped his cause. Ana doubted he would have been so successful if he had been, say, a tiger or even a deer, let alone something like a fox.

  Nobody really knew what determined what sort of animal a shifter could turn into. There was a genetic disposition towards shifting. Children of shifters tended to be shifters, and it was rare that shifters were born to non-shifter parents. If one parent of a shifter child was a predator, that child would tend towards predation as well. But there hadn't been a lot of research into the area and many people held onto damag
ing stereotypes.

  Anti-shifter hysteria groups especially liked to spread false assumptions. Their most popular one was that shifters could actually choose whether they had an animal side to them or not, given that the actual shifting was completely voluntary, but it wasn't true. It, unfortunately, led to many "therapies" that advocated the suppression of the animal side, which was incredibly damaging to a shifter's mental state.

  She heard the wail of sirens and squeezed Seth's hand. "Sounds like the police are on their way."

  "Good. The sooner this is resolved, the sooner we can get back to work."

  Ana was hoping the case would be resolved soon too, if only because catching the perpetrators would decrease the risk of a new attack on Seth. She cared deeply about him. They'd known each other since childhood and were just friends. It was why Seth had hired her for the job despite the fact that she had no credentials. He'd approached her about taking the position, and when she protested she didn't have the training, he told her that she was an intelligent, courageous woman who always made sure she got her own way when it mattered. Plus she was passionate about shifter rights, and those were the qualities he needed in his staff. And so she had taken the job.

  They had been dealing with a lot of hate mail and an increased amount of threats recently. Some people simply couldn't understand why a shifter would be against a shifter registry unless he was trying to take over the world, apparently. But none of it had seemed credible enough that she thought there would be an actual attempt on his life!

  ***

  Not much later, Ana found herself sitting in an interrogation room, waiting for a detective to come take her statement. It was a non-descript room with that one-way mirror reflecting her image. Her hair was a little wild and the red lipstick she favored faded, but other than that, she looked okay. She sat at a wide table, a chair on the other side the only other item in the room. The door stood ajar and a uniform stood just outside, ready to bring her anything she needed.