Hearts Unleashed: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by C. D. Gorri

  I ease the door shut and inch back into the room, looking for another way out. I recall the map that I spent days studying while we were planning to break in and search for Jason. There’s supposed to be another room off of this one. Dana never said what was inside, but it was there. There was a door. It was… there!

  The voices are getting closer.

  The door is ajar, and the room is dark. I slip inside and press myself against the wall, hoping that the voices keep moving and go inside one of the dozen other rooms I passed on my way here.

  I inhale deeply, hoping to slow my heart and catch my breath. As the air fills my lungs, I feel every hair on my body stand on end.

  Jason was here.

  His scent is everywhere. Now that I know I can’t believe I didn’t notice the moment I stepped into the room. This must be where he was held.

  As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I make out a heavy iron bar embedded into the floor. It’s got shackles and chains and it’s covered in blood. I step closer and I am overcome by the sour smell of sweat and the unmistakable tang of fear.

  “Oh, my brother. What did they do to you?”

  The door to the office opens and light floods into the room where I’m hiding. I peer around the doorjamb and try to see what I am up against. There are three of them. Malovich and two guards. Three wolves against one.

  Fuck.

  It shouldn’t come as a surprise that the boss goes right for his safe. Dana wasn’t kidding when she said the man was obsessive. He gets the combination on the first try and when he swings the door open, the look on his face is one that I will never forget.

  That’s right you fucker. You exploiter of little girls. You devil. Take a good look and swallow that bile back down. You’ll never see Dana again.

  “She’s been here.” Malovich turns to his men, and in a voice that sounds like he’s making dinner reservations he says, “Find her. I want to see her face before she dies.”

  The two guards hurry out of the office and into the maze of hallways. Malovich closes his safe and starts moving in my direction.

  Fuck.

  I glance around the room, searching for a way out. It’s a dead end. It’s like a little torture cell built onto his office so he could enjoy his sickness whenever he wanted.

  Then I see the array that Dana mentioned. The one that showered my brother with fae magic, drugging him into oblivion. The magic they used to subdue my brother was the same magic that helped her escape. That was how she got away with my brother.

  I don’t think. I just move. I stand under the array and check to see that it’s still seeping magic. Tiny wisps of pale pink smoke waft from the end of the tube. Good.

  Once I shift, I can’t carry this tiny pack. And I don’t have time to place it under the morphing spell like I use to make my clothes disappear and return. There’s only one solution. I slip the pack off and fish out Dana’s marker. Then I pull my medallion from under my shirt.

  I picture Lady Annika’s pale face in my mind and tap into the energy I need to conjure her awareness. “Yarhasa pormeena.” Protect this with your life.

  The medallion flashes white, sending a wide beam of light into the tiny room, giving me away for sure. The beam opens up like a disc of light in the air and I drop the marker inside it. The bronze coin falls into the light and the portal closes in a blink. The room falls into darkness.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Malovich is standing in the doorway, a silhouette against the light from his office.

  “I’m the stuff of nightmares, you motherfucker.”

  I pull one of the array tubes to my mouth and draw the magic into my lungs. One breath. Two. I know it’s going to drop me. But I know that all I have to do is breathe.

  I don’t let myself hit the floor. As soon as my body goes limp, I shift into my wolf. Then I inhale, bringing energy back into my body, like lightning into my limbs. I land on all fours, my claws clicking against the tile. Then I unleash every bit of unholy rage that’s been living inside me since the day my brother was taken.

  Malovich shifts in the doorway, he turns into a silver-gray wolf with blue eyes. He shakes his head and growls loudly, calling the two men back.

  I feel like I’m a thousand wolves in one. My eyes catch everything that’s happening. I feel the air on my fur. Feel every whisker twitch. I can smell every drop of blood and sweat that my brother spilled in this room.

  Spilled for this man.

  For this animal.

  Live by the sword, die by the sword. The old saying rings through my mind and I descend upon Malovich. I tear him apart, fueled by a potent cocktail of pink smoke and every molecule of my brother that fills this space. This man lived to torture. My only regret is that I can’t take the time to return the favor.

  He’s no match for me in my drug-induced power surge. I feel as though I can take on an army. Five armies. Ten.

  The two men stumble into Malovich’s office and gape at me as Malovich’s headless torso drops from my mouth.

  One of them draws his weapon. The other one shifts.

  Bullets careen through the air, but in my state, I can see them coming. It’s like I am in one of those kung-fu movies where the master can bend time. I dodge the projectiles one by one as I fly toward the men. I tear the gun hand off the one, and then I am tackled by the wolf.

  The gunman screams on the floor, clutching his wrist and staring in horror at his disembodied hand. I buck the wolf off of me and shift back to my human form. The wolf turns and lunges at me, but I dive for the automatic weapon. I skid across the floor, my bare skin sliding on the stream of blood. Then I grab the gun, aim, and fire.

  The wolf drops like a bag of bones and shifts back into his human form. I don’t waste any time checking his wounds. I loop the gun over my shoulder and magic my clothes back on so I can get the keycard from my jeans.

  Then I head for the elevator and hope to all the great and mighty gods that the castle basement is far enough away from the rest of the place and nobody heard a sound.

  Chapter Twelve

  DANA

  A huge black wolf explodes through the trees. He stops next to the van and then shifts into Max. He’s covered in blood. He runs for the driver’s door and by the time he gets in, he’s fully clothed and turning the key in the ignition.

  “Where’s my bag?” I ask, because he’s not carrying anything at all. The blood that was on his skin starts seeping through his clean clothes and it’s like he’s sweating blood.

  “I have it,” he says, without looking at me. “I had to leave the backpack, but I got your marker. Don’t worry. Malovich is dead. He won’t ever threaten you again.”

  Malovich is dead? Whoa. Relief floods through me and the tension leaves my body in a wash.

  Max floors the gas and we peel out, tires screeching and skidding on the pavement.

  Tears well in my eyes and I realize I don’t care that Max can see. I let them fall and just bask in the glow of it. We did it. We made it. I’m free. I can admit now that I was afraid it wouldn’t work. That I wouldn’t break away. That they would find us and kill us both and that Noah would spend the rest of his life mourning his dead brother and he would blame me. It would all be my fault.

  And now… now I can look ahead to the future.

  I am actually going to have a future. My own future.

  *.*.*.*

  I pace the cave, trying to process what Max just told me. “What do you mean it’s safe? Safe where? You told me you had it!” I thought he had it in his pocket or something. I didn’t understand.

  He pinches the bridge of his nose and starts again with the story of how he had to shift and that meant he couldn’t hold the pack and that he had no time, so he sent it into his necklace or something.

  “Then get it back! Open the door and bring it back!” I can’t believe how angry I am. I could rip his face off.

  “I can’t. I can’t bring things here. It’s meant for sending messages to my contact.” It’s a one-way
thing.

  I throw my hands in the air. I feel like I am going to lose my mind. “Well, then send a message that they have to bring my marker back!”

  “Dana…”

  “No, Max. We had a deal. I held up my end. And you’ve screwed me!”

  “You’re not screwed. Your marker is safe. It’s just not here.”

  “Well, then where the hell is it? Can we go get it?”

  Noah chuckles. “Whoa. Good luck answering that one, Max.”

  Max glares at Noah and then looks at me, his eyes pleading with me. He is really serious. “I’m forbidden to speak of it. I don’t expect you to understand. All I can ask is that you trust me.”

  “Trust you?” I feel like my eyebrows could hit the roof of the cave. “You realize that I just went on a mission to get my marker from a guy and managed to lose it to another guy. I don’t know you. I don’t know anything about you. All I know is that you have the one thing that makes my life meaningless. And you’re playing some kind of hide and seek game with it.”

  “I’m not.” He takes a step toward me.

  “Were you hedging? Were you worried that I wasn’t going to come through with my end?” I pull the stick drive from my pocket and throw it at him. “There. There it is. Now you have what you wanted. I have nothing else for you and I have nothing to bargain with. All I want is my marker so I can get the fuck away from here and get on with my life.”

  Noah looks surprised. “You really want to leave?”

  Max sighs and his shoulders droop. “Look, I can’t give you back your marker yet. But I swear nobody will ever use it against you. I just need some time.”

  I feel like I am going to jump out of my skin. “That’s rich. You know what? You can fuck right the hell off.”

  Max presses his hands together like he’s praying. “Dana. Please. I swear I am being faithful to our deal.”

  “Just stop. I have had enough of men being in control of me.” I grab my sleeping bag and wad it up in my arms. “Give me the keys. I’m leaving.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  JASON

  Something is wrong. The sea around me ripples with tension as if there’s a huge earthquake coming, and I am about to be caught in a tempest.

  She is here. I know because the stars are far away. Ever since she arrived the stars have grown smaller, and some have blinked out and disappeared. Because I found her.

  She’s here.

  But something is wrong.

  I know that I am not in the place where I was before. I can feel the warmth of the flame on my side and hear my brother’s voice speaking to me, telling me to come back. I wanted to speak. I wanted to say, I hear you, Noah. I’m right here. But the dark sea has a hold on me. It’s like quicksand that has pulled me under and just wants to hold me.

  But something is wrong. I have to tell them. I have to stop whatever they are doing because they can’t proceed with whatever it is they are planning. I don’t know what’s happening. But something is terribly wrong.

  I focus on the warmth. I can feel the flames heating my skin on my left side. I concentrate on the feel of it, coming back into my skin. Pushing the dark sea away and pressing toward the light.

  Noah’s voice reaches me like an echo. He’s worried. He isn’t sure what he can do. He is afraid of Max’s anger. “You really want to leave?”

  Max is shouting. He’s angry. His wolf is surging just under the line. He doesn’t like being doubted. His honor is in question. “I can’t…”

  His words swim through my head, and I lose my focus on them. I pull myself toward the flame. Focus on the fire. The heat. The warmth.

  My eyes fill with the red glow that comes from behind closed lids. It’s right there.

  “That’s rich.” It’s her. She’s shouting, “You can fuck right the hell off.”

  “Dana. Please. I swear… faithful…”

  Dana. Her name is Dana. Her voice is husky and soft and she sounds like an angel.

  I strain for more. I want to hear her again.

  “I’m leaving.”

  No. She can’t leave. I just found her.

  She just came home.

  She’s home.

  She can’t leave.

  Chapter Fourteen

  DANA

  “I found her.” Jason’s words cut through the cave, stopping all of us.

  Noah leans over his brother and rubs a hand on his cheek. “Jason. Did you say something? We’re here. Can you open your eyes?”

  Max hurries over to Jason and the two brothers hover over him, waiting, holding their breath.

  I’m holding my breath too.

  Jason’s eyes flutter open. He looks at Max and then at Noah and then he turns and looks directly at me. “Stay.” His voice is hoarse, and he sounds tired, but the look in his eyes is sheer torture. It’s hard for him to stay awake. He’s struggling to catch his breath.

  He closes his eyes and smiles, pawing at Max in the lazy drunk way he did to Noah in the van. “She is here. I found her. Don’t let her leave. She’s the one.”

  Noah shakes his head. “No. That’s not possible. You’re out of your mind.”

  Jason moves his arm like it weighs a thousand pounds. “She’s the one.”

  “The one what?” I ask.

  Max glances over at me, like he forgot I was there. “Nothing. He’s still under the influence of that fae shit.”

  Stay.

  The way he said it. The way he looked at me. It feels like it means more than some fever dream. Whatever he’s thinking, it mattered enough for him to wake up and say something.

  Stay.

  I recall his face from the when we floated in outer space. Was that just some trick he did with the fae magic? Was he so full of the stuff that he was able to pull me into his dream? Or was it something else?

  “What is he talking about?” I ask.

  “It’s nothing, Chicken.” Noah’s tone is reassuring, not dismissive. He seems as convinced as Max.

  But something in my belly tells me that I should listen.

  I should listen to Jason.

  Stay.

  “If you’re so convinced that Jason’s wrong, then why are you both so freaked out?”

  Max sits down next to Jason and rubs his face. “We’re not freaked out. Just confused. Were there other people in that castle that would have seen my brother? Other than the guards. Other women?”

  His question throws me. “What? No. What do you mean?”

  Max sighs heavily. “I can’t explain it.”

  When I start to protest, he stops me.

  “It’s forbidden to speak of any of this to outsiders. All I can tell you is that he’s wrong. I know that much. But given his state and the fact that he’s really convinced, I’d like you to stay. For Jason’s sake.”

  I laugh. “You think I was just going to leave when you have my marker?”

  Max looks confused. “You just said…”

  I feel stupid explaining myself now that the fighting has stopped. Storming off with the keys felt like the perfect move at the time. “I was going to go for a drive.” I cross my arms, feeling petulant and silly. “Maybe sleep in the SUV.”

  Noah takes the sleeping bag from my arms. “Please stay.”

  I want to scream that we’ve come this far, and I still am beholden to someone else. I was so close. I was almost free, twice. And now my marker is completely out of my reach.

  But that means it’s also out of the reach of Malovich’s crew. The man may be dead, but his lieutenant isn’t. Last I saw, Dmitry was locked inside an electrified vault. But without my marker, there’s no way he can find me now.

  I look at Max and Noah, who are watching me, waiting. I look at Jason, who is out cold again, his face peaceful and calm. In the time that I’ve been with these men, these wolves, I’ve been safe. Despite everything that we’ve been through, they never once tried to hurt me. In fact, they protected me. And then Max fought for me.

  I don’t know what the f
uture holds. And until my marker is back in my hands, I don’t know that my future is even mine. But I know that there’s one thing I can do that will give the rest of it time to sort itself out.

  Stay.

  *.*.*.*

  We hope you enjoyed Captured by Wolves, the first installment in the Shifter Moon series! Dana’s adventure with Jason, Noah, and Max continues in AWAKENED BY WOLVES, the full-length reverse harem sequel novel.

  thefionastarr.com/ShifterMoon

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  If you enjoyed this book, you may also enjoy these completed series:

  Academy of Elemental Magic

  Hidden Power

  Forbidden Bond

  Shadow Promise

  Society of Ancient Magic

  Dark Arts

  Over Hexed

  Witch Wars

  Cursed Souls

  Broken Spells

  Magic Reclaimed

  About Fiona Starr

  Fiona Starr lives her happily ever after in the mountains of Colorado with her hunky husband and their fleet of fur babies.

  She writes Contemporary and Paranormal Romance with varying levels of steam. Some collections are short quickies, some are longer for lingering over, but all of them are sexy and sweet, and her heroes and heroines always get their happily ever after!

  Moon Claimed By Cecilia Lane

  Moon Claimed © 2021 Cecilia Lane

  Edited by: Vicky Renee

  Moon Claimed

  A woman hiding from destiny. An alpha hunting his fated mate. A bloody challenge to reclaim a throne.