Dad Panther (Alien Guardians of Earth Book 3)

by Donna McDonald

  “Angus Ian MacNamara,” Erin said in shock. “Yer were going to end yer own life? Why in bloody hell would you do that?”

  “My thoughts are my own fecking business… and none of yers… or theirs,” Angus said tersely, his head tilting to the men dressed all in black.

  “I’m sorry to traumatize you with this information, Ms. O’Shea, but your presence is now needed as well. That’s why we hastily sent you the note from Mr. MacNamara. We’re to take the pair of you since you’re both available and here together.”

  Erin gasped and shook the note at the man’s admission. “I can’t believe ya would be so conniving. May Brighid split ya from gut to gullet on my behalf.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Agent Black said cheerfully. “I am fully versed in ancient Celtic legends of your universe. Brighid was the goddess of the hearth and forge, but also the defender of women.”

  “I’ll show ya a defender of women.” Angus started toward the man intending to beat the crap out of at least one of them so they’d know he wasn’t fooling around.

  “Wait… did ya just say that ya fecking stopped time?” Erin yelled the crazy query in disbelief. Then she started walking toward the man she was trying to save. “Angus MacNamara, will ya control yer drunken self? They’re obviously all mad as diseased hens. No telling what they’ll do to ya. Get your big arse back here.”

  “Shut up, woman,” Angus yelled. “Can’t ya see I’m trying to protect us?”

  Erin shook her head fiercely. “All I see is an eegit walking half-cocked into a fight with a group of men half his age. Sure now they’re a skinny lot compared to ya, but I think it will only take a couple to bring yer weaving arse down. How much did ya drink today?”

  “Actually, it will only take one of us,” Agent Black said calmly.

  He motioned with his hand and another of the men pointed a device at a still advancing Angus. A few seconds later, Angus dropped like a large stone to the ground.

  Erin ran forward and knelt. “Angus,” she called in alarm, but there was no answer. She looked up and glared at Agent Black. “Fecking bastard. Ya didn’t have to kill him.”

  Agent Black smiled at her while the rest of his men fought grins. Erin felt her temper rising higher than she could ever remember.

  “I don’t care what manner of men ya are, this is no laughing matter,” she yelled.

  “Rest assured, Ms. O’Shea… I didn’t take his life. I merely subdued Mr. MacNamara until we can insert his alternate version from Universe 10 who died just this morning of natural causes. They don’t bury their dead there, so we gathered the body up for our use before they could incinerate it. Mr. MacNamara’s U10 self will show all the signs of having had a heart attack which will allow Mr. MacNamara’s U6 self to travel back with us unmissed. His children will find the U10 alternate and bury him beside his deceased wife. That’s what would have happened anyway if he’d shot himself… probably. Whatever the case, that’s the plan we’re going with now because we must.”

  Erin’s mouth dropped open for the second time. Her brain was spinning, but she figured it best to go along with the crazies. “Is that so? What do ya plan to do with the live Angus? I didn’t quite catch all ya said a moment ago.”

  “You and he will accompany us back to Universe 1 where you’ll serve New Earth and all its remaining people in a unique capacity using the learning of your Universe 6 professions.”

  “Me? Goddess… yer taking me with ya too?” She stood up and glared at all of them. They wouldn’t be taking her without a fight.

  “Yes, ma’am. I’m really sorry to deliver this news so abruptly. Here in Universe 6, you’ll unfortunately become one more missing person who vanished without a trace. That happens naturally, and for the usual reasons, in all universes so it’s not like the scenario isn’t feasible in Universe 6 space time. I’m quite certain those who miss you will assume you left because the love of your life died so suddenly.”

  Erin raised her hands to the sky. “Why anyone believe such a thing? I’ve never had a husband. I have no love,” she declared loudly.

  Agent Black smiled again. “With all due respect ma’am, I was speaking of Mr. MacNamara.”

  Erin was so shocked this time that she was speechless for a moment. The men were strangers. How could they know that about her situation?

  She looked down at Angus still on the ground. Her inner harpy rose to the surface like it always did when someone pointed out her weakness for the most contrary man she’d ever had the misfortune to lust after.

  “Angus MacNamara? Ya think he’s the love of my life? Now I know yer all mad for sure.”

  Agent Black rubbed his chin and looked at the other men. They looked at each other and shrugged.

  Erin heard yet another one speak up. He said, “In all multi-verses, Ms. O’Shea is with him at some point.”

  When Agent Black turned back around to face her, she saw her fate in his determined gaze.

  “Then I remain committed to my plan to take you both. Sorry, but we need you to come with us, Ms. O’Shea. Hopefully you will be a calming influence on Mr. MacNamara.”

  “And what happens if I don’t fecking want to go with ya?” Erin demanded.

  The last thing she saw was Agent Black waving a hand to the man behind him. The device came up again and suddenly she was falling face first across Angus’s plaid ass.

  —Click Here For More Info—

  The Demon Prince’s Dragon Queen

  by Mina Carter

  Pre-Order Available - CLICK HERE

  Book Description

  She must marry the king of hell to save the demon who stole her heart.

  After eons in enchanted slumber, dragon queen Baby is finally enjoying life. Determined to take advantage of every opportunity and with a deep need to prove she’s more than a spoiled royal, she joins the PPA as an operative.

  But that brings her into daily contact with the irritating half pixie, Rat. Unlike most, she see’s through his disguise to the man beneath the arrogant bad boy act.

  A bad boy she’s in danger of losing her heart to…

  She’s too good for him but that’s not going to stop this demon prince from claiming what he wants.

  The instant Rat saw dragon queenling Baby, he swore to make her his. One night. That was all he needed. All he told himself he needed. But one night will never be enough, ever…

  Somehow he has to find a way to keep her by his side, even as his father presses him to take a demon to wife and ensure the succession of the throne. He doesn’t want a demon as his mate. He wants a dragon queen…

  When political games of the demon kind threaten to take her from him forever. So what’s a demon to do? He’ll do what demons do best… lie, scheme and cheat to get what he wants, before it’s too late.

  NB - This title was originally published as 'One Night with the Demon Prince' and has been revised and extended.

  Excerpt

  Dr. Ariel Jones blinked at the bright lights overhead as she woke. Finding herself naked and strapped to some sort of gurney, she turned her head and saw two women similarly strapped to gurneys beside her. One was weeping steadily. The other was glaring at a fixed spot on the ceiling.

  Her scientist brain got busy immediately, trying to figure out what had happened since she’d come to work that morning. Her typical day at Feldspar Research always started at five in the morning to accommodate the light limitations of living and working just outside Anchorage, Alaska.

  She had processed the new set of blood samples waiting for her in the lab and instantly reported the unusually rapid cell mutation she had seen happening under the lens of her microscope. Then at about ten o’clock, she’d gone for a direct meeting with Dr. Crane, who had asked to speak with her in person about what she’d found.

  One minute she had been drinking coffee and talking with a colleague. The next she was waking up naked in…where was she anyway? Looking around more, she finally recognized the place. It was where they had brought t
he giant wolf.

  Sniffing the air, she could indeed smell the pungency of the trapped animal. It was what had bothered her most. From what she knew, he’d been here longer than she had worked for Crane. The one and only time she’d seen the wolf in person had been more than enough. He was the biggest animal she’d ever seen and bigger than any she could have ever imagined.

  Now she was here—in the same room where they had kept him. The discovery brought her back to her own pressing problem of waking up naked and restrained without knowing why. A thousand thoughts raced through her mind, none of them pleasant.

  “So good of you to join us at last, Dr. Jones. I’ve been delaying things and waiting for you to wake up. I didn’t want to start the injections while you were still under the effects of the mild sedative we gave you earlier.”

  “You put drugs in my coffee this morning,” Ariel stated, somehow sure of it even before her bastard employer nodded and smiled.

  “The sedative was the fastest way to obtain your physical cooperation. Time is critical. We don’t know how long the window of opportunity from your findings will remain open. You told me several weeks ago you had come to Alaska because you craved more out of life than sitting in a lab doing research. Well, I’m about to make your dreams come true in a way you have never imagined.”

  Ignoring her accelerating heartbeat, Ariel decided she wasn’t going to get emotionally alarmed until there was a greater reason to do so than simply being naked and unable to free herself. She was used to thinking her way out of bad situations. She just needed to remain calm, ask questions, and figure out what was really going on.

  “I would like to know the purpose of your actions. Are you planning to take physical advantage of my helpless condition? Who are the two women next to me? What role do they play?”

  Dr. Crane smiled. “So many questions. Of course, I expected someone like you would have them. You’re going on a scientific adventure or at least your body is. The three of you are about to become the next step in the evolution of our species. But I guess it’s rather bold of me to theorize such a result without any proof yet. Part of the excitement is considering all the possibilities. Now I know your circumstances are a bit alarming at the moment, but if this experiment works, you’ll become an extremely valuable asset to our military. Even the most highly trained K-9 units won’t be able to compete with your animal skills. Alaskan wolves are quite superior to canines in nearly all areas. Everyone studies their predatory actions for just this reason.”

  “I still don’t understand, Dr. Crane. I thought Feldspar was testing wolf fortitude to glean survival information for living in extremely harsh environments,” Ariel said, discreetly testing the restraints around her wrists again.

  “Oh come now, Dr. Jones. That sort of work is barely fit for a second year university student. You are here because you personally possess several strands of DNA in common with our latest Feldspar wolf acquisition. He’s been rather solemn since we informed him of your findings. He’s glaring at us steadily which I take as the highest compliment about your discovery. It’s as if he senses what we are about to do to the three of you.”

  “Dr. Crane, are you saying you’re communicating with a wolf? Don’t you think that assumption is a bit odd?” Ariel asked.

  “Not at all. I sincerely wish we could be communicating with his human side, but we’ve purposely kept him from shifting back to his human form by the silver collar around his neck. I think it helped greatly to leave the six silver bullets someone put into him too. He was initially impossible to capture in his wolf form. If his pack had been nearby, I doubt we would have. In fact, I don’t know who exactly did capture him. I found him both shot and tranquilized with a note pinned to his collar when someone activated the alarm on the back door of the lab.”

  “I’m sorry Dr. Crane, but you sound like some crazy mad scientist out of a movie. What are you going to do to us? Seriously? You don’t have to make up such wild stories. I assure you I won’t be reduced to hysterics by hearing the truth,” Ariel demanded.

  “Still the skeptical scientist, I see. In just a moment, I’ll happily explain the rest to you. Since what’s going to happen to you is beyond your control, I don’t see any benefit from not telling you the whole story.” Dr. Crane waved at the man assisting him. “Proceed with injecting the weeping one on the end. I cannot tolerate a weeping female. She is highly distracting. I can’t talk to Dr. Jones over her constant whining.”

  Ariel’s head whipped over, straining to see the gurney at the end. She saw the woman’s body arch when a plunger was placed at her neck directly on the carotid artery. Whatever was in the injection, they wanted it to hit all parts of her body quickly. To her surprise, the man rolled the woman’s head, and shot a second plunger directly into the woman’s brain stem. The woman seized, strained at her straps, and then fell silent. If the second injection didn’t paralyze her spine, its content would be in every brain cell in less than ten minutes.

  “Now administer the sedative and move Heidi to the last cage. Come straight back and process Brandi next. I’ll take care of Dr. Jones personally.”

  Ariel looked back at the man speaking so calmly. He looked at her and offered a shrug.

  “The sedative is to help keep you calm during the worst of your genetic transmutation. We’re not completely without conscience. I see no need for any of you to suffer more than necessary. Since you’re the first of your kind, we don’t exactly know how much the transpecies mutation process hurts. Our captive wolf shifter has been quite unwilling to share any information, assuming he can still speak in his wolf form. We haven’t been able to ascertain it one way or the other.”

  The woman directly beside her was still as quiet as ever. So far, she had not made a sound. Ariel listened to the gurney with the now unconscious Heidi being pushed to the far end of the room. She listened to a cage door being opened and straps being undone.

  “Please continue your explanation, Dr. Crane. Did I find something important this morning?”

  “Yes, you did. I applaud you for being as smart as your resume indicated. People usually lie on those you know. Somehow I knew right away when we met that you were being honest. It was quite the stroke of luck your blood also showed excellent—most excellent—counts of nearly everything required for the experiment. When I personally saw the metamorphosis strand in your DNA, I was literally as giddy as a schoolboy. The strand is missing from your fellow subjects.”

  “I did my doctoral thesis on the metamorphosis strand. Most in the scientific community don’t even think its real. But I’ve seen it. People who have it tend to die fairly young. It’s one of the reasons I left New England and came here. I wanted to explore the world a little before I came down with some disease I couldn’t survive.”

  “Yes. Human subjects with the strand do tend to die young. But extending your doctoral hypothesis, I also believe the strand has a higher purpose in those who possess it. So when I saw from the extensive health exams Feldspar required that you personally had the strand, I just couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Roger, I said to myself, what would happen if someone extremely intelligent suddenly became a wild animal? Would the person be able to control their carnal nature enough to use their intelligence in their animal form? The chance to discover the truth was just too much to pass up. Now you get to benefit from the very discovery you made this morning, Dr. Jones. It’s too bad the global medical community will never know anything more about you except for the unfortunate accident which burnt your body to ashes today when you went into Anchorage for lunch. Alaskan winters can be terribly challenging on vehicles, as I’m sure your gurney mates can also attest to since they suffered the same fate.”

  Ariel flinched when she heard the woman beside her hiss and swear at the depression of the plunger at her neck. When her brain stem was shot, the woman shrieked loudly and nearly broke the straps with her arching. The sedative calmed the woman instantly, but it had the opposite effect on Ariel. Starting to p
anic at last, because she knew the same fate would be hers, Ariel renewed her efforts to escape and twisted against her restraints. Unfortunately, she lacked the strength to break them.

  She listened to the second gurney being wheeled down the hall. Again a cage door opened. Moments later, she heard it close and a key turning in a lock.

  “Who gave you the right to do this to us, Dr. Crane? I came to Feldspar to do research for you, not to be your research. What you are doing is illegal and immoral.”

  “I know. I do feel a little bad about hiring you under false pretenses, but your discovery this morning stacked the odds in favor of your participation. My benefactor is most anxious to see some evidence that the transpecies mutation process can work. If even one of you survives the change, he will fund me for at least another two years.”

  “You’re the sickest, sorriest excuse for a scientist I’ve ever met,” Ariel declared.

  Dr. Crane nodded as he lifted the first injection into the air above her. “Not anymore. Now I’m the scientist who has figured out how to make werewolves. As far as I know, I’m the only one like me on Earth. My services will be highly sought after when I show them a brilliant scientist in her wolf form.”

  Ariel called out and felt fire crawl under her skin as sizzling hot liquid entered her bloodstream. “Nanos? You injected me with nanos? It feels like a billion ants crawling on the inside of my skin.” She saw Crane lift an eyebrow at her knowledge, but then so did she. She wasn’t even sure how she knew what they were giving her.