Silvertip Shifters Boxset Bks 1-4
Page 37
“Hey, now!” Abby said, but her tone was light. Not stern at all. “Shut the door, you wild hooligans. Don’t get snow on any of the decorations.” A smile busted through her voice, pure love radiating through it.
Marisa felt sudden tightness in her throat as an old memory ricocheted through her mind like a really unwelcome cannonball. Shut the fucking door, you stupid little girl. You’d better not let any of that rain get inside here and ruin the floor. Worthless bitch.
The room started to haze out.
Breathe.
She breathed, blinked hard, made herself focus. Focus on what? Ah. She pounced, latching her attention onto the two children. Finn and Laney. Despite herself, she softened, caught by them, feeling suddenly wistful. Kids were cute. Fun. She liked kids, always had.
The minute she’d met these two, a pair of nearly twelve-year-old twins, she’d naturally loved them like they were part of her own family, like they were a niece and nephew she adored. They’d gravitated toward her too, instantly liking her back. They showed her all around the Silvertip Lodge that was their home. Oh, they were so sweet. Silly, playful, and they didn’t worry she might be a danger. She was no danger. Not to them. Never. Even bad kitty seemed to like them.
But that didn’t matter. Grabbing the inside of her lip with her teeth, she worried at it. Marisa would never have children. There was a hundred percent chance she’d screw them up beyond repair. Being raised by bad seeds meant children came out as bad seeds too. She’d never inflict that sort of terrible future on a child. Especially not now.
“Dad!” Finn’s voice launched across the barn, pure childlike joy in it. “Catch it if you can!”
He lobbed a snowball directly at Riley. Turning swiftly so she wouldn’t miss it, Marisa witnessed the thing wash over Riley’s face that always startled her, coming from the man with dead, cold eyes: softness. As he raised up a fast hand to deflect the snowball, a genuine smile suddenly crinkled up his expression, making him look less monster-like than she could have imagined. In fact, he looked positively pleasant.
Riley Walker, the shifter with the uncontrolled bear and some sort of dark anger everyone knew about and allowed to exist, was a loving father. It never failed to surprise her. Did his clan know he harbored a raging, angry, violent beast inside him? Did his children?
Before her perplexed mind could follow those strands, Laney caught sight of her and made a beeline straight over, a giant smile lighting up her cute little face. Oh, that girl would be a knockout when she was older. She needed someone to make sure she knew how to handle it.
“Marisa! We made tornados in a bottle at school yesterday! It was so cool! I know how to do them now. Finn and me will show you.” She raced over, sliding to a stop just before Marisa. She stood there and beamed, keeping herself maybe a foot away. They’d learned unasked-for hugs were something Marisa couldn’t tolerate. Not even from them, much as she wanted to.
“Finn and I,” Riley automatically corrected. His face also automatically turned into a frown as he looked at Marisa. With a powerful will, she ignored it.
“What’s a tornado in—” Marisa managed before Finn turned and also bounced over, his happy grin as big as his sister’s.
“Marisa, we have to show you, it’s so cool! Dad, can we show her? Please?” Finn used his best begging voice, as did Laney, both of them giving their father pleading looks.
Marisa felt her cat balance quietly inside her, watching with the calm she never had except around these two children, as she waited for Riley’s answer.
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In the mood for something that’s romantic but still scorching hot in the bedroom? Check out my Black Mesa Wolves series! Start with the romance between pack wolves Lily and Kieran in Book 1, GUARDIAN WOLF.
How about Beauty & the Beast…with dragons? Meet fire dragon shifter Ash and sword-wielding beauty Teagan in BURNED, part of my interconnected standalone Dragon Mates series!
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About J.K.
J.K. Harper is a USA TODAY bestselling author. She lives in the rugged, gorgeous canyon country of the Southwest, which is a great place to let her imagination run wild.
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Series by J.K. Harper:
Dragon Mates
Wicked Wolf Shifters
Black Mesa Wolves
Silvertip Shifters
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