by Riley, Alexa
Licking her shoulder, I seal the small wound I left, and I feel her giggle against me. “Why are you so happy today? And what is making you taste and smell so sweet?”
I press my nose against her warm skin and inhale deeply, closing my eyes. I sit up on my knees and pull her back to my chest, sitting her up with me. We are completely naked, our lower bodies still connected. In the woods, on our knees in this small meadow, it feels as if we are the only two people alive.
“I don’t normally taste so sweet?” I hear the teasing in her voice and smile against her skin, giving her another lick.
“You’re always the sweetest thing I’ve ever tasted, but this morning you were different. I can’t stop scenting your skin.” To further my point, I rub my beard on her shoulder and neck, wanting the new sweet smell covering me.
She hums in pleasure, and I feel her pussy clench around my cock. “Do you need me again so soon, mate?”
“I always want you, Xavier.” Her body leans further into me, and I wrap my arms around her. “This is the perfect place.”
“For what, my love?” I ask, kissing her neck.
“To tell you that you’re going to be a father.”
I tense at her words, all the joy in my heart nearly bursting out of my chest. I’m speechless and overwhelmed with emotions. How do I form words? I knew this day would come, but I never thought I would feel so full of love when it happened.
I look down, seeing a drop of water land on Gwen’s shoulder, and she turns slightly, looking into my eyes. “I love you so much, Xavier. Thank you for giving me babies and making me so happy.”
“I love you.” It’s the only thing I can manage to say before Gwen reaches up and wipes away my tears. I can’t say anything else, so I press my lips against hers and try to say with my heart what I can’t verbalize.
My mate has shown me what love truly is and what it’s like to have a family again. It’s more than I ever dreamed possible, and I owe it all to her.
From the moment I laid eyes on Gwen, I knew she was special. And as I watched my beauty sleep, I hoped that one day she would be mine. As we make love, I whisper my words of devotion, telling her over and over all the ways I will worship her until my last breath.
Epilogue
Gwen
A couple of weeks later…
“Do you like it?”
I’ve got both hands over my mouth as I try to hide my smile, and I bite my tongue to keep from laughing. Xavier is standing in the middle of the living room with the saddest-looking Christmas tree ever.
“You don’t like it.” His face falls, and the pout sends me running to him. Well, moving as fast as I can with my growing pregnant belly.
“No, baby. I love it. It’s absolutely perfect.” I wrap my arms around his waist as I look over the tree. He decided this morning he needed to go into the woods and chop one down. I was kind of excited because it’s our first Christmas together, and this could be a sweet tradition. My burly woodsman mate goes to chop one down, only to bring back something that would rival Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree. “It’s just a little thin.”
Looking it over, he nods. “I thought it could use your love. You’ve made me stronger.”
Tears fill my eyes, and I squeeze him to me. How can I possibly say anything against his reasoning? “Well, when you put it that way,” I say, sniffing.
Xavier wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my head. “Happy tears?”
“Yeah, baby. Happy tears.”
X had a hard time at first with my emotional outbursts, but he’s adjusted in the past couple of weeks. Now he just holds me and loves me until it passes. I think it’s just because shifters experience pregnancy so much faster than humans, so it’s all the hormones of a regular pregnancy packed into three months.
After a few moments, the emotions are under control and he kisses my lips. “Ruby and Dom should be here any minute. You okay?”
“Yes, I’m so excited to see them. I’m glad Winnie is coming by, too. She’s having a time with those sisters of hers. Spending time with us will do her some good.”
I set out some snacks while X puts out some Christmas decorations. It’s not for a couple of weeks still, but I think he’s excited to be having a real one after so long. I smile lovingly as I watch him hang up stockings on the fireplace. He insisted we hang one up for each baby, even though they won’t be here until after the holidays. He hangs up two little ones in the middle and two larger stockings on either side. I rub my belly, thinking of the two pups growing inside me. Xavier was so happy when he found out it was twin girls. He said all he wanted to do was please me, so he gave me two girls so I would be extra happy.
I feel another little tear form at the memory, and he comes over to hold me. I can’t wait for these damn hormones to pass.
Hearing a knock on the door, X goes over and lets everyone in. Dominic practically carries in a very pregnant Ruby, and Winnie comes in right behind them.
After we all hug and say hello, I sit down on the couch with Ruby and Winnie and catch up. I hear Winnie let out a long sigh, and I look over at her.
“You okay?” I know the twins have been giving her shit lately, and I’m really getting tired of those bitches.
“Yeah, just kind of sad. I still can’t remember anything. And I’ve been all over the place today.”
Winnie has been struggling more than usual lately with her memory. For a long time, she didn’t talk about her past, and we thought that was by choice. But she’s opened up to me a little, and I know that she has no memory of her life before she was found wandering in the woods. I think the most frustrating part is that she doesn’t know when she’s going to come of age.
“You’ll know when it happens. You’ll feel it,” I tell her, and reach out to hold her hand.
“From what Dominic says, you feel it when it happens,” Ruby says, smiling softly at Winnie. I think Ruby feels a special bond with Winnie since she was once an outsider herself. Even though Winnie is a shifter, she doesn’t feel like she belongs in the pack.
“Yeah. You’re right. I’m just super emotional today. I keep crying. Sorry.” Winnie gives us a half-smile and tries to shake it off. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think I was pregnant.”
I laugh at Winnie’s joke and shake my head. “Tell me about it. The last time I was this crazy with hormones I was—” It hits me. The last time I was this crazy with hormones and emotions was my eighteenth birthday. When I started to come of age, it was just as bad as it is now. “Winnie, you don’t think—”
I’m cut off by the front door bursting open to reveal Stone standing in the doorway.
Xavier and Dominic are in front of the females in under a second, both half-shifted to protect us.
Stone stands there, breathing hard and looking like he just ran a hundred miles. He’s nearly rabid as he looks past X and Dom, glaring at Winnie. His snarl echoes through the room, and one word leaves his lips.
“Mine.”
THE END…. for now
The Lost Slipper
Alexa Riley
Fairytale Shifter Book 3
The Lost Slipper
The first time Stone saw Winnie, she was alone in the woods with no memory of where she came from.
With one look, he knew something was different. When she finally came of age and her mating heat kicked in, he realized that she had always been the one.
Sent to live with a strange family, Winnie was forced to deal with the hateful treatment of her stepmother and stepsisters.
Mating the alpha changed that.
But when her past comes back to find her, will the heat last after the clock strikes midnight?
Warning: This shifter fairy tale is meant to be enjoyed by only those who love this kind of adorable stuff. Think you've got what it takes? Then come on in!
Prologue
Winnie
Past…
“Please don’t leave me here.” My voice cracks at the plea. I hate thi
s. I hate all of it. I stare up at the alpha of the Gray Ridge pack, not wanting to part with him. One would think I’d want to get away from him as fast as possible. Everything about him screams strength and power. I’ve noticed no one even really makes eye contact with him, but I do. I stare up at him, pleading with my eyes. I feel safe with him. It’s almost funny because he’s easily a foot-and-a-half taller than me. Maybe more.
Stone’s an alpha in every sense of the word. I knew it from the moment he picked me up in his arms. I could feel it almost bleeding off him. He was attractive, but not what I would call handsome by any stretch. His dark-brown hair is shaved at the sides, with the top a little bit longer. He always grips it when he gets a little bit agitated with me. Which seems to be a lot since I started following him around like a lost cub. Which I am.
Even at night, when everyone would go to bed, I’d sneak into his room and crawl into bed with him. Maybe that’s why he’s making me leave. Who wants a lost little cub following them around everywhere they go? He’s all I know, but that’s not saying much since I can only remember the last seven days of my life. He’s my world at this point. He and Gwen are all I know, and I don’t want to let that go.
His big hand cups my chin, and I lean into it, trying to inhale his scent. It’s now become the scent I think of when I think of home, and he’s trying to take it from me. His thumb brushes my cheek, and something flashes in his dark-blue eyes before he drops his hand away liked I burned him. I want to reach out and put it back, but I don’t.
When I was first found in the woods, they brought me to him, and he held me for days. Lay on the floor with me in his home, petting me, trying to get me to shift out of bear form. I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know how. I didn’t know anything except my first name. I still don’t know much. I seem to remember everything except my previous life. I know how everything works, and I can read and write, but my life just isn’t there.
Even the first few days after being found in the woods is still hazy in my mind. Just like the rest of my life, but no one has come for me. No one has come forward to claim me as theirs. I was abandoned and unwanted, it seems. And now it’s happening again. In seven days I’ve been cast out twice. Okay, maybe Stone isn’t casting me out as much as placing me in a new home, but it feels like it. He’s found me a permanent place among a family in his pack, but it feels as if I’m being thrown away.
“This is what’s best. Trust me,” Stone finally says. I want to believe him. Trust him. I turn my head to look at the place that’s to be my home now. A man and a woman stand on the porch with two blonde girls who look to be about my age. Well, what I’m guessing is my age. They look like they’ve been plucked right out of a magazine. Stone said it was a nice family. They have two daughters, and I will like it here.
I hear Gwen, Stone’s sister, let out an unhappy huff from behind him. She doesn’t want me to leave either. She and Stone have been fighting for the past two days about it. I hate that they were fighting about me. Maybe that was another reason he wanted me gone. She wanted me to stay with them, but Stone said it just wasn’t possible. I think it’s a lie. He’s the alpha; he could make it so. He just doesn’t want me to.
Even knowing it’s a lie, I try again, not caring how pathetic it is. “Please don’t make me go. I promise I’ll be better.” My voice drops a little before whispering the rest, even knowing everyone will hear it anyways. They’re all wolves, they hear everything. “I won’t sneak into your room anymore. I’ll stay in mine. Please don’t make me go.” I feel the tears hit my cheeks.
Oddly, this is the first time I’ve cried. Even when I finally shifted out of bear form, I didn’t cry, and it felt like my whole body was on fire. Somehow this hurts more. How I’ve become so attached to him so fast, I don’t know. But I am. The thought of leaving him steals the breath from my lungs.
A low growl leaves his chest, and I can hear everyone take a step back, but I don’t. No. I step closer. I like the sound. It seems to scare everyone else, but it makes me feel safe. Even if the growl is directed at me. I want to lay my head on his chest and hear where the growl emanates from.
Stone takes a step back from me, then another.
He’s going to do it. He’s leaving me here.
“I’ll come back tomorrow to check on you, Winnie.” Then he turns, making his way back to his truck. Gwen steps in front of me, pulling me into her arms and whispering in my ear. “You have the phone. You can call me anytime. I’ll come tomorrow to see you, too. I’ll make sure you’re settling in okay.” She pulls back, looking down at me with the same blue eyes as Stone. Like everyone around here, she’s way taller than me. I guess bears just aren’t tall, or maybe it’s just me.
“We’ll find your family.” She tries to reassure me, but it’s not reassuring.
I’m a bear shifter, which I’ve been told is rare. Not only that, but I’m a female and there aren’t many female bear shifters left. Stone told me we would find my family fast, being as I’m so rare, but that has yet to be seen. I don’t feel rare or special. All I feel is unwanted.
She fully releases me, following Stone and getting into the truck. I watch them pull away, and I can’t bring myself to move until I feel a warm hand on my shoulder. I look up at the woman, who looks to be in her thirties. Her blonde hair matches the younger girls’, who I’m guessing are her daughters. It’s hard to tell with shifters.
“Come inside, dear. I’ll show you to your room.”
“She smells like a bear,” one of the girls says. Her face scrunches up like she’s smelling something terrible.
“I’m not sharing a room with it,” the other girl says, making an equally grossed-out face.
“You’ll do what you’re told. The alpha said we’re to take care of her and that’s what we’ll do,” the father finally says. The woman’s hold on me tightens at his words, her nails digging in a little. She’s clearly not happy with the alpha’s orders.
“Come inside.” This time her tone is annoyed as she starts to pull me towards the house. I want to yank from her hold, but I don’t. What choice do I really have? When we pass the two girls on the porch, they both give me a look that could kill. Gone are the nice girls who were making sweet doe eyes at the alpha when he was standing there.
When I get inside, I’m pulled up two flights of stairs until we reach the attic. Then the woman finally releases me, unlocking the door and showing me the space. The room is a mess, a bed in the center of the chaos.
“You’ll need to get this cleared up and habitable. I’m sure the alpha will want to see it when he comes back here tomorrow. Make sure it’s done right.” She turns and makes her way down the stairs. “Dinner’s at seven. Most of this better be done by then, or you won't be eating,” she calls as she descends. “…Not that you need it,” she adds in a murmur.
I sit down on the bed and look around the attic. I feel more alone now than when I was running through the woods without any memory of anything. At least then I didn’t have anyone to miss.
Prologue
Stone
Past…
“You’re making a mistake.” Gwen’s words sting. We both know they’re true, but I don’t say anything in response.
Putting the truck in gear, I pull away from the Stocktons’ house and feel my chest ache. Gripping the wheel tighter, I force myself not to look back as I drive away. Just a few more minutes and then I can run. I just need to get back home.
Gwen and I ride in silence all the way back home. Thankfully, she doesn’t keep telling me what I know to be true and just lets me suffer in silence.
It’s the right thing to do. It’s what had to be done. I feel like if I keep telling myself that over and over again, it will be true. It’s like if I keep repeating it, then I’ll somehow believe the lie.
I pull up to the house, jump out of the truck, and head for the woods. Hearing the gravel crunch under my boots, I don’t look back when Gwen calls my name.
“Stone! Where are you going?
”
Once I get out back behind our house, I pull off my shirt and throw it on the ground. I keep stomping as I make my way to the tree line, kicking off my boots and taking off my jeans as I go. As I leap into the air, I shift before my paws hit the ground, taking off in a full run towards the protected lands.
Feeling my muscles burn and ache is what I need right now. I need to make my body feel the pain that is eating away at my heart. What is wrong with me? Why can’t I stop this feeling, this need?
Pushing harder, I run as fast as my wolf can take me. He’s angry and needs to be in control. I run for miles until I’m beyond the borders of our small mountain town in Gray Ridge, Colorado.
Our shifter community is secret, but strong. And finding another shifter wandering in the woods is unusual. We have other packs around us, and we’re all friendly. So when our town sheriff, Dominic Wolf, found a stray bear cub, I reached out to all the neighboring packs but came up empty-handed.
The first time I saw her, Dominic was carrying her out of the woods. She was fully shifted into a little brown cub, and she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. Her head turned in my direction when I approached them, and her big brown eyes met mine.
In that moment, I felt something inside me change.
I’d known my whole life what it meant for me to be the alpha. My father was the alpha of our Gray Ridge wolf pack until he died suddenly when I was eighteen. He was out for a run one day, and had a heart attack. The doctors did all they could do, but he didn’t make it. I was young and angry, not wanting the responsibility of the pack to fall on my shoulders. But I was born of pure alpha blood, and I had no choice but to lead.
