by Lola Kidd
Tooth and Nail
Small Town Shifters
Lola Kidd
Copyright 2019 by Lola Kidd
Cover Design: Melody Simmons
All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without the express consent of the author.
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About This Book
Zach Malone is a shifter on a mission…an unauthorized mission that just might cost him his job. He’s going undercover to try and stop a secret from getting out. With no plan and no permission from his boss, he isn’t sure if he can pull it off. But he has to try, everything he knows and loves depends on his success.
Tally is researching the biggest story of her life. Shifters are keeping a big secret and she wants to be the one to uncover it. But getting the evidence she needs is near impossible. How is she supposed to investigate a conspiracy theory when no one is willing to talk to her?
With Zach working as double agent to thwart Tally’s reporting, things begin to change for both in ways they never imagined. As his animal starts to develop feelings for the feisty human, Zach wonders just what he’s fighting so hard for? His fellow shifters or his mate?
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Epilogue
A Note from Lola
Other Books by Lola Kidd
Chapter One
Zach Malone was running late. Again. He’d been late every day for the last two weeks. Not by much but enough that it was a problem. His new boss, Rhett, hadn’t said anything yet, but he knew it was coming.
There wasn’t even a good reason he wasn’t getting to work on time. Every morning, he would drag ass until the last minute and then rush to get to the station. He was never more than ten or fifteen minutes late but it needed to stop.
Every day he told himself he would do better and yet here he was again. Speeding to get in on time and failing as always.
He’d never been late at his last job. True, he’d basically set his own hours, but he didn’t care about it half as much as he did being a Keeper. He took pride in his job now. He was prouder of this than anything in his whole life. Deciding to be a Keeper was the best thing he’d done so far.
Which made it even more annoying that he couldn’t get it together.
It wasn’t like he was going to get let go for being late, but it wasn’t a good look. He didn’t want Rhett to think that he wasn’t serious or that he was expecting favors since he was related to the second-in-command.
When he’d been an alternate Keeper working part-time, he’d never been late. He cut it close but not like this. It was driving him nuts. He was trying so hard and still failing.
He was going to set three alarms tomorrow. He’d go and buy one to put in his hallway. That way he’d have to get out of bed and leave his room to shut it off. That would have to get him going. And he’d lay his clothes out the night before and have his breakfast ready to go. He’d shower the night before, too.
That was a lot of change. If that didn’t fix this problem, there was no hope. All he’d have to do is roll out of bed, brush his teeth, and everything else was already done for him.
Tomorrow. Starting tomorrow, he’d never be late again.
But there was no helping it today. He managed to slide into his chair only eleven minutes after his shift started.
“Morning,” Rhett called from his office in back. “I have a call in fifteen but I’ll be out after that.”
“Sounds good,” Zach called back. He read over the note his cousin and coworker Beau had left from the night before. Beau had come in to do a night call. Nothing serious, just a drunk shifter that was roaming around while still in his animal. The lady hadn’t hurt anyone, but the human police thought it was better to get her off the street.
It was a little ironic that Beau would pick up a shifter that couldn’t quite control herself. Beau would be gone for the next three days on an inpatient stay at the hospital one town over in Abbott. Unbeknownst to anyone but their boss, himself, and their mates, Beau had a problem controlling his animal.
He’d been shifting out of control for months without telling anyone. He had wanted to turn himself in to the federal government for lockup, but Rhett had talked him out of it. There had been a few incidents similar to his and the doctors in Abbott thought they could help him. So far it was going good.
Zach hadn’t told anyone, but he didn’t like the arrangement at all. It made him uneasy knowing Beau could shift at any moment and go on a rampage. He would never tell anyone that though. He loved his cousin and didn’t think federal lockup would do him any good. He’d seen how that kind of thing went and wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy. If Rhett thought that Beau wasn’t a danger, Zach would trust it. Rhett was much older and like the doctors in Abbott, he’d seen much more of the world than Zach. They had to know something he didn’t.
It looked like it was going to be a slow day. Just like all the other days this month. The nicest part of being a Keeper in Lake Magnolia was that he rarely saw any real action. Not that he wanted to. It was always nice to have awesome war stories, but he preferred it this way. When things were quiet, that meant everyone in town was safe. That was better than exciting stories any day of the week.
“You aren’t going to believe this,” Rhett said, coming out of his office. “We have a human problem.”
“A what?” Zach asked.
“Human. It looks like there’s some human poking around in Abbott. She was in Celebration a few weeks ago and now she was in Abbott yesterday.”
“Okay, but what does a human tourist have to do with us?”
Humans came to the shifter towns all the time. Most of them were trying to find a shifter to take home for the evening or were sightseeing. Considering the woman had been in Celebration, one of the biggest shifter tourist towns, he was sure she was sightseer out to snap a pic of a rare shifter for her social media feed.
“Not a tourist, though she is posing as one,” Rhett said. “She was asking about a penguin shifter in Celebration and a lion shifter in Abbott. Something about her is off and it made the Keeper in Celebration put the word out. When Tuck saw her at a bar in Abbott, he called to give me a heads up. I don’t know if she’s coming here, but keep an eye out for any human women you don’t recognize.”
“Any description?”
“Short, light purple or silver hair, wi
th a body that won’t quit. Those are Tuck’s words obviously.” Rhett chuckled. “I have a feeling you’d notice this woman.”
Zach nodded. A lady with purple or silver hair would stand out in these parts. But he still wasn’t sure what the big deal was. “Okay. I’m looking for a lady with a great body and questionable taste in hair color. Still not sure why I’ll be stopping her. Just to tell her she looks nice?”
Rhett sat down at the front desk and looked at the front door. “Not to alarm you two, but Tuck thinks she was looking for strange shifting.”
Zach moved around in his seat. He didn’t like the sound of that one bit. “Strange how?”
“You know how. She might know something about the shifting problem we’ve had.”
Zach and Beau exchanged glances and Beau shook his head. “Bullshit. Shifters don’t even know about this problem. No way a human knows anything.”
“Both of your mates know and they’re humans,” Zach pointed out. “Has there been a problem in Celebration?”
Rhett shrugged. “I think so, but Tucker was being more tight-lipped than usual. I’m guessing some of his coworkers were around.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to just leave her alone if she knows anything?” Beau asked. “She’s just poking around; she doesn’t know anything. If we make a big deal of keeping an eye on her, I think it would look much more suspicious.”
“Right, but I just wanted to give you guys a heads up if she comes around here.” Rhett leaned back in his chair. “For more exciting news, I wanted to invite you guys to my place. Saturday night, two weeks from now.”
“What’s the meal? Should I bring a side or a dessert?” Beau asked.
“Doesn’t matter. It’s a celebration,” Rhett said.
“What’s the occasion then and will there be food?”
Zach laughed. “Calm down about the food, man.”
“The theme is the important part.” Rhett paused and then smiled wider than Zach had ever seen. “And it’s cubs.”
Beau stood up. “No shit?”
“No shit indeed, my friend.” Rhett and Beau embraced as Zach went to shake his boss’s hand. It was strange to see Rhett so emotional.
“I didn’t even know you guys were trying,” Zach said. “Congratulations.”
“We weren’t, which makes it all the more of a surprise. I was looking for a way to bring it up but could never find the right moment. Figured a party would be the best way to break the news to everyone at once.”
Beau laughed. “Not even trying? Wow, lucky man. Guess this means Greer and I better get on it if we want kids near the same age.”
Zach groaned. “Come on, guys. Really? We can’t have two new dads at the same time. Who’s gonna work with me?”
“All the more reason to step up our recruitment.” Rhett said.
Of course. Zach looked at his watch. “I guess I could go out now and check the fliers. See if they’re still all up.”
Rhett nodded. “Good idea.”
He was sure Beau and Rhett were going to talk cubs for the next hour. Now was the perfect time to get out of the station. Plus, he’d been meaning to check out the fliers and follow up a few leads. If Rhett was going to be having a cub, they were going to need a new Keeper. Five seemed like the perfect number to him anyhow.
And he’d keep his eyes peeled for that human girl. The last thing he wanted was to run into her. He didn’t want any questions today unless it was about joining the force.
Chapter Two
Tally Nelson’s stomach rumbled painfully. She needed to stop and get food soon or she was going to pass out at the wheel. But not fast food again. She’d had some crappy burger and fries for the last three meals. Most disgusting, she’d eaten them cold last night for dinner.
The joys of traveling on a shoestring budget.
It wasn’t like she couldn’t stand to skip a few meals. She was supposed to be on a diet and these quick meals were killing not only her energy but also probably her waistline. If she wasn’t careful, she’d need a whole new wardrobe by the end of this trip. As much as she hated shopping, she was determined not to let that happen.
But couldn’t it be easier? Where were the healthy fast food options?
The bright lights of the familiar archway beckoned in the distance. It took all her willpower to drive past and keep the search up. She’d just gotten into Lake Magnolia and she knew there had to be some little diner or something. These small towns all had them. It was the one thing she could count on. And right now she could go for a giant plate of homefries and eggs. Not much better than fast food, but the effort had to count for something.
At least these places usually used fresh ingredients. And if not, well, it wasn’t going to be another burger. She could get a salad or a soup or some other sandwich. Just not another damn burger.
“Bingo!” She passed a small diner and turned on her blinker, wrenching her steering wheel to make the turn at the last minute. The car behind her honked and she waved at the driver over her shoulder. It wasn’t an accident so what was he complaining about?
She parked and practically skipped inside. Good Meals on Main. It even sounded wholesome. When she stepped inside, her eye went right to the spinning case of pies. Homemade, fresh pies. Those had to use fresh fruit so it must count for at least a serving. Right?
“Good morning!” the host chirped.
“Morning,” Tally answered. “One. Can I get a booth?”
The young man looked around. “Sure. This way.”
He led her through the restaurant to the back and seated her. “Your waitress will be right with you.”
“Thanks.” Tally opened the menu as soon as she sat down. Her stomach rumbled loudly again as she read it over. Everything sounded great to her right now.
“Coffee?” Her server was standing with a pot in her hand, poised to pour into the cup in front of Tally.
Tally turned her cup over in her saucer. “Sure.”
“Do you need a minute or do you know what you want?”
“I think I’d like to start with a short stack, homefries, scrambled eggs, and bacon.”
“Sure thing.”
The waitress reached for the menu but Tally didn’t hand it over. “I want to order something to go but I haven’t decided yet.”
“Of course. Flag me down when you’re ready.”
Tally was going to take a sandwich to go. Maybe a Reuben. That would hold her over until the evening. She didn’t know how long she would be in town, but she was sure her hotel wasn’t going to have a working kitchen. She could run to the grocery store tomorrow, but for the rest of today she was going to crash and do research.
She was getting very close to getting good evidence. She could feel it. As if on cue, her phone chirped. Tally groaned. She waved at her waitress. “Hey, I need to take a call outside. I’ll be right back.”
The girl smiled. “Sure. No problem. Your food should be up in about five to seven minutes though.”
Tally nodded. “I’ll be sure to keep this call short then. Nothing worse than cold pancakes.”
By the time she got outside, she’d missed the call. She quickly hit redial and waited for her best friend to pick up.
“Hey girl, hey!”
Tally smiled at the silly greeting. “Hey Bettina. What’s up?”
“You get to Lake Magnolia okay?”
“Of course. Getting food right now.”
“Burgers and fries?” Bettina’s disgust was loud and clear across the phone.
“We can’t all be world-class cooks and be able to MacGyver a kitchen anywhere.”
“It takes nothing to pick up some healthy ready-made food at a supermarket. You just have to want to eat it.”
“I don’t do rabbit food,” Tally sniffed. “But I’m at a diner. So not exactly fast food. It might not be the healthiest but a marked improvement.”
“Okay, okay, I’m not calling to give you shit about your food choices. You know I respect whatever choice
you make.”
“Why are you calling then?”
“I was looking at the site traffic last night and it looks like this new series is super popular.”
“Really? I’ve barely posted anything.”
“We got close to a thousand hits on the first article from last week.”
“Whoa.” Tally couldn’t believe it. The little site she and Bettina ran usually got a thousand hits a month across all their articles. Getting so many hits on one piece was unheard of for them. “Any comments or anything? Pingbacks? Where is the traffic coming from?”
“It looks organic. People must be talking about your trip. I’m going to check some of the message boards this morning and maybe post our stuff if it isn’t there yet. I think you’re onto something here and I want to keep the momentum going. At the very least, you’ve got a hot story. This could be really big for us.”
“If I can find anything,” Tally sighed. “Since Abbott was a bust, I’m not getting my hopes too high for this place.”
“Was it a bust though?” Bettina asked. “The Keepers were stonewalling you. That has to be a sign that you’re onto something. If it was nothing, they would have talked to you like they did in Celebration.”
“Maybe.”
She didn’t buy it. They were stonewalling her because they were rich jerks. She knew the type. She’d been around it her entire life and if they didn’t think you were one of them, you may as well be dead. And the shifters in Abbott were super rich. Old money, dragon-shifter rich. As far as they knew, she was just a kooky human looking for a cute shifter for the night.
Though, if they knew what she was really after, she had a feeling they wouldn’t have been any happier to have her in town. So far she’d been lucky—no one had any idea what she was up to, but that luck was going to run out sooner or later. And she had a feeling it was going to be sooner. Now that her article had posted and was getting hits, shifters were going to find out and someone would put two and two together.
“Not maybe. You’re onto something and it’s going to be huge,” Bettina said confidently. “This is going to put you on the map.”
