Mates Since Birth (Half-breed Shifter Series)

by Stowe, Miranda`

  He sent her a short frown. “Oh, you’re going. That’s what I need to prepare…for you to be long gone by the time they arrive.”

  She huffed out an incredulous sound of anger. “You’re delusional if you think I’m going to abandon you now. We’re mates, Dane. We stick together.”

  “Your mother’s going,” he reminded, forcing himself to sound cold and militant so she wouldn’t suspect how much sending her away made him ache. He didn’t want to part from her again, not even for the length of this fight with the purebloods. “And your father’s staying. This is no different.”

  “Yes, it is!” When he ignored her and yanked up his pants, she reached for her own BDUs and tugged them on. “I’m not a human like my mother is. In fact, I have more animal in me than you do. Your words. I should be able to look after myself better than you can.”

  Eyes flashing in bitter resentment, Dane dropped the shirt he’d just picked up. “Is that a challenge of my power?”

  He’d always been sensitive about having such diluted shifter genes. Even the other half-shifters in Locks Hollow had been merely half. He was only a fourth. It had made him fight harder in his growing years to prove himself.

  Ari must’ve seen the anger in his face, or felt the hurt in his emotions because her eyes grew large a moment before he pounced, tackling her to the bed and pinning her beneath him. “So you think you’re stronger than me, huh?”

  “Dane…” Her voice trembled with apology. When she lifted her hand to stroke his cheek, he hissed and caught her wrist, pinning that down as well.

  “If I’m so weak, then best me, woman.”

  Her eyes flared with irritation. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

  Leaning close, he whispered in her ear. “Prove it.”

  Only the brief bunching of her muscles under him warned him of her impending change. One moment, he pinned a curvy, soft woman, the next, a ferocious wolf vibrated under him. Grinning at the challenge, he flashed into his jaguar. A part of him reveled in her attack. He knew she craved a male able to dominate her and he wanted a female who was eager to test him.

  Encouraged by her spirit and speed, he countered her attack with one of his own, snapping at her muzzle when she went for his leg. When his teeth barely grazed her jaw, she growled instead of yelped. Then she head-butted him off her bed. If he’d been in his human form, he would’ve laughed. But damn, he loved her spunk.

  They tumbled to the floor, a wad of fur and teeth. She didn’t hold back, and he only held back in regards to hurting her. When she tried to overpower him and leapt onto his back, he twisted his hindquarters with a speed that impressed even him and performed his own head butt, taking out one of her back legs until she buckled. Before she could regain her footing, he was on top of her, pinning her to the carpet and sinking his fangs into her bonding mark. Claiming her.

  A human cry of pleasure rose from her. The wolf fur in his mouth turned to soft flesh, and a naked woman arched under him. An instant later, he was human as well, nudging apart her thighs with his knees and entering her from behind, his cock driving deep.

  “Dane,” she cried out in a high voice. “Please, please…” She writhed under him. He slid his hand around to capture her clit and stroke her as he thrust into her fast and hard.

  She came around him, clamping tight. It was more than he could handle. He released himself, flooding her channel with his seed, and groaning her name.

  “Mine,” he said into her hair. “All mine.”

  “Yes,” she agreed, then laughed out a healthy, pure sound of pleasure. “My God, that was fun.”

  It had been, he had to agree. He nipped at her shoulder. “Feel free to challenge me any time you like,” he murmured in her ear, making her shiver with delight.

  He regrettably began to withdraw from her when the pounding started on her front door. Both of them froze, then lifted their faces. “Who could that be?”

  “Well, I don’t guess it’s the purebloods,” Dane droned. “I doubt they’ll knock first.”

  He grabbed up his borrowed pants, only to roll his eyes when he found them split up the sides. Shit. He shoved them on anyway, since they could still at least cover his crotch. Ignoring the way they hung down his legs like shredded drapes, he strode through Ari’s house, bare-chested, and swung open her front door, expecting her father.

  He blinked when he found his own instead. “Dad?”

  Shaw Griffin stepped inside and yanked him into a brief bear hug. “Thank God, you’re here. We need to hurry. The Hunters are coming.”

  Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, Dane frowned, utterly baffled. “Hunters? No. Absolute extremist purebloods are coming, not Hunters.” Hunters were the human organization which hated anything shifter, half or full-blooded. His father had actually been a member of the sect right up until he’d met Dane’s mother.

  “And what the hell are you doing here?” he added, his confusion only multiplying.

  “We got your message, telling us you’d found Ari. And we couldn’t wait a moment longer to see her again ourselves. We boarded the first plane available and came straight here.”

  “We?” Dane asked, dread growing in his veins.

  His father nodded. “Yes, we. All of us. Your mother, I, and both your sisters.”

  “Jesus.” Dane began to shake. “Well, you need to leave. All of you. Extremist purebloods are headed this way.”

  Shaw nodded vigorously. “I know. I got a message through the Hunter’s link that a group of shifters were charging en masse this way. So the humans are on their way to meet them…to fight them.”

  Dear God, not another sect of lunatic extremists to deal with. “From which direction are they coming?”

  “From the east.”

  Dane’s face drained. “We’ll be—”

  “Caught in the crossfire. I know. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. We need to escape the area. All of us. When the purebloods and the hunters meet here, all hell is going to break loose. If the half-breed community isn’t around, with any luck, the other two groups will annihilate each other and the problem will be solved.”

  “But their homes. What about—”

  “They’re going to be destroyed whether the half-bloods stay or leave. And I suggest they leave. They might’ve had a chance against one group. But with both the purebloods and Hunters closing in, they’ll be…”

  Yeah, no more explanation was needed. The half-blood community needed to flee now.

  From the opening of the hallway, Ari gasped. When Dane turned, he found her fully clothed, wearing a dark pair of BDUs now and a tight black tank top. She covered her mouth with both hands as she gaped at Shaw and Dane in horror. “Hunters?” she whispered the dreaded words. “Here?”

  Dane strode to her and pulled her into his arms. A ripple of fear worked through her.

  “Ari…” Shaw breathed her name as he stepped forward. His face softened as he looked her up and down. “You’ve grown so lovely.”

  He appeared as if he wanted to rip her out of Dane’s arms and yank her into a fatherly embrace. But when her muscles tightened, Dane lifted his hand, stopping the old man. “Dad,” he warned, giving a slight, jerking shake of the head. “She doesn’t remember anything about Locks Hollow. She was too young.”

  For a moment, Shaw looked hurt, but a second later, his expression softened. “Right.” He forced a grin at Ari. “I’m Shaw Griffin, Dane’s—”

  “Father,” she completed for him. “Yes. I heard. Plus I can see the resemblance.” Her nose twitched as she breathed in his scent. “You’re completely human.”

  Shaw’s grin only highlighted his relationship to Dane. “One hundred percent,” he agreed. “Just like your mother.”

  Ari pulled from Dane’s arms to shake hands with Shaw. “How do you know the Hunters are coming?”

  “He was one,” Dane explained. “And the Hunters who realized he’d married and fathered shifters were killed out long ago. The existing fac
tions have kept him on their calling chain, so to speak.”

  Ari’s mouth fell open. “You were—”

  Shaw frowned. “Yes, yes. I was a stupid kid with stupid beliefs. It was a long time ago.” As if he needed to prove he’d actually been a Hunter, he lifted the sleeve of his shirt to show her the distinctive tattoo faded on the inside of his wrist.

  Eyes bulging, Ari tentatively reached out to touch the mark. “How—”

  “Yeah.” Irrationally jealous of her touching another man, even his own father, Dane grasped her wrist and tugged her hand down. “We can talk all about his Hunter days once we’re far and gone away from here. Until then, we have to move…now.” Besides, he had his own tattoo she could caress if that’s what she really wanted.

  “He’s right,” Shaw said, his face tightening back into serious business. “Both groups are already closer than I’d like them to be. We don’t have much time.”

  * * * *

  As Shaw escorted Dane and Ari out of her house and down the street to her parents’ home, she couldn’t seem to take her attention off Dane’s father. For being a mere human, he possessed a power about him. It oozed from his pores. His son had inherited the same aura of strength, she realized. But his father had no shifter blood in him. It intrigued her.

  “How did you do it?” she had to know as they crossed the now darkened street. “How did you fight shape-shifters all those years ago without getting killed? They’re stronger, faster, smarter, sharper instincts.”

  He quirked her an arrogant kind of grin. “Oh, I wouldn’t say they’re always smarter. I’ve discovered the intelligence of a shifter can be blurred by their animal side. They find it harder to reason past their emotions. When they’re hurt, or pissed, or scared, they’ll lash out without thought. But even humans can fall victim to that trap. So, honestly, it’s all about keeping your head level. Instincts will only carry you so far before you need a smart, calculated move.”

  Dane took her hand and sent her a proud look. “Trust me, babe. Shaw Griffin is a force to be reckoned with.”

  She smiled, realizing Shaw had most likely kicked Dane’s ass plenty in the past. And in return, he’d given Shaw his respect.

  She liked the Griffin family.

  A mob had gathered in her parents’ front yard. When three females—two close to her age, and one older—broke away from the crowd and started toward Ari, Dane, and Shaw, she focused on the strangers, immediately scenting their jaguar side and seeing more of Dane’s resemblance in their faces.

  “Ari!” One of the younger shifters squealed and she launched herself forward, tugging Ari away from Dane to enfold her into a tight hug. “I’m so glad Dane finally found you.”

  “He was beginning to drive us crazy with his desperate search,” the other younger female added, hugging her next.

  “This is Brynn,” Dane said, introducing the first jaguar who’d snagged her. “And Rhea,” he added, motioning to the female currently releasing her. “My sisters. And my mother, Riley. She was the midwife who birthed you.”

  Dane’s mother enfolded her last. When she pulled back, she looked as happy as she did sad. “I was afraid you wouldn’t remember us. But alas, we’ll make new memories.”

  “I’m sure we’ll have plenty of time to reconnect…after we’re away from here,” Shaw announced. Setting a protective hand on Riley and Rhea’s shoulders, he urged them to move. “But until then, it’s time to go.”

  “Good idea,” Dane said, taking hold of Ari’s elbow.

  But it was already too late. Her father’s roar of warning echoed across the yard. “They’re here.”

  Immediately, the Griffin family closed in around Ari, tightening together in a protective circle, even as they spun in every direction to find where the threat originated.

  But who was here, she wanted to ask. The purebloods or the Hunters?

  “Shit,” Dane hissed beside her. “We’re blocked in.”

  She glanced up both sides of the street to smell the hint of animal—wolf—closing in from the west end of the street, and pure human approaching from the east.

  “Ari!” her father called over the roar of screaming, fleeing half-breeds. She barely caught sight of him through the throng of frightened people as he pushed and shoved and tried to find his way to her. “You know what to do.”

  She wanted to cry out to her father, to hurry his way and cower close to him, but there were too many shifters between them. Besides, she needed to get Dane and his family to safety.

  “This way,” she yelled over the roar of attacking Hunters and purebloods. She grasped her mate’s wrist and hauled him after her, hoping his family followed. Then she darted toward the backyard of her parents’ home, glad her mother had left hours ago. When she realized all five Griffins were dutifully following, putting their complete faith in her, she turned her attention back to where she was going and led them down an alley, sharply turning halfway up the block to dart between a tight space between houses.

  “There’s a small cave up ahead,” she panted out her explanation to Dane, who remained right at her elbow. “If anything ever happened, we were supposed to go and meet there.”

  “Who knows about it?” Dane asked. “Is every half-breed in the community going to lead all the purebloods and Hunters straight there?”

  “Just me and my parents know about it,” she explained. Quickly, she panted out instructions of how to get there in case they were separated. Dane’s family nodded, letting her know they would follow her directions.

  The sound of fighting erupted behind them, purebloods attacking half-breed and Hunter alike. Hunters shooting at anything with fur. Her neighbors defending their homes. Screams rending the air.

  Her hometown, the only community she remembered growing up in, had become a battle ground. She prayed her father stayed safe.

  “Hunters incoming,” Shaw called out harshly from the back of the line. “Spread out.”

  Immediately, Dane’s parents darted off to the right away from the group. His sisters swerved left. Dane took tight hold of Ari’s elbow and plowed forward.

  When a shot whizzed past them, coming close enough for Ari to smell the gunpowder from the bullet, Dane cursed. “Go animal,” he shouted.

  Good idea, she decided. Their furry hides were much thicker than human flesh and would make it harder for a bullet to penetrate.

  She morphed, instinctively turning into her doe. It couldn’t move as fast as her wolf or fight quite as dirty, but it wouldn’t stick out in this area as much as her wolf would. Next to her, a sleek jaguar sprang out of Dane’s clothes, leaving the shredded material behind.

  He moved fast, bounding ahead, only to slow as if he’d just noticed she’d lagged behind and wasn’t by his side. Fearing he’d get hurt if he stayed with her, slowing him down, Ari darted right between two more houses, hoping the Hunter in pursuit followed her instead of Dane.

  She heard Dane’s catlike snarl, no doubt coming when he realized she was no longer with him. But the Hunter had indeed turned to follow her, so she led the bastard on a merry chase, knowing the ins and outs of the alleys and yards of her neighborhood like the back of her hand.

  Behind her, the panting human tried to keep up, squawking something into his portable radio in some strange language, or code, she couldn’t understand.

  She grinned. Yeah, call in reinforcements, you murdering swine. You still won’t catch me.

  But when she dodged into an alley, the blare of headlights nearly blinded her. She skidded on her hooves to stop and the van screeched its brakes. They both had nearly come to a halt when they collided, but it still hurt when the front bumper plowed into her shoulder. She flickered from animal to human, but managed to keep her deer form.

  Behind her, someone shouted. A Hunter in his strange language. A net flew over her head and wrapped around her, snaring her tight. Tangled and desperate, she thrashed and bucked, but the back doors of the van opened and three more bulky Hunters jumped out.

>   “A deer?” someone cried, sounding disbelieving. “I ain’t never seen a deer shifter before. Are you sure this is one of them?”

  “I saw it shift with my very own eyes. Now get it into the van. Mack said he needed one of them for research. And since this thing seems to be a rare breed, I figure it’ll do.”

  It took all four of them to lift her. She caught two in the chest with her hooves, but it was still useless. She’d become a Hunter captive.

  When the back doors of the van slammed shut and sped off, Ari lay tangled, gasping, and defeated on her side in the back of the fleeing automobile.

  Chapter Eight

  Dane heard the revving engine and smelled the exhaust before he rounded the corner of the alley and caught sight of the van peeling out. Still in his jaguar, he skidded to a stop and glanced frantically around for his mate. Her scent led this way…and stopped here. He glared after the glowing red taillights, a part of him urging him to take up chase.

  But logic told him she couldn’t be inside it.

  Purebloods wouldn’t drive an automobile. They despised everything human. And Hunters wouldn’t capture a shifter and leave with her. They killed mercilessly and let their dead lay were they died. They didn’t capture and imprison.

  Except there was no other explanation of where Ari had gone. When he had realized she’d changed directions on him, he’d cursed up a blue streak and tailed after her. But she was one fast wolf.

  “Dane!” His father’s voice called, shaking him from his mystery. He found his parents hot on his trail, hurrying his way and both in their human form.

  “What are you doing?” Shaw cried. “Keep going.”

  Dane shook his head, confused, and flashed to his human without thinking. He stared up the road after the van, which had disappeared. “But, Ari—”

  “She’s probably already at the cave,” his mother broke in, taking his arm and trying to tug him along.

  He resisted. “No. No, I think she was in that van.”

  “Don’t be silly. That van was full of Hunters. Hunters don’t capture shifters.”