Southern Shifters: Shiftin' Sassy: Derria Pryde (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Pryde Ranch Shifters Book 4)

by T. J. Michaels

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Text copyright ©2015 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Eliza Gayle. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Southern Shifters remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Eliza Gayle, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  Shiftin’ Sassy

  A Pryde Ranch Shifters/Southern Shifters

  Crossover Novel

  by

  T.J. Michaels

  Praise for the novels of TJ Michaels

  Silk Road

  “An action packed thriller too hot to miss!” ~Lisa Renee Jones, national bestselling author

  “Silk Road twisted and turned flawlessly. The characters were nothing short of fantastic.” ~Booked and Loaded Reviews

  “SILK ROAD is an entertaining urban fantasy romance that promises to captivate readers as good, evil, and something in between converge in a real page turner from beginning to end.” ~R. Barri Flowers, bestselling Harlequin author of MURDER IN HONOLULU and MURDER IN MAUI

  The Vampire Council of Ethics Series

  “Interesting new world. Hot stuff!” ~Shayla Black, New York Times bestselling author

  “CARINIAN’S SEEKER was a highly erotic, thrilling suspenseful, paranormal read that will blow your mind.” ~Fallen Angel Reviews

  “It had me rooting for their happy-ever-after as much as cheering their kick-ass assignments” ~Just Erotic Romance Reviews

  “T.J. MICHAELS has done an astounding job of crafting a steamy hot suspenseful romance—” ~Romance Junkies

  Spirit Bound Novels

  “All in all, [On the Prowl] is a fun and delightful story with spicy sex and great suspense both in the love story and the plot.” ~Just Erotic Romance Reviews

  “Using heat, danger and tension, Egyptian Voyage will keep you glued to that edge of your seat as you go along for the ride. TJ Michaels has written a story that will fascinate, horrify and ultimately delight the reader.” ~SensualReads.com

  Forever December

  “[Forever December] is a highly erotic, touching and sexy novella that will have you reaching for a tall, cold glass of water and a fan.” ~Romance Divas

  “Explosive love scenes will curl your toes and leave you fanning. Readers who love a flare for the dramatic with paranormal elements will certainly become fans of TJ Michaels.” ~Romance Junkies

  Jaguar’s Rule

  “The plot is flawlessly executed and the characters remain true.” ~The Romance Studio

  “T.J. MICHAELS knows how to write plot and passion in a most memorable way!” ~Fallen Angels Reviews

  Chapter One

  “Have me out here riding like Evel Knievel, chasing your goofy ass through the mountains. Just wait until I catch you,” Derria Sozi-Pryde snarled to herself, wishing the bad guy she was chasing could hear her inner commentary. She leaned into yet another curve and frowned at the force of the whipping wind as she straightened out her motorcycle.

  Luckily her riding gear was heavily insulated but a quick glance up at the darkening sky warned that she’d need something a bit warmer, and soon. Thick, fluffy gray clouds and the dramatic drop in temperature over the last couple of hours warned of rain. Definitely not her favorite thing.

  Derria thought she’d been everywhere, but she had to admit that this was the most curvy, lonely bit of highway she’d ever seen, let alone driven. No wonder they called this area the Tail of the Dragon.

  This stretch of blacktop had so many twists and turns she’d had to disengage the helmet display for her GPS, or risk running off the road. Three hundred curves over eleven miles? Fucking insane. She would be sure to take the nerve wracking ride out on her quarry when she caught up to him, the slippery bastard.

  Since it was too treacherous to fly through the turns, the slower speed gave her the chance to actually see what would usually pass as a blur. She truly appreciated the nature of the place, in spite of the fact she was pissed off and chasing a rogue Were.

  Both sides of the two lane highway were covered with trees. Chasing the sunset as she headed West, the beautiful pink and orange of the sunset caused a bit of glare on the visor of her helmet, but the colors stretched across the sky were so beautiful she didn’t really mind. It kind of reminded her of cherry blossoms…which reminded her of cherries. And that thought led to the realization that it had been quite a while since her last meal.

  She pushed her bike just a bit harder as the first fat drops of rain began to fall in earnest. Derria’s cousins owned Pryde Ranch—the most awesome seventy-seven thousand acres of rolling prairie, groves and meadows off the Medicine Bow River in Wyoming. She was well aware that what most people considered “dark” was nothing compared to the über-dark out in the sticks. Usually she loved being in the middle of nowhere. But today, not so much.

  Derria pulled over to the side of the road in a spot where she was sure she wouldn’t be hit by any passing vehicles. Rather than taking her helmet off, she engaged the electronics in her helmet and tried to call her oldest cousin, Neesia Pryde. Neesia was just a few minutes older than her twin, Niah. Kotara and Koreas, were the second set of twins, a few years younger than Neesia and Niah. All the women and their mates were lion shifters, except for Koreas, who’d shocked herself by mating with a human—and a hot as hell cowboy human, at that.

  Derria had just come to know them a couple of years ago after learning, quite by accident, that her mother was the sister of the Pryde’s long dead father. Neesia, Niah, Kotara and Koreas had lost both their parents when they were just little girls. Thankfully their grandmother had stepped in to care for them by bringing them out of Africa and over to the U.S.

  Derria’s family had already come to the States and didn’t learn of the attack on their family’s shifter village until the girls had pretty much disappeared into thin air. Years later, Derria’s own family had died in a fluke skiing accident. Unfortunately, the chain of circumstances meant some long-lost family had been floating around out there thinking they were totally alone—namely Derria.

  She spoke the control password into the microphone on her helmet. Nothing happened.

  “Show signal strength.” The grid popped up on the display with zero bars. Great.

  She unzipped the side pouch on the gear bag strapped to the back of her bike and pulled out a mini-satellite dish. Once she unfolded it and hit the power button, she said, “Switch from mobile to satellite.” A couple of beeps later, she turned toward the southwest, held the unit up towards the sky and hoped to get a signal somehow.

  Yes! Thank goodness for Niah Pryde’s amazing inventions. The woman was a genius when it came to all things electronic, hence Derria being on this hunt with military grade everything. After all, what good would it be for Niah to provide services to the government on behalf of Pryde Industries if she didn’t keep anything for their own little pride? Even her voice activated encrypted software system embedded into her helmet was one of Niah’s private toys.

  “Call home.”

  Neesia Pryde answered on the second ring. “Hey Derria,�
�� Neesia said, her words bright with genuine welcome. “Everything okay?”

  Derria explained the issue with the GPS display on her helmet, or rather the problem with all the damn curves on this road.

  “The signal must be terrible out there,” Neesia said. “I actually lost you a couple of times.”

  “Why were you tracking me in the first place?”

  “I’m your liaison on this hunt remember? And before you get all snotty, let me tell you that I just got some new information from the agency. You’re not going to be happy about it, because I sure as hell am not.”

  “Okay, lay it on me.” She could hear the snarl building in her throat as her annoyance at this new information grew. Considering she didn’t even know what it was, she chalked it up to a long day.

  “Find a place to hole up tonight, then tomorrow check in with the locals,” Neesia said.

  “The local what?”

  “There are multiple shifter populations near you. In fact, you’re in an area called the Neutral Zone. It sits between various territories.”

  Derria bristled. “The Neutral Zone? What is this, Star Trek? What are you going to tell me next, Neecie? That I need to look out for Romulans and Klingons?”

  “Smart-ass. Don’t take it out on me because your rogue gave you the slip. Now, what you do need to look out for are the various clans who live in that area. You need to check in with their council members if you expect to pass through their territories.”

  “And why are we just hearing about these clans? They’re not under S.W.A.T. jurisdiction?”

  “Nope. Those communities predate S.W.A.T. They opted out when the organization was first formed ages ago. Bunch of old guard, stuffed shirts are determined to keep their people in the dark ages.”

  “Are they going to interfere with me once they know why I’m here?” Like, hiding the person she was looking for, or warn him that she was hot on his trail?

  “No, but you still need to check in with the Elders of each territory you pass through.”

  Then the “nosey” in Derria perked up its head. “How are they surviving with no new blood? Inbreeding?”

  Neesia said, “Actually, there is no inbreeding. In fact, there’s no breeding at all. When it happens it’s rare. For some reason their fertility rate is so low that extinction is a true possibility.”

  “Interesting.” She paused and let this new information sink in. So not only were there several communities that weren’t under the agency’s jurisdiction, but they were in danger of disappearing as well? Instead of voicing the slew of questions flying through her brain, she said, “Let it go on the record that I am totally pissed that S.W.A.T. just now chose to share these little details after I’m already out here in the sticks.” Derria kicked a big rock as hard as she could, and then winced as it went flying high up into the air. Damn thing was denser than she’d expected, she thought to herself as it landed on the other side of the highway in the thick brush.

  “There would have been no need if you’d caught him in Tennessee,” Neesia teased, “or even just a few miles East of where you are now. They basically said it was a need to know basis, and obviously they felt as if we didn’t need to know until now. Bastards.”

  “Indeed. So how do I know when I’m in clan territory? And how do I know which clan belongs to which part of this windy ass mountain range?”

  Neesia agreed to send the details to Derria’s GPS unit so she could see exactly where all the lines and borders were. As the data came through, her eyes grew wide as she paced back and forth next to her motorcycle.

  Holy shit! There were several species of felines, including cougar and jaguar, as well as psychics and witches.

  “Neesia, did you look at their shit? I have to deal with witches? Witches? Seriously? Next you’ll be telling me that there are demons and vampires, damn it.”

  “They’re not witches, but they do have some kind of psychic abilities. But think of it this way, none of us shifters are supposed to exist so why would it be so strange to learn that there are all kinds of other things we didn’t know about?”

  “Are you saying there are vamp…”

  “No, but I’m making a point here, cuz. Just roll with me.”

  “Hell, I’m tired of rolling. My bike needs gas and my ass needs a break. I could do with some food and a good night’s sleep. Looking through the data you sent me and I don’t see any hotels close by. Aw, hell.”

  “What?”

  “It’s starting to rain. I need to get moving.”

  “Keep heading west for another couple of miles. There’s a little town called Deal’s Gap. Stop there.”

  “Fine,” she grumbled.

  “Derria, you’re a kick ass bounty hunter, but diplomacy is not your strong suit. Think you’ll need any help?” Neesia asked. “Niah and Lou are out of pocket, but my mate is out on a hunt not too far from you.”

  “Nah, I’ve got it. If I need Jason, I’ll call him, but I don’t think I’ll need the big guy for this. It’s supposed to be a simple snatch and grab.”

  “Where’s your quarry?”

  “I’ll send you the frequency. That way we both know where he is.” Her bounty had been shot in the leg with a high-powered rifle that contained some very special ammunition. The bullets contained non-metal nano-trackers that split away from the slug when the ammo hit the body. Even if the guy managed to get the bullet fragments out, and then shift to accelerate his healing, the tracker would remain inside him.

  Genius, if she could say so herself. All hail Niah Pryde!

  Derria pulled up the data feed with a word and smiled. “He’s no more than twenty miles from me. Looks like he’s gone off-road.” Since the little red dot that represented him wasn’t moving, he had either forced a shift to hunker down to heal, or found somewhere to get out of the weather for the night.

  Speaking of weather, it was time to go. Her bike was modified for her needs, but the last place she wanted to be was on a slick and icy road, in the dark, far from home. Sure, as an African lion shifter, Derria had exceptional eyesight, but no lioness in her right mind enjoyed being out in an ice cold downpour at night.

  Yep, definitely time to go.

  “Okay, Neesia. I’m out of here and headed to Deal’s Gap.”

  “Good. There should be at least a bed and breakfast or something there. If not, there’s a pub called The Dark Moon. Word has it that they may have a room or two available.”

  “Got it,” Derria said as she climbed back onto her bike. “I’ll check in with you one more time before I hit the sheets.” With her typical request that Neesia tell all of her sisters and their mates that she sent a somewhat grumpy hello and long-distance hugs, she signed off, and then secured the mini-satellite dish into its “cup holder” and checked the strap of her helmet.

  Derria revved the engine once for good measure, flipped on her headlights and rode hell for leather for Deal’s Gap with one prayer.

  Dear God, please don’t let me roll into town and find that the only place to stay the night is owned by a tobacco spitting, moonshine swigging, banjo playing toothless wonder whose favorite pastime is carving himself new teeth…or carving up intruding lioness shifters from Wyoming. Amen.

  * * * * *

  Kerr Blackwood couldn’t believe his luck. He’d been shot by the most beautiful bitch he’d ever seen. He pushed his bike as hard and fast as he could, making his way toward his clan’s lands. He knew this winding road known as the Tail of the Dragon, like the back of his hand and he hoped he’d made a clean getaway into these mountains.

  Finally, just as the sun was setting, he reached his own personal little hidey-hole. His pack had been declared renegades by their bass ackwards, ancient as dirt Clan Comyn council leaders for wanting to live in the modern age. Though they’d walked into exile together as one pack, Kerr wasn’t stupid enough to think that all Blackwood’s were good guys. Some of his brothers and cousins were fucking scary ass bastards, and the last thing a smart man did wa
s tell crazy people where he would hole up in times of trouble.

  Careful to drive at a speed that wouldn’t kick up dirt and leave a glaring trail, he maneuvered his bike off of the road and into a dense spot of brush and stopped at the bottom of a sheer cliff. With the push of a button, the solid-looking rock face slid open to reveal what looked like nothing more than a cave.

  Holy shot-in-the-ass, Batman, he grumbled to himself. Hell, he wished he had been shot in the ass. Less blood loss. In fact, he hadn’t realized he’d lost so much until his vision began to waver and his limbs refused to work properly.

  Oh, and the pool of sticky cooling fluid that gushed out of his boots as he tried to balance his bike was a slight indication of a small problem. Getting shot in the leg isn’t so bad…unless the bullet nicked an artery. It might explain why he should be healing, but his body wasn’t cooperating. There was no way in hell he should be losing steam like this, and he wondered for the billionth time what he’d been shot with.

  Once inside, he quickly shut off his ride, secured the door and activated both the alarm system and the dim lighting. He stripped as quickly as he could, and then forced his animal to the fore. His wolf was sluggish and that worried the hell out of him. After a bit of coaxing, his beast responded and the buzz of magic filled the air as the change rippled through his body.

  Born a shifter, he usually felt very little pain when his body rearranged itself. Right now, it hurt like hell. He lay there on the polished stone floor. Shallow pants and a few moans was all he could manage. Even after the shift, the typical burst of energy from taking on his natural persona, was absent. A quiet clink of something hit the floor—a bullet. He rolled over with a groan, thankful that his body had at least rejected the slug he’d been carrying for the last however many hours as he’d run like hell from whoever was after him.