by E Hall
Shifter Diaries:
Loss Hunted
~
Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series
~
Book 3
~
by
E. Hall
Shifter Diaries: Loss Hunted
Copyright© 2020 E Hall
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author/publisher except where permitted by law.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
*Note: portions of this book was previously published under a different pen name of mine. The content has been revised and updated.
Cover Design: Melony Paradise of Paradise Cover Design www.paradisecoverdesign.com
Website: http://www.ehallauthor.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ehallauthor
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 1
Let’s Connect
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by E. Hall
Are you a fan of fantasy and magic?
Page-turning mystery and danger?
With a splash of romance?
If you haven’t already, join my newsletter to receive a copy of Shifter Diaries: The Seal of the Fated Mates. It’s the prequel to the Sweet Paranormal Wolf & Fae Fantasy Romance Series. You’ll also have access to FREE bonus “segue scenes” that chronicle what happens between the Court of Crown & Compass books!
Dear Diary,
Whenever someone would complain about an assignment or test, my English teacher, Mrs. Hershey wouldn’t apologize or tell us to suck it up. Nope. She’d snap her fingers, point to the student (or me), and say, “Right now, share three things that you’re thankful for.”
The first time it took me by surprise. Granted, she was a bit of a renegade as far as teachers went, and true to her last name, always had an ample supply of Hershey’s chocolate in her classroom. That always stuck with me though. Well, the chocolate addiction, but also her reminder to focus on the good before dwelling on the bad.
Her delivery with the snapping and the pointing would startle the class out of our collective funk. The question to name three things were thankful for would prompt us to think about something other than the homework or exam. She also said the things had to be very specific. For instance, “I’m thankful to be alive,” while true, wasn’t acceptable. It had to be more like, “I’m thankful for the squirrel I saw collecting acorns on my hike yesterday, reminding me to prepare for the days to come.” Or, “I’m grateful that I got to know my father, if even for only a few days.” Or, “I appreciate the pack’s slow acceptance of me.”
Yup. Those are all things I’m really thankful for. But it’s hard not to slide back into the funk when I think about my own real-life assignments. You know, of the save the magical and human world from imminent destruction variety. No biggie, right?
Then there’s that Alpha wolf I’m madly in love with. I went from despising him to crushing on him to falling love. Sure, we’ve had some bumps in the road. Being the Alpha wolf of a pack and representative on the Guardians and Warriors Council is not synonymous with always telling his fated mate the truth about everything. But we’re getting there.
Mrs. Hershey also used to say, “Strive for progress, not perfection.” Well, wish me luck because I need to make some progress on finding out what my father meant when he told me to break the curse...and I’m pretty sure that will require perfection or in the very least expertise. I don’t think imperfectly breaking a curse will be effective or end well.
Love,
Kenna
Chapter 1
Kenna
Deep thought of the day: the greatest education is learning about oneself. Who knew I was an ace pool player. I slide the billiard’s cue smoothly through my fingers and sink the last striped ball into the corner pocket.
I play it cool at my win when really I’m bouncing inside.
Half the wolf shifters in the room cheer. My opponent, Trigg, groans.
“Are we done?” I ask, lowering my cue and holding it like a staff, er, scepter.
He slaps his cell phone in my hand. “One call, Kenna.”
I arch an eyebrow. “The deal was I get the phone for a full day.”
“Two hours,” Trigg counters.
My wolf growls. “I’m not open to negotiations. This started as whoever won two out of three games. I won twenty-one. It isn’t ping pong or a card game.”
Camilla slides off the edge of her perch on the side of the pool table, where she watched me crush Trigg. “We have a ping-pong table.” She points to the corner where it’s folded up.
Trigg chuckles. “I’m in.”
I shoot him a glare and slide the phone in my pocket.
“Who are you going to call?” Trigg asks.
“None of your business.” Yes, I have a call to make. However, mostly I have research to do—Polaris is woefully underserved when it comes to modern technology. Or rather, internet access. So I have to do what I have to do. My mom gave me a phone but it didn’t survive the werewolf-goblin-fae king attack
“I’ll see the log and the history,” he says.
“Not if I wipe it clean,” I say, lifting onto tiptoes and practically hissing in his face. I shouldn’t bite the hand that feeds me, it is his cell phone, but we had a bet. If I won, I got the use of the phone which strictly speaking he isn’t supposed to have at the wolf Headquarters—it interferes with our power.
I could go all Alpha wolf on him and seize it, but that isn’t how Pack Hjalmor works. Anyway, I know he uses it to send late-night texts to his girlfriend, Avril, who hates me. I’d like to know why, but that’s another matter for another time.
“Password?” I ask, tapping the screen.
“That wasn’t part of the bet.” Trigg smirks like he bested me.
A low growl fills my chest.
He holds up his hands in surrender. “Alright, all right. The password is 1-2-3-4.”
I roll my eyes and try it.
The screen changes to an image of Trigg and Avril with their arms around each other. I think of Corbin, wondering where he is. Pack duties fill most of his days, and mine, though it’s already evening.
I did my morning strength and agility practice, weapons and defense, and tactical and strategy training. That was after I had my early morning shift in the kitchen as part of the rotation of chores, including tending to the vegetable gardens, grounds, trails, cleaning, and of course, cooking. I figured I’d
earned a few hours of chill time in the game room.
As soon as Trigg exits, Camilla and Inga swarm around me.
They also wanted me to win the phone time so I can watch video footage, capturing Avril and her mean girl posse being idiots.
I cannot deny my sweet tooth or the bad influence Camilla and Inga have on me for harmless pranks. Earlier, I switched out the sweet cream doughnut filling for mayonnaise I served Avril, Heather, Harper, and Hannah. Mixing their coffee grounds with a bit of dirt was priceless.
The rest of it was all beta wolf shenanigans—although I gathered the supplies. Now, I want to see the results.
“How’d you know Avril uses the bathroom every day at the same time?” I ask as phase one of prank-gate displays on the phone screen.
Avril poked her head out of the bathroom door. Her pants were around her ankles. She called for help, but no one came. She wrinkled her nose and then hopped down the hall to another bathroom (there are at least ten in the lodge). The camera zoomed in on the bathroom the shelf, filled with empty toilet paper rolls. The one next to the toilet said a few choice words.
Camilla and Inga slap hands in a high five.
Phase two of the video displays Heather opening a bottle of soda. It exploded all over her in a fizzy mess.
“That’s what I call a soda-splosion,” Camilla says.
“Using the floss, I threaded it under the cap, snipped the ends off, and then balanced the mint candy inside,” Inga explains.
“Are there any Mentos left?” Camilla asks.
Inga shakes her head. “I ate them.”
“Phase three, we replaced Harper’s deodorant with cream cheese,” Camilla says as we watch her emerge from the bathroom looking disgusted.
“Phase four?” I ask when the video nears the end.
“We didn’t have the heart to prank Hannah. She’s actually sweet. Not sure why she hangs out with the meanies.” Camilla smiles apologetically.
As an Alpha wolf, Corbin wants us all to be like one big family, especially because most of our real-life families are gone since wolves live so long. It makes me sad and concerned that there are mean girls among us. Also, a family is all I’ve ever wanted and the mean girl posse has made it clear that I’m not welcome.
“The pranks are funny, but I’ll have to think of a way to make them see that we’re better and stronger together. I no longer feel the need to prove myself, but also know that we could just prank each other back and forth for the rest of time.”
Inga laughs. “Doesn’t sound like a terrible idea, but I know what you mean.”
“Okay, but not before the pièce de résistance,” Camilla says in a perfect French accent. “Those were teases. Little pranks to get back at them for all the times they’ve terrorized the wolves under them and you, Kenna. Avril is a bully.”
“And she’s on probation,” I remind them.
“We’ll see if this changes her ways.”
“Okay, what’s the showstopper?” I ask, wondering if they have more prank footage.
“You’ll have to wait and see, but it’s targeted at Avril since she’s the ringleader.” Inga winks. “And she messed with you.”
“We got your back, girl,” Camilla says.
At that, the two betas leave me with Trigg’s phone.
I slide onto the edge of the pool table, taking Camilla’s spot. I could be a total snoop and look at all of Trigg’s photos or delete them because he was being such a jerk. Instead, I get down to business.
First, I watch the prank video one more time because seeing the discomfort and shock on Avril, Heather, and Harper’s faces is hilarious.
My pulse jumps when Corbin’s voice interrupts my thoughts using the wolf-way of communication—I think of it as having an internal Walkie-Talkie.
Did he catch wind of the pranks and intend to put us on probation too? I hustle to the den, a large room with a long boardroom style table, reserved for meetings with the betas.
Baker sits toward the middle, clicking away on his laptop. If he wasn’t so attached to the thing, I’d have asked him if I could borrow it for my research, but I also don’t think I could get anything by him. Not that I have to hide, but my particular search terms may raise concern.
Corbin sits at one end with his fingers steepled and his head tucked, deep in thought. I lower into the chair at the other end. He glances up.
Our eyes meet. Deep copper to smoky gray. My pulse doesn’t jump this time. It leaps. All it takes is one look, sometimes less than that to get my heart racing, my stomach spinning, and my thoughts turning to mush.
Corbin is my Alpha, my fated mate, and the love of my young life. I’m still blindsided by those facts and the deep love I have for him. I’m in love with him and love him. Would do anything for him. I could swoon.
His lips quirk toward an amused smile. I’m pretty sure I’m looking at him with major heart eyes right now. At least I’m not in trouble. I don’t think he’d be able to freeze me with that smolder if the pranks ticked him off.
No, something else is going on. Something bad, if the layer of unease beneath the heat of his desire for me is any indication.
The others, except Avril, filter into the room and take their spots at the table with Claude and Inga on one side and Trigg, Camilla, and Baker on the other.
Corbin gets right down to business. “We have to smoke out the Klave. Amanda was our one connection.”
“And my father, presumably.”
Corbin nods. “But they’re of no help to us now.”
“Not necessarily. We know that Amanda wanted the cloak.”
“To do Visalia, the werewolf’s, dirty work,” Claude says.
“But Clove wanted it too. They killed Tatiana over it,” I add. “And my father left me the house and a ghost. Surely, there are clues there.”
“We believe the Klave has been growing their numbers and amassing their magic to lift the Accords spell,” Corbin says. “I’m not so sure anything at Lonsdale will point us in their direction.”
He’s being disagreeable.
I sling my arms in front of my chest. “We found one secret room. Maybe there’s another. A meeting place or something.”
“I’m afraid we can’t afford to search for clues. There’s been another death.” Corbin’s Scottish accent is low, hard.
The room goes shifter-wolf still.
The cloak can make a person invisible, but wolves don’t have that innate ability. No magicals do. However, we can be so still and silent, it’s like we’re not even there. It’s eerie and unsettling and probably what they do when stalking prey—haven’t done that personally.
I interrupt the quiet. “But we slayed the werewolf.”
Corbin nods. “It was a man, a hunter, who died.”
Ice slides down my spine. “Where?”
“The Forest of Ken and Clover.”
“That’s the fae lands,” Camilla says. “It’s Melchior’s problem.”
Corbin’s face turns to stone. “And he’s my problem.”
Something my friend Pepper told me comes to mind. She said that Melchior uses the energy from the lives his fae take to prolong his own.
I’m about to say as much when Baker spins his laptop to show us images from the scene. “No bites. No wounds. The guy’s body was found on the edge of the woods.”
“Maybe he had a heart attack?” I say weakly.
Corbin shakes his head. “The Accords spell is lifting.”
About a week ago, on the first day of autumn, Corbin and I were looking out the window. I’m sure I saw the silhouettes of several fae on the edge of the woods. It’s pack land, which is concerning, but so is this latest death and the song that perpetually fills my mind.
“It’s almost like the fae are hunting us,” I whisper.
A menacing growl grinds from Corbin’s throat as if to say no chance.
My brother, Clove, told me that he wants the keys to the kingdom. He has the scepter, and I worry he might accelerate the
lift of the spell, returning magicals to their base natures. The spell doesn’t apply to me because I was tri-magical—dual-magical now that Melchior slayed the vampire in me. However, I don’t feel the desire to hunt or kill. The strange song scares me though and makes me wonder what I am capable of.
No matter what, I have to find out what curse my father wants me to break. I’m afraid that it’s me. That I’m the curse.
I excuse myself from the meeting. Corbin will fill me in later. I have research to do.
Chapter 2
Corbin
Baker briefs us on fae court activity when Kenna gets up and exits the room. I hate to see her go, but I love to watch her leave.
Her curves fill in her fitted black jeans. The way her reddish hair glides over her shoulders makes me want to kiss each one before moving to her collarbone, neck, and that little spot behind her ear that makes her curl into me. Then I’ll move along her jaw before landing on her lips.
I swallow thickly.
As an Alpha, my mind jumbles and untangles countless things each day from keeping peace among the pack members to taking my turn with chores to training to maintain my warrior status. Then there are big picture things like protecting the magical and human worlds alike from an unknown threat.
But lately, Kenna takes up about seventy-five percent of the space. The other twenty-five consists of how badly I want to destroy the fae king Melchior for nearly killing her. He drove an iron blade through her heart, intending to end her life. Fortunately, he only managed to slay the vampire. Now, she’s two parts magical. Fae and wolf shifter.
I will get my revenge.
First, she and I are sealing as fated mates. It’s an ancient ceremony that I can no longer deny my inner wolf. He howls and whines at me, begging for the connection to his true love. The only problem is because we’re both Alpha wolves, there’s sure to be an Alpha Call-Out.
Through a strange glitch in wolfdom, when Alphas find their fated mate and take over a pack, another wolf is compelled to battle them for the role.
