by V. Vaughn
Happy Howlidays
V. Vaughn
Jacqueline Sweet
Julia Mills
Liv Brywood
Becca Fanning
Olivia Arran
Elianne Adams
Elsa Jade
J. K. Harper
Scarlett Grove
Isadora Montrose
Contents
Introduction
The Ocelot’s Surprise Present - Olivia Arran
Foreword
1. Tom
2. Julie
3. Tom
4. Julie
5. Tom
6. Julie
7. Tom
8. Julie
Epilogue
From the Author
Angel Kisses - Elianne Adams
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
Epilogue
The Reindeer Shifter’s Christmas Gift - J. K. Harper
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Epilogue
About the Author
Snowed in With the Bear - Isadora Montrose
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
A Cougar Christmas - V. Vaughn
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
About the Author
Dreaming of a Wolf Christmas - Elsa Jade
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Second Chance Xmas - Jacqueline Sweet
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Also by Jacqueline Sweet
About the Author
Hoarding Christmas - Becca Fanning
1. Chapter 1 - Jill
2. Chapter 2 - Andru
3. Chapter 3 - Jill
4. Chapter 4 - Andru
5. Chapter 5 - Jill
6. Chapter 6 - Andru
7. Chapter 7 - Jill
8. Chapter 8 - Andru
9. Chapter 9 Jill
10. Chapter 10 - Andru
11. Chapter 11 - Jill
12. Chapter 12 - Andru
13. Chapter 13 - Jill
14. Chapter 14 - Andru
15. Chapter 15 - Andru
16. Chapter 16 - Jill
17. Chapter 17 - Andru
Seducing her Christmas Cowbear - Liv Brywood
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
About the Author
Little Puma’s Christmas Adventure - Scarlett Grove
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
Also by Scarlett Grove
FREE BOOKS
About the Author
Guarding Her Dragon - Julia Mills
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Epilogue
About Julia
About Shifters in Love
Introduction
Unwrap 11 shifter stories of love this holiday season! These romance books feature werewolf, bear, lion and dragon heroes sure to warm up your e-reader and your heart. Read about the heroines who find the mate of their dreams with a little help from fate and holiday magic. USA Today and international bestselling authors have collaborated with brand new stories to create another Shifters in Love collection designed to introduce you to new authors and new series.
The Ocelot’s Surprise Present - Olivia Arran
Heartsridge Shifters
The Ocelot’s Surprise Present
By Olivia Arran
Ocelot shifter Julie is happy hiding out, blissfully ignoring the law that says she has to move to one of those new shifter towns. Her best friend is about to have a baby and Christmas is just around the corner, so why would she want to leave? When a gorgeous wolf shifter shows up on her doorstep and informs her that they’re fated mates, she’s not sure if she should run from this unexpected Christmas present … or start unwrapping him.
Copyright © 2018, Olivia Arran.
All rights reserved worldwide.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. Please note that this work is intended only for adults over the age of 18 and all characters represented as 18 or over.
Edited by nikkiheat
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Foreword
While The Ocelot’s Surprise Present can definitely be read as a standalone story, it features two supporting characters from my Heartsridge Shifters series. The timing of this story occurs a few years before my main series, so I’ve included a little note to help set the scene:
About Heartsridge Shifters
Two years ago shifters were revealed to the public. One year ago a treaty was made between humans and shifters.
The treaty required shifters to register and to live
in the towns that were formed. Most agreed this was a good thing, a way for both species to live in peace. But some—on both sides—fought back. The shifters who refused to cooperate didn’t last long, the human government mobilizing their military with devastating effect.
They say some shifters went into hiding to form a resistance, but most just hadn’t wanted to give up their lives and leave their homes. They were scared; of change, of the unknown, of shifters outside of their own species.
But they weren’t left with a choice. Submit to registration or be put down. Like animals.
Only a sliver of hope remained, that one day the fighting would stop and the world would recover. That shifters would be accepted. That they could find some kind of peace, living with their own kind.
And why not? Recent polls indicated that not all humans hated them. Some even reported of a growing fascination among the human population.
That was something that could be used. Built on. Monetized.
And the shifters of Heartsridge Town would be ready.
1
Tom
The human cop across the room sucked in his impressive gut, yanking on the waistband of his pants as he strutted back and forth. A dried out coffee stain decorated the front of his straining uniform shirt, the stale smell of sweat and recently applied deodorant wafting on the air every time he waved his arm manically in our direction.
Grant, coughed, managing to pinch his nose at the same time. “Do you think he’s trying to tell us something?”
“Signal someone?” Daryl offered, wrinkling his nose.
I sucked in some air through my mouth. “Nah, he’s directing traffic.” My teammates pointedly looked around and I shrugged. “Tractor?” Yeah, we were standing in a half demolished barn. In the middle of a snowy field. Okay, no-one in their right mind drove a tractor in the middle of December, snow or not.
“Or about to boogie out to the YMCA.”
We all turned to face the newcomers.
I grinned and nodded at Austin, the Alpha of the bear shifter team who had taken up residence along our patch of wall. “Furballs.”
He snorted. “Dogs.” It was now a friendly rivalry, though it hadn’t been at the beginning. Turns out, humans hadn’t really thought about the fact that they were throwing different species of shifters together. To them, we were all the same. It was like they’d never watched a nature program.
Daryl finished fist bumping Nate, who was their windup guy, and retook his place next to Grant, who shoulder bumped me and rolled his eyes. Some of us took to change faster than others.
I shrugged. It had been a long night and I wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a brawl. “No luck?”
Austin shook his head, dragging a hand across his jaw. “Found a scent trail, but it was cold. Whoever it was left at least an hour ago.”
I grunted. “They knew we were coming.”
“Or the humans made enough noise to wake the dead,” Daryl quipped.
Austin chuckled, but it was forced. If the humans would just let us track on our own, things would go a lot easier. But, no, we had to be monitored. They said it was for our own safety, but that was bullshit. They were enjoying their power trip way too much.
Like Cop McSweaty over there. The rest of his team of cops milled around, most of them choosing to stay outside in the brisk night air rather than mix with us undesirables.
I grimaced, watching as Owen, the Alpha of our pack, gritted his teeth to hold back a snarl. Behind him stood Tiny, the last member of our team, a solid wall of muscle that made the rest of us look petite.
The sweaty cop’s eyes flicked up to Tiny and his heart rate sped up.
Idiot. As the Alpha, Owen was the real threat, but Tiny sure did come in handy when it came to silent intimidation, which was the only kind he’d be doing, since he’d barely spoken a word since joining our pack six months ago.
“It’s a woman we’re tracking. A cat.”
I swung my attention back to Austin. “I thought a group had been sighted?” Twenty shifters the report had said, enough to make this trip to middle of bumfuck nowhere worth it. A brief vision of my bed back at the packhouse had me biting back a growl of frustration. Half of the people we tracked weren’t evading us because they wanted to cause trouble, they just didn’t know that there was a place for them, somewhere that would offer them protection and a place to call home. The human government had recently realized their mistake—damn press releases had made the settlement towns sound like prison camps—and had tried to fix it, but it was slow filtering out. Especially to those already in hiding or on the run.
A couple of bear shifters jogged over to us, the rest of Austin’s team. Cade, who generally acted as the calming influence, shook snow out of his hair and tugged his shirt back on before giving his report. “Found a scent trail on the southern boundary heading back toward town. Had to be at least fifteen people, mixed species, but mainly bears, about half a day old.”
As if Owen had been waiting for the magic words, he turned his back on the human cop and stalked over to our group.
“Wait a goddamn—” The cop’s rant ended in a high pitched squeak when he nearly ran into Tiny’s chest, who stood his ground, arms folded and a bored expression on his face. Probably musing over the perfect cupcake recipe. The man loved to bake.
“We’re going to have to split up.” Owen cocked an eyebrow at Austin. “Toss for it?”
“We’ll take the bears.” Austin’s voice sounded perfectly calm, but there was an underlying eagerness that he couldn’t quite hide. Hoping to find his fated mate, maybe?
It was every shifter’s dream to find the one Fate had created for them, the other half of their soul, but it rarely happened. Though, perhaps with the new towns gathering us all together, fated matches might not be as unusual in the future.
Owen and Austin were engaged in a staring match, which involved a lot of posturing and not moving, so the rest of us engaged in a little shit talking to pass the time. Personally, I didn’t care which trail we followed, though it would be easier to track a group of people than a single cat.
“You can’t go traipsing around without someone in authority to vouch for you!” The cop had taken to peering around Tiny, the light of the moon filtering through the open beams and glinting off his balding head.
Owen sighed, both Alphas standing down from their top-dog contest in mutual dislike for the whiny man. He pinched the bridge of his nose, a snarl rumbling out of him. “Just sign a goddamn permit. You don’t want to be out here with us.”
“But—”
“Some of us are going to have to shift so we can track.”
The human’s gulp was audible, along with his muttered agreement. Within seconds, we had our pieces of paper and the local cops had departed.
“Thank fuck for that.” Grant put into words what we’d all been thinking.
Owen made a gesture and we all shoved away from the wall, falling in behind him as we made our way outside, the bears following. “Fine. We’ll take the cat.” He even managed to make it sound like he was insulting their ability to track a single kitty through a forest.
I chuckled when the bears rumbled, puffing and vibrating with tension. At their Alpha’s signal, they backed down.
Well, almost all of them. Jake—new to their team and the troublemaker of the group—was still snarling insults, being held back by his teammates. Eventually, one of them managed to get through that titanium skull of his—I knew it was hard, I’d hit and been hit with it enough times—and he rolled his shoulders, shrugging them off. “See ya, losers,” he tossed over his shoulder, stalking off.
