by Amanda Jones
Shifters In My Sheets 2
A Ten Book Paranormal Shifter Romance Collection
Table Of Contents
The Panther Promise
by Amanda Jones
American Tigers: Siberian Soul Book 1
by Claire Ryann
Silverback Shift
by Artemis Wolffe
Trapped In A Gilded Cage: Sold To The Alpha, Book 1
by Cara Wylde
Shifter's Curse
by Deva Long
Bearly Hanging On
by Wednesday Raven
Rogue Bear
by Amelia Jade
The Problem With Paddy
by Holley Trent
Billionaire Alpha Seeks Curves
by Cynthia Fox
My Soul To Bear
by Terra Wolf
Want to read bundles like these for free?
Before they go live on Amazon?
The only catch being that you review the bundle once it does go live?
Sign up for Reads For Reviews
HERE!
Copyright
Published 2015
All titles are reprinted with permission. Copyrights are retained by the original authors.
Please note that this is a bundled work of fiction. This bundle does contain graphic descriptions of sexual activity and graphic language. It is intended for mature readers aged 18 and over. All persons fictionally depicted are over the age of 18.
The Panther Promise
By Amanda Jones
Chapter One: Mike:
I leaned over the man and growled low in his face, the stench of his breath making my whiskers twitch. I growled louder then, ferociously, enough to cause the man to scamper back like a crab to get away from me.
“Please,” he begged pitifully, holding one hand up toward me in a defensive gesture.
The two teenaged girls behind me clung to each other and cried. Their fear combined to create a smell so intense it was stoking my rage toward the man, making me want to stop him from leaving this darkened street. Making me want to stop him from breathing. I remained still, calming myself forcefully. No matter what, I was a man first.
I let out one last gigantic roar, filling the night with all of my pent-up anger, toward this man and every other one just like him. The man rolled over and crawled on his hands and knees for a few feet before springing up and running away. I continued to force my rage down and after a minute my heartbeat returned to normal.
The girls were still terrified behind me. I turned around to face them slowly, trying not to scare them further. The smell of their fear was rolling over me in large waves. I knew they would never relax with me there but I was always sad when women were afraid of me. I lay down on the ground, putting my huge black head on my paws and pushing my ears back. I purred softly, and looked up at them with my teal blue eyes.
“Oh my God, Kylie,” one of the girls whispered, staring at me.
“He…it…saved us,” the other girl – Kylie – whispered back, moving toward me slowly.
“Kylie, no!”
“He’s not going to hurt us,” Kylie said as she approached me with her hand palm up, apparently having been taught the safe way to approach dogs. If I could have smiled then, I would have. Instead, I purred again softly. She kneeled down next to me while her friend held back. The smell of her fear was diminishing, and when she reached out to run her hand gently down my back it disappeared completely.
“Thank you,” she said and I lifted my head and looked her right in the eyes. She smiled at me, and the pride that was my constant companion when I was out on the streets swelled throughout my panther body. This was what I had been born to do – rescue people that needed help. I prowled the streets of Boston during the middle of the night, making sure that women got home safe, unhurt by the dangers that the darkness can hide.
This was such a better life than the one I’d had before I left the pack. Memories flashed swiftly through my mind and I pushed them away. I didn’t think of that time if I could avoid it. Jonathan and I had come to Boston years ago to escape all of that. I made sure the teenagers were locked inside their homes before I went back to the high-rise condominium where I lived. I shifted back to my human form and threw on some clothes before I entered the lobby.
“Hello, Mr. Greylock,” said the doorman, George, as I passed him.
“Hey, George. Please call me Mike,” I responded, even though I knew he wouldn’t. We’d been having the same exchange for many years now.
“Sure thing, Mr. Greylock.” I smiled and walked over to the elevator across the marble-tiled lobby. I walked in and pushed the buzzer for the penthouse twice. That was my signal to Jonathan and his wife Beth that I was coming up to see them. I waited to hear the return buzz that it was okay, and I pushed the code for the condo on the highest floor of the building. Even though I lived in this building too, I was on the more modest 20th floor. Still expensive, and still a fantastic view, but nothing like the penthouse.
“Over here, Mike,” Jonathan called softly as I stepped out of the elevator into their home. I glanced toward his voice and saw him on the couch in the living room, typing rapidly on his laptop.
“So how was it?” Jonathan asked, closing his laptop and settling back into the couch. Jonathan used to roam the streets of Boston by himself, every night of the week. Ever since he had saved Beth from being attacked in an alley six months ago, a lot of things had changed – for them and for me. They had fallen in love and just recently gotten married. Jonathan had asked me to help him with his rescue work at night, since he wanted to be home more with Beth. I was glad to step in, and now he and I switched off each night.
Before that I had been Jonathan’s glorified driver. I also played the role of bodyguard when we were in public, as Jonathan was the richest man in Boston. He was the billionaire owner of King Enterprises, and most people knew his name and at least had an idea of what he looked like. He’s very reclusive though, and he didn’t actually need a bodyguard. Jonathan could more than take care of himself, even without the fact that he was a panther shifter like me. But in my human form, I was quite large and intimidating, about six and a half feet tall with bulging muscles. I worked out but not excessively. It was my panther side that made my human side so enormous; I had been the largest and strongest panther in our pack before we left.
“It went well,” I answered Jonathan, after my random musings. Jonathan was used to my long silences. “I saved a couple of teenaged girls from some asshole. That felt great.”
“That’s what makes it all worth it,” Jonathan said quietly as he stared into the fire across the room. I knew he struggled with being a panther at all, and his rescues gave him a sense of purpose that would otherwise have made his panther side impossible to bear.
I didn’t struggle as much with my panther side, in fact I missed some of the members of our former pack, especially one person in particular. Regret threatened to overwhelm me, so I shook my head and focused on what Jonathan was saying.
“…really appreciate what you’ve done for me and Beth.” I started to interrupt him but he held up a hand. “I’m serious, Mike. I never expected to love anyone, never mind love someone as fiercely as I do Beth. You’ve made it possible for us to become a family, to have dinner together like normal people. At least four nights a week,” he finished with a small laugh and I smiled, looking down at the ground while a blush crept up my face. It was hard for me to a
ccept praise from anyone, and I didn’t know how to respond.
“I’m sorry, Mike.” I glanced up, surprised.
“For what?”
“For…being such a loner all these years after we left the pack. I told myself I had no friends and kept myself isolated because it was easier than thinking about what had happened to us. But you’ve always been here and I convinced myself you were just my driver…when you’re more like my brother,” he ended gruffly, refusing to look at me as he finished. I was stunned at his words, knowing that saying something like that was almost impossible for Jonathan.
“Thanks, Jonathan,” I said simply. He nodded his head, and that was it – years of denial from him and feelings of abandonment from me – over and done with. We wouldn’t speak of it again.
“I’m going out for a run,” I said, standing up.
“Now? It’s almost 3:00 a.m.,” Jonathan replied, looking at me with concern. He knew that I needed to stretch my panther legs sometimes, but I knew that he worried about me when I did.
“I’m fine, Jonathan. I’ll be home in a few hours and I’ll text you. You should be in bed anyway. Beth is waiting for you,” I said, knowing that mentioning Beth would take Jonathan’s mind off of me.
“Yeah, okay. Beth is waiting for me,” he repeated softly, almost to himself as he walked down the hallway to their bedroom. I smiled as I walked to the elevator and pushed the button. I was mostly happy with my life. I just wished that I could find what Jonathan and Beth had, although I had long since realized my chance at true happiness had ended when we fled the pack years ago.
Chapter Two: Mila:
I was so cold that my bones ached. Even though it was May, the hills of the Berkshires were frigid at night, but I didn’t have the energy to move to a sheltered area out of the wind. I also didn’t seem to have the energy to shift to human form, although even if I did I don’t think it would help me. My father would still find me no matter if I was in my panther or my human form. Involuntarily I let out a small whine of pain and fear and then quickly stifled it. I swung my head wildly back and forth, inhaling deeply and listening intently for anything that might suggest that my father was coming. Nothing. I lay curled in the smallest ball possible, my paws touching my face.
My plan to escape my father’s cruelty had gone horribly wrong. I thought I had considered every possible outcome, but never did I think that my father would kill my best friend Reina right in front of me, in front of the entire pack. He thought killing her would prove that I had no way of leaving, that I was weak and dependent on him. But something had sparked inside of me as I watched the life drain from Reina’s eyes – something I hadn’t felt in many years – the strength that came from knowing with absolute certainty that I had nothing left to lose. So I had run as fast as I was able, only to be caught quickly by my father’s beta. He tried to drag me back with his razor-sharp teeth clamped into my fur, but I was able to reach up and scratch him in the eyes with my claws, stunning him enough that at first he bit down harder but then reflexively released me. I staggered away, bleeding from the wounds on my back. But adrenaline had pushed me many miles further until exhaustion had taken over.
Now the fear of my father was back, combining with my violent hatred of him. I needed to rest so that I could build up my energy to shift to human form. Once I did that I would never, ever shift into a panther again. Being a panther had only brought me a life of fear and pain, and I would rather die than go back with my father.
Mike.
No! I couldn’t think about him, especially not now. He had left me, abandoned me at his first opportunity ten years ago when I was only sixteen. At the time I thought he was the second half of my soul, my mate for life. I had long since given up any such romantic notions about Mike and life in general. I was on my own and had been since the day he left with Jonathan. My brother Luca had tried to help me after that, but as he grew older he had fallen under my father’s spell more and more. I couldn’t trust anyone now.
My ears stood straight up as I heard something further down the mountain. It was an animal, a very large one. Because it was coming up instead of following me down from above, I knew it wasn’t my father. At first I wasn’t concerned; it would smell me but very rarely did the animals of the hills have conflict. But it kept coming closer, slowing down as it did so, not attempting to give me a wide berth. It was coming to find me. My nose picked up its scent now – it was a panther.
I cannot go back to my father.
Fear and adrenaline combined to give me enough energy to push myself up to stand. I wasn’t going to allow my father or his pack to see me broken and exhausted, lying on the ground. But it wasn’t the pack. The most enormous panther I had ever seen pushed its way into the tiny clearing and I took a step back, cursing myself for cowardice. The panther stopped, appearing transfixed by the sight of me. We were only about five feet apart and the smell of his sweat was strong; he had been running for some time. He took one step forward and I forced myself not to retreat again, and that’s when the moonlight hit his eyes, shocking me so much that I whined long and loud.
Am I dreaming? It can’t possibly be him.
He stepped up next to me then, lowering his head next to mine and whining softly into my ear, making me tremble. It was him. It was Mike. He rubbed his huge body along mine and I sagged against him in relief. He kept whining very softly as he did so, making the adrenaline rush inside of me even more. Then he stepped back to the edge of the tiny clearing and started to shift. I watched as he transformed into the strong, tall, gorgeous man I remembered.
He’s even more gorgeous now.
As soon as the shift was complete, he slid over to me and wrapped his arms around my head, stroking my fur and overwhelming me with the scent of his skin. It was heady and delicious.
Stop it! He left you!
“Mila?” he said anxiously as he looked into my eyes.
“I never thought I’d see you again! What’s wrong? What happened? Where’s the pack?” I just looked at him, unable to answer. He ran his hands down my back and I gave a short whine when he touched the bite marks. He pulled his hands away, seeing my blood on them.
“Mila! You’re hurt. Shift so we can talk,” he told me in a rather bossy tone. It was just like Mike to tell me what to do. I dropped my head and pulled away from him.
“Mila…,” he said, confused. “Are you having trouble shifting?” I looked up then, my ears pricked again to the night air. Somewhere very far up the hill, a group of animals was coming down. My father. I whined as softly as possible. I didn’t want Mike’s help, but in the split second after I heard what I knew was my father’s pack, I had no choice. Mike seemed to understand immediately.
“Mila, touch your paw to the ground, once for yes, two for no. Are you having trouble shifting?” One paw, and at that same moment my father’s distinctive smell wafted down from the pack above us.
“Are you leaving the pack?” One paw, and now the fur on my back was standing up. I whined again, softly.
“Do you want to come to Boston with me? I can take care of you until you’re healed, and then we’ll figure out what to do.” I hesitated then, not sure if that was what I wanted. But again, I realized I had no choice. One paw hit the ground.
“Okay. I’m going to shift again and I’ll give you some of my panther strength so you can shift to human. Then you’ll climb on my back and I’ll get us out of here. But we have to hurry, Mila. We only have about a minute before they get here.” He was right. My father and the pack were running toward us now, having smelled us like we smelled them. My heart raced as Mike shifted again and then he moved up against my body once more. This time, he put his mouth on the back of my neck, whined as if in apology and bit softly down. As he did I used the strength he was giving me combined with my adrenaline to shift to my human form. I was just able to do it, the change making me even weaker than before. Mike lifted his head from my neck and growled low in his throat, crouching down so I could climb
on his back. We had maybe fifteen seconds before my father burst upon us, and as soon as I leaned down and wrapped my arms around Mike’s massive head, he took off. I heard loud roars and angry growls behind us but I didn’t dare look. Mike was incredibly fast but I knew that the transfer of strength to me had to have affected him. Still, after ten minutes or so, the sounds of my father and his pack diminished until I heard nothing but Mike’s heavy breathing and the sound of the wind as we flew through the woods. Quickly we came to small farming towns, and Mike stuck to the outskirts as much as possible. He never stopped his pace, as the sun was just about to come up and we couldn’t risk being seen. Just as the sun peeked above the horizon we entered the city, my first time ever being there. It was overwhelming with all of the different sounds and smells but I had no time to consider any of it before Mike stopped in a dark alley beside a very tall building. Sweat was pouring off of him as I slid down to the ground, and he was panting heavily. He immediately started to shift to human, and I watched again, amazed into silence by his muscles and beautiful face.
Snap out of it.
He walked over to a small bundle against the building and pulled out pants, shoes, and a shirt. He threw the shirt at me and I pulled it on while he dressed in the pants and shoes. The shirt was his of course, so it fit me like a dress, the hem ending just above my knees.
“Let’s go,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the sidewalk. His touch made my arm tingle and I glanced up at him, wondering if he felt the same.
“Good morning, George,” Mike said to a man that held the door open for us.
“Good morning, Mr. Greylock,” said George, glancing at me but showing no outward reaction to the fact that I was barefoot and practically naked.
