Kane (Alexander Shifter Brothers Book 1)

by Selina Coffey

  “It’s alright, baby, I’m here now. I’m never going to leave you alone here again. Come on now, you’re safe.” Kane started to rock the woman he loved, hoping it would soothe her. He knew she wasn’t a baby but the motion worked for a reason. He heard her start to snore slight little sounds, and sighed in relief. Sleep would be good for her.

  He looked down. Her hair was wild, eyes sunken even in sleep, and knew she’d been terrified. She didn’t look injured, not physically anyway, and the baby was alright. She just needed some rest. He leaned back against the headboard and started to plan his next move. He was almost certain they were going to have to leave the town, leave Kansas, but this was the best place for her while she was pregnant. It was also the best place for her to give birth, the doctors here were all shifters, they knew what shifters needed.

  He knew Damesha couldn’t take much more exposure to this torment. He’d dismissed it when she’d first mentioned the animal noises, assuming she’d heard some roaming shifters in the woods. They often came to the family’s woods to run free for a while. He’d been startled when she first mentioned it but had quickly written it off. Now he wasn’t so certain the acts hadn’t been malicious.

  He’d gaslighted her a bit over that whole Chihuahua business, making himself feel like a total heel, but he couldn’t tell her the truth. Instead, he’d pretended the whole night hadn’t happened, that she’d imagined it. He’d been able to communicate with Annie in the dog form and she’d gone out to keep an eye out for trouble until he could shift back to a human. Kane knew that night played a part in Damesha’s break with reality and wanted to take a whip to himself. His life depended on him keeping the truth to himself, he couldn’t tell her.

  Not that the clan would know if he did, not unless she let slip that she knew about them. That would earn them both a quick death. Kane trusted her, knew that she wouldn’t tell the world about the shifter communities amongst the “normal” human communities, but she might let slip to someone in the clan that she knew about them and that could be dangerous.

  “How am I going to explain about the baby, Annie? It could be a shifter.” Kane spoke out loud to the dog, but only got a moaning sound from the dog. “That’s not much help. I don’t know what Cade thinks is going to happen when Damesha has this baby and it decides to turn into a parrot or a water buffalo and she freaks out. I don’t think he’s totally thought this through.”

  Annie’s only response was to wave her head around under the covers before settling back into her place. Obviously, she had no clue what Cade had planned either and didn’t care, her mistress needed her. Kane thought Annie’s response a bit dismissive and decided maybe she was right to be. It was his fault Damesha was in this mess. He should have been more careful.

  “I wasn’t thinking, Annie. I was falling in love for the first time in my life. I was a little selfish, wasn’t I?” Annie made a noise of agreement.

  Shifter’s didn’t catch diseases like non-humans did. They were immune to all of them. Injuries could harm them but sicknesses were usually of a shifter-kind, not something non-shifter humans spread around. That didn’t mean they couldn’t get those same humans pregnant. Essentially shifters were human, there was just a slight difference in their makeup, a magic that was missing in normal humans.

  How was he going to explain all this to her? Kane knew she’d run screaming, ready to have him locked up in a loony bin if he told her without shifting. That might still make her run screaming though.

  He decided there wasn’t much he could do tonight and he only had a short time to spare. In the morning he’d pack up some of their things, take out the bundle that contained half his inheritance from his parents in cash, and they’d make a run for an island with no links to the outside world. That should keep them safe. Damesha wouldn’t like it but it had to be done if they wanted to stay together. He’d figure out the rest along the way.

  Kane settled into the bed, a plan of some sort finally in place, and a direction to head in decided. He could rest now, even if he only half slept, his ears still listening for any signs of danger.

  Chapter 13

  Kane woke the next morning and found Damesha sitting on the edge of their bed. Her stomach was more noticeable now and her breasts were larger. Her eyes still held that dull, lost look and he felt his heart tearing in two. He’d caused that look, whether he’d done everything that brought her to this moment or not. He’d done this to her.

  Kane’s alpha side, the side that growled down a cop on the day they met, that stood up to his brother, that helped him through a crash that should have killed him, finally kicked into gear and he stood up. He undressed, cleaned his teeth and face, and came back into the room. Damesha was still sitting on the bed.

  “Right, this could cost me my life, maybe even yours, but I can’t let this go any further. Damesha.” He looked over at her but she was still staring at the walls. “Damesha!”

  Her dull eyes turned in his direction but he knew she didn’t see him. With a huge sigh he shouted her name once more. He saw a spark of something, anger, annoyance, in her eyes and smiled. He was getting somewhere now. Then he shifted.

  Before her eyes, Kane suddenly turned into a gorilla. This was Kane’s natural form, the form that was most comfortable to him. He was short and stocky, covered in black fur. A massive specimen of the species. Kane was ferocious in this form and capable of many things, mainly bad things. This was the shift Kane had the most trouble with because it was hard to control his temper, his instincts, in this shifter shape. This was his demon form, his killer form.

  Damesha stared dumbly at him, and Kane felt defeat creeping in once more. He couldn’t speak to her in this form but he could have found a way to communicate with her. Making a growling noise he prepared to shift again, into something bigger maybe. A scream from the bed changed his mind.

  Kane saw her scrabbling across the bed, awareness and terror in her eyes. He was glad about the awareness but felt terrible for the terror. He moved closer to the bed, his hand out to her, and made a sound of supplication. She jumped over the side of the bed, only her forehead and her terribly blue eyes, the eyes he adored, showing now.

  “What the hell?” she said.

  He came to the edge of the bed, his head still reaching over the mattress despite the frame’s height.

  He reached out his arm as far as it would go and made another sound as he put his head down on the bed. He was submitting to her and hoped she recognized it. He saw the war within her mind displayed across her face, fear turned to uncertainty, and that turned into curiosity. Damesha held out her own hand finally and just as she grasped his warm, leathery fingers he shifted back into himself.

  She shouted once more and threw herself back against the wall, ending up on her bottom as she stared up at him.

  “Oh my God, Kane. I’ve lost my mind! I could have sworn you were just a gorilla!” Her pulse was racing in her neck, he could see it beating frantically in the hollow beneath her jaw.

  “No baby, you aren’t crazy. Here, I’ll do it again.” This time he shifted into the Chihuahua she’d seen him as before and toddled over to her.

  He jumped onto her thigh and scrabbled up her chest to lick her jaw before he hopped down once more. She looked down at the tiny dog and Kane knew she understood now. And she wasn’t running. That was a good sign.

  Shifting back to himself he looked up at her.

  “Does it all make sense now?” He hoped she’d forgive him.

  “No, not really. But yeah, I guess it does. You’ve had a secret. I can either take that as you making a fool out of me or as you had a secret to keep. Which was it?” She sounded like she wanted to be angry but couldn’t quite get there.

  “It’s a secret baby, one I’m not allowed to tell a normal person. Ever. It could mean we both die if the clan ever finds out. I couldn’t let this go on. Not with the baby, not with you thinking you were losing your mind.”

  “Right.” Damesha’s lost gaze was
now a stunned display of her inner thoughts, not a lost woman with no way back to reality.

  “It’s going to take some getting used to. I have a plan. I don’t know if you’ll like it but it’ll keep us both safe. You have to pay attention now, baby. I know this is a lot to take in but we have to act quickly. We’re going to get dressed and act like we’re just going out of town for the day, that’s all. We’ll have to leave most things behind but you can bring your work stuff. We’ll figure out how to disable tracking and all of that.” Too late Kane realized his plan was far more complicated than he’d originally thought. She wouldn’t leave without her phone, her laptop, or her tablet. Those could all be used to track them.

  “Actually, I’ve emailed all of the files to a private cloud, it can’t be traced. We can leave all of that of too.” Kane looked at her in shock. She still looked dazed but her words were calm, rational, and right there with him.

  She turned to face him finally, her head coming up from its position of staring at the floor.

  “Whatever it takes, baby. You made me a promise for life. I never gave you that same promise but I meant to. For life.” Her gaze was intense, fierce, and full of the love she felt for him. But still no mention of the baby; that hurt him a little. It was an awkward time though. She had a good reason for keeping quiet. “I kind of liked how your eyes turned orange there, by the way.”

  He laughed ruefully as she stood up, brushing her hair behind her ears. He gave her one of those slow sexy grins she loved so much and she embraced him. For a moment she shuddered against him, the last remnants of her terror, but he knew she was waking up now. His Damesha was back.

  “Get a shower, Mesha, then let’s get gone.” He kissed the side of her head, loving the feel of her in his arms. This was worth giving up everything. This was all he needed.

  She let him go and went into the bathroom. She showered quickly and found the few things Annie would need. She came to him after packing everything in her large handbag, a small dark blue book in her hand.

  “Do I need my passport?” He hadn’t told her where they were going yet.

  “You might, let me grab mine.” Kane ran to his own office and came back quickly. “Right then, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

  “What does that even mean? I’ve never seen a popsicle stand, have you?” Damesha wondered as they left the house, not even looking back as they went to his new truck, a much more modern version of his old one but somehow without the mystique of the old one.

  “I have no idea but we’re going to do it. Annie, you ready girl?” Kane looked down at Annie who swiped his nose with her soft tongue. “I’ll take that as a yes. Let’s get going then.”

  Kane drove for hours, heading south, taking them through a small portion of Oklahoma before they made it into Texas. They didn’t speak a lot, Kane driving and Damesha pondering what the hell she’d just learned. She’d ask him a question every now and then and go back to pondering.

  “Does it hurt?” she’d asked earlier.

  “No,” he’d told her with honesty. “It’s more like a pop then you’re something else.”

  “Oh.” She’d gone quiet but spoke up a half hour later.

  “Do you think like a human?”

  “Not always. Sometimes nature takes over in the heat of the moment and you think like that animal would.”

  “Is that frightening?” She didn’t look at him, just stared out of the window beside of her head.

  “It can be, when you shift back. Knowing the animal instinct took over can be disconcerting.”

  “Right.” Her jaw twisted for a minute as though she were chewing something and she went quiet again.

  “Does this mean you’re way older than you say you are?” She’d finally turned to him and her gaze was open, curious.

  “Not me, no. Some shifters are, but I’m the age I say I am. We all get different gifts, I guess you can call them, but mine isn’t slow aging.”

  “I see. What is your gift?”

  “I haven’t found out yet. It’s like that sometimes. Some of us never find out.” He dismissed the question, he wasn’t worried about gifts, just life.

  “Can we stop for food? It’s been a while.” She asked it in the same tone as her other questions, not flat, but not excited.

  “Oh, sure, baby, sorry.” He pulled off an exit with a sign full of restaurants, pulling into the one she asked for.

  Kane had planned on leaving the restaurant and traveling deeper into Texas but Damesha changed that plan. To their server’s amazement, Damesha ordered three starters, two full meals, and three desserts. And ate every bite of them. Kane hadn’t expected it but knew that expectant shifter mothers could consume a great deal of food. He had to tamp down his thoughts as the server came back and asked them if they needed anything else. Kane wasn’t surprised when Damesha ordered a chili dog. Damesha wolfed that down quickly and they finally left the restaurant, Damesha a little food drunk.

  “I can’t believe I just ate all of that.” She sounded sleepy and Kane took Annie for her walk as Damesha climbed back into the truck. When he came back she was asleep.

  He saw a sign for a hotel up the street and pulled in, paying for their room as he’d done with the food; in cash. He’d left his cards in the glove box of the truck to keep temptation away. He didn’t want to be tracked. He woke Damesha up when they got to their room and helped her into the room. She fell into the bed, asleep before her head hit the pillow. He didn’t think she was going to be pregnant too much longer at this rate. Shifter pregnancies didn’t last as long as non-shifter pregnancies.

  Annie had one more walk after a bowl of water and food, and settled in between Damesha and Kane. Kane quickly fell asleep too, the day of driving mixed with the stress to make him tired. His breathing settled and the room went quiet as all three finally got some much needed peaceful rest.

  “Kane, Kane!! Kane, wake up honey. We have to go back.” Damesha’s voice pulled him from a dream where they sat on white sandy beaches, Annie chasing the surf. The cool air in the room made him pull the covers over his head as he turned over. “No, Kane, wake up!”

  Damesha pulled the covers away from him and he sat up, suddenly awake.

  “What’s wrong?” He looked around, his ears tuned in for danger but nothing seemed to be wrong.

  “We have to go back. Now. Tonight.” Her face was a mask of worry and he glanced at the clock.

  “Baby, it’s one in the morning, can’t it wait?” He sat back in bed, his body crying out for more sleep.

  “No, your brother is in danger. Jadrian? I never did learn the others names, only Cade. But Jadrian, he’s adopted right? He’s in trouble.” She wouldn’t look him in the eye.

  “How do you know that?” He’d heard psychics existed but had never met one. It seemed Damesha had more secrets than she’d told him.

  “I, well, I just know things sometimes. You know how I trusted you over this shifter thing? Well, you have to trust me on this. He’s in a whole lot of danger. I’ve never been able to stop something from happening before but I’ve never really tried. Are there really vampires? And can their blood really get you high? Wouldn’t it just, I don’t know, turn you or whatever?” She looked at him askance, her voice revealing her amazement.

  “Yeah, there are. There’s a whole slew of things that are real that the world plays off as fake. And yes, vampire blood really will get you high. High as a kite. It especially works on shifters. And no, it won’t turn you. So what’s Jadrian’s issue?” Kane was putting his clothes back on.

  “Seems he’s tangled up with some vampires, some that sell their blood. He’s been trying to get rid of them, they’re starting to sell it in your area now.” Damesha didn’t have to finish, he knew where this was heading. Vampires weren’t to be fucked with, but Jadrian thought he was some kind of knight in shining armor, there to act as the world’s savior.

  “Let’s go.” Kane’s exhaustion had left him. “When is this going to happen?�
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  “A few days from now. We have time, but we need to get back. I saw Cade being distracted because he’d found us. If we don’t get back your brother will be too busy looking for us to see what’s going on with Jadrian.”

  “After all they’ve done to you, Damesha, you’re still trying to protect them?” They were all in the truck now, traveling again.

  “They’re your brothers, your clan, your people. I can’t let this happen. If we’re there it’ll change something anyway.” Damesha cuddled Annie close. “Besides, you could hate me forever if I let it happen.”

  “I’d totally understand, actually, but it would hurt yes. Get some rest baby, put the seat back.” He brushed at her soft hair, pushing it out of her light blue eyes. “We’ll be home soon enough.”

  Kane drove through the darkness, his concern growing with each mile. Jadrian was a big boy but the vampires weren’t to be messed with. Inviting them into their ongoing war with the Mungons was just stupid. It would split the defenses of Cade’s cadre of soldiers. It might be even more stupid than Kane running away.

  He knew what it took for Damesha to say those words to him and respected her greatly for it. Whether Kane would or not was going to be another matter. But he’d find a way to make Cade see. He had to.

  Chapter 14

  Kane drove straight to Cade’s house, not caring what time it was, or if his brother might still be asleep, he needed to know what was happening. Kane marched into the house, and went to his brother’s room.

  “Wake up, Cade.” For once Kane was happy about having free rein through the house, it meant he didn’t have to deal with his brother’s soldiers. “Wake up, Cade!”

  It came out louder the second time. Cade was awake and on his feet in an instant.

  “What’s wrong?” Cade blinked for a moment then sat back down.