Tane's Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifter's on the Run Book 1)
Page 1
Table of Contents
Tane’s Mate
Acknowledgements
Copyright
Other book by Serena Simpson
Reviews and where to find me
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
Chapter Twenty-four
Chapter Twenty-five
Chapter Twenty-six
Chapter Twenty-seven
Chapter Twenty-eight
Chapter Twenty-nine
Chapter Thirty
Back matter
Connect with me
Tane’s Mate
By
Serena Simpson
Shifter’s on the run (Book one)
Acknowledgements
I want to say thank you to my daughter. It’s amazing what kids will teach you. My child was born with a genetic illness but each and every day she pushes herself to be the best and her push rubs off on me. She had my life a successful and enjoyable journey. I love you baby girl!
Now I want to say thank you to my readers, my fans! You have made writing such a joy when you leave a comment on Amazon or face book or send me an e-mail, you make my day. I love things like thumbs up and hearts it lets me know that you’re not only enjoying the stories but you waiting for the next one.
Thank you!
Copyright
Tane’s Mate – Shifter’s on the run, Book One - Copyright © May 2016, Serena Simpson
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
Cover Art by OriginalSyn
Edited by Keriann Mckenna
Published by Serena Simpson
Rough edit/Beta read Anaiya
Other book by Serena Simpson
Love Me Harder Series
Aran Book 1
Niko Book 2
Sergey Book 3
Nicolas Book 4
Hale Book 5
Alexei Book 6
Ash Book 7
Alien Mates Series
Soul-Bonded to the alien Book 1
Rylan’s Heart Book 2
Dragon Mates Series
Alexa’s Dragon
Nadia’s Dragon – Book 1
Other books
Tau’s Miracle
Hope
Thea’s Homecoming
Reviews and where to find me
Once you’ve read Alexa’s, I hope you will take a few minutes to leave me a review. I’d appreciate it! Amazon thrives on reviews so everyone you leave me helps!
I can be found at my website.
I’m also available on Twitter @serena789books
I can also be found on face book
Look for me I’m happy to connect with all.
Chapter One
The bird call whispered through the leaves alerting Tane to danger. He grabbed hold of the nearest tree and shimmied his way up. Reaching for a branch he swung over it, staying close to the center of the tree to keep the branches and leaves from moving.
His twin, Dai, was out there keeping a look out on their property. Tane swept the area. Not seeing anything, he changed his eyesight—a gift from the military. There, coming in hot from the north, was a pair of headlights. Whoever it was wasn’t practicing stealth. He could now hear the car as it rattled over the broken roots of tall trees.
Jumping from the tree, he gave a responding bird call to let Dai know he was on it. Adjusting the bag on his shoulder, he began to run in the direction of the car. They had a nice little trap set up for vehicles; all he had to do was reach it first. His speed increased as he marveled at what his body could do, after seven years he should just accept it. But nothing had ever been that easy and when you were trying to play normal human to protect yourself, a simple burst of animal speed could take you by surprise.
Reaching the interception point before the car, he made his way up another tree and readied one side of the mesh net. He jumped to the other tree and did the same when the car flew past. It was caught up in the net that blended in with the night.
He let off one last bird call to let Dai know he caught the intruder. His brother would do another sweep of their property before feeling comfortable enough to come see who he caught. Jumping out of the tree, he approached the car cautiously blending in with the shadows. No one should be up here. There were private property signs posted all over. They didn’t like company.
“I know you’re out there.” The voice that came from the car was distinctively feminine sounding.
Feeling his body twitch in response, he stopped. A quick check alerted him to the fact that the voice was affecting him. He filed that away to be examined later and reached for his objectivity once again. The woman in the car would probably die. Wrong place and wrong time.
“I just want to get to the other side of your land; it’s the quickest way to the highway.”
She had a death wish. Everyone around knew crossing their property was asking to be put out of your misery; even the local law enforcement stayed away from them. No one wanted problems.
“Say something, damn you.”
He could see her like she was standing in a patch of sunlight. She had pretty brown skin with wide eyes and a bow shaped mouth. Her body was slender with delicate hands. She was beautiful. Not that it mattered, she would still die. Pushing aside the strange attraction he felt for her, he went back to wondering why she would cross his land.
Killing her would be a waste, one of the animals that inhabited his body spoke. Once again his thoughts went briefly to the lab where he’d been tied down to a table. They said he volunteered—they lied.
We could mate her. Mate her or kill her? It had been seven years since he trusted himself around a woman. She would be better off dead than lying on his bed with his hand caressing her creamy brown skin.
No, he shook the thought of mating off. She would die. It was all he could do for her.
“Please.” Her voice shook as she looked from the car directly at him.
Impossible. She couldn’t see him not without special equipment. When he blended with the night he became the night.
“Don’t hurt me.” Her eyes closed and her head lulled to the side.
The scent of blood hit him. It would make putting her out of her misery easier he argued with himself. Instead of putting a bullet in her head and disposing of the body, he inched closer to the car. A look inside showed that she had already been shot. A bullet to the torso, he didn’t have to kill her, all he had to do was leav
e her lying there, and she would die on her own.
*~*~*~*
Leza woke up to her body on fire. There was a hole or maybe more than one in her midsection. She raised her hand only to find that it was heavy and shaking. It took sheer concentration for her to move it over her belly. There was a bandage around her, one she hadn’t applied herself.
Opening her eyes, she looked into the face of the most handsome man she had ever seen. He was tall, much taller than her, with bronze skin and piercing green eyes. The thickness of his body that was wrapped with corded muscle drew her to him. His face was hard. The slash of his mouth was enough to make her want to flinch, but curiously she also wanted to know what those lips felt like on hers. She must have banged her head. Turning her head just a bit—the pain that raced through it stopped her—she saw a second man who looked just like the first. Though if given a choice, she would prefer staring at the first.
“Hi.” Her mouth was dry and she sounded like she hadn’t talked in forever.
The first man grunted at her, which made the second give a half smile.
She guessed they didn’t like to talk all that much. It was ok with her, she could work with it as long as they planned to keep her alive, maybe help her escape.
She tried to lick her lips but her mouth was too dry. The first man brought her a water bottle with a straw sticking out. He reached over and helped her lean up a little and she took small sips of the water. A smile of gratefulness hovered on her lips but he grunted again and laid her back down.
“Not much on talking I see. My name is Leza. Thank you for saving my life. All I need to do is get to the other side of your property, and I will be out of your hair.”
“Why didn’t you go around? There are plenty of safe ways to get to the highway and through our property isn’t one of them,” the second man said.
They must have forgotten how much property they owned. It was enough for a small town to be built on it. A large town if you constructed the buildings closer together. It would have taken her hours, maybe even a day, if she had taken the route that goes around but now that she was stuck with the two of them standing over her she wished she would have taken the time. The thing was she would have been dead if she went around so she threw her life in the hands of the unknown.
“I was hoping my chances of survival would be better if I came this way.”
“That was a mistake.”
It was the first time the man who captured her attention spoke. His voice rolled over her like cool water on a hot day; she wanted to hear it again.
“You’re probably right but you helped me.” She tried to get up.
“Lie still, you were shot. We got the bullet out of you but you’re not going anywhere anytime soon.”
“I have to. They won’t wait too long until they come here after me.”
“Then we’ll kill them,” the second man spoke.
“You don’t understand. You can’t kill them no one can.”
“Tane, Dai where are you?” A deep male voice shouted through the house.
Leza turned her head sharply paying for it with increased pain and her vision wobbling for a minute before she could focus on the door. One of the twins opened it and disappeared through it.
“That was Dai. I’m Tane.”
“Nice to meet you.” His name was Tane, her heartbeat increased at knowing his name.
“Leza, you’re alive but there’s no guarantee you will make it through the night. We don’t like intruders for any reason, so you may want to convince me why you should be kept alive.”
“I can cook?” She looked at him trying for humor but his face that was a little bit open totally closed off. Humor wasn’t the way.
“Killing me won’t stop the ones following me from coming here. The best thing to do is take me and my car to the other side of your property and let me drive the hell off. That way they will continue to follow me and leave you alone.”
“Do you really think it’s that easy?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let me point out several flaws in your plan. If I do that, you would be captured not killed because you would have valuable information. How many of us were there? What did we look like? Did you hear any names? What did the property look like? Did you see any traps or evidence of surveillance equipment? That would just be the beginning of the questions they would ask.”
“I would never say a word.”
“How many times have you been tortured? Pulled apart and put back together again. How many times have you wished for death only to be denied the sweet relief of it? You would talk, and after you were done they would torture you for talking.”
She slumped in the bed, all emotion leaving her face. “So the alternative is to leave my dead body at the edge of your property in my car as a warning?”
“Yes.” Tane turned and left.
He was right and she knew it. The only option was death. Lying there she debated on whether she would wait for it or move. It took all her strength to sit up, but she wouldn’t meet death on her back. There could be no other choice but to fight for her life. Closing her eyes, she called on the animal that lie in wait inside of her. She was hurt also, but together they had to make it to the highway, they wouldn’t be the cause of these proud men meeting their deaths.
She staggered to her feet. Her shirt had been taken off and from the looks of it lying across the chair it had been cut off but her bra was still on although it had seen better days.
With a deep breath, she ignored the ache in her body and made her way across the floor to a dresser. A quick look turned up a t-shirt, which she slipped over her head as well as a hand gun. The gun was tucked away in the corner of the dresser. She did a quick check to see if it was loaded and that the safety was on before she stuck it in the waist band of her pants. That was about all the knowledge she had of guns but she was sure she could point and shoot if forced to.
Taking one last look around the room, she catalogued it. The room looked like it belonged in a large cabin, rustic and well loved. With a shake of her head to dislodge the feelings she shouldn’t be having for Tane, her feet moved to the huge window on the opposite side of the door. In a perfect world, she would have loved to crawl back in the bed and wait until Tane came back in the room and slid between the sheets with her. It was his room; her animal could smell him on the sheets. There was a feeling deep in her chest drawing her to him. It couldn’t be coming from her, and it spurred her on to put space between them. That and the fact that he seemed to want to kill her.
She opened the window slowly, making no sound. Throwing a leg over the windowsill, she slid to the porch below her and began to creep towards the steps. Bending down at the stairs, she crawled down them staying as low as possible. Her animal came to the forefront sniffing the air.
They surrounded her, animals on all sides. She should be able to see them but she couldn’t. All that was left was to hope they didn’t tear her apart before she made it off their property.
She focused on the garage convincing her legs to move. What was the hope that they would leave their keys in the car? Who would take them? There was no way she would be able to walk the property, her legs were barely carrying her as it was. A genuine smile came to her face when she saw the jeep. She took a step and collapsed on the ground out cold.
Chapter Two
“What do we do with her?” Five men stared down at her before turning their gazes to Tane.
It was easy, he thought. They kill her and disposed of the body in such a way that would keep anyone from daring to venture on their property. If it was so easy why was he hesitating?
She can cook.
He shook his head in disgust as thoughts of food ran through his mind thanks to one of his animals. Taking a step closer, he breathed in her scent reaffirming what he already knew. Someone had made her like them.
Mate.
Another of his animals spoke up. There was nothing to do but ignore all of them. They didn’t nee
d a cook. Ok, they could use one but not her and there was no way he was mating. Not like he was and he was never going to change. That meant no mate for life.
He brought his hand up to his chest and rubbed the ache that was residing there. She, this woman he didn’t know, was making him crazy. His desire to kill, to rage against the world and what had been done to him, was interrupted. Now all he could think about was her, no wonder he wanted her dead. Even as he thought it he knew he was lying. His world, their world, he looked at the males around him. His brothers for lack of a better word. Their world had changed and this woman was part of the change. He simply didn’t know if it was for good or evil.
“Take her back to the house,” he gave a big sigh.
“We’re asking for trouble,” Jayden said in a voice dead of all emotion.
Of course they were asking for trouble, what else was new? They asked to be destroyed the day they broke out of the prison the military kept them in, but that hadn’t stopped them.
“You’re right and no one has to stay here; you can all disappear. I will understand.” Here was the base they established to lie low. To hopefully keep their actions undetected. The woman’s presence said they had been living a lie.
“I think I’ll stay. I want to know if we can really mate.”
That was Dai. He was putting into thought what all the men were thinking. Of course, Dai could sense his fascination with the beauty that lay at his feet. They were twins, even more so after all the experiments.
The others grunted and Dai picked her up. He was the only one Tane would have allowed that close to her but only because it was obvious that she didn’t affect his twin the same as she was affecting him.
*~*~*~*