Tane's Mate: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Shifter's on the Run Book 1)

by Serena Simpson

  “This is the same, but different. It feels like we aren’t the baddest thing around,” Dai finished.

  “Makes you want to challenge whoever is supposed to be in charge.”

  Tane’s eyes flipped as one of his animals peeked out.

  “This is what I have to go through. Making sure he doesn’t kill himself. It’s my constant battle.” Dai walked up to him until he was standing in his face. “No dominance battles.” His voice came out low and fierce.

  Tane growled low and looked at Dai not that Dai seemed to notice. He stood toe to toe with Tane. Leza waited for one of them to strike out claiming first blood before Tane blinked. That was all it took. Dai was on the other side of the room and they all looked around like nothing had happened.

  Leza did a slow blink of her own trying to figure it out. Tane had acknowledged to his brother that he had a right to care about what happened to him. He was still Alpha, still in charge, but he acknowledged that as his brother was his second he would listen to Dai.

  She shook her head wondering if this happened all the time. From the way the males acted as if this were a routine occurrence, she was going to put it down to normal. Family. What an amazing thought, not just Tane and Dai but all of them. They came together as one well-oiled machine knowing what worked for them and what didn’t.

  She blinked again thinking of Amy and her family. Then thoughts of how she was beginning to belong with these males made her smile. It was one thing to think you belonged, it was another to actually want to belong and that’s what she wanted. To be integral to the running of this well-oiled machine.

  “What next?” she asked.

  “Dai and Jay are going to procure us a vehicle. We are going to checkout a night club.”

  “I’m going to put my hair up so I won’t be recognized but it would help if we could stop by a store and get some spray in color I can use as highlights to help throw anyone looking for me off.” He nodded his head.

  Tane stopped to go over what the gentleman in the car told him. They made plans to meet up and they broke off into two groups going out to explore Mysteria, Nebraska.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The building was non-descript to say the least. It reminded Leza of an old warehouse, but it seemed so out of place in this rural area. It was surrounded by fields of grass without a tree in sight. Almost as if the owners wanted to be able to see everyone coming.

  They walked here. That had been an interesting trek wandering around in circles for at least an hour before a street appeared that hadn’t been there the first ten times they made the same turn. Tane took her hand as if the skin to skin connection would keep her safe.

  After that they walked for not more than ten minutes but it should have been hours. The town had disappeared, the concrete changing into gentle plains showing not a house in sight simply a huge warehouse with cars parked behind it and subtle lights outside that hid as much as they illuminated.

  If this was a movie she’d be screaming at the screen telling the couple to go back home. Stay safe. Make love. Just like the couple on the screen, she was ignoring her warning system and strolling up to the door with Tane like nothing was wrong.

  She turned her head to get a peek at his face. Her breath caught in her throat. His eyes had flipped again but this time there was a war in them as every animal fought for the right to see through them. Her throat worked trying to get a word out before she turned back to face the door they now stood in front.

  He knocked at the door. Before long there was an answering knock from the other side.

  “Open the door,” Tane’s voice was loud and clear.

  “Why?” came the bored voice on the other side.

  “Because I belong,” Tane answered.

  “You’re not natural.”

  “Ask any human and they would say the same about you,” Tane drawled as a smile hovered over his lips.

  “So they would.” The door opened and they were welcomed into a dimly lit foyer.

  “Go straight back,” the man at the door said.

  He was much taller than Tane. His legs were size of tree trunks and his chest a mass of muscles. Then he blended in with the night making her unable to see him.

  “She’s special,” the man grumbled in the darkness. “Be careful because they want her back.”

  Tane was pulling on her hand taking her deeper down the hallway, deeper into the darkness.

  The hallway gave way to a huge circular room. There were beings everywhere. On the right was a bar that was lifted high on a platform; to the left was a dance floor as well as a stage that held a live band. There were bodies pressed together swaying on the dance floor.

  Just a night club she told herself as goosebumps stood on her arms. Tane took her to the dance floor and pulled her into his arms as the band began to play some slow song she’s heard on the radio on their way to Amy’s house.

  She let her head fall against his chest as she breathed in the male scent of him. His heartbeat was steady in her ear, calming her down. For a minute she allowed herself to close everything out except for Tane. This was the date she always wanted. Her lover pulling her close on the dance floor. His warm hand on the small of her back making her feel safe and loved. This was her dream come to life and she wanted to enjoy it before the world fell apart around her.

  Tane lowered his head searching her eyes before his lips touched hers. It started off as a sweet innocent kiss making her heart thump like she was being kissed for the first time. The swipe of his tongue across her lips made her open her mouth. His tongue swept in, overwhelming her. She went to her toes to meet his heated kiss.

  Heat pulsed over her body. She felt herself begin to open for him wanting him desperately. But her heart opened also wanting him to take up residence within her. She pulled back panting, needing to put space between them before she told him that she needed him, wanted him, forever.

  He pulled her off the dance floor, his eyes having gone dark and the huge bulge in his pants noticeable at least to her. They found a table for two before he broke away to go to the bar. He came back carrying two drinks. One was a beautiful blue color that made her lick her lips.

  “I’m not really a drinker.” She took the drink from his hand.

  “I know, that’s why that’s not really a drink. The bartender called it a sparkling blue mocktail.”

  “Mocktail?”

  “A pretend drink.” He lifted his beer to his lips and smiled at her before he took a long pull of it.

  Lifting it to her lips she grimaced before she tried it. Her grimace turned into a smile as she drank deeply.

  “This is good, you should try it.” She handed over her glass to him noting the grimace on his face.

  Gingerly he lifted it to his nose and sniffed before placing it to his lips. He took several small sips before he sat the glass down for judgement.

  “It’s not bad for a non-alcoholic drink.”

  She nodded, licked her lips, and reached for her glass. “I’ll take a refill on it. It has some kind of soda in it. I like that but it’s caffeine free whatever they put in here. I haven’t had any caffeine for a few days.”

  “I know. How do you feel?”

  “My hands are steady. Maybe all I need to do is wean myself off.”

  “Maybe.” She could see the doubt in his eyes. He was waiting for her to crash and burn but she refused to do that. Her days of proving others right because of her weaknesses were over. She was a new Leza, one wanting another drink.

  She lifted her glass to him. He chuckled and left the table to get her another one. She did a little chair dance while she waited for him until she felt eyes watching her.

  Turning around, she spotted a male in the corner of the room with a glass in his hand. He lifted it to her when she met his eyes. Leza swallowed around a lump in her throat. The male didn’t look like the casual club goer to her. He had something on his mind.

  Tane walked over and let out a small growl as he followed th
e line of her eyes. The other male’s smile widened as he lifted his glass again. Tane’s stance widened as if he were issuing a challenge to the male.

  She wanted to pull on him and whisper frantically what Dai said to him. Instead she kept a calm smile on her face and took a tiny sip of her drink as she watched the other male stand to his full height and begin walking towards them.

  Maybe he would walk past them. She nodded her head in agreement with herself. Of course he would walk past them as if he never noticed them. Except his long legs were slowing in front of Tane. The male stopped to stare at Tane with no more than two feet separating them.

  He’s too close; she thought desperately trying to find a way to break the heavy blanket of emotion covering them.

  She stood and wrapped herself around Tane knowing he wouldn’t be happy about her suddenly acting like a barnacle.

  “Hi,” her voice was too high pitched. “I’m Leza, nice to meet you.”

  Those eyes finally turned from Tane to take her in. “Not natural.”

  “Well, aren’t you rude.”

  “Yes. Invite me to sit.”

  She turned her head to look at Tane. He wasn’t giving her any indication of what to do, but at least he wasn’t standing her to the side going for the other male’s throat.

  “Have a seat.” She waved her hand indicating the table they were sitting at with two chairs.

  The male moved to the next table, picked up a chair placed it backwards against the table, and took a seat. Tane pulled out her chair and pushed her in before he took a seat, his eyes never leaving the other male.

  “A few of your kind have come in here over the last year.”

  Tane grunted but said nothing.

  The male’s lips took on a slightly cruel look before he softened them and turned back to face Leza.

  “What are you and can you shift?”

  “I can’t shift and I don’t know what I am.”

  He looked her over as if he thought she was lying before he gave a subtle nod.

  “What do you want?” the male addressed Tane.

  “Information.”

  He flexed his shoulders and looked around the room. “You’re not the first one to come looking for that. Most of your kind can’t handle what I have to tell them.”

  Tane tilted his head waiting for the other male to speak.

  “Roughly fifty years ago, a wolf shifter fell into the hands of the government. They killed him, not intentionally from what I understand. After that a rumor spread that they were looking for another. The government and the military joined forces, wanting to keep true humans safe from the monsters. Funny how they never saw themselves as the monsters from which humanity needed protecting.”

  “They set out to capture anther one but we were informed and made a wide berth around them. Then they captured a child. One they held in a protected area that we were unable to find. The parents never stopped looking until they found him.

  “He was grown when he was finally located. There was a raid conducted on the facility. That’s when it was discovered they were testing on humans trying to merge their DNA with animals. They didn’t just want faster humans with better eyesight and more stamina. They wanted shifters they could control.

  “We could have told them they wouldn’t be able to control the animals. Only the humans they made shifters could do that. We could have told them that when you make a shifter the way they think and see the world changes. We could have told them about bloodlust and how only the strongest would be able to control it. We could have if only they would have asked.”

  His words rearranged her world as the thought of bloodlust rose within. How she wanted to kill when she first woke up and how she pulled it in terrified of this new feeling within her. She contained it until they hurt her. Let her know she was nothing more than a monster to be poked, prodded, and weaponized, aimed at others like her.

  She held it in until they asked her to deliberately kill for the right to exist. Then there was no holding it. Their laughter surrounded her as it was suggested she do it without a shirt. The cruelty that suggested she was no longer worth the effort of loving or caring. The other woman in the room clinging to the corner of a wall with fear in her eyes.

  It rose from within and she embraced it, waited for it to take her over. Her range of colors had flipped then and it was the first time she became aware that her fingers sported claws at the end of them. Her teeth had sharpened.

  The one male brave enough to stay in the room told her he was going to ride her like a bucking bull. Then there was the voice in her head. The one she swore didn’t belong there. It had been making her crazy for months, but that day she aligned with that voice. Became what it told her she now was. Today we kill him.

  She killed him; nothing and nobody stopped her and when she was done she went to the woman crying hysterically in the corner and took her in her arms.

  “They will let you go free, or I will kill them all.”

  After that she passed out when she came to she was in a cage with smiling doctors around her. They laughed at her telling her they won. She was no longer human and they treated her accordingly.

  “Bloodlust?” She picked up her drink and sipped it slowly.

  “You know what I mean.” The male addressed her. “You both know what I mean, but you control it. In the beginning some couldn’t control it. Experiments escaped from the labs they built. We had to track them down, do what the government couldn’t do, put them out of their misery. Then they wised up, started using military personal who understood what it was to control themselves in the midst of battle.

  “They, the government and the military, thought they had found the perfect tool for fighting, but you and others like you refused to be used. So you escaped. They make more and they escape. Not one of you desires to be used. Here’s what the government still doesn’t understand. Shifters are only one deviation of the human DNA chain. There are many more. Now we are all focused on them.”

  The male took a slow look around the room before he looked back at Tane.

  “You didn’t come here for a history lesson did you?” A slow nod of his head had a female coming to stand by his side. It looked like she had come out of thin air.

  He stood up and turned the chair before he relinquished it to her. She sat as the male stood behind her, his feet wide, his arms covering his chest looking like a sentinel who would gladly destroy anyone approaching the female.

  “Our world works differently. You will now look for a mate for the rest of your life. You will mourn if something happens to the mate you have and may never find another to love as you have loved her,” she said.

  “What makes a mate?”

  “If we knew we would be much closer to finding our other half.” She looked from Tane to Leza and back again with a smile on her lips.

  “It’s instinct but it’s also taught to us from the time we are old enough to understand, just like sexuality is taught in health class. It’s the bite that pairs us together like we stood before a preacher. There’s no do over though if you chose to bite each other. Your animal or animals in your case,” she looked at Tane, “will know what to do when the time is right.

  “Our government thought they were being sneaky, creative, evil bastards when they went out of their way to make mates for the men who escaped into what they call the wilderness. They thought they were making them because it would bring you back. They were wrong. Our deity, the one we worship, abhors a vacuum. If your mate was human, then be certain she is now other like yourself.” Her head nodded in Leza’s direction.

  “Who is your deity?” Leza asked quietly.

  “Amazing that you assume the deity that created humans must be different from the one that created us. Why can’t they be the same?”

  “Because that means we have just as much right to prowl the earth as the humans, but that can’t be right.” The thought blasted around Leza’s head. I’m a monster. I shouldn’t exist. What if I’m wr
ong? What if I was always meant to be?

  That thought came back. The one where she sat on a couch with Tane’s hand covering her pregnant belly while they watched their first child play on the floor at their feet. It was so normal, so real. She could almost touch it, because if they were meant to be by a deity that loved them all, then their children, their happiness was meant to be also.

  “Here’s the other side of that coin. You’re being hunted. I can feel the darkness of the government drawing close. They want her.” The female canted her head and looked at Leza, her eyes darkening.

  “They think she is the key to bringing you in. Then you will be the key to brining the others in. They have learned nothing, but their traps are better. There will be no escape, only the fight.”

  “What fight, what will happen?” Leza asked breathlessly. She could almost see a trap being sprung for them as they somehow manage to catch them.

  The woman shrugged her shoulders. “I can’t see what happens. Do you live or do you die? Is your life meant to be served as a plaything in a cage? Those are questions only you can answer.”

  The woman stood and focused the power of her stare on Tane.

  “Did you kill her or was it a ruse of your government? Are you as black as you believe? Will your men make it to safety? Can you protect the female at your side? If you mate with her will she live through it? Are you worthy? All questions that only you can answer.”

  Pain highlighted Tane’s eye before dimming.

  She turned and put her hand on the male behind her. He placed it in his hand as he led her away. It was then that Leza realized he was her mate. That he would do anything in his power to protect the female he called his. It was then that she realized no names had been exchanged, just information.

  The walls of the bar began to fade and she knew it was time for them to leave. She stood and took Tane’s hand, leading him out the way they came in. He was very quiet, but it was ok. She let him stew in his thoughts. Because the female was right, only he could answer his questions. All she could do was silently wait.