by Isa Hunt
“Understood,” Kalin said, nodding to the man. He put the trench-coat over his shoulders and grinned. “Not sure how much good this will do me.”
“It will do you fine as long as you get going now,” the old man said, raising his shotgun to the air. “Now get gone.”
Kalin looked to the man to see if there was a threat in his eyes but found only concern. Kalin nodded his thanks once more and grabbed Coral by the hand. The two of them walked briskly away from the barber shop, headed toward the only place he knew to go at a time like this — The Clan Room.
Chapter Nine
“Morning Pervert,” the fat man said, rubbing his eyes when he saw Kalin and Coral enter the warehouse.
“Fuck off, Maurice,” Kalin replied.
“I thought for sure you were going to flash me or something, walking around like some detective from a swordplay magazine,” the doorman continued. “But I guess that’s just something you save for the lady.”
Maurice nodded politely to Coral while referring to her.
“I’m a fighter, not a lover,” Kalin said, walking past the doorman into the long hallway that led toward the Clan Room.
Kalin paused for a moment and then turned around to face the doorman. “How’s security these days?”
“Shercock Bones,” Maurice replied.
Kalin shook his head and turned around once more.
“I don’t know why I even bother,” Kalin muttered to himself.
“That’s what they call you…” Maurice called out down the hallway, “in the magazine.”
Kalin let out a long sigh and led Coral down the hall into the Clan Room. When he got inside, he found Sean working out while Ryder was asleep at the table with a bottle of hard alcohol in his hand and a scantily clad woman in his lap. The woman was rubbing her eyes and watching Sean’s abs flex while he did his morning workout.
“Where are the others?” Kalin asked, removing his trench coat and walking over to the lockers.
The woman turned her head lazily and licked her lips at this new point of interest while Sean continued forward with his workout — clearly not wishing to be interrupted.
“Nice piece of ass you got there, girl,” the woman said, staring shamelessly at Kalin’s body while he put on his clothes.
Coral blushed and Kalin ignored the woman’s comment.
“Does he fuck well?” the woman persisted, “Because this asshole went limp last night after about thirty minutes.”
She lifted the bottle from Ryder’s hand and took a long swig.
“Who the fuck is this broad?” Kalin asked, putting on a shirt and addressing Sean.
“Mufmnn…” Ryder said.
“That’s right,” the woman said, “Molly and don’t you forget it.”
She slapped the back of Ryder’s head for emphasis before leaning in to nibble on his earlobe.
“She’s an elemental Shifter,” Sean replied. “Some predatory stray Ryder picked up last night.”
“Pretty rare,” Kalin replied, directing the comment to Molly this time.
Molly’s eyes were still locked on Kalin, but her teeth were firmly latched around Ryder’s earlobe. Coral thought it would have hurt, but Ryder didn’t seem to mind. It actually brought a grin to the edge of her lips.
Ryder finally got up and bit Molly on the neck in response. Coral thought she saw Molly’s eyes change color, to a rich crimson with a flash of amber, but when she looked again, they were only gray.
Must have been the light, Coral thought to herself.
“She’s hot. Isn’t she bro?” Ryder said to Kalin. “And I mean literally — feels like my cock is burned.”
“Real cute,” Kalin replied, his mind clearly pre-occupied. “They came after me last night.”
“Who’s they?” Sean replied, finally permitting his attention to drift toward the situation at hand.
“Two wolves,” Kalin replied. “I got one of them, but I’m pretty sure the leader is some sort of Shifter himself. Not sure how many others there are, but they are well funded and not afraid to start shit in order to get what they want.”
“Let me guess,” Sean replied, going back to his sit-up routine. “They want her.”
“Doubt it at this point,” Kalin replied. “Likely things just got a bit more personal last night. They probably are more interested in revenge.”
“Fuckers like that…” Ryder muttered. “Ya know, it always starts off with some dumb shit, like turf wars, or whatever…”
“Did they see you shift?” Sean interrupted.
Kalin nodded.
“Then they’ll be coming here,” Sean replied.
“That would be suicide, why would they try something like that?” Ryder replied, all joking manner now absent from his voice.
“Not really,” Molly replied. “Besides Maurice and us, there are probably only ten or so heads in the entire warehouse. The tournament is over and we’re on break before next season.”
The silence in the room was disrupted by an explosion from out on the street. Sean shook his head and pulled the fire alarm on the side of the warehouse. The thin LED track lighting dimmed from the hallways and turned into a light red glow.
“Let’s hope there are at least that many,” he said, darkly. “I get the feeling that you don’t hit a place like this unless you mean business.”
“Oh God,” Coral said in shock, realizing what was taking place around her. “What have I done?”
“Get over yourself, hun,” Molly replied, standing up and helping Ryder to his feet with her spare hand. “Mobster types. This is how they have a good time.”
Molly’s tone was even, though there was a smoldering undercurrent to her words. Coral nodded, realizing that while this may have started with her, events had scaled up well beyond her control.
The group was together in a flash, out the door of the Clan room and down the hallway. Kalin led the charge while Sean and Ryder followed closely behind.
“Unless you’re packing some heat in that blouse of yours, I’d suggest sticking to the back,” Molly offered, pushing Coral gently to the side.
Molly’s kind manner under the stress of the situation struck Coral as benevolent. Coral nodded, feeling hesitant and scared.
“Don’t worry, sweet thing,” Molly offered, reassuring Coral with a wink and a smile. “This will all be over soon.”
Coral stayed behind, heeding Molly’s words. Watching her friends go down the hallway into the smoke that was billowing up in the concrete warehouse, Coral offered a silent prayer to whatever Gods were listening. She sensed that this was going to be a difficult one and she knew that if she joined in the fight, she would be more in the way than not.
Gunshots echoed down the hallway and tears began to stream down her face.
Pray, Coral, she told herself. Just pray.
Chapter Ten
Kalin stayed in his human form at the start of the fight. He kept to the walls while the sprinkler system poured water down from the ceiling. Maurice was in the entrance room, taking cover behind a pile of rubble. Through the smoke, Kalin saw that he was bleeding from a cut on his forehead. He operated a pair of magnums and was unloading clip after clip into the blasted open space outside of the entrance to the warehouse. The room was unrecognizable and Maurice swore loudly while ducking behind a pillar made of fallen roof materials.
Kalin and Sean were busy scoping out the entrance while Ryder and Molly ran and dove behind the pillar where Maurice was taking cover.
“Fine time for an attack,” Ryder muttered while bullets whizzed past their heads.
The cover fire was heavy and there was no telling what other explosives they had in store for the assault. To top it all off, there was no way of knowing how many the enemy had brought to the fight. A smoke screen had been caused by the explosion. The sprinklers were managing to keep down some of the smoke inside of the entrance room. However, the infrastructure of the ceiling was in shambles and the water sprayed out from the copper tubing
at ineffective angles.
Sean and Kalin couldn’t hear one another if they tried. The sound of the gunfire was too persistent. Knowing that they couldn’t hold on much longer, Kalin decided to take action. Looking over to the other side of the room, he saw Molly had brought the bottle of whiskey with her. He saw her launch it in the air and knew that now was the moment to act. Both Sean and Ryder took Kalin’s cue, without the need for verbal acknowledgment.
The three members of the Bear Clan dropped to the floor to wait for their cue. Molly formed her fingers into a sigil of enchantment and an arc of flame came out from within her chest. The flame incinerated her body and she transmuted herself into fire itself. The flames chased the half empty bottle of whiskey into the air and ignited the alcohol before it landed outside of the warehouse.
Another explosion sounded off, only this time, the sound of shattered glass and screams echoed alongside the explosion. The three members of the Bear Clan shifted and sprinted out into the fray — taking advantage of the momentary absence of cover fire. Kalin was the first to emerge out of the warehouse but was immediately knocked down onto the pavement. Molly’s fire had found its way into the gas tank of one of the vans that was being used as a cover for the assault.
The van exploded into the air, leaving enough time for a bewildered Sean and Ryder to scope out exactly what they were up against. There were three vans, though one of them was now nothing more than a charred husk of metal.
Molly had reformed her body to the left and was now engaged in a fist fight with one of the gunmen. Ryder ran to join her in combat in enough time to tackle a man who was raising the barrel of his rifle up to her back. The shot went off and barely went wild. All four combatants tumbled together into the melee, only to have Molly dissipate once more into flames. Her original adversary was now covered in burns while the man who sought to destroy her from behind was being mauled to death by Ryder’s brutal claws.
To the right, Sean and Kalin had bigger problems. The boss was there, with two Wolf Shifters at his side.
“You fuckers think you can just come out and attack me in the street?” the boss said.
Firing a shotgun off at the two members of the Bear Clan, the gangster made his position firm. Kalin and Sean darted to either side, only to be met by each wolf. Maurice had his say by getting a pot shot off at the leader. The shot connected with the leader’s left knee, bringing him down to the ground.
“This is the end for you,” the leader laughed maniacally.
Lowering himself to the ground, the leader transformed into a giant serpent. The shift took only a matter of moments. Following the transformation, the serpent went after Maurice. The doorman received the assault with a shift of his own, turning into a Boar that was larger than the doorman’s original, intimidating size.
The giant Boar and the serpent were locked together in a fight to the death while Kalin and Sean tumbled along the asphalt— each locked jaw to jaw with their own shape-shifting opponent.
Barks, yips, growls and gnashing of teeth ensued. Sean got a successful hit on the wolf’s shoulder, bringing the wolf to the ground. The wolf looked weak, as he had not fully recovered from his previous fight with Kalin. Sean buckled down hard on the wolf, digging his teeth into the joint of the arm and focusing his entire energy in one spot. The weak joint snapped and blood began to pool on the street.
One down, one to go, Sean thought.
Ryder and Molly got back into the fight, joining with Maurice to take down the Naga. The serpent had wrapped itself around the throat of the boar and was constricting while firmly sinking its teeth into Maurice’s neck. Venom began to pump into the neck of the doorman’s shifted form. In a shudder of wounded despair, Maurice began to convulse on the ground. Ryder rose up to sink his own teeth into the scales of the serpent. Molly, in an effort to help, placed both hands firmly on Ryder’s body. With meditative calm, she began to transmit her own feminine heat through Ryder’s body. Working together, the couple managed to execute a beautiful and deadly combination attack.
Flames surged out through the Shifter’s mouth and eyes. It appeared as though Ryder was completely possessed by the flames of his mistress. Not wanting to give up on his position, the serpent committed to the attack on the doorman. A final course of poison was injected into Maurice’s veins and the doorman fell down, never to rise again.
Lost in the melee, Sean delivered a killing blow to the wounded wolf, while Kalin and the other dire werewolf tumbled into the group fighting the serpent. The snake had grown larger and was now flaring itself up so as to wrap its coils around both Molly and Ryder. Kalin noticed the vulnerability of his Clansman and broke free from his engagement. With a leap, Kalin seized the serpent by the neck. Shaking his head viciously from side to side, Kalin sought to snap the serpent’s vertebrae.
A crunch followed and teeth sank deeper into the Naga’s flesh. The serpent lay dead within Kalin’s mouth, giving both Molly and Ryder time to loosen themselves from the serpent’s hold. The final remaining wolf reassessed the situation and slowly began to back away from the fight. This time, there were no companions to save. There was no cause to champion. There would be no more room for revenge. Turning tail and fleeing, the wolf bound down the street, only to be cornered by SWAT vehicles in armored trucks.
Sensing his game was up, the wolf shifted back into his human form and surrendered to the authorities. Sometimes the fate of life is more preferred than the fate of death — even if it means a lifetime of solitary confinement.
Rushing out from the inside of the warehouse, Coral wrapped her arms around Kalin’s jagged fur. Kalin was in a feral state, but his instincts and his love warned him not to attack her. At once, Coral’s touch calmed him, and he found himself involuntarily shifting back into human form. Kalin’s tensions eased and he responded at once to the compassion and gratitude that Coral shared with him. Tears were shed for the doorman and the police offered the Bear Clan accolades for a job well done.
The streets were cleaner now thanks to the efforts of the Bear Clan. With the kingpin down, the police were able to allocate restorative funds to both the barber shop and the warehouse. Coral and Kalin became a regular item and Kalin even taught her a thing or two about the game. A monument was erected in the new warehouse for the doorman and soon the next season of hockey was back in order. With the troubles of the past now behind them, the Clan was able to focus on both of their passions — Love and the Game.
*****
THE END
The Shifting Boss's Baby
Description
A curvy secretary in search of a fresh start PLUS her sexy possessive boss looking for a mate PLUS a sinister stalker and a dangerous attack!
After putting her life on pause to take care of her ill mother, curvy 20-something Christine Morrow is finally ready to give her life a fresh, new start. She has landed a job working for the sexy billionaire business tycoon, Ethan Blackwood and his evil personal assistant, Nancy.
She has heard many things about her mysterious boss. But she could care less about how sexy he is, until she lays eyes on him. His dark and dangerous edge is a warning that she should stay away, but she can’t help but feel attracted to him.
Ethan Blackwood has lost his zest for life. Years of running his company and secretly leading his wolf pack have worn him out. He no longer feels alive. But then he sees a red-haired, voluptuous woman who ignites new life in him. He should stay away from her because he will bring her nothing but trouble. But discovering that she is his true mate, there is no way he can let her go. Everything about her calls to him.
The attraction between Christine and Ethan is undeniable. But then a sinister stalker attacks and Ethan is faced with a difficult choice.
Can he tell her his dark secret? Will she be able to accept what he really is? And can they find out who the stalker is? Find out now in this steamy billionaire romance!
Chapter One
Christine Morrow was ecstatic. She stared at the phone i
n her hands for a few seconds with a broad grin on her face. Thank God, I got it. There was no doubt that she was in desperate need of the job that had just fallen into her lap. Looking upward she heaved a sigh. She could breathe easier now that she had a sure way of paying her half of the rent.
“By the look on your face, I assume you got some good news?”
She spun around to see her roommate and best friend, Keira, eying her expectantly. “I just got a job,” Christine stated, more than pleased.
“Well alright, congratulations are in order. We’ll celebrate tonight.”
Christine’s heart dropped. “Uh, I would rather not.”
Keira folded her arms. “Why not? Now that you have a job, this might be our last night to really get turned up.”
“Keira, I have no desire to get turned up, as you put it. And this will most certainly not be our last night to hang out. All I did was get a job. I’m not moving to the other side of the world.”
With a sigh, Keira held up both hands. “Fine, I’ll leave you to think about it. Boredom might just kick in and you’ll change your mind.”
“I doubt it.”
Christine watched Keira turn away and smiled. It was Keira’s life mission to force her to enjoy her twenties, as she always said. According to Keira, without her, Christine would slip into a life of uneventful nothingness. She’s probably right, Christine mused. She was definitely the type to stay holed up at home and let life pass her by. She had no desire to go out and socialize. Why would she? Society had never treated her with kindness, so she wasn’t eager to go out into the world and mingle.
Besides, she was tired. She had spent the last few weeks job hunting day and night, pounding the pavement early every morning. Now, she would use the weekend to rest up for her big day on Monday morning. She clapped her hands and let out a gleeful shriek. She had given up her previous job and her entire life to take care of her mother for three long months. Now that she had her life back, she had to start from scratch. She had blown through all of her meager savings and had just a few pieces of furniture in the apartment to her name.
