Mine to Claim (Shadow Shifters: Damaged Hearts)

by Arthur, A. C.

But I wasn’t Superman. I was only a Shadow Shifter—only a male in love with this strong, independent, and intelligent human female.

  “Aidan.”

  I heard my name but couldn’t respond, couldn’t see past the darkness I’d slipped into.

  “Aidan.”

  That was my name, but it meant nothing to me anymore, did nothing to ease the cocoon of hurt I was wrapped in.

  “Aidan!”

  The booming voice, the clenching pain in my shoulder as a hand grabbed me there and shook roughly, snatched me back into reality and I opened my eyes.

  Rome was staring at me. He’d knelt down in front of me and was looking at me as if he might just rip my head off if I didn’t open my mouth and speak in the next three seconds.

  “What?” I answered, lacking the respectful tone I should probably give the Faction Leader.

  “She’s awake and you’re smothering her,” he said with a nod down to Grace.

  “What?” I said more to myself. “Grace? Grace?” I pulled her away from my chest, my hand instantly going to her cheek. “Grace?”

  “Aidan.” She said my name but hadn’t opened her eyes. “Aidan.”

  “Say it again,” I whispered, something thick clogging my throat. I wanted to hear her say my name again and again and forever.

  “You’re not in jail,” she whispered.

  “No. I’m right here.”

  Then she moved, her hands going to my arm, up and down, searching one then the other as she opened her eyes and struggled to sit upright.

  “They have your bracelet,” she said. “I saw it on you that first night you saved me and the night of the party. But you didn’t have it at the motel.”

  “I know, baby. I know. Don’t worry about that now.”

  But Grace kept shaking her head. Her eyes were wild as she looked at me. “No. No. Something is not right. They’re not right. Rafe and Chris and Brett, they all have the same bracelet and they’re not…” Her words trailed off as she lifted a hand to my cheek then upward to my eyes. “They’re like you, but different, I think. You’re all different,” she said in a slow whisper.

  “We should go,” Rome said gruffly before standing. “Now.”

  I had barely turned my attention away from Grace when I realized what Rome was really saying. I picked up the scent and before I knew what else was happening I’d stood up, pushed Grace in Rome’s direction, and charged deeper into the alley.

  CHAPTER 13

  Aidan the Shadow Shifter

  Rafe stood at the end of the alley lifting silver cans and dropping them into the green Dumpster in front of him. He’d just dropped the last one inside when he suddenly stopped and turned.

  “You stupid Shadows don’t know when to let go, do you? Don’t you know when your time is up?” Rafe asked, rubbing his hands together as he approached me.

  “And you rogues have no idea what we have in store for you.” I returned his taunt, feeling the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

  In the next seconds, Rafe was no longer the football player with a cursed mean streak. He was a full-grown male jaguar, golden in color and pure evil in nature. I didn’t hesitate but let the beast in me rip free, lunging forward as the shift took hold, meeting my counterpart in midair in a loud thunk of animal bodies and roars.

  Our front paws swinging, we clawed at each other, mouths open crying out in battle. I pulled away first, willing to give my opponent a second to catch his breath. I circled him, moving slowly, maintaining eye contact, just as I’d been taught. Funny how all the things I’d wanted to forget or at least to push aside, came swarming back like a breath of fresh air.

  Rafe moved in the same motion, had most likely had some of the same training. But his breathing was unregulated, he wasn’t used to the hand-to-hand or beast-to-beast contact, meaning he’d been trained but had no field experience. I had the advantage there, having been in the rainforests of South America, Africa, and India, meeting with different tribes and coming nose to nose with opponents of all kinds. They had been good lessons that I now appreciated much more than I had before.

  I lunged the moment I saw Rafe’s flanks heave in exhaustion, going instantly for the top of his head. My teeth clamped into his skull, holding him still with the strength of my jaws, and all the rage that had built in me since seeing Grace lying so still on that sidewalk. There was nothing more important at this very moment, nothing more vital to me than ending this life, this vicious strand of cruelty that had been bred and introduced into this world.

  And when it was done, I backed away, my flanks heaving with the exertion, mouth dripping with my enemy’s blood.

  “Aidan.”

  It was a familiar whisper, a soft and sweet sound that almost shattered my heart.

  * * *

  The Real Grace Kincaid

  I pulled away from the tall, handsome guy who looked like he could easily toss me over his shoulder or at the very least restrain me a little better than he had. I’d run into that alley after Aidan knowing instinctively that what lay in wait for him there was dangerous, maybe even deadly.

  I absolutely had no clue.

  But standing there watching two huge cats fighting until the death did something to me. It should have grossed me out or shocked me so much that I fainted or some other dramatic act like that. Instead there was a surge of something inside me, energy or power or I don’t know. All I knew was that I could not look away, I could not run away. I stood there staring, witnessing what I knew should not be true, but what I believed anyway.

  I’d known from the start that Aidan was different, but never would have imagined to this extent. He was a gorgeous guy with his dark South American looks, the lilt of his voice as he spoke in his native language, the build of his body as I’d seen it through his clothes and just a few moments ago his bare chest.

  Now, as this big black cat, he was phenomenal. That’s all I could think as I stepped toward it.

  “Aidan,” I whispered again.

  The cat turned to me, lifting its large head in my direction. His eyes were yellow with tiny black centers. I fell to my knees, reaching out a hand and calling to him once more. He moved slowly as if he wasn’t sure I really wanted him to come closer. But I did, I needed to touch him, to feel this living, breathing creature that was also the guy I thought I’d fallen in love with.

  He laid his head in my palm and I giggled nervously. There was so much power in that slight movement I couldn’t contain myself. My heart beat so loud and hard in my chest I felt like I’d swallowed it. Aidan came even closer and I used my other hand to touch his flanks, rubbing along the dark fur that was peppered with lighter round patches.

  “You’re beautiful,” I said softly into the cat’s ear. “Absolutely beautiful. Meu companheiro.”

  He shifted then, the human and very naked Aidan kneeling in front of me, cupping my face in his hands.

  “Grace.” He said my name in a rushed voice as he lowered his forehead to mine.

  I grasped his wrists, looking up at him. “Aidan.”

  “Mina,” he said over and over again. “Mina.”

  I giggled again, not sure where that was coming from but really unable to control it right now. Hell, I was kneeling in an alley with a really hot, very naked guy who could also shift into a beautiful jaguar. Yeah, I think a little nervous giggling was called for. That or … “I don’t know what that word means,” I admitted to him. “Haven’t had a chance to look it up yet.”

  Now it was Aidan’s turn to chuckle. His smile was so breathtaking I did almost faint that time.

  “It means mine. You are mine,” he finished with a touch of our lips.

  I opened to him immediately, his tongue moving seductively over mine. My arms went around him, holding him close, noting that now it was both our hearts that beat with frantic urgency.

  Panting from adrenaline and arousal I broke the kiss, keeping Aidan in my arms as I looked into his now human eyes and stated, “Mina.”

  * *
*

  Aidan

  “You will both stay at Havenway until we figure out how to handle this,” Rome stated as we sat in the back of the SUV.

  “She’s not one of us,” I countered.

  “Now you think about that,” he replied with more than a little bit of agitation. “You exposed us all in that alley, not just yourself. Luckily my driver is also a very close friend who has been with my family for as long as I can remember. He knows how to take care of dead shifters and disposed of Rafe’s body while you were taking Grace to get her things. The other two, however, escaped that fire, so they’re still on the loose.”

  Rome paused and just when I thought his outburst was over, he continued. “You didn’t think for one minute how any of this would affect us as a whole, you just acted. And now I have to figure out how to deal with that.”

  I swallowed because I knew what he said was true. But I didn’t give a damn. “You told me not too long ago that my path was my own, that neither Havenway nor the shifters dictated who and what I became. That means none of you can dictate who I love, who my mate will be.”

  I knew Rome was the Faction Leader and I had nothing but respect for him, but if I was going to live in this world and do the things that I was born to do, I was damn sure going to do them my way.

  “Grace belongs with me. She is going to stay with me,” I finished. She was my mate and nobody, not even a governing shifter, could change that fact.

  Beside me Grace moved slightly. She’d been lying against my shoulder dozing off as we rode along the highway heading back to the shifter headquarters.

  “I won’t tell anybody, if that’s what you’re worried about, sir. I won’t say a word. But Aidan is right, we belong together. I traveled all the way across the country and endured I don’t know how many disappointments to get to this point. My parents have disowned me and I moved out of my dorm room. I thought everything in my life was spiraling out of control but it seems everything was simply getting out of my way, preparing me for this, for Aidan and all that he is. This is where I was meant to be.”

  Rome looked as if he were ready to toss both of us out the window. “That rogue you just killed knew who and what you were from the start. Instead of killing you they wanted you captured. Now, I don’t know why that is yet, but I intend to find out. In the meantime, I do not need the Elders breathing down my neck about someone breaching the Ètica. You will go to Havenway and complete the finals as scheduled,” he said, pinning me with his angry gaze. “And you,” he said, looking at Grace with what I immediately noticed was a much softer look and an easier tone, “you will remain at his side, but out of sight. You don’t need to tell me that you two belong together. I picked up the companheiro calor the moment I saw him at the police station. And believe me, I know what it’s like to be overtaken with an unplanned and unprecedented love.”

  He sighed, letting his head loll back on the seat. “Unfortunately, I’m the one that has to deal with the aftermath of this grand love affair.”

  There would be no aftermath if I had anything to do with it. I didn’t tell Rome that, didn’t feel the need to. This was my life and from this moment on I would claim my destiny wholeheartedly, just as I had claimed my sweet Grace, meu companheiro.

  A.C. Arthur was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, where she currently lives with her husband and three children. An active imagination and a love for reading encouraged her to begin writing in high school and she hasn’t stopped since. Her debut novel Object of His Desire was written when a picture of an Italian villa sparked the idea of an African-American/Italian hero. Determined to bring a new edge to romance, she continues to develop intriguing plots, sensual love scenes, racy characters, and fresh dialogue—thus keeping the readers on their toes! Visit her at: www.acarthur.net.

  This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

  “Mine to Claim” copyright © 2014 by A.C. Arthur.

  All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

  www.stmartins.com

  Author photo © Lisa Fleet Photography

  Cover art © Tricia Schmitt (picky me)

  eISBN 9781466857087

  First eBook Edition: April 2014