High-Country Shifters 5
Hard and Easy
The moment Larek, a newspaper owner and lion shifter, spots hot history teacher Madra, it’s her long hair and shapely legs that make him yearn to know more. Together with his defense attorney friend, Brin, they interview her about her pending job loss. Her passion to teach the truth inflames their desire to claim her.
When some parents physically threaten Madra, Larek and Brin get in a fight to defend her. Her healing touch convinces them they need to do whatever it takes to have her.
Meeting these two hunky men brings out the best in her. Never would she have guessed how much she adores being spanked, blindfolded, and tied up. Their attention and devotion to her needs and wants makes her decide to do what’s right, but at what cost? What will Madra have to give up to keep the love of her men and salvage her career?
Genre: Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Shape-shifter
Length: 44,908 words
HARD AND EASY
High-Country Shifters 5
Melody Snow Monroe
MENAGE EVERLASTING
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK
IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting
HARD AND EASY
Copyright © 2013 by Melody Snow Monroe
E-book ISBN: 978-1-62242-152-7
First E-book Publication: March 2013
Cover design by Harris Channing
All art and logo copyright © 2013 by Siren Publishing, Inc.
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PUBLISHER
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
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DEDICATION
To all teachers who are role models to their students. Bravo!
HARD AND EASY
High-Country Shifters 5
MELODY SNOW MONROE
Copyright © 2012
Chapter One
Madra was helping one of her students when she spotted Principal Aban at the door. Her boss’s pinched face and brushy eyebrows made him look more like a snaggle-toothed wolf than a once-powerful lion-shifter.
She tapped Clarin on the shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
Every time the principal had come to the door, it had been bad news. She waved a hand over the door sensor to open it and tossed him her most innocent smile. “Can I help you?”
“As soon as you finish teaching, come to my office.” Before she had a chance to acknowledge his demand, his shoulders stiffened and he spun around. His ominous tone confirmed her worst nightmare, and her muscles weakened.
“Ms. Madra?”
She swallowed and forced down the bile racing to her throat. “Yes, Frania?”
“I still don’t get why the lions saw fit to take away what wasn’t theirs.” The teenager slouched back in her chair and propped up her electronic writing tablet.
That was the crux of the dilemma. Happy to have a diversion from her boss’s visit, she walked over to Frania. “I don’t think we’ll ever learn why. Do you have a working theory?”
The girl shrugged. Poor Frania. This was the first time any bit of history seemed to have interested her, and now Madra couldn’t provide any answers.
“No.” She picked up her tablet and appeared to be drawing pictures with her finger.
If only there were other sources to corroborate her version of history, her life would be a lot smoother.
The confrontation with Principal Aban loomed heavy on her mind for the rest of the day. By the time her last class finished, her energy had drained. In fact, she’d skipped lunch, knowing she wouldn’t have been able to keep down the food.
Now it was time to face the man who held her job in his hand. After she made certain all of her supplies were neatly arranged on her desk, she stopped off at the bathroom to see if anything was amiss. Unfortunately, everything looked good.
Stop procrastinating.
At the principal’s office door, she knocked.
“Come in.”
When the electric door whooshed open, she froze. Not only was Principal Aban at his desk but her department chair, Sharella, and two parents were huddled around him. At least Sharella looked sympathetic. Her hands were knotted on her lap and her gaze was cast downward.
Sharella glanced up and tapped the only remaining seat. “Sit next to me, Madra.”
She appreciated the support. Her legs were weak, so she was happy to sit.
“I’ll get right to the point,” Principal Aban said. “This heresy you’ve tried to cram down the children’s throats must stop.”
Her heart lurched. It wasn’t heresy. It was the truth. Her pride made her sit up straighter. “If you’d read the report I gave you, written by a renowned archeologist, you’d have learned that the wolves dominated Anterra long before the lions arrived. We were the interlopers.” She tapped her chest.
One of the parents, Clarin’s dad, glared at her. “Who is the archeologist, and when was this report written? I didn’t see any report.”
It wasn’t her duty to send it out to the entire population. “My colleague presented the report two month ago.”
“Where?”
She gave t
he time and place. “Let me back up. Lara Pennigton, a scientist from Earth, came to Anterra over a year ago and began excavating a local cave. She’s married to Taryn and Kellum in case you didn’t know.” Since these two men led the protection duty in Anterra, she hoped the fact that Lara was their mate might carry some weight. “She found some well-preserved drawings on a cave wall and interpreted the meaning. She concluded that—”
Clarin’s dad held up a hand. “You’re teaching my child that what has been known as the truth for thousands of years is all wrong based on some scratchings on a cave wall? That’s preposterous.”
Frania’s father stomped his foot. “You’re going to risk your career based on what an Earthling said? What the hell does she know about our culture? Her own husbands have to fight those disgusting wolves. Can’t they make her see how wrong she is?”
Madra knew convincing the world that the wolves didn’t start the fight with the lions, as every textbook had led the lion population to believe, would be hard.
“She’s not wrong. She has carefully tested the soil and the paint on the wall and had it analyzed. If you take a look—”
Principal Aban slammed his hand on his desk. “I don’t want to hear another word. You’ve already poisoned enough minds. Now, either you tell your students you were mistaken about what the cave drawings implied or you don’t need to report to work next week. Do I make myself clear?”
Her heart stopped, and she had to inhale to make it beat again. “Perfectly.” There was no way he could find a competent replacement in such a short period of time. The kids’ lives would be adversely affected. The one constant she’d learned about sixteen-year-olds was that they didn’t like change.
She glanced at Sharella and waited for her to say something about how new facts were often brought to light and that teachers owed it to the students to teach them the truth. There was no need to check out the two men’s reactions. Since the taller of the two was Frania’s dad and the other was Clarin’s, she knew she didn’t stand a chance. Frania was failing, and Clarin was close to not graduating either. They probably thought that if they threatened her, she’d pass their child. Obviously, they didn’t know her well.
When she’d first brought up this new topic, both dads had called her and said it was a disgrace to be teaching such lies. It didn’t surprise her that these were the ones instrumental in the attack.
When no one said anything, she lifted her chin and stood. “Gentlemen, Sharella. I see I have some lesson plans to change.” The words turned bitter in her mouth. She wanted to rant at them, but she had to put the students’ best interests first.
With her back unnaturally rigid, she eased out of the room. If the door hadn’t automatically closed, she might have slammed it.
As she walked back toward her room, Madra had to blink several times to keep the tears from falling. Those bigoted asses. How dare they tell her how to teach? If their kids were getting As, she bet they wouldn’t be complaining.
That’s not true.
The reason for their discontent didn’t really matter. She had one weekend to decide whether or not she wanted to fight.
* * * *
Larek had gone into Brin’s bedroom, which doubled as an office, to ask him a question when his communicator buzzed. The conversation was short, and he disconnected a minute later.
“Who was that?” Brin looked up from his desk. He collected the messy piles of paper into one large, messy pile.
“I don’t think you know her. That was one of my sources. She told me that apparently one of the history teachers at Anterra Prep will be fired if she doesn’t change what she’s teaching.”
“What’s she teaching? Earth history?”
He chuckled. “Hardly. Remember when Taryn and Kellum’s wife gave that presentation to the city council about those cave drawings?”
Brin’s hands stilled. “Do I? It was the talk of the town for weeks.”
“Well, it seems Madra, the history teacher for the uppers, began teaching that stuff, and the parents got up in arms.”
He smiled. “I can see why. A bunch of scratches on a cave wall shouldn’t be enough evidence to say our history is wrong.” He waved a hand. “Even if it were true, what good can it do now? Two thousand years is a long time to erase.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. If you came across an article that proved one of your clients was innocent, wouldn’t you fight to get the sentence reversed?”
“Yes.”
“Her situation is the same to me.”
“Maybe.” Brin leaned back in his chair and got a faraway look. “Do you remember our history teacher?”
Larek had to chuckle. “Old Ms. Verna? She was a hundred if she was a day.”
“I was always convinced she knew her stuff because she lived back in the day.”
“You might be right.”
Brin seemed to refocus. “So what about this history teacher? Do you know anything about her?”
“Not a thing, but I say we interview her. It will make a great front-page story.”
“If she’s friends with Lara, I’m surprised we haven’t run into her at one of Taryn and Kellum’s get togethers.”
Larek shrugged. “They haven’t socialized much since Lara came into their lives.”
“True. Or else I’m the one who hasn’t gotten out. I haven’t ventured far from the courtroom and home.” Brin got up and headed down the hallway toward the kitchen. Larek followed. “You suggested we should interview her. Why do you need me?”
He shrugged. “I figure if the school wants to fire her, maybe it’s unjustified. Teachers at private schools usually sign contracts for the year. Aban might need to give her more warning before he lets her go. I’d like your legal take on it.”
He glanced at the clock on the wall. “Will this take long? I’m preparing the case for Wendric and his wife.”
“Hard to tell, but if this history teacher is anything like Ms. Verna, she might be long winded.”
“Why don’t you give her a call and see if she’s free now? If you can’t get her off the phone, I’ll let you go it alone.”
His friend always was the logical one. “Fair enough.”
He wanted to get her take on her situation, as Larek prided himself on speaking with the source whenever possible. This Madra woman must be something if she had the courage to teach that the lions’ most-hated enemy had some justification for killing them. Intrigued, he went back to the living room for some privacy and gave her a call.
The conversation was short. He returned to his roommate. “Just spoke with Madra.”
Brin looked up. “How did she sound?”
Larek had to think a moment. “I’d say young, upset, and a little scared. While she was tentative about doing the interview, it didn’t take much to convince her to talk to me once I told her I wanted to write about the truth.”
Brin cocked a brow. “Then this should be interesting.”
“Interesting or not, it will make good press. You’re coming then?”
He pushed back from the desk. “Absolutely. I’m intrigued.”
* * * *
Brin was the first off the tram. Larek didn’t remember the last time he’d been in this neighborhood. The area was run down, but the homes did look like the owners cared. He’d programmed her house number in his communicator. As they walked down a well-lit but narrow alley, he listened for his machine to beep, indicating this was the place. The chime sounded. “Here it is.”
He nodded to a narrow home that abutted two others. It appeared as if she’d turned on every light in her house. Maybe she felt more secure that way. The paint on the front door was peeling and the doorbell was dangling on a wire, so he knocked. The woman opened it seconds later. Skelak. She was not at all what he’d expected, and his cock hardened. Thank the skies above he didn’t suck in a breath or growl.
Her slightly curly, light-brown hair kissed her shoulders and tumbled down her back. At first he thought his intense reactio
n was due to the fact her haunting eyes matched her light-blue skirt, but on second glance he decided it was her lightweight, white top covering her large, pert breasts that made him take notice. Most of the Anterran women walked around topless, but he understood this woman would have distracted all of the young shifters in her classroom if she did. As sure as wolves were their vicious enemy, he wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on a word she said if he’d been at a desk watching her teach. Good thing Ms. Verna was older than dirt, or he would have surely failed.
“Come in.” The soft vision moved to the side.
As he went by her, he only had to glance down a few inches to those alluring blue eyes and full lips. Even though she was barefoot, the top of her head came to his chin. Boy, did he love a tall woman. It made coupling so much easier.
Stop it. You’re here for an interview. His inner lion seemed to be fighting to get out. There was something about this woman that brought out the beast in him.
She ushered them to the sofa. While the material on the sofa was worn, her home was clutter-free. He and Brin sure could use her touch.
“Something to drink?”
He returned his attention back to her. “No. This isn’t a social visit.” Though I wish it were. “Do you mind if I record our conversation? I’d hate to misquote you.”
She drew in her bottom lip and crushed the material of her skirt. “Okay, but can I read the article before you send it out?”
He smiled, and immediately the tension sweeping her face diminished. “I’ll send you a copy first.” Her careful approach was a good trait.
Hard and Easy [High-Country Shifters 5] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) Page 1
