by Leela Ash
Kane saw himself out, grabbing a few copies of the new reform laws. He would scour over them all night and wouldn’t rest until he knew for sure that he was going to lead the wolf shifters of Stonybrooke to victory.
***
Kane spent the next few weeks avoiding Lia like the plague. Every time he saw her, he felt crippling guilt and fear. Anger at himself for coming so close to the edge of his self-control, and fury that he had allowed himself to touch another woman, and meaningfully, no less, after the loss of his wife.
He wouldn’t forgive himself this time, and every time he saw Lia, he simply acted like a piece of shit toward her. He couldn’t help himself. It was as if all the bad feelings about the situation just bubbled up out of him at once.
To make matters worse, Franklin had rescheduled the meeting to the week before the ceremony was to commence, putting Kane even more on edge than he had been already. It wasn’t until late Friday afternoon that Franklin managed to get everybody together for a meeting, coughing heavily into his handkerchief.
“So a great tragedy has befallen the university,” Franklin said. “Max Fredrickson was found deceased.”
Kane opened his mouth to interject, but found, suddenly, that speaking seemed impossible. If he spoke now and was found guilty of murdering his competition, he would be disqualified. Nobody knew what had happened. If he was honest, he might as well be handing the advantage over to Max’s cronies.
“A startling discovery was made, however, upon the examination of his corpse,” Franklin continued. “Max was not… one of us.”
Kane’s entire body seemed to deflate at the words, so profound was his relief.
“Sir, if I may interject…” Kane said, finally finding his voice. “I am responsible for the murder of Max Fredrickson. He abducted my fiancé and intended to sacrifice her to Malishk.”
The room grew silent, and all eyes turned to Kane.
“I discovered that he is a hybrid. Half bear, half wolf. But it is a dark magic that binds these two halves together, and it corrupted him down to his very soul. I had to save my fiancé. She is… she is a student here.”
Every shameful thing about the situation seemed to be summarized by his statement, and Kane waited with his chest tight, for Franklin to speak. Finally, after another round of coughing, he did.
“Kane,” he said, his voice low and serious. “There were guidelines to this candidacy that I outlined exclusively, expecting whoever succeeded me to abide by them.”
Kane grimaced. He was going to be disqualified. He should have just kept his damn mouth shut.
“But,” Franklin continued. “I respect the great courage it must have taken, not only to face this monster for the return of your fiancé, but to face the council, and myself, with the truth.”
Kane bowed his head. “I am worried about the Council, actually. I only asked them for details about the reform.”
“Kane,” Franklin said, walking slowly around the conference table to face Kane and place his hand firmly on his shoulder. “There isn’t a more worthy man to take my place in this school. Our way of life is under siege. But by stopping Max from taking over the school, you have undoubtedly saved Stonybrooke from another massacre. You are hereby deemed my successor, and will be honored at a celebration with your virgin fiancé present.”
“Thank you,” Kane said, bowing deeply to Franklin.
Everybody in the conference room applauded, but for some reason, instead of feeling relieved, Kane simply felt heavy. His virgin fiancé. His farce.
As much as he cared about her, and fuck, did he care, it just couldn’t happen. He had gotten far more than he had bargained for, and now he was going to have to face up to his mistakes one last time before getting rid of Lia once and for all.
18.
“From this moment forth, the power will be transferred to Professor Kane Desmond, destined to wed young Lia Turner. Lia, by the power of your purity, may Kane Desmond be blessed with righteous wisdom in the course of his leadership. Now, and for all time.”
The crowd cheered, and Lia blushed painfully. She had been led to believe it would just be a small ceremony, but it felt like the entire town of Stonybrooke was witnessing Kane receiving his position as the head mentor of SU’s students.
She caught Courtney’s eye in the crowd and winced as her friend gave her a thumbs up. She was holding onto Eric’s arm in the crowd. After her weekend away, Kane had grilled her until the truth came out, but somehow, he wasn’t quite as furious as Courtney thought he would be. He had demanded she bring Eric home for dinner, though; a prospect that terrified them all.
“You did great up there,” Courtney teased when everybody was finally filing away. Kane had disappeared behind the scenes to receive more information about his honors, and Courtney had promised to drive Lia back to the house.
“Sure, I did,” Lia said, shaking her head. “Now all of Stonybrooke knows I’m a virgin.”
“Don’t worry, most guys would find that pretty hot,” Eric said. Courtney elbowed him in the ribs and he laughed. “Just saying.”
Lia shook her head. It didn’t matter what most of the guys in Stonybrooke thought. She just wanted to be with Kane. But Kane had been shutting her out ever since the night they’d nearly had sex. And now that the ceremony was over…
She tried not to let the thought bother her as they drove back to the Desmond household, but when they arrived, they found Lia’s things already out of Kane’s room and packed and stacked neatly on the living room floor. There was a note on top.
Now you can finally get out of here.
“That’s weird,” Courtney said, reading the note and flipping it over. “Did you and my dad have a fight or something?”
Lia’s eyes filled with hot tears and she swallowed hard.
“I don’t know,” she said. “Would you mind driving me to campus? I’m going to see if my dorm room is still available.”
“Of course,” Courtney said, furrowing her brow. Eric helped her to move Lia’s things to the car, and soon, she was back on campus, trying to put the whole experience behind her.
***
It wasn’t until about six months later that Lia heard a soft, urgent knock on her dorm room door. She lived alone, and listened cautiously at the door, afraid. The shifters had won the vote against the reform, luckily, but the incident with Max had left her afraid of her own shadow. Especially without Kane there to protect her.
“Who is it?” she asked nervously.
“It’s Kane.”
“Kane?!”
Lia opened the door quickly, her eyes immediately filling with tears as she took in the beautiful sight of him. It was bittersweet, really. She had wanted nothing more than to speak with him one last time, for so long. She had been beating herself up for months, wondering what in the hell had happened with him. She’d cared about him. Maybe even loved him. But to be treated so callously, after sacrificing so much…
“We need to talk,” Kane said, sinking down on Lia’s bed. He looked like a wreck, and she frowned at him.
“So talk.”
“I…” Kane trailed off before he even began and then tried again. “I haven’t loved…anyone. Not since my wife. Caring about you scares the shit out of me. Not just because of the normal things, you know. You being younger, or a virgin, or whatever. But because I’m terrified to love again. More afraid of losing it. Does that make sense?”
Kane’s dark eyes were serious upon her, and she saw, suddenly, the agony he must have been in the entire time they had been together. He had done his best to keep himself in line, not only for himself, but for his wife.
“It’s okay to let her go,” Lia said, going to him and holding his hands tightly in hers. “And you can mark my words, I’m not going anywhere.”
Kane’s handsome face looked vulnerable, and then strong again, and he held her close to his body, sending a deep thrill down her spine.
“I love you, Lia. I’ve loved you for so long, and was too a
fraid to admit to what it was. Please, forgive me for being an asshole.”
“I did a long time ago,” Lia whispered. “I love you too, Kane.”
They were silent for a few moments as they held each other close, as if to convince the other that they were in it for the long haul.
When they pulled apart, their eyes met, and suddenly, Kane’s lips were upon her, hot and eager, his hands gripping her body and tugging at her clothing. Fire ignited her loins and she gasped as Kane’s hand wedged itself between her legs to feel the heat of her middle through her jeans.
She wasted no time in stripping Kane’s shirt off, revealing the broadly muscled torso that had left her longing for more so long ago. Now, he was here again. And there was nothing left in their way.
“Fuck!” Lia hissed as Kane ripped her bra off and sank his mouth onto her nipple.
A flood of warmth surged through her body, and she arched her back as Kane continued to devour her. She could feel the urgent pressure of his groin against her leg, and knowledge of it drove her wild with desire. Soon, they were both naked, with Kane on top of her, his dark eyes glittering with need as he slowly began to press his shaft against her middle, sending hot tendrils of ecstasy coursing through her.
“Promise you’ll never leave me again,” Kane said. “Promise you’ll marry me and I’ll give you whatever you want.” He pressed the head of his cock just outside of her, his eyes dark and sensual. “I’ll take whatever you want.”
The words made her shudder. The truth was, she had never pictured herself with anybody the way she had with Kane. She’d wanted to hear those words since the moment she’d laid eyes on him.
“I promise,” Lia gasped, crying out in bliss as Kane slowly slid himself partly inside of her body, without breaking her hymen. “I’ll marry you. Please, just take me.”
“As you wish,” Kane whispered into her ear. He pushed the rest of himself inside her and Lia cried out. It hurt a little, but it also felt better than anything she had ever experienced. She could feel every inch of him inside of her, and they both knew it as soon as her hymen was broken.
“Are you all right?” Kane whispered, stroking Lia’s hair lovingly. “I shouldn’t have waited so long. I just…”
“It’s fine,” Lia said, stroking Kane’s cheek. “I understand.”
They kissed passionately, languidly, as Kane began to thrust gently inside of Lia, their bodies entwined as they seemed to find their own sensual rhythm. Lia moaned deeply as Kane introduced her to parts of herself she hadn’t known existed, and their bodies embraced as they became joined together in harmony. Lia had never felt so whole.
She bucked her hips up against him, inviting him to unleash his full power upon her, and Kane’s eyes grew dark.
“Are you sure you’re up for that?” he whispered, kissing the nape of her neck gently. “It’s your first time.”
Lia arched her brow at him, and he unleashed a growl. The wolf inside him was clearly present, and she cried out in sudden ecstasy as Kane began to unleash the deep, repressed passion he had been keeping locked away ever since his wife had been killed.
Lia shuddered in bliss as, again and again, Kane brought her closer to her climax, until finally, with sudden power, Lia gripped Kane’s arm and moaned as her body began to shudder beneath him. She could feel herself closing around the powerful muscle inside of her, contracting around it as he gave one final burst of powerful thrusting. A sudden explosion inside of her intensified her orgasm, and Kane continued rocking his hips until every last drop was spent inside of her.
They collapsed on the bed together, panting and holding each other tightly.
“I never want to be without you for so long again,” Lia whispered as Kane held her close to his chest.
He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tightly.
“Courtney said you should move back in tonight,” Kane said. “She’s waiting with Eric in their truck.”
“What?!” Lia exclaimed.
Kane laughed and kissed her again, deeply, passionately.
“Welcome to the family, kid,” he said, the twinkle back in his eye.
Lia’s heart soared. It was everything she had ever wanted. She was about to go home.
THE END
The Seal Shifter’s Secret Baby
A Stonybrooke Shifters story
Leela Ash
Copyright ©2017 by Leela Ash. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
“Nice work, Jonah. I think they really believed it.”
Jonah grinned quickly, but a sudden shadow wiped the smile off his face.
“Not quite,” Jonah growled. “Get down, Nichols!”
“Fucking wolves! You’ll never make it to the Serah Stone!”
Nichols dropped to the ground and Jonah reacted quickly, just as he had been taught to do in training. A piercing wail of anguish filled the air as the bullet from Jonah’s gun struck true and the bear shifter collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony before he grew still. The job was finished. It was time to return to base.
“You’re not getting away with this. Just because you’re SEALs doesn’t mean you can stop fate,” the rogue bear shifter murmured just as he drew his final, shuddering breath. Jonah glanced down at Nichols, who happened to be a bear shifter himself, and offered his hand.
“You good?” Jonah asked, helping Nichols to his feet.
“Just grazed my back,” Nichols said, gesturing casually to his torn uniform and the three bleeding scratch marks that ran from his shoulder to his waist. “It’s really nothing.”
“Still, they’re going to want to have you checked out. Any link in the chain that isn’t at its strongest…”
“Is a liability, I know, man. You say that all the time.”
“I’m the leader of the squad, Nichols. I have to have a slogan.”
Jonah grinned at his friend, so fast it almost wasn’t even a smile at all, before getting back to business.
“All right, let’s get back then,” Jonah said. “We’ll make sure you’re square before we report what happened here.”
“It’s big, Jonah,” Nichols said, his dark brown eyes glittering nervously. “I don’t like how this feels.”
“Don’t worry, man, everything is going to be all right. We’re on it.”
“But this is going to change everything, Jonah. I’m pretty worried. I have a feeling this is deeper than we thought. They obviously don’t have the stone here.”
Jonah glowered. “I know.”
The Serah Stone was Stonybrooke’s pride and joy. It was a mystical, incredible mineral that had rich mythology and magical properties embedded in its sharp edges and luminous exterior. It had been stolen from its sacred altar from Jonah’s hometown just a few months ago, no doubt to serve the twisted agenda of the bear shifters. With the power of the Serah Stone in the bear’s hands, it was becoming chillingly clear that the enemy shifters, who were hell bent on destroying his home town, had the upper hand.
“When I was part of the Oaks, they often spoke of the rebel clans that had been kicked off Oak Mountain. Their plan was always to get back the sacred land and build a portal. That’s what they rumored to be the source of the stone’s power. They have this crazy idea that they could all have the same power that the stone has if they mine deeply enough.”
“Mine?” Jonah asked, staring at Nichols. Nichols was a huge, serious man, with a thick black beard and kind brown eyes. He was also strong. Incredibly strong. He almost put Jonah to shame. But then, they weren’t the same species. It was hard to compare. Apples and oranges.
Jonah had grown up in Stonybrooke all his life, where the only thing the wolf shifters were more prejudiced toward than humans were the bear shifters. But it was a survival instinct.
Bears were always causing trouble, and now that Jonah knew the Serah Stone had always been the goal, it all made perfect sense why they were so often after the people of Stonybrooke. They wanted the land. And more than that, they wanted the stone. And now they had it.
It was shocking to be so close to a bear shifter on his team; Jonah had always been taught to despise bears in all shapes and forms. But Nichols was a man with a mind of his own, raised far away from the bear settlement just outside of Stonybrooke, in a mystical place known as Oak Mountain, where Nichols swore the bear shifters there had no grudge against the wolves.
He would have to see it to believe it, but still, Jonah had grown to trust Nichols with his life. He was exceptionally talented and, somehow, had ultimately been recruited by the Navy SEALs. Jonah had met Nichols during training on the East Coast, and then bonded during deployment halfway around the world to track a group of bear shifters who had been stealing ancient wolf artifacts from museums.
It was easy to deduce that there was more to it than just a few missing items, but hearing the bear shifter speak of the Serah Stone had chilled him. Something bad was going on, and chances were high that he and his team were going to be sent to figure out just what it was. The mission was finally starting to make sense. And it all had to do with Jonah’s hometown. Stonybrooke.
“Yeah, mining,” Nichols continued. “We were told that there’s a special area where the rock fell from space and landed on Earth. When it was found, there was all this dark, swirling energy around it. The men who found it felt it. They were abnormally strong afterward.”
“Shit,” Jonah muttered.
“So the theory would be,” Nichols continued. “That the shifters in possession of the stone, upon performing a ritual, would be able to tap into the same strength the original crew had.”
