Stonybrooke Shifters: The Complete Collection

by Leela Ash

  “Well, it’s not all that surprising,” Rhett said with a shrug. “We’re living in a human world, after all. Our own world is far away.”

  “That’s true,” Gael said quietly. “But does that mean we should allow humans to take shifter culture and run with it as if it was their own invention?”

  Rhett chuckled. “Actually, I think that most humans out there would rather pretend that we don’t exist at all. The ones who are interested are rare and welcome, so long as they’re not overstepping their boundaries and encroaching on our territory. Try not to worry about that too much.”

  Gael smiled, a gesture that lit up her entire, beautiful face. “I love that point of view. I’ve never been exposed to much outside the estate where I was raised. It was kind of hard to make friends with anyone, especially bear shifters. My family has royal blood in our ancestry, but technically we are nothing special.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t put yourself down like that,” Rhett said, stretching. The little bathroom was starting to make him a little anxious and the wolf within him had been entirely awakened from the experience of seeing her naked. Instead of running off, though, his instinct told him to stay, to see what more this conversation may have to offer. She was such a beautiful girl with a fresh, kind perspective. How could he determine what was “too much” when it came to his ability to connect to her? The wolf was enamored, and he found himself helpless to her whims of conversation.

  “Thanks,” she said, standing from where she had seated herself and fixing a dazzling smile upon him. “Now then, I guess we should get downstairs. There’s a meal to prepare, right?”

  Rhett nodded. “Right.”

  Gael smiled and he followed her helplessly down the stairs without another word.

  6.

  “What do you think?”

  Rhett was staring at her, shifting nervously and Gael couldn’t help but study the way his strong, muscular arms pushed the confines of the shirt he was wearing.

  “I can’t believe how good this is,” Gael said, looking down at her plate.

  Rhett grinned. “I’m glad you like it. It was a recipe I remembered my mother making.”

  “It’s really good,” Gael said, taking another bite. “I haven’t ever had anything like this before. A lot of the foods we’ve tried the bear shifters eat I think are kind of…”

  “Bland?” Rhett suggested, a teasing smile on his lips. It made him look kind of sexy in a way. But just the sheer thought made Gael’s cheeks burn hot. What would she know about sex anyway? She had never had it before. That’s why she was the Virgin Maiden for the ceremony, right?

  “Exactly! It’s bland. Please don’t tell anybody here I said that. I would be so embarrassed.”

  “No, don’t worry,” Rhett said, his dark eyes sparkling. “Your secret is safe with me.”

  Gael smiled down at her plate relieved that Rhett understood without being offended. She had already gathered that he wasn’t a bear shifter. However, she hadn’t realized just how different the wolf shifters could be. Their bodies were even different; leaner muscle and more narrow features, whereas most of the bear shifters she’d seen were broad and densely muscled.

  It was shocking how attracted she was to him, but it was something she couldn’t let herself think too much into. How ironic would it be to allow herself to be carried away by a crush, when it was her purity that was the most important aspect of being where she was?

  She caught his eye from across the table. The way he looked at her was always so captivating, as if they were both a moment away from saying something they weren’t sure the other person wanted to hear. In a way it was funny.

  “It’s very different from the estate I was raised on, but I think that’s a good thing,” Gael said.

  The truth was, she was kind of intimidated by the place. It made her a little bit uneasy, mainly because she wasn’t used to the people there, or the strange way all of the bear shifters looked at her. She felt almost like a celebrity in a place where she had never even been before. It was an odd feeling; she had never done well with too much attention on herself.

  And yet, when it was Rhett looking at her, she couldn’t help but feel as if everything was going to be okay. She wasn’t sure whether it was because of the roles they had been appointed to play or that he just seemed like a genuinely trustworthy man, but something about him mad her feel safe. It was probably just a silly childish fancy, but she was enjoying it nonetheless.

  They finished eating in relative silence, making a little bit of chit-chat now and then about little things that didn’t seem to be important. When she was finished, Gael realized suddenly just how tired she was.

  “I think I need to lay down,” she said softly. “It’s been a long day. I had to take two airplanes to get here.”

  “What did they think when you arrived at the airport and had to leave on a horse-drawn carriage?” Rhett asked, his eyes dancing with unexpressed laughter. “That’s a little bit unconventional, even for these parts.”

  Gael laughed softly, half-embarrassed but more than anything, glad someone else could see the absurdity of refusing to align with the twenty-first century. Still, it was better for the environment, though she couldn’t say as much for the horses themselves. It seemed a strenuous job and she hated to be the cause of suffering for any living thing.

  “I got a lot of looks in Stonybrooke, just like I got a lot of looks going into the airport from the estate. It’s a little bit unorthodox, but I guess it’s as safe a way to travel as any.”

  “I guess you’re right about that,” Rhett said, the grin that was playing on his lips finally spreading. “It’s good that you got here safely, though. I know the elders were very worried about you.”

  “Yes, they fussed over me for the better part of an hour before they even started to fill me in on what the heck I’m supposed to be doing here.”

  Rhett nodded. “They kind of tend to beat around the bush sometimes, don’t they? It’s a little annoying.”

  Gael nodded, letting go of the small peal of laughter that had been bubbling in her chest. “It was cute, in a way. They’re taking this whole thing so seriously. They even asked me if I’m really a virgin.”

  Rhett furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly and looked at her.

  “Are you?” he asked, his voice strained.

  “Yes,” Gael said, looking him firmly in the eye. She wasn’t ashamed of who she was. “But that doesn’t mean they only chose me for the ceremony because of it. I was in line to do it next whether I was a virgin or not. It’s just some silly celebration. They want to make sure their festival is fun for everybody, purists and laid-back Samaritans alike, I suppose.”

  “Yeah, I suppose…”

  Rhett looked troubled for a moment and then looked at her, a grin spreading across his face.

  “So, I guess it’s time for us to figure out sleeping arrangements. I’m not supposed to let you leave my sight. What do you think we should do about that?”

  “Well, my luggage is already in the room they want me to sleep in,” Gael said. “I found it after my shower. Yours is in there too. But that doesn’t mean we have to sleep in the same room, do we?”

  Rhett shifted uncomfortably.

  “Are there two beds?”

  Gael nodded. “A king and a little cot shoved up against the corner.”

  Rhett sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  “I’m so sorry…” he mumbled. “This wasn’t my idea, but I think it means we have to try to make this work somehow.”

  Gael laughed, trying not to let her discomfort show up in her voice. “It’s all right.”

  “You don’t have to lie,” Rhett said, a sudden intensity in his eyes. Gael’s voice was taken away as her mouth dried up, the energy between them changing drastically. “I don’t want you to lie just so you can feel you aren’t hurting my feelings. It doesn’t hurt me you would rather have privacy like any other normal human being on this planet. I would rather have my ow
n room too.”

  “Are you sure this is really what needs to be done?” Gael asked, her voice hiding a sort of quiet desperation within it. She didn’t want to be stuck sleeping with someone she didn’t even really know, and that cot looked so uncomfortable.

  “We’ll make it work,” Rhett said as cheerfully as he could, though Gael could tell he was feeling rather dubious himself about it. “The elders would know if we weren’t following their rules to the letter and honestly, it won’t be so bad. We can put up a curtain or something and pretend we’re sleeping somewhere private.”

  “The room is way too small for that,” Gael said. “But it’s a nice thought. Thank you for trying to make me feel a little bit better about it.”

  “Yeah… of course.” Rhett mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose again. It was kind of funny how he did that whenever he was feeling frustrated. She had never seen somebody do that before.

  “Well, we can just make the best of it,” Gael decided. “Whether we like it or not, this is going to be our lives for the next month. Neither of us had much of a choice in that, but at the very least we can make sure it goes off without a hitch, right?”

  “Right,” Rhett agreed, taking a deep breath inward and grinning broadly before he let it out through his teeth. “Let’s make the most of it.”

  7.

  “I swear I packed it… oh, here it is!”

  Gael turned to Rhett, waving her toothbrush in the air victoriously with a bright smile on her face. There was something so damn innocent about this girl, and it wasn’t even just the fact she really was a virgin.

  Holy shit. He was being set up to guard the real Virgin Maiden after having his wolf side stake a very intense claim upon her. What the hell was he supposed to do now?

  “Glad you found it,” he said, attempting to keep the strain out of his voice. He was perched on his cot, looking out over the chaos of the bedroom. There was luggage everywhere; he had mistakenly pinned her as a practical, down to earth kind of person who would pack light to travel. Now he knew better.

  The girl had probably packed every single article of clothing she owned and at least two pairs of shoes for each of those outfits. And besides that, she had apparently thought that Tanka wouldn’t have a library or books, because there was a trunk loaded to the brim with them. Every shape and size, on all topics one could imagine.

  “Me too,” she said, bounding out of the bedroom. Rhett sighed and stood up to go out after her. He followed her out of the room, standing guard at the bathroom door dutifully as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed. When she finally emerged, she was wearing a silken nightgown and had brushed her hair before putting it into a long, loose braid.

  “Okay,” she said cheerfully. “Your turn.”

  Rhett froze. He hadn’t considered what he was supposed to do when it was his turn for privacy. He couldn’t just force her to go in there with him. But he felt that something had to be done to maintain the order.

  “Can you wait outside for me?” he asked finally. “Just call if you need anything or you’re in danger.”

  A beautiful laugh escaped the girl’s lips and Rhett’s heart constricted tightly. “There isn’t anybody out there who would really want to hurt me. This is just for a big party. It’s no different than a festival. Nobody kills anybody over a festival.”

  Rhett pursed his lips and sighed. “Maybe not, but this is my job.”

  “You’re taking this just as seriously as the elders are,” Gael chided. “It’s kind of adorable.”

  Rhett’s face turned hot and he turned away before she could see the deep flush in his cheeks, but it was already too late. He disappeared back into the bathroom and shut the door, cutting off Gael’s soft but incessant giggles. As embarrassing as it was, he couldn’t help but smile to himself once he was in the privacy of the bathroom. There was something about this girl he just couldn’t help but like. It went far beyond her physical beauty and into a part of her that just seemed to resonate within some deep part of himself, and the wolf knew it. The wolf wanted her… and it wanted her badly.

  He readied himself for bed as quickly as he could, then emerged from the bathroom freshly shaven and with a new determination to treat the next month as nothing but a sacred duty he had to fulfill. If he didn’t and he let himself slip up, even just one time, it could be enough that the elders would no longer trust him to do anything in Tanka. He couldn’t fathom the miserable existence that type of rejection would give to him.

  And so, Rhett followed Gael down the hall, sucking in a deep breath. He was resigned to protecting her at all costs, even though knowing that she was right, and it was nothing but a festival that a handful of old men were taking far too seriously.

  Still, there was no way of telling what kinds of dangers might be lurking in the midst. Rhett hadn’t expected the strange shift that had happened when he had been appointed the Guardian. The bear shifters had begun to treat him like he was an entirely different species, and even though it was true, it had hurt. He had been working so hard to find a way to belong here. It was his mission to seek a home that truly accepted him and to make himself a valuable member of shifter society, whether it was in his own wolf shifter society or not.

  “Well, good night then!” Gael said cheerfully, bounding past him and leaping onto the huge bed that had been elaborately lavished with beautiful pillows and blankets that looked fit for royalty.

  “Good night,” Rhett said quietly. He shut out the light and went over to his cot and sighed. It was going to be a long night.

  8.

  “No!”

  Gael’s heart thudded hard in her chest as she was awakened by yet another night terror. Suddenly, her body was enveloped by strong arms and she could feel herself being pulled into the broad, muscular chest of a good-smelling man.

  “It’s all right,” Rhett whispered, his voice deep and rumbling in his chest. “It’s all right. You were having a bad dream, but you’re safe now. I’ll protect you.”

  Gael’s heart rate began to slow as she was rocked gently in Rhett’s arms and a hot flush of embarrassment crept across her cheeks once she finally calmed down.

  “Thank you for that,” she whispered, pulling away from him and distancing herself from Rhett’s broad, muscular body. “I sometimes dream of the night I lost my mother.”

  Rhett’s face darkened. “I understand. I often dream of when I lost my parents as well.”

  Gael gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. He was an orphan?

  “You lost both of your parents? At the same time?”

  She didn’t feel right bombarding him with probing questions like that, but they flew rapidly into her mind. How old had he been? How old had his parents been? Had they died together? And how? What had happened? And what was his life like once he’d become an orphan? What a poor, sad and lonely child he must have been!

  “My parents died together, during a battle that I knew nothing about until I was told about it in the newspapers. There is a war going on, one that has been going on in secret from the humans for centuries between the wolf shifters and the bears.

  “There’s something very special nestled in the land upon which Stonybrooke resides and it’s something that the bears believe might help them to return to their world. But being a wolf shifter, I know it’s secure and there is no way for them to steal such a treasure. There is no telling what might happen should it fall into the wrong hands anyway. In fact, most people believe it isn’t even something real, just a myth.”

  “What do you believe?” Gael asked, shifting on the bed under Rhett’s gaze. She was so sorry to hear about his parents, and she wanted to know more about the war. Even her father had never heard of such a rivalry. Wouldn’t it be hard to conduct a war in secret? Especially one that apparently resulted in so many casualties.

  “I believe that it was real, but there’s a lot of magic that will work in favor of its protection, but that’s not really a big deal. I’m not too concerned with
that kind of thing, and I don’t care either way what happens. The wolf shifters aren’t my pack anymore.”

  “They’re not?” Gal asked, confused. She had been under the impression that once you were part of a wolf shifter’s pack, you were family for life—maybe even beyond. What could he mean by that?

  “They’re not. I was driven out when I was a child. It’s kind of a long story.”

  Gael frowned, and reached out to grab his hand. He allowed her to, and both avoided each other’s eyes for a moment as a surge of powerful heat seemed to pulse between them when their bodies touched.

  “Who would drive away a child?” she whispered.

  “Well, it’s a little bit more complicated than that,” Rhett said. “It started when I was a child, and ended when I was coming of age. It can be hard for shifters to express emotions the same way that humans can, or you may understand this is a painful subject that I don’t actually want to talk about with you.”

  Gael withdrew her hand, feeling suddenly very hurt by the statement. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  Rhett looked down at the bed, and then pierced her with his firm gaze. “It isn’t your fault. I just know my own limitations and if you kept expecting me to speak to you, I would. But I’m not comfortable with that right now. It’s already been a very long day. We can maybe talk more about this later.”

  “Maybe,” Gael said, sighing softly. Rhett smiled sadly at her and gave her a nod.

  “You’re feeling better now, right?” he asked, getting off the bed and stretching his arms over his head. “It’s late. You should try to get some sleep. I have a feeling the elders will be summoning us at some point to see how we’re getting along.”

  “Yeah, I’m feeling better,” Gael lied. However, the truth was she was starting to feel worse. It was hard to be snapped at without feeling a little bit of sadness, especially when all she wanted to do was to help.