James had broken up with his last girlfriend over three months ago after only four weeks of dating and hadn’t been with anyone else since then. He felt lonely even when he was with her and knew that wasn’t how he was supposed to feel. So instead of stringing her along he decided to call it quits. When he was younger, he could stay with his boyfriend or girlfriend for months on end knowing it wouldn’t lead to anything. Now that he wanted that lifelong relationship, he couldn’t stay. Finding his mates was another reason he was going to the Isle to visit Eli in two weeks. He felt as though it was time to seek his other halves and start the family he had been dreaming about for the last four years. James was ready to take the next step in life; shit, he wasn’t getting any younger.
Charity looked around for James and when she couldn’t find him, she began to panic. Until she tapped into her shifter powers and followed his scent with her nose to the shadows in the room. She felt bad for her brother having to follow her around because of the shifters on the Isle looking for their parents. She knew James wasn’t a crowd person and hated being around a crowd of people he felt as though he was lying to, since he couldn’t be his true self around them and tell them he was a shifter.
Charity felt just as trapped as her brother did. She didn’t want to hide who she was inside—and it was killing her. To tell the truth she didn’t even want to be at the bar, she would have been happy with just a small dinner with her family, but she felt as though this was what everyone expected of her. Charity hated letting others down even if it was at her own expense. That was where she admired her brother even though he was sometimes too serious and a beyond scary perfectionist. He never let anything get in the way of what he truly wanted to do and be.
She just wanted to be herself sometimes, she felt as though she didn’t even truly know who she was any more. From pretending to be someone others thought she was for so long, Charity had lost herself somewhere inside. She was tired of compromising her own life and what she wanted because her friends disapproved of it. Like when she had told them she was ready to find her mate, settle down, and maybe have some kids in a year or two after. Her friends had looked at her as though she was crazy and told her she wasn’t ready. Instead of arguing with them, she agreed since she wasn’t the type to argue. She always had either James or Eli to stand up for her. She knew it was time for her to stand on her own and grow a pair.
Charity was tired of everyone thinking they could walk all over her and knew it was time to stand up for herself. Even though she was surrounded by her friends, she still felt as though she was standing there alone. She couldn’t wait to visit the Isle and see what it brought her. Nothing in her life was going right on the human side. She was losing her teaching job because of budget cuts and that was the last thing holding her back from moving to the Isle, besides her parents. Once she convinced her parents to move back to the Isle, she was leaving the human side for good.
It is time for me to take control of my life, Charity thought, as she sipped on the same beer she had since she walked through the door.
***
Three hours later, James felt the need to hurry home. It was as if an unseen force was pulling his mind home. Charity must have felt it as well since she suddenly shot out of her seat and made her way toward him in a hurry.
“Come on, James, we have to go home,” Charity whispered in his ear so he could hear her over the music as she pulled him out of his seat.
James’s coworkers had left over an hour ago and it was just a few of Charity’s friends still in the bar. Being the cop he was, James made sure Charity’s friends that were still in the bar all had a ride home before they left.
Ten minutes later, instead of the usual twenty it took since there was no traffic, they pulled up to their home. James noticed their front door was wide opened when he pulled up to the front of the house and immediately went into police mode.
“Stay here, Charity, until I come back and get you,” James said as he reached for his backup guns locked on his trike.
“Do you remember how to use this?” James asked Charity as he handed her a gun.
“Yes, you take me to the gun range twice a week, why wouldn’t I?” Charity answered.
“Okay, shoot if it isn’t me, mom, or dad who walks out of the house or approaches you, got it? I am going to check on mom and dad now,” James said before he cautiously approached the front door.
He could hear muffled screams coming from the living room and ran straight there. James could see a few cat and wolf shifters ripping their parents’ bodies apart with their teeth. James immediately shifted into his lion form since it was larger than his wolf form and attacked the closest shifter. He ripped apart shifter after shifter until an unknown voice in his head halted him in his tracks.
‘James, get out of there now, more shifters are on their way. If you don’t leave now, both you and your sister will be killed. Don’t worry, you can trust me, I am Eli’s grandmother, Aishe, I helped your parents before. Two bottles of emergency potion I sent your parents years ago are in the pot on the porch. The Alpha of the Isle of Paradise has a secret airplane only you and your sister can see waiting at the airport for you both. Call Eli to meet you at the airport on your way there for help, just in case the shifters follow you. Have him bring his father’s Enforcers and I will be there as well.’
James followed all of Aishe’s directions. He would do whatever he had to protect Charity now, even if it was listening to a voice in his head. He knew who Aishe was from listening to the stories from Eli and his parents, and knew without a doubt that it was she.
James left their home, grabbed the potions from the pot on the porch, and headed for his trike and Charity. Once he reached Charity, he quickly explained what they needed to do and the urgency they needed to do it in. Charity didn’t question, just obeyed, and they took off. James grabbed his phone, there was a call he needed to make.
***
“Eli, my parents are dead, I don’t know what is going on, but I have to get my sister, Charity, away from here until I do. We are on our way to the secret airport on this side of the world. I need you to meet us at the airport on the Isle of Paradise. Bring backup with you, I think whoever killed my parents are now after Charity and me. Come quick, we are almost there.” James left the message on Eli’s voicemail, hoping Eli would check his messages before James and Charity made it to the airport.
James could feel the other shifters a few blocks behind them. He knew the shifters couldn’t smell him because of the emergency potion from Aishe, but they could still see him. He had to come up with a plan to ditch them before he got to the airport. James knew they would be safe in the secret plane only he and Charity could see, but they had to get there first. He also knew if he stayed on this road then the shifters would know exactly where they were going.
James turned right instead of driving straight ahead toward the airport. As he turned, the shifters turned their car onto the street he had just turned off. It took him twenty minutes longer to get to the airport, but it was well worth it.
James held up the plane for twenty minutes making sure everything was okay with the plane and his bike before taking off.
“James, why didn’t you let me go in the house? Where are we going?” Charity asked as the plane took off.
“Charity, they found mom and dad. I was too late to save them, but I have to do whatever I can in order to save you. We are going to the Isle of Paradise, so Aishe, Eli, Eli’s mate, Jadelyn, Jake, the Alpha Baron, and the rest of Isle can help me protect you. I will find out who killed mom and dad once we are on the Isle. We are going back to where it all began to discover what happened to them,” James answered as he closed his eyes. Charity’s eyes filled with tears. Sobs escaped from her mouth. James could see how scared she was, how lost she looked since she found out their parents were dead.
James hated when his sister cried and felt bad he couldn’t do anything to soothe her. If he could bring his parents back just to comfort
his sister one last time, he would.
“It’s okay, Charity, I will protect you now with my own life,” James said as he pulled his sister into a hug.
“I know, James. You always have,” Charity said through her sniffles.
***
As the plane landed with a soft thud, James said, “Get on the back of the bike and buckle up just in case I have to gun it.” James used his magic to start the bike since he had to drain the gas and oil before the plane took off. He knew the plane ran by magic and he didn’t have to drain his bike. On the other hand, he didn’t want to take any chances with Charity’s life—she was all he had now.
James put his hand over his bike, zapped it, and the engine quickly began to purr.
James’s heart began to pound out of his chest when he noticed the two shifters standing next to Eli and Eli’s mate, Jadelyn. His mouth went dry, he couldn’t believe what was going on. He had found his mates! He didn’t believe Eli when he said he would have two mates since his father was an Enforcer and his mother was a Beta. He took in everything about his mates from the distance he was at. He could see them, but he knew they couldn’t see him.
Everything around him disappeared as he rode his trike toward his mates.
Chapter Two
Eli, Jadelyn, Ace, and Chelsea were on their way to the Alpha’s house after the battle to set up for the celebration party they were having. Eli noticed his voicemail beeping, so he played the message. It was from Eli’s shifter friend, James, who still lived on the human side of the world.
“Dammit, the party will have to wait, guys. Turn the car around and let’s get moving. I grew up with James, and this can’t be good,” Eli responded to his best friend’s message.
They turned their car away from the Alpha’s house to head to the airport to help Eli’s friend, James, and his younger sister, Charity. Chelsea signaled for the Enforcers to follow them once they turned around and hoped they could get there in time.
Both Ace and Chelsea felt this weird connection with the voice on the other end of the phone. Neither of them knew what it meant, but they would soon find out.
“Did you get that eerie feeling when James’s voice came on as well, Ace?” Chelsea asked as she reached over and grabbed one of Ace’s hands.
Chelsea and Ace were always just as close as Jadelyn and Eli when they were younger. It was no surprise to anyone on the Isle when Ace and Chelsea discovered they were mates. When they were younger, neither went anywhere without the other one, unless Chelsea was with Jadelyn and Ace was with Eli.
Ace nodded his head from the driver seat and smiled as he admired Chelsea. To Ace, Chelsea hadn’t changed much over the years, just mostly grew taller and into her looks. Ace chuckled under his breath when he remembered all the crazy things they did as pups and how Chelsea always got them into trouble.
Ace didn’t realize Chelsea was the reason they always got caught when they were younger, sneaking out of the house to go to their secret place for a while. At first he thought his or her parents caught them sneaking back into their rooms in the Beta/Head Enforcer house through the windows. Until he realized Chelsea was blabbing to their parents the next morning since she just had to tell them how much fun they had when they snuck out of the house.
To this day, Chelsea still blabbed everything they did to their parents unless he made her swear not to tell anyone. Ace loved her with all his heart and she truly grounded him. Sometimes Ace thought he would be injured or dead if it wasn’t for Chelsea. She stopped him from doing some of the craziest things anyone could imagine.
Like the time he thought it would be cool if he could jump his car from one mountain cliff over a river to the next cliff. He thought he could make it—without a doubt—quickly dismissing the sharp rocks at the bottom, until Chelsea talked some sense into him.
Both Chelsea and Ace were outgoing and the life of every party. All the shifters on the Isle around their age group said at least once in their life that ‘the party didn’t start until Chelsea and Ace got there.’ Ace hoped their mate was more reserved than they were so he could pull the both of them in when needed.
Ace turned into the Isle of Paradise airport parking lot ten minutes after listening to Eli’s voicemail, hoping they weren’t too late.
“Do you smell that, Chelsea?” Ace asked. He thought he was going crazy when he smelled the scent of their tri-mate and he wanted Chelsea to confirm if it was their other mate. It felt as though his heart was mending with each breath that he took as he pulled in his mate’s scent. Ace thought this day would never come and he still felt as though it wouldn’t. He wouldn’t believe it was his mate he scented until he saw him.
“Yes, it smells like a mixture of cinnamon, vanilla, and honey, and it is the scent of our lost tri-mate,” Chelsea said as she looked around trying to spot their mysterious mate.
Chelsea wondered if he looked how she and Ace pictured he would some nights before bed. They would lie in bed together and each say a different feature they thought their mate had until they could see the whole picture of their mate, somehow giving them comfort at night, if nothing else.
They all got out of the car when they heard the sound of a plane door opening and stood next to each other ready for battle, if necessary, along with Baron, Jake, Chelsea’s father, Gabe, and Ace’s father, Cornelius, standing behind them and the Enforcers behind them.
Chelsea and Ace could feel the hairs on the back of their necks lift. They knew they were being watched but couldn’t quite see who the culprit was. Ace didn’t feel like there was an immediate threat to them or he would have had Chelsea back in the SUV protected. Ace scented the air and could only pick up the scent of curiosity from the shock at what was unfolding.
The sound of a bike revving up could be heard but couldn’t be seen, which confused them all, until they saw a man and woman moving toward them on the trike from across the runway. Ace and Chelsea whispered ‘Mate’ as James drove closer, making Eli’s ears perk up.
“What? James is your missing tri-mate?” Eli asked. He couldn’t believe his three best friends were mates.
Neither Ace nor Chelsea paid too much attention to what Eli had said, let alone answered him since their primary focus was on their mate. Eli wasn’t really a factor in their mind at the moment.
Everything disappeared around Chelsea, Ace, and James as they made their way toward each other.
Chelsea and Ace looked straight at James as their eyes took him in. He was beyond tall, six foot five, yellow blonde hair with black streaks in it. He had a strong, firm face, sea green eyes, he was so fit there was no denying he worked out.
When Chelsea looked at him, she saw everything that was missing in her life. She had dreamed of this day for so long but didn’t like the circumstances surrounding it. Just smelling his scent made her think about their pups running all over their chest while she, James, and Ace would lay in bed.
When James made it to them, he pulled them into a hug when he got close enough because he needed to pull some strength from them. The adrenaline he had in order to protect his sister was now wearing off. He could still hear his parents’ muffled screams and see their ripped body parts all over the living room floor. He was more pissed than hurt that he couldn’t rip the rest of the shifters apart who were part of the plot, just as the shifters had done to his parents.
Ace could feel his mate needed him just from the way he hugged them. It was as if he was hugging them for life support. It angered Ace that someone would kill his mate’s parents the way they had.
Ace wanted to get his mates and new sister out of danger and home as quick as he could. It was time for him to take control. He knew James was strong from the stories Eli had told him over the last few days, but despite how strong James was, he had to grieve the loss of his parents. Ace waited until James pulled back from them before turning his attention to Eli.
“Eli, could you drive my car home, I am going to ride with James,” Ace said.
“Yeah, n
o problem,” Eli answered.
James growled, capturing everyone’s attention around him. Out the corner of his eye, James could see Charity in an embrace with a male he didn’t know. He turned to his mates immediately. “Who the fuck has his hands on my baby sister?”
“That is my cousin, Trevor, and I think he is Charity’s mate,” Chelsea answered her mate.
Trevor was Chelsea’s cousin; his father and Chelsea’s father were brothers. When Eli’s father, Jake, left the Isle, and Chelsea’s father moved up from Head Enforcer to Second Beta, Trevor’s father was moved up from Second in Command Enforcer to Head Enforcer. Trevor was two years younger than Chelsea’s thirty and was a good but passionate man.
“James, I am going with my mate. I will be meet you at the Alpha house in the morning,” Charity yelled as she pointed toward an SUV.
James was just about to tell her no when Chelsea interrupted him.
“She needs her mate just as much as you need yours right now. I know you want to protect her, but she needs him right now. I will make sure a couple of the Enforcers stay with them the whole time. His father is the Head Enforcer and already has two of his Enforcers with him at all times, but I will make sure at least five more are with them,” Chelsea said before heading over to her uncle and Baron to arrange for five more Enforcers to follow them.
James watched his sister until the other five Enforcers joined them. He knew she needed her mate but that didn’t stop him from wanting to protect her from the world. James knew he couldn’t drive his trike as flashes of his mother’s and father’s dead bodies continuously flashed before his eyes as their screams pierced his ears. He wouldn’t wish this on his worst enemy to see their parents the way he saw his.
A Time for Change Page 2
