I had fur.
I had fur.
“Paul …” The cautious call yanked at my attention, and I whipped my head around to watch McKayla sniffle back her watered eyes and clogged nose harshly. “Are you okay?”
Instead of trying to reply, I turned back to my quivering, weak body, and I shuffled my limbs experimentally. My bones ached, drawing a low groan as my muscles burned in protest, but the sensation caused the dam the break in my mind.
Realization flooded my brain, and I pushed myself up onto my paws as the numbness clutching my chest slowly ebbed into joy. Wordless grunts and chuffs burst from my throat, and I bounced on my front paws. A smattering of chuckles swept through the air, drawing my attention to the large crowd that stood around the yard a good distance away.
There was so much to see, so much to feel, but a flicker of gold caught my gaze out of the corner of my eye. McKayla sat on her knees, her dress completely ruined with dirt and sweat and stomach contents - but I had never seen anything so beautiful. Her smile beamed bright, darkening even the sun that hung high above us, and I waddled unsteadily the few feet towards her to bump my head against her chest.
I have hair on my head. The thought came swiftly, shockingly, and I was caught in a whirlwind of pain and disorientation as it sent me spiraling into the shift back to human form. Confusion clouded my mind, and I gasped for air while my mate’s solid, grounding grip wrapped around my upper body.
I lifted my hand, automatically to touch my scalp, leaning heavily on McKayla, as questions started piling up on top of each other in the thin space between my brain and my skull.
“How – what – h - how…?” She felt so soft, so safe, cradling me to her, and my rasping mumbles seeped into the valley between her breasts. For a long few seconds that felt like minutes, there was nothing but silence, and an aged, crackling voice finally sounded to break it.
“You probably had a dormant gene. It’s common in human-shifter pairings, but it doesn’t usually activate.” I groaned softly and closed my eyes to savor McKayla’s hands rubbing my aching back. “I’ve heard of it before. You won’t have an inner beast like us, but you can shift.”
I got the feeling that the rough, male voice was addressing more than just me, and a ripple of excitement settled in the atmosphere. Soft, trembling lips pressed against my crown, and I sluggishly wrapped my arms around McKayla before her voice reverberated through me.
“So, his dad was a shifter?” Honestly, I don’t care how it happened, just that it did.
I had to call Jon and let him know. I bet he’d lose his shit.
“I doubt it - maybe his great-grandparents. I almost wish my son was here, so he could see what he left behind. I’m not a big fan of that other woman, you know.”
“We know, Grampa. You made sure everyone knows. Don’t spoil this for the kids, now.” Multiple pairs of hands I didn’t recognize helped me up, supporting my sides and back as McKayla held me to her chest. Laughter - real, genuine laughter - encircled me, and my feet dragged heavily against the grass until I dropped into a lounge chair.
“It’s okay, Paul. Everything’s okay. Just rest.” A light blanket was placed around my waist, and McKayla settled between my legs, causing the fabric to chafe my skin. I heaved a ragged breath and slumped against the reclined back, to soak up the sun and do just as my woman demanded of me.
Sluggishness plagued me, shuttering my eyelids tight, but I wasn’t tired.
I was invigorated.
I was validated.
I was a bear shifter.
END
Preview: Wild Winter
Wild Winter
Passion of the Pack Series Book 1
By:
Amelia Wilson
Table of Contents:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Copyright © 2017 by Amelia Wilson
All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Chapter One
The cold was almost oppressive, despite the heater in the beat up red Volkswagen Beetle going full blast. It had been a long trip, and though Sasha Silver had of course taken it over multiple days, she was still exhausted and ready to reach the end of her destination. The highway on which she drove was only two lanes and lonely, a desolate stretch of gray winding through a forest of evergreen trees which had been blanketed by thick drifts of pure white snow. A green sign sat beside the side of the road, and Sasha scanned it with interest. It read:
TALL TREE…..10 MILES
She was almost there. Finally.
Sasha slowed as she entered the town a few minutes later, she had been making good timing on the long stretches between towns, but the last thing she needed was a ticket from a Podunk cop in one of these Podunk towns. She had been hoping against hope that Tall Tree would turn out to not be Podunk since that’s where she was going to be living for… well, who knew exactly how long, and she would love for life to be as normal as possible, and she was coming from Chicago, where life was big, and loud, and always moving.
But Tall Tree? Not so much, from first impressions. She came around a curve and hit her brakes, the trees falling away from each side of the road as the town began. First a few houses, and then she was turning onto Main Street at the guidance of the GPS on her phone. She passed a general store, a small one screen movie theater, and a diner called Jo’s. There were a few people out on the sidewalks, but Sasha didn’t pass a single other car. She glanced at the clock in her dash, it was four in the afternoon. Chicago would be packed with people and vehicles. Sasha sighed. She was sure she was going to regret moving here much sooner than she had even imagined.
Tall Tree was in the northern part of Alaska, and Sasha hadn’t even been aware the town existed until she got a letter in the mail a few months previous. She was nineteen, living with two friends she had made after a year in college. They had all decided that maybe school wasn’t for them, at least at that time in their lives, and they had gotten a place together and talked about opening their own beauty shop. Now that wouldn’t happen, at least not with Sasha.
Her mail had been set aside for her as it always was, two bills and a long white envelope with her name and address printed on it in shaky handwriting. She sat down at the kitchen table, and when her eyes moved to the return address, her breath caught in her chest, and her hands began to shake. CONNOR FRAY it said there, in big block letters, and below that: 12 LONG PATH LANE, TALL TREE ALASKA 99501.
The address meant nothing to Sasha, but the name did. It was her grandfather, a man she had not seen since she was a child. Her mother’s father, a man she couldn’t even picture, her only memories of him hazy and dim. Single traits leapt out at her as she thought of him while her nervous fingers slid under the flap of the envelope and ripped it upwards. Big. Firm. Stern. That’s how she remembered Connor Fray, after years, over a decade, of not seeing him.
Sasha’s mother had died when she was only six, and that was the last time she saw her grandfather. He lived in Colorado then, and he had come to Ohio where Sasha grew up for the funeral, and he had spent a few days with her and her father, and then he had gone. Her father was an only child without very much family, and they kept to themselves. It seemed as though Connor was fine with that as well. More than a few times growing up, it stung Sasha to think that her grandfather never asked to see her, or invited her out to spend time with him. Her father’s parents had made an effort to see her regularly, despite living in Florida.
And then the letter had arrived. She had opened it, and she sat there for a moment without pulling the paper inside from the envelope, trying to figure out why she felt so uneasy. A letter from h
er grandfather? Why would he be sending her such a thing, was he alright? Years without a word from him, and now a letter?
Sasha took a deep breath and pulled the letter out. It was a page long, written in the blocky letters from the envelope. It told herthat her grandfather was dying, and he needed help with a few things. He didn’t have anyone else he trusted to turn to. Without going into too much detail, he just asked her to come out and stay with him for some time, six months or so, and that he would pay her to do so.
After leaving school, Sasha had been working as a waitress. She hated it, and was worried it was killing her slowly, not really of course, but figuratively. Her grandfather was offering a lot of money, just to go spend time with him in his last months? She figured he needed help getting his finances in order, selling his house, things like that.
Alaska was very far away, however, and it took Sasha a long time to decide whether or not she was going to go. In the end, she packed up, said goodbye to her roommates, and started to drive.
The GPS beeped, and she knew she had arrived. Her grandfather lived in a massive two storey log cabin, nestled on a large snow-covered tract of land, snow piled on the roof, long icicles hanging from the edge. The driveway was shoveled clear, and a big blue pick-up truck sat at the end of the path.
Sasha parked and killed the engine. She took a deep breath before opening the door and glanced in the rearview mirror. Her eyes were pale blue, the sunlight reflecting off all the snow around her serving to make them sparkle. It had been a long trip, and she was tired, but she was a beautiful girl and still looked it. She had shoulder length blonde hair that she spent a long time on to make it look like she didn’t spend any time at all on it. She was short, her body lithe but well rounded, her hips and bust womanly and pleasing to every man she had ever been with.
Another breath and Sasha pushed the door open. She stood for a moment in the biting chill, reaching back into a car and pulling a hooded sweatshirt from the passenger seat. Sasha slid it over her head and slipped her hands, with her slim fingers and her manicured soft pink nails into the sweatshirt’s pockets. She made her way to the front door of the cabin, knocking as she stood on the large front porch.
It took a few moments, but her grandfather answered, and before he could even speak she was stepping forward and wrapping her arms around the old man. He hugged her in return, and when she pulled away, she was surprised to see shining tears brimming in his eyes, and even more surprised to feel hot burning ones in her own. She wiped them quickly away and smiled.
“Hi grandpa,” she said.
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Preview: Rival Love
Rival Love
The Blue Falls Series
By:
Amelia Wilson
Table of Contents:
Prologue
Chapter One – A Slain Husband
Chapter Two – Over the Bridge
Copyright © 2017 by Amelia Wilson
All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited, and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Prologue
The war was coming, and all Stefan could do was prepare his people. After so many decades of peace, it was inevitable. His brother had certainly sped things along marrying a human. Harold had been a good man, and he had his heart in the right place when he’d married Lily, but now the traitorous girl had run away with the enemy. The only hope he had of stopping the impending battle was to get Lily back and figure out who was responsible.
He walked along the long Oriental rug in his brother’s office. No, it was his office now, wasn’t it? It was difficult to imagine why Harold had left him in charge. He would need to grieve once he’d settled everything and put a plan into action. For now, he had to suck it up and deal with things. He’d heard rumors of a possible unrest amongst the people and that there might be an uprising if certain rules weren’t altered. Still, he couldn’t imagine that would lead them to kill their leader. It had to be the work of an external party, though one with intimate knowledge of what went on behind these closed doors.
Then there was Lily. She was a once in a lifetime type of girl. For the first year, he’d been insanely jealous of his brother. She was beautiful, sweet, and though her situation wasn’t ideal, she had made the best of it. Once he got to know her, he started to accept they would only be great friends and enjoyed her company.
What kind of woman ran away with the man who’d killed her husband? It didn’t seem like she cared at all and he’d really liked Lily. It just didn’t seem like something the girl he knew would do. Could she have been pretending the whole time? Unable to fathom it, he decided it was important to give her the benefit of the doubt. At twenty-four he was going to be a young ruler, and jumping to conclusions wouldn’t help his people keep faith in him. If he made sure to cover every angle and get them the truth, they’d respect him. He addressed the advisor and a small group of the guards that protected the alpha and their people.
“Men, we have to go after her. It won’t do to let the people know we simply let her run off whether she is responsible for Harold’s death, or not.” He straightened to his full height and put on what he hoped was an authoritative voice.
“If I might say, sir, I think she’s guilty and should be thrown in the jail along with her co-conspirator.” The head guard was twice as tall as Stefan and clearly had a negative outlook on the recent events. Clinton was ready to wage war at all times. Stefan thought perhaps he slept in his uniform.
“Throw away the key for good measure,” Clinton added disdainfully.
“I think we should allow Lily the chance to explain herself. After all, she is to be my wife now that my brother is dead.” The thought excited and terrified him. He wasn’t sure Lily would be willing to taking her place by his side. Even if it was written, as the alpha now he should be able to marry, or not marry, whoever he pleased. He would be content with her. It would be a dream come true, but unlike Harold, Stefan wanted the woman he married to love him in return.
“You’d marry the woman who killed our leader?” Clinton was clutching his chest like the very thought stole his breath. “Your brother?”
“If she killed my brother, my last thought would be to marry her. We will bring her back here, and we’ll give her the chance to defend her actions.” Stefan loved Lily in a brotherly way, but he wouldn’t deny she was beautiful. The fact she was to be his wife in the event of his brother’s death didn’t vex him in the least. That was of course if she wanted to be his wife. The last thing he wanted to do was force it.
Clinton left the room clearly not happy with the options Stefan had given him. He couldn’t go to war over this, not with a much stronger Alornian army. The Slamarion and Alornian clans were named from the places they came from. Years before they’d gone underground to hide from the humans. In the old country, they’d been bitter enemies although history never accounted for why. Once they’d moved, and as the years progressed, they’d struck a deal of peace. Slamarions weren’t known for their fighting style, and Stefan worried his army would be led to slaughter.
His army could very well be overrun by the Alornians who spent their whole life training for battle, whereas his did not. It was their custom, even though a supernatural war hadn’t been waged for decades. Then there was the matter of his enchanting sister-n-law. Stefan didn’t really believe her capable of such a heinous act. As far as he could tell, while she hadn’t truly loved Harold, they had gotten along quite well. Of course, women had fooled his brother in the past.
“Gather four or five men, we’ll set out in search of her. Take two with you and start looking. I shall follow shortly.”
“Yes, sir
.”
“Oh, sweet Lily, what have you done?” Stefan muttered to himself as he looked out the window over the small town which he now ruled and the dense forest beyond.
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The Soul of a Bear Page 7
