Shadow Shifters: Damaged Hearts, The Complete Series: Mine to Claim, Part of Me, and Hunger for You

by A. C. Arthur

  Because I was cursed. That’s the only viable excuse I could come up with. My uncle had escaped our tribe to become the second in command to one of the most notorious Shadow Shifters gone rogue and just about everyone in our village thought anyone related to him would eventually turn out the same way. The rumors had driven my parents apart, until eventually my mother had hanged herself from the tree near the waterfall where she taught me how to swim. My father, shamed by his choice of mate, took off to where nobody knew—both of them leaving me, a ten-year-old, to fend for myself. The entire village would have probably voted to cast me out as well if it had not been for the Sanchezes offering to take me in, carting me along as they traveled the globe as shifter ambassadors.

  How could I repay them by being attracted to their son?

  “Late for class?”

  I heard his voice first, then smelled his cologne, and then I looked up into the ice-blue eyes of Daniel Mulligan, who since our first meeting last semester, always seemed to pop up wherever I was.

  “Almost,” I replied, snapping out of my “what do I do now?” trance. The answer to that question was simple: avoid being alone with Brayden as much as possible, or at least until this thing between us passed, as I was sure it would. Regardless of what he’d said, he had a girlfriend now. I’d seen them together and they definitely looked like they were doing more than just hanging out. To top that off, I, rather impulsively, had lied and told him I had a boyfriend. Knowing we were both off-limits should do the trick. I hoped.

  “Where are you headed?” I asked Daniel, who was now walking beside me, heading toward the technology building on campus. Daniel was a good-looking guy, with his tousled dark brown hair and dimpled chin.

  “Professor Howard has a class in thirty minutes. I’m going over early to open the room and get the PowerPoint set up,” he replied.

  That’s how Daniel and I had met, while I was taking Professor Howard’s psychology course. Daniel was the professor’s assistant and eye candy for the female students, which went a long way to staying awake since Professor Howard’s class consisted of 98 percent lecture time. If I hadn’t needed the credits I would have definitely skipped his class entirely. Now, this morning, however, I was glad I hadn’t.

  “More lectures from Professor Howard,” I said with a smirk.

  Daniel nudged me playfully. “Come on, you know you’re gonna miss it.”

  “Absolutely not,” was my quick and cheerful retort. “This computer course will probably be boring enough.”

  “Yeah, but that’s how you do it, take all your essential courses early and save the mundane stuff for last.”

  I nodded. “You’re right and that’s what I did for the most part. I have a foreign language methodology class this semester, but it’s the most important one I need for my major. The rest are things like astrology and computers for dummies. I should coast through the next two semesters until graduation, right?”

  Daniel chuckled. “You sure should. That was smart thinking on your part.”

  Actually, it had been half smart thinking and half preparation. I was supposed to head to the East Coast after graduation to begin my final training and testing to become a shifter guard. That’s what Brayden wanted me to do. But I’d had other ideas and had begun implementing them in the last year. Some of these plans I’d shared with Brayden even though I knew he disagreed. As much as I cared about Brayden and his family, I couldn’t be who they wanted me to be, no matter what my bloodline predicated, or rather in spite of.

  “What are you doing when you receive your master’s next year?” I asked him as we entered the technology building.

  I could question why he was walking this way since the building where Professor Howard’s lecture hall was located required him to take a right and continue down another pathway, but I didn’t. My mind was full enough of questions and answers that didn’t quite seem to fit, and I didn’t need to add to the issue.

  “Not sure yet,” Daniel said after holding the second of the clear glass entrance doors open for me to walk through.

  The act, while very chivalrous of him, seemed a little odd because instead of opening the door then standing to the side while I walked inside, he would open the door, hold his arm high up to keep it open then nod for me to walk under his arm. He wasn’t that much taller than me, so each time I ducked a bit, my right side with my purse brushing against him.

  I mumbled thanks just as he was replying, “My dad wants me to come work at his PR firm in L.A. He keeps reminding me that’s always been the plan.”

  His words stopped me from walking. “Omigod, really? You have a premade plan too?” I know it probably sounded stupid but I couldn’t believe he had people trying to dictate his life the same way I did.

  Daniel nodded, running his fingers through his low-cut, chestnut-colored hair. “Yeah, it’s a real pain in the ass. I mean, I’ve been in school for almost six years now. Hiding out mostly because I’m not even sure what I’ll do with a master’s in psychology.”

  “You could get licensed and open your own clinic, treat patients, and live your own life,” I suggested, all hyped up because I already knew what my plan was, the one I’d made up for myself, I mean.

  “They can’t make you live their lives, or a life you don’t want for yourself. It’s just ridiculous,” I was saying when his lips curled into a smile. A really nice, really cute smile. “What’s so funny?”

  “You,” he said, stepping closer to me.

  The hallway was almost empty as most students with nine o’clock classes were already in class since I was certain it was a few minutes past nine now. But I wasn’t paying much attention to our surroundings, just kept looking up at Daniel, almost as if I’d never seen him before.

  Daniel lifted a hand, pushed hair behind my ear, and spoke. “You look really good when you get riled up. I mean, you look good all the time,” he said, then stopped to clear his throat. “I was wondering if you’d like to have dinner with me tonight, Lidia.”

  The invite was a surprise only because I hadn’t seen him in months. When we first met I’d thought there might be something, that he might be interested, but then the semester was over and Brayden had kissed me and …

  “Yes,” I replied probably too enthusiastically, but whatever. “I’d love to have dinner with you.”

  Daniel’s smile spread and I felt, um, I felt, a little something, I think. Not that wild flash of hot I felt with someone else, but still it was a start.

  “You’d better get to class. I’ll pick you up at your dorm at six,” he said, letting his fingers slide along the line of my jaw.

  I smiled back because the gesture was so achingly sweet I figured it was the right thing to do. “I’ll be waiting.”

  When I finally walked into class, it was with a lighter step, a brighter outlook, and only a touch of guilt snaking along my shoulder blades. No, wait, that wasn’t guilt, it was a warning, again. I should pay attention this time, search the room for any threats, focus on the feeling to see where it would lead. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. I didn’t want to be a shifter, didn’t want to embrace that world wholeheartedly because it wouldn’t end well. I knew that for a fact.

  ***

  I didn’t wait long. At five minutes to six Cora Andrews, one of my assigned roommates, ran into the room, her flame-colored hair flowing behind her. “You have a date with Daniel Mulligan? He’s so hot and he never dates students! I can’t believe you, of all people, have a date with him,” she finished, dropping down onto her bed with a look of sheer grief on her face.

  My bed was a bottom bunk and I’d just stood after lacing my ankle-high boots. “Yes, I have a date with Daniel Mulligan,” I replied tightly. “Even though I’m just a student.”

  Cora was overexcited, underachieving, and immature, spending her parents’ money like it was her right, instead of a privilege. She talked too much—way more than I did—and about absolutely nothing. She whined and complained more than she went to class or stu
died and she gave me a headache just about every day I had to sit in this room with her. So to say I didn’t appreciate her comments may have been an understatement.

  “I just never figured you for Daniel’s type. Or any guy’s type for that matter,” Cora continued, her pert little face drawn in a frown.

  “There’s nothing feminine about you, from that sloppy ponytail you’re too lazy to change to the jeans and T-shirts that fill your wardrobe. Hell, you’re not even wearing makeup.” She finished with a huff.

  I heard her talking, only taking in bits and pieces as I’d already learned to do with Cora. Looking down I noted the jeans she’d referenced and my hair was in a ponytail but this was a date, not the senior prom, so little miss priss could kiss my …

  “And you wear too much makeup,” was my eventual retort. Then, with an exasperated sigh, “I assume Daniel is on his way up and that’s how you know I’m going out with him.”

  When she didn’t immediately reply, I turned to look at her while lifting my jacket from the coatrack by the door. She looked up at me and rolled her eyes.

  “Yes, he’s coming. He asked what room you were in and I asked why. I should have lied,” she snapped.

  At least she was an honest pain in the ass, I thought before shaking my head and muttering, “Thanks.”

  I opened the door before Daniel could knock. He looked shocked. I wasn’t. I’d scented his arrival along with the heavy herb aroma of jealousy pouring from Cora’s direction. Despising the shifter traits and how lately they’d seemed to hit me full force, I pressed my hand against his chest to push him back slightly. “Don’t ask,” I told him, closing the door behind me.

  He chuckled. “Okay.”

  ***

  Dinner at the Olive Garden had never been so sweet. As many times as I’d been to the place since it was one of the closest restaurants to the school—outside of the pizza/sub shop, Starbucks, and O’Shea’s Bar & Grille—I’d never had such a wonderful time. Daniel was so easy to talk to, we didn’t argue at all. Except over the last breadstick, which ended with him breaking it in half and putting a piece up to my lips for me to bite.

  “Would you like to stop for a drink?” he asked when we’d ridden a little way in silence.

  I’d been looking out the window thinking of how different dinner with Daniel was from any time spent with Brayden and chastising myself for doing so. “Ah, sure, that sounds fine,” I answered halfheartedly.

  For some reason I’d wanted to get back to the dorm as quickly as possible. I had homework but I didn’t think I was anxious to get it completed. No, there was something else, a feeling simmering just beneath the surface of my skin. It felt weird, like it didn’t actually belong but was taking place anyway. This had been happening much too frequently. I didn’t like it at all but knew there was no way to stop it. Shadow Shifters had heightened senses as part of their normal genetic make-up. They needed them to hunt, to fight, to stay alive in the depths of the rainforest where they’d been born.

  I talk about them as if I do not belong to their culture, because I don’t. I won’t, not ever again.

  I’d barely noticed the car had been parked before Daniel was pulling the door open for me. Unclasping the seat belt, I stepped out into the crisp night air and sucked in a quick breath. If I didn’t want to be a shifter, the only other choice I had was to be a human. A human on a first date with a really nice guy.

  “Are you alright?” Daniel asked, quickly coming to me and grasping me by the elbow.

  I yanked my arm away instantly as his touch had been painful, or almost, kind of. It just hadn’t felt right and so I reacted. Daniel frowned.

  “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m okay, just a little jumpy for some reason.” Praying that would be enough to stop him from looking at me like I’d just grown another head, I stepped closer, touching a hand lightly to his. “Let’s have that drink.”

  He seemed to soften, his quizzical look changing slowly as he closed the door, then took my hand, walking us into O’Shea’s.

  The atmosphere here was drastically different from the Olive Garden, with its jukebox music and loud conversations. “Maybe I can find us a booth,” Daniel said.

  “No. The bar is fine and it’s probably quicker,” was my reply because I didn’t feel like being boxed in. I felt like stretching, like being free.

  Shaking my head of those thoughts I reached for Daniel’s hand. “Here, let’s sit over here.”

  He followed and we snagged two seats at the very end of the bar. I smiled at him as we settled onto the stools, trying like hell to focus on him and not the strange vibe I was getting from this place.

  “I’ll have a beer,” Daniel ordered when the bartender came over.

  “Cranberry and vodka,” I added to the order.

  Daniel laughed and looked at me when the bartender left us alone. “Wow.”

  “What?” I asked, after looking over my shoulder to see who was behind me. I felt someone there, someone watching me, I thought.

  Daniel shook his head. “Just never knew a girl that drank vodka before.”

  “It’s not a big deal.” I shrugged. Brayden had introduced me to vodka. Or rather, I’d forced him to let me drink the same thing he and his brothers were drinking one night when we were in Costa Rica. We’d stayed at a resort until the transportation had arrived to take us deep into the Talamancan forests where more of the tribes lived. After their parents had gone to sleep the brothers had crept out of the suite we all shared. I knew they would and had followed them right down to the resort bar where Aidan, since he was the oldest, had paid some desk clerk who was over twenty-one to buy them two bottles of vodka. I followed them out to the pool and threatened to go upstairs and tell if they didn’t give me a drink. Caleb, with his sullen and generally gruff personality, had still refused. Aidan tried to unravel me with reproach. But it was Brayden, the middle brother, who knew I was dead serious and that I’d definitely tell if they didn’t give me what I wanted. He’d held that bottle to my lips and gave me the shortest sip I’d ever experienced. Then I’d grabbed the bottle from his hands and took a gulp that almost knocked me right on my ass.

  I was smiling with the memory before I could stop myself.

  “Wherever your mind just wandered off to, I can see it makes you very happy,” Daniel was saying.

  “Oh, it was nothing. Just thinking about my first taste of vodka.”

  His brow furrowed with that remark and I instantly followed it up with, “I like it so much better with cranberry juice,” I told him, and that wasn’t a total lie. I liked drinking cranberry juice by itself as well.

  “That she definitely does,” came the familiar voice from behind me. “Maybe you should have ordered plain cranberry juice instead.”

  I spun around on that bar stool so fast I would have fallen right off if Daniel hadn’t reached out, grabbing my arm first. Amidst the conversations and the music and the instantaneous roaring of my heart, there was a growl. Low, deep, and deadly. Did I forget, familiar?

  “Hi, Kyra,” was the first thing to come out of my mouth as the female was just about glued to Brayden’s hip.

  “You must be the boyfriend,” Brayden continued, extending his hand to Daniel.

  “Ah, yeah, I mean, ah, I’m Daniel,” he stuttered over the greeting and I felt like an ass for lying about having a boyfriend and for getting caught in that lie, because there was no doubt Brayden had known I was lying. He always knew.

  “We just came from dinner and we’re having a drink,” I volunteered even though Brayden didn’t need any explanation from me. “How about you two? What are you doing here?”

  I guess he didn’t owe me an explanation either, but hell, I was asking anyway.

  Kyra blinked like she was bored. “We were just leaving, right, babe?” she asked Brayden.

  Her hand, with long, red-painted nails, moved up and down his arm as she spoke, like the contact was needed for him to digest her words. I huffed because I was being pretty bitchy ab
out this situation, when I shouldn’t care at all.

  “You’re out drinking on a school night?” Brayden asked, his dark gaze pinning me.

  I felt like I couldn’t move, like altering from this position would set things into motion that I wouldn’t be able to control. It was weird having Brayden standing so close to me, while my date was even closer. There seemed to be this invisible tug-of-war going on and I didn’t like the feeling of being jerked in both directions. It was the story of my life and I was beyond tired of it.

  “I’m having one drink, with my date. And you’re about to leave with your date,” I said tightly, looking directly at Brayden so he’d know I wasn’t really feeling this confrontation he’d started.

  “I worry about you,” was Brayden’s next remark. One that totally threw me off guard. Not because of the words, because he’d said that to me before and I worried about him too. But the way he was looking at me and the way Daniel’s hand tightened on my arm, and the quicker-than-light flash I saw in Brayden’s eyes was like a volcano waiting to erupt.

  “There’s no need to worry,” I told him just before there was a shift in the atmosphere.

  I think Brayden noticed it too because his shoulders visibly tensed, his gaze traveling to the entrance.

  “It’s nothing,” I told him, trying like hell to convince myself of that fact as well. But deep down I knew I was wrong. There was something here, had been for a few weeks. If I felt it, I was positive Brayden did too.

  His gaze was hot, his brows furrowed as he turned back to face me. “It’s here,” he said, barely moving his lips, his tone so low I know I was the only one to hear him.

  I shook my head quickly, adamantly. “No. Not now. Not here.”

  “Lidia.” He said my name, reaching for my arm at the same time.

  “Baby, let’s get us a table over there,” Kyra interrupted, her hand rubbing along Brayden’s chest.