Highland Shifters: A Paranormal Romance Boxed Set

by Unknown

  Thrashing violently, her body fought one last time to cling to life. It was then, in the struggle, she understood that Bryn was putting her out of her misery. It was the way of his kind—a final act of kindness.

  It was enough.

  Freya stilled herself, accepting his gift. Her heart began pounding in her ears as the darkness took hold. Having fought it for so long, she finally relaxed and gave in, letting her spirit release.

  Rebirth

  She felt hot blood coursing through her, burning her up with its animal heat. Next came the unique smell of him. Without even opening her eyes, she knew who lay beside her, could hear his breath, could even hear the rapid beating of his heart.

  Freya opened her eyes and was flooded with overly bright colors and sharper images than she’d seen before. “Bryn,” she croaked.

  “Shh… Ye need time to adjust to yer new body.”

  She turned her head and stared at him in wonder. He didn’t look anything like the man she’d known. Her new eyes picked up on the various tones of his skin, and the sharp curvature of his jaw, the rippling muscles of his chest. His eyes, however, were the most magnificent of all.

  Freya smiled as she looked into those glowing amber orbs of light. “You’re beautiful,” she said in a gravelly voice.

  He put his finger on her lips. “Shh…”

  Freya tentatively touched him, running her fingers down his strong, veiny arm and felt a thrill of excitement. Her fingers tingled from the simple contact. He even felt beautiful.

  She smiled, wondering how she looked to him now. Had she been equally transformed?

  “Welcome to my hell.”

  She shook her head. “No, the beginning of your heaven.”

  He smiled down at her. “Ye foolish lass. Normally, humans who go through the Athrú grow up here and have heard stories and rumors of The Chosen. But ye?” He chuckled softly. “It’s like yer a newborn bairn. I will have to teach ye everything.”

  She sat up and suddenly the room began spinning. He pushed her back down on the bed. “Too fast, Freya. I told ye it takes time to get used to yer new body.”

  She smiled at him, grateful for his wisdom. “Teach me, Bryn. I want to learn everything about you and your pack.”

  Bryn suddenly looked troubled. “The pack will not be pleased. This may end badly, Freya.”

  “You didn’t tell them when you left?”

  “Nae, I knew they would not agree. I left to pray to the Moon for wisdom. She gave me the courage to come back for ye.”

  Freya wrapped her arms around him. “Thank you.”

  He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips. A whole new world opened up with that kiss. All at once, in equal measure, she smelled his masculinity, tasted his gratifying lips, felt his possessive aura, heard the increase of his heartbeat and connected with his spirit.

  She pulled away, amazed by it, and stared at him wondrously.

  He gazed into her eyes, looking just as surprised.

  “Bryn, I’ve never felt anything like that…”

  “Nor I.” His eyes glowed with a light that drew her in and held her captive. He explained huskily, “I’ve heard when ye find yer true mate it’s like this.”

  “True mate?”

  He leaned down to kiss her again, groaning when their lips made contact. This time when he pulled away his eyes shone with a possessive tenderness. Freya had never felt so cherished or desired by another.

  “I spent my youth growing up with stories of it,” he explained. “A wolf knows when he has met his true mate because the connection is immediate and undeniable. However, I’ve never felt that with anyone, not even ye—until now.”

  She looked at him in blind admiration. “I can’t stop staring. I can’t get enough of your kisses, your touches. I. Need. More.”

  He cocked his head. “What a compelling craving. I smell in on ye, I taste it in yer kisses, I feel it in yer touch. Yer meant to be mine.”

  Freya smiled, certain she understood why. “The Moon knew we were meant for each other and told me through my visions.”

  She touched his chest just to feel the thrill of the connection.

  “Aye, I suppose that’s true. The Moon brought ye to me but in human form. It took the Athrú for me to finally sense the truth.” Bryn took her hand, guiding it over his naked body. Both were entranced by the fiery power of the contact.

  He growled, abruptly moving away from her. “The first order of business is to introduce ye to the pack so that we can officially become Everlasting. I will not touch ye again until the ceremony. It seems I have zero restraint.”

  Bryn opened the window and threw back the shutters, howling at the Moon in his human form. It was a glorious, emotionally uplifting cry.

  He turned back to her, his naked body outlined by the pale caress of the moon, staring at her with lust in his eyes. “Yes, I need to stay far away from ye until then.”

  Bryn ignored his own declaration, striding over and taking her into his arms. He breathed in her smell, tightening his embrace. “As glorious as this feels, the road ahead will not be easy, Freya. I’ve broken the law. As Ceannard, there will be a price to be paid.”

  Freya snuggled against him. “Whatever the price, I don’t regret this. To find my true mate—to know the power of this connection—is worth any price.”

  He kissed her again, running his hands through her hair, sending delicious chills down her spine. She got lost in his kiss, her spirit mingling with his. He grunted, forcing himself away but staring at her hungrily. “I never believed in finding one’s true mate, I assumed it was a fanciful tale.”

  “Like fairies and dragons?” she asked playfully.

  Bryn smiled, leaning down to growl in her ear. “Nae, Freya. Dragons are real.”

  She caught her breath. Dragons?

  It was amazing to think that through her death she had found new life. A life full of mystical charm and dangerous allure, one she was ready and eager to discover with Bryn.

  She insisted on getting up and, with his support, slowly made her way to the window. Freya stared up at the Moon and howled for the very first time. It was the sound of pure joy and gratitude.

  Pleasant chills coursed through her when Bryn joined in her song…

  Y

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  Red Phoenix is the author of:

  Paranormal Erotic Romances

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  * Available in eBook and paperback

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  Keeper of the Wolf Clan (Keeper of Wolves, #1)

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  The Keeper Finds Her Mate (Keeper of Wolves, #2)

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  The Highlander’s Mate

  A Prequel to Wolf at Her Door

  by

  Liliana Rhodes

  Prologue

  Ainsley

  I remembered everything as if it just happened yesterday. Only it wasn’t so recent, it was a long time ago. Time didn’t change how I felt or the pain that coursed through my chest whenever I thought of him...Bran. He was the love of my life, the one who made me feel things I never thought possible, but I had to leave him. It was the hardest decision I had ever made, one I might not have chosen if I realized how long forever would feel without him.

  Chapter One

  Bran

  Where the hell was I? Turning off the road, I noticed a sign that said Leeds Point. I was in New Jersey, a state I had been to a couple of times before and had never thought I would return to again.

  This time was different though. I caught her scent and I had to follow it. I didn’t have a choice. I would follow that scent wherever it led me. It had been over four hundred years since I first caught her scent. How could she still be alive?

  The road was dark with only a few street lamps guiding me. I didn’t know where I was headed, but in the distance I saw a green neon sign for a bar called Night Shift. Did people accept shifters in this strange town? Or was that name just a coincidence?

  As I steered the car towards the rickety old wooden building, I knew the answer--the air was filled with shifters. Breathing in deeply, I tried to catch her scent, but it wasn’t there. If I were patient, it would come back to me. It had to.

  Everything around the building looked worn down and deserted. Why would any shifter or even human come here? I knew the bar was a dive before I even stepped out of my car. But for some unexplainable reason, I felt that was where I needed to be.

  Wearing jeans and a polo shirt, I knew I would fit in with the crowd. It was a habit I cultivated a long time ago. Someone like me didn’t want to stand out in the crowd. Blending in was safer. Not that I was afraid of anything, I just didn’t want to attract attention to myself.

  Walking past the large man at the door, I sensed he was a manatee shifter. I always recognized what each shifter was. I had been around for too long to not recognize the subtleties. The place only had a few tables in one corner by the bar. There were some shifters shooting pool, another looking through the selections at the jukebox, an alpha grizzly behind the bar, and a wolf by a pinball machine talking to a brunette human and her friend. They were wearing skirts that were too short for their own good. He was going to cause trouble before the night was through.

  I stepped up to the bar and stood between two stools. No point in getting too comfortable yet, I thought. The bear nodded at me as he walked over. He was a tanned, muscular man with kind eyes and the scent of a human on him. A couple of women at the end of the bar were talking about him. I closed my eyes briefly to listen.

  “Rafael is so hot,” a woman with blonde highlights said to her friend. “I don’t know what he sees in that weirdo Pinky Smythe.”

  “Come on sweetie, I promise I’ll bring you back to your friend later. Let’s go for a ride,” the wolf by the pinball machine said.

  “My name isn’t sweetie, it’s Suzy,” the human he was talking to said.

  Turning to look over at the wolf, I could see him becoming more aggressive. He was pushing himself closer to her even though she was pulling away. Her hands were on his chest as she tried to keep him at a distance, but he didn’t realize any of it. He was too tuned into her humanness to notice the fear in her eyes. I knew men like that. It didn’t matter if they were human or shifter, they were always wrong.

  “What can I get you?” Rafael asked.

  “Whatever’s on tap,” I said without looking at him, feeling the amber glow of my eyes.

  Pushing my dark, chin-length wavy hair back, I left the bar and walked towards the pinball machine. The fur was already beginning to sprout along my neck and arms, but I wouldn’t make a full shift to wolf. I only wanted its strength.

  No one else in the bar could hear what was going on between the wolf and Suzy. These shifters weren’t like me or any of my clan. Most shifters weren’t like us. Focusing my attention on the wolf, I listened in again.

  “Let’s go honey, I’m tired of this game you’re playing. I know you want it.”

  The wolf grabbed Suzy by her arm and she tried to yank it away, but it was useless.

  “Let her go!” her friend said as she pushed at the wolf.

  With his free arm, he swatted the friend away like she was a bug, his eyes glowing amber. She stumbled onto a nearby table, which tipped over and landed on the floor. I had seen enough.

  The wolf turned towards the door, dragging Suzy with him. Just as she screamed, I put my hand on his shoulder, turned him towards me, and let my fist meet his face. I never hit a man who didn’t see it coming. It wasn’t the way of a Highlander.

  He let go of the human, and she ran to her friend as Rafael leapt over the bar and stood between the wolf and the women. The wolf threw a punch at me, but he was too slow and I easily stepped aside then grabbed him by the back of his neck as he lost his balance.

  The manatee at the door entered the room. With one hand, I held the wolf shifter by the back of his neck and tossed him towards the door. If he wanted to act like trash, he deserved to be treated as such.

  As I made my way back to the bar, the few people around stepped out of my way, their eyes wide. Whether human or shifter, I was used to that look from others whenever I displayed my strength.

  Rafael brought Suzy and her friend to the bar and gave them a couple of drinks. Then he tilted a frozen mug under the tap as he filled it and placed it on the bar in front of me.

  “That’s on the house,” he said.

  “No, I’m a paying customer,” I said.

  “You’re not from around here, are you?”

  “What gave me away, lad?” I said jokingly.

  “You’re not the only one with an accent, you know,” he said, letting his New Orleans roots shine through.

  “Our voices will always tell our tale,” I said with a grin.

  It didn’t matter how long I had been away from Scotland, it never left my voice.

  Suzy slid over a few stools with her friend close behind and sat beside me. They were both tempting with full cherry-glossed lips, but I knew why that wolf chose Suzy over her friend.

  While humans thought of Suzy as fat, shifters saw her as curvy and luscious. Her scent called to my own wolf spirit to play, but hers wasn’t the scent I longed for.

  “Thank you for helping me,” she said with a shy smile. “I’m Suzy, and this is my friend Michelle. Wow, look at your eyes. Are they grey? You know, you’re my hero. Who knows what would’ve happened if you hadn’t come along.”

&nbs
p; “I know what would have happened, Suzy,” I said. “You and your friend should know better than to come to a shifter bar at night. Just like humans, not every shifter is as honorable as they should be.”

  She looked down, embarrassed, and I felt bad for talking to her like that. I couldn’t help but treat her like a child. She was a child. But in comparison to me, they all were.

  ***

  After a couple of hours, the bar emptied. The bouncer came in and sat down with his feet up on a table, his chair leaning back unsteadily against the wall. Rafael took glasses out of the dishwasher under the bar and dried them with a rag. I continued to nurse my beer.

  “If you don’t mind my asking,” Rafael said with a tilt of his head, “what are you? I’m sensing you’re a shifter, but there’s something else. I’m Rafael LeCroix by the way, grizzly alpha.”

  I admired his courage and gave him a smile. Most men wouldn’t ask me a question like that. Most men didn’t speak to me.

  “Nice to meet you, Rafael. I’m Bran MacCulloch. Aye, I am a shifter. A wolf shifter to be exact, just as the rest of my clan are. The something else, I can’t really explain. It doesn’t have a name, but I was born in the 1500s in Scotland.”

  “You’re...immortal?” he asked, his eyes growing wider.

  “Yes, all of Clan MacCulloch is, unfortunately. I’ve spent the last four hundred years wandering after losing my love, my mate. Every so often, I catch what I believe is her scent. That’s why I’m here now. I’m sure I’m going mad because she died a long time ago, but I had to follow it anyway.”

  “You’re hoping you’re wrong and she’s still alive,” he said.

  I smiled and rubbed my stubbly chin as I admired how perceptive he was.

  “Yes, I’m hoping to find her. Or even some news of her. Looking back, it was the hope that she might be alive that kept me going. Since the day I first caught her scent and saw her hair being whipped around by the wind, I knew she was the one for me.”