Shifter Mate Magic

by Carol Van Natta

  His smile gentled. “Smart gets you farther than wild.”

  Tears threatened, and his face showed worry. “Don’t mind me.” She waved him away. “You’re a good listener, and I’m on the pregnancy-hormone rollercoaster. It’s a crying jag one moment, and a craving for banana Moon pies the next.” She rolled her eyes and pointed to her belly. “And nasty chocolate milk for Junior.”

  The concern didn’t leave his face. “You need breakfast.”

  She wiped away the tear that fell. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had been so considerate of her. “Yeah so do you, but let’s check the map first.”

  He spread it out on the dresser. The night before, she’d made it into a magic talisman that showed safety in blue and threats in red, and the safest route away from danger. All they had to do was wave a hand over it to make the pinpoints light up again. She shook her head dubiously. “Kotoyeesinay is still blue but look at the red swarm coming up from Denver. If we make it to Laramie and the mountains ahead of them, we’ll be boxed in by the mountains, with only the canyon road in front of us.”

  His eyes narrowed as he considered the map. “The motel has a big, fenced lot out back for storing RVs. If I pay them to store the trailer for a few days, my truck can go fast, even up canyon roads. I have more emergency food in my cooler. Not as good as a hot meal, but we won’t starve.”

  The temptation to go with him rocked her, but that was pure selfishness. “You have a business to run. People who depend on you. A girlfriend. I can’t ask you to just upend your life and take me to a small town in Wyoming.”

  “I’m not mated. It’s just me and my truck, and I’m offering. And Kotoyeesinay is more than just a bright blue dot.” He pointed to the map. “It’s a sanctuary town.”

  “What’s that?” She’d only heard of sanctuary cities in California that pledged not to hassle non-citizen migrants who’d been in the country for decades.

  “They’re each different. The US has three, and there’s one in Canada and maybe one in Mexico. More around the world, I’m told. Kotoyeesinay was founded a couple of centuries ago by a refugee group of very powerful elves, and others have joined since. They take in peaceable folk who need a safe place to live, away from the human world, or the world of their kind. If they grant you sanctuary, their defenses are formidable.”

  She shook her head. “The only thing Roehm is afraid of is the Shifter Tribunal. Otherwise, he’ll just keep coming, hurting more people because of me.” She hooked her thumbs into the belt loops of her cheap maternity jeans to keep from touching him. “Hurting you.”

  He shook his head and crossed his arms. “My Aunt Straya takes in lost people. Gives them a place to heal, and time to figure out what they want to do. One of her rescues made my aunt call and tell me that I and my… that you and I need to be in sanctuary by the full moon. That’s tomorrow night.”

  “What if we aren’t?”

  “Auris didn’t say, but it’s always been calamitous. She might be part death banshee.”

  Jackie suppressed a sigh. Anyone in the magical world could tell when they were being pushed around by one of the many hidden higher powers. It wasn’t wise to thwart them.

  “All right, but on two conditions.” She stepped back and caught his eye, so he’d know she was serious. “One.” She held up a finger. “If the town refuses me sanctuary, you won’t argue with them. They have to protect their own.”

  He nodded, but unhappily.

  “Two.” She held up a second finger. “You have to promise you won’t do something stupid and get yourself killed.”

  A flurry of emotions crossed his face as his jaw tightened. He nodded once.

  She shook her head. “You have to say it. ‘I promise not to do something stupid and get myself fucking killed.’”

  He frowned deeply and bit out the words, then added, “Or you, either.”

  “Thank you.” Tears welled up again, but she blinked until they went away, or she’d be crying all morning. “You probably won’t believe me, but you’re already the best friend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to lose you.”

  “I do believe you.” He reached out toward her, then hesitated. “Can I hold you?”

  She closed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist. His arms snuggled her into place, and she felt like she’d found home. Time stopped, then started again as her body woke up.

  She nuzzled the side of her face into his chest and inhaled the sensual scent of bear and man. Angled as she was to accommodate her stomach, she couldn’t help but feel his erection. Her nipples tightened in response as she heated with desire.

  He groaned and tilted his head down just as she lifted hers. Their mouths and tongues met in eager exploration. He trailed kisses toward her ear and down her neck, and she could only gasp and push her chest into his to relieve the ache in her rock-hard nipples. She found his hand and moved it from her waist to her breast to tell him what she wanted. He drew another gasp from her as he rubbed a thumb across her breast. She grabbed handfuls of his muscular butt and pulled his pelvis toward hers. He rumbled throatily in response.

  A car door slam and a shout from the parking lot woke her from the delicious but dangerous haze. “Trevor…”

  He was already loosening his arms. “We should get going.” He stepped back, but not before giving her a quick, hard kiss. “The sooner we get to the safety of Kotoyeesinay, the sooner we can pick this up where we left off. If that’s what you want.”

  “Hell, yes. I want to lick you like a lollipop.” She’d only had three lovers in her life and had never been bold when it came to sex, but Trevor was changing her outlook. “I need you inside me like I need water.”

  His eyes darkened with desire and he groaned. “You’re killing me.”

  “Back at you.” She made herself take three steps back, so she couldn’t touch him. “I’ll pack everything and raid the vending machine while you make arrangements for your trailer.”

  “Deal.” He gave her an assessing look. “How’s your knee?”

  “Getting better by the minute.” She pointed to her belly. “Junior here helps me heal quickly, though not as fast a full shifter.”

  He smiled. “Junior is a girl, in case you didn’t know. I can smell her.”

  “She is?” Her eyes widened, and anger sparked. “Those lying feline sons of bitches swore they didn’t know the baby’s sex.” She shook her head. “Get on with you, then. I’ll be ready when you are.”

  Jackie had to admit that riding in a wide, well-padded bucket seat, high above the traffic, was miles better than riding a motorcycle. After Trevor had disconnected his trailer, which he’d assured her had only furniture, he’d used rope and a couple of tie-downs to strap her scraped and bent, but hopefully repairable, motorcycle to the back of his truck.

  They made excellent time on the highway, especially since it was a weekend. She’d lost all track of days and calendars. She was in comfortable clothes for summertime, and could stretch anytime she wanted, or change position when Junior… or Princess, she guessed, kicked.

  Periodically, she checked the threat map, which she’d adjusted so it showed all the time. At their present rate, and assuming Trevor’s luck was better than hers—whose wasn’t?—they’d be into the canyon that led to Kotoyeesinay by the time Roehm’s hunters crossed the state border. Of concern was the fact that the red swarm had veered to the west, toward the mountains, instead of going due north as they had been.

  She didn’t know how to use her magic to tell her why the change. Talismans worked best if the object being enchanted had a similar mundane purpose, such as finding the best route. She’d fallen out of practice using her magic while concealing it from the non-magical humans in Houston, and then she’d been afraid to use it in Roehm’s compound, in case he’d purchased warning or detection spells. He had no free magic, but he knew how to buy it from others. It had taken her a month of stolen moments to charge the rusty pipe she’d made into her weapon.
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  “Do we have time to stop in Laramie for fuel?” He tapped one of the many gauges on the wrap-around console arrayed in front of him. “We can make it with what we’ve got, but I’d like to have a cushion.”

  She considered the map. “Yeah, if we’re fast. We’re still a couple of hours ahead of them.” She rolled her eyes. “I need a bathroom, again, and some chocolate milk. What can I get for you?”

  “Noth…” He trailed off. He glanced at her, a slow smile lighting up his face. “Condoms.”

  She gave an exaggerated gasp of surprise. “A fine, sexy man like you doesn’t have condoms in every pocket? The women in your life must have been blind.” She laughed to cover the small spike of jealousy that lanced through her. “I’ll buy a box of extra-large, just to be safe.”

  “Buy two boxes.” His tone had a touch of growly bear in it that zinged straight to her core. “Just hearing you breathe gives me wood.”

  She loved the idea that she turned him on, but she knew it wasn’t just her charming self. “I’m sorry about the shifter-mate pheromones thing. I’ve been thinking about a spell to mask it. I don’t want to be a magnet for every horny shifter within smelling distance the rest of my life.”

  Princess chose that moment to kick twice in her belly. “Damn, child, give me a break.”

  After their brief visit to the Laramie truck stop, she opened the new Wyoming map she’d bought and tried a new spell she’d been thinking about. This time, she spoke their desired destination, then waved her hand over the map. The fastest route showed up as a yellow line, and the safest route showed up as a blue line. The lines disagreed on which exit to take, but they converged at the foothills, where the road began curving into the switchback canyon. The only alternate route, shown in green, would take them on a long and circuitous path north, west, and then east.

  She showed the map to Trevor, who had her put it next to the threat map on the clipboard he’d rigged for easy reference. She made the traffic map into a talisman that displayed continuously.

  He grinned at her. “After we get out of all this mess, I’m hiring you to do that for all my maps.”

  It was nice having her small magical talent valued instead of disbelieved or laughed at. “Gladly, but your money’s no good with me, mister. I owe you more than I could possibly repay.”

  His smile faded. “You don’t owe me for doing the right thing.”

  She didn’t know how to respond. She downed the last of the chocolate milk and flattened the small carton for the trash.

  In her experience, damn few people did the right thing just because. The people in the rural hometown she’d fled wouldn’t know the right thing if it smacked them upside the head. A statistics professor at her junior college traded grades for cash and made a mint because most students flunked the class the first time. Her fellow university students assumed she’d gotten her scholarship because of the color of her skin, not her flawless academic record. As a certified public accountant, she’d lost count of the number of clients who squirmed when she wouldn’t sign off on dubious tax shelters or unethical financial deals.

  Still, her mother held her head high and helped people in need, even when they’d been viciously hateful to her. Her boss respected her opinion and backed her every time a client wanted to switch to a more “flexible” accountant. And compassionate, sinfully sexy Trevor helped her, instead of turning away or taking advantage. Every additional minute she spent with him had her reevaluating her plans for her future, because she wanted it to include him.

  She looked away from his handsome profile to focus on the rocky slopes outside the passenger window. She hadn’t told him everything, and he might not want anything to do with her once she did. The last six months had destroyed her belief that she’d always do the right thing, no matter what.

  He cleared his throat. “What do you know about true mates for shifters?”

  She glanced at him, but he was focused on taking the sloping exit for the fastest route to get to the winding road to Kotoyeesinay.

  Unease curled in her gut. “Roehm told his pride there’s no such thing, and the only thing females are good for is sex-mating for cubs, but he lies about everything. The pride’s cheetah shifter cuts himself every night until he passes out from blood loss, crying for his dead mate.” She slid one hand over her rounded stomach. “Barry said he was my mate.”

  She tightened a fist to keep the tears at bay. She’d already cried too much for the life she could never go back to. “I thought he’d been kidnapped for the auction, too, but then I overheard the staff saying they had to sell me quick. Seems the leopard who’d delivered me forgot to mention I was pregnant, which they figured was why he’d taken such a low price.” She unclenched her aching hand and flattened her fingers on her thigh. “So, if that’s what a mate is, I’ll pass.”

  “That’s not what a mate is.” He shook his head and drummed fingers on the steering wheel. “No more than a sleazy, cheating slimeball human with two families and a mistress on the side is a husband.”

  “Hah! You must have met the former mayor of Weirtree.” She made a hissing sound. “The only reason he’s not still the mayor is his pregnant mistress shot him in the ass when she realized he wasn’t leaving his wife. Then she told the state’s attorney general about the dock on the gulf where he kept his boat and his slush fund.” She shook her head. “Before all this, I was saving every penny, so I could move my mother to live in Houston, away from all that holier-than-thou, good-old-boy crap.” Her eyes ached from unshed tears. “I can’t ever go back. Who knows what Barry told them. Everyone probably thinks I’m dead.”

  “That totally sucks.” The truck slowed to a stop at the intersection, and he glanced at her. “I won’t pretend shifters are angels. We’re driven by dual instincts, man and beast. Prides, packs, and clans have to maintain secrecy to protect us from human fear and enforce the discipline that human society can’t. We have our share of greed and evil, just like any other magical species, though I can’t say we flattened a forest in Siberia like the arctic elf and winter fairy war did.”

  He turned left toward the higher mountains and picked up speed. “But mates…” He waved his fingers and took a deep breath. “True mates—some call them fated mates—are part physical, part mental, part destiny. They’re our survival. Mated shifters gain better control of their nature and power, meaning they’re more likely to settle down, less likely to get themselves killed doing reckless things. It’s more than just smokin’ hot sex, though that’s a part of it. Shifter mate magic is life-changing.” His jaw tightened. “A true-mated shifter wouldn’t abandon his pregnant mate unless he was dead. And maybe not even then.”

  The deep conviction in his voice struck a resonant chord. It was still possible that Barry was innocent, that some other leopard shifter had sold her to the auction house, but in her heart, she knew he’d done it. When she’d finally realized no one was coming to rescue her, and the poorly insulated mobile home had been so cold she couldn’t sleep, she’d come to realize Barry had treated her like a favorite sex doll to play with when he was in the mood, or shove in the closet when he wasn’t.

  “Barry wasn’t my mate.” It felt so good to say it that she repeated it. “Barry Wills was a selfish, conniving bastard who couldn’t even remember my birthday, and he wasn’t my mate.”

  Trevor nodded. “And I’ll lay odds that Roehm is as damaged as his pride. He probably can’t even feel the mate bond in others, so he thinks it’s a myth. He’d have gotten rid of any mated pairs first because their bond made them stronger, and their very existence proved he’s defective.”

  “He’s way beyond defective.” She turned away from the memories of how he’d treated his people. “He’s violent and dangerous, and he’ll want me back. Don’t underestimate him.”

  “I won’t.” Trevor’s expression morphed into grim distaste. “I thought you were ‘owned’ by Ricardo and Ruben.”

  “I was.” She really didn’t want to have this conv
ersation, but she couldn’t continue to keep Trevor in the dark. He deserved to know, and to make his own choices.

  “I worked my way into cleaning for everyone except Roehm, who didn’t trust anyone in his space. I mimicked the submissive behavior of the other captives, so the pride would think I was harmless.” She caught herself rounding her shoulders even as she mentioned it. She only noticed it now because she hadn’t felt the need since Trevor had come to get her after the accident.

  “About two months ago, Roehm needed to impress another shifter leader he wanted to do business with. He realized his office and personal area now looked like shit compared to the rest of the compound. He ordered me to do for him and watched me like a hawk the whole time. He’d just torn apart one of the lynx-shifter boys that morning, so I didn’t have to pretend to be terrified of him.” She took a deep breath and blew out the flash of fear. She was in a nice, cozy truck with a big, protective bear. Man. Whatever.

  “After that, he had me come in every other day. A couple of weeks goes by, and I’m still meek and scared. He’s bored watching and starts leaving me alone for longer and longer. I started snooping whenever I could. That’s when I found his ledger.”

  “Ledger?” asked Trevor. “That sounds more organized than I was giving him credit for.”

  “Yeah, me, too. He makes a big show of keeping important papers and floppy disks in a walk-in safe in his office. It and his personal computer have mundane and magical alarms, and he mentions them often. That’s the distraction.” She made a flourish with her fingers like a stage magician. “I found the ledgers in the middle of some old paper files from the former leader’s days. Roehm has been robbing the pride blind, while keeping them at barely above poverty level, with occasional big parties when the grumbling gets too loud.”

  “What did you do?”

  “Nothing, then.” Now came the less pleasant part. “I was stealing from the pride, too. Everyone I cleaned for, even if they were as poor as me. Money, clothes, maps, anything I thought would be useful for an escape. I had stashes all over. When I saw it was too dangerous to steal any of the pride’s community vehicles, I convinced Ricardo and Ruben to buy themselves a motorcycle, so they wouldn’t have to ask Roehm for permission just to go get booze. Then I made those lazy asses think it was their idea to teach me how to drive it, so I could go get the booze for them.”