Shifter Fated Mates: Boxed Set

by Mandy M. Roth

  But in place where time and space have no boundaries, ancient enemies would like nothing more than to eradicate them both, just when they’ve found each other.

  Dedication

  To Shane for supporting me in all I do. Oh, and volunteering to be my research subject was also very kind. Last but not least, to my mom for never being caught without one of my bookmarks on hand. Thank you for being my biggest fan.

  Chapter One

  Colonel Alejandro Vargas watched silently, ready and willing to shoot Lt. Fulk Rodriquez if he dared to cross the line with the two civilian doctors that were assigned until further notice to their team. Rodriquez would heal the wound--eventually. It’s what their kind did. Some shifters took longer than others but in the end, he’d be just fine.

  “So, what’s that say?” Fulk asked, tapping the wall full of carvings with his M-16. It was the last thing he should do in a place as old as the temple they’d found but it was so typical of Fulk that no one commented, not even the attractive doctor that had been working so hard to decipher the writing. She seemed to be in a world all her own, the same as her counterpart who had not ventured from her post either.

  Both women were more than attractive, though one had managed to not only capture his attention but seemed to demand it. Dr. Murray’s golden waves of hair touched her mid-back and her blue eyes continued to flicker in his direction from time to time. Her body was so close to perfect that he had a hard time believing no part of it was altered. At five feet ten inches tall she came to his chin and that was a rare find. From what he could gather by staring at her, her army issued desert fatigues and dark tan tee shirt did little to hide a toned and well curved body. His cock liked what it saw, so the rest of him wasn’t about to complain.

  Alejandro couldn’t tell if Dr. Murray was interested in him or nervous of him. Each time he caught her watching him, she looked away quickly. It was kind of cute and left him feeling young again. He was dressed in fatigues and packing enough ammunition and weapons to take out a small army so it was understandable if it was the latter of the two. He knew he looked intimidating. Any other time, he’d have been pleased to think he was making someone nervous but the idea of scaring her sickened him.

  Dr. Ondrea Harris, the petite friend of the blonde one stood slowly and ran her fingers over the markings on the wall. “They’re based loosely off Egyptian hieroglyphics but they aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. It’s freaky.”

  Freaky? Great, this is one of our experts.

  Fulk nodded, his chin length brown hair fell into his face. “This whole place is freaky. One minute we’re standing in a desert and the next we’re in a tropical rainforest. I keep waiting for a snowstorm to hit. This sure the hell isn’t like our Earth.”

  She smiled. “I agree. From the base to here we spent less than fifteen minutes driving and covered that much of a climate and terrain change. It’s remarkable.

  “I just can’t understand how it is that they have Egyptian writing here as well. From all outward appearances, this temple looks Mayan, yet, I’m positive these aren’t Mayan markings. The strangest part of it all is that I’m sure some of this is Latin as well. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Ondrea glanced towards her friend who was busy with her nose in a pile of books. “Dr. Murray, come take a look at this.”

  The blonde goddess continued to fiddle near a pedestal with her electronic equipment and books. She hummed softly and moved her alluring hips to music only she heard. It was both erotic and endearing. It seemed as though she didn’t have a care in the world. She’d arrived early in the morning and never once appeared shocked by the idea of being on a different planet or in another realm--whatever the scientist of the week was calling it. It was as though she did it daily. Maybe she did. Alejandro had requested files on all personnel coming aboard the project and was given all but hers. So far, he didn’t even know her first name and hadn’t heard her utter much more than a thank you. Granted, that one thank you had left his entire body cramping with the need to sink his dick into her.

  He was sure of one thing, her smile made him weak in the knees. Already, she’d flashed her pearly whites at him twice, each time leaving his stomach flip-flopping and his heart racing. Alejandro felt like a love-struck junior high student. It was oddly liberating and terrifying all at the same time. There was also something familiar about her, but the idea of forgetting a face like hers was absurd, so he dismissed it.

  Ondrea snorted. “Hello? Dr. Murray? Anyone home there or are you too busy locked up in your world of science to come back to us?”

  The blonde kept swaying her hips while she held a pen in her mouth. Alejandro never before wanted to be a ballpoint pen. He did now. She tapped keys on her laptop and glanced at a stack of papers to her right. “Hmm.”

  Ondrea smiled. “Hello, paging Dr. Murray. Is there a Dr. Murray in the freaky realm?”

  Fulk chuckled. Dr. Murray danced in a small circle before returning to whatever it was that had been holding her attention all morning. Ondrea cast him a sideways glance. “Erm, I’d apologize for her but, really, she’ll only keep doing it. Plus, I’m one hundred percent sure that she has no idea she’s even doing it. She just sort of shuts off to everything around her when she gets going with something she’s into.”

  Biting his lower lip, Alejandro did his best not to laugh at Dr. Murray as she tucked the pen behind her ear, picked up a piece of paper and danced while reading it. The worst part of it all was that not only was it funny to see a scientist not having a care in the world, it made him horny as hell to watch this one in particular.

  Fulk grabbed a piece of native fruit from a tree near him and went to crack its outer shell. “I’m starved. I’ve got to admit these aren’t so bad. Taste a little like a pear mixed with an apple. Weird, but good.”

  Ondrea glanced at him. “Hand me one.”

  He gave her an odd look.

  She rolled her eyes. “Please.”

  Grinning, Fulk tossed a piece of what they’d taken to calling monkey-nuts, because it was their job to go out of their way to be men and think of names for things to offend others. That and the monkey-like creatures that seemed to inhabit this particular section of the jungle seemed to like not only eating them but throwing them at the soldiers.

  Ondrea caught the fruit and stared at Dr. Murray. A slow smile slid over her face. It was mischievous to say the least.

  “You are not going to throw that at her,” Alejandro said, before he even thought about it.

  Ondrea winked. “Wow, a little overprotective, aren’t you?”

  Yes, but that wasn’t the point. Alejandro shrugged. “No. I’d just rather not have to explain why I let one civilian doctor knock another out. That’s all.”

  “She’ll live. It’s fruit.”

  “With a spiked outer shell,” he said, giving her a hard look.

  Alejandro could almost see the wheels in Ondrea’s head spinning. Oh, she was going to throw it at Dr. Murray now just because he’d told her not to. He watched in what felt like slow motion as Ondrea hurled the fruit at Dr. Murray who was still dancing and reading from a piece of paper. The fruit had aligned perfectly with her head.

  Drawing his bowie knife from its sheath, he sent it flying, ax-like at the fruit. It struck it, as he knew it would and changed the direction of the fruit. The knife wedged into a purple tree trunk to the right of Dr. Murray, spearing the fruit in the process.

  Ondrea clapped. “Nice. But it wouldn’t have hurt her. Just so you know.”

  Dr. Murray glanced at the tree and reached out tentatively. Taking hold of the handle, she pulled the knife free from the tree. She turned and arched a brow, appearing to be a little lost as to what was going on. “Did someone call me?”

  Alejandro bit back a laugh as he held his M-16 close to him, needing anything to keep his mind off sinking his cock into her. The very idea of being able to touch her, caress her while he slid into what could only be a tight pussy made his palms begin to
sweat and his stomach tighten. She would be the death of him if he had to stand around staring at her shaking her ass every day.

  Each time she hummed, Alejandro pictured that lush mouth wrapped around his shaft, taking him deep into the back of her throat. The very thought of it left him on the verge of coming. Reaching down, he did a slight adjusting of his rock hard cock, hoping she wouldn’t notice.

  She’s probably married. Nothing that fine can possibly be available. Besides, my family would have a fit.

  Bringing a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, girl home with him for a weekend would lead to his mother casting some sort of spell over him that would no doubt leave him impotent. Since she did possess the gift of magik, it was a very real threat. All she claimed to want out of life was for her children to settle down, have lots of babies and stay close to her. Somehow he didn’t think she’d be okay with a blue-eyed grandbaby. She was a proud Brazilian woman, but Alejandro guessed she’d be willing to make an exception as to what South American country his future mate originated from, only that she did indeed have ties to one and was nothing like Dr. Murray.

  Staring at Dr. Murray, he doubted very much that she had ties to anything remotely close to him. It was a shame. She made his blood pump fast and his entire body light with need at the mere whiff of her scent. Fresh berries and cream seemed to permeate from her every time she moved. It drove him mad with lust so much so that he’d found himself taking the outer perimeter watch three times already since they’d arrived--each time to give himself a much needed break or risk pinning her to the ground and claiming her.

  Stop thinking about her as mate material. She’s human and you aren’t looking to be tied down to any one woman. Now, a few nights of pleasure are another story. That is a definite possibility.

  Alejandro watched as she put on the army DCU hat that he’d given her when he saw her nose and cheeks burning from the scorching sun. The soft smile she’d given in return had left his muscles tightening as he fought the urge to bend and capture her mouth. It would have been so easy to just press his lips to hers but she hadn’t shown an interest in him as of yet and stealing a kiss wasn’t what he did. Though, if he had to be forced to endure much more of her swaying hips and smooth looking skin, he just might. Maybe, he’d get lucky and she’d be willing to share so much more than just a kiss with him.

  She made her way towards Ondrea and paused before him. “I think this is yours,” she said, handing him his knife with the fruit still attached to it. “Thank you.”

  Did she know?

  She arched a brow and glanced at her friend. “Be careful. Foreign objects seem to fall from the sky.”

  Ondrea whistled and glanced upwards. “No clue what you’re talking about.”

  “Right. Thanks again, Colonel.”

  Alejandro raked his gaze over her, noticing how red her arms appeared to be. She claimed to have put sunscreen on prior to coming and he believed her. Problem was, it didn’t seem to be doing her a damn bit of good.

  Major Issac Barrett was the only member of his team that was fair skinned but even he tanned before burning. Dr. Murray seemed to go from white to red in less than sixty seconds. It had to hurt. If by some miracle it didn’t, it sure the hell would later. “Why don’t you head out of the sun for a bit, Doctor, and take a break?”

  Fulk stared at him with wide eyes. “Excuse me, sir, but did you just suggest someone take it easy? I think my hearing might have gone. You’re a slave driver. We never get breaks.”

  Issac appeared, carrying a jug of water with him. “Nothing is wrong with your hearing, asshole. I think were-coyotes have an excellent range. What do you think, sir?”

  Alejandro watched Dr. Murray closely, trying to see how she would react to the talk of supernaturals. She either didn’t hear Issac or didn’t care. Sure, they’d existed among humans for close to a hundred years but not all humans took kindly to them. Some even went as far as to try to exterminate his kind.

  Dr. Murray, as far as Alejandro knew, was not registered in the Non-Human Database (NHD). It was the government’s way of keeping track and monitoring the number of supernaturals in a given area. The idea of an uprising left many humans paranoid. To alleviate this worry, President Harding implemented the creation of the NHD in 1920. Since then, it acted like a homing device for supernaturals but allowed humans and supernaturals to live side by side without incident.

  Ondrea tapped her friend’s arm, causing her to cringe. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize ... holy shit, Dr. Murray ... err ... Deryn, you’re burnt.”

  Deryn? Had her parents wanted a boy?

  Deryn offered a soft smile and bent down to check out the portion of the wall that her friend was so interested in. “What’s up, Onnie? And why do you keep calling me Dr. Murray? I’ve known you since we were kids. Didn’t we bathe together?”

  “Ahh, that’s a sight I’d pay money to see,” Fulk said, with a daydream-like look on his face. Alejandro would have smacked it off him had he not thought the very same thing the moment he heard the words fall from Deryn’s lips.

  “Lieutenant, enough,” Alejandro said, doing his best to sound as if he was scolding Fulk. He really wanted to high-five him.

  Deryn glanced back at him and smiled. “That was almost convincing.” She winked. “Almost.”

  Ondrea waved her hand in front of Deryn’s face. “Hello? Anyone home?”

  “What’s up?”

  “What’s up?” Ondrea asked, dropping down next to her. “Are you blind? Look at that symbol there.” She pointed at a mark resembling a woman seated on her knees with some sort of ball shape above her head. “Does it look familiar?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  Ondrea snarled, the cat shifter within her obviously losing patience with the situation. Alejandro kept a close eye on the woman, hoping that she wouldn’t turn on her own friend. “Drop your pants. Better yet, just get naked.”

  “Excuse me?” Deryn’s eyes widened.

  All men present took a step forward. Alejandro couldn’t help himself--he had to question what was going on. It was against his cock’s wishes to stop Deryn from getting naked but it was the right thing to do. “I’m sorry but I’d like to know why someone is being ordered to disrobe before actually making them do it.”

  “You can’t make me take anything off, Colonel,” Deryn bit out, causing him to take a tiny step back. She was even more beautiful when she was upset. Thoughts of going out of his way to tick her off entered his mind. It was wrong and he knew it, but still. The idea of seeing her blue eyes blaze was almost too tempting.

  She glanced at the marking on the wall again, this time running her finger over it as she went. “Oh.”

  “Oh?” Ondrea put her hand on her hip and laughed. “All you have to say is ‘oh’ when you find the exact marking that you have tattooed on your lower back on another world? Look at the one next to it.”

  She has a tattoo on her lower back?

  Fulk glanced at him and Alejandro knew the man shared his thoughts--inner wild child. They both pursed their lips and glanced upwards to avoid commenting. The newest revelation did little in the way of diminishing Alejandro’s interest in Deryn.

  “It’s not the exact one, Onnie.”

  “I think it is.”

  Sighing, Deryn did the unthinkable. She started unbuttoning her pants. Fulk and Issac took another big step forward. Alejandro glared at them. They backed up. “Doctor?”

  She grinned. “Relax. I won’t flash anything I shouldn’t.”

  Damn, a man can dream.

  In an instant, Deryn had her tee shirt off and her pants lowered about two inches. The tiny, cut off white tank top she had on just barely covered her breasts. For a split second, Alejandro was positive he’d died and gone to heaven. When Fulk opened his mouth, he realized that heaven wouldn’t involve him.

  “Nice abs, Doctor!” Fulk whistled. “How many sit-ups do you do a day? We’ve got some chicks who are serious about their bodies here but none have definition l
ike that.”

  Deryn cast a very unimpressed look at Fulk. “Do you think you’re funny? I don’t need you making....”

  Ondrea touched her friend lightly. “Deryn, hon, he’s not making fun of you. In fact, he’s going to turn around now and keep his mouth shut.”

  Fulk took another bite of his fruit. “Touchy. Geesh, I was just trying to tell you that you have a great body. What the hell is the matter with you? Can’t you take a compliment?”

  Alejandro entertained knocking Fulk’s teeth in but Deryn’s verbal assault beat him to the punch. She hugged her tee shirt to her, blocking his view of her body. “Guess not. And I also can’t take the fact that Ondrea is allowing you to eat a fruit I personally tested and know it has several ingredients in it that have been linked with impotence.”

  Fulk spit the fruit out and began to choke.

  Ondrea’s mouth opened wide. “Deryn, you never tested any fruit.”

  “I knew that. You knew that but Mr. Sit-Up didn’t.” She winked at Fulk and moved her tee shirt away from her stomach. “Crunches. Not sit-ups. How many I do depends on whether or not I can sleep that night.”

  Fulk stopped spitting and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “The fruit won’t make my dick limp?”

  Alejandro and Issac both shook their heads at Fulk’s crassness.

  Deryn smiled and Alejandro’s chest tightened. “No. The fruit won’t make your cock shrivel and fall off but that plant your hand is on will.”

  Shocked that Deryn said cock, Alejandro raised an eyebrow.

  Fulk snorted. “Ha, ha, I’m not falling for that again.”

  Ondrea glanced back at the plant and gasped. “Holy shit, Deryn, is that a...?”