Claimed By The Dragon Shifter (BBW Paranormal Romance)

by T. S. Ryder

Ana shuddered. Crystal believed what she was saying. She really did. How could anybody think of themselves like that? It was so horrific! Ana climbed into the forklift beside Seth and cautiously drove it towards where Joseph was. He was tying the woman up as she continued to sob. Seth slumped, his face pale as he tried to stem the flow from his bullet wound.

  "This is why I do what I do," he whispered. "Look at her. This is what happens when shifters are forced to keep themselves hidden, when they are taught to hate themselves so much that they refuse to acknowledge their own identity. When will enough be enough?"

  Ana had known all this but hadn't realized how bad it was. Her gaze flickered over all the dead bodies lying on the warehouse floor. If they hadn't hated shifters, they would all be alive. She shuddered again. If anything, her resolve had been bolstered from this. She had always been a proponent of shifter rights, but now she knew she had to do more.

  Joseph picked up the petite Crystal easily. She continued to sob. He looked at Ana; their eyes met, and a feeling of love burst in her chest. That was her mate. He was alive and well.

  And together, they were going to change the world.

  Chapter Ten

  Joseph leaned heavily on the crutch he still needed. The bullet wound in his leg had healed, but one of his knees had been completely shattered in Crystal's attack and he was still recovering from surgery. It had been several weeks since he had been kidnapped with Ana and Seth, but thanks to Ana's tender care, he was almost better. Without her, he would have been so bored stiff lying in bed all the time that he would have wrecked it further.

  "Can I get you some water?" Ana asked as he sat down in an old, worn couch in her parent's house that was extremely comfortable despite its age.

  "I'm good, thank you."

  Behind Ana, Mrs. Medina snorted. "Get him water. He doesn't drink enough, a man that size needs to stay hydrated."

  Ana rolled her eyes, and they shared a long-suffering look between them as Mr. Medina tried to convince his wife to leave Joseph alone. Ana's parents had insisted that they come for dinner today.

  Not that Joseph didn't enjoy spending time with her parents. They were nice people and balanced one another out nicely. He was feeling a little tired of the energy levels here, though, and wanted to go home to have some relaxing time with his mate.

  Well… relaxing might not be the right word for it. If they were careful, then the right position didn't strain his knee at all and they could take part in other activities…

  Ana's father sat beside him and turned on the television. The news flickered on showing a picture of Seth Fischer.

  "He's getting out of the hospital today," Ana commented. "Full recovery. Well, the doctors told me to make sure that he doesn't overdo it. It'll be hard, though. Seth's more determined than ever."

  So was Ana. And so was Joseph. Crystal's mental breakdown only highlighted the need for change to happen. How many other shifters were out there, suffering like she had?

  Ana and her mother hurried over to the couch when the news switched to a live broadcast from Seth outside of the hospital. The shifter looked pale, but he stood firm and his voice was powerful as he spoke into the microphones as cameras flashed at him.

  "Our deepest sympathies go to Crystal Scott and her family," he started. "This is a painful time for us all, but especially for those who loved Crystal. The events of these past few weeks have only strengthened my resolve to see change come to our country. We have seen how the hatred of shifters cost a bright, compassionate young woman to lose her mind. This is why I do what I do. So that shifters will not have to hide, so they will not suppress themselves.

  "It is a fact that when shifters does not feel free to be themselves, when they are shamed into thinking there is something wrong with them, when they ignore or, worse, try to cut out that part of them that makes them a shifter, it damages their mental health. The time has come for shifters to stand up and say "I am here. I am proud of who I am, and I will not be silenced." But in order for this to happen, our laws must be changed. Shifters are legally discriminated against in this country that is meant to be the home of the free. I ask you, free for whom?"

  Joseph felt a well of pride rise in him as he listened to the senator. Maybe change was possible. It would take voices crying for change, though, and his would be among them. No more hiding his shifter side from his coworkers. Buck would be proud of him, finally taking a stand on his own identity.

  After Seth's speech was over, Ana's father nodded. "I always liked Seth, even when he was a little boy. When are you going back to work with him, sweetheart?"

  Ana slid down next to Joseph, squeezing his hand. "I'm already back working with him. Just not as much. But Seth has me doing a bunch of research to use in his arguments against the Shifter Registry. We're hopeful that it's not going to pass. A lot of shifter rights groups have gotten more vocal since the news about Crystal broke. She was adopted by anti-shifter parents and when her husband found out she was a shifter, he accused her of raping him. The poor girl never had a chance."

  "Hopefully, it works out in our favor," Joseph agreed. It would be all too easy for anti-shifter groups to point to Crystal and claim that she was proof that they needed a shifter registry, but thankfully Seth had seized it right away and was turning it into a cry for shifter rights. "Using her tragedy as a way to better inform the public was a stroke of genius."

  "That’s Seth," Ana replied proudly. "He's a master at this sort of thing."

  Joseph glanced at her. His mate. His heart swelled with a happiness he never thought he would ever experience. Maybe he was turning into one of those gooey-eyed men who lived for his mate, but he wouldn't trade it for the bland life he had led before. Ana was everything he could ever want.

  "And what about you?" Ana's father looked at Joseph. "When are you going back to work?"

  "As soon as this knee's fixed up." Joseph tapped the offending joint. "Cap is pairing me with a new recruit. I'm… hopeful we'll get along."

  The new guy reminded him of Buck. He had a lot to learn, though.

  "I don't like your line of work." Ana's mother frowned. "I don't know how your poor mother sleeps at night, knowing that you are getting shot at every day."

  Joseph laughed. "I rarely get shot at, Mrs. Medina. In fact, most of a detective's work is done behind a desk. The movies make it look a lot more glamorous than it actually is."

  "Well, you'll have to tell your parents to come over someday soon, anyway," Ana's mother said. "I'd love to meet them. I know this wonderful lawyer that might be able to help your mother get her medical license back."

  Joseph inclined his head towards her. "That would be great. I'm sure they'll love to meet you. But right now, I think we had better get home. This knee needs some rest."

  "Of course."

  They said their goodbyes, including more hugs than Joseph was entirely comfortable with. Soon, however, they were on their way, Ana driving while he stretched out his leg. She kept giving him glances and smiles that had his heart beating faster.

  "Ana, I love you," he blurted.

  "I know. I love you, too. But I know what you're up to."

  Joseph rose a brow.

  She parked the car outside the house and gave him a long, slow kiss. What she meant was all too clear, and Joseph grinned. He had to resist the urge to carry her inside–his knee couldn't take it. Ana broke the kiss and slipped away, her eyes twinkling.

  "Come and get me, my wild Bear," she whispered and disappeared into the house.

  Joseph grinned and followed his mate.

  *****

  THE END

  Bonus Book 2: The Alpha's Baby

  Description

  A curvy wolf looking for an escape PLUS a hot-as-hell Bear choosing his mate PLUS his biggest enemy on their heels!

  It’s Joshua’s responsibility to lead his Bear pack as he sees best. And what he thinks is best is to take his enemy’s daughter as his mate. It’s all for his pack. But when he sees her curves, he
can’t help but feel his loins tighten.

  Wolf Naomi should have been Alpha after her mother, the previous Alpha, died. But her father made sure that didn’t happen. She wants freedom, not love, and Joshua's offer is her escape. She can’t let that perfect V of his abs distract her.

  But their new union is put to the test immediately when Naomi finds an abandoned baby in the woods. Where did it come from? Where should it go?

  When, on top of that, they discover plans that threaten the whole Bear pack, Naomi and Joshua have to make a choice. And Naomi has to face her biggest fear... her own father.

  As danger rises and desire heightens, Naomi and Joshua need to focus and stay alive. They can’t mate yet. She has to stay a virgin, until Christmas…

  Chapter One – Joshua

  Snow fell in thick flakes from the sky, heralding the White Christmas that the songs on the radio had been singing about for weeks now. Normally Joshua Stewart would have taken a moment to breathe in the deep scent of pines and spruces mingling with the sharp bite of snow, but today was not most days. The Bear Alpha canines lengthened as he stopped his snowmobile. His two seconds, Matt, his beta, and Luke, his gamma, pulled to a stop behind him.

  Sure enough, the cabin was exactly where reports said it was. It had clearly been built in a hurry, probably overnight. The logs that made up its walls were rough and still had bark clinging to them in placed. But then, it wasn't meant to be a place for the inhabitants to permanently live in, but rather to make a statement.

  Joshua gritted his teeth as he marched up to the door. Normally he would say that the Wolves could do what they wanted and the Bears would do what they wanted, but the Wolf Alpha was clearly provoking him. James Tucker wanted any excuse to reignite the war that had been resolved a hundred years ago. Joshua didn’t know why the old man had such a hatred of Bears, but he knew that was not going to give him any excuse to resume hostilities.

  Before the Alpha got to the door, it was flung open. Joshua stopped where he was, eyes narrowing, as Tucker exited the cabin. The Wolf Alpha was lean but wiry, like all Wolves. In a fair fight, he'd stand no chance against the larger Bear.

  Actually, a fair fight would be at least a dozen Wolves against one Bear.

  But it was quite clear that Tucker was not looking for a fair fight, not with the hunting rifle he hand pointed directly at Joshua's head. The Bear Alpha kept himself relaxed. He wasn't going to let the Wolf intimidate him.

  "This is Bear territory, Tucker, as we established with human land surveyors. If you want to live this far from your park, move your cabin ten feet to the north."

  "I remember what the surveyors said. But what difference does ten feet make, eh?" Tucker kept his gun trained on Joshua. "The land back there isn't level. We're neighbors, are you going to start a fight over a measly ten feet of land?"

  Beside him, Matt growled. Joshua sent him a warning glare, and his beta reluctantly lowered his head. This was not going to end with violence, but Joshua also was not going to just give up his people's claim to this part of the territory to the Wolves. It had once been a burial site for the Bears, although fortunately all the Bears buried in his location had been reburied elsewhere. If they hadn't been, Joshua wouldn't have been able to stop his people from burning down this cabin.

  Hell, he would have lit the first match.

  "You know what this place means to us Bears, you are deliberately trying to provoke us. Our land agreements have proven this piece of property belongs to us. You will move your cabin or I will sue you and your pack for every cent that you own."

  A look of disgust came over Tucker's face. "That's the problem with the world these days. Instead of settling these things like good, honest shifters, weak Alphas like you have to go running to the humans to solve every little problem they're faced with."

  Joshua couldn't help but roll his eyes. The deliberate attempt to provoke him was pathetic. He knew what he was, and weak wasn't among his list of attributes.

  "You Bears aren't even using this land. It's flat and fertile, I could feed a dozen families with crops grown here."

  "This land is ours. Unless you would like us to start building our houses on your burial grounds." Joshua stepped forward, resulting in Tucker cocking the gun. Well, it seemed that talk wasn't going to get through to the Wolf Alpha–at least, not just talk. He turned to Matt and rose a brow. "Are you getting all of this?"

  "Getting it?" Tucker repeated.

  Matt ignored the Wolf and adjusted the small camera he had attached to the label of his blazer. "Yep."

  Tucker stared at the small device. It wasn't completely unnoticeable, but it was small enough that the Wolf clearly hadn't seen it, too engrossed in his attempts to provoke the other Alpha. Joshua grinned as the Wolf bared his teeth and growled. His grip on his gun tightened.

  "Filming me? What could you possibly hope to accomplish with that?"

  "Just proof, should things become hostile, to show the human justice courts that we did not initiate."

  Joshua didn't like to rely on the threat of human intervention to get the Wolves to cooperate, but in times like these, he had to act swiftly and decisively. Humans levied heavy fines against the guilty party whenever fights broke out between the Bears and the Wolves. Given the state of finances under Tucker's leadership, he couldn't afford any more problems with the local human authorities.

  As Joshua had expected, Tucker lowered the gun. "Fine. If you want to waste this valuable land and you think ten feet is oh so important, we'll relocate our cabin. My girls' hands are blistered until from building this one, but if you think it's so important—"

  "Your daughters are here, then?"

  Tucker narrowed his eyes. "Where I go, they go."

  "Good. I'll be taking your eldest back with me to be my mate, then." Joshua surprised himself when he spoke. He had been toying with the idea for some time. A connection between the leadership of the two packs would help facilitate peace.

  He hadn't expected to make such a blunt demand for it, though.

  "My eldest daughter?" Tucker cried. "My flesh and blood, my precious Naomi? The child that will succeed me? I'll sooner see you all dead—"

  "Enough, Father." A young woman pushed Tucker aside and marched towards the Bears. Her gaze locked on Joshua. "You're the Alpha?"

  He nodded.

  "I am Naomi Stewart. I'll mate you."

  Joshua's brow rose. Perhaps he wasn't the only one to have thought of this before.

  Tucker spluttered. "Naomi! Get back here at once!"

  Joshua ignored the Wolf, focusing instead on the woman. Skin the color of pale cedar, eyes gray, hair chestnut brown. She was quite lovely. A little thinner than Joshua would have preferred, but that didn't matter. He felt himself stirring at the thought of mating her.

  "You'll be my mate?" he asked her. "Just like that?"

  "Yes. I'm a virgin and so you'll have to be patient with me that way, but I'm sure we can work it out."

  Joshua inclined his head. Wolves, as far as he knew, only ever had sex with their mates, so that she was a virgin was to be expected. He had the sudden thought that maybe he didn't have enough experience to please her properly, but put that aside as he offered her his hand.

  Tucker spluttered. "Naomi Tucker, if you leave with that Bear—"

  "Goodbye, Father," she said coldly and put her hand on Joshua's.

  ***

  Joshua opened the door to his house, gesturing for Naomi to enter before him. She walked in, her expression blank, and glanced around. He watched her carefully, wondering what was going through her mind at that moment. Was she regretting her choice?

  "This is where we will live?"

  "Yes. We won't officially mate until the next full moon—"

  "Christmas Eve," Naomi murmured. "Do Bears celebrate Christmas?"

  "Some of us do. I usually put up a few decoration this time of year, but I've been too busy this year. Your father had been causing me a lot of problems."

  Naomi's g
ray eyes darkened and she shrugged, turning away from him. There was definitely more going on in her head than she was saying. But considering that she had said all of twenty words since they left her father's cabin, that wasn't very surprising. He couldn’t guess what she was feeling, whether afraid or resigned or bored.

  "Do you celebrate Christmas?" he asked.

  "We did before my mother died. Haven't since. My father doesn't like it. Says it's human nonsense." Naomi turned back to him. "You said that we won't officially mate until Christmas. But that doesn't mean we'll remain celibate until then, does it?"

  Her simple question had a dramatic effect. Joshua's loins tightened, and his gaze traveled down his future mate's body. While on the thinner side, she still had plenty of curves and Joshua couldn’t wait to taste them all. Her lips beckoned him, but he held himself back, trying not to show the effect she had on him.

  "If that's what you want, we will," he told her. "I know Wolves are a little different about these things than Bears."

  Naomi's own gaze wandered over his form and nodded as though satisfied. The pale cedar color of her cheeks darkened. "I'll have to decide on that. We only decided to become mates a few hours ago, after all."

  Joshua smiled, but before he could respond the door slammed open. In strode a woman almost as tall and broad as Joshua himself. Blonde hair, like his, though she was somewhat paler and she never wore makeup.

  Susan. He sighed at the anger blazing on her face. Ever since they were children, Susan assumed that they would one day be mates because of her fighting prowess. Joshua himself had assumed the same for a long time, but had already decided against the female Bear. She was a spoiled, entitled brat whose violent temper tantrums got her everything she wanted. There were those in town that liked her, but Joshua wasn't one of them.

  "What is this I hear about you taking a Wolf as your mate?" Susan seethed, glaring at Joshua.