Shifters Forever Worlds Epic Collection Volume 3

by Elle Thorne

  Eira sighed.

  Emme was her sister, her full-blood sister. That wasn’t typical in their world. Most were half-sisters or cousins to varying degrees. So Emme, more than anyone in the world, had the right to get a bit extreme.

  “I know that’s what we do.” Eira put her arm around her sister. “I know. But…” She pursed her lips while she thought on this.

  “Fine. I’ll kill him,” her sister said like she was stating the weather.

  Eira swung her arm out from around her sister, and took her by the shoulders, looking in her eyes. “You will do no such thing.”

  “But—”

  “I’ll handle it. Got it?”

  Emme frowned, but nodded.

  “Got it?” Eira insisted.

  “I got it,” Emme harrumphed.

  “Good. Now stay out of my room.” She looked at the others. “All of you.” She made to leave the balcony.

  Hélène cleared her throat. “Eira.”

  Eira whirled around. “What?”

  “You know this means…” She nodded her head sideways. “You know.”

  “Say it.”

  “It means we have to move. To leave town. Our location’s been compromised.”

  If you only knew. Eira nodded. She should have been the one to suggest it. Her thinking wasn’t very clear lately. They definitely needed to get moving since the berserkers obviously knew where they were.

  “Pack a small gym bag. Nothing more. We leave it all behind. I’ll have someone sent back to purge and erase. Tell the others.”

  Emme nodded. “Good call.”

  They all looked at each other, not saying a word.

  Finally, Lina spoke. “Chicago?”

  Eira and Emme nodded first, then Hélène.

  “It’s been a few decades since we were there. Will be nice to see the Windy City again.”

  “I’ll find you all,” Eira said. “Don’t wait on me.”

  “What?” Emme grabbed her arm. “What’s that mean?”

  “It means I have a few loose ends to take care of.”

  “This is highly unusual.” Hélène grimaced.

  Tell me about it.

  “How long?” Emme still had not released Eira’s arm.

  “Maybe a few days.”

  Emme shook her head, her brows drawn down in a V. “I don’t like this. At all.”

  Eira hugged her. “Trust me,” she whispered.

  And for some reason she couldn’t even begin to understand, for the first time in her centuries-old life, she felt a sense of freedom.

  Eira opened the door to her room, and damned near fell back.

  He was naked.

  Glistening wet from a shower, hair sticking to his head, droplets running down his body.

  A body she couldn’t help but notice was full of muscles crisscrossed and dotted with scars.

  She fought the urge to lick her lips at the sight before her.

  He was a god. God of War, that would be more appropriate.

  She realized she was holding her breath when her lungs started to burn. She let the air out slowly and closed the door behind her.

  He moved the towel he’d helped himself to in order to strategically cover a part that she’d noticed would not be a disappointment to any woman, without a doubt.

  He grinned sheepishly. “Sorry. You were taking a while, and there was still blood in some places.”

  She shook her head. “What… um…” She couldn’t speak. I need to get a hold of myself. She started over. “What are you going to wear?”

  He shrugged. “My pants. I figure I’m not the first guy that ever walked out of a woman’s apartment without his shirt on. I’ve got more at the hotel.”

  Hotel. So maybe… what was his story?

  Story, hell. What’s his name?

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “Do you mind if I go with you?”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Did he mind if she went with him?

  Mind? Mind? Range couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do than take her with him.

  He nodded. “That’s fine.”

  A glimmer of an expression crossed her face. He wished he knew what it meant. He wished he knew her a lot better than he did.

  In so many ways.

  In his mind, his wolf howled.

  He slipped his pants and shoes on and grabbed the keys.

  The drive there, his mind was preoccupied. He didn’t say a word and she spent the time looking out the passenger window.

  The night was still early, traffic dotted I-10 as he headed west toward a hotel he’d snagged not too far from her apartment.

  So, what was his mind preoccupied with during the drive?

  Mostly his wolf, and the reactions his wolf was having to her.

  Oddly, a conversation Range had with Mae a few years ago came to his mind.

  They’d been talking about love and relationships and being a shifter. Of course, Mae wasn’t a shifter, but she’d been bonded to one, couplebonded, for life. That’s what shifters did. One bite, at just the right time during that moment when a couple climaxed, and the bitten one was securely marked with a couplebond, which was like an aura, though not visible, that designated the couple was bonded. And interestingly, it also showed in the aura of the one who did the biting.

  That mark was forever, she had said, or until one of them died. Which was why she didn’t have one, since her mate Brad was dead. Of course, now she had a mate. Doc Evans. And she was happier than Range had ever seen her. But back then, Mae had tried to talk to a teenaged Range, telling him how shifters would find that right mate. Their fated mate. And how there would be no other. And that their animal would know.

  Range had laughed at that. He’d had a good laugh.

  Mae had smiled indulgingly, and said, “You’ll see. One day, you’ll see. Your wolf will speak to you, and you’ll know.”

  He’d contained his mirth and asked if there was ever a time when a shifter animal didn’t know.

  She’d said, “I don’t think so. Maybe sometimes the animal doesn’t reveal it to the human until they’re ready to.”

  Range realized he was leaning on the accelerator a bit heavily and raised his foot.

  And now his wolf was telling him something. And Range wasn’t sure he wanted to hear it. He didn’t need the wolf endorsing the attraction he already felt for this woman, a woman he’d just met—and not under the best of circumstances.

  “Well?” Eira said.

  He glanced at her. “What?”

  “What’s your name?”

  Damn. He hadn’t told her his name. “Do you make it a habit to get into vehicles and go to hotel rooms with men whose name you don’t know?”

  “Only those I’m supposed to kill.”

  He did a double take. What the fuck?

  Her lips curved into a smile.

  He shook his head. “I’ve seen your skills. That’s not a joking matter.”

  “I’m not going to kill you while I still have unanswered questions.” Her smile grew larger. Her violet indigo eyes crinkled.

  And Range fell deeper.

  And his wolf howled in delight at the predicament Range was in.

  Fuck off, Range told his wolf, knowing full well that the wolf would take it lightly. Luckily, they got along fairly well, else his wolf might get testy.

  And Range had seen what having a testy shifter animal inside could be like.

  Of all the experimental testing, that seemed to be something that Asa had to deal with. Range’s issues from the testing had been different.

  She was frowning now. “I’m kidding. I don’t plan to kill you.”

  “I don’t think I’d be easy to kill,” Range informed her.

  “I didn’t think so. But I’m still waiting.”

  Oh yeah, my name.

  “Range.”

  “Is that like a title? Or a position? Like ranger? Or something?”

  He frowned. “No. That’s the name on my birth certificate.
”

  “Is it the only name?”

  He pulled into his hotel parking lot. “No. Wulfsen.” He spelled it out for her.

  She laughed. “It sounds like wolf’s son.”

  He shrugged. “That’s my legal name.”

  “Why does it seem like there’s more to this story.”

  He snorted a laugh. “That’s damned rich, coming from you.”

  She nodded in acknowledgment. “You’re right.”

  He grabbed the spare key card from the console—who knew where the first one was, it had been in his pocket earlier. He opened the door for her and led her to a side entrance where the key card gave them access.

  In the room, he snagged a beer from the small refrigerator and popped the top, handing it to her.

  She nodded her thanks.

  He took one for himself, popped it open, and took a long drink, downing half while he took long strides to the closet, yanked out a T-shirt, and opened the door to the veranda.

  Twelve stories high, the view was as good as it could get, considering.

  The moon was high, beautiful and full, and the night was young.

  And I’m here with this beautiful woman I don’t know shit about, who I set up to be abducted by a bunch of douches.

  And I’m flying out tomorrow.

  And this would be his last—and his one and only—night with her.

  “Out here okay?”

  She nodded.

  He pulled out one of the two chairs next to the table for her.

  She took a seat as he did, this time taking a smaller gulp of his drink. Then he dove right in. “Why did you want to come here?”

  She studied the moon, the horizon, the city lights, her beer. Hell, it seemed she studied everything, but made it a point not to look at him.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Seriously?

  “Well, you asked to go with me. Where did you want to go?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Anywhere.

  But Eira couldn’t voice that thought. How could she tell him that she couldn’t just run off and leave him and never find out anything about him?

  She traced patterns on her jeans, over and over. She’d never felt this way around a man before. Was it because he was a shifter? What about her attraction to him? That attraction. It was what drew her to ask him to take her with him.

  What the hell’s happening to me?

  She wasn’t an easily swayed by a handsome face type of woman. She let out an exasperated breath.

  “Big sigh,” he said.

  She glanced at him.

  “I’m—we’re—I have to leave town.” There she said it.

  “Why?”

  “Those guys you decided to turn me over to—”

  He raised his hand. “Hold on. Look. I—”

  “I know, it’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not okay. I didn’t know what I was being asked to do. I mean I did, but I didn’t know why. I was under the impression that you had stuff that belonged to an ex-boyfriend. That he wanted his things back. The minute I found out it was a totally different scenario, I jumped in.” He shook his head apologetically.

  She gave him a sad smile. “There was no way you could have known.”

  “So why is it that you have to go?”

  “Because they won’t give up until they have one of us.”

  He frowned. “Are you going to tell me who you are? And why they want you?”

  She exhaled, put the beer on the table, rose to her feet, and turned to face him. With her back to the moon, its rays illuminated his face, highlighting the incredible chiseled features.

  She’d never revealed her kind to any mortal or any other type of supernatural. This was tough. It felt like she was betraying her own.

  Her inner struggle must have shown on her face.

  “You’d rather not, I guess?” he said.

  “I never have. It’s no small thing. In fact, it’s punishable by death.”

  “What is? How?”

  “Revealing our existence, our very identity to outsiders carries a penalty of death. The tribunal won’t decide otherwise.”

  “Whoa. That’s—shit. Not even shifters have those kinds of laws.” Curiosity showed on his face, though. “So, who were—are the guys hunting you?”

  “Berserkers.”

  “Berserkers are myth.”

  “No.”

  “Those guys we fought weren’t berserkers.”

  “You’re right. Berserkers hire humans.”

  “I’ve never met a berserker. Can’t say I know much about them.”

  “It’s unlikely you’d know much of the truth. They were bear shifters, once, long, long ago. They were marauding, plundering, raping bastards. They attacked our tribe. Killed all the men and took the women captive. Lived in the village, taking the places of our dead men in all ways.”

  She paced the small balcony, anger raising her adrenaline level. “The women prayed and prayed, and one day, Freyja answered those prayers.”

  His frown grew deeper. “Freyja. The goddess? The one from Norse mythology.”

  Eira nodded. “Yes, but you see, Freyja has been cast as a goddess now. She was not always viewed as that. Her myth grew, the lore changed. Freyja was the mother of one of the captive women. She was a powerful witch. She had been away, and when she returned, she learned of the wrongs that had been perpetrated.”

  Eira picked her hair up off her nape. The heat was brutal. Sweat was pouring down her back.

  Range leaned forward. “And what did Freyja the witch do?”

  “She drove the bear shifters’ animals mad. They could no longer shift into their bears, and they would never be able to. Nor would they want to. Their inner animals were behaving like rabid beasts. Freyja banished them, and never reinstated their inner bears. They were fierce—berserk—in battle but could not shift into their animal.”

  “Shit,” he hissed. “That sucks for them.”

  Eira’s eyes glittered with an angry violet fire. “For what they did, they deserved death, even.”

  “Agreed,” Range said. “So, I’m guessing you’re called Valkyrie.”

  She nodded. “Good guess.”

  “I’m not totally ignorant. And that one was a bit obvious, but I’d have never guessed about the origins.”

  She turned to face the city, staring out at the lights.

  See you in a few decades again, Houston.

  She felt movement in the air. Sensed he’d risen from his chair, but she didn’t turn around.

  Seconds later, his body was near hers. She could feel the warmth of his nearness.

  Then his hand was on her back, rising, slowly to her nape, shifting her hair away from her neckline.

  She felt his lips against the sensitive skin at her hairline.

  “And now, your life’s in danger. You’ve risked everything by telling me this.”

  She didn’t reply. She couldn’t have. At the very second his lips touched her flesh, her breathing had frozen, her pulse had slowed, sped up, then slowed again. She could feel her heartbeat in her brain. It seemed like a wind tunnel was drowning out the world.

  His body was pressed against hers. His muscles were hard, as if crafted from stone, a contrast to the lips that fluttered across her skin, tracing the skin on her neck. She could feel his arousal, pressing on her, a very defined pressure along her derrière.

  Releasing her hair, his hands dropped to her hips, and slowly turned her around.

  She stared into his eyes. Those eyes of his, dark blue—she’d never noticed before—but now, she saw something else.

  “Your eyes.”

  He tilted his head. “What?”

  “There’s this golden flame—that’s the only way I can think of describing it—in the middle of the blue color.”

  “My wolf.”

  Now she was confused. “Explain.”

  He leaned forward, his lips almost touching hers.

  “When my wolf is strong
er—more at the forefront—it shows in my eyes.”

  She studied them, keeping her gaze locked on his.

  He smiled. “Now tell me why your eyes do what they do.”

  “You mean during the fight?”

  “Exactly, my amazing warrior woman.”

  “All Valkyrie are born with two identifying marks. Violet eyes—”

  “That turn black when you’re in the middle of conflict,” he finished for her.

  “Yeah.”

  “And the second?”

  She raised her hand and showed him the inside of her wrist where there was a tattoo. It wasn’t much larger than a coin, probably a quarter.

  “You’re born with that? The tattoo?”

  “It’s a rune. It identifies my sect.”

  It was two intersecting circles, one on top of the other. It looked like a figure eight, almost, except rings overlapped. Two vertical parallel lines bisected the circles.

  “Sect. Define how that relates to you.”

  “Range.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Range looked into those violet eyes.

  “What?”

  “I don’t want to say more. If anyone knew you knew anything…” she breathed out, a heavy breath that made her breasts rise and fall.

  And made Range all the more conscious how much he wanted her.

  “I shouldn’t say more about my kind. I put you in enough danger already. You could be captured and interrogated, most likely tortured.”

  He brushed a gentle kiss across her lips. “Understood. But one day, you’ll let me in. You’ll have faith that I will be fine. I can’t be touched, or taken.”

  She chewed on her bottom lip. “We’ll see when that day comes, okay?”

  He nodded. Because right now, there was nothing he wanted more than to see all of her. Lying next to him. Flesh next to flesh, with nothing between.

  Eira grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer. Her nipples were hard, pressing against his shirt, giving him images of touching, licking, kissing, and all sorts of other things he wanted to do to them. Desire slammed into him with a force of an F5 tornado.

  He almost didn’t recognize the groan that came out of his mouth. “Lock the doors. I want you now.”

  “I was going to take you up to—”