Damien’s Dilemma

by Cohen, Julie K.

  Still in her embrace, he shifted back, landing on his back with her on top of him. “You’re a shifter, Tess, and always will be, even if you’ve lost your ability to shift. Maybe one day you’ll get it back, but even if you don’t, I wouldn’t give you up for anything in the world. I need you, Sweetness, and I always will. Will you run with me?”

  “Run?”

  “I hear the pack up there, running past us, howling at the blood moon. And while I very much want to be inside of you right now, I think it’s time we show them who their alphas are.”

  “I can’t be—”

  “You’re as much alpha as I am regardless of your shifter abilities. You always have been.”

  She thought about it for a moment, and then she nodded. Her fear was still clear, but her resolve had not withered in the least. She had never lost her trust in him, just as he’d never lost faith in her.

  As soon as they reached the top of the embankment, they started running. He could hear the pack ahead of them. He ran naked beside her, never once feeling the need to shift to wolf form. Until he heard the howls ahead.

  “Go ahead, Damien,” she said, reading him. “Tell them who’s coming.”

  With a grin, he shifted and howled in response. The forest fell completely quiet, and then a thunderous uproar of each pack member replying to him shook the trees.

  A huge smile broke out on Tess’s face, and her speed picked up faster than he’d ever seen her run before. He didn’t tell her that she was running faster than was possible for a human. Not quite shifter speed, but close. It was possible the blood-bond had repaired some of the damage the virus had done to her DNA, but he didn’t want to give her false hope if he was wrong. There’d be plenty of time to talk tomorrow. In fact, there’d be a lifetime together.

  “I could swear you’re smiling,” she said, glancing down at him.

  As they entered the clearing, the pack parted for them. Damien shifted again and caught Hayden’s attention. “You’re still in charge… until tomorrow,” Damien shouted to him as he moved past stunned shifters to reach the woods beyond them.

  “What? How? Where are you going?” Hayden shouted back.

  “We’re blood-bonded. Where do you think?”

  Before Damien could grab Tess’s hand and run off into the woods, she collapsed to her knees.

  And shifted.

  It was slow and painful, as if she’d been born very weak, but she could shift! And shift she did, into the most gorgeous wolf he’d ever seen.

  A gloriously thick, red-brown coat covered a strong torso, one meant for running. The cast she’d been wearing tumbled to the ground. Her wrist was healed, and she was absolute perfection. Tess nuzzled his hand, her green eyes glowing with happiness. Even as a new round of howls sounded—a deafening force of nature—Damien shifted beside Tess, and together they ran.

  They ran long and hard into the night, turning a Running of the Moon into a mating run. Through the bond he could feel her joy, her wonder, and the love that was his Tess. His Sweetness. The bond that he had kept closed to protect her while he battled his wolf would never close again. They were bound to one another for an eternity, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  * * *

  To find out about Damien and Tess’s mating run, keep reading…

  Dear Readers!

  Thank you for reading the first book in my new paranormal romance series! Leaving favorite characters behind, to move onto the next novel, is soooo hard. Fortunately, writing a series gives me a chance to bring my favorites back into play (and they do like to play, if you get my drift).

  After each novel, I often write additional chapters, an extra slice of life of my favorite characters. I wrote “Mating Run” as a follow up/epilogue to Damien’s Dilemma (the next section has the download link). When you sign up for my newsletter, you’ll have access to the bonus chapters and receive updates about my upcoming books.

  Please connect with me through my website or social media because I don’t want to live in a bubble. I actually live at my desk in a cold basement in a quiet neighborhood, except for when my German Shepherd decides to bark… at every person, car, and leaf that moves. I need human, non-barking conversation! I can’t wait to “meet” you!

  Thank you!

  Julie

  JulieKCohenRomance.com

  * * *

  Epilogue: Damien & Tess

  Mating Run

  After nearly a year of torture and isolation, Tess’s wolf has been freed. And she’s determined to be heard…

  To read the Epilogue, click here.

  To see the preview for Blade’s Battle, keep reading…

  Thank You!

  Thank you for reading the first book in my Broken Shifters series! Please rate Damien’s Dilemma online. Even one or two sentences helps other readers decide what to read.

  Thank you!

  Julie

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  * * *

  Blade’s Battle - summary

  Broken Shifters - 2

  She created the deadly shifter virus.

  Will he surrender or mate her?

  Hundreds of wolf shifters have died.

  From the shifter virus she created.

  The woman he rescued,

  the woman who calms his wolf.

  Blade cannot—will not—let her go.

  The WSSO stole her work, her husband’s life.

  Now they want her dead.

  One wolf shifter stands in their way.

  Opening her heart to him or any other?

  No, not again, not in a million years.

  Fortunately, Blade is a very persistent shifter

  * * *

  Fight Hard. Love Harder.

  Blade’s Battle is a steamy wolf shifter romance where appearances are deceiving and love truly conquers all.

  Blade’s Battle - Preview

  BLADE

  “Get in, grab the woman, get out clean.” Damien’s words rang through Blade’s head as he crouched low, held his breath, and waited for the two wolves patrolling the area to pass. The white wolves stopped, scented the air, and tipped their ears in Blade’s direction. He’d already ventured eight miles deep into Drake’s territory, far enough to upset the fragile truce between Damien, Drake, and Liam, the three alphas whose territories bordered one another.

  The wind picked up, and a sense of doom swept through Blade, perfectly matching the dark conditions. The clouds blocking the moon were thick, as in getting-ready-to-soak-the-woods-thick. It was one more complication he didn’t need.

  The patrol moved down the ridge far enough that Blade could allow himself to breathe, but not far enough that he could move. He really hated this. The wind was constantly changing, he had no back-up, no clear exit point given how unpredictable Drake’s patrols were of late, and no idea if the woman would be in any shape to walk, let alone run if necessary.

  While Blade loved Tess like a sister, the timing of when to infiltrate Drake’s territory should have been Blade’s call to make, not hers. As if having Tess on his back wasn’t nerve-racking enough, a few days after Hayden assigned this op to Blade, Damien had reclaimed his position as Alpha and had ordered Blade to go in immediately.

  Whether Blade was ready for this op or not was moot. He’d been ordered in, and he always followed Damien’s orders, even if he didn’t agree with them. Infiltrating the enemy—or in this case an ally—required careful planning.

  For a minute, Blade wondered if Damien really didn’t want him to succeed. Blade quickly shook off the notion and shoved his old fears down deep. Damien was reacting to his mate’s fear for her friend, nothing more. The alpha had accepted Blade into his pack six years ago when he didn’t have to, and Blade had become part of Damien’s inner circle. Technically, Blade wasn’t an outsider anymore.

  A howl pierced the woods. The two wolves on patrol ran east. Not one to waste a distraction, Blade headed to the caves where Drake kept pris
oners. Less than a mile away, raucous sounds of drunk male shifters filled the woods.

  Blade’s wolf began biting Blade, trying to force a shift. This was not the time for Blade to lose control to his wolf, but his wolf didn’t care about the danger. The opportunist would pressure Blade, trying to steal control any way he could. If his damn wolf wasn’t trying to take over, he was pushing Blade to fight, to move, to do anything but remain still.

  Whatever you do, don’t let Drake know it was you. Damien’s words played in his head again. Blade really needed to focus. One slip up and Drake would know Damien had violated the already shaky treaty between the packs.

  Maybe after this assignment Blade would spend some time getting to know Henrietta better. Or Stephanie. Or that brunette with the blue streak in her hair. What was her name? Maggie? A blood-bond would permanently calm Blade’s wolf. Dating, let alone blood-bonding, would have to wait until he finished this damn rescue mission.

  Blade crouched behind a large pine near the cave. The guard leaning against the cave entrance had his arms crossed over his chest, legs spread out on the ground, and was snoring away. Blade had finally caught a break.

  As Blade was about to move in, another guard approached. This one, tall and broad, kicked the sleeping guard’s feet. “Go. My shift.”

  The guard on the ground opened an eye, glanced at the shifter, and then the moon, assessing its position in the night sky. “Got another hour still.” His nose flared in disdain. “And you’re drunk.”

  “Fine, stay.” The shifter stripped naked.

  “Going for a run?” The guard repositioned himself to go back to sleep.

  “Maybe after I finish partying. Give me the key.”

  “Drake ordered she not be touched.”

  “He’ll never know.”

  The guard hesitated at first, and then tossed the key to the naked shifter. “Want company in there?”

  The first guard shrugged. “The more the merrier.”

  “I’ll join you in a few.”

  Ice filled Blade’s veins. Tess had said conditions were bad here, but he never thought the shifters would be so depraved as to rape a prisoner.

  Blade’s bones started to shift as his wolf sensed his desire to tear both shifters to shreds. He pushed his wolf down. He needed to shift, but it had to be on his terms, not his wolf’s. As his hackles rose, fur sprouted from his body unbidden.

  The woman’s scream pierced the quiet. Blade’s soul twisted. There was no time to be neat about this or to wait until his wolf was fully under his control. Blade shifted and leapt at the guard.

  Blade’s wolf clamped his jaws down on the shifter’s neck and snapped it. Quick and easy. Too easy. Blade had never killed another shifter over a human before. What’s worse, his wolf didn’t care about his prey or the reason for the kill, but he sure enjoyed it. A perverse pleasure at having ended that life rode through Blade. That was worrisome.

  The twists and turns in the cave obscured the light, throwing the cave into near-total darkness. By the time Blade reached the row of three cells in the back, he was straining to see, but what he saw sickened him.

  The shifter was circling the woman, lunging and grabbing at her breasts and ass, making her jump and scream. With a blade only slightly larger than a pocket knife, she tried defending herself. The woman was naked, filthy, terrified and effectively blind in the dark. She was no match for the shifter, and yet she was fighting with everything she had.

  “Get away!” she screamed, tears streaming down her face as her wild swing nearly slashed the male’s arm.

  The male laughed as he reached forward, plucked the knife from her hand, and tossed it aside. Then, for no reason other than sheer cruelty, he backhanded her so hard she went flying into the cave wall where she crumpled to the ground. He flipped her over like a ragdoll and pulled her hips up, placing her ass high in the air as he lined his cock up behind her.

  In two bounds, Blade knocked the monster clear of the female and ripped out his throat. A clean kill was too good for the low-life.

  The coppery smell of his victim’s blood filled the air as the woman crouched against the wall. Thin arms wrapped around her legs that she’d pulled tight against her chest. Not five feet away, the cell door lay wide open, but she couldn’t find her way out in the dark.

  Blade shifted to his human form and drew a deep breath, taking in her scent. Beneath the dirt and blood, beyond the foul stench of fear coming off of her in waves, she smelled good, really good.

  With one hand, he gently grasped her shoulder.

  “Please don’t,” she begged as she shrank from him.

  He wasn’t prepared for a woman who’d been abused. She was crying, though the sobs were muted as if she had learned not to cry here. What the fuck had been going on in this pack? Damn white wolves were a bunch of sick bastards.

  “I’m not the shifter who attacked you,” he whispered. “He’s dead.”

  The moment he touched her hand to help her up, she jumped up and shot past him. Blade positioned himself in her path before she ran face first into the bars.

  Hands clawed at him until he grabbed both wrists, tender wrists from how she winced. “Let me guide you out of here. I’m here to help you.”

  “Let go!”

  Blade released her. He needed to get her out of here, but she wasn’t going to trust him. If she wasn’t going to stay quiet, they’d both end up dead.

  “The shifter who attacked you is dead,” he repeated, keeping his voice calm, despite his wolf clawing at him to leave. Blade had left a dead shifter outside. They could be discovered any minute.

  “If you don’t believe me, reach out with your foot, two feet to your right, and you’ll feel his body on the ground. Do it quickly. We need to get moving, Anna.”

  “Y-you know me?” she asked as her foot, as bare as the rest of her, dragged through the dirt in jerky movements. A cry escaped her as her foot slipped in a pool of blood. Hell. As if she weren’t traumatized enough… When her foot finally struck the dead shifter, she sighed in relief.

  “Tess told me your name,” he added, hoping to reassure her. “Can I take your hand? I need to lead you out of here. I promise I’ll only touch your hand.”

  Her mouth opened and then closed. “Y-you’re shifter too?”

  “Yes,” he admitted. “That’s why I can see in here, though it’s dark even for me. Can I take your hand, Anna? We have to go, before the wind shifts and Drake’s pack catches my scent.”

  One shaky hand tentatively reached for him. He wrapped his hand around hers as gently as he could, trying not to scare her, but there was no time to go slowly. The second his hand closed around hers, a slight whimper escaped her, but she didn’t pull away. Brave woman.

  Blade led her out of the cave, stopping at the entrance. The wind struck his face from the south, which was perfect. He scented at least four males nearby, but the wind was working in his favor.

  “Where’s Tess?” Anna asked. Her bright blue eyes, the color of Colorado’s summer sky, darted about before settling on him. How had he not noticed her eyes before, even in the dark cave?

  “I’ll bring you to her as fast as I can. You don’t even have to talk. Just do everything I tell you.”

  Very suspicious, she pulled out of his grip.

  He pointed to the pile of clothing on the ground. “Take whatever you want.”

  She nodded, the fear still evident on her face, but she didn’t move. Blade grabbed the shirt and pants that her attacker had discarded and handed everything to her. “Please don’t run,” he said, as he turned his back on her, giving her a semblance of privacy to dress.

  He heard the rustling of clothing as the wind changed direction. West. If it shifted again, they’d be done for.

  “We have to go. Finish dressing later.”

  The red flannel shirt hung past her thighs, but the top was slipping off her shoulders. Her feet would have to remain bare. Neither shifter had been wearing shoes.

  Wh
en she handed Blade the pants, he wiped her attacker’s blood from his face and chest, then tossed the pants on the ground. Her eyes grew wide and the scent of her fear ramped up. She didn’t know him. He’d thrown out Tess’s name, but other than that, she had no real reason to trust him.

  Blade picked up the discarded pants. “On second thought, I’ll need these later when we’re clear of the patrols. Will you carry them for me? They’ll only get shredded if I have to shift again on a moment’s notice, and we have a way to go before we’re clear.”

  Without a word, she tied the pants around her waist. He couldn’t imagine what she was thinking as he led her into the woods, away from the partying in the distance, but she slipped her hand into his.

  His wolf nearly howled at the unexpected and unbelievably soft touch, and the courage that had taken. It was like a wall crumbled inside of Blade. The knowledge that someone depended on him and him alone was humbling. He hadn’t felt this needed since before he’d found his birth pack dead.

  “Come on,” he whispered, trying to shove the memories into the past where they belonged.

  She didn’t utter a word as she ran behind him, her hand still in his. Her fear remained high, and it was clouding his ability to focus on the woods around him. And yet he knew beyond all reason that he would do anything to get her to safety.