by C. J. Snyder
Copyright © 2020 C.J. Snyder
All rights reserved
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 9781234567890
ISBN-10: 1477123456
Cover design by: Matt
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018675309
Printed in the United States of America
Contents
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
CHapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Snared
Please check out my other titles:
Acknowledgement
A New Orleans Shifters Novel
Clipped Wings
C. J. Snyder
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This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons living or deceased, places, events or locales is purely coincidental.
Contemporary Romance
Disclaimer: The material in this book may contain language that can be construed as offensive with some descriptive nudity and sexual scenes. Reader be advised. Purchase or possession of this book means the reader is agreeing they have read and understood the disclaimer and holds the author completely harmless of any wrong doing.
All characters in this book are age consenting adults of 18 or older.
C.J Snyder
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“The Ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity.” – Ayn Rand
Prologue
What an adventure, seems to be the theme of my life. Wait until Gage, my best friend and wolf shifter, hears about everything that has happened to me in the past ten and a half months. Here I thought to become a man was going to be boring, when, it was amazing.
Not in the sense you guys are thinking, get your minds out of the gutter. It’s a lot more than just sex. It’s learning the ways of the land before humans destroyed it with buildings and technology. How to hunt with a bow and arrow – who thought I could even maneuver those things, let alone aim as true as I did.
It’s the simplicity of watching a herd of buffalo run the plains of the Dakotas and playing with their young while the sun is setting on the horizon and the breeze is just right for a dusk flight. Just being able to shift into my raven form and cruise overhead of the herd was astonishing. The beauty of it all still takes my breath away.
Riding a Harley across the countryside is exhilarating, riding a bike from the plains to Vegas; well that is a story for another time.
This is how my year away went from exciting to romantic to downright devastating. Hold on tight cupcakes, this ride is about to get bumpy.
∆∆∆
Chapter 1
Kangee
How did I end up here? A year away from home – New Orleans; to become a man. It’s what all Raven Clan members must do when they turn eighteen. I have gone from there to North Dakota, Montana, and South Dakota spent a month in Las Vegas and made my way south. So, how did I end up in Northern Arizona? It seems like a logical place to stop, right? You know, plenty of trees and water. Saw the Grand Canyon and the Snowbowl. Plenty of wildlife, so seeing a bigger than average raven flying around won’t raise any questions, so what’s my issue? Let me tell you.
Everything was going fine, I was cruising the country on my Harley Davidson VR 1000. It’s an amazing bike, or it was until I took a turn too fast and broke an important part in it. So, I found myself in Flagstaff. I had the bike towed to a local garage to have someone look at it. I’ve been here for a couple of weeks now, found work at the ski lifts and have rented one of these great little cabins just out of the way.
The mechanic at the shop had to order the parts, said it’s going to be a few more weeks before I can even see how long it’s going to take to get it fixed and back on the road. I don’t care much, I like it here. Plus, who needs wheels to get around when you have built-in wings? I normally start the morning by walking a couple of miles up the long, hilly stretch of road to get to the Snowbowl, then, when there are no cars around, I jog into the woods and shift into my Raven form. Thankfully, unlike some shifters, I can shift fully dressed without damaging my clothes.
I have never been so relaxed in my entire life, then when I am at this little cabin. Sitting out on the porch, in little green chairs that lean back so you are lounging, I wave to tourists as they pass me on the walkway. People from every walk of life come here to get out of cities and the fast lane. Needing to slow down and be able to hear your thoughts. So here’s where my issue arises, the lovely Ranger that I had the unpleasant encounter with. Wait…let me go back a couple of weeks and give you all the details.
After I left New Orleans abruptly for my mandatory year of self-reflection, I loaded up my Dad’s old Harley and took off for the Dakota’s. I felt that was the best place to start my journey since it was my family’s homeland. I pulled into the Rez and met up with other males my age, spent some time learning the land and how to live off of it. I got good, and I mean, really good at bow hunting. Found out I’m pretty much a natural.
The first six months were spent doing that and old-time Native traditions. Then I moved onto Montana and found some peace in the plains. Watched some buffalo move across them while eating a packed lunch on the seat of the bike. It was such a beautiful sight, and I felt like I was transported back a couple of hundred years.
After that, I decided that I needed some wild, unaltered fun, so Vegas was my next destination. They call it Sin City for a damn good reason. Half-naked girls on almost every corner, loud music, and free concerts. Lights and buildings so tall, it hurt your neck to look up at them. I stayed at the famous casino, Bellagio. I watched the fountains dance and sway to the music every night for two weeks.
I went to a few places outside the strip-like; Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire. Those places were natural beauties and I highly recommend seeing them if you haven’t. I found a hidden place and shifted and saw the sights from on high. What a gorgeous place!
On my way into Arizona, I stopped to see the Hoover Dam. That place is amazing and it’s hard to believe that it was man-made. Bigger than life and pictu
res don’t do it justice, didn’t stop me from taking some though. Driving south toward the Canyon, I came across a little city named Williams. Tiny tucked out of the way, but a complete tourist town. Shops and eateries that are situated in buildings that have been standing since the late eighteen hundred. I decided to crash one night in a cute little hotel right on the main road, Route 66. In case you weren’t aware, Route 66 is a famous road used way back when cars were the new thing to get from the east coast to the west coast.
There’s a train that runs through the town right up to the Canyon, they do neat little Christmas events for the kids. I enjoyed my time there, so much that I decided to make it a yearly visit.
I also decided to visit the Grand Canyon, but not by vehicle. I chose to fly. Shifting into my Raven form, I took off to see the legendary Canyon and the sights it was supposed to hold. I wasn’t disappointed. Diving and swaying between the rocks and the deep canyon walls, floating one the wind currents, was exhilarating. I’ve never felt so free in my entire life. I’d then decided to fuck with the tourists and perched on a nearby railing to watch them. They would ooh and aww over how adorable I was, and I’d pose for them to take pictures of me. Some even threw me popcorn, which I’d take and then drop in the Canyon for the rock squirrels. Spending hours there was also something I decided I was going to do frequently.
Deciding that I needed to make my way back south to New Orleans, the next morning I packed up the bike and took off toward another little city named Flagstaff.
This is where my story takes a turn. Coming around a bend a little too fast, I lost my footing and laid the bike on its side. Normally this wouldn’t matter to a Harley, as they are super sturdy. But, there must have been a loose connection somewhere because my bike then decided that it wasn’t going to turn on anymore. No matter how much I pleaded and tried, the poor thing just laid there on its side and sputtered.
Taking out my phone to call around to find someone with a flatbed, I turned around and saw a deer laying on its side a little way up the road. Grabbing the keys to the bike, I made my way toward the deer to see if it was still alive. After reaching its side, I could see the poor thing was struggling to breathe. It looked like it was struck by a pretty large vehicle and just left there to suffer.
Knowing that I couldn’t leave it there like that, I pulled my long knife from the sheath and talked to it softly as I leaned over to put him out of his misery. I apologized to the deer as if I’m the one who caused its turmoil. Patting his furry head I sliced his neck quickly to end his life. Just as I did that, I hear a loud female voice.
“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” she yelled over the noise of the oncoming cars. When I looked up, I saw a woman in a Park Ranger’s uniform standing in front of her Jeep with her assigned weapon pointed at me, “Deer aren’t in season right now! You are poaching! Don’t move or I will shoot you just like you shot this poor baby.”
I put my now bloody hands up to show that I mean no harm, “Whoa, officer…ranger…lady? I didn’t shoot this deer.” She narrowed her eyes and walked toward me with sarcasm dripping from her voice, “Sure you didn’t.”
Realizing I still had my knife in my hand, I slowly started to lower it, “I just want to put this away, ok?” putting it carefully and slowly back into my sheath, I tried to talk reasonably to her, “I wrecked my bike about a half-mile that way,” I pointed in the direction of my bike, “I saw the deer laying here and came to investigate.” The Ranger continued to hold me at gunpoint as she radioed in, I continued to talk, “The deer was dying, he got hit pretty badly and was in pain. I was just trying to release him from that pain.”
Sneering at me and slightly waving her gun to indicate that she wants me to start walking in a certain direction “Walk toward me, slowly. Do not reach for that knife.” She continued to point that weapon at my chest, and I was starting to become annoyed, “Lady, I didn’t do anything wrong here.”
I can see that she didn’t believe a word I said, as her body language was tense and agitated. When I got close enough to her, she reached with her free hand and pushed my body against the hood of her Jeep, now granted, I allowed her to. There was no way a human woman was going to push me around, but I am not the type to fight authority, I know better.
When she put the handcuffs on my wrists, I chuckled, that must have made her even more agitated than she already was because she pushed my chest harder against the car, “What’s so funny, deer killer?” Ok, this has gone far enough.
Half tempted to snap these bracelets right off my wrists, I decided against it, “These are rather flimsy, officer.” I moved as she opened up the back door to her Jeep and I sat down, “I didn’t poach any animal, I value animal’s lives. I don’t take them unless it’s for survival and even then, I wait until they are in season.”
She slammed the door shut and climbed into the front seat. Typing quickly on her mounted laptop, she started the engine and started to pull away from the side of the road. Concerned now about my forgotten bike, I leaned forward, “Whoa! Hey, I have a family bike broken down just up there to the right; I need to wait for the flatbed.”
Shaking her head from side to side, she continued to drive toward my bike, “You aren’t waiting for anything. You are going to go to the county ranger station and talk to my supervisor.” I can’t believe this woman, “You can’t just leave my Dad’s bike out there on the side of the road! It’s an heirloom.”
Hearing her sigh and then get on the radio, I listened as she called for a flatbed and instructed them to come to get it right away and bring it to the tow yard in Flagstaff, “You can pick it up after we are done with you at the Ranger’s station.” Taking a deep breath and rolling my eyes, I throw myself backward in the back seat, forgetting I had cuffs on my wrists. Well, that hurt.
We were headed back up the road where I’d been coming down from. I decided that I wasn’t going to allow her to ride in peace, “So, come here often?” She huffed and hit the brakes to make me fly forward and hit my head on her seat and then back again into the seat, “Ouch! Fuck! What was that for?”
I swear, I saw her smile as she looked at me through the rearview mirror, “I don’t talk to criminals.” I felt like I was going to combust into a childish act of stomping my feet, “I. Am. Not. A. Criminal.”
She snorted and her voice sounded like she was correcting a two-year-old, “Oh, sure you aren’t.”
My normal happy go lucky disposition was seriously being tested at this point. “Alright fine, fine, think what you want. At least let me know my captor’s name.” I was looking at her as she looked at me again through the mirror, even in the dark, I could tell her features were soft.
Even though her mannerism was hardened like she has seen some shit in her lifetime. I looked forward to seeing her face in light, I am sure she is probably beautiful.
Shaking her head like she couldn’t believe that I just said that, she took a turn harder than she needed to which flung me into the door that I was closest to. “Again, fucking ow. Why are you so intent on hurting me?”
Snorting at me through her nose she says, “Because I want you to feel a little bit of pain; not nearly as much as that poor deer felt before you murdered him.”
Rolling my eyes, “For the last time, lady, I didn’t murder that deer.”
Stopping the jeep, she spins around to look me in the eyes, “My name is not lady or officer. It’s Ranger Cora Kolbeck.”
∆∆∆
Chapter 2
cora
This man, this killer of innocent animals, had a lot of nerve wanting to know my name. He just doesn’t shut the hell up. He has talked my ear off from the moment he got into the back of my Jeep and even when I tried to bang him up a little. He just kept on talking. My supervisor instructed me to bring him into the station and call for the flatbed for his bike.
Pulling into the station, I park as roughly as I can which throws him into the back of my headrest again, I can hear him grunt. Smiling a little on t
he inside, I know he deserves so much worse than a headache from whiplash.
Opening the back door I smile, “Let’s go, killer.” I reach in to help him out, he grunts and glares at me from the deepest chocolate brown eyes that I’ve ever seen. His mouth is in a firm line across his face as he steps out of the jeep and stands at his full height in front of me. I know he doesn’t find the humor in my slight abuse. Even in my anger, I find myself attracted to this man. That is a feeling that I need to shake off right now, I will not be involved with someone like him.
Suddenly, he stops midstride and looks over at me with a slight sly smile on his face, “I’m not taking another step until you tell me you took care of my bike.”
Sighing deeply and refraining from rolling my eyes, I attempt to tug on his cuffed arm to make him move forward.
It was like trying to move a mountain; he was solid as hell and even as I continue to attempt to move him, he isn’t even budging.
Finally realizing that I wasn’t going to win this battle and letting go of his arm, I step back to look him right in his beautiful eyes and trying to remain calm and professional, “Yes, the flatbed picked it up about five minutes ago and transported it to the nearest tow yard in Flagstaff.” Reaching over to attempt to pull on his arm again, he jerks away from me and the cuffs fall to the ground.
Nodding at me as if to say thanks he says, “I appreciate it. I don’t need those; I’ll go in willingly.” Now, how in the hell did he do that? He didn’t just slip them; the man broke the chain. That infuriates me, they are expensive and my only pair.
