Fated Shifter Mates Read online

  “Hello, Drew.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Ahearn. I thought you were still sick.”

  “I’m better, and I should get after those tax bills that need to go out.”

  “Good. Because Zain is taking a personal day, and I need to go on the road.”

  “Go ahead. I’ll take messages, or if anything important happens, I’ll call you.”

  “Thanks! I’ll have Cole make you a cobbler,” I said. Mrs. Ahern arriving relieved me of the guilt of leaving the office. Zain still wouldn’t be happy, but I’ll deal with that. I grabbed my hat from the coat rack by the door.

  “And look. There are some rough characters in town looking for a woman by the name of Ellie Waters. You haven’t seen her or know anything about her?”

  “Who, Drew?” she said with a smile.

  “Bye.”

  I almost race to my truck and head back home. If I wasn’t the sheriff, I would have had to give me a ticket. Ten miles on country roads take a long time to travel, and my heart thundered in my chest. The sense of danger only increased for each mile I gained. My bear rebelled, wanting to run free toward the danger to save our mate, but I need to rein him in.

  Finally, I turn onto our private road leading to the lodge. I see dirt kicked up and the broad outline of Marcus’ truck ahead of me. He was moving fast, as fast as me, and as soon as he pulled into his parking slot, I slid into mine.

  He jumped over the rail fence that divided the parking lot from the broad lodge lawn. I followed.

  “Wait up.”

  “Cole hasn’t answered my call.”

  “Do you think there is trouble?”

  He whirled, his face grim. “Of course, there is trouble, and it involves all of us and Ellie.”

  “The biker?”

  “No,” he snorted. “That’s the least of our problems.”

  “Then what is it?”

  “Ellie,” he growled.

  “What about, Ellie?”

  “All of us think of her as our mate. All of us. Do you know what that means?”

  I froze, and my bear fought once again to take over. My stomach turned as I held the beast in. I did know what it meant. Bears fought furiously for the right to mate. Our inner bears would want to do the same. But I couldn’t imagine hurting a cousin as close as a brother.

  “This is awful,” I said.

  “No more terrible than when we get to the spot we find Zain mated Ellie.”

  “Let’s find Cole,” said Marcus. “We have to talk to him too.”

  I don’t have much hope that we can work this out amicably. Living on the land, stretches of letting our bears out to roam, relatively solitary lives, except for each other—all helped to keep our wild ursine natures under control. But this issue of who claims Ellie as his mate can rip us apart. I have no idea how we are going to solve this problem without destroying our family.

  I can’t do this. We lost our family, our clan, in a horrible accident, and all I have left are my cousins. Without them, I just shift and live as a bear for the rest of my life. I don’t want that, but my broken heart wouldn’t let me live as human anymore.

  And the worst part of this is that I would fight for Ellie, a woman I barely know, because my bear recognizes her as the one true mate we’ll ever have.

  “This is wrong,” I said to Marcus. “We are what’s left of the Clark Clan. We have to find a way through this.”

  “How? Draw straws?”

  “No. But there has to be a solution where we aren’t tearing each other apart.”

  Marcus stood and rubbed his chin.

  “We are looking at this the wrong way,” he said. “We are acting like Ellie doesn’t have a choice. But she does. We’ll have to stand by her decision which one of us she wants.”

  “And if she doesn’t want any of us.”

  “Then we’ll have to live with that.”

  No, my bear grumbled. Not allowed. She’s ours.

  My hands tingle and my claws threaten to poke out of the ends of my fingers and I’m losing control fast.

  I can’t let that happen. So that’s why I run across the field, losing my clothes as I go, knowing I’m going to shift, heading away from a man as close as a brother, so I don’t tear him apart.

  Cole

  After talking with Marcus on the phone, I grabbed my emergency pack, set the security system and tore toward the wide meadow to the slope leading to the hunting cabins. I’d go over the logging road and dive into the woods following the way to where Zain took Ellie.

  Zain was our Alpha, but even an Alpha can’t disturb a mating bond, and I wouldn’t let him try. Ellie is mine, and even he had to recognize that.

  I can’t believe I have to fight Zain, a man I considered my big brother, for my mate.

  I might be overreacting, but I don’t think so. Marcus’ response to when I claimed her told me that I was in danger of losing my mate to one of my cousins, and I couldn’t allow that.

  When I made the trees, I stripped and packed my clothes and my shoes in the backpack. Slinging it over my shoulder, I shifted and sprinted up the hill. My broad paws and long claws gripped the soft earth and tore at humus and leaves. I’m not delicate because I’m in a hurry, and I have a few miles to go through rough territory before I reach Zain and Ellie.

  I scent my alpha though Ellie’s is nearly subsumed in Zain’s. Growling, I quickened my pace and my backpack flopped on my shoulder. My breathing huffs with the pace in the rolling half-growl of bear on the hunt. Bears could be stealthy, but more often we don’t care. Not much can escape us when we sight our prey. The power in our muscles trumps most any other animal’s skill at flight.

  At the top of the rise, I catch the sound of human voices, and I skid to a stop. Cabin Eight stood ahead and a number of men swarmed around it. I stood in a stand of underbrush, and my black fur hid me well. I studied them, six, swarming around the cabin, smoking pot and making crude remarks. They had kicked open the door and splintered the door jamb and that alone made me want to charge.

  A couple had their backs to me and I see the patch on the back of their jacket and drew a deep breath. My bearish brain doesn’t want to read the letters, just focus on the colors and smells rolling off these dangerous men, but I force myself.

  Satan’s Sons.

  Why does my brain tickle with this information? Zain, Marcus and Drew don’t always share information about their law enforcement activities. Marcus is more likely to share stories about his job, seeing that mostly they involved some of the more ridiculous things that happened to him while he worked.

  I heard of them somewhere, but I can’t place where. But it’s obvious they were criminals.

  A few shouts came from the direction of the road, and four more men walked in from that direction. Or rather one grizzled old man walked in front of two other bikers who slung a man between them. With a sharp intake of breath, I discover it was our erstwhile renter, Orlando Cortez. The two men holding up his near unconscious and bloodied form frowned, and one swore.

  “Where do you want him, boss?” said one.

  “Put him in the cabin and tie him up. Rencher and Diamond, you guys take the shovels from the tool box and go dig a place we’ll stick him.”

  Two beefy guys nodded, and one walked to the side where we did keep a long box of tools. Each cabin had one, equipped with rake and shovels for putting out small fires. I can only imagine what they did to it when they first came here, but their intent was clear. They would kill Cortez.

  Zain had chased Cortez off, and we don’t know his story. But he wasn’t their friend, and these men were now my enemy. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

  There are eight of them and one of me and while I can do damage, I have no doubt these guys would hurt me as well. I’ll need my clanmates to take on this threat.

  I think over my options, though I know I don’t have much time. Zain is another ten minutes away at a good clip. The lodge was five, but I don’t know where Marcus and Drew are. And t
hen, as if in answer to a prayer, I hear crashing in the underbrush and I whirl to meet them. Their familiar scents are welcome, but I have to get them approach more quietly. I backed away, then turned and slid down the hill and nearly ran into Marcus and Drew.

  I shifted and put my hand to my mouth to indicate they needed to be quiet.

  “There is a biker gang, nine men, at Cabin Eight and they have our former renter, Orlando Cortez tied up. They are going to kill him.”

  Marcus huffed and nodded. He caught my eye and jerked his head to the right and looked to Drew and jerked his head to the left. I knew what he wanted so I shifted once again.

  We took our positions stealthily. Our ursine forms stole the dusky dark of the forest for our camouflage. Drew circled to the left flank, I to the right, and Marcus would charge from the center. And we had to do it quickly before any of these criminals thought to pull a gun to shoot at us.

  Marcus let out a roar, and we rushed forward. One guy in my direct path looked up at me in surprise, dropped the joint from his mouth and screamed. One swipe of my paw sent him into the cabin. Screams, shouts, curses and groans of pain filled the air as I and my cousins fought this blight on our land.

  There may have been nine of them, but they were no match for the three full grown bears with teeth and claws as sharp as daggers.

  “Let’s get out of here,” screamed the grizzled man, and he ran toward the road. His gang followed with some grabbing and hauling their two most injured members.

  In all of this I managed to hang onto my backpack, so I shifted and dressed.

  “Go,” I said to Marcus and Drew who stared at me with bearish eyes. “Get that filth off our land. I’ll take care of Cortez.”

  Marcus and Drew flew after the trespassers and I opened the door half-dreading what I would find. Cortez sat in the middle, bound and tied, looking as mad as a hornet.

  “Hey,” I said, as I pulled out his gag. “Are you okay?”

  “What happened?” he sputtered.

  “We ran them off,” I said.

  “I thought I heard roaring, like bears.”

  “Yeah,” I said, lying through my teeth. “Marcus has this bear call. It comes in handy sometimes. So, you gonna tell me why those men had you prisoner.”

  He sighed, pissed and unhappy. “I’ve been following them. I’m FBI. My badge is in my wallet.”

  I pulled it out of his back jeans pocket and found the ID.

  “So, you are. You know you would have spared us some trouble if you told us what you were.”

  “I didn’t know who I could trust. After all, you had his daughter staying at your hotel.”

  “It’s a lodge, not a hotel. And I’m not sure I know what you mean.” I pulled out my cellphone and gratefully found I got cell service here. I dial 911 to pick up Cortez and get him to a hospital.

  “Ellie Harper is the daughter of the president of Satin’s Sons MC club, Xavier Lane.”

  I just stared at him until the dispatcher came on the line, and I arranged the transport for Special Agent Orlando Cortez.

  Ellie

  Zain brought me outside, so I could dangle my feet in the pond. The chilly water soothed the residual pain in my ankle though to tell you the truth, the ankle was feeling much better. It was a lovely warm day and sitting outside in the sun relaxed me. That and Zain’s tender ministrations which put a smile on my face.

  Thrashing and flailing branches in the undergrowth picked up my attention.

  “Zain?” I called. Pulling my feet out of the water I scooted back.

  “What?” said Zain.

  “Something is over there. An animal I think.”

  Zain’s face crinkled in concern, and he drew in a breath.

  “It’s not an animal. Cole! What are you doing here?”

  Cole’s blond hair shone in the sunlight as he stepped out of the brush. “Hey, Ellie,” he said with a bright smile.

  “Cole?” said Zain in a warning voice.

  “I have to talk to you.”

  “So do we,” said Marcus and Drew, walking from the brush. They didn’t smile as broadly as Cole did, and all three stood in a line as if challenging Zain.

  “What’s going on?”

  “We chased off a bunch of trespassers from the land,” said Marcus. “They took off on the bikes before we could catch them.”

  “But we roughed them up good before they got away,” said Drew.

  “Don’t tell me, Satin’s Sons.”

  I groaned.

  “I’m so sorry,” I said mortified. I suspected my father was tracking me, but I honestly thought that I had outrun him. “Did any of you get hurt?”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for,” said Marcus. “And no, we didn’t get hurt. But a certain FBI special agent whose been on your trail is in a hospital now getting a good work-up.”

  “FBI?”

  “Yeah,” growled Drew. “He thought by following you it would lead him to your father. Instead the agent led your father to you. And what kind of bonehead move is that, leaving WITSEC?”

  “You don’t know what it’s like,” I said. “I had no life. After my mom died, I decided I deserved one.”

  “You might have told us a little more, so we could protect you better,” said Cole.

  “I don’t expect you to protect me.”

  “Zain, have you explained nothing to her?”

  “And what am I supposed to tell her that doesn’t sound bat-shit crazy?”

  “Well,” said Cole, “it’s going to get crazier.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “She’s going to have to decide,” said Marcus.

  Zain’s mouth opened, then closed, apparently befuddled by the logic of a conversation I do not understand.

  “We all think of her as ours,” said Cole.

  “Now wait a minute!” I said. “I don’t belong to anyone.”

  “That,” said Drew, “is where you are wrong.”

  “Drew,” said Cole in a low voice, “be careful.”

  “No, I don’t think so,” he said as he started to strip. “She doesn’t understand, and she’s not going to until she knows everything.”

  I watched wide-eyed as Drew took of his clothes and stood before me naked. Zain stood between me and him, so I didn’t think I’d come to harm. But then his body changed, and I watched opened-mouth as the gorgeous Drew sprouted a thick growth of hair and then claws. I’m transfixed, unable to move in my shock.

  “What are you? A werewolf?”

  Despite the incredulous scene, Zain, then Cole and Marcus laughed.

  “No hardly, sweetheart,” said Cole. “Though some might call us werebears.”

  “Us?”

  “All of us,” affirmed Marcus.

  My head swam especially as Drew ambled to me and pushed his snout into my shoulder. I blinked, and the world swirled around me.

  The next thing I know is that I’m laying in a bed, and I recognized the cave walls and the four very concerned men stood around the bed.

  “I’m sorry,” said Drew.

  “I warned you to be careful,” said Cole.

  “Recriminations do no good,” said Zain.

  “Maybe I should get on my way,” I said.

  Marcus sat at the edge of the bed. “Are you sure you want to leave?”

  My heart shredded then, because, no, damn it, I don’t want to leave. But this is all too crazy—men turning into bears.

  “Ellie,” said Zain. “I have to tell you, your father is still out there, but we can keep you safe.”

  “Against a criminal motor cycle gang?”

  “We did today,” said Marcus. “We ran them off.”

  “This is too much.” I cover my face with my hands. I’m not a crying type of gal, but I’m almost there now.”

  “Ssh,” said Cole, sinking on the bed next to me on my left and laying a gentle kiss on my cheek.

  I don’t know what to do. I’m just so tired of running from place to place, of not having
a safe place to be.

  Marcus sat behind me. “You don’t need to make any decisions now. We want you to stay, Ellie.”

  Cole sat at the leading edge and stroked my feet, sending wonderful tingles up legs.

  “The problem, Ellie, is that we all want you. Us bear shifters do things a little differently. When we find our mate, the other half of our souls, we know it. But we all feel the same way. We decided that you can pick one of us or none of us.”

  “We did?” said Zain.

  “Hey, don’t blame us if you didn’t read your memos,” said Cole.

  Zain gave a low snarl, though I found it kinda cute the way he did it. I glanced at each of the men, and my heart sank. How can I choose between any of them? I like them all. Maybe a little more than that.

  I shook my head. “I can’t choose between you.”

  “Crazy thought,” said Cole. “Take all of us.”

  “That is crazy? Four guys.”

  “You know,” said Drew. “That might work. I mean, we literally share everything else.”

  “I’d rather,” said Marcus stroking my hair, “have my mate around, than taking off because we’ve given her an impossible choice.”

  “What?” I scoffed in a squeak. I turned and gave a hard stare to his bemused eyes. “You don’t think much of yourself, do you?”

  “Ellie,” said Zain. He took my hand and kissed it. “Before you showed up, we were four lonely bears with each other for company. And we didn’t realize how lonely we were. But you are here, and you are so precious. You don’t know how much. And I promise, and each one of us promises, to make your days as happy as possible. You deserve it for the happiness you bring us.”

  I think I’m going to melt. No one has ever said such sweet things to me. And I looked at each man, Cole, Drew and Marcus, and each one gazed at me so lovingly that I thought my heart might explode.

  “What’s going to happen now?”

  “I think,” said Cole, “that we should explore this new relationship in all its permutations.”

  “Cole,” said Drew, “you are devious man.”

  “I prefer adventuresome and believe me. this will be an adventure, if you want to, Ellie.”