ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (59 page)

A week later, they were having dinner with Shane’s parents, Amanda and Henry. She sat to Shane’s right and looked down the table to his parents, Amanda and Amanda’s fiancée. It was the first family dinner they had all had together. Shane had told her on the way over that it was the first family dinner they had had in years.

“I’m thrilled all this nonsense with Matt is over,” Shane’s mother finally said. She smiled over at Lexi. “We’re thrilled to have you here. Shane has told me a lot about you. And from everything I’ve seen in the last few days, we’re lucky to have you as part of the family.” She looked at Lexi’s hand. “The ring looks gorgeous on you. It was my engagement ring, and Shane’s grandmother’s ring.”

“I didn’t know it was a family ring.”

She nodded. “Oh yes, it’s been in the family for generations. And now it’s yours.” She reached across and took Lexi’s hand. She squeezed it. Shane’s mother was elegant but felt frail. Lexi knew that under that frailty was intense strength. She smiled. “Enough of my yammering on. Everyone, eat!”

There was a rustling as everyone began to serve themselves. Lexi took her first bite and almost moaned. It was delicious. Shane’s mother could really cook meat. It was funny, before she was turned she practically was a vegetarian, but since she changed for the first time she constantly craved meat.

Shane reached under the table and took her hand. She smiled at her. Amanda leaned back in her chair. “You know, Lexi, I had my doubts about you but I think you and Shane are a good match.”

“Hurrah! Blessings from the sister,” Shane said sarcastically. Lexi poked him in the leg. Lexi smiled at Amanda. She appreciated Amanda’s statement. She wanted to be part of Shane’s family.

“Thanks,” Lexi said, looking at Amanda. Henry smiled at Lexi, and she wondered if Shane did the same thing to Henry.

Lexi helped with the dishes and then everyone went to sit in the living room for coffee. Lexi sat next to Shane and he pulled her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and let the enthusiastic conversation lull her into a deep relaxation. She felt safe, truly safe, for the first time in years. And she felt like she belonged.

THE END

MATING THE PANTHER

STORY DESCRIPTION

Caleb Hunter
 is the president and CEO of PanCorp development, a fortune 500 company and leader in telecom providers. He is also the Alpha of the most powerful panther shifter pack in the U.S. 
As one of Chicago’s most eligible bachelors, Caleb is inundated with women: in clubs, at meetings, when he goes for a run... 
But, none of them have what he is looking for. 
None, that is, until a twist of fate lands him in the arms of Felicia Morris. 
When a past lover and her new mate engineer an “accident,” Caleb is left unconscious and injured. What’s worse, he’s in his panther state. 
Fortunately, a local zoo comes to his aid. 
Unfortunately, while under sedation, he can’t shift back to his human form. 
Of course, when his injuries have healed and he no longer needs sedatives… 
********************************************************* 
Felicia Morris
 is a big cat handler at the city zoo, so she's used to dealing with potentially high-stakes situations. What she was not expecting to find late one evening was a full-grown man standing naked in the middle of the cat enclosure. 
Can this darkly seductive man really be Shadow, the injured male panther brought in as a rescue only months before? 
Can Felicia's favorite feline patient really be a shifter in disguise?

“Good morning, Mr Hunter.” Caleb’s assistant leaned forward over her desk to smile at him as he walked past. Caleb barely glanced in her direction; he could feel his iPhone buzzing on the inside of his jacket as the urgent emails came flooding through to start his day.

Dawn had just broken over the city of Chicago and the light inundated his glass-encased office on the top floor of PanCorp development. He flipped open his laptop and scanned the incoming emails, ignoring the flashing light on his desk phone. Unless it was urgent, he couldn’t afford distractions this morning.

His focus was short lived. His assistant knocked on the door after a few too-brief minuets. When he curtly called out his assent, she poked her head around the door.

“I’m so sorry Mr Hunter, but it’s Jackson Ramirez on the line.” She ducked back out and Caleb picked up the phone.

“Tell me it’s good news, Jackson.”

“Can’t say that it is, sir. Someone’s been sniffing around your warehouses in Des Plaines.” Caleb sighed in response. This had been going on for months. His security unit kept reporting an unidentified late-night visitor frequenting his portfolio of various property and construction sites.

“Okay. Thanks Jackson. Up the security, get the rest of the pack on it, I’ve got the conference this afternoon and I don’t want any surprises.” He put the phone down and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to shake off the unwelcome irritation.

Hours later Caleb was re-adjusting his tie in the office en-suite readying himself for a presentation he was giving to Mike Duggan, Detroit’s mayor, on his company taking over as the city’s main telecom line provider. If the meeting went well, it would ensure Caleb’s stronghold over the entire Michigan state.

“Do you want a driver, Mr Hunter?” his assistant entered without knocking, something Caleb strictly forbade. He noticed that she’d hitched her skirt above the regulation length, and he rolled his eyes as he turned back to the mirror.

By and large she was efficient and conscientious worker, but her continued attempts at seduction were wearing thin. Last week it had been see-through blouses that all too clearly revealed her lacy black underwear beneath. He’d had to ask one of the more senior, female members of staff to have a word with her. To Caleb she was a company asset only - he had absolutely no interest in her whatsoever sexually.

“No. I’m driving.” Caleb had recently bought a Hennessy Venom GT that he wanted to try out. The one ninety-four interstate to Detroit would provide him with ample time to experience what the engine had to offer.

“Okay. The team will meet you there,” she hesitated before continuing, “do you want company, Caleb?”

“Mr Hunter.” He corrected her, “No, I don’t want company – I want an assistant. I want you to stick to performing the tasks set out in your job description, not your own seduction plan. Keep that in mind if you want to keep your job here.”

Her face burnt bright red, and she pouted before walking out of the room, closing the door sharply behind her. Caleb hoped that would be the end of it. He had been burnt by disgruntled assistants in the past.

His mind drifted to Shelia, she hadn’t been his assistant, but a provocative feline that had joined his Chicago pack a year earlier. He had rebuffed her almost instantaneous advances, but on the night that PanCorp had been contracted as sole telecom provider for Ohio, he and the pack had taken a trip to Vegas to celebrate; it wasn’t really Caleb’s thing, but he knew the pack deserved a little down time. On the first night Caleb had gotten uncharacteristically drunk, he still couldn’t understand how, and he had ended up in bed with Shelia. It was a decision he had regretted ever since. She had spent months ‘bumping’ into him and trying to get him alone at pack meetings. He felt uncomfortable with the attention – she wasn’t the mate for him, and so sleeping with her had been a cruel and careless act on his part.

Caleb exited the elevator at basement level and stepped out into the underground parking lot. A fleet comprised of roughly half his car collection waited for him on the north side of the lot, their gleaming bodies putting the rest of the cars, belonging to various employees, to shame.

“Afternoon sir. Which car today?” Derek, a new member of his security detail, stepped out of the booth.

“I’m taking the Venom. All okay down here?” Caleb asked. He eyed Derek carefully, noticing his slightly sweaty and anxious appearance. Derek had been hired a couple of weeks ago, and Caleb was still unsure about the man. He’d asked Jackson to run a background check, but there wasn’t anything on his record. Caleb liked to know everything there was to know about his employees - he didn’t want a single person in PanCorp that he didn’t recognise by face and know by name.

“Excellent choice, sir.” Derek quelled under Caleb’s scrutiny, and handed him the set of keys. They almost fell to the floor, sliding out of his sweat-covered grip, but Caleb deftly grabbed them mid-air.

He made a mental note to ask Jackson to grab the security tape footage from down here. There was something that wasn’t quite right, an unsettling tension in the atmosphere that shouldn’t have been there. Caleb didn’t have time to dwell on it now, and dismissed the issue as he made his way over to the motor.

              The car gave a beautiful purr as he put it into gear and slowly slid out of the parking lot. In his rear-view mirror Caleb could see Derek watching him, his figure standing in the gloom as Caleb entered the bright midday sun of Chicago. 

The meeting had been a huge success. Mike had been hugely receptive to Caleb’s ideas and the business plan that he’d put forward. The team were out celebrating already, but Caleb had decided to drive back into the city. He hadn’t spent any time at home in months, and was looking forward to relaxing with a beer and a game.

He idly wished he had a beautiful woman waiting from him back at his apartment, but lately he was having a bit of a drought in that area. There were plenty of women flinging themselves at him, in clubs, in meetings, when he went out for a run, but none of them had what he was looking for. He wasn’t sure he even knew himself, but the type of women he was used to attracting attention from tended to be cold and hard, they didn’t seem to have a maternal or loving bone in their body. They always positioned themselves as flings for night time activities, not long-term partners.  

              “
Shit
” Caleb swore out loud as a car pulled out in front of him without indicating. With lightning-quick reflexes he slammed his foot down on the break, and swerved into the empty lane on his left.

He expected his car to slow down abruptly with the amount of pressure he’d exerted on the pedal, but he couldn’t feel any friction - if anything the car seemed to speed up. He pushed down on the breaks again, keeping calm and holding the car wheel steady. Nothing happened.

He could hear screeching coming from the body of the vehicle, and Caleb realized that the brake pads had somehow gotten themselves detached, he had no idea how – it was a brand new car, and on the drive up they had seemed fine.

He sped along the interstate, having to rely on rapid steering maneuvers to avoid crashing. Caleb eagerly searched for a recovery lane where he could try and slow down naturally, and let the car come to a standstill.

              A split second later, a huge truck coming off highway ninety-four grazed the side of his car. It spun out of control. Caleb saw the back of a grey Ford Explorer getting closer and closer before the windscreen smashed into a thousand pieces and everything went black.

“You sure he wasn’t incinerated?” A detective eyed the smoking body of the car wearily.

“Nope. No sign of a body. My guess is that he would have been thrown on impact,” the highway patrol officer responded, rapidly photographing the debris of the car interior and the surrounding area.

“There’s been a team out there for a good ten minutes, they haven’t found squat.” The detective rubbed the tip of his nose, the smoke was making his sinuses act up.

“Well – they want to, whoever was in this car was a wealthy man.”

“Yeah,” the detective nodded in agreement, “I’d kill for a car like this.” The patrol officer raised his eyebrows at the detective, sighed, and went back to analyzing the scene.

              “Hey – Larry, come over here!” a voice yelled at the detective. He followed the sound over to a couple of officers waving at him from a few yards north of the road. He hurried over.

“What the hell?” The detective found himself looking down at a black creature, larger than any dog he’d ever seen, collapsed on the ground.

“I think it’s a panther,” one of the officers addressed him, and crouched down closer to the body. Placing his hands on its chest he could feel the faint but still audible breathing of the beast.

“A panther?” The detective took a closer look. “Well, blow me. I think it is. What the hell is it doing here? Do you think it’s escaped from the city zoo?” he addressed the officers before him, not really expecting any of them to have the answer.  

“I guess…seems far though,” replied one of his younger officers doubtfully.

“Well. Call them. They need to come down here pronto. Looks like it’s on its last legs, poor animal. Shame to loose such a beaut.” The detective carefully assessed the damage. The face was pretty badly smashed up, and one of its hind legs was torn right through to the bone. Blood continually seeped out of the creature each time it took a breath. “Keep it warm” he commanded, “and then find that goddamn body, he’s got to be around here somewhere.”