Southern Shifters

  Table of Contents

  A Wolf to BearA Southern Shifters Novella

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Text copyright ©2015 by the Author.

  This work was made possible by a special license through the Kindle Worlds publishing program and has not necessarily been reviewed by Eliza Gayle. All characters, scenes, events, plots and related elements appearing in the original Southern Shifters remain the exclusive copyrighted and/or trademarked property of Eliza Gayle, or their affiliates or licensors.

  For more information on Kindle Worlds: http://www.amazon.com/kindleworlds

  A Wolf to Bear

  A Southern Shifters Novella

  www.deecarney.com

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  Cover Art by Brandy Walker

  Edited by Briana St. James

  A Wolf to Bear, A Southern Shifters Novella

  Hybrid shifter Murphy Hazen has pushed away everyone, ashamed of his mixed blood. Then his solitary path crosses with wolf Sable Blackwood and everything changes. Murphy must rise above his shame to claim the woman who’s destined to be his.

  However, Sable is about to be wed to a stranger, her dreams sacrificed to serve the best interests of her wolf pack—but her heart still craves for more. Their attraction won’t be denied, but simply going beyond touching her might mean starting a clan war.

  Tearing apart the world around them seems like an acceptable loss...

  Chapter One

  Sable managed the last mile of her run with a limp, her feet cracked and bloody. She didn’t dare stop though. Not until she’d immersed fully into the neutral zone. So deep inside they’d have to use GPS to find the way back out again. Exactly where she wanted to be. In the middle of nowhere, please.

  After she’d passed the border, she’d shifted out of wolf form to make it harder on the others to track her down. They’d know her animal scent no matter how she tried to hide it, but moving through the dense forest as a human might make the task harder to do. It also made it harder for her to travel and slowed her down more than she’d considered.

  Why couldn’t her family leave her alone? Was it so much to want to fall in in love, get married and grow geriatric with someone the old fashioned way? Then again, the arranged marriage her brothers had set up for her might be considered even more antiquated than that.

  She stumbled, her bruised foot catching against a jutting tree root. A sob escaped her throat, but she blinked back the burst of tears. C’mon, girl. She could do this without breaking down into hysterics. A little pain never hurt anyone and whatever didn’t kill her would make her stronger, right?

  Yeah, whoever came up with that one never hurt this much.

  Sable stretched out a stitch in her side, rubbing out the kink as she sniffled back tears. If she couldn’t handle a few cuts in her feet, how the hell was she supposed to make it through childbirth? More than once. Heaven help her.

  She gasped as heat made a starburst in her belly, sending out cramping pulses even more painful than her cracked feet. Sable wrapped an arm around her middle, the pain causing her to slow.

  She hated this.

  How could any woman think about anything useful when suffering through mating season? Thank the gods it hadn’t fully hit in sight of her brothers. If they’d known about the potential gold mine, they would have shuttled her off to get married so fast, she’d be giving birth before she’d realized she’d even had sex.

  She wanted to cry out as another wave of cramps turned her body into a torture chamber, but through tearing eyes she thought she spotted a flash of red. Blowing out a breath, she forced herself to ignore the pain and focus on the structure ahead. With every step closer, she managed to regulate her breathing and that in turn kept the cramping in the back of her mind.

  Surprise swallowed down the rest of the pain. She must have passed a few houses already but for some reason, she’d been drawn here. To this place.

  Someone had built a gorgeous little bungalow in the middle of the gods’ nowhere. Brick siding, the red she’d seen from the distance, wrapped around the exterior of the house. Two very tall windows reflected the sunlight such that she couldn’t get a peek inside to see if anyone lived there now. The tidy garden of roses suggested someone with a green thumb must be living inside.

  If her luck held, maybe it would be some lonely old lady who wouldn’t mind putting up a non-paying renter for a few weeks. Sable could help with chores in exchange for room and board. At least she hoped people still offered to do stuff like that for strangers these days. If push came to shove, she’d throw about her family’s name and hope it carried enough weight to do what her pathetic state couldn’t.

  Limping, parched throat growing more irritated by the second, she edged her way closer to the building. A bead of sweat dripped into her eye and blinking it out of her way, she paused to take a deep breath. Her wolf perked, a low grumbling sound emanating outward from her throat.

  Sable wanted to drop to all fours and crawl toward the building, but since she didn’t know anything about the person inside, she couldn’t be certain how she’d be greeted. For the first time, it struck her how out of her element she was at the moment. At home, she could count on family to be there and have her back no matter what happened. Out here... she was alone.

  Gathering her inner strength, calling on her wolf for courage, she made her way to the front door and then knocked. A minute must have passed before she tried again. Just as before, no sounds came from inside, which was just her luck. No one home.

  Behind her on the painted patio, she could see dark smudges of her blood marking the path she’d taken to get here. Just looking at them made her wince and she knew she couldn’t make it another fifty feet without some kind of first aid. An aspirin or two would be welcome, too.

  Without much choice, she went to the window and peered inside. Another pleasant surprise greeted her. Between the slats on the blinds, she could see simple art work on the walls, a wood dining table beneath a low crystal chandelier. The throw rug in the middle of the floor looked comfortable and inviting, perfect for curling up on with a glass of wine and a book. It made her want to break in if than for no other reason than to push her aching toes into the softness.

  Gods, she hurt so much and just wanted to rest for a little while. Long enough to gather her strength and then get moving again. Why had she thought getting to the neutral zone would have been enough for her? In her head, the minute she arrived, all of her problems would be over. Obviously, the universe had other plans.

  Maybe she could afford to shift, rejuvenate and then move on to the next place. She had to believe someone would be home there and she’d get the shelter she needed. Holding on to a slowly dying flicker of hope, she peeked one last time into the house— inwardly begging for someone to make an appearance—and limped her way to the stairs.

  Heaving a colossal sigh, she turned to take one last look at how close she’d made it to—

  Heaven.

  Holy hell. She’d found heaven.

  And he had brown eyes.

  Murphy took one look at the timid woman standing on his porch and came to two immediate conclusions. One, his bear needed to wake the hell up because it was having one hell of a dream and two, if he could find a woman who looked like this trembling little thing, but with a lot more backbone to take on a bear shifter, time in the neutral zone would pass that much quicke
r. Not often a man ran into a naked woman at his front door. Then again, out here in Deals Gap, North Carolina, it was far more common than made sense.

  “You’re on my property,” he said to her. It came out gruffer than he’d intended, but it couldn’t be helped. He liked his privacy and his peace. Always had. No naked shifter—not even a woman—would ever change that.

  “I’m sorry, but could you spare a shirt or something for me?” Her hand flexed, pointing out the obvious state of her nudity.

  His first instinct was to tell her no, but inwardly sighed when he said, “Follow me.”

  It’s not like he could turn her away. Never knew when the favor would need to be returned and if word got out that he ran off a fellow shifter in need, his life could be made uncomfortable. Didn’t need that hassle. Get her a shirt, maybe an old pair of shorts too. Send her packing.

  “My name’s Sable,” she said before he could take a step.

  Murphy sighed again, barely sucking back a groan at the last second. If she wanted to tell him her name, next she’d want his. Then maybe start asking him about himself, what he did for a living, did he live alone... He didn’t want the hassle and half-turned back around to tell her so.

  His mouth parted, but nothing came out.

  Damn, she really was a pretty number. Big blue eyes framed by thick curling lashes. Pouty lips. Shoulder length hair looking all wind-blown like she’d just spent the last hour posing for a magazine ad. She had perfect tits too, matching perfectly curved hips. On the short side, though. But those thighs made up for it. He could just imagine feeling them wrapped around his waist under the right circumstances.

  He shook loose the thought. Women who took him on needed strength and a steel armor of fortitude. He didn’t have to worry about dislocating a joint or cracking a rib because he’d gotten carried away. He also wanted nothing to do with her sticking around afterward, trying to build a nest or some shit.

  Remembering that helped him refocus. “I’ll get you some clothes, get you to where you need to be.”

  Her eyes widened. “Wait...”

  Murphy wanted to throw his head back and growl. Instead, he took a deep breath. At least she was easy on the eyes. And a fellow shifter in need. It wouldn’t kill him to be a decent guy about it. “Yes?”

  She moved restlessly from side to side, a flicker of pain marking her expression. That made him straighten and really look at her. Hell. She was tore up.

  “I know you don’t know me, but I just need a place to stay.” So damned pretty. And desperate.

  “You’re right. I don’t know you and you don’t know me. I got a spare room, but little girls shouldn’t be so eager to get into the house of strange men.”

  “I’m not a little girl,” she mumbled.

  A faint coppery scent drifted to him and his earlier assessment solidified into a concern that rattled him. “A grown woman wouldn’t be standing out on my clean patio bleeding to death. You need to shift and let your animal heal you.”

  Sable looked away, her lips flattening into a stubborn line. “I’ll be fine. If you can’t offer me a place to stay in this big old house, I’ll get someone else to help me.”

  Murphy’s bear snorted. “You hurt elsewhere besides those chopped up feet?”

  She tilted her chin into the air. “A shirt and maybe a pair of pants. That’s all I need, Mister.”

  He raked his gaze over her again and pushed down the ball of desire building in his belly. Whatever his bear was thinking, hooking up with this little slip of a thing would not be on the menu. But damn, he was having a hard time ignoring the swelling desire. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to have a taste. A nice, slow fuck to relieve some stress.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked in a voice just above a whisper.

  Swallowing down his lust, annoyed he’d been busted, he grunted. “Like what?”

  “Prey.”

  The injured woman standing in front of him might look vulnerable, but Murphy sensed she could hold her own if pushed to it. She kept her shoulders back, the gleam in her eyes a notch below challenging. He’d already told her no, but she didn’t tuck tail and leave. No, she’d come right back at him. He had a feeling if he turned her down a second time, she’d push a third attempt before maybe conceding.

  If he let her stay though, he’d want something in return. All the more reason to send her packing. It would be in both of their best interests.

  “Listen, like I said, I’ll get you some clothes. I’ll even make a reservation for you at the motel on the border. But staying here isn’t a good idea.”

  She limped toward him, a growing resolve on her face. “Do you know who I am?”

  A wounded woman. A smoking hot chick. Trouble. “Nope. Should I?”

  “Sable Blackwood. Know the name?”

  Every muscle in Murphy’s body went taut all at once. He didn’t know her directly, but he sure as hell knew the name of her pack. Wolves. Very dangerous, very nasty wolves.

  “I really wanted to do this the nice way,” she continued, “but you’re not giving me much choice. Just a day or two to recoup and I’ll be out of your hair. I need sanctuary. When my favorite uncle Luke hears about it, I’m sure it’ll go a long way with him to find out that someone in the neutral zone was nice to me.”

  Oh, she was good. Luke Blackwood was not a wolf to be fucked with and if this little girl claimed to be his niece—a favorite, no less—helping her would be a favor he might be able to cash in on later.

  Yeah. She wasn’t giving Murphy much choice at all.

  Chapter Two

  The minute he turned his back, Sable wiped what might possibly be a spot of drool from the corner of her mouth. Good gods, she hadn’t realized men in real life could look like this.

  Tall.

  Rugged.

  Sexy as all hell.

  And when he did the growly thing? She went stupid weak in the knees. He’d done it more than once and she’d been this close to collapsing into a boneless heap at his feet.

  It hurt like a son of a gun to stand there a minute longer, but she had the very rational fear that if she took a single step, he’d be able to scent her arousal. God, she didn’t even know his name yet, but Sable couldn’t find the wherewithal to care. She wanted him in the most wicked of ways. Too bad he didn’t smell like a wolf; what form of shifter, she hadn’t figured as yet.

  “You sure you want to promise me a favor on behalf of your uncle?” he asked, looking over his shoulder.

  Her gaze drifted to the sculpted beard on his jaw, took a healthy visual swallow of his prominent Adam’s apple, and then swept over his lips. Pain in her feet be damned, she would find a way to crawl over to him on hands and knees if necessary for one taste of those lips. To feel the scrape of his beard against her skin.

  Dammit. Where were these thoughts coming from? It had to be the mating cycle influencing her. Had to be.

  Sable nodded after realizing he was watching her. “I have that authority.”

  She so did not have that authority. Hopefully by the time this guy went to collect on the favor, she’d be long gone and way too late for him to care.

  He didn’t appear to sense the lie and made his way toward the back of the house. Sable limped behind him, relieved to be making some headway in her plan. But did she really have a solid blueprint of what to do next? Not really.

  Once her brothers figured out where she was staying, she’d have healed enough to run again, but where could she go? Until she found a place they couldn’t reach, it was possible she’d forever be looking over her shoulder, trying to stay one step ahead of them. She was already tired just thinking about it.

  “Wait here,” he said once they stepped inside. They stood just inside his kitchen, an immaculate room with uncluttered granite counter tops. The tile floor gleamed like a featured home on HGTV and the cabinets appeared a fine grade. The guy either had money or exquisite taste. With any sort of luck, both.

  “Sure
,” she said with a smile. It hurt to stretch her lips across her teeth, but she needed this guy to like her. So far, he wouldn’t even supply his name.

  Her stomach warmed again, the slow churning of her mating cycle reminding her it was alive and well and oh, could she please be so kind as to get laid? Stupid cycle had no sense of discernment whatsoever.

  He came back with fabric draped over one shoulder, a tall wooden stool in both hands. On top of the stool, a small first aid box balanced. After setting it down and taking the kit in hand, he indicated she should sit. Grateful, she almost moaned in pleasure the moment the weight lifted from her feet.

  “Shirt,” he said, handing it to her. Sable thanked him with a nod and then slipped it over her shoulders. Like all shifters, she wasn’t unused to being nude around others. It came with the territory. As far as she could tell, he didn’t care one way or the other that she’d been undressed too. Something else that went with the territory. “Feet,” he said next.

  “Please,” she sassed at him.

  “Now.”

  “Cat?” It would explain his behavior. Thieving, unmannered beasts those cats.

  “So stubborn.” He sighed as if the weight of the world rested on his shoulders. “Feet.”

  Grudgingly, Sable kicked them out. The first excruciating sting of alcohol a moment later made her retract them only a split-second after smothering the urge to kick him. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “If you won’t shift, at least they need to be cleaned. Then put some antibiotics on them and bandage them up.” He rose to standing, cotton balls in hand. “Are you going to shift, saving us both a whole lot of trouble, or are you going to sit there like a good little girl and let me tend to your wounds?”

  Shifting was not an option. It took every scrap of self-control and inner badass she possessed to put her feet out again. At least this time, she expected the burning in her feet. Alcohol must have been made out of the tears of little children.