Shifting Magic (Shifted) (8 page)

“
What I’m hungry for isn’t in the kitchen.”

“How are the newly mated?” Ryder asked as he slid up behind Willow.

“
Still in bed would be my guess. I told him they could stay. I hope that’s alright.”

“I
don’t have a problem with that. I have a feeling Nina will fit right in. Emory was looking for you a minute ago.”

“We
are training today. Want to come? I wouldn’t mind showing you some of my moves.”

“I
love your moves.”

“Not
those kind of moves Ryder. We have to get back to looking for Howland.”

“I don’t think he’ll be that hard to find. If what Ranger said about the Mage being followed

the other day is true, then who else would it be?”

“You think he’s nearby?”

“I think looking close to home would be a start. With Maddox being so little, I don’t see Maverick going too far. Maybe we have gone about this all wrong. Chasing Howland has turned up nothing. He seems to be one step ahead of us.”

“
It is strange. Every lead has led us to him but a day late.”

“
Yeah like he’s doing that on purpose.”

“Wild
goose chase.”

“
Something like that, I say we just wait. It’s us he wants, so he’ll eventually stop running and come after us. Either that, or you’ll get a vision.”

“Now
that would be convenient. All I get is a white house when I try to find him. It’s warm and sunny wherever he is. That narrows it down to just about anywhere.”

“At
least we know he’s not in Alaska,” Ryder grinned.

“
It’s late summer, Ryder. Alaska is warm too. I get the feeling he’s a lot closer than that. Come on before Emory kicks my ass for bailing on training.”

“I’m
pretty sure you could take her.” Ryder laughed while following Willow out to the training field. He hadn’t loved the idea of his wife training with the male enforcers, but the months have proved she could take care of herself. Despite her small stature, she had the heart of a champion. He had seen her take down men twice her size when they underestimated the determination of a Cheveyo female.

10

“This place is huge,” Nina gasped as Ranger drove into the compound.

“
It’s the Alpha house. Half the family lives here, plus about ten enforcers and their families.”

“I
had no idea this was even here.” Nina had been surprised when Ranger turned down the sleepy little cul-de-sac. A driveway at the far end had wound through about two acres of forest before the house even came into view.

“
That’s kind of the point Nina. We like to keep a low profile. We can’t have a bunch of nosey neighbors looking out their back window and seeing men and women turn into wolves. The property is about forty acres in total.”

“
Nice chunk of real-estate.”

“
We like it,” Ranger grinned. He had been concerned that his mate might be nervous. She had met most of the family before, but they had been alone for days. Sunday dinner at the Alpha house could be a bit overwhelming.

“
There they are. Mom, they are here,” Emory called from the porch. Gemma rushed out to greet her son and new daughter-in–law.

“Nina
, welcome. Come in. This heat is unbearable.” Gemma took her hand dragging her away from Ranger.

“
Nice to see you too, Mom,” Ranger taunted. “I bring my mate home and it’s like I don’t exist.”

“Oh
hush up Ranger. Nina, I hope you like steak. You’re not a vegetarian are you? If you are then we could throw some mushrooms on the grill.”

“
No Mrs. Cheveyo, I eat meat,” Nina grinned.

“
Oh please call me Gemma or Mom if you’re comfortable. Mrs. Cheveyo is too formal. Now that you have mated my son, you are also Mrs. Cheveyo dear.”

“I
suppose I am. Okay, Mom it is.”

“
Perfect, the others are in the living room.”

“Ready to run yet?” Ranger slid in beside Nina
as they walked toward the house.

“
No Ranger, I’m fine. Plus I have the advantage of having already met your family. Wait until you have to meet the coven.”

“I
think if I can survive your father, I can survive anything.”

“That
is the understatement of the year. I actually think he liked you.”

“I
would hope so.”

“You’re
the first guy I brought home he even spoke to. It figures. I bring home an Alpha Werewolf Shifter and that he notices.”

“Did
you bring a lot of men home Nina?”

Ranger growled.

“Yes and no. I tried to push the old man’s buttons you know. Half those guys I wasn’t even dating. He said no one would be good enough. So I paraded some of the biggest losers in the coven through my house to prove a point.”

“
And that point would be?”

“That
he didn’t have a say in who I ended up with. He got the message loud and clear. My Dad and I are a lot alike and that tends to cause a lot of friction. He’s been grooming me to take over the coven for years.”

“
Wait, you’re taking over the coven.”

“
Not any time soon, but yes, I’m next in line. That’s not an issue is it?”

“No
…I …I just didn’t know.”

“Relax
. My Father is too stubborn to give up his position any time soon. And now that I’m a Shifter, who knows? Maybe the coven will reject me and my sister Tina will have to step up.”

“
We should have thought of that before...”

“
It wouldn’t have mattered Ranger. I would have chosen you regardless. No use worrying about it now.” 

Ranger was pleased that Nina blended in with the family almost instantly. As usual, his uncles Gage and Knight were disappointed to find the newest female at the table was mated. They weren’t so disappointed that they stopped flirting though. Ranger tried to hold back his possessive nature knowing his uncle’s meant no disrespect. Hell, they flirted with all the women. Willow and Rory included.

Even her father
and mother who had arrived to dinner shortly after they did, seemed more relaxed than they had the day Ranger found his mate.

Ranger was used to the pulsing power of a room full of Alpha males
, but the addition of the Head Mage had the room humming.

“Nina
, come by tomorrow. You could train with us,” Emory prodded. The women had their own version of enforcers and were slowly becoming just as powerful an asset.

“
I’m working a shift tomorrow and Tuesday. I don’t know about the rest of the week. I haven’t been to the station in days.”

“You’re
going back to work?” Sam eyed Ranger as he asked the question.

“Yes, w
hy wouldn’t I?” Nina glared at her new brother-in-law.

“
It was just a question, Nina. I thought that now that you and Ranger…”

“
Ranger and I what? Sam you should know better than anyone that I wasn’t going to sit around and be the good little housewife,” her tone was defensive. She had expected Ranger to maybe give her a hard time, but Sam?

“
Maybe you should reconsider,” Ranger started.

“
Whoa, hold on. Don’t go all Alpha wolf on me, I like my Job.”

Malcolm laughed
at seeing his daughter get her back up. “Now you’ve done it. Telling Nina not to do something guarantees she will do it.”

“Dad
, you’re not helping.”

“I don’t think that’s what Ranger
meant, Nina,” Willow interrupted before the discussion got too heated. “Was it Ranger?”

“No
, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just was giving you the option love.”

“I think she should join the E
nforcers. That is, if you want to Nina,” Emory added. “I mean you were on traffic duty right?”

“
Right. Since my partner left they have me doing the safe jobs,” she said rolling her eyes.

“I
don’t have a problem with that,” Ranger chimed in.

“No
offense Ranger, but it wouldn’t matter if you did. Like I said, I like my job, or at least I did before Howard retired. As soon as they assign me another partner, I expect to be back on the street.”

“Waste
of talent if you ask me,” Hank mumbled.

“What’s
that supposed to mean?” Ranger almost growled. “You just met her Hank.”

“Sam
and I were discussing..”

“You
were discussing my wife?”

“Down
boy. Let him talk.” Nina placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

“
We were discussing the fact that, even before the change, she took down a full grown Alpha male.”

“I
will never live that down. Will I?” Xavier groaned.

“No
, probably not,” Hank smiled . “I just meant she might consider the Enforcers as an option now that she’s wolf. Howland is targeting our women. I have to assume, since your mating has been so recent, that he is not aware of Nina’s involvement with the family yet.”

“
You mean to use my daughter as a decoy?” Malcolm practically steamed.

“
Hush Dad. This makes sense.” Nina growled. “Go on Hank. What’s the plan?”

“
It’s just an idea, not really a plan. Howland so far has gone after our weakest link. No offense ladies, but most of the packs women are not trained and no match for a full grown male Were.” Hank’s gaze swept to Emory to see if he was sleeping on the couch tonight. He didn’t want to hurt his mate by reminding her of her worst hour, but it was necessary to convey his point.

“Willow
, and Emory, have become an asset to our security, but at this point Howland knows about both women training. They have taken down more than one of his men in recent months during several, shall we say, kidnapping attempts.”

“
This is the first I have heard of this,” Ranger’s mother Gemma looked around the table at the guilty faces.

“
We didn’t want to worry you dear,” Royal soothed.

“
Worry, me? You send our daughter and daughter-in-law out to be kidnapped, or worse, by a mad man and you neglect to tell me?”

“I
knew this would be your reaction dear. Believe me. They were perfectly safe. You think these three are going to let anything happen to their mates?” Royal pointed out.

Nina’s
mother spoke up next. “Why is this man targeting the women of the pack? It seems quite cowardly to me?”

Ranger answered.
“It is and it isn’t Mrs. Blackwell.”

“Mother, please.”

“Fine. It is and it isn’t, mother.  Most Shifters mate for life. ” Ranger squeezed Nina’s hand. “A true mate’s death, or even disappearance, would incapacitate the surviving mate. Death would be preferable to living without your soul.”

“Are all the women he’s killed true
mated?”

“
No, but depleting the female population reduces the already slim chance you’ll find your perfect match. Most male shifters don’t settle down until they find their true mate. I have recently become acquainted with the pull a mate can have on you. True mates are also more likely to conceive children.  Other Were couples tend to have infertility problems. I can tell you from experience that it’s easy to believe that the true mate story is a myth. That is until she walks into the room. My father assures me it is more common than I was lead to believe.” Ranger flashed a discerning eye at his father.

“I
couldn’t have you boys sniffing around every woman in the pack,” Royal laughed.

“Or
avoiding them,” Xavier groaned.

“
By targeting our women, Howland is quite literally killing two birds with one stone. If any one of us were to lose our true mates, as I said before, death would be preferable. A feral male is of no use to the pack, no matter how high his previous standing in the hierarchy. That is why Rory seems to be his focus. Take out the chosen and not only is the Were community down one icon, but the Alpha is rendered useless.”

“Back to H
ank’s plan,” Nina encouraged.