Mated To Magic (Stark Creek Shifters Book 1) by Barb Shuler (free ereaders .TXT) 📕

“Jay was able to sneak around and tackle him. When she did, I shoved his arm away, but not before getting cut. It could have been worse seeing as how he had it at my throat.”

Jesus, things had gotten bad enough that another woman, let’s not mention that she's a shifter, had to step in to help? My entire body started to shake with the need to kill the one responsible for hurting her. Shifters, male and female, were extremely protective of their mates. I was more than that. As the kids around here would say, I was extra.

“Hey, if you don’t calm down, I’m going to stop talking about this.” Her warm palm pressed into my cheek, but there was no calming down. I gave her a look that made her sigh.

“Angus and Josh did what they were supposed to. They saw me in trouble and they rushed to help.”

“Who let him in? He was carrying a knife, he should have never been let in.”

The words left me in a rush of air. My anger was getting the best of me. I pushed back from her when I felt my body ripple. Fucking wolf.

“Tell me,” I said, my gaze meeting hers. I could feel the wolf pushing forward. He was ready for blood.

“Dalton…I promise I will tell you what’s going on once everyone is together. I’m not telling you a damn thing when you’re…” she waved her hand at me, “like this!”

Her little growl was cute. Mine was better. I let my wolf show in my eyes.

“Tell me, my little witch.”

“No.”

I let the wolf take over. Maybe he’d have better luck with her stubborn ass. The bed shifted under my paws and my gaze once again met hers. She didn’t even blink. She just sat there, glaring at me. I stalked forward. The warmth of her skin radiated toward me, pulling me closer.

The skin over my teeth pulled up in a wicked grin and still nothing. She pushed my snout away from her.

“You’re an ass, and you don’t scare me.”

Mia knew that my wolf would never hurt her. It wasn’t in our nature to hurt the one we loved. So I gave in to the more devious side of my being and moved my muzzle back down and licked her cheek. The shriek she let out made me chuckle. The bed shook as she tried to get away from me; her laughter was music to my ears.

I stepped back and whined when the scent of fresh blood filled the air. The wound on her shoulder had opened slightly. I didn’t think, I just reacted. I cleaned it with my tongue, whining as she let me.

She’d been hurt; it was our fault for not being there. A few licks later she pushed my muzzle away.

“Okay, Dracula, enough. That’s not very sanitary.” Her face was screwed up in a grimace. She had a point. I made my way off the bed and shifted mid-stride as I walked out of the bedroom. I found a pair of clean boxers in the laundry room, pulled them on, and went to grab the first-aid kit.

“Sit up, baby. Let me clean your wound and put a few of these steri-strips on it. They’ll keep it closed while it heals and you won’t have to worry about a bulky bandage. They’ll come off on their own.”

I cleaned the area with a wipe. Her face scrunched up, and I leaned in to blow on it.

“I’m sorry, it’ll only sting for a minute.” I put the wipe away and pulled the steri-strip free of the packaging. Five strips covered the length of the wound. Thankfully it wasn’t any worse than it was. I’d give her the peace she needed tonight. Tomorrow—well, I guess I should say later tonight—I would find out who had hurt her and then my wolf and I would go hunting.

“All done. Let me put this away and then I’m tucking you back in.” I put the kit up, washed my hands to remove the alcohol smell, and stalked back down the hall to her room. I had meant it. I was tucking her in, but she wouldn’t be going back to bed alone. I would be staying.

I needed to know she was okay and be here if something else happened. I knew nothing would happen with me here, but my wolf and I weren’t leaving her. Our mate needed us.

I smiled, seeing her tucked haphazardly under her blankets, and moved to crawl across the bed, my lips brushing along her jaw as I laid behind her, pulling her to me. The moment I had my arm around her, I knew there was no turning back now. I was more than ready to give her my all.

She was the one person, other than my pack, that I knew I could always count on. She was always there when I needed her. She was there to push me to be a better man. I was more than a man with a dual personality, of which one side had a very bad attitude and shed.

My fingers flexed as I slid my hand up under the jersey and rested it on her belly. Once again the warmth of her wrapped around me, and my wolf and I settled in. I placed a soft kiss to her neck.

I had something important to say to her but I wasn’t sure how to word it. It was simple to the average Joe; why I found it so hard, I couldn’t say. It was three simple words, but I knew once I said them there was no going back.

“Mia…” I smiled as she hummed softly and leaned in to press a soft kiss to her jawline. “I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

Her eyes fluttered back open, and a smile brightened her face.

“I’m sorry I let you walk away, I was just…shocked. I thought that was just my imagination. I wanted those words to be true. It was