More than a Panther (Shifty Book 2)

  More than a Panther

  By Sara Summers

  To anyone who has ever felt defined by their family

  Prologue

  I was always the strong one. I was independent, determined, and willing to do anything to get what I wanted.

  I’m not that girl anymore.

  Everything started to change when I ran from both my family and my mate.

  “I’ll take a chocolate chip cookie.” I gave the lady working the cash register a brief smile.

  “One cookie?” She nodded, taking a few steps over to the display case. I was in my favorite coffee shop, and since it was the middle of June everything was decorated with American flags.

  Every day, at 3 PM, I stopped in for a cookie. Most of the employees would’ve recognized me, but I guess that girl was new.

  “Are you sure that’s all you want? Most people get coffee, since we’re a coffee shop and all.” She pointed up to the sign behind her, which advertised all the different flavors and blends and whatever else they had.

  “I just want the cookie.” I waited for her to tell me the price.

  “Alright, I’ll just put it in a bag…” She grabbed a paper bag and fooled around with it for a second before getting it open. “Here you go.” She smiled brightly, then handed me the paper bag with the cookie in it.

  “Thanks.” I handed her the exact total, 1 dollar and 17 cents, then turned and headed over to my corner booth. Every day, I would sit down in that booth and write until an hour before the coffee shop closed.

  My mind was buried in the book I was writing, completely enhanced with the characters and their adventure. I didn’t hear the door over the bell ring, and I didn’t notice the familiar voice talking to the newest employee like she was a long-lost friend.

  In fact, I didn’t even look up from my computer screen until that someone cleared his throat, sitting in my booth right across from me.

  If I was a human, I would’ve jumped. But I was a panther shifter, and no one could scare me. Not even my older brother.

  “What do you want?” I asked, not giving him an inch. My face and voice were as flat as they could be, and I was careful not to squirm as he stared me down.

  “We’ve been looking for you.” Steven said, leaning forward.

  I casually leaned back to get myself just a little further from him. If my dad had sent Steven out looking for me, something must’ve gone wrong. I had made it clear how I felt about him the night I took off, and my dad knew that Steven and I had never gotten along.

  “Why do you think I’ve been hiding?” I clasped my fingers together, placing them out of his sight, shielded from view by my computer. They’d be the first part of me he’d notice, and they would be what revealed to him the way I was really feeling.

  So I hid them.

  He narrowed his eyes at me, folding his arms. The design of his cotie merged almost seamlessly into the tattoos that covered the rest of him. They were both as black as our panthers’ fur, the same color as his heart.

  Steven had never been good or nice to anyone, in anyway. I would’ve felt bad for his mate if she wasn’t as rotten as he was; even their coties (mate marks, as humans called them) were ugly.

  “Come with me.” He tried to pretend he was asking politely, the way most brothers would, but I knew the truth. He was giving me an order. If I didn’t listen, I’d be the one who suffered. He would enjoy my suffering, too.

  My fingers clutched each other so tight they were white.

  “No. I’m waiting for my mate, and it’s against dad’s rules to force a female into doing anything while waiting for her mate. My mate is supposed to be the one in charge of me, after all.” I tilted my head to the side, trying to give off vibes that told him I wasn’t afraid of him.

  Unfortunately, Steven had known me long enough to know when I was bluffing. He gave me a wicked smile, and I had a terrible feeling that my life was going to start moving downhill fast if I didn’t do something.

  I picked my phone up and dialed 911, putting it to my ear.

  “911, what’s your emergency?” a man’s voice questioned.

  “No emergency, I have a crime to report.” I said coolly.

  “One moment please.” He put me on hold, and I knew from experience that it meant he was transferring me over to another person or department.

  “If you’re not driving away when the next person picks up, there’ll be cops swarming the hideout.” I said matter-of-factly.

  Steven let off a string of cusswords, standing up. He slammed his fists to the table, and I remained sitting to grasp at whatever shred of fake calmness I could hold on to.

  I knew the threat of cops at the hideout wouldn’t be enough to get him to leave for good, so I added,

  “And if I ever see you again, I’ll give them every one of your mate’s fake names. She’ll be in jail before she can blink, and you know they won’t show her any mercy.”

  He snarled, and I lifted an eyebrow.

  “The clock’s ticking.” I picked my eyes up to the clock on the wall behind him.

  “I’ll get you back for this.” He swore, hurrying out to his car. After he drove away, I was tempted to stay on the line. If the police found out everything my family had done, I would never have to worry about them finding me again. The only way they’d get out of jail was in caskets.

  Guilt got in the way of that, though, so I hung up the phone.

  It took a few minutes, but I got started writing once again, blazing through words for the next half hour.

  Then I took a break to eat my cookie. And of course, my cotie (it covered my entire right arm) started tingling. I’d never felt it tingle before, but all shifters knew that feeling only ever meant one thing:

  My soulmate was close. Very, very close.

  I stood up, my face going pale. The last thing I needed was to find my mate, another panther shifter. Every panther I’d ever met was a thief, a liar, and usually, part of the mafia.

  My family especially.

  I’d just managed to get myself away from that life, and no way was I going back in. The mafia had almost killed me once, and I wasn’t risking my life again for something I didn’t believe in even one bit.

  Looking around, I tried to spot him. Male shifters always caught their mate’s scent before they turned 25, so I knew he had to be young.

  Well, I hoped he would be young. That rule didn’t always apply to panther shifters, and since there weren’t very many of us, I didn’t have high hopes for myself. I figured my mate would be old, mean, or just plain evil. Honestly, I didn’t think the Creator would give me anyone who wasn’t like that.

  As I looked around, I saw was a man in his early forties, with a bit of a beer belly and a right arm covered in tattoos or a cotie, ordering some coffee. In the corner, there was an old man with a newspaper in front of his face. On the other side of the coffee shop, a woman and her two kids were eating pastries.

  So, there was only one option, only one person it could be:

  The beer belly guy.

  My stomach turned. I shut my laptop, sliding it into its case and zipping it closed.

  I left the coffee shop without a word, walking at a normal pace so no one would suspect me. I assumed my arm would stop tingling, the further I got from the beer belly guy, but it didn’t.

  I didn’t have time to wonder why.

  That night I got on a plane, vowing never to go back to Poulsbo no matter what happened.

  Chapter 1

  “Are you sure you want to go back?” Leah asked me. She was nervous enough for the both of us.

  “Like I said, I’m tired of running.” I gave her a small smile.

  We were
in the car, driving back to the town I’d sworn never to return to. Marley, one of my best friends, was a Grizzly shifter. She and her dad had taken me in when I’d left my family and the mafia, so I was really close to both of them.

  When I heard that her dad died, I knew I had to go back for his funeral. He’d protected me when I needed it the most, and I could at least show up and say a few words to make it up to him.

  Leah’s mate, Ty, was driving the car, and he was the calmest out of the three of us.

  “There are a lot of ways this weekend could end, and none of them are good.” Leah warned, looked back at me with a grim expression.

  “It’s all bound to happen eventually. Why should I keep running from fate?” I leaned my head back against the seat and closed my eyes. One way or another, I knew the weekend was going to end with change, and I had to do what I could to prepare myself for it.

  “He was kind and generous.” Marley said, braving the tears trailing down her cheeks. She stood at the podium of the church, her black sweater clinging to her shoulders and arms the way she clung to the wood. “He cared about everyone, no matter who they were or what they had done. My father was the very definition of an Alpha, and he will be missed.” She didn’t try to smile.

  She came to sit down next to me, and I patted her leg.

  We sang a sad song and then headed outside to watch the hearse pull away, driving off toward the cemetery.

  Marley held onto my arm like I was the only thing holding her to the earth. We walked toward the parking lot with everyone else, and I took her keys. She was in no mental state to drive.

  Before we reached her car, someone shouted my name.

  “SAVANNA!” a dark, angry voice yelled.

  I closed my eyes to steel myself, recognizing the voice immediately.

  Then I spun around, gently pushing Marley’s hand off of my arm. I glared at Steven and stalked toward him, trying to find the confidence and determination I’d once had.

  “What do you want?” I folded my arms, keeping my glare on the hottest setting.

  “I want you to die.” My brother snarled and grabbed my arm. “Slowly and painfully.”

  I yanked my arm away.

  “Go ahead and see how dad responds to that idea.” I said coolly, taking a step away from him. “We both know he at least cares enough to want me alive.

  “Maybe he would try to stop me, if he hadn’t been in hiding for six months.”

  I wanted to curse, but I had to keep my cool. If my dad wasn’t anywhere nearby, there was absolutely nothing stopping Steven from killing me, as he had tried to a year before.

  I whipped my phone out of my pocket and dialed 911.

  “I’ll tell them where your mate is.” I threatened, barely holding on to the one piece of leverage I had.

  “That might work if they hadn’t already found her.”

  I bit my tongue to hold back another curse, forcing myself to stay calm and collected.

  “My mate can find me anywhere.” I scrambled for something—anything. If I could buy myself enough time to get on another plane, I might be able to get away from him. “If you hurt me, he’ll come after you.”

  Steven gave me a wicked grin, cracking his knuckles.

  “I have access to the internet, Savvy.” He mocked the nickname I’d given myself on my blog, which was called “Travel Savvy”. “You’ve been running from your mate for months, and you haven’t been here long enough for him to find you.”

  “You’re a moron if you think you can know something about me based on my blog.” I bluffed. “Everything I write on there is fluff.”

  “Really? I find that surprising, considering the time you mentioned mom and dad. Or when you brought me into it.”

  His knowledge of my writing caught me completely off guard, and the color seeped out of my face. He took a step forward, knowing I was completely and utterly out of any lies, excuses, and/or valid reasons as to why it would be dumb for him to attack me.

  “Hey man, cool it.” Ty came to my rescue. He and Leah stepped up next to me, both looking ticked. I assumed that was because of their Alpha and Omega mojo; they could never stand by and watch someone get hurt. Ty radiated dominance while Leah sent out influence by the gallon, but none of their power affected Steven in any way.

  Shifters can’t get involved in another species’ business, as nature proved in that moment.

  “You really don’t want to challenge me, little wolf.” Steven dissed Ty. “I’ve been in a lot more fights than you.”

  Ty growled and stepped forward, but I put a hand out to hold him back. I really didn’t want Leah’s mate to die because of me, and I knew Steven. If Ty got in a fight with him, Steven would win. Steven had no problem with killing someone he didn’t know, while it would’ve taken a lot for Ty to even attempt to kill him.

  So I stopped the fight before it could go down.

  “Thanks, but this is my business.” I said firmly. “Go back to the cars. Leah, drive Marley to the cemetery. My family drama doesn’t need to affect any of you.” I gave her a tight smile.

  “Sav…” Leah warned.

  “Go. Steven will wait until you’re out of here to say what he has to say.” I handed her Marley’s keys and gave her a little push toward the cars. Ty seemed even more reluctant to go than Leah did, but I figured that was because of his tendency to protect any and all females. That was just an Alpha male thing.

  “Nice of you to send your friends away when they’re the only ones who could help you.” Steven remarked as we watched everyone get in their cars.

  “Well I’d rather not have their deaths on my hands or the mafia after them.” I said dryly, turning to face Steven again as my friends drove away.

  Marley’s dad would be buried in a cemetery like a human because that’s what he wanted, but he wouldn’t be buried in a casket. Shifters were never buried in caskets.

  When the last car was gone, his evil grin returned and he grabbed my arm.

  “I’m telling you, it’ll only take a few hours for my mate to find me. You’ll regret this.” I warned. Steven laughed.

  “No shifter could find his mate that quickly after she flies over the ocean.”

  “You’d be surprised.” A man’s voice said from behind me, low, smooth, and sexy. My arm tingled, and despite all the times I’d felt it, that was still the weirdest feeling I’d ever had.

  On second thought, that voice didn’t sound like it came from the beer-belly guy I thought was my mate, but I didn’t turn around to check.

  My arm tingled more and more the closer my mate came to me.

  “Get out of here.” My rescuer said simply.

  “You’ll have to fight me if you want me to leave.” Steven smirked, pulling a knife out of the waistband of his jeans.

  Rather than responding, my mate stepped forward and stuck a needle in my brother’s neck. A second later, Steven collapsed.

  “Is he dead?” I wondered, still avoiding looking at my mate.

  “No, he’ll wake up in a few hours.”

  “Kill him.” I whispered, finally looking up at the man in front of me.

  “No.” he shook his head.

  This guy… he definitely wasn’t the beer belly man I was expecting. He was probably around 6 feet tall, slim and strong with dark brown hair.

  His eyes were hidden behind rectangular glasses, which were the same color as the black long-sleeved shirt he was wearing.

  “Who are you?” I whispered. “I thought… I saw you. You were old and hairy.” I frowned.

  “In the coffee shop?” he lifted an eyebrow. “I hid behind a newspaper.”

  I thought my world was going to explode.

  “No way, that was an old man.” I protested. “I saw your cotie.”

  “This one?” he pulled his sleeve up, showing me all the markings that matched mine perfectly.

  His cotie reminded me of the tingling that was still doing weird business in my arm. I grabbed his hand to make it stop.
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  As our fingers met, my right arm felt like it caught fire. I stumbled and tried to stay up, but my mate had to grab my shoulders to keep me upright. I was sure his arm hurt just as much as mine did but that didn’t seem to faze him much.

  When the pain finally cooled down, I opened my eyes and found my mate staring at me.

  “You’re even more beautiful up close.” He said softly.

  I stepped away from him.

  “Hey, I’m sorry.” He lifted his hands, surrendering. “I know you don’t want me, and I understand. I wouldn’t either. But it sounds like your brother is going to keep stalking you, and I need to keep you safe.” He was calm, but confident.

  I forced myself not to like it, not to like him.

  “You’re the one who’s been stalking me.” I folded my arms. “I’ve felt my cotie tingle so many times that I can hardly believe it took this long for us to meet. Why do you think I’ve been running around the world?”

  “I only followed you to protect you. Steven knows all your fake names, and because they’re the same as his, he calls the airlines to get your information, pretending to be your husband. He’s been almost everywhere you’ve been, and I follow to make sure he doesn’t hurt you. I never planned on showing myself.” He put his hands in his pockets.

  I studied him, trying to determine if and why he would be lying.

  “What about the flower you left on my book while I was with Leah’s pack? That was creepy. And the chocolates in Taiwan?”

  “Those were from Steven.” He shrugged. “I stayed in panther form, sticking to the trees for the most part.”

  “Fine.” I forced myself to nod. Steven being creepy wasn’t a surprise to me. “So what now? How do I get away from Steven when he knows all my names and can talk his way into any information he wants?”

  “Come back with me to my apartment.” He said, like it was easy. I lifted an eyebrow.

  “I don’t even know you.”

  “If you go anywhere else, he’ll find you. He knows all of your friends and where they live. With Leah, you’d have a massive pack to protect you, but it isn’t hard for a panther to slip through a pack of wolves and slit someone’s throat. They have no idea how to find one of us in stealth mode.”