Nothing to Do With Pride

A Total-E-Bound Publication

www.total-e-bound.com

Nothing To Do With Pride

ISBN # 978-0-85715-816-1

©Copyright Amber Kell 2011

Cover Art by Posh Gosh ©Copyright November 2011

Edited by Stacey Birkel

Total-E-Bound Publishing

This is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events are from the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, events or places is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any material form, whether by printing, photocopying, scanning or otherwise without the written permission of the publisher, Total-E-Bound Publishing.

Applications should be addressed in the first instance, in writing, to Total-E-Bound Publishing. Unauthorised or restricted acts in relation to this publication may result in civil proceedings and/or criminal prosecution.

The author and illustrator have asserted their respective rights under the Copyright Designs and Patents Acts 1988 (as amended) to be identified as the author of this book and illustrator of the artwork.

Published in 2011 by Total-E-Bound Publishing, Think Tank, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL, United Kingdom.

Warning:
This book contains sexually explicit content which is only suitable for mature readers. This story has a
heat rating
of
Total-e-sizzling
and a
sexometer
of
1.

Supernatural Mates

NOTHING TO DO WITH PRIDE

Amber Kell

Book four in the Supernatural Mates Series

The search for a damaged coyote shifter leads KC into the arms of her sexy brother.

KC thinks Dennis is the sexiest shifter he’s ever met. When the sheriff asks him to help Dennis find his potentially feral sister, sparks fly.

In the middle of hunting down a missing sister, surviving a plane crash and stopping the sheriff from killing Dennis, KC finds that although the search for true love isn’t always smooth it is worth the adventure.

For my fans who wanted Dennis to have a happy ending.

Trademarks Acknowledgement

The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmark mentioned in this work of fiction:

Formula One: Delta Topco

KC Fields watched Sheriff Lou Arktos leave the office and let out the sigh that had been building in his chest since the sheriff had walked in earlier. Pining didn’t suit him, but he still wondered what would’ve happened if he’d made his move before James came to town. The troubled man had hobbled down Main Street with his cane and his tortured soul and snatched the sheriff’s heart as easily as if it were a low-hanging apple on a tree.

It would be easy to hate the other man, but with as much pain as James had gone through before learning he was a lion shifter, KC didn’t have it in him to feel any resentment.

Hell, KC couldn’t even find it in him to hate his abusive asshole of a father. Okay…maybe he did harbour a little anger.

Still, if the big bear shifter had ever shown a smidgen of interest in him, KC would’ve laid himself out on the desk and offered his ass to the sexy man. Maybe that was the problem. Maybe he was too easy.

Shaking his head at his foolish thoughts, KC returned his attention to his computer screen. He’d promised the sheriff he’d finish processing all the paperwork and concentrate on finding the missing coyote. From what Lou said, KC suspected the woman had gone feral and couldn’t be saved. However, he hadn’t shared his suspicions with the sheriff. He hated to give anyone bad news. Not to mention the missing coyote’s brother was smoking hot and KC wouldn’t mind knowing the man better. Whenever he saw Dennis, the poor coyote shifter had a beaten-down look—shoulders rounded, head down, and if a black cloud could actually follow someone, KC suspected it would be shooting lightning bolts at the coyote as he walked down the street. Between betraying his friend, losing his sister, and being the natural enemy of Adrian, the lion pride’s alpha mate, the sad shifter couldn’t catch a break.

On the plus side, Lou had asked KC to use his investigative skills to find Dennis’ sister.

If he did a good job, maybe the sheriff would give KC more responsibility. Although he didn’t mind doing office work, he knew he could offer a lot more. KC loved to help and he especially loved assisting the sheriff.
Louis Arktos had rescued him as a young, homeless, battered shifter and had given him a job and a sense of self-esteem. There wasn’t anything KC wouldn’t do for the sheriff, and if he couldn’t help the big guy personally, at least his computer and organisational skills were useful.

The outside door swung quietly inwards. KC looked up from his work to find his gaze trapped in a sea of blue.

“Are you KC?” Dennis stood at the other side of the counter surrounding KC’s desk.

KC nodded. He’d only seen the coyote a few times in the distance. Up close, the man’s eyes were bluer than he remembered and Dennis’ black hair had random streaks of gold.

KC’s libido revved up like a Formula One race car.

“I’m Dennis. The sheriff told me you might be able to help me find my sister.”

KC shrugged. “I’m certainly going to try.”

Dennis walked around the reception counter and held out his hand. “Nice to meet you.

I really appreciate you helping out.”

KC shook the offered hand and bit back a moan. The coyote shifter pushed all of his hot buttons. The slide of palm against palm gave him all kinds of ideas about other things he’d like to feel sliding together.

Mentally giving himself a shake, he released Dennis’ hand and settled back down in his chair. The man had come to have KC help him find his missing sister—not to be jumped by a horny fox shifter.

“Have a seat.” He indicated the visitor’s chair tucked away next to the wall.

Dennis grabbed the chair and sat beside him.

Looking at the earnest man next to him, KC shared his suspicions. “My biggest concern is she might have gone feral.”

Hell, KC was almost positive the woman had gone feral. From what he’d learnt, she’d been captured, tortured and who knew what else. It would be a miracle if she didn’t snap and go on a killing spree. Although they’d discovered the place Candice had been incarcerated last week, she was still missing and there were few clues to her current location.

Dennis nodded. “Me too. I’m hoping we can find her before she starts hurting people.”
“I’ve already started a search, tracking any sightings of a coyote where there shouldn’t be any. You know—attacks, news reports, that sort of thing.” If she’d gone feral, her ability to shift back to human would’ve been buried beneath her animal instincts.

“Any luck?” Dennis leant so close that KC felt his breath against his neck when he turned his head.

He swallowed back a moan before he continued. “Maybe. I’m waiting to hear back from some people. From the few sightings I’ve found, I think she might be heading east. Is there anyone on the East Coast she knows? Ex-boyfriend, good friend, someone willing to help her out?”

Dennis paled. “Her son, Ethan. She had him when she was just a teen and put him up for adoption. A few years ago he found her. They’ve been corresponding since then. I wouldn’t be surprised if the People Against Werekin members used him as a threat to get her cooperation.”

KC frowned at this new information. This should’ve come up when he’d searched her background, but then the child’s files were probably sealed. Not that that little fact was usually a problem. He pulled up his database again. “That’s easy enough to find out. Do you have his number?”

Dennis nodded. “I already called and checked up on him, but I didn’t want him to think anything was wrong. He’s sixteen and pretty perceptive. Too many questions would’ve triggered suspicion. As far as Ethan knows, his mother is doing fine and will call him soon.

She might want to go to New York just to get visual verification that he’s all right. As far as I know, she likes the people who adopted him. They’ve been really supportive of Ethan finding his natural mother and have no problem with her talking to him on the phone or letting her visit. She used to work for a travel agency and got really good deals on flights.”

Tapping his fingers on the keyboard, KC thought about all he’d learned about Candice.

“So you think if we go see Ethan, we’ll find your sister?”

Dennis shrugged. “Possibly. Do you have any sightings in New York?”

“Where in New York does Ethan live?”

“Near Albany.”

“There are coyote sightings there all the time. Right now I’m searching for any particularly aggressive coyotes that people reported to the police. So far nothing pops out.”
Dennis sighed. “She used to be so happy but from what the others have said, she lost a large portion of her sanity after all the tests those haters conducted on her.”

“Why did they want her so badly?” KC still wasn’t sure about the plan this group was behind—it was like each faction had their own agenda. Research, torture, slavery—the groups had them all covered, though thankfully they hadn’t mastered any of them.

“Maybe they need a psychotic soldier?” Dennis offered in a dry voice. “How the hell would I know? We could ask the people who captured her but they’re all dead.”

“That does make it difficult to interrogate them,” KC agreed.

Dennis sat in the oddly comfortable chair and sneaked glances at the beautiful fox shifter. Even if he hadn’t heard it around town, he’d have known what creature KC shifted into. The man’s red hair couldn’t have screamed fox any louder than if he’d used a megaphone. Dennis had never found red hair appealing before, but KC’s hair had a rich beauty that made Dennis want to plunge his fingers into the soft looking strands and then see if KC’s pink lips could possibly taste as good as they looked.

KC tilted one red brow at him. “It might take me a bit to hunt down further sightings.

Why don’t you give me your number? I’ll call you when I find something.”

Dennis accepted the sticky note KC held out and quickly scrawled his name and number across it. “I can be reached at this number. If you can’t get hold of me, call the pride house.” He heard the bitterness in his voice and was instantly ashamed. The pride had helped him a great deal despite his behaviour towards one of their own.

The fox shifter stared at him a while. “I thought the pride were good people?”

“They are,” Dennis agreed, nodding his head. “I’m just not their favourite person. They only let me live there because they rescued me and know I don’t have any place to go. I’m not Adrian’s best friend since his wolf hates my coyote. And after being forced to betray Payce to try to save my sister…well, he’s friendly but I don’t think we’re buddies anymore.”

It still hurt to see the lack of warmth in Payce’s eyes. The werejaguar used to hug him whenever they met. Since the betrayal, Payce hadn’t treated him the same. Some of it was due to the fact that his werelion mate wanted to rip off Dennis’ head and treat it like a soccer ball, but Dennis knew a lot of it was that Payce still hadn’t forgiven Dennis for his betrayal.
1
He could tell Payce wanted to forgive and forget, but sometimes when a trust is broken it takes a while to rebuild. He didn’t blame Payce, but that didn’t stop it from hurting.

Sighing, Dennis got to his feet. As much as he’d like to kiss the fox shifter, there was an air of fragility about the pretty man that had him stepping lightly. He didn’t need to add the sheriff to the number of people who disliked him. He had enough enemies. Besides if he ruined things with the fox shifter, he didn’t have anyone else to turn to for help in finding his sister. He needed to locate Candice before she did something she couldn’t forgive herself for.

She might appear to be a psycho killer, but Dennis still remembered her as the shy teenaged girl who sneaked food to him at his rundown apartment after their parents kicked him out.