A Mate Among the Enemy [Wolf's Pass Shifters 3] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting) Read online

  Wolf’s Pass Shifters 3

  A Mate Among the Enemy

  Lee and Evan believe they’ve found their mate, but is she with their enemy? Shay is caught in a bad situation, forced to help her father hunt shifters. When Lee and Evan approach her and tell her she’s their mate, she’s afraid of what might happen when they find out who her father is.

  Shay finds out that she is actually part shifter, which is why she can sense other shifters. Her father has used her all these years, knowing she wasn’t his daughter. It explains the abuse. She feels as if she’s betrayed her mother and wonders how her mates can love her.

  When it comes to a showdown, Shay proves her loyalty to the pack and her mates by risking her life to protect the pregnant females of the pack. It comes at a great cost, but Shay is certain she’s done the right thing.

  Genre: Contemporary, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Paranormal, Romantic Suspense, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 40,090 words

  A MATE AMONG THE ENEMY

  Wolf's Pass Shifters 3

  Marla Monroe

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  A MATE AMONG THE ENEMY

  Copyright © 2017 by Marla Monroe

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-318-4

  First Publication: May 2017

  Cover design by Les Byerley

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  DEDICATION

  To all of you who held on while I grieved. I am forever grateful.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marla Monroe has been writing professionally for nearly twelve years. Her first book with Siren was published in January 2011, and she now has over 75 books available with them. She loves to write and spends every spare minute either at the keyboard or reading. She writes everything from sizzling-hot cowboys, emotionally charged BDSM, and dangerously addictive shifters to science fiction ménages with the occasional badass biker thrown in for good measure.

  Marla lives in the southern US and works full-time at a busy hospital. When not writing, she loves to travel, spend time with her feline muses, and read. Although she misses her cross-stitch and putting together puzzles, she is much happier writing fantasy worlds where she can make everyone’s dreams come true. She’s always eager to try something new and thoroughly enjoys the research she does for her books. She loves to hear from readers about what they are looking for in their reading adventures.

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Dedication

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Landmarks

  A MATE AMONG THE

  ENEMY

  Wolf's Pass Shifters 3

  MARLA MONROE

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  Slam.

  Shay Franks’ father slapped his hand on the table, eliciting a soft crack.

  “Did you or didn’t you find one, Shay? We don’t have time for this nonsense. You know what happens if you disobey me. I’m your father. You do what I say.”

  She glanced behind her father to where her older brother, Jack Jr., and their cousin, Charlie, stood waiting to see what happened next. If her father decided to hit her, they’d egg him on and sometimes get in on slapping her around. They were always watching her. The way they watched her made her sick at her stomach. They were her relatives.

  “I didn’t catch a scent. I thought for a second I had, but it was one of those trappers who hadn’t bathed in a while. He smelled of the animals he killed.” Would he believe her?

  Why did that scent hit me the way it did? I swear it smelled as if the shifter wearing it had rolled around in balsam and cedar with maybe a hint of peppermint. Peppermint, really?

  The balsam and cedar made sense to her. Most shifters had a hint of wilderness beneath their personal aroma. The fact that she didn’t feel any aversion to those scents had never occurred until that moment. In fact, they pulled at her, insisting that she follow them.

  Her father took one threatening step around the well-used table in her direction. She knew better than to run. That only made the punishment worse. Why hadn’t she already left? Just packed her bags and ran?

  Because I know if I do, he’ll track me down and kill me. Why does he seem to hate me so much?

  She hadn’t done anything to earn the look of distaste she saw in his eyes every time he glanced her way.

  Her father’s hate of the shifters was the only thing that saved her. Shay was sure of it. His anger almost seemed to be a living, breathing entity that festered inside of him. He scared her when he got riled up while hunting the shifters. Shay guessed he had a right to his anger, maybe even a righteous one, but taking it out on every shifter alive was overboard. The one who’d killed her mother was already dead, and he’d killed some twenty others that she knew about.

  Shay’s mother had been killed by a shifter when she was six years old. She couldn’t remember much about that night other than the screaming and yelling and the horrible wolf that her father had killed after it had killed her mom. She could still see its eyes when they’d turned on her just before her father shot it in the chest. The light brown orbs had seemed to see all the way inside of her as if trying to impart some great message. Then they’d gone glassy as it breathed its last.

  Shay remembered the musky scent of the room along with an acrid smell she hadn’t understood at the time.
Her father had pushed her outside the room, telling her it was too horrible for her young eyes. Now she associated that scent with fear. It had a taste, as well, and seemed to feed the scent if she held her mouth just right.

  That acrid scent was the same one she got whenever her father’s group or one of the other bunch of shifter hunters located one and captured or killed it. Though she was often used to find the shifters, Shay refused to be a part of it and normally stayed in her room while they were out hunting, praying the Good Lord would keep the poor men well hidden from her father’s demented anger. She hated being a part of it even knowing she had no choice. She was positive that one day it would be her on the other end of that gun or knife.

  Sometimes, when one was captured before she could run and hide in their rooms, the poor shifter looked at her with that same soul-searing stare that drilled right through her. Sometimes their eyes portrayed accusation and betrayal. She didn’t understand that last part. How could she betray them if she wasn’t one of them?

  “The bastard did smell rank. Bloodhound over there would have had her nosed plugged with all that shit in the air.” Her brother shoved his hands in his pockets. “Better to wait until the trappers finish their business and then go hunting. She’s worthless to us right now.”

  “I’m not a fucking bloodhound! I’m your sister. Stop talking about me like that.”

  “You’re—”

  “Stop it right now. Both of you, before I take my belt to you.” Her father didn’t stick up for her, only stopped Jack from finishing whatever he was going to say.

  Sometimes she swore they all knew a secret that related to her. She’d tried to ask one time and ended up nursing a bruised cheek for a week. Now she was sure it had to do with her mother’s death.

  That single moment in time of her mom’s death had shaped her entire future. Her father had made it his life’s mission to eradicate shifters from the face of the earth, or at least the United States. He followed every report of shifter activities as well as other groups like the ones called HAS, Humans Against Shifters. All Shay knew was that she was tired of the constant moving around and the way her father used her but didn’t seem to have much else to do with her otherwise.

  Why did she have the ability to locate shifters? She saw it as a curse. Her father had said it was God’s way of giving them vengeance. Being any part of what they did felt all wrong to her. It was as if having been in the presence of that wolf as it died had imparted on her the ability to always know when she was in the presence of one. She’d been around lots of shifters she’d never told her father about, and none of them had ever done anything to her or anyone around them while she watched them.

  At first I was happy that he included me and that I was important to him at long last. I think he’s disappointed that I wasn’t a boy who he could teach how to hunt and annihilate the vermin that took Mom from us. Well, from him. I don’t remember her much now. Jack remembers her but won’t talk about her.

  She didn’t think she really counted outside of that one ability. Oh, and she could cook. None of the men in their little group could cook worth a damn, so everything fell on her shoulders. They never said anything good to her. Not about her cooking or how clean she kept the various pigsties they stayed in. The only time any of them ever had anything to say to her, it concerned food, laundry, or where had she last picked up a scent for them to follow.

  Slap!

  “Are you listening to me?” Her father’s voice cut through her misery. “I want you out there every day until you locate more of them. Then see if you can learn where they’ve denned up. We need to take out more than one or two. We need to get an entire nest of the fuckers. Understand?” He glared at her, his hands planted wide on the table.

  “Okay. Maybe I should get a job at the grocery store or one of the other stores where I can get closer to them without them wondering why they see so much of me. I could also listen for gossip about them while I’m at work.”

  Shay had her own reasons for working. She could pocket some of the money to add to her hidden savings for when she managed to get away from them.

  Jack Sr. seemed to consider her idea but shook his head. “Maybe later. Right now, just nose around and try to blend in. The boys and I are going to check out the local bar and that dive just outside of town. Might come up on some like-minded citizens who know more.”

  She knew he’d do more drinking than anything. They always came home drunk when they went out snooping at bars. She didn’t much care except that if her father passed out and the other two didn’t, she got nervous and had to lock the bedroom door. This place didn’t have a lock on the door. She’d have shoved the dresser in front of the door if that happened.

  Why can’t we just get on with our lives and forget the shifters? I can’t even remember my mom anymore, and my entire life has been one town after another.

  She’d barely finished high school because of it.

  “How about I escort you around tomorrow, Shay.” Her cousin, Charlie, leered at her as he leaned on the table next to her father.

  She had to fight not to choke on the putrid body odor wafting off of him. She knew he showered on a regular basis, so all she could come up with was that all the sweating he seemed to do caused the stench that surrounded him.

  He’s like Pig-Pen on Peanuts.

  “Thanks, Charlie, but I think I’ll look a little less intimidating alone. People might not talk with you around. You know, the women and kids.”

  “She’s right. Even some of the kids might know something, and they won’t talk around a grown-up. They won’t think of Shay as an adult if she’s by herself. She looks more like a kid in that getup she wears than a grown woman.” Her father pushed back from the table and turned around. “Let’s go. Might as well hit the bar now. Folks will be getting off work soon.”

  Shay was glad to see them go but doubted many people got off work before three or four. It was only a little after two. At least it gave her some privacy to take a nice long shower and shave her legs. She barely got wet when she bathed if the guys were around. Again, there wasn’t a lock on the bathroom door, and they’d accidently walked in on her before.

  Nausea welled up at the idea of either of them wanting to touch her. It was sick. Why wasn’t her father picking up on that and setting them straight? She’d told him once before that Charlie was looking at her in a bad way, and he’d only laughed and told her she was seeing things.

  “Who’d want to bed you with how you look? You’re fat and you dress like a boy more than a woman. Don’t start some shit with me or them. Got it?”

  I swear after this hunt I’m walking away. He can’t make me stay with him now. I’m twenty-three. I can find my own way and make a home for myself. I deserve a life of my own. I’ve lived his version of it for the last seventeen years.

  * * * *

  “It’s your turn to run into town for supplies, Lee. You and Evan haven’t been in at least a month.” Kindle planted his hands on his hips.

  “You just want to stick close to Ariel. We know what you’re up to.” Evan’s voice had lowered into a soft snarl. “I know we’ve been since the two of you.”

  “Stop it, guys. With both Nessa and Gabby pregnant, we’re divided enough. I know shopping duty isn’t something we normally manage, but there’s no way with HAS and others out there trying to get to us that the Alpha is going to have one of the bond mates of a whelping female running off to shop. Father won’t even allow them to pull guard duty. Their duty is to guard their mate and keep her safe and happy.” Levi, their soon-to-be Alpha and the oldest of the Shoewater clan, put an end to the debate. “The Alpha has Kindle and Galen watching after Ariel and her sisters. We can’t let anything happen to her or the others. That leaves you to handle the shopping right now. “

  “Fine, but don’t blame me if Evan pisses someone off. He always does,” Lee groused.

  “No snarling at the humans.” Levi shook his head. “What am I going to do with you,
Evan? We’ve got to blend in and get along with the humans here, or they’re all going to join HAS. Do you want to have an all-out war on our hands?”

  “No.” Evan shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “I can’t help it. They act stupid sometimes. I swear that I’m going to eat the next one who pisses me off.”

  “See, I can’t take him anywhere.” Lee shrugged, trying to hide his smile. As much as he loved his brother, he still tended to egg him on in his dislike of humans.

  “Any trouble, and I’ll take it out of your hides. Got it?” Levi glared at each of them. “Both of you. So, Lee, you’d better keep your bond mate under control.”

  He didn’t dare tell his older brother that it wasn’t fair to tie him with Evan like that. He knew both Levi and Aaron, Levi’s brother and the future Beta, were well aware that he caused most of the trouble between Evan and the humans when they were out in public. He decided to remain silent and attempt to look contrite.

  “Not working. We’re on to you.” Levi turned to walk off. “Now get to town and grab those supplies. Don’t forget to bring Nessa’s Triple Chocolate Delight ice cream back, and don’t hang around too long. HAS members continue to patrol Cascade. I want you safely back on Shoewater land before nightfall.”

  “Leave me be, Lee. I don’t want to get my ass handed to me again. Levi shows no mercy when I do something stupid around the humans. Usually you’re the cause of it, too.” Evan shoved Lee as he turned toward the kitchen door.

  “Grab the list, bro. We need to get on the road. I want to be back in time to catch a glimpse of Dara when she takes her evening run. She’s got the prettiest fur in the setting sun.” Lee ignored his brother’s upturned lip. Why Evan didn’t like Dara he didn’t understand.