Karen Whiddon: The Texas Shifter's Mate

Lost Mermaid. Werewolf Protector.

When Zach Cantrell’s mermaid sister disappears, he goes looking for answers. What he finds instead is Shayla Dover, a mermaid princess moonlighting as a paranormal investigator. Even for a mermaid, she’s mesmerizingly gorgeous... Not that it should matter to Zach. His marriage has already been arranged. Shayla has her own reasons to keep her distance from this sexy shifter.

But, after an attack on Shayla’s life, their undeniable attraction quickly grows into something much deeper. Soon they find themselves pitted in a race against time amid a sea of lies, betrayal and an enemy that threatens them both...

Outside, in the deserted alley, she turned to him. Surprised, he gazed down at her, waiting to hear what she wanted to say.

Instead, she pulled him down and kissed him.

There was no hesitation on the sensual movement of her lips on his. The first touch ignited a fire. He tugged her close, body to body, and kissed her back.

Emotions—desire, certainly, but something stronger—flared. He lost track of time, forgot where they were, because everything about her filled up his entire world. He wanted to push her up against the wall and make love to her right then, right there.

When they finally broke apart, each was breathing hard.

“I want you,” she said, her forehead resting against his chest.

“I want you too,” he replied.

KAREN WHIDDON started weaving fanciful tales for her younger brothers at the age of eleven. Amid the gorgeous Catskill Mountains, then the majestic Rocky Mountains, she fueled her imagination with the natural beauty surrounding her. Karen now lives in North Texas, writes full-time and volunteers for a boxer dog rescue. She shares her life with her hero of a husband and four to five dogs, depending on if she is fostering. You can email Karen at kwhiddon1@aol.com. Fans can also check out her website, www.karenwhiddon.com.

The Texas Shifter’s Mate

Karen Whiddon

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Dear Reader,

I’ve always, always, always wanted to write a mermaid book. Timing or whatever never worked out and I’m pleased to have been finally able to write my mermaid heroine—and a handsome, wolf shape-shifter hero.

For this story, I returned to Galveston, Texas, a location I’ve visited many times over the years since my husband’s sister lives there. There’s a lot of history on this island, and it seemed the perfect place to set a story like this. Creating The Shadow Agency was fun, too, and I’d hoped to write more books featuring this paranormal investigative agency, but it wasn’t meant to be.

I hope you enjoy this story. Love, missing women, crazed evil scientists and the ocean—what more can anyone ask for!

Happy reading!

Karen Whiddon

Dedicated to animal rescuers everywhere.

Those who work in the trenches, saving lives, fostering, transporting, evaluating, doing home visits for potential adopters and showing animals love so they can find their forever homes.

I salute you!

Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text

Introduction

About the Author

Title Page

Dear Reader

Dedication

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Extract

Copyright

Chapter 1

The heavy oak door, scarred and weathered, looked like it had been salvaged from an ancient medieval castle. Above, a simple sign. No words, just a rusted iron bar from which hung two chain links, each half of what had once been whole. There were no lanterns, not even a streetlight to illuminate the shadows. The entrance sat near the end of a dead-end alley, innocuous enough that no soul, human or otherwise, would give it a second glance. Unless of course, one knew what lay inside. No humans ever would.

Shayla Dover had learned of Broken Chains, the bar behind the battered door, from her friend Maddie Kinslow, who happened to be a Shape-shifter. They’d met at a spin class. Maddie had known right away that Shayla wasn’t human, and hadn’t batted even an eyelash when Shayla had revealed her true nature. Of course, during her first visit with Maddie to Broken Chains, Shayla had learned being a Mermaid in human form wasn’t even the most uncommon of the numerous paranormal beings frequenting the bar.

Broken Chains accepted everyone. The only criteria—no human could ever enter. Vampires, Shape-shifters of all types, as well as Mermaids, Spirits and Wraiths mingled free of judgments, vendettas or complaints. A live band played most nights, rotating groups with enough different genres of music to suit all tastes. The small dance floor stayed crowded, and snagging a table became a matter of luck and skill.

Alcohol was sold, as well as specialty beverages that suited each particular kind of clientele. One sign boasted that Broken Chains carried twenty-seven varieties of blood, especially popular among the Vampire crowd.

Shayla loved the place. For the first time since making the choice to live on land, she felt she had found a spot where she belonged as much as she did under the sea.

While she’d known Houston and areas south of there had to be teeming with non-humans, she hadn’t given much thought to the sheer variety of species. In Broken Chains, she’d met numerous Shape-shifters, Vampires and even a Merfolk or two. From Maddie, Shayla had learned how many different kinds of Shape-shifters there actually were. The Wolves, along with their governing body, the Pack, were the most numerous. But there were Lions and Leopards and Bears, even Dragons! Of course, some considered the Merfolk a kind of Shape-shifter, since they could change their beautiful, shimmering fish tail into human legs. None of that mattered once inside Broken Chains. Everyone was welcome.

Tonight, Shayla and Maddie were meeting for drinks after Maddie got off work. Maddie worked as a police dispatcher for Galveston PD and hated her job.

Shayla was self-employed, doing well running an internet business she’d founded specializing in rare artifacts found under the sea. Though she occasionally loved to scour the ocean floor, her family also gladly kept her supplied with inventory. The market for collectors, until now untapped, seemed limitless. Due to the priceless nature of her inventory, she only needed one or two big sales per quarter to be prosperous. Most times she did much better than that. She loved being an entrepreneur, loved the treasure-hunting aspect of her work and enjoyed the income her job provided.

Still, despite her success, she found herself often at loose ends. She’d begun thinking about what other type of business she might start. Maybe something that Maddie could help out with, something that would get her friend away from her stressful dispatcher job.