Theresa Meyers - One Night with the Shifter

Ty’s gaze dropped to the silky damp edge of her lips and he was lost.

He dipped down and kissed her. Her lips were soft and willing, tasting of peppermint. She tasted so damn sweet, hot and spicy all at once. Ty gripped the edge of the truck’s door frame, nearly denting the sheet metal with his fingertips. But he was determined to keep his hands to himself, even though they itched to touch her. Heat seeped through his shirt, the temperature difference amplified by the chill in the air. The kiss turned deeper, slicker, the tip of her tongue brushing against his. The spicy fragrance of female that spiked the air left no doubt she was aroused. When they broke apart, both of them were breathing hard, their breath creating white misty clouds.

Raised by a bibliophile who turned the family dining room into a library, THERESA MEYERShas always been a lover of books and stories. A writer first for newspapers then for national magazines, she started her first novel in high school. In 2005 she was selected as one of eleven finalists in the nation for the American Title II contest, the American Idol of books. She is married to the first man she ever went on a real date with (to their high school prom). They currently live in a Victorian house in the Pacific Northwest with their children, a large assortment of animals and an out-of-control herb garden. You can find her online at her website, www.theresameyers.com, on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/Theresa_Meyers, or on Facebook, at www.facebook.com/TheresaMeyersAuthor.

One Night

with the

Shifter

Theresa Meyers

www.millsandboon.co.uk

Before you start reading, why not sign up?

Thank you for downloading this Mills & Boon book. If you want to hear about exclusive discounts, special offers and competitions, sign up to our email newsletter today!

SIGN ME UP!

Or simply visit

signup.millsandboon.co.uk

Mills & Boon emails are completely free to receive and you can unsubscribe at any time via the link in any email we send you.

This story is dedicated to everyone who lives in a small town.

There are times you love it and there are times you hate it, but you can’t imagine living anywhere else.

And for Jerry, because I can’t imagine sharing parenting with anyone else. Thanks for helping me build our own little pack. You rock as a dad!

Contents

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

Excerpt

Chapter 1

This was not how he’d envisioned the rest of his life. Not even close. But when the world slid sideways, Tyee Grayson abandoned what he’d always known and jumped into the dark, primal abyss of the unknown.

The abyss just happened to be located outside the small town of Sinclair, Washington. Through the dark red lenses of his night-vision goggles, he counted four of his trainees hunkered down between the compact huckleberry bushes and the fir trees’ massive trunks.

He didn’t need the NVGs. He could easily see the men’s body warmth in the cool, misty night air, but it made training easier on the military recruits in his outdoor survival school program if they thought he was just like one of them.

Truth was, he anticipated that some of them would become just like him. New Werewolves he’d add to his pack of one. Hell, he had to start over somewhere, didn’t he?

Nash was growing antsy, shifting his weight and looking around as though he was nervous. He would give away the red team’s position if he didn’t sit still. Ty whispered instructions into the mic strapped against his cheek. “Nash, stay low. Wait for Red Leader’s signal.”

The recruit gave a quick nod—maintaining silence just as he’d been taught. Good. Extra points for red team.

The other five members of Ty’s training unit that formed the blue team were out in the dark, wet depths of the forest, closing in fast. Survival out here depended on each team staying sharp, using their wits and acting as a coordinated unit. There was no room for hotdogging in combat. You were either part of the team, or you went at it alone.

Alone sucked. Ty ought to know. A Were unwelcome in his pack and forced to go it alone only had so many choices. He could go stark raving mad and give the mortals a good reason to want him dead, he could isolate himself and die of loneliness or he could form a new pack.

He wasn’t the solitary or lunatic type. In fact, he’d been groomed most of his life as the Beta, second in command, of the Wenatchee Were Pack beneath its old Alpha, Bracken, to one day become the pack’s Alpha. But that was before the Cascade Clan vampires had interfered in their pack and changed everything. Damn bloodsuckers. If not for those vampires, he could have been the leader of an established, seasoned pack. Instead he was here, exiled, attempting to create a pack of his own.

Ty tapped his headset, changing channels. “Blue Leader, are you closing in on the target?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, execute tree flyer.”

He stood back, watching the blue team shimmy up the trees, preparing to attack the red team from overhead. His outdoor survival school had been a stroke of genius. He could pick over the finest recruits the military bases around here had to offer, and make enough to set himself up on the outside fairly well.

Out of all the students in his first season of outdoor survival specialist training, Riley Brierly was the best candidate to become a member of his pack. The kid was smart, tough, knew how to follow orders and had been trained by the finest in U.S. military.

Mike Johnson was a close second, neck and neck with Collin Campbell. A wolfish smile curled Ty’s mouth in the dark. Three cubs. A nice start to his Olympic Pack. Not bad, especially considering he didn’t even have a mate.

At least there weren’t any Were packs in the area. Ty suspected it was because the Cascade Vampire Clan was so close. The small town of Sinclair sat directly across the Puget Sound from downtown Seattle, an hour-long ferry ride away from vampire central. No Were in his right mind would want to live that close. But he had little choice. He had to take territory where he could, to form a family of his own. A lone Were wasn’t going to be welcomed into an existing pack, like those that occupied the coast.

The blue team yelled as they dove out of the trees onto the startled red team. The men rolled about, throwing punches and kicking out at one another. Grunts and the smack of flesh against flesh resounded loudly in the night air.

“Companies, halt!”

The men stopped midmotion and turned toward Ty as he emerged soundlessly from the bushes. “Blue Leader. Extra points for your team for executing the overhead attack so well. Extra steak at dinner.” The recruits elbowed one another in the ribs and grinned.

“Red Leader. What happened?”

“We didn’t expect them to attack from above, sir.”

Ty narrowed his eyes and pointed up at the trees. “Out here, danger is everywhere. Where you least expect it. What’s rule number one of survival?”

“Know your surroundings, sir,” they all said in monotone unity.

Ty nodded. “Good.”

“Red team, you need to act as a team. Not a bunch of individuals working in the same group. You should have had one man assigned to watch above, in addition to your sides, back and front. Did you?”