Page 17 of Claiming the Shifter’s Heart (The Macconwood Pack Tales #16)

T he thing about the human brain was it could find a way to justify almost anything. Take sex, for instance.

Sex was a natural thing to do. Add in a couple of dual-natured creatures powered by magic and blessed by the Fates, and this sex against a barn door at your place of business was what happened.

Not that the farm was his forever job. Volunteering as Santa was a Pack thing, after all.

It brought him closer to his mate, and after what they just did together, Kristoff was certain she was almost ready to admit it. A wind howled through a crack in the barn door, and Kris hugged Della tightly, noting the shiver that raced through her sweet body.

“Cold?”

“A little.”

She nodded, still catching her breath, and a sense of purely masculine pride rolled through him.

A minute later, he heard someone coming. He tucked Della into his side and opened the door as Cassie came running in.

“Kris? Della?! Oh my God, I am so glad I found you. You must have left your phone in the car. Look your neighbor called?—”

“What is it, Cassie?”

“There’s an emergency. Y-your kids, someone took your kids,” the human woman cried.

“No!” Della screamed, clutching at me.

“Let’s go,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards his truck.

He unlocked and tossed his phone onto her lap gently as he pulled onto the road. Kris was driving as fast as he could down the icy roads, they’d had some precipitation earlier and it had frozen over with the drop in temperatures.

Black ice was a killer in the Garden State.

“Call Samantha.”

“Sam, what happened?” Della said.

The knuckles of her left hand were white where it gripped his, and he squeezed back, letting her know he was there for her. His Wolf was scratching at his skin. The beast demanding to be let out.

Not yet.

First, he needed to get back to her place and pick up a scent, then he could track them. The second she ended the call with Sam, he asked what happened.

“What happened, Baby?”

“S-someone broke in through the upstairs window. Aunt Eileen had just put down Janie, and Sean was on the bed reading a book when she went to get a glass of water for him. When she got back, they were gone,” she said, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Fuck. We’re gonna get them back. I swear it,” he said.

“I-it’s Cade’s brother and his mate. I-I had to see the lawyer today, and he told me they were trying to get custody of my babies,” she whimpered.

“Never gonna happen, Della. Hear me? I won’t ever let that happen. Now, I will apologize for this later, but let’s bring the kids home first, okay?”

He tapped the console, and a moment later, he had Dib Lowell on speaker.

“Kris? What’s going on?”

“You should have fucking told me someone was here for the kids,” Kris growled, ignoring Della’s shocked stare.

“How did you know he was my lawyer?” she asked, mouth gaping.

“Because I asked. Dib, you there?”

“Yeah, I’m fucking here. What’s going on? Oh, and sorry Della. It’s a Pack thing.”

“I asked a question, Dib. Now, what do you know about this Crow couple?”

“Blayne and Cynthia Connors, members in good standing of the Dawn Valley Murder. They are making an appeal to the Shifter Council for custody, stating they can provide a stable, secure two parent home. Now, I’ve been busy working to stop it. Why don’t you just claim the woman already, for fuck’s sake, Kris?”

“Fuck,” Kris growled, “You know where they were staying?”

“No, but ? —”

“Wait, what does he mean claim me already ?” Della asked.

“I’ll send out notices to the Pack Guard and the other Enforcers. Della, I am truly sorry about this. We will find them.”

Kris took a rough inhale and squeezed Della’s thigh. He was encouraged by the fact she hadn’t pushed him off yet. So he just kept right on holding her while he took a hard right turn, trying to find the right words to explain.

“Okay, this is not how I envisioned telling you this, but I’ve known it since the first time I laid eyes on you,” he said, turning to look at her as he pulled into her driveway.

“You’re my fated mate, Della. My Wolf knows it. I know it. And now you know it.”

“What? Are you joking?”

“It’s no joke. No lie. I am completely and totally yours, Sweet Girl. As for the kids, hell, I love them like my own already and my Wolf already claimed them as ours. I have every intention of giving you my bite, but only when you’re ready. And I don’t want you to feel pressured. I’m gonna get the kids back regardless of your answer, but Baby, you should know. I don’t give up easy.”

He cupped her neck, kissed her forehead, and got out of the truck. She hopped out after him, racing up the stairs to meet a frazzled Sam and a weeping Eileen.

“I’m so sorry!” the older woman cried.

“It’s all my fault.”

“No, this has Cade’s stink all over it,” Della said.

“What? He was banished,” Kris said, turning her to face him.

“You don’t understand,” she said, running to the room where the kids were last seen.

“Della, please explain.”

“Crows don’t follow Shifter law. They do what they want. I should have guessed earlier, but Blayne hates kids. He would only come here to pretend he was interested if Cade was already planning to come back. Goddamn him!” she raged at the last.

“Shit,” he growled. “It’s okay. Come on. Let’s try to catch his scent.”

“Crows have better eyesight than sense of smell,” she whispered, fat tears dragging down her cheeks.

“Then you can be my eyes, Della. Come on. There has to be a clue here somewhere,” he said and went to work sifting through the room.

“Here! He must have snagged it on that nail,” she said, holding up a piece of torn cloth.

“Perfect,” Kris said and kissed her head, racing downstairs to where Michael had just arrived and was holding his mate.

“Got a scent?” he asked.

“Yeah, looks like he climbed in the window. Fucker needed his arms to carry Janie,” Kris growled.

“There were no other tire treads, I checked. And I called reinforcements. They’re on their way,” Michael said.

“Footprints!” Della hollered, pointing towards the edge of the yard. “His brother likely carried them to right there. Cade and the kids would be too heavy even for an adult Crow to lift while shifted into his animal form.”

“Smart to stick to the tree line,” Michael said, already kicking off his shoes.

“Not smart enough.”

Kris’s eyes glowed as he joined the other male, shucking clothing. Rage raced through his veins. But he wasn’t lost to it. He turned, shocked to see Della right there beside him, stripping off her clothes.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to look for them, too. They’re my kids, Kris.” she said.

He inhaled and nodded. Of course, she was going to do that. She was an excellent mother and the bravest woman he’d ever met.

“Stay in the sky and call out when you see something. I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to you,” he said, cupping her cheek and kissing her before he let the Wolf take his skin.

The frosty air was nothing against his thick winter coat. Michael’s beast trotted ahead, sniffing for clues, but Kristoff’s Wolf stilled, mesmerized by the beautiful black Crow staring at him with velvet eyes before she took off straight into the sky like an arrow.

God, she was beautiful with glossy feathers and a fan-shaped tail. Shifters were larger than their wild cousins, and that went for Crows as well. Della’s Crow was enormous compared to them.

Her wingspan was easily six feet across, and her black beak looked powerful. She had a lithe and sleek body, aerodynamically designed for speed and flight, with fierce looking talons at the end of her sturdy legs.

She cawed, and he took off like a crimson bullet, cutting a path through the snowy forest floor and diving between trees. God, she was fast, too. Urgently she flew, and he loosed a short howl to tell Michael where he was headed.

Following her was instinctual. He trusted her to know what she was doing. If only he had bitten her. Then he might be able to hear her through a telepathic link some mated pairs shared.

He knew they had a matebond already. It was light and weak, but to form one without a bite was extremely rare. It spoke of how much he loved her already and how strong destiny was on their side.

The sound of a baby crying caught his ears, followed by Della’s fierce caw. Kris pushed harder. He didn’t want his mate entering danger alone. Michael was behind them, but he was too far, having veered off in the beginning to check out the footprints. Turned out those were a decoy.

Kris was close now, he could smell the soft baby smells of Janie and Sean, followed by the scents of their fear.

Both children were crying earnestly now, begging their father to stop. It was the single worst sound he could remember hearing in his entire adult life.

Then he heard something just as frightening for the big Werewolf.

He heard his mate hitting the ground and swapping feathers for skin.

Fuck.

He had to hurry.

“Sean! Janie!” Della yelled.

“What have you done now, bitch? You brought wolves. Always knew you were nothing but a slut,” the male sneered.

“Let go of them, Cade,” Della said, and pride rang through Kris at how strong she sounded.

No fear. Just pure grit.

“I can hear them, man. Come on, Cade, just leave the brats and that bitch. Let’s just go before those monsters get to us,” another male said, sounding scared.

“Nah, I ain’t leaving. This is my family. I’ll end you, bitch. Should kill you right now in front of them,” the first male, Cade, sneered.

Kris caught sight of the pathetic male as he dropped both Sean and a sobbing Janie on the ground. Della moved to shield them, but the weak prick had a gun in his hand. He raised his arm, spittle flying from his lips as he made a sound not quite human.

But his weak ass war cry turned into a scream of sheer terror as Kris vaulted over some thick, snow-covered brush.

His monster Wolf hit Cade with so much force, he didn’t even have to bite the man to kill him. He just snapped his neck using his front paws and body weight.

The same couldn’t be said for the other male. After Kris ensured Della had the children in hand and was checking them over while soothing them, he turned to face the sniveling male who’d come into his town, to his Pack, and tried to hurt his family, his mate.

“No, no, no, man! He made me! Please, I’m sorry!”

Kris didn’t doubt it for a minute that the man was sorry. He might even forgive him someday, but definitely not before he finished tearing out his throat.

Kidnapping piece of shit.

“Oh shit. Man, did you do all this?”

Michael stood beside three enormous men, Wolves from the Pack. He had a blanket around his waist, at least, to cover his nudity.

Still, Kris snarled, jumping in front of Della and the kids. He trembled when her soft hand found his back, both kids held tight to her body.

“Here,” one male said, averting his gaze and tossing her a couple of blankets.

She covered the children first then wrapped the other one around her like a cape. His Wolf felt better now that she was covered in front of males he didn’t necessarily know.

“Change back. We need to talk,” Dib, the Wolf he knew, said.

Kris did and stood in front of his family, still feeling raw. He turned and gathered Della and the kids to him kissing downy heads and nuzzling cheeks.

Sean turned in his mother’s arms and raised them towards Kris. He looked at Della, who nodded, fat tears glistening in her eyes.

“Come here,” he murmured soothingly.

“My dad was a bad man. He hurt Mommy a lot, and he stoled me and Janie.”

“I know. I’m so sorry, Buddy.”

Sean shrugged and sniffed, clutching him tight.

“Will you be my Dad now, Santa?” he whispered, and tilted his head back to look at Kris with big, trusting eyes.

Kris inhaled deeply, aware of the several ears listening to this very personal conversation. Della gasped, and he thought he saw hope flicker inside the depths of her warm, velvety eyes.

She nodded. And his heart soared.

“Yeah, Bud. I’m gonna be your Dad now,” he said, sniffing and kissing his little boy’s head, then pulling Della and Janie in for kisses of their own.

“I love you so much. All of you,” he told them.

“I love you too,” Della said, and dammit, he didn’t think his heart could feel any fuller.

Which was, of course, when the other shoe dropped.

“Sorry guys, um, Kris is going to have to come with me,” Dib said when they arrived back at the house.

“What? Why?” Della asked, stepping in front of him.

Both children were in a bath with Aunt Eileen watching over them, and Kris had shrugged back on his jeans, so he didn’t have to stand there like a princess in a blanket skirt. Dib eyed him and he sighed, knowing damn well why he had to go.

He took her hand and pulled her into the hallway with him. Her house was truly beautiful and old enough to have been built with integrity. It needed some repairs, and he could do that.

Hell. There was so much he wanted to do to it, for her, but first he had to pay the piper for his deed.

“Della, I know I said I would never leave you, but we have laws. I’m a former cop, believe me I know all about them.”

“You were a cop? I thought you made furniture?”

“Yeah. I do that, too,” he said.

“You ready?” Dib asked, knocking before stepping into the small hallway.

“One second, man. I am trying to explain.”

“Della, Kris acted in your defense with Cade, and because the threat to you was imminent, he was justified. I am certain I can get that charge wiped. But the Council is investigating this because of how Blayne went out. The way Kris killed him, well, the threat was not imminent.”

“But stuff like that happens all the time in the Shifter world!” she snapped.

“Yes, but usually that kind of threat is to a mate, and therefore justified. That kind of rage is acceptable when one of a claimed pair is put at risk.”

“But I am his mate! You said so!”

“I know, but neither of you has claimed the other, and the law is clear?—”

“I’m so sorry, Della. I know this makes me a liar, but I swear I will make it back to you,” Kris said, shaking with emotion.

“No, wait, stop!” Della shouted, following after the two men. “I claimed him!”

“What?” Dib asked.

“What? When did you bite me?” Kris echoed.

“I’m a Crow, not a Wolf,” she said, mischief sparkling in her brown eyes. “We don’t claim with bites. We scratch. And if you turn around, mate dear , you can show Mr. Lowell the scars I left on you the first night we were together,” she whispered, her cheeks heating prettily.

Kristoff turned around, trying to see them for himself. He couldn’t of course. Not without a mirror. But that didn’t stop him from trying.

“Stop, for fuck’s sake, you look like a dog chasing his tail. Okay, yep. You have been claimed, Kris. Congrats. Now, I’m going to spend Christmas with my family. I suggest you do the same!”