Page 2 of Claiming the Shifter’s Heart (The Macconwood Pack Tales #16)

K ris stalked through the forest lining the property's edge in Wolf form. He’d been doing that every single night for the past six weeks. He couldn’t help himself.

It was a biological imperative that he keep watch over the beautiful woman and her precious young.

Mine.

When in his fur, it was difficult to keep notions like that from filling his mind. Dual-natured creatures such as him were always learning to balance their beast and human sides.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her. The first night they met, she’d been attacked by her ex. A nasty motherfucker, Kris still wished he’d killed. But he’d been given an order and the soldier in him obeyed.

Life had been long and hard for Kristoff in ways he’d never expected or imagined. First as a soldier, then as a cop. Violence was a common enough occurrence in both his chosen professions, and he had seen enough of it for two lifetimes.

Maybe more.

He’d recently relocated to Maccon City, hoping to find some peace. The pleasant Jersey Shore town was scenic and quiet. And it had the added bonus of being the base of operations for the Macconwood Pack.

When the Alpha, Rafe Maccon, invited him to the Manor, he’d been expecting it. An invitation to work as an Enforcer, the Wolf Pack’s version of private security, was something he’d been proud to get. And thank fuck for that.

Pushing forty, he never expected to find his mate at all, much less on the job. But he had. Only his scruples and overdeveloped moral compass had stopped him from pursuing her right away.

That didn’t stop him from seeking every tidbit of information he could find on the woman. She was fascinating and the Wolf in him was hooked.

What had he learned from all his research? Unfortunately, just the basics.

Della O’Neil Connors was a Crow Shifter from down south. A little place not even on the map deep inside Georgia called Dawn Valley.

Her people were closed off and kept to themselves. Apparently, Crows didn’t like strangers snooping into their lives and his inquiries had been shut down hard.

Still, they were supes on US soil and that meant they had to obey the Shifter Council and High Council alike. The Macconwood Pack lawyers were working to help Della on legal fronts, and he was being kept up to date by her lawyer after he’d explained to the man what he was.

Dib Lowell was an honest man and a member of one of the Alpha’s own Wolf Guard. Still, he would only tell Kris the basics. That he was still in discussions with the attorney representing the Dawn Valley Murder. And that they were stalling.

The fuckers.

His Wolf was so on edge, it was all he could do to stop himself from traipsing down there and ridding the world of the entire fucking lot of them.

Instead, he kept coming back to her place, making sure Della and her sweet babes were safe. They were so precious. So perfect.

Mine , his Wolf growled again.

Kris could only hope the beast was right and that someday she would, indeed, belong to him in every way.

Some day.