Slate's Surrender: Read online

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and/or being used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations are entirely coincidental.

  Slate’s Surrender, Black Hills Shifters Book 2

  Copyright 2018 Maura O’Brien

  Cover Art by Elisa Leigh

  Image from Adobe Stock

  All rights reserved.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the author. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase, or it was not purchased for your use only then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Published in the United States of America.

  Slate’s Surrender

  Black Hills Shifters

  Book 2

  M. Merin

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Epilogue

  Prologue

  I have a secret I’ve never told a soul.

  One day, when I was about ten, the entire school had an outing; a picnic, down near the river. I saw one of the high school boys heading around the bend, past the area we were told to stay in. After looking around, to make sure no one noticed me, I slowly faded into the tree line – moving softly like dad showed me how the few times he had taken me hunting.

  I didn’t have any especially close friends in my class. All the girls ever wanted to talk about was which of the boys they thought was the cutest – and that changed weekly, depending on whose feelings had been slighted or whatever their criteria was. I didn’t care about any of the boys in our class or the class above ours.

  I had spent most of that day reading a book, and had quickly put that aside to follow him. Not imagining he’d go very far, I was surprised when he called out to someone else. Together, they continued on, getting further away from the group but I didn’t care because Slate was one of the two boys. It was he and his brother, Cole; Slate is six years older than me and doesn’t know I exist.

  Near another bend where the river widens, I started to get worried. I was far enough away from the group that if I got caught my parents would get a call from the school. Again. And I’m already enough of a worry to them, especially since mom was diagnosed with breast cancer.

  My mind was tangled up with thoughts of mom when I realized I had gotten close enough that I could make out their conversation. Cole’s voice stopped me in my tracks and his words have stayed with me all these years.

  “You just shouldn’t, dickwad,” he sounded annoyed, like they’ve had the same conversation over and over again. “There’s no point in it until you scent the one.”

  Huh? ‘Scent the one’? What does that even mean?

  “The point would be someone, other than me, playing with my dick,” Slate growled back at him. “Annie basically offered IT, if I take her to the dance.”

  “Little brother, I don’t want to fight with you today. I’m ready for lunch, now – how about you?” Cole sounds disappointed.

  “Anything other than those god-awful hotdogs they’re pushing on us back there,” Slade’s voice is upbeat again. “What are you waiting for? Let’s fish!”

  I peek around the tree I was hiding behind and see them taking their clothes off. What!? I quickly duck down into the tall grass. What the H-E-double hockey sticks are they doing? They said they were going to fish?

  Lifting my head up bit by bit, Slate is completely naked and I’m staring at his backside. Then his body starts to shudder and it looks like he was having some sort of attack – in the background, Cole’s actions were mirroring his brother’s and the next thing I knew, I was somehow looking at two bears.

  One of the bears stuck his nose into the air and, panicking, I meant to throw myself down and out of sight, but I hadn’t noticed the large stone near me.

  The next time I wake up, it’s almost dark out and there are faint screams around me. I moan before I realize I need to do better so I called out for help, feeling nauseous as I sat up. I looked up to see, Frank, my father’s deputy racing towards me as he yelled into his radio.

  I just held my head and rested it between my knees.

  “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! Are you alright, Maura? Here, let me see,” his kind voice babbled on, ensuring I didn’t fall back asleep.

  “I’m okay,” I whisper. “I feel sick.”

  I started to look up but there were beams of light coming from flashlights all around us and they made me dizzy, so I kept my eyes on the ground; images of what I had seen flashing through my mind. I know it wasn’t a dream, I’m certain that the boy I’m in love with changed into a bear. Frank encourages me to take deep breaths and soon, I’m wrapped in my daddy’s arms. He didn’t say a word as he quickly checked my head and made sure it was safe to move me.

  “Daddy, I…” I floundered for words as he carried me out of the woods.

  “Not now, Maura,” his voice cracked when he said my name and he coughed before he continued. “Love you so much.”

  “I love you, too, Daddy. I’m sorry,” I tightened my arms around his neck and squeezed my eyes shut.

  As I hold onto him, I think about what I saw. Cole and Slate aren’t – they are – shit. I’m not allowed to swear, but…shit. They’re bears. I know I saw them turn into bears and that it wasn’t a dream.

  I lean my head back to study my dad’s face. His long stride wasn’t slowed down by my weight in his arms; and I remember looking at him and thinking nothing could ever slow down my daddy. As much as I know he loves me, I also know he’ll never believe me; so when he finally asks me the question I knew was coming, I lied.

  “What were you thinking, Maura?” He asks as we break out of the forest and he continues to an ambulance parked nearby.

  “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention and I…” I can’t even think of a fib to tell him.

  “Look at me, baby girl,” he holds my face in his hands. “We’ll have a talk about this later, you and I, but your mom didn’t need this scare. We’ll tell her you slipped on a rock, which I’m guessing is what happened. You stick to that, so she doesn’t think you went running off where you weren’t supposed to, alright?”

  “Yes, Daddy,” I nod up at him. After that, he stopped the paramedics when they tried to strap me into the gurney and just held me as we rode to the hospital where mom was waiting for us.

  Like I said, I’ve always kept my secret. And to this day, Slate is the only man I’ve ever had a crush on. Unfortunately, he still doesn’t know I exist.

  Chapter 1

  Present day

  Slate

  Unlocking my cabin, I enter and look around. My nose quickly wrinkles in disgust and I realize I didn’t take the garbage out before leaving for the weekend.

  Another long weekend away; spent tracking down a bear clan in Northern Michigan. I’ve made my peace with Cole’s call to mate with a human, but that’s not how I imagined my mate. My parents were both bear shifters, they had grown up in neighboring clans and to hear dad tell it – he scented mom the day she turned eighteen.

  I don’t have a lot of memories of my mother but from what others have said about her, she was an introvert with a sweet tooth,
who always had her nose in a book. I remember when Cole and I were young, we would crawl into bed with her sometimes and she’d just cuddle us. Removing the trash bag and walking outside, I smile. Our cuddle time always turned into a tickle battle between my brother and me.

  While dad was tall, good-looking, and boisterous, mom always seemed content to fade into the background. We never doubted the love he had for each of us, but he was never the same after mom died. Grandma said that’s just how our kind is. That after our true mate dies, something inside us dies also. Years later when grandpa passed away, grandma followed him in the next couple weeks. She just gave up without him.

  Shaking off old memories and the fresh pain over suddenly losing dad, I boot up my laptop. First, I mark another bear clan off my list of shifter groups to visit in search of my mate and next, I check the work roster for tomorrow. Groaning when I see I’m to be onsite at seven sharp.

  After tossing my laundry into the washer, I pull some salmon out of the freezer. Not as good as fresh, but it’ll do. I prepare some pasta and veggies to go with it, a big batch to curb my appetite.

  Shaking my head, I think about how angry I was the first time I saw Cole and Aubree together. My inner bear didn’t care, but it had never occurred to me that any of us would mate with a human. It’s practically unheard of. I’ve really come to admire her, especially because of how seriously she takes our secret, even at times when it’s hard for her to keep things from her gran.

  I know our way of life was hard for Aubree to adjust to, physically and mentally; yet another reason I hope to find my mate within a bear community. Cole’s really chilled out since mating, so even though she was born human; we’re all thankful he found her. Points to our little sister, Ruby, for setting them up.

  I grimace, thinking of the female shifter who threw herself at me in the Poconos a couple months back. The only female in that clan, she was Cole’s age and pretty fucking eager to prove that we would be compatible. My bear wasn’t having it though; it was so worked up at further disappointment that I ended up shifting. Needing to get a long run in to wear him down.

  In the morning, she slipped into bed with me and it was hard to convince her that my wood was a daily occurrence and had nothing to do with her. My teenage years through my early twenties were miserable with the inner struggle I waged between what I had been taught and what my dick wanted.

  And my dick really wanted to play. I got close a time or two, but it always felt wrong and I’d shut things down. I have traveled more than the rest of my family and there are definitely shifters who sleep around, at least until they meet their mate, but my father and his father before him didn’t raise us that way. Cole has always been my best friend in addition to being my big brother – and now my alpha – and he stressed our father’s code to me. Even when I was being hard-headed.

  My phone rings just as I’m checking on my dinner and I smile as I take Ruby’s call.

  “How was your trip?” She immediately asks.

  “Lots of driving, lots of trees,” I smile into the phone, knowing that isn’t what she was asking.

  “Slate!”

  “No luck, little sis,” I cave into her – like we always do. “One single man about forty, one single female close to your age, and then a mated pair plus their two cubs.”

  “And what about for Gabe?” She asks and I pause. Gabe swore me to secrecy but last year he asked that I bring a shirt of his with me. The day before I leave on a trip, he’ll take off whatever shirt he wore to the job site then seal it in a Ziploc bag. Pretty gross idea, but other bears I’ve met don’t seem to mind too much. Once adulthood hits, the desire to find one’s mate becomes stronger. The closer I’ve gotten to thirty, it’s become almost painful.

  “Should have known he’d tell you,” I sigh into the phone.

  “I kinda saw the idea of it in his head when we were out for a run last month. We’ve stopped talking about the flashes we sometimes get but…” Even for shifter twins, Ruby and Gabe have always had a very close bond. Ever since they were cubs, when they’d run together in their bear form, they’d get ‘flashes’ of insight about the other.

  “I checked the schedule. Looks like you’ve been busy setting up jobs for us?” I try to change the subject, knowing that Ruby and Gabe don’t really like to discuss the depth of their connection. I wonder, not for the first time, how that will work when they find their mates.

  “Yeah, things usually slow down this time of year but it seems like we’ll have enough to keep us busy until Christmas. We can catch up on our rest in January and February, just working whatever emergency projects pop up,” Ruby continues. Our father started a construction business here in town and we all went to work for him after high school.

  The four of us have equal shares of it, but Cole runs it and Ruby took college classes online and now handles the books, timeline, and quotes for new jobs. It works out well for all of us and has kept us close over the years.

  “Let me get to my dinner, I’ll stop by to see you tomorrow, okay, Ruby-bear?” I throw in the name I called her when we were kids and get a laugh for my effort.

  “Good night, big brother,” she says before disconnecting.

  I fix my plate and sit in front of the TV, turning it on to the only channel I ever watch. Animal Planet. It helps to distract me from thinking about my mate – and what else I have to do to try to find her. There were a few times when I was younger that I’d start to get a tingle but it would fade out after a few moments – not anything close to what I’d heard about the electric feeling of scenting one’s mate.

  *

  I get to the job site early the next morning and sit in my truck, sipping my coffee and eating the breakfast sandwich I made myself. The passenger door suddenly opens and I reach behind me for the second sandwich as Gabe slides in next to me.

  God forbid the kid ever tries to feed himself.

  “Thanks, I’m starving and the diner was jammed this morning,” he grunts, placing his own coffee in the cup holder. Gabe is easy-going for the most part. At least, after ten in the morning and when he has a full stomach; he’ll never be mistaken for a morning person though.

  “You know Aubree will hook you up at her place now, right?” I grin at him and he shrugs before I realize it is on the opposite side of town from where we live and he was cutting it close this morning anyway.

  “Isn’t this one of old man Isaac’s rental places?” I ask him, nodding towards the house we’ll be working on. “Don’t tell me he’s finally selling one of them?”

  “Sheriff Cusack’s daughter is moving back to town. He rented the place for her but inspected it first and put up a stink about the wiring and flooring; so, here we are.” Gabe says in between bites.

  “Cusack’s got a daughter?” I ask, trying to remember if I ever knew that.

  “She was a few years behind Ruby and me in school,” he says wading up the wrapper and tossing it in the backseat. “I’m sure Isaac doesn’t want the sheriff looking too closely at his other places, so we’ll get a week or two of work out of this.”

  That explains why I can’t remember her. I turned twenty-eight this past summer and the twins are twenty-five, so she would have been pretty far behind me at school.

  “Fish and Wildlife Department,” Gabe says after swigging half a bottle of water.

  “Huh?” I ask, looking around for the pick-up truck the ranger rides around in.

  “Jones is retiring next year. Aubree said Cusack’s daughter is taking over his post.” Gabe fills me in. Between Aubree and Ruby, they know everything going on in this town.

  “Huh. Good thing to know,” I open my door and throw my thumb in the direction of the house. Time to get started.

  Gabe and I share a quick smile and I know he’s thinking of the time he and Ruby scared the hell out of Jones. We’d been in bear form and I was chasing them, just having fun – when I should have been paying attention. Gabe tumbled down a hill and almost landed on top of Jones. Ruby rol
led down after him and I let out a roar, effectively terrifying Jones into running away.

  The three of us laughed about it for years, Dad and Cole – not so much. And they were right, I should have made sure no humans were around and guided the cubs away. Luckily, Jones got out of the area quickly and the other times we’d see him deep in the woods he was always careful to make lots of noise.

  Chapter 2

  Maura

  Pulling up to the small house Dad moved into after I went to college, my nerves feel like jumping beans. Dad is working tonight but left the lights on for me and I text him to let him know I made it safely.

  Deciding to wait until morning to sift through my other bags, I grab a small duffle and head inside. I’m finally back. It’s been years since I spent much time at home. Between school and then summer jobs at different national parks and forests around the country, Dad said he was just as happy taking his vacation time to come visit me and after he sold the house I grew up in, I was too sad to bother coming back very much.

  I understand the memories it held for him and that it might get depressing to walk around a four bedroom house by himself. The two-bedroom, one bath home that he downsized to makes sense for him. When we talked about me moving back, I pointed out that I was used to living alone and I wouldn’t want to crowd him out of his own bathroom, anyway. After long days of hiking or even sitting behind a desk, I love to take a nice long bath and I have the bath bomb collection to prove it.

  Getting inside, I find the note he left me but quickly sigh at the lack of food he has in the kitchen. Now that I’m back, I’ll make sure dad gets more home-cooked meals. Craving a burger, I head back out – unhooking the trailer from my truck, I head over to the town’s dive bar, Remy’s.

  The area around the bar is packed, so I quickly grab a booth off to the side, hoping I won’t see anyone who knows me. I didn’t have many friends in school and those that I was friendly with I’ve long since lost track of. Having a cop for a dad was no help making friends as an awkward teenager in a small town.