Fire wolf, p.1
Fire Wolf, page 1
FIRE WOLF
WITCH SHIFTER CLAN
BOOK 1
C.D. GORRI
CONTENTS
Prologue
Chapter One Martina
Chapter Two Mitchell
Chapter Three Martina
Chapter Four Mitchell
Chapter Five Martina
Chapter Six Mitchell
Chapter Seven Martina
Chapter Eight Mitchell
Chapter Nine Martina
Chapter Ten Mitchell
Epilogue Martina
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DEDICATION
To the leaders,
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xoxo,
your devoted followers
COPYRIGHT
Fire Wolf
Witch Shifter Clan 1
by C.D. Gorri
Edited by BookNookNuts
Copyright 2024 C.D. Gorri
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This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, places, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either part of the author’s imagination and/or used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights are reserved. No part of this book is to be reproduced, scanned, downloaded, printed, or distributed in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of any materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
FIRE WOLF
Secrets. Magic. Forbidden Passion. This Wolf is breaking all the rules!
With her thirtieth birthday fast approaching, Martina Harbor is coming home to celebrate the day she shares with her two sisters. Little does she know her big brother and his mate have invited the whole dang town to join in the festivities.
Things might have changed with the local Wolf Pack, but after spending her entire life hiding what she is from the very Shifters she’s eating cake with has Martina more than a little confused. Is she just supposed to forget about the past?
Why were her siblings okay with this? And who the heck was the hunky guy who kept sniffing her whenever she walked past?
Could someone explain what the actual heck was going on?
Mitchell Truman is a Wolf Shifter comfortable in his own skin. Happy go lucky, that’s his vibe. He had friends, money, and was always a shoe in with the ladies. But one look at Martina Harbor and his bachelor days are a thing of the past! He knows she belongs to him. With his inner beast scratching against his skin, there is no doubt in his mind the female is his fated mate. But there’s more than meets the eye with this fiery Wolf.
Will Martina brush Mitchell off, or will they light fires together?
PROLOGUE
Harbor House. About twenty years ago…
Nova beckoned me and Sybil to her side. She showed me the piece of paper, and I felt my magic and my Wolf tremble. This was important. She ran inside to where Davian and Erryn waited for us, and Sybil and I followed, our hands clasped together.
“It’s gotta be a secret for a while, but what do you think?” she asked, blue eyes wide and bright.
She turned the paper around, and everyone fell silent. Sketched out with unerring perfection were Davian and Erryn at the center of the image, with me, Sybil, and Nova behind them. Behind all of us were our animals. A Badger Mountain Lion Hybrid for Erryn, a Wolf for me, a Snow Fox for Nova, and an awesome River Dragon for Sybil. Swirling lines surrounded us to represent Davian’s magic.
Beneath the drawing, in perfect script, were the words Witch Shifter Clan.
“Wow, Nova!” I exclaimed.
“That’s amazing! But why am I so short?” Sybil asked.
“You are short, though.” Nova frowned.
“Nova,” Davian said in a hushed whisper, and walked to take the paper from her. “This is beautiful.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, I do. We’ll get it framed and hang it up in our training room, so no one accidentally sees it, okay?” he asked.
Nova nodded.
“Erryn? What do you think?”
“I think it is perfect,” Davian’s new mate said.
I liked Erryn. In fact, I had named her. She felt big to me, important. Wolf liked her, so I did too.
Witch Shifter Clan.
That was what Nova had named us, and something about it made my insides warm and my Wolf howl with joy. This was a good thing. I just knew it. And someday it would be everything. My Wolf growled softly inside of me, and though I had yet to meet her, it made me smile that she agreed with the sentiment. The Witch Shifter Clan was important.
I slept that night in the same room as my sisters, with Davian and Erryn in the bedroom they shared, and for the first time my magic and my Wolf were content. It would not always be that way. My animal and my powers often fought on another.
Harbor House was the first place we ever belonged, and I knew it was one of those special places I’d read about in one of the many books lining the shelves in the reading room Mama Anne had set up for us when we were kids.
It would always be the place I came back to. Mama Anne built Harbor House for supernatural runaways and delinquents. Those of us who were unloved and unwanted. But it was so much more than a soft spot to land. It was home. My first home. Just as much as Davian, Erryn, Nova, and Sybil were my home.
I would leave there someday. That was inevitable. But Harbor House would stay with me. The place, the memories, that feeling of belonging. They would always be special to me. Just like the drawing Nova did of us.
Witch Shifter Clan.
That was our name. It was where I belonged. And someday everything would fall into place. I didn’t know what that meant, but my child’s heart felt it with the absolute surety only an innocent could claim. I had things to do yet. Adventures to go on and experiences to have. But home would always be there waiting. Just like Mama Anne said.
Harbor House would always be my home.
CHAPTER ONE MARTINA
“Fuck a duck,” I muttered and kicked the flat on the brand new Tesla Model Y I borrowed from Phillip.
Phillip was sort of my boyfriend. We’d been dating on and off for six months, and our relationship sort of felt like a hamster on one of those spinning wheels. In other words, we were always moving but never really going anywhere.
Phillip was easy on the eyes, smart and not at all needy. He’d just made partner in the law firm we both worked for and was busy with a sudden influx of added responsibilities. I was happy for him. Really, I was. He worked hard and earned the job. Besides, changes were coming for me. Changes I hadn’t shared with anyone. Not yet.
I’d been thinking about this thing with Phil for days now, mulling it over. No, I was not mad about his dedication to his job. In fact, I really didn’t care. It was just, his sudden promotion was the reason I was headed home alone. Typically, we accompanied each other at family events. But this was just another indication of where we were going, in separate directions.
I hadn’t told Phil what I was planning, and I doubted he would approve. It didn’t matter. I would do what I felt I needed to do with or without him. I didn’t need permission from any man to follow my path, much less a man who spent more time on his skin care routine than he did on making sure I came. I mean, really. Who the fuck did that?
Reminded of my sexual frustrations, I growled and grabbed my cell phone, calling the insurance company to send a tow. Fucking Tesla. Electric cars might be the wave of the future, but for all their gas saving blah blah blah, they still used rubber tires. And as I just found out, running over six-inch-long rusty nails were hazardous to all vehicles, regardless of all the fancy tech shit.
So there I was, an hour late to my own damn birthday party and stuck on the Garden State Parkway just two exits away from my hometown. At least I had heat. I checked the temperature gauge and frowned. Sixteen fucking degrees was too damn cold, I didn’t give a shit what anyone said about majestic blankets of white across forests or winter wonderland photo ops.
Despite the enormous midnight black Wolf inside me, I did not appreciate winter. Like at all. I turned the heat on full blast, snuggling into the seat as I waited for the tow truck. It was fifteen minutes away, which wasn’t bad. Of course, as soon as I had that thought, the battery light went from green to red and within thirty seconds, the damn car shut down on me.
“Motherfucker,” I snarled, tapping my long fingernail on the damn thing.
It was no good. The car was dead. I had no heat. And my phone just chirped, letting me know the tow truck was delayed, and I’d be sitting there for the next two hours if I didn’t do something. Gritting my teeth, I called my brother.
“You’re late,” he said jovially, and I could just picture the goofball smiling wide as he scolded me.
“I’m stuck,” I countered.
“Are you safe?” Erryn asked, having grabbed the phone from Davi.
Her tone was more than concerned, and I knew her eyes were probably glowing purple with her Hybrid beast. God, I missed her! Actually, I missed both of them. Erryn and Davi raised me and our sisters. They were the best people I knew. Caring and protective, but also loving and fun. The two of them were so in sync, I used to stare at them in awe. For the past six years, I lived in Manhattan, and I never came across another couple like them.
“Yes, I’m fine, Err. Phill’s car just—”
“That fancy electric thing I told you not to drive?”
“Yep, that one,” I mumbled, feeling like I was twelve all over again. “Anyway, I got a flat, so it wasn’t the car’s fault,” I grumbled.
“Then why are your teeth chattering, Marti?”
I closed my eyes and huffed a sigh. Dammit. Nothing got past Erryn.
“Because after I got the flat, the car shut down and now, I have no heat. There. You happy?” I barked, trying to stop my teeth from chattering.
“Of course, I am not happy. Just vindicated,” she replied, and I heard a muffled laugh that told me Davi was listening.
Ugh. Incorrigible. There was nothing like looking like a fool to make you feel like a child again. I cleared my throat and tried for patience.
“Why don’t you use magic to fix the flat?”
“Because, Erryn, as you know, I’d be more likely to make the damn car explode. Besides, fixing the flat wouldn’t matter. The engine is dead!”
“Still having problems with your powers, pup?”
I ignored her probing question. I knew she meant well, but I didn’t want to get into it.
“Am I walking or are you coming to get me?” I asked, finished with this conversation.
“Stay put, pup. I’ll send someone to get you.”
Erryn hung up before I could respond to her cryptic statement, and my rumble filled the tiny car. Something was totally up with my Wolf. Ever since the Curse of Natalis had been broken a few years back by a tenacious teenager named Grazi Kelly, I’d been able to communicate with my inner animal faster and clearer than ever.
But living in the city was hard on Wolf. Hell, it was hard on my magic, too. Truth was, I’d been so busy pretending to be normal with my human boyfriend and my human world job, I’d lost touch with my supernatural self. What was I supposed to do? My entire life, I tried so hard to just fit in. Years of hiding my magic from the Macconwood Wolf Pack had taken its toll. How long could a person live in denial, anyway?
The sign to Maccon City loomed in the distance, but with Wolf’s help I could read it just fine. A bitter wind shook the idiotic, pretentious automobile, and I shivered, but not because of the cold. Something was coming. A change. And I wondered if I was ready for it.
My phone buzzed, and I saw a text from Phillip, but I really was not in the mood. He probably got an alert his precious car had stopped working. The man was ridiculous about material possessions. I knew he grew up poor and was proud of how far he came, but sometimes it felt like I was just something else he’d acquired.
After all, with my Hispanic heritage, my noticeable curves, and my own hard knock life background, far as he knew anyway, I checked off more than a couple of the boxes he needed to appear a super guy. The first time I met him he greeted me with some badly accented Spanish, and I had to tell him I didn’t speak a word.
That was when he really got interested. I guess I’d had a weak moment, or seven. I mean, Phil was a nice guy, if a little vanilla. He’d been a good listener though, and hearing about how I’d been abandoned and put into foster care, he didn’t judge me. In fact, he seemed to admire how far I’d come. Maybe we were alike in that way, but something was very clear as I sat in his overpriced car a few hours away from where I left him.
I did not love Phil. Not even a little. What was I doing with this guy? He was human. He knew nothing of my real life. Even the physical aspect of our relationship had taken a huge nosedive. And it wasn’t all that to begin with.
Shit. I really needed to break up with him. I’d told him in the beginning, this would not be a forever kind of deal. He’d thought I was issuing a challenge, playing hard to get. But he had to know I didn’t love him. And he sure as fuck didn’t love me. We hadn’t even had sex in months! I grabbed my phone and scheduled a reminder for later that week.
Break up with Phil.
What? Don’t judge me!
I was bound to get sidetracked by family shenanigans, and this had to get done. Shivering in earnest, I checked the time. What the heck was going on? Fifteen minutes had passed, and the temperature was dropping.
I thought about the welcome I would get when I walked into Harbor House and my Wolf perked up. A long while had passed since I’d come home. Ever since Davian and Erryn, my adoptive brother and sister-in-law, had taken to globetrotting, it seemed kind of pointless. Sybil and Nova were busy with their own lives, and I was doing fine with my law career, living in the Big Apple.
Some life, huh? I was living the dream, or so I told myself. But the truth was my Wolf was out of sorts and my powers were wonky as fuck. The second I got the call from Davian asking me to come home to celebrate the birthday I shared with our two sisters, I knew I was going to say yes.
How could I say otherwise? My big brother did everything for me. For all of us, really. Davian Harbor was a saint. Okay, maybe not a saint. He was a Witch. But he’d raised Sybil, Nova, and me after our foster mother, Mama Anne, passed away, and that meant a shit ton of sacrifices on his part. He wasn’t perfect, but none of us were, and Davian loved us just the same.
When Erryn came into our lives—literally from another world—we were struggling a bit. But after they took care of a couple of goons who wanted to hurt us, Davi and Err put all their strength into raising the three of us. But that still wasn’t why I said yes to coming home for a visit.
It wasn’t out of obligation. No way. That was a copout, and I was not into lying. Not even to myself. I was coming home because I needed to recharge. My life was going according to plan, but lately I had started to wonder—what if the plans were wrong? What if I was supposed to do something besides help wealthy businesses cheat the government?
Did I mention I worked in corporate law? It was challenging at first and fun, but lately, it seemed to have lost its appeal. My Wolf yearned for something else, and the way I kept setting the sheets on fire at night—because of bad dreams not super smexy times—all pointed to one very obvious thing. I was homesick.
Our little makeshift family was anything but normal, and that was exactly how I liked things. But coming back to Maccon City? That left me feeling kind of iffy. I had a complicated relationship with the town where the biggest, baddest, and most powerful Werewolf Pack in the entire world had its headquarters.
See, back in the day, Witches were a big no-no to those guys. The problem was, I was one of those guys. A Werewolf, or Wolf Shifter. But only half. The other half of my DNA was pure Fire Witch. Of course, that sort of magic was something most covens feared, and therefore hated.
So, there you have it. Outcast on both counts. Hated by Wolves. Feared by Witches. I was left to rot on the outskirts of town, which was exactly where Mama Anne had found me almost thirty years ago to the day. God, I missed her. She was the kindest, most giving person I had ever met. Her example was a strong one, and somehow, I felt that I disappointed her with my life’s choices.
Before I could get too maudlin, however, an enormous, cherry red pickup truck pulled in behind me and out of the driver’s side came the tallest, widest man I had ever seen. He had a thick scruff of beard covering his face, a skullcap pulled down tight over his head, and a pair of reflective sunglasses covering his eyes.
Wolf, my inner beast growled, having sensed his animal before I even had time to register, he was coming towards me.
