Midnight son, p.1
Midnight Son, page 1
Midnight Son
by Tielle St. Clare
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2020 T. L. Green
All rights are reserved. This e-book is licensed for individual readership only. No portion of this e-book may be resold or redistributed in any format.
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Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters and events are creations of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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A complicated journey
Always responsible Raina knew her twin sister, Helena, was flighty, but abandoning her baby tops it all. Raina considers raising the child herself, except her sister insists she take the baby north to his father. The situation is complicated by a stranger demanding she repay money her sister stole. Getting out of town seems like the right thing to do.
Raina doesn’t know what to expect when she arrives on the north slope of Alaska, but the tall, hunky man with piercing blue eyes captivates from the moment they meet. She’s so captivated in fact, Raina fails to correct Braxton when he calls her “Helena.” Now, she’s impersonating her twin, hiding from a thug and falling for her sister’s ex. It’s complicated.
A mysterious mate
Polar bear shifter Braxton is shocked when his one-night stand from a year ago appears on his doorstep with a baby! Even more surprising are the changes in Helena. Now, she’s curvy, clever and brave when it comes to protecting their child. When they met a year ago, she smelled vaguely like his mate. Now, he can’t keep his hands off her and the polar bear inside him want nothing more than to permanently mate with the pretty human. He needs to solve the mystery of his mate before he falls any deeper in love.
But a dangerous criminal has followed her to his sleepy little town, and Braxton's not about to let anything happen to his mate or child.
❄︎~❄︎~❄︎
Welcome to the world of Aurora Shifters, where magic comes to life beneath the northern lights, and the wilderness isn't the only place to find fur and fangs.
About Aurora Shifters: We are a collaboration of Alaskan authors who decided to put our own Arctic spin on hot paranormal shapeshifters. Look for wolves, bears, moose, ravens, seals, and many, many others. Each book stands on its own, with a guaranteed HEA and no cliffhangers, but be warned - once you read one, you'll want them all. Tap to start reading today!
Prologue
Braxton toyed with the phone, trying to decide if he wanted to do this.
He really hated asking anyone for help. Especially something like this, something so...intimate. Except this wasn’t something he solved by an internet search.
He tapped the screen and waited. After two rings, he decided this was a stupid idea. His thumb hovered over the red end button ready to... The buzzing stopped.
Fuck.
“This is Davin.”
“Hey.”
“Hey, man, how’s it going?”
“Okay, good, I guess.” He chewed on his upper lip. He didn’t want to plunge right into the conversation. “How is courting your mate going?”
Davin had met his mate in February during an aurora tour. Now, he was trying to tempt her to move back to Alaska full-time.
“Great. She’s coming up here next week. She’s staying for two weeks so she can experience Fairbanks in the summer. A much better draw than Alaska in the winter.”
Braxton snorted.
“Okay, maybe not for everyone,” Davin said, though Braxton could practically hear Davin rolling his eyes. “Poor little polar bear shifters can’t take the heat.”
The interior of Alaska got hot in the summer, most days in the upper seventies to low eighties, occasionally into the nineties. Braxton accepted that didn’t describe “hot” for much of the rest of the world but those temperatures made his fur shrivel. Even in human form, he hated the heat.
“So, I have a question...” Braxton let his words fade away.
“This sounds serious. You’re never at a loss for something to say.”
“Bite me, tail-chaser,” Braxton said, the familiar dig rebalancing his attitude just a little.
Davin laughed. “That’s more like it. Hold on one second.” Silence echoed through the phone and did nothing to calm Braxton’s nerves. Fuck, I don’t get nervous. It’s like I’m a Victorian heroine fainting on the couch.
He considered hanging up when Davin popped back on the line.
“I’m here,” Davin announced.
“I’m here,” Riordon’s voice chimed in.
“What the fuck?” He hadn’t called Riordon. He would eventually tell Riordon of course, the man was his Alpha and his best friend.
“This sounded intense,” explained Davin. “I figured this would save you from having to talk about it twice.”
Fuck. And fuck Davin for probably being right.
“What’s going on?” Riordon’s voice held a mature, concerned tone that hadn’t existed before his elevation to Alpha six months ago.
“Nothing.” Braxton didn’t want to discuss this with Riordon. Not yet. Not until he had some answers of his own.
“Then why did you call us?” Davin asked.
“I didn’t. I called you. Sorry, Riordon.”
“No worries but Davin’s right, this sounds like something I should be hearing.”
Ugh. Fine.
“Nothing major. I had a question for Davin.”
“Shoot.”
Okay, how to put this into words?
“What did you, I mean, how, well...What did it feel like when you found your mate?”
Silence rippled through the phone lines and did nothing to calm Braxton’s nerves. He glanced out the window at the Beaufort Sea. It would be so easy—just a couple hundred steps—and he could be out on the ice in his bear form. The bear didn’t ponder, didn’t ruminate on subjects.
“Uh, good? Exciting?” Davin said. “I don’t understand what you’re asking.”
“How did it feel? What sensations did you experience?” He needed something he could catalog.
“Uhm, well, she smelled amazing and I instantly got hard.” Davin chuckled. “Still do. I don’t know. My animal came awake and wanted to be with her. I recognized her in one heartbeat. One sniff and, without a doubt, bam, ‘she’s my mate.’”
“What’s going on?” The tension in Riordon’s voice built. “Did you find your mate?”
“No. Maybe?”
“I don’t think mates work like that,” Riordon added. “Tell us what happened.”
“I met this woman, when I was at the conference in Vegas last week.” He’d gone as Riordon’s representative at a tourism trade show. Their company catered to paranormals but the human organizations often shared ideas that adapted well to vampires and shifters. “She worked one of the destination wedding displays. We met, went to a club and I felt...something? My bear was kind of interested but nothing explosive. Like when you have a movie line going through your head but you can’t remember what movie it was from? Almost there but then disappears.
“We spent the night together and the next day, she disappeared. The conference was over and I couldn’t find her.”
“Dude, you have crazy hacking skills.” Davin snorted.
“I know. I just haven’t—” He dropped his head back and stared out at the ice melting on Beaufort Sea. “I’m not sure I want to find her again.”
More silence.
Finally, Davin spoke. “Listen, all I can tell you is my experience. There was no mistaking the sensation and after I touched her once, I had to do everything in my power to keep her with me.”
Braxton sighed. He’d been doing that a lot lately.
“Thanks. I’ll keep in touch.”
Braxton put down the phone and continued to focus on the ice. Davin was right. With a first name and using the conference data, he could find this woman. He considered the idea, letting it tumble around inside his brain, giving his bear the option. The animal’s disinterested response told him what he needed to know.
But still... something about that woman called to him. He just had to figure out what.
Definitely not the intense mating bond Davin described.
Maybe...maybe Braxton wasn’t meant for a true mate.
Chapter One
Raina stared at the screen and finished typing in the notes from her first patient after lunch. She had another six to input. The office manager suggested she do her charting while she met with the patient, but Raina didn’t like pulling her attention away to type. Most days she completed her charting after each appointment but sometimes they came too fast for her to finish. Today had been one of those days.
Her desk phone buzzed. Raina glanced up. The front office. She sighed. Probably a walk-in. They saw patients until almost six but her last scheduled appointment had been four.
She considered not answering. If she let it go to someone else, she could leave the office a little early. Her twin sister Helena had been making noises about needing to get out of the house. Not a bad idea. Raina could babysit Jasper and give Helena the night off.
But she couldn’t do it. She cursed her responsible nature and grabbed the phone.
“It’s Raina.”
“You have a, uh, delivery at the front desk.” Tami, the office manager, sounded more harried than usual.
“Delivery?”
“Yeah and I’ve got people lined up. Can you come pick it up?”
“Sure. Be out in a few.”
“Come now.”
Raina hung up the phone and sat for a moment. Strange. Tami didn’t usually issue orders, at least not to her.
Raina stood and brushed off a smudge of dirt on her slacks. The path to the front desk wound through a labyrinth of halls and exam rooms. With five doctors and three nurse practitioners—including Raina—on staff, they filled most of those rooms through the day.
She considered what delivery might be waiting.
Who would be sending her anything? Her birthday was coming up. Maybe Tony? Possible. They’d dated for about a year but that ended six months ago when her very pregnant sister moved in. After Jasper was born, Raina jumped in to help. Possibly more than she needed to, but she loved spending time with her nephew.
Could Tony want to rekindle the flame? Seemed unlikely and after she’d gained a bit of distance, she was fine letting what little heat fluttered between them die. That had to say something.
She spun around the corner and slipped into the reception area. Tami hadn’t been kidding. Almost a dozen people stood behind the three lines of checkout.
She glanced at the side table where flower and food deliveries typically landed.
Nothing.
She leaned over Tami’s shoulder.
“You have a delivery for me?”
Tami smiled a conspirator’s smile and pointed to the space beneath her feet...and the baby carrier.
“What the—?” Raina knelt down and pulled back the blanket. Jasper’s bright blue eyes stared back at her. “Jasper?” She glanced at Tami.
The office manager shrugged. “Your sister walked in, handed him across the counter and asked you to take care of him before she left.” She turned to the next person in line.
Raina flashed a smile at her nephew—because he was adorable and it wasn’t his fault his mommy was a bit flighty—before grabbing the handle of the carrier. She waited until she walked around the corner to flip open the blanket once again.
“Hey there, Jasper.” She fluttered her lips in a raspberry sure to make the baby smile. He did, waving his arms and legs and burbling a wide grin. “I’m going to take you to my office. You can to see where I work,” she said in the same high-pitched tone. At six months, she doubted the office would leave an impression but Jasper pumped his little fists, excited to see her. That was enough.
Raina took a step forward and thumped into the chest of Dr. Drake—tall, gorgeous and a total jerk.
“Excuse me.”
“Nurse Houghton, I’m sure that’s not the appropriate way to greet a patient.”
Raina pushed her shoulders back and met the stern gaze of Dr. Daniel Drake. He used the word “nurse” as a dismissive title.
Of all the doctors in the office, Drake was the only one to look down on...everyone, really—nurses, medical assistants, doctors he considered beneath him or less attractive than him. Every impulse inside her encouraged her to snap back and call him “Danny” which he hated. Office politics and politeness restrained her.
Rumor around the watercooler said Drake and Dr. Townsend—one of the owners—were sleeping together which explained his rise in arrogance lately.
Raina forced the corners of her mouth into a polite smile. “He’s not a patient,” she replied. “It’s my nephew. My sister dropped him off so I could look after him.”
The glower in Drake’s face deepened. “This is a professional office. A medical office, if you will remember.”
“I do.” She moderated her tone, keeping it as polite as she possibly could when she really wanted to let him have it.
But now wasn’t the time to make a stand. She needed this job. It provided her with health insurance and the owners allowed her to put Jasper on her policy. Helena’s work at a bridal shop didn’t offer much beyond a low hourly wage.
Raina kept her mouth closed and waited. Based on the flare in Drake’s gaze, he had more to say. The arrogant doctor straightened his spine and peered down at her.
“This is a business. It is our job to keep patients moving through this office. This is not an appropriate location for a baby!” Drake rolled his shoulders back and drew a long inhale by his nose, preparing to continue.
“Funny, I thought our job was to help our patients heal and improve their health.“ Raina offered a closed-lipped smile. “Perhaps I should finish the rest of my charting at home.”
“The office remains open for another hour,” he drawled. “Staff is expected to be here for the entire workday.”
Jasper squirmed and released a tiny whimper Raina recognized as a prelude to a full-on scream. And when this baby started to scream he went from zero to sixty in no seconds.
“Surely this is an extenuating circumstance.”
“I will report this to Doctor Townsend.” The threat in his words made her heart sink but she had no choice.
“Don’t bother, Daniel,” Doctor Brian Kisling said as he walked down the hall. Doctor Kisling was the second owner of the practice. “I’ll pass the word along. Raina, if you need to slip out, go ahead.” He turned into his office, disappearing from sight.
“Patients are still arriving,” Drake pointed out through gritted teeth. “We can’t empty the building of staff.”
Feeling emboldened, Raina smiled. “That’s okay. If anyone comes in, I’m sure you can handle them.”
The glower the doctor directed at her made her blood boil and reminded her why she didn’t allow those bold moments to reveal themselves very often. She tightened her hand in the arm of Jasper’s carrier. Drake stood in the entrance to the office she shared with the other nurse practitioners. He didn’t quite block her exit but didn’t give her a clear path either.
“Excuse me.” She lifted her chin and waited.
Drake’s lips twisted into a sneer but he stepped aside, leaving her barely enough room to pass.
Raina dipped her head and slipped around Drake. The movement no doubt appeared submissive but in reality, hid her smile. She hurried to her desk and logged off her computer. Jasper kicked the cover of his carrier and Raina knew she didn’t have long before the screaming started.
She draped the shoulder strap of her purse around her neck. Helena always rolled her eyes when Raina wore her bag like this, saying it made her look frumpy. Raina didn’t care. The cross-body strap was efficient and kept her hands free. She grabbed the handle of the baby carrier and headed for the door.
Drake lingered near the entrance, irritation surrounding him like a cloud.
“Excuse me,” she said again, needing a bit more space before she could escape.
With a huff of air, Drake spun on his heel and stalked off down the hall.
The tension binding Raina’s chest eased at his departure. She must have exhaled deeply near the opening to Dr. Kisling’s office because he spun around in his chair.
“Is he gone?” Raina nodded. “Don’t let him bother you. He’s a blowhard. Take care of that cute nephew of yours.”
“Thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow. And thank Dr. Drake for taking any extra patients this evening,” she said with a hint of snarkiness. Dr. Kisling laughed and turned back to his computer.
She turned the corner and almost ran into Tami coming the other way.
“Love makes you brave,” Tami said with a hint of warning in her voice.
Raina resisted the urge to sag. Instead, she smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She carried Jasper to her car. The carrier clicked perfectly into the car seat platform.
She pulled back the blanket and kissed Jasper on the forehead. “Your mommy must have forgotten I had the car seat. I wonder how she got you here.”
