Scorch: A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (The Tribe Series)

©
2
016 Terra
Wolf

Scorch

All Rights Reserved worldwide.

No part of this book may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet, or copied without permission from the author. The author respectfully asks that you please support artistic expression and help promote anti-piracy efforts by purchasing a copy of this book at the authorized online outlets.

This is a work of fiction intended for mature audiences only. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Some may be used for parody purposes. Any resemblance to events, locales, business establishments, or actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

All sexual activities depicted occur between consenting characters 18 years or older who are not blood related.

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T
he chase
. The hunt. It was in my blood. It was what I was bred to do. It was the mission. The quest of my life. When the king handed my orders to me, I accepted them, willing and anxious for it to begin.

It was my duty to carry the Maddox line. It was an honor to represent the Tribe.

Yeah, that’s how I thought. That’s how my brain was wired, how my blood pumped with primal purpose. Animal instincts came before feelings. Drive came before my heart. Obligation came before desire. Hunger for more came before passion.

And then I met Francesca, and the order of my life flipped upside down. She destroyed me. Upended everything I knew.

She made me love.

* * *

E
very time
the wiper blades moved, they crunched over another layer of ice coating the windshield.

“Damn it,” I muttered. Since when was it this cold in the beginning of spring?

I peered into the dark, past the flakes falling through the headlight beams of the truck.

There were a lot of things not going to plan. Add snow and ice to the list.

I had stopped in five towns. Five freakin’ towns, and none of them was the right one. My journey started in the southern tip of Georgia, and now I was careening my way over the North Carolina Blue Ridge Parkway.

It was as if she didn’t exist, but I knew she was here somewhere. The council would never put a name on the top of the list without purpose. I had to trust in the laws. I had to trust I would find her.

I could almost feel the green in my eyes glowing brighter as I strained to see. This far up the mountain, there weren’t gas stations or places to pull over.

But I was determined that town number six at the bottom of this mountain would be my last stop.

She would be on the other side.

That was all that was supposed to matter. Screw the flat tire I had a hundred miles back. Or even the ice. On the other side of this rock was the panther who had been pledged to me.

The one deemed worthy to carry the Maddox name. But most importantly to me, she’d carry my cub.

I shifted the truck into a lower gear as I crested over the peak.

She was on the other side—only she didn’t know I was coming for her.

I
wrapped
the scarf a little tighter around my neck as I looked upward at the flakes falling from the sky. It was as if they were coming straight off the mountain. I shivered, as if something else was descending with them.

The librarian kicked me out of my study cubicle, explaining she needed to go home and get some sleep. What I needed was a place I could cram for finals.

I glared over my shoulder as she locked the glass doors in place.

I tugged the backpack over my shoulders and started the walk toward the library parking lot.

It wasn’t easy being the only shifter on a small campus. Hell, it wasn’t easy being a shifter at all. It didn’t help that my parents were human and treated me like the family freak. They were happy when I left for college. Happy I took my fur and emerald green eyes far from them. I guess they didn’t bargain for a panther shifter when they adopted me almost twenty-two years ago.

I had heard the stories a hundred times. Mom had three miscarriages in a row when they finally gave up on having a child on their own. Too much grief and sadness. But my dad said they were meant to be parents. He knew it. That was when they decided adoption was the right choice.

Maybe their hearts were too filled with loss by the time they took me home. Maybe they had already lost a part of their hearts. Maybe I didn’t fit their perfect idea of parenthood. Nothing was perfect, after all, when your little girl got angry and extended her claws or hissed like a caged animal. Their dream crumbled more every day the panther in me grew stronger.

Sometimes I thought the secrets I carried would eat me alive: my need to be the panther who prowled the hills of the valley versus the girl who was studying to complete her English Literature degree.

Somehow, my two worlds didn’t belong together, but they existed every time I took a breath. Every time I let the fur free and crept through the forest. Every time I returned home and picked up a book for class. I was the panther shifter hiding her power and strength behind a nerdy interest in classic literature.

I lithely stepped over a pile of slush.

Did I mention my birthday was in a week? I had exams, birthday, and graduation. The trifecta of life events. But I didn’t fall into the trap of thinking that any of them would be celebrated. My parents kept their distance. I was a disgrace. To them, I was a monster they only acknowledged to keep up appearances back home with the neighbors.

My life was in my own hands now. They made it clear I had to have a job as soon as I graduated. I needed money and a place to live. The doors of my childhood home were closed to me.

I wasn’t one of those girls who believed in fairytales. I stopped believing a long time ago in heroes and happily ever after. I stopped believing my life was meant for happiness.

My parents taught me the people I trusted the most were the ones who could hurt me the deepest.

M
y body temperature ran hot
. All jaguars did. But I wasn’t in my fur. I was freezing my ass off, staring at an E on the gas gauge. I hadn’t expected the mountain to take everything my truck had.

Shit. I slammed my hands against the steering wheel and looked at the bars on my phone. At least on this side I had some cell reception.

The phone rang a few times and went to voicemail.

“Case, it’s me. I’m stuck in the middle of nowhere. Call me.”

I tossed it in the empty passenger seat. I didn’t expect to hear from Case anytime soon. That was the problem with my older brother. He was entitled and in charge. As king of the Tribe, he had a certain amount of arrogance that even I couldn’t cut through.

I was here on his orders. He had tapped me to find her. He said the council had handed out our mate lists. It was up to Case to make sure the Tribe followed orders.

I knew he was on a quest of his own, but that was taking him to Sullen’s Grove. His mate was there. The rest of the Tribe was going with him. That was, everyone except Josh and me.

Case always told me what to do. It was part of the territory, being the younger brother, being the second in line to take the kingdom, being the second born and not the first. Being a prince and not a king wasn’t terrible.

I climbed out of the truck, checking to see if I had a spare gallon of gas somewhere in the back. The snow had coated my toolbox. I brushed it off and found a tire, but the red gas container was hollow. I was fucked.

“Damn it.”

I heard my phone ring and I jumped inside the truck to grab it.

“Hey.”

“What’s wrong?” Case sounded distracted.

“I’m stuck on the side of the road in a damn ice storm and I’m out of gas.”

“What am I supposed to do, little brother? I’m nowhere near you.”

I hung my head. Typical Case. He wasn’t going to offer anything. “Nothing. Just giving you an update. I haven’t made it to Mill Valley yet.”

“Who said she was in Mill Valley?”

“It was the last lead I got. I’ve been to five shitty towns and no one has seen her. This is the only lead I have.”

“You better hope she’s there.”

I suppressed a growl. “No shit.”

“Let me know when you find her.”

“That would be a lot easier if I had some gas.”

“You’ll figure it out.” Case laughed.

“Thanks,” I grumbled. What did I expect from my big brother?

“Call me in the morning. I’m rolling into Sullen’s Grove now. Eli and Noah are with me.”

I was part of the Tribe, but I was glad I wasn’t with those guys. I had my own journey. My own life to fulfill. My own mate I needed to find.

I liked the chase better this way. Although, I was tired of running into dead ends.

B
y the time
I reached my car, my fingertips were frozen. It wasn’t usually cold like this late in the spring, but coming off the mountain like that, the wind whipped and whirled, chilling me under my coat.

I threw my backpack in the passenger seat and started the engine, warming it for a few minutes before heading to the cabin I rented on the outskirts of campus. It was slightly above the valley.

I liked being able to look down and see campus. At night, it gave me the perfect place to roam freely as the panther emerged. I didn’t have to worry about roommates. I didn’t worry about being spotted. I stayed away from town and the people who would be scared of me. People like my parents. People who would think I was a monster.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t understand where the fear came from. I did, but deep down I always thought my parents would come around. They would remember the baby who blew out her first birthday candle in their kitchen. The little girl my dad held on to when he took the training wheels off her first bike. But the older I got, the deeper the fear rooted in their hearts.

My car sputtered through the icy roads, annoyed as I was that the weather was cold again. Spring was supposed to mean warmth. It was the emergence of flowers and budding leaves. It also meant graduation was only a few weeks away. And finals.

I passed the town limits, climbing the first tier of the mountain, when I saw him.

Well, I saw someone. He was bent over the hood of his car.

I slowed, keeping my car running, and rolled down the window. “Do you need some help?” I asked.

He backed out from under the hood and his eyes landed on mine. Something deep in my chest beat ferociously. I didn’t know what he was, only that he was someone like me. A shifter. Someone with a magical presence I could feel from across the street.

He also had green eyes that were practically glowing in the dark. Eyes like mine.

“Battery’s dead and I’m out of gas,” he replied.

I looked to see if there was anyone else with him, but he seemed to be alone, stranded on the side of the mountain road.

“I don’t know if the gas stations in town are open this late.” I looked over my shoulder. The lights were dim in Mill Valley.

“Of course not,” he groaned.

“I could jump your car, but I guess that doesn’t get you anywhere.” I still hadn’t taken my hands off the wheel.

“Not really, but thanks. I need gas first.”

I twisted my bottom lip under my teeth. If I knew what he was, then there was a likely chance he also knew what I was. This could be my first chance to actually get some of my questions answered.

Maybe he had a family. Maybe he knew what it meant to be a shifter, or how it was even possible. I knew my strength and abilities. I wasn’t afraid of this guy. Even if he was built like a wall, and his T-shirt clung to his chest like a wet blanket. His muscles stretched it in all directions. I was a she-panther. I could handle him.

“So, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but do you want a ride?”

He looked at me, the green sparkling in his eyes. “Back to a closed gas station?”

“No.” I shook my head. “You can crash on my couch for the night, and in the morning I can take you into town when I go to class.”

It looked like he was surveying his options. He slammed the hood on the truck. “You know, I think I’ll take you up on that.”

It was quick and it was almost unnoticeable, but I felt a sensation flutter under my ribs. I ignored it and watched as he grabbed a bag from inside the cab, pulled the keys from the ignition, and walked across the road.

I unlocked the door so he could climb in the car.

Once he was next to me, I looked over at him. He had strong features and a straight jaw. He brushed the snow from his dark hair.

“I’m Drew. Drew Maddox.” He held out his hand for me to take.

The way his eyes took me in, devoured the curves of my throat, and studied my hands caught me off guard. The lie came out before I even had time to think about it.

“Nice to meet you, Drew. I’m Penny.”

“Penny, huh?” There was a clear look of disappointment.

I put the car in drive. “Yeah, I live pretty close to here.”

“I thought for a second you might be somebody else.”

I turned onto the gravel drive and steered the car toward the little house I rented. “And who would that be?”

“Just a girl.” He shrugged. He stepped out of the car and waited for me at the door.

I felt the disappointment just as heavily. In that instant, even though it was crazy and foolish, stupid and idiotic, I hoped this hot stranger on the side of the road was maybe looking for me.