Shadow Mated (Ouachita Mountain Shifter Book 5) Read online

  Julio “Gash” Kennedy has a wicked past that refuses to let him go. After faking his death to escape a ruthless shadow clan of shifters, he’s found a home in the Ouachita Mountains, running security for the werecats’ vacation lodge. But cutting ties to the past isn’t as easy as he’d assumed, and now the men he betrayed are coming for his clan. Coming for his mate. For his Bailey. The one female who haunts his dreams and makes his heart tremble when she’s near.

  But he’ll do anything to keep her safe.

  Abandoned by her tiger streak when she was barely more than a young, curvy were-tiger, Bailey, has clawed her way back from desolation. Finding a new clan to call home, and friends who love her just the way she is, has done a lot for healing old wounds. But her cat won’t be satisfied until she’s cracked open the hard-shell heart of the one male who makes her dream of having more. Gash doesn’t want her, if his cruel words are anything to go by, but his actions tell a different story.

  And she’s not ready to give up on him.

  As Ouachita prepares to meet their vilest foe, they’ll have to depend on help from a most unlikely source to free Gash of his past, so he can have a future with Bailey.

  Shadow Mated

  By P. Jameson

  Shadow Mated

  Copyright © 2016 by P. Jameson

  First electronic publication: March 2016

  United States of America

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, redistributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in any database, without prior written permission from the author, with the exception of brief quotations contained in critical reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this work may be scanned, uploaded, or otherwise distributed via the internet or any other means, including electronic or print without the author’s written permission.

  The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  P. Jameson

  www.pjamesonauthorbooks.blogspot.com

  Other books by P. Jameson

  Ouachita Mountain Shifters

  A Mate’s Wish (Holiday Prequel)

  Deliciously Mated (Book 1)

  Ouachita Mated (Book 2)

  Merrily Mated (Book 3)

  Secretly Mated (Book 4)

  Shadow Mated (Book 5)

  Dirt Track Dogs

  Racing the Alpha (Book 1)

  Racing the Beast (Book 2)

  Racing Home (Book 3)

  Racing Hard (Book 4)

  Racing Destiny (Book 5)

  Home for the Holidays (Book 6)

  Ozark Mountain Shifters

  A Mate’s Denial (Book 1)

  A Mate’s Sacrifice (Book 2)

  A Mate’s Revenge (Book 3)

  A Mate’s Submission (Book 4)

  Sci-fi Fantasy Romance

  Starwalker (Amazon)

  Pronunciation Guide

  Ouachita – wosh i taw

  Sorcera – sor sur uh

  Adira – uh deer uh

  Nastia – nos tee uh

  Mirena – mee ray nuh

  Theron – thee ron

  Thames – tims

  Magei – maj eye

  Prologue

  Double tiger, hidden dragon. Grab the groom, and hitch the wagon.

  Bubbling trouble, brewing storm. Your destiny begins to take form.

  Follow the shadow to the sun. The future is already begun.

  Be the light in the night, the right in the fright.

  Draw on the stars, their power is sure. Draw on the animals, their love is pure.

  Heed this: give as much as you take, lest the darkness be your fate.

  Double tiger, hidden dragon. Grab the groom, and hitch the wagon.

  Adira The Lightest, stared down at the ancient slip of paper she held in her hand. It was crinkled, and the places where it had been folded and opened over and over were cracking with wear. The riddle was ridiculous enough to warrant a major eyeroll, except this was too serious a problem.

  “Something’s amiss. What kind of spell is this? No ancient words to recite. Nothing to end our plight. No chanting, or anything like that. What exactly am I looking at?”

  “You did it again,” Nastia The Wisest murmured.

  “Hmm?”

  “Rhyme. It’s a sickness, I swear. It’s like Doctor Seuss’s ghost is inhabiting part of your brain.”

  “Did not. It’s just… this spell is a long shot. Tell me, sister, what have we bought?” Adira clamped her mouth shut. The rhyming was annoying. Even she could admit it. But it wasn’t going to end until they found a way to break the curse.

  Well, not a curse so much as their destiny. It was every Sorcera’s fate to turn dark if they failed to find their anchor in the allotted time.

  Nastia rolled her eyes. “My goodness. You’re not even good at it.” Turning to Mirena The Bravest, she said, “Isn’t there something we can do about this? Some spell that will take the rhyming out of her? We are powerful Sorcera. We should be able to find a way.”

  Mirena straightened the long skirt of her prim cotton dress and pressed her elaborately styled bouffant hair into place. “Being powerful has nothing to do with anything anymore. And we’ve wasted our money on this spell. True love can’t be coerced by magic. I told you this was a bad idea.”

  Adira sighed. They all had their ticks. The rhyming was annoying, but not nearly as bad as Nastia’s compulsion to count rocks or Mirena’s impulse to make dares with everyone she came in contact with.

  The solution was to find each of their anchors—the one person who could fasten them to the light, the good, the right—or find a spell to circumvent the shifting of their powers from light magic to dark.

  So far, no Sorcera had managed to come up with such a spell.

  Adira dropped her gaze back to the aged parchment. Surely they’d wasted their money, wasted their time—which was precious since they only had until the autumnal equinox to find their anchors—wasted their breath begging the old seer to part with this supposed precious spell.

  “When shall we try it then?” She stared upward to the dark sky sprinkled with the lights that gave them power. “The stars shine bright. If it’s going to work, tonight, it might.”

  Mirena glanced to Nastia. She was the wittiest, the most clever, and the most studied of the three. No doubt she’d been combing over the spell in her crafty little mind, seeking out the best potential use for it. She was what commoners might call a… nerd. Adira would only call her that lovingly of course.

  “Adira is correct,” she agreed. “The moon is large and the stars are powerful this night. Look up. The darkness is not so dark for now.”

  Adira followed Mirena’s gaze back to the sky. The darkness was more powerful than the light. It always was. Look upward any given night and the black expanse far outweighed the pinpricks of white. It was the same in life. The evil was more enticing, more captivating, than the good.

  It was why the anchors were necessary. For every yin there had to be a yang. For every necessary evil there must be an unnecessary good. If she was lucky, the darkness that was coming for her would mix with someone else’s light and create something gray. Something acceptable. A balance.

  “Let us waste no more time,” Mirena urged.

  The three came together in the spot where their power was the strongest, near the old well that was no longer used but still held water. It sat in the midst of the trees behind their small cabin, but was open to the sky, to their power source. The combined elements of water
and heavens formed the perfect channel for the mystics to work.

  With their feet anchored to the earth and their palms touching to form a perfect ring, they began to recite the silly spell even thought there was no Latin to it, and it seemed more a puzzle than magic.

  “Double tiger, hidden dragon. Grab the groom, and hitch the wagon…”

  Power swirled around them, the air crackling with energy they created. Adira felt the hairs on her arms rise to salute the mystics in respect. Fallen leaves lifted from the ground where they’d been trampled, hovering around the circle of three. Sticks and blades of grass followed suit, dancing in the wind.

  She breathed deep, the smell of earth and murky water giving her a sense of comfort. This was what she was meant for, magic. Magic to do good. Turning evil could never happen. She’d fight it until her end. They all would. Even Nastia who possessed the least amount of light magic. She was the closest to turning, and perhaps the most determined to find a way to stop it.

  This had to work.

  Their voices grew louder in the darkness, unifying until they sounded like one. “Double tiger, hidden dragon. Grab the groom and hitch the wagon…”

  The bracken from the forest floor began to spin around them, a cushion for their power, containing it so the world around wouldn’t notice. Just in case any wanderers were nearby. Louder and faster they chanted. Faster, the air moved, churning the water from the well until it splashed upward, slapping against the mortar walls and leaking over the top.

  Tipping her head back, Adira moved her gaze to the stars and their moon overhead. It was a beacon, drawing her attention and demanding a power exchange that felt like electricity flowing through her veins instead of blood. It was warm. Home. Comfort.

  If she didn’t find her anchor in time, she’d be tempted to draw her magic from the dark night. It would be cold. Cruel. Strange.

  But for now, the stars burned within her. For now, she was warm like the sun.

  Light shot from the circle to the sky in a blinding white beam, heat blistering through Adira. As the lightest, she contained the most light magic. She was the farthest from turning. But even still, the inky blackness called to her, a mere whisper for now, enticing her with more power.

  Easy to resist it now, but what about later.

  The feel of Nastia’s palm against her right and Mirena’s against her left grounded her. They were her anchor now. But aging meant they’d all need more.

  A boom that exploded like thunder rocked their circle, sending water from the well spewing in every direction. The spray caught the light of the mystics and a miracle happened, stealing Adira’s breath as certain as if she’d been knocked to her back.

  A rainbow.

  Or since it was dark out, a moonbow.

  Nevertheless, she saw it. A rainbow. With her very eyes, she saw it. She wanted to look away, to see if the sisters saw it too, but she was afraid to even blink. Afraid it would disappear and she’d be left with only her memory of it.

  “Do you see it,” Mirena whispered.

  “I do,” Nastia breathed.

  No Sorcera could look upon a rainbow. Well, they could try all they wanted, but it was impossible for them to see. They were blind to it no matter how hard they looked. It was a result of light magic stronger than any single witch could contain. Not even an entire coven of Sorcera. Commoners could look and see, because they knew not magic. Their ignorance was a gift that allowed them many luxuries Sorcera couldn’t have. Experiencing the beauty of a rainbow was among that list.

  But now here was one, right in the midst of their circle and all three could see it.

  “It’s a sign,” Adira murmured. And because her curse demanded it, she added, “We’re going to be fine.”

  They never broke the circle. Their power remained thick in the air. But the light from the mystics faded anyway, and with it, their rainbow dimmed to nothing.

  Tears plucked at Adira’s lids. She wanted to call it back. Demand its return. Repeat the spell. Anything to have it again.

  But it was well and truly gone.

  “Hellooooo?” A faint voice that didn’t belong to either of her sisters floated on the breeze where their magic was evaporating. “Can you hear me? Testing, testing. Mic check. Witchy woman, can you hear this? Breaker, breaker. Do you copy?”

  Adira frowned, looking around, but there was nobody there. She was alone with her sisters in the darkness. Even the moon seemed to have abandoned them.

  “What is that?” Mirena hissed, tilting her head and straining to listen.

  “Anybody there? I’m looking for the witches of… damn, what did they call you three? Uh, sorcery? Witches of sorcery? That seems a little redundant though, so maybe that’s not it.”

  Nastia leaned over to look into the well. “Sorcera,” she corrected. “We’re called Sorcera.”

  Adira and Mirena followed their sister’s gaze. Inside the well, was an interesting surprise. The glossy surface of the water had become some kind of portal allowing them to see through it. Like a mirror, except their reflection wasn’t looking back at them. Instead a petite woman with small features and long brunette hair stared up through the column of bricks and mud.

  “Oh good!” she exclaimed. “You can hear me.”

  “And see you,” Mirena added.

  “Wait. You can see me? Well, okay. Wasn’t expecting that, but hey, I’ve never talked to a witch before.” She patted her hair for any fly-aways and rubbed a finger over her front teeth. “My makeup look okay? You’re lucky I’m wearing any today. I usually skip it. Got baby triplets, you know, so no time for primping.”

  Adira frowned at her sisters. They wouldn’t know about makeup. They didn’t wear any. They were raised to avoid adornments, dress modestly, and behave as proper ladies. Some called it old-fashioned, but it had never bothered Adira. Nastia was the only one of them who preferred modernity. She even had one of those iPhones. Which, to be honest, did seem useful.

  “Was it the spell that brought you to the well?” Adira asked the strange apparition.

  “The well? I don’t think so, no. I’m in a well?”

  The three nodded, but then realized she couldn’t see them.

  “Yes,” Mirena confirmed.

  The stranger raised one dark eyebrow to form a perfect arch. “Huh. Well, that explains why it worked this time. Water is the key. I’m not powerful enough yet to talk to strangers without the help of the water.”

  Powerful. Was the woman one of them?

  “Are you Sorcera too?” Mirena asked.

  “Nope. Elder.”

  Adira shared a frown with Nastia.

  “Elder?” Mirena repeated, testing the word. The woman wasn’t elderly. Not even close. What did the word mean in context?

  “My name is Destiny, and I’m the lone Elder for a hybrid shifter pack in Arkansas.”

  Shifters. A chill ran the length of Adira’s spine. Dangerous. Brutal. They knew little of the humans who shared bodies with animals. But rumors had been passed down through the mystics, and they amounted to nothing good.

  “Whoa,” Destiny said, frowning hard. “So… I can feel that through our link. Your, uh… reservations. Times three. But I can assure you, I’m here to help. My pack, and the others we associate with, we are good people. Just, you know, down to earth, working class, like to have fun, kick it with family… that kind of thing.”

  Mirena set her jaw. The bravest. She’d hate that Destiny could feel her fear when she was so careful not to show it.

  “You draw your power from the water then?” she asked.

  Destiny gave a single nod. “I do.”

  “And have you ever used your power for darkness?”

  Destiny’s brows drew together. “Darkness? You mean for evil? No. God, no. Why would I do that?”

  Her question had them stumped. Why wouldn’t she? Lots of people used their powers for evil. Even commoners who had no magic. Power came in many forms and was often mishandled without thought. Was it
so strange to wonder if this shifter was the same?

  She waved a hand in the air as if she was wiping a window clean. “You know what, never mind. The answer is no. I only use my power for good. Unless you count sneakily setting up shifters so they’ll fall in love and live happily ever after. But I don’t think that’s bad. I mean, I think the end justifies the means, right? I mean, right? They all seem happy. Sort of.”

  Destiny went silent.

  What had this spell brought them? A chatty shifter with water powers. How was this going to help them find their anchors?

  “Okay, straight talk. I don’t think I’ve done anything bad with my powers, but who can be sure, right?” She let out a nervous giggle. “Thing is, I’m here to help you now. The three of you, in hopes that you’ll help me in return. What do you say? Will you hear me out?”

  The three exchanged glances. They’d come this far, the least they could do was hear what she had to say.

  Adira nodded. So did Nastia.

  “We will,” Mirena answered.

  Destiny let out a relieved sigh. “Whew. Okay, swell. Because I think you’re the only ones who can help my friends, and boy oh boy, do they need help.”

  “Explain.” Mirena’s frustration was showing through her tone.

  “There’s a clan of mountain cats in the Ouachitas. They’re the most peaceful group you’ve ever seen, I swear. They’re almost boring. Not like my pack. We race cars, you know. Fast. Reeeeal fast. Anyway, they run a vacation lodge and have strong community ties and all that. Good ‘ol boys, as we call them around here. But they’re under attack and they need help. They need someone powerful on their side—or three someones.”

  Adira’s heart clenched. There was nothing more unfortunate than innocents being treated wrongly. Maybe it was because she’d seen it happen too many times, or maybe because she’d been wronged herself in ways she’d never deserved. Whatever the case, Destiny’s story compelled her.