The Crane Curse Series Complete Boxed Set (Shape Shifter Romance) Read online

  "Thank you for saving me," she whispered as she pressed her cheek against his scratchy beard.

  "Hannah, you are in danger. He's right. Your scent grows stronger each time I see you. You're changing."

  "I'm not changing. I'm the same as I've always been."

  "No, Hannah. I don't understand how, but you're changing. You're becoming one of us."

  "No! How can that be? You're wrong," she said as she stepped back, confused.

  "You are. Look at your eyes," Caleb said.

  Hannah didn't have to. Deep down, something within her said he was telling the truth. She felt the difference within her as the wolves fought, but didn't understand it. Without needing a mirror, Hannah knew her eyes glowed amber.

  Chapter Eight

  "How is this happening?" Hannah asked. "A person doesn't just change into a werewolf."

  Caleb saw confusion spread across her pretty face. He knew he had to help her control it or as the wolf spirit grew, it would consume her.

  "Come with me," he said as he took her hand. "We need to go somewhere safe, where we can talk."

  "Then come inside. God only knows what my mother is up to, but the lights are out so I guess she's still at Night Shift." Hannah shook her head. "Don't ask."

  She pulled out an old bronze key and unlocked the door. They entered a small hallway, which led to an open room with a couch and the TV at one end and a kitchen at the other end. Hannah disappeared through a door then reappeared holding a pair of baby blue sweatpants and a white oversized button shirt that she handed to him.

  "I'm sure they won't fit, but you have to put something on," she said.

  "Why? Does it bother you that I'm naked?"

  Caleb watched as her cheeks turned red. He laughed heartily, then took the clothes and pulled on the pants. They were tight, almost like a second skin, and the bottoms of the sweatpants only reached his calves. He held the shirt up to his large chest, showing her how small the shirt really was, then shrugged and put it on even though he couldn't button it up.

  "Do you want anything? Coffee? Hot chocolate?" she asked.

  He smiled. "It's very nice of you to be polite, but I know where your head is. You're thinking about your eyes and wondering what's next." As she nodded, Caleb noticed tears in her eyes. "Come sit with me," he said.

  "I don't want to be a wolf. It was hard enough growing up as a witch, and people didn't know that just by looking at me. I can't walk around with yellow eyes."

  "Relax," he said as he took her hand and closed his large hands around it. "I know you can do this. Just listen to me. You know how you focus on Pea in the circle to make her come?"

  "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

  "Use that focus. Focus on your eyes and that beautiful green color they used to be."

  "You think my eyes are beautiful?" she asked.

  He smiled softly at her and stroked her cheek. "The most beautiful I've ever seen. Now concentrate on them. Clear everything from your mind except for what color your eyes used to be."

  She closed her eyes for a minute and when she opened them, they were emerald again. Smiling, she slumped back against the couch and let out a long sigh.

  "Thank you. Is that how you change?"

  "Yes, although it becomes easier the more you do it. You need to control it so it doesn't control you. You never want to meet a shifter who isn't in control of his animal spirit, because they're dangerous. There are times when circumstances force it to take control. Like earlier," he said. "When Renfield attacked you, becoming a wolf wasn't a thought. It just came naturally because I had to protect you. I'm sure that's why your eyes turned. Your wolf spirit was ready to protect you, too."

  "My wolf spirit? Nothing makes any sense anymore. My entire life I've been told werewolves were awful, disgusting, and untrustworthy. I didn't even believe they existed. And then I meet you."

  "You feel what I do, don't you?" he asked softly.

  Caleb had been wanting to talk to her. Although she didn't know anything about fated mates, he believed she had to feel the same thing he felt.

  "I don't know. I don't know what I feel. I'm so confused. I can't explain it."

  "I can't explain it, either," he said, feeling the pull to her grow even stronger. "Let me tell you what I do know. Every time I see you, your scent grows stronger. And your scent..." he shook his head as he thought about the deliciousness of it, "it's the most amazing thing."

  "Caleb, you keep talking about scents and wolf spirits, but I don't understand. None of that means anything to me."

  "No one really understands how shifters came to be. Some say we're just human hybrids, others say it's magic, or a curse."

  "A curse? Like from witchcraft?" Hannah asked.

  "Yes, exactly. Some of the earliest texts on werewolves link them with witches. There are accounts dating back to the witch trials in Europe accusing witches, both male and female, of being wolf charmers."

  "You mean witches that could make the wolves do what they wanted?"

  "Yes, like attack a neighbor's livestock. Honestly, when we first met, I was so drawn to you that I was sure you charmed me."

  "Well, if I charmed you, I must have done a lousy job. You kept trying to get rid of me," she said, laughing.

  "It was your scent. You had the scent of a wolf, but it was clear you weren't. The next time we met I thought you might be a half breed, but you didn't have that scent, either," he said as he shook his head, still confused. "Let me keep explaining. There are half breeds, but they're rare. A half breed isn't as connected to their animal spirit so they're unable to shift, but they have the senses of that animal. They also don't have as strong of a scent as you do. All the shifters I know can trace their animal ancestry back centuries."

  "And the wolf spirit?"

  "Most of the packs in Leeds Point believe that our ability to shift into animal form is from our ancestors. We can trace our roots back to people who believed an animal spirit protected and helped them. These spirits were separate from the humans at that time, but there's evidence that they eventually joined, enabling us to transform."

  "So you speak to other packs? I wasn't sure since when I was at Night Shift, it was wolf only."

  "I call them packs, but we don't all exist that way. A pack is more of a wolf convention, which is why I speak that way. Other groups like bears are more solitary but created a similar infrastructure as the pack for protection. There are some who won't fraternize with different species of shifters, but as Alpha, I like to keep communication open so we can work together. Like now with the murders."

  "Is it only wolves that are in danger?" she asked.

  "So far, but you never know. There are other shifters missing. Whoever is at the root of it obviously has a problem with wolves, but from my experience, if this pack gets too confident, they'll go after the others. I've been working with the bear and panther Alphas to watch the forest. The woods seem to be at the center of this. That's how I found you. I followed your scent out of my territory into the neutral zone, which is where you live."

  "Neutral zone? I can't believe all of this has been going on my entire life and I knew nothing about it."

  He laughed. "You have no idea how much is going on in Leeds Point. As a human you're sheltered from it, but where you live and where the clearing is are all parts of an abandoned territory. They believe it was once managed by a wolf, but no one knows for sure so the Shifter Council declared it neutral. We can't figure out where the murders are taking place though. There are no clues, just the bodies left behind. At first we thought it was hunters, but there's been too many deaths and no signs of gunshots or arrows."

  "Do you think Hawthorn is behind this?"

  "Renfield seemed to believe so. And the coyote has long been an enemy of the wolf. They refuse to accept their place. Many of them let their coyote spirit rule, so it wouldn't surprise me. I'll have to notify the Council and set up an emergency meeting. I'll also have to tell them about what Ren
field said about you. If the coyote believes you to be a wolf charmer, then you're not safe. Your scent continues to grow stronger, and they'll follow it just like I did."

  "Maybe I need to shower more. I didn't realize I had such an odor," she said, trying to lighten the mood.

  "I'm serious. We're shifters. We're part animal. A lot of what we do is based on scent. It's how we've survived all these centuries," he said, then paused before continuing. "Do you believe in soul mates?"

  "I...I don't know anymore. I mean when I think back to my family, none of the women had ever been in a long-term relationship, let alone married. So I didn't believe in it."

  "Didn't?" he said, noticing she spoke in past tense. "I didn't, either. Not until I met you. Shifters refer to soul mates as our fated mate, and we find them by their scent. No one else will have that special scent, and it pulls at every cell in our body once we find that person. You are my fated mate. And I know you feel it, too."

  "I don't know what I feel," she said. "I've never felt like this before. I can't explain it, but ever since we met, you're all I can think about. But it still doesn't explain why I'm changing. It doesn't sound like it normally happens this way."

  "You're right, it doesn't. Usually the change first happens to children, but they're around shifters all the time. Maybe your wolf spirit was hibernating and I woke it. I don't know, but I'll help you learn to manage it." He smiled and kissed her lips softly, then breathed in deeply and sighed. "It's late, the sun is almost up, and I'm sure your mother doesn't want to find a wolf in her home."

  "When will I see you again?"

  "Tonight. Let me take you on a proper date. And I'd like to meet your mother. She should feel comfortable with who is taking you out."

  "You don't have to do that. She hates werewolves. At least, I thought she did," Hannah said, unsure. "I can date whoever I want. I don't need permission."

  "Then call me old fashioned. I'm going to come here, knock on the door, and meet your mother," he said as he pressed his lips to hers and felt her body melt against his. "I have to go before I can't stop myself."

  She smiled and followed him to the door. Once outside, Caleb quickly undressed, then put his hand up to say good-bye as his ears lengthened and hair slowly sprouted. He let the transformation quicken and once he was a full wolf, turned towards the forest and ran off at full speed. Feeling the cool air against his fur once again, he slowed down, enjoying the cold ground underneath his paws. Thinking about Hannah, he wondered if she would enjoy the freedom of running as a wolf as much as he did.

  As the sun lightened the forest, he thought about having to call an emergency meeting of the Council. But almost more importantly, he wanted to make sure Hannah had a night she would never forget.

  Chapter Nine

  Hannah stood on the porch, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth as she watched Caleb in wolf form enter the forest. Picking up the clothes he wore from the porch steps, she held them up to her face and inhaled deeply, enjoying his scent.

  Slipping her arms into the button shirt, she grinned, thinking about sleeping in it so she could feel close to him. Briefly, she felt the tug of her own wolf spirit, so she closed her eyes and focused on containing it.

  "You'll catch your death of cold out here," her mother said, startling her as she entered the cottage.

  As she followed Eliza into the house, Hannah couldn't help but remember her mother sitting at Night Shift like it was the most normal thing in the world. How could she act like that after all the things she said about werewolves her entire life? She needed answers, but she wanted a fight and she knew how to get one.

  "I'm going on a date tonight," she said as she followed Eliza into her bedroom, where she sat on her bed as she took off her heels.

  "That's nice. You don't normally tell me about your dates though."

  "He's a werewolf."

  "A what! Hannah, you know how I feel about that. You know–"

  "No, what I know is what you've said all these years. Yet there you were tonight all dolled up and talking to one. Don't be a fucking hypocrite, Mom."

  "Don't talk to me like that! You have no idea what I've been through and why I was there. You'd never raise your voice like that to Pea!"

  "Pea wouldn't lie to me. She wouldn't keep things from me."

  "Oh? She wouldn't? You want to know why I haven't visited your grandmother all these years?" Eliza got up and pulled a small box from a shelf in her closet. "I found this when I was going through Pea's things after she died. It's full of letters." Eliza paused, obviously upset. "From your father."

  "My father? But I thought–"

  "That's what I thought too. I thought Knox just left me. He was in the Air Force. Stationed over at McGuire. We met one night at a bar and well, we just clicked. We were together every day for three months."

  "Only three months?"

  "One night I was out with my friends and when I got back, there was a message from him. He was being deployed that night. I raced over to the Air Force base, but I was a civilian so they wouldn't let me on base. I glamoured the MP and raced over to see him. He said he'd write and call when he could. We even talked about getting married when he got back. But I never heard from him again."

  Eliza sat back down on the bed. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She held the box on her lap carefully, as if it was fragile.

  "Tell me about the letters, Mom," Hannah said as she sat beside her and wrapped her arm around her shoulders.

  "Pea never liked him. He was a shifter. A werewolf. She said they were untrustworthy and only interested in one thing. When I never heard from him, that's what I thought, too. When I realized I was pregnant, I wanted to reach out and tell him, but I had no way to. I just didn't know how and I didn't know what to think. He had only been gone a couple of weeks, but with Pea in my head constantly, I really thought I meant nothing to him."

  "Did he ever find out?"

  She nodded and held up the box before wiping away a tear. "There are so many letters. And I had no idea. In his last letter, he said he heard from someone that I was pregnant. I guess someone he knew saw me in town. He was sure he was the father, but said if he didn't hear back from me he would respect my wishes and leave me alone. It had been months since he heard from me, months that he had been away, yet he never thought there was someone else. And there wasn't. There never has been since."

  Hannah felt bad. She had no idea any of this had happened. Knowing Pea was strong willed, it only surprised her a little, but she was very disappointed that she did such a terrible thing. What Pea did not only affected her mother, but her, too. And she was hurt.

  "Why do you think she'd do that? Why is she so against werewolves?" Hannah asked.

  Eliza sighed. "Pea believes in some curse going back to the seventeenth century. There's some folklore going back to those days that links the werewolves with our family. That's why she's obsessed with your hair. She says our hair is full of our DNA. The longer our hair is, the stronger the scent it creates." She shrugged. "I think it's bullshit, but you know Pea."

  Hannah remembered what Caleb said about the witches being persecuted as wolf charmers. Wondering if that's what happened to their ancestors centuries before, she needed to push her mother even though she could tell her mom wanted to stop talking about it.

  "Have you ever heard of Rebekah Crane? Did Pea ever mention her?"

  "No, Pea never did, but I know her name. Come with me," Eliza said as she got up.

  Hannah followed Eliza into the backyard and through the vegetable and flower gardens Pea used to spend so much time tending. Behind the gardens was an old wrought iron gate hidden by an overgrowth of ivy. Eliza wrapped her fingers around a thick section of vines and yanked hard, opening the gate.

  The section inside the gate was small, around ten feet by ten feet, bordered by the rusted fence. There was an old lawn chair to the side of the entrance and flowers growing wildly. Towards the back, Hannah noticed a slim, tilted gravestone that was d
arkened with age.

  "I started coming here when I was little," Eliza said. "It was a good place to hide and pretend we weren't the strange witch family on the block. As you know, the cottage is very old and has been in our family for hundreds of years. Back then, families would bury their dead either in the church graveyard or in a small graveyard on their property. There's only one gravestone here though and I always wondered why that was, but I knew better than to ask Pea."

  Hannah walked over to the gravestone and read it aloud. "'Here lies Rebekah Crane, Mother Leeds and unfaithful wife to Jacob.' Well, that's just rude."

  "I bet that's why she's back here. They considered her a disgrace. I'm sure you know Mother Leeds gave birth to the Jersey Devil, and I suspect that the curse Pea told me about has something to do with that. I'm sure if you wanted to find out more about her you could go down to City Hall on Monday and look her up, see what you can find. And if that doesn't work, just call her. You've always been much more powerful in calling than me."

  "You never asked Pea about her?"

  "No, I wanted my private place to stay my own. Plus, I know Pea. She always felt we should just listen to her and we didn't need to know anything else. I was stupid and never questioned her," Eliza said. "I had a different relationship with her than you did. I always felt she was resentful towards me. To me, she wasn't the warm comforting woman you know."

  Nodding, Hannah knew her mother was right. The Pea she knew and the Pea Eliza grew up with were two different women. Hannah hoped if Pea was alive she wouldn't do anything to prevent Caleb and her from being together, but she suspected Pea wouldn't do anything differently.

  "Let's go back inside, Hannah. I'm tired and I'm sure you are, too. Plus, you have that date tonight. I'm sorry for how I reacted earlier. I just...I guess I'm still hurt about your dad."

  "Have you tried looking for him? With the Internet and everything, maybe you can find him."

  "I've been talking to other shifters, showing them an old picture of us to see if anyone recognizes him. I don't even know if he came back after his deployment. For all I know, he's dead," she paused for a minute before continuing, "but I honestly don't think so. I've always felt he was close. I can't explain it, it's just a feeling. Recently though, something has happened. I feel like he's in danger and that's why I started going to Night Shift. I needed to speak to more people. I have to find him."