Page 29 of Shifter Mates for the Single Mom

I felt myself tightening around him, his surging cock feeling better and better with every thrust until my vision swam and my heart pounded in my ears.

My back arched, my muscles clenched, and then I squealed in spite of myself, a high sound of delight through fruitlessly sealed lips as my climax broke over me in waves. I thrashed and ground back against him, sobbing blissfully until he stiffened, and I felt his cock jolt inside of me and heard him groan with relief.

I sagged in his grip. He bent over me, gasping for air while I struggled to get my own breath back. I could have gone straight back to sleeping then. The blissful peace of post-orgasm tempted me to snuggle down right there and pull the sheet over myself.

Instead, I remembered I had dinner to cook, Aidan to read to, and Ulf was going on guard duty soon.

I sighed as he pulled out of me, and backed off of the bed, getting unsteadily to my feet. My clothes were fine. I pulled my skirt and tank top back on and stepped into my sandals while Ulf was zipping up his jeans. His shirt was a loss. He held it up and peered at it, then shrugged and tossed it into the wastebasket.

He turned to me and opened his mouth to say something when I heard something strange outside: knocking. The doorbell. Not the intercom, but the doorbell.

Ulf and I looked at each other, and then I heard something even more alarming: the sound of my voice.

"Aidan? Honey? I got locked out. Come open the door…"

Eyes widening in horror, I grabbed my knife off the nightstand and ran out, headed for the stairs with desperate speed. Halfway there, a massive, pale-furred wolf brushed past me and bolted down the stairs, growling. But even then, I heard the door opening.

Aidan had been warned. But that was my voice, and in the end, he was just a child.

“Aidan!” I screamed. “Don’t––”

I heard his gasp of horror and Ulf’s snarl, and then shouts of alarm from the men scattered around the house and yard. I got downstairs just in time to see someone wearing my face grabbing Aidan and trying to drag him out the door.

Aidan screamed in panic and shock as my leering doppelganger dragged him backward. For a few moments, as we rushed toward him, all he could do was struggle fruitlessly.

Then he remembered.

The knife flashed out of its scabbard. Clumsy with desperation, he pressed the silver blade against the imposter’s forearm where it clutched close to his throat. She let out a shriek and jerked her arm away, and he twisted free and ran to me as fast as he could. She tried to follow only to have a furious Wolf slam into her and knock her out of the door.

I ran forward and closed the door, grabbing my son and pulling him toward the panic room. He was shaking but excited. “I got her, Mom! Did you see? I got her!”

“Yes, I saw, honey. You did very well. We need to get inside the panic room now.”

I was almost there when I heard Matthias calling for me outside. “Madelyne! Madelyne!”

I froze. I could hear the growl of Wolves and the snarl of a Tiger. And I suddenly knew… I had to face this.

“Go downstairs. Keep the knife in your hand. When I come get you, you put it on my arm like you did with that lady. You’ll know if it’s me right away.”

He nodded, wide-eyed. “What are you going to do?”

“Finish this.”

I locked him in and rushed to the front door, knowing I could not fight the Tigers but that I would never know peace if I didn’t see him die for myself.

Legs shaky from fear and Ulf’s pounding, I went to the window and saw Matthias standing in the yard, flanked by two Tigers. The smaller one was limping. Nathan and his Pack faced them from the porch, Nathan with his shotgun and the other three in Wolf form, pacing and growling.

“Send out my woman, or we’ll kill you all,” Matthias demanded as I peered through the blinds.

“You’re outmatched, outnumbered, and one of you is wounded,” Nathan replied coldly. “We even have the law on our side. License to kill an outlaw shifter.” He racked a round into his shotgun and pointed it. “So please, push the issue. We’ll all enjoy watching you die.”

Matthias’ head jerked up and he caught sight of me looking out at him. His eyes narrowed. “There you are, you betraying little bitch,” he growled. His face was gleaming with sweat, and there was madness in his eyes.

I stared back at him defiantly. Nathan settled his finger on the trigger.

Matthias lunged forward, racing straight at the window, straight at me. I stumbled backward, yanking the silver knife from its sheath behind my back as he started to change. When he leaped, cloth tore, and his body blurred and shifted. The shotgun went off three times, and a black-red bloom appeared on the tiger’s side a second before he burst through the glass.

Chaos erupted outside, the two other tigers attacking as Matthias landed in my living room, narrowly missing me. He reared up, claws out, fangs bared in a snarl, and I lashed out with the knife, catching him in the loose skin of his throat and almost losing my grip.

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