Page 1 of Claiming the Shifter's Heart

Prologue

Late October.

“What the fuck do you mean, bitch? Where is it? I know you took it!”

Pain erupted like an angry tea kettle spouting boiling water across her face. The feeling was shocking and sharp. Enough to force tears to spring to her eyes.

That was how it always felt when her soon to be ex-husband and former mate hit her. And he’d done that a lot in their five years together.

Della winced, but she didn’t cry out. She refused to give him the satisfaction. He grabbed her face, looking for it, wanting to see her fear. His black eyes narrowed, anger rising as she hid her emotions.

God, he was so messed up. A Shifter junky who liked to beat on women.

But what did that make her? After all, she’d stayed with him for years.

Not anymore. I found courage. I left, she told herself.

She’d heard them right before they landed, cutting through the night sky like the angry nightmare they were.

The first thing she did was grab Janie and Sean from where they’d been relaxing in the wide space of their new living room. Della didn’t recall a whole helluva lot about the uncle who’d left her his house, but she was so thankful to him for helping her out of the mess she’d made of her life.

After safely tucking her children under the back stairs, Della went to face her worst fears head on. She only prayed her precious babies would be safe.

There just wasn’t enough time to see them safely across the yard to her neighbor’s house, and she would never risk their father getting his hands on them.

Cade had a few of his buddies with him.

Of course he did.

The coward always needed an audience when he was wreaking havoc on Della with his brutal treatment.

Oh, he liked to hit.

Not slaps or shoves, either.

Cade was a fan of closed fists and hard kicks. He enjoyed seeing the bruises he’d caused across her flesh, and breaking skin was just as likely to make him hard as when he visited the titty bar with his pals.

Real fucking ladies’ men these guys were.Not.

Della knew deep down she was not to blame, but that did not stop her from feeling responsible. She’d been young and naïve when she’d met Cade, eating up everything he said about them being mates and her needing to accept her place in the Murder where he was ranked at the bottom of the barrel.

Those Shifters were real pieces of shit. But by the time Della realized that she was already pregnant with Sean. Stupidly, she thought that would change Cade.

It did. But not in the way she’d hoped.

He’d only gotten meaner with the birth of her son. Calling her all sorts of names, his favorite of which was ‘fat slob’.

Della was never skinny, but women gained weight during pregnancy. It was natural.

Hoping he would leave her alone if she kept the weight on, Della didn’t even try to lose it after Sean was born. But it wasn’t enough to keep him away.

She went to the Crow King and begged for him to dissolve their mating, but Cade protested.

Oh, he was a good liar.

He’d pretended to be broken up over how he’d treated her. In front of the entire Murder, Cade had come, sobbing, and begging for her forgiveness.

He was good at that. At the con. The King believed him, and the others, too. Cade swore to her he’d changed, making promises her poor broken heart was desperate to believe.

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