Page 3 of Claiming the Shifter's Heart

Life had been long and hard for Kristoff in ways he’d never expected or imagined. First as a soldier, then as a cop. Violence was a common enough occurrence in both his chosen professions, and he had seen enough of it for two lifetimes.

Maybe more.

He’d recently relocated to Maccon City, hoping to find some peace. The pleasant Jersey Shore town was scenic and quiet. Andit had the added bonus of being the base of operations for the Macconwood Pack.

When the Alpha, Rafe Maccon, invited him to the Manor, he’d been expecting it. An invitation to work as an Enforcer, the Wolf Pack’s version of private security, was something he’d been proud to get. And thank fuck for that.

Pushing forty, he never expected to find his mate at all, much less on the job. But he had. Only his scruples and overdeveloped moral compass had stopped him from pursuing her right away.

That didn’t stop him from seeking every tidbit of information he could find on the woman. She was fascinating and the Wolf in him was hooked.

What had he learned from all his research? Unfortunately, just the basics.

Della O’Neil Connors was a Crow Shifter from down south. A little place not even on the map deep inside Georgia called Dawn Valley.

Her people were closed off and kept to themselves. Apparently, Crows didn’t like strangers snooping into their lives and his inquiries had been shut down hard.

Still, they were supes on US soil and that meant they had to obey the Shifter Council and High Council alike. The Macconwood Pack lawyers were working to help Della on legal fronts, and he was being kept up to date by her lawyer after he’d explained to the man what he was.

Dib Lowell was an honest man and a member of one of the Alpha’s own Wolf Guard. Still, he would only tell Kris the basics. That he was still in discussions with the attorney representing the Dawn Valley Murder. And that they were stalling.

The fuckers.

His Wolf was so on edge, it was all he could do to stop himself from traipsing down there and ridding the world of the entire fucking lot of them.

Instead, he kept coming back to her place, making sure Della and her sweet babes were safe. They were so precious. So perfect.

Mine, his Wolf growled again.

Kris could only hope the beast was right and that someday she would, indeed, belong to him in every way.

Some day.

Chapter 2

“Oh my God, Sam! Where on earth would I wear that?”

“I don’t know. Beneath some silky little dress or a pair of blue jeans. Heck, you could wear this under those godawful plaid pajama bottoms you like so much, and you’d still have enough confidence to draw the eye of a dozen men. Della! You’d have them lined up around the corner for your attention.”

“Just what I need,” she muttered, rolling her eyes and serving her impatient Janie her bowl of pea mush.

“Della Connors,oops, I mean,O’Neil—is it O’Neil yet? Um, anyway, sorry about that,” Sam said when Della turned with her eyebrows raised.

With the help of the Macconwood Pack’s excellent legal team, she’d managed to finalize her divorce and started proceedings to change hers, and her children’s names to her maiden name.

After Samantha and her mate, Michael, who also happened to be a Wolf Shifter, had saved her, his Pack had offered sanctuary to the small Crow Shifter family.

Crow babies weren’t like Wolves. They could change almost as soon as they took a notion to do it, whereas in most cases Wolf pups needed to wait until after puberty.

Little Sean had had two shifts already, and Della was just so darn proud of him.

“Seriously though, when are you going to let your hair down and go have some fun,” Samantha said, fluffing out the naughty little nighty she’d brought over for her neighbor.

“It’s only been six weeks since that whole thing with Cade,” Della hissed.

“Six weeks is a long time. And I know you Shifters do everything faster than us normals, so don’t pretend you haven’t been thinking about getting back in the saddle again,” Samantha told her.

Della ignored her and prepared Sean’s dinner plate, having already agreed to let him watch TV while he ate since it was a special night and he and Janie were staying at Auntie Sam’s and Uncle Michael’s house.

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