Shifter Chronicles - Theo and Lucinda Read online

  “Don’t want me in the house?”

  “Actually no. I know we can’t get sick but you could spread what Amanda has to the human Sheriff volunteers.”

  “I would hate to do that.” Now that his mate was in his life he would need them to watch the office while he dealt with his mate and whatever or whomever she was running from.

  “So would I.”

  “Thanks Trevor. I'll be there in a few minutes.”

  EA

  Theo hung up the phone with his brother, turned, and looked at the woman sleeping in his bed. Once Monroe had checked her out, Theo had changed her clothes, then placed her in his truck and brought her to his home. He walked over to the bed and sat on it gently so as not to wake her. According to her ID her name was Lucinda McArthur and she was from Decatur, Georgia. So how had she ended up here?

  He moved a piece of hair from Lucinda's face. Monroe had stated her fingers would heal nicely and her bruises would go down, but he could see there were some old bruises that had not healed as they were supposed to. Those were not a concern but they added more to Theo wanting to kill whoever had hurt his mate so badly. He rested his hand on her cheek. Old bruises, new bruises, and a baby he had watched her place a protective hand over all night. He rubbed his thumb over her cheek. Who could or would hurt this woman?

  EA

  “Thank you for meeting me here Tyson.”

  Tyson shook his head. “The only reason I’m meeting you is because I believe in giving people a second chance—but with you it would be a fifth…no, sixth chance wouldn’t it?” he questioned his mother. In the six months she had been in Georgia, she had moved to Atlanta and had talked about him coming to visit her. At first that had been out of the question because of his attack. He hadn’t wanted to leave Hart and barely wanted to leave home. But Amanda had told him he needed to communicate with his mother—needed to talk to her to make sure he knew all he needed to know about the situation she placed herself in. So he had started calling her. Communicating with her. And in the beginning she was receptive. Then about three months ago things changed. She changed her phone number, no longer lived at the address she had given him, and when he had finally tracked her down before this outing with the other pack teens she had acted as if she didn’t know who he was.

  “I know you have given me a lot of chances Tyson.” Rhea shook her head. “More than I deserve. But I haven’t seen you in a while and I know it’s because of your father and Amanda.”

  “Really? You ask me to meet you in the middle of the woods at midnight because you want to badmouth my parents?” Tyson said. He had snuck away from camp to meet Rhea because she had begged him to. He shook his head he should have told her no.

  “Tyson, only one of them is your parent and he doesn’t care for me. And Amanda is a non-factor. She does whatever your father says,” Rhea replied. She had seen them in town. Trevor said jump and Amanda would say ‘how high?’ It was disgusting. She wished the woman would get some business about herself.

  Tyson wanted to laugh. If Rhea thought Amanda was at his father’s beck and call she was sadly mistaken. His mom, Amanda, was her own woman and had no problem telling his father about himself or where he could shove any problems he had. Tyson sighed. “What do you want Rhea?”

  She smiled. “You. I want you to come and live with me and my fiancée Charles,” she replied. She had meet Charles Willingham three months ago. He was rich, handsome, and could give her the life she wanted. No he wasn’t were but he was going to be good for her and Tyson.

  “I’m not leaving my family.”

  “I am your family too, Tyson Hart.”

  “Yes you are, and as my biological mother I will respect that some, but I will not come live with you. I’m seventeen now by the way,” he told her. He had sent her an invite to the party Amanda had thrown for him. That was how he had found out she had moved. Her invite had come back with a ‘moved no forwarding address’ label on it. He hadn’t cried nor had he shown the invite to his parents. He had thrown it out and moved on.

  Rhea shook her head. “No, you turn seventeen next month.” She had made sure she had a present for him when his birthday arrived.

  “Yeah. No. I turned seventeen a few months ago you missed the party.” Tyson shook his head. Amanda had taken months to plan his party and Rhea couldn’t even be bothered to attend. A woman who six months ago didn’t know he existed, wanted him to have the best party possible, and his mother couldn’t even bother to leave a forwarding address. “Listen, I have to get back before anyone knows I’m missing.”

  “Tyson—”

  “We’ll talk later. If Uncle Atlas or Taylor find me missing they will be worried, and I am not worrying my sister.”

  “She’s…?”

  “She is. Now I have to go.” Tyson shifted, turned, and rushed into the woods.

  Rhea shifted herself and headed in the opposite direction. She would get her son to come and stay with her one way or the other. She just knew she would. Tyson wouldn’t still be giving her chances if he didn’t care about her. She smiled to herself. She and Tyson would be together—she just needed to figure out how she could make it happen without Amanda or Trevor interfering.

  EA

  Lucy wiped at her eyes as she slowly woke. She placed a hand on her stomach and smiled when Anastasia kicked her. Her baby was still safe in her belly, which was a good thing because the last thing she remembered was sitting in a bar talking to a quite handsome man, then passing out. She sat up slowly. How had she gotten here? ‘And where was here?’ she thought as she looked around the rustic room. She was in a cabin. Well it looked like a cabin with its log cabin walls and king-size bed which looked as if it was made of the same logs as the walls surrounding her.

  “You're awake.”

  She turned at the sound of the voice. The man before her was the same man from last night—with his above-six-foot stature, barrel chest, latte-colored skin, wavy brownish-black hair, and the most beautiful hazel eyes she had ever seen. Eyes that seemed to be glowing a slight gold color. She blinked. Had his eyes been glowing gold? She had to be imaging that. She shook herself mentally. She must have been more exhausted than she thought. “How?”

  He walked into the room. “I brought you here after you passed out,” he said as he stopped beside the bed.

  Lucy scooted over a bit. She had no clue who this man was except for the fact he was a police officer. She didn’t want to get the police involved. If she did then Duncan could find her. That was the last thing she wanted. No matter how gorgeous this man was she did not want to be here with him He held up his hands and backed away slightly. “I won’t hurt you,” he replied. Her fear was causing his wolf to become unmanageable. He needed to calm the woman before him, and the beast within him.

  “How can I be so sure? I have no clue where I am, nor do I know who you are.”

  “Theodore. Theodore Hart, but you can call me Theo,” he replied.

  “Theo,” she whispered to herself. It sounded so familiar on her lips. Had she meet him before and didn’t remember? She shook her head. There was no way she would not remember meeting this man. “Lucinda. Lucinda McArthur. I prefer people to call me Lucy.”

  Theo nodded as he stepped beside the bed once again. “Nice to meet you, Lucy.” ‘Can I keep you?’ he wanted to say, but instead he said “my sister-in-law Amanda sent over some clothes for you. Well, she was cleaning out her closet and had a bag of clothing she wanted my brother to take to the Goodwill and he never got around to it so I went and got it for you.”

  “Why?” Lucy questioned. It wasn’t like she wasn’t grateful, since she had left everything she owned at Duncan's, but why was this man being so nice to her?

  “Because when we found your car there wasn’t much in it. Your car, by the way, is not drivable.” Her car was a twenty-year-old piece of crap. He was not going to have his mate or his baby in a car that could break down at any minute while they were driving around Hart, or to and from the city
. “The local mechanic is going to scrap it if you have the title. He said he could give you a fair price for it. When you're rested and have eaten I’ll take you to his shop so you can get anything out of the car you want.” While he and Jose—the local mechanic and a lion shifter—had gotten the car, they had both smelled the blood in it. When they looked inside, the steering wheel had had blood on it and some was on the seat. Some of the blood they smelled had been fresh and some had been old, making Theo even more furious at the person who’d hurt his mate.

  Lucy bowed her head. There was nothing in the car she wanted. Heck, there was nothing at her former apartment she wanted. Her clothes had holes in them and didn’t fit her anymore. She had wanted to buy new clothing as she had gotten bigger but Duncan had taken her tips and spent them on himself and any woman he was seeing at the time.

  “Also,” Theo continued, wanting to bring her out of whatever sad memory was causing her to withdraw from him, “there is a bag of clothing for the baby. I don’t have a clue if the baby is a boy or girl but I have some clothes for it. Amanda was cleaning out my niece Aviva's baby clothes and she had bags and bags of stuff she didn’t need any more. So when you’re feeling better you can go through them and see what you want and what you don’t. And when Amanda is feeling better I’m positive she can give you some more things or take you shopping for whatever you think you need for the little one. Knowing Amanda she will demand my credit card and Trevor’s, for this baby and Aviva.”

  “Please stop,” Lucy said as she held up her hand. She was on the verge of tears. This virtual stranger and his currently-not-known sister-in-law were being nicer to her than her baby’s father or her own mother. Who were this man and his family?

  “Lucy.”

  She sniffled when he said her name. It seemed so easy—like it was meant to be there. “I…” she swallowed, “…you ….you and Amanda don’t have to do any of this.”

  Theo sat lightly on the bed. “We wanted to. Trust me, when Amanda and the rest of the family find out about you, you will have more than enough things for this baby than you could have ever imagined.”

  “Why?” She didn’t understand what was going on.

  Theo opened his mouth. He wanted to tell her what was going on—that he was her mate—but now was not the time. He could still see the fatigue in her and the hunger. “Because we are a caring and generous family.”

  “There’s no need to be this generous to me. Listen, once I’ve showered I would like for you to take me to my car so I can be on my way.”

  “And where is that? If you don’t mind me asking?” Because as far as he was concerned the only place she was going was to the kitchen to eat, then the local Wal-Mart to shop for her and the baby, and in a few days she could head to the diner to help his mother, aunt, and Amanda run it. Other than that Lucy was not leaving him or Hart without him knowing exactly where she was going.

  Lucy swallowed. She had no clue where she was going. All she knew was she was leaving Georgia because if she stayed, Duncan would find her. He would come for her to hurt her for leaving. The last time she had tried to leave he had beaten and then raped her. “Away,” was all she said.

  “Away where?” Theo questioned. He needed to push a little to see if she would tell him what was going on.

  “Just away,” was all she said.

  “Lucy—”

  She shook her head. She could hear the need for him to help her in his voice, but she was not going to let this sweet man get in any trouble because of her. “You can’t help me. He—” she stopped. Theo may be a police officer but Duncan was above the law.

  “Who is he?”

  Lucy shook her head. She was not going to pull Theo into her mess. She had to leave here.

  “Ok.” She wasn’t ready to tell him. That was fine but when she was ready, he would be here to listen. Theo stood. “I’ve made lunch.”

  Lucy looked at him in confusion. He was leaving the subject alone? Duncan would have badgered her until she spoke. “How long have I been sleeping?”

  “Almost nine hours.” He had worried about her sleeping so long but according to Monroe, Lucy seemed exhausted and the sleeping was her body working on that exhaustion.

  Lucy looked at him in surprise. She had never slept that long. Usually she was up at the crack of dawn making Duncan's breakfast and lunch so he was ready to leave the house at a decent time. If he was late to work that would be her head when he got home.

  “I washed some of the clothes Amanda gave me for you and I placed them in the basket at the end of the bed. The bathroom is the door behind me. Take a shower and then come out to lunch. Ok?” he asked as he straightened.

  Lucy nodded. “Thank you.”

  Theo smiled at her. There was no need to thank him. She was his mate and it was his job to take care of her. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good,” Theo said as he turned and headed out of the room.

  Lucy watched him go, wondering how she could leave here without Theo knowing—because something told her Theodore Hart was not going to let her leave here anytime soon.

  EA

  Tyson wanted to jump up and down when he saw his sister bring back the seventeen-point buck with the help of some of the shifter teen males. He growled slightly when one of them touched her. He had made it quite clear his sister was off limits until she was eighteen. He knew eighteen was an unrealistic age for her to start dating, but by then he would have control over his animal and not want to tear off any males arms which could be a possible threat to his sister. She was human and had human emotions. She was fragile and he was not going to let anything happen to her. He had taken that vow when she had become a Hart six months ago.

  “Ty, do you see?”

  Tyson smiled down at her. She was so excited about her kill. He had to admit he was just as excited as she was but as the leader of this campout, along with his Uncle Atlas, he couldn’t show much emotion. “Yeah kid I see” he said before he went over and examined the kill. Damn, she had gotten the animal square in the heart. He faced his sister. Was she part shifter and they didn’t know? Because only a shifter or an experienced hunter could kill like this. He turned back to the animal. Before this trip was over his sister was going to have all kinds of praise and some very concerned about the only other eligible female of the Hart clan.

  EA

  Theo walked into the kitchen of his home and checked on the beef stew he had made for lunch. He would feed her, get to know her, and try not to question her about the mysterious man she was afraid of. Theo sighed, wishing the woman in the shower would talk to him and tell him what the hell was going on so he could help her. Protect her and her baby. As her mate it was his job to provide a roof over their heads, food in their bellies, and protection from any and everything in the world which could attempt to hurt them—but he couldn’t to his satisfaction if he did not know what he was up against.

  “Something smells good,” Lucy said as she walked over to the table and sat down.

  Theo turned from the stove. He smiled. She looked adorable in the tank top and sweats with her shoulder length hair pulled away from her face. He was glad to see some of the swelling on her face had gone down. “Please sit. The stew is ready to eat,” he replied as he placed a bowl before her. “There is buttered bread on the table, and what would you like to drink?”

  Lucy looked at him after she had smelled the delicious aroma of the food before her. Her stomach growled as Anastasia rolled around impatiently waiting to be fed. She placed a hand on her stomach. “Do you have iced tea?”

  Theo smiled. “Yes madam I do.” He turned from her and headed to the fridge.

  Lucy picked up her spoon and began to eat. She closed her eyes and moaned softly as she savored the food on her tongue. She was in heaven. Just like in the bathroom. Theo's shower was huge and the showerhead hit her body in all the right spots. She had never felt so relaxed or so safe a day in her life. For once she could take
a shower and not have someone walk into the bathroom, pull the shower curtain back, and take her as roughly and as often as they wanted—not caring one bit about her or her feelings.

  “Lucy.”

  She opened her eyes. Theo was standing before her, a strange expression on his face, and his eyes were glowing again. She blinked and the glowing was gone. Why was she imagining his eyes glowing? Was she losing it because of all the beatings? “Yes?” she replied when she realized he was waiting for her to answer.

  Theo placed the glass of tea before her. He had been on his way back to the table with her drink and his lunch when she had let out a moan that made him hard faster than he had ever been a day in his life. He swallowed. “Are you ok?” was all he could get out but wasn’t what he wanted to say. What he wanted to say was ‘can you please do that again but this time around…’

  “I’m fine. I’ve never tasted anything so good before.”

  Theo nodded as he sat down at the table. He placed his bowl before him. “Family recipe. It’s a great seller at the family restaurant.”

  “The bar I was at—it’s called Wolf's Hart—do you sell it there?”

  “No,” Theo said with a shake of his head. “We sell it at our restaurant in downtown Atlanta. Wolf and Hart. Many come there just for the beef stew.”

  Lucy nodded. She had seen the restaurant a few times when she had been walking to the MARTA Station after a long shift at one of the diners downtown. She had thought many times she would love to go there for dinner or lunch but the place looked expensive, and if she spent money on a place like that Duncan would have…

  She shook herself mentally. Duncan was of no concern. She was free for the time being and that was all that mattered.

  “Since you like the stew so much, I’ll take you to the restaurant this weekend and you can sample the menu. My mother and Auntie help make the menu and make changes to it when they want to spice it up a bit. My sister-in-law Amanda, well she's more like a sister. Helps run the place and the bar with my brother Trevor.”