Authors: Ariana Hawkes
It was a little after midnight, and Magnus was running in the national forest. He’d been out for an hour and he hadn’t reached the far side of the park yet. It was immense. The woods were dense, and the environment changed frequently, with thickets of dark green pines giving way to clusters of deciduous trees, their branches still naked in the cold of winter. In the latter areas, snow lay on the ground, chilling the pads of his paws. But among the pines, the snow couldn’t penetrate, and the ground was damp and soft. It felt incredible to run on – light and springy with layers and layers of dead pine needles slowly becoming part of the earth itself. The air was thick with the scent of nocturnal prey. This wasn’t his diet of choice, but his huge size made it too risky to hunt during the day, so he’d learned to go out under the cover of darkness. The only time he got to run in daylight hours was in the deserts of the US or when he was traveling in Africa. Almost as powerful as the scent of his prey was the smell of shifters. They were everywhere. There were leopards, cougars and tigers up in the trees. He’d picked up the trail of at least two separate wolf packs, and there was a large area that smelled of nothing but bear. It was a Noah’s Ark of shifters. It amused him to think of all the humans who came here for weekend hikes, never suspecting that they were in one of the liveliest safari parks in the world.
Magnus felt great. Endorphins flooded his body as he bounded through the forest. His muscles stretched out to their fullest extent and his claws dug into the mulchy earth, pushing him on. His lungs inflated with the cold air and his whiskers glistened with frost. He was fully his lion self, as he hadn’t been for a long time. He was done with traveling the world on business. It was so dull. One corporate high-rise after another. Air-con that burned his nostrils and gave him chills. The duplicity of corporate interactions. He’d done what he’d needed to in order to earn his money, and now he was going to enjoy himself, working from his home office, using his sharp brain and appetite for risk to make money for himself as an independent trader. From now on, any traveling he did would be for pleasure only. And he did love to travel. He had a 50% share in a private jet, and he’d use it to make impromptu trips around the country and the rest of the world.
Things were going well since he’d moved to Hope Valley. He was getting to know people who worked in the local businesses in his neighborhood, and Tamika had also introduced him to some shifter guys to hang out with. All he needed now was his mate. So far, he’d had three dates from the Shiftr app. They were all stunning women; dark haired, of course, since he had a real thing for brunettes. The first, Janice, had been tall, almost as tall as he was, with a robust, athletic figure. She was feisty and strong-spirited, as he liked his partners to be, but they hadn’t clicked. They’d passed a pleasant evening having cocktails in a neighborhood bar, and a fun night tumbling between the sheets, but it hadn’t gone any further than that. As with so many others, he’d known right away that they weren’t meant for each other, and he’d told her so, as they were finishing their first cocktail. She’d agreed with him. She felt it too, and she also wanted to find her perfect match. However, this hadn’t stopped them from climbing into his Maserati and speeding back to his place for a single night of naked abandon.
He’d been drawn to the second date. Michelle had an appealing vulnerability lying beneath steel-gray eyes and a cool façade. But his lion had warned him away, and he knew in his heart that he was likely to crush a sensitive girl and turn her into a shadow of her former self. The third, Eloise, he’d met three times, and mated three times, and the essence of her was still clinging to his mind as he ran on through the forest. She had a lovely, curvy body with breasts that overflowed his hands, and sweet, full thighs. Unlike most of the curvy women he’d been fortunate enough to sleep with, she was confident in her body. She’d been on the app for a while, and she was getting used to shifters loving her curves. When they mated, it really showed. She was uninhibited, and loved to be naked and try out all kinds of positions, luxuriating in his approving gaze. He couldn’t get enough of her, in fact. He gave an involuntary snarl at the thought of fucking her again. He’d love to take her in the forest, up against a tree, her soft, creamy breasts and belly pressed against the trunk, and her full, round ass exposed for his delight. He’d tease her until she begged him for more, and then he’d fuck her hard, his claws digging into her hips, until she screamed for him to stop. And when he came, he’d let out a roar that shook the forest, and made the birds drop dead from fright. Maybe he’d bring her down here one day, he thought. He’d wrap her up in animal skins to protect her from the cold, and only strip her naked at the crucial moment. He shook his head, feeling his cock stirring.
God, I’m getting myself all worked up. And all I’m doing is distracting myself from what I’m really looking for
. Eloise, like Janice and Michelle, was an 80% match with him. She was as strong and quirky as he was, but somehow their character facets didn’t quite fit together. The trouble was that he hadn’t yet found anyone above an 82% match on Shiftr, and he was starting to despair of it happening.
“Don’t worry, Magnus. You’re an unusual character, and that’s a good thing,”
Tamika had reassured him when he’d called her to complain.
“Be patient. The right girl will come along one day. You can’t rush these things.”
He hoped she was right. He didn’t want to spend his life seeking to satisfy his insatiable sex drive and nothing else.
By now, he was almost back at the parking lot where he’d left his car. He sprinted the last mile and shifted right beside the car. The chance of being seen by any humans so late and on such a cold night was close to zero. He jumped into the car shivering and pulled his clothes on. His cock was still semi-hard from thoughts of Eloise, and as she popped into his mind again, it grew harder still.
Damn!
That hot, curvy body of hers seemed to be calling to him. He picked up his phone. She should just be getting home after her late shift at the rock bar. He located her number and dialed.
*
It had been a long week, and it was only Wednesday evening. Kristin was sitting in Roman’s huge, deep bathtub, lolling against his muscular chest while he soaped her body.
“Andrea’s not even trying,” she complained. “I know she’s never worked as a subeditor before, but she keeps missing the most obvious things. The intern we had last year was better than she is, and Andrea’s had 12 years of writing experience. It’s making my workload so much worse having her there. Yesterday’s paper was mistake city. I should’ve checked it before it went to print, but I assumed she’d been able to do her job.”
“Sounds like her ego may be causing the problem,” Roman said, his breath warm in her ear.
“Uh huh. Her ego doesn’t even fit in her cubicle,” Kristin said with a chuckle. “Not a single hour goes by without some snarky comment from her about how antiquated this newsroom is, and
how much better
things are at The Metro in New York.”
“Well she’s got to learn that she needs to adjust to fit her environment, and right now, she’s not The Metro’s star reporter,” Roman said, in his reasonable way. Kristin groaned.
“I need to speak to her. Either speak to her or fire her, because things can’t go on like this.”
“I think that’s a sensible plan. Speak to her, give her a little more time, and if things don’t improve, fire her. Now, where were we?” Roman’s voice was low and purring as one of his big, supple hands stroked her belly. She was just beginning to show, and she loved to gaze at the curve of her belly, and know it was their cub growing in there. She also loved to feel Roman’s hand caressing it protectively. His other hand moved up and cupped one of her breasts. They were also growing. They’d become huge and swollen, the nipples darkening. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but Roman loved them. The changes that pregnancy was making to her body were driving him crazy, and he couldn’t get enough of her. Their mating was hotter and more frequent than ever – which she hadn’t thought could be possible. She felt him growing hard, his cock pressing against the cleft of her ass. His desire, and the things he was doing to her nipples were turning her on like crazy. And then he slid his hand between her thighs, seeking out the little aching nub of her clit. She moaned as waves of pleasure radiated out from it, and all over her body. The ache spread deep inside her. She needed him right there. With an effort, she lifted herself up higher against his chest and reached down for his cock. It only took a little maneuvering, and he slipped inside her. She gasped as he suddenly filled her, her pussy muscles yielding to his wide girth. He held her hips and began to move her back and forth against him, and she was lost in blissful sensations.
“My beautiful pregnant mate. You’re mine. All mine,” he whispered in her ear, over and over.
*
Kristin’s heart almost stopped when she picked up Thursday morning’s edition of the Hope Valley Echo from the pile in reception on her way to the newsroom. There was a typo in the main headline, right on the front page. A typo she’d corrected on the final proof and sent back to Andrea to forward to the print team. Andrea had obviously sent them an earlier version. Her head was bursting with anger.
“That arrogant, lazy girl! I’m going to fucking kill her!” she said aloud, as she burst into the office. Andrea wasn’t at her desk yet. Of course. Kristin paced around the office, waiting for her to arrive.
When Andrea shambled in, half an hour late, Kristin stormed over before she had a chance to sit down, took her by the arm and marched her into a meeting room.
“What is it?” Andrea said, her voice still full of sleep. Kristin slapped the newspaper down in front of her.
“What the hell do you call this?” she demanded. Andrea frowned.
“Um, a small-town daily paper?” she said. Kristin’s anger mounted several notches.
“And what else?” she said from between clenched teeth. Andrea stared some more and shrugged.
“This is exactly the problem!” Kristin yelled. “You don’t have any attention to detail. Yesterday you sent the wrong version of the front page to the printer. With a mistake in the headline!”
“But if I didn’t notice just now, isn’t it likely that no-one else will notice either?” Andrea said, her tone petulant.
“No! It’s not!” Kristin’s voice was becoming louder by the second. “People love this paper, and they read it from cover to cover. They’ll notice careless mistakes, trust me!” Andrea sighed.
“Do you know how many people read this paper compared to the New York Metro? This is small-town, small-time bullshit. I never used to have to deal with this crap.” Kristin felt like the top of her head was about to blow off. Silently, she counted to ten, thinking of the baby.
“This isn’t working, Andrea,” she said at last. “It’s not that you’re an inexperienced subber. I get that. And I’d happily give you some pointers. It’s that you’re lazy and you don’t give a shit!” Andrea’s eyes widened and her lips pursed.
“Are you firing me?” she demanded.
“I don’t want to be like this with you, but I can’t risk you ruining the paper. And I’m also a little perturbed, Andrea. Why are we even in this position? Why do you need to work for the Hope Valley Echo? Isn’t The Metro continuing to pay your salary since you’re having to hide out here because of the investigation you were doing for them?” Andrea’s face stiffened and red spots appeared on her cheeks. Kristin waited for her to say something, but she didn’t; she just kept staring at the table in front of her.
“Andrea, what is it?” she said more gently. Andrea covered her face with both hands. A kind of strangled sound came from behind them. “Andrea?” There was a gulp and a snort, and then a series of sobs. Kristin eased Andrea’s hands away from her face. “Tell me?” she said, reaching into her purse for a tissue and passing it to her. Andrea blew her nose noisily. She stared down at the table and drew in a ragged breath.
“I’m not working for The Metro anymore. There was no undercover investigation. They fired me. I couldn’t hack it. I created this whole persona for myself, because I wanted to be better than the guys, and better than the pretty girls whose photos looked so good on their bylines. People said I was aggressive and arrogant, but it didn’t stop me. In fact, I took it as a compliment. And then one day, I messed something up. I was too arrogant to check my facts properly for this piece I was doing, and I wrote something libelous. The paper is currently being sued, which happens from time to time, and normally wouldn’t automatically get the journalist fired. But my editor said it was the last straw. And he kicked me out. I moved back here because I’m flat broke. My apartment rental was killing me. It was already way more than I could afford on a journalist’s salary. And do you know the worst part? I absolutely hated living in New York. It’s awful there. Everyone is so superficial. All the guys care about is looks. All the girls in bars are super-skinny, and I feel like an elephant compared to them. I’ve never had a relationship that’s lasted longer than three months. And I’m 34 years old. How tragic is that?” Kristin worked hard to prevent the shock she was feeling from showing on her face.
“And your boyfriend?” she ventured.
“I made him up. So you guys wouldn’t think I was a loser,” Andrea mumbled and snorted into her tissue. “That’s my whole pathetic story.”
Kristin was silent, picking her words carefully.