Carpathian Wolf: A BBW Wolf-Shifter Romance (Shift Your Fate Book 0.5) Read Online Free PDF Page A

like… read it in pretty much every modern fantasy novel.”
    Emil bit the inside of his cheek. What was he doing? What had he been thinking? Of course Rebecca Gilbert wouldn’t believe in shape-shifters. She was a modern woman, a successful chartered accountant who lived and ran her business in the heart of New York. What he was doing was silly, but deep down he knew he had to try. The last thing he needed right now was to complicate his life with a beautiful woman, but the wolf hiding underneath his skin kept howling and growling, urging him to tell her the truth. Why was the beast acting as if Rebecca was his fated mate? Shape-shifters didn’t believe in fated mates anymore. It was true he hadn’t met other shape-shifters since his real parents were killed, but it was something etched into his brain, like a universal memory passed on from the old shifters to their young pups. There were no wolf-shifters left in the Carpathian Mountains, so he had no one to ask. He could only rely on his natural instinct.
    “It is an interesting story, though,” Becca continued when she noticed Emil had fallen silent. “I’m sorry. I won’t interrupt you again.”
    “It’s okay. You’re right it’s a story that has been told one too many times.”
    “More the reason to believe there might be some truth in it…”
    Emil threw her a curious glance. Did she really mean that?
    “I mean… there’s no smoke without fire, right?” She offered him her cutest smile, feeling guilty for having been sarcastic earlier.
    “I guess there isn’t…”
    They walked in silence for a couple of minutes. While Rebecca was making good use of her expensive camera, Emil was thinking about the Calimala.
    “Wanna hear the rest of it?” He asked tentatively.
    “Sure! I was hoping the legend didn’t end so abruptly. You were saying these Calimala guys are still active today?”
    “Yes. But not as a merchants’ guild, of course. In the Late Middle Ages and during the Renascence they were pretty effective at cleaning Europe of supernatural people. Most of their victims were shape-shifters.”
    “Why shifters?”
    “They…” Emil swallowed hard and cursed himself for having almost said “we” instead of “they”. “They were never as good as vampires when it came to living in the shadows. Many shifters lived in packs, such as the wolves, or prides, such as the lions, so it was easy for the assassins of the Calimala to track them down. Many shifters fled Europe and settled in America when the continent was discovered. For a time, they were safe, but then the Calimala figured out their strategy and went after them. Today, it is said there aren’t many shifters left in Europe, but there are hundreds in America, still hiding from the Calimala.”
    Rebecca smiled at the crazy thought of shape-shifters in New York. What if the hot attorney who was her new client was actually a werewolf? Or a werebear? Maybe he was a member of the Calimala, why not? A cold-blooded assassin who dealt with divorce trials during the day, and hunted vampires and shifters at night.
    “Fascinating,” she said instead. “You know… someone should write a book about the Calimala Guild. I know there is enough literature about shifters.”
    “Oh, I bet someone has. After all, this is how secret societies stay secret while doing their thing in broad daylight: stories that give them an air of magic and legend which makes it difficult for people to believe them.”
    By the time Emil had finished telling her about shape-shifters and their worst enemies, the Calimala, they had already seen the entire cemetery.
    “Should we head back?” asked Rebecca.
    “Of course. Do you want to visit the church before lunch?”
    She checked her phone and smiled up at him. “Definitely! We can squeeze in at least one more hour of history and mythology!”
     
    ***
     
    Rebecca was a bit disappointed when Emil told her he couldn’t have lunch with her. She had really hoped they