Perfect Mate Read Online Free PDF Page A

said. “I had to raise myself in the wilds of northern Wisconsin.
     Been alone since I was about an eight-year-old cub.” Not much older than these kids.
    The female Shifter looked around. “Since you were a cub?”
    “Yep. My parents were killed by hunters, and it was just me left. I had to learn to
     get by on my own. Never even saw another Shifter for almost a decade and a half after
     that.”
    Nell stared at him in shock that Cormac pretended to ignore. He didn’t want to win
     her on the pity card. But it had been rough, a bear cub wandering by himself not sure
     whether he was beast or human.
    “The blessings of the Goddess on you,” the female Shifter said. “I’m Peigi. This Fae,
     as you call him, helped rescue me and the other females Miguel had stolen, plus all
     our cubs. So Stuart’s welcome in my house.”
    Hmm. The Fae man looked defiant, and Cormac decided to let it go for now. Weird shit
     happened in Shiftertowns, and Shane had indicated that Reid and Peigi were now a couple.
    “In case everyone was wondering, this is Cormac,” Nell said. “He’s a grizzly, he moved
     to this Shiftertown, he thinks he needs a mate, and he thinks that mate is me.”
    The whole room perked up. Donny finally came out from his hiding place, though he
     stayed behind Peigi.
    One of the girls at the table said, “Are you going to have a mating ceremony, Aunt
     Nell? I love mating ceremonies. I can’t wait until mine.”
    “That’ll be
years
from now,” Donny scoffed from behind Peigi’s legs. “Aunt Nell is much, much older
     than you, so she’ll have to have hers right away.”
    “Do we get to dance in the inner circle?” the girl-cub asked. “I know Aunt Nell’s
     not our real aunt, but she takes care of us, and we’re practically family.”
    Shifters formed two circles at rituals and ceremonies—immediate family and close friends
     on the inside, the rest of Shiftertown on the outside. The slow dancing, each circle
     moving the opposite direction, called the Goddess and the God to be present at the
     festivities. Or so it was said. The stately dancing usually degenerated into a raunchy
     party within minutes of the mating.
    “Fine by me,” Cormac said. “You can all be in the inner circle. Maybe even the Fae.”
     Cormac’s nose wrinkled. Reid’s slightly acrid scent was stirring his killing instincts.
    “Uncle Stuart is okay,” the girl said. “Even if he stinks.”
    “Excuse me!”
Nell lifted her hands, and everyone stared at her. “No one’s doing any mating here.
     Cormac barged into my house this morning declaring he wants a mate—that he wants
me
—and he still hasn’t told me why.”
    It was time to tell her the truth. Cormac caught and held Nell’s gaze. “Magnus sent
     me.”
    Cormac watched the shock course through Nell’s body, her pupils swiftly contracting
     to pinpricks. He knew he’d dealt her an unfair blow, but he didn’t have time to woo
     her gently. Eric had said Nell would be tough, but Cormac saw that unless he broke
     through, and broke through quickly, she’d shut him out forever.
    He’d broken through all right. Nell came for him, claws sprouting from her hands.
     Her body met his with an audible slam and took him backward through the open sliding
     door.
    The two of them tumbled off the porch to land in the dirt and dried grass below, Nell’s
     huge claws going for Cormac’s throat.

Chapter Three
    Nell pummeled him blindly, old anger and grief surging from the past, wrapped in Magnus’s
     name. Cormac couldn’t have known him, had no business saying he had.
    She was shouting that as she bashed at his face, but Cormac blocked every blow with
     rapid efficiency.
    Finally Cormac grabbed her wrists and rolled over with her, pinning her against the
     cold ground with formidable strength. His blue eyes had darkened into near-blackness;
     Shifter eyes, willing her to be still.
    Nell scented the distress of the others on the porch, Reid’s Fae scent