Shifting the Shifter (Shifter World - Book Six) (Series of 13 Short Stories)
Chapter Two: The Clan Alpha

Gerald watched his mate fight off the ass hole he was supposed to fight tonight. Who’d have known he was one of the Fated Mates? He thought only male and female couples would be triggered. What does this mean?

“Stop fighting me!” the fighter yelled as he tried to kiss Gerald’s mate.

“Back off!” Gerald howled as he took hold of the other fighter and pulled him off his mate. He punched him once in the face and watched the asshole fall to the floor unconscious.

Josiah looked up at the large man as he turned to him. His heart skipped a beat when he moved to stand before him. Josiah lifted his hoodie off his head and smiled at the giant shifter.

“I didn’t think I’d replace mine,” the man said.

“Find your, what?” Josiah asked, his eyes wide.

“Don’t you know?”

Josiah shook his head.

The man placed his hand on his cheek. “Fated Mate,” he whispered, then his lips captured his.

‘Holy fucken hell!’ His whole body exploded as the man kissed him. He’s never felt anything like this before. Sure, he’s had a few kisses, but it’s hard to replace a gay shifter where he grew up. And humans were too afraid of him.

“You’re mine,” Gerald said, lifting his head. His body was trembling, wanting his mate. And the dazed look in his mate’s eyes told him the man wanted him just as much.

“Gerald!” Pearl hollered. “We can’t hold them back much longer!”

Gerald turned to replace a shield around the cage, keeping the other shifters from claiming his mate.

“Gerald?” his mate asked.

Gerald looked back at his mate and smiled. “Yes.”

A beautiful smile appeared on his mate’s face. “I’m Josiah.”

Gerald grinned, then looked back when one of his friends hollered.

“They with you?” Josiah asked.

Gerald nodded. “They’re my family.”

Josiah snorted. “Odd family.”

Gerald laughed. “Yes, well, I’ll explain everything to you after we get out of here, and I can claim you.”

Josiah took a step back. “No one claims me.”

Gerald looked back at his mate. “We’ll explain everything to you, I promise,” he pulled his mate against his chest. “Do you feel it?”

“Feel what?” Josiah asked, his eyes wide.

“The pull. You want me to fuck you….”

Josiah laughed. “Cocky much?”

Gerald took hold of Josiah’s hand and placed it on his hard cock. “You tell me.”

Josiah sucked in a breath.

“But first, we must take care of these assholes who have had you in captivity.”

Josiah grinned. “Now that I can get behind you on.”

Gerald bent forward until his mouth was at Josiah’s ear. “I’ll be the one getting behind you.”

Josiah felt his cock jump to attention. Oh yeah, he definitely felt it.

“Now, let’s kill these assholes, so we can get to fucking,” Gerald said, kissing Josiah’s cheek.

Josiah swallowed. “I need to kill my opponent first.”

Gerald pulled back and looked at Josiah. “Isn’t he a captive like you?”

Josiah nodded. “Yes, but I must kill him.”

Gerald looked into his mate’s eyes. “Are you under a trance?”

“Yes,” Josiah admitted. He was never told not to tell anyone.

“Fuck.” Gerald cursed, then turned to his friends, who were still fighting off the cockblockers. “Bridget!”

The vampire appeared before them; Josiah jumped away from her.

“Don’t worry, she’s on our side,” Gerald said as he took hold of his mate’s hand.

“What’s going on?” Bridget asked, looking from Josiah to Gerald and back again.

“My mate was given orders from that vampire you pointed out earlier. Can you counteract them?”

Bridget looked at Josiah. “No.”

“Fuck!” Gerald sneered.

“Only way to end the trance is to fulfill it, have the vampire revise it, or kill the vampire who placed it.” Bridget looked behind her at the vampire in question.

“I vote, kill her,” Josiah growled.

Gerald smiled at his mate. “Have it in for her, do you?”

“For ten years, she has commanded me to kill. I’m not a killer.”

“Ten years?” Gerald asked, his mouth tipping down in a frown. “You’ve been here for ten years?”

Josiah nodded. “Since I was eighteen.”

“Damn!” Gerald spat with a growl. “You’re so young.” He looked his mate up and down.

Josiah looked at him. “Twenty-eight.”

“Where are you from?” Gerald asked.

Josiah opened his mouth, and Bridget stopped him.

“Later,” she said. “Right now, we have a ring to break up.”

“Right,” Gerald said, clearing his throat.

“I can’t leave this ring until I kill him,” Josiah said, pointing to the man Gerald had knocked out.

“How are we going to get these people out of here?!” Lyvia called out from her position beside her mate.

“I say let them all die,” Sharissa growled.

“Bridget shouldn’t have shown you any of that,” Tate said with agitation.

“Tate!” Bridget hollered from inside the cage.

Tate looked at her.

“Kill the vampire!” Bridget pointed to the female vampire watching them.

Tate grinned. For once, he didn’t mind her bossiness. He disappeared and reappeared beside the vampire before she could escape.

“You’ve been a bad girl, Lydiahna Penth.”

Lydiahna snorted. “And you’re any better, Tate Umber?”

Tate laughed. “I’m on the right side,” he said as he took hold of her arm. “You’re not going anywhere.”

She snorted. “Try and stop me,” she said, then disappeared.

When she reappeared in a field, she screamed when she found Tate still attached to her.

“You fool.” Tate grinned. “Did you forget who I am?”

“Please, Tate,” she cried.

“You have done a lot against Supernaturals,” he said, squeezing her arm.

“They’re just shifters!” she cried out.

He looked into her eyes. His eyes were burning with fire of anger and destruction. “You give all vampires a bad rep.”

She snorted. “Like Bridget Bentley is perfect!”

“She is on the correct side now.”

“I saw you with the humans!” she bellowed.

Tate laughed. “They’re not humans. They’re Fated Mates. That makes them more important than anyone else in this world.”

“I’ll revise the control of the wolf. Just please, let me live….”

Tate shook his head, then disappeared with her. They landed in a large, cemented room. Lydiahna screamed.

“What have you for us today, Tate?” one of the men sitting above them asked.

Tate looked up at the elders. “You all know what is going on out there, right?”

The older men snorted.

“Do you think we’re stupid? We know all about the Fated Mates….”

Tate grumbled. “No. I’m speaking of the dark witches and wizards capturing shifters and forcing them to fight in a cage, often to the death.”

The men grumbled amongst themselves, then looked at Lydiahna.

“And what is her crime?” one of them asked.

Tate shook Lydiahna’s arm, then told the elders what she was guilty of.

The men nodded, then conversed amongst themselves.

“Do you have proof?” one of the men asked.

Tate filled the elder’s minds with the images he and Bridget had retrieved from the bouncer.

~🐺~

-Meanwhile, at the fight club.-

“Where the fucking hell did Tate go?!” Gerald demanded.

Bridget grumbled. “He didn’t go, she did, and he followed.”

“You can do that?” Gerald asked.

Bridget laughed. “No, but Tate can.”

The shifter on the ground started to moan as he woke.

“I must fight and kill him,” Josiah said, moving toward the man on the cage floor.

“No,” Gerald said, holding onto his mate. He pulled the hood up and over Josiah’s head to block out as much of their surroundings as he could. Then he moved closer and whispered into his ear. “When this is all over, I’m going to fuck you and make you mine.”

Josiah felt chills run up and down his spine at the shifter’s words. God, he wanted that too. So much that he was willing to drop his pants here and let him take him in front of everyone.

Gerald’s words calmed him, and he stood there, his eyes closed and his body like a live wire.

“How dare you come at us like this!” the dark wizard shouted.

“Why aren’t we killing?” Dominic asked.

“How will we know whether these people here are innocents or not?” Lyvia asked.

“Pearl!” Daryl hollered with a growl.

Pearl turned to him.

“Knock everyone here out, except for the witches!”

Pearl nodded, then closed her eyes and started chanting. The shield went down, and the shifters she’d been holding back made it into the cage and headed for Josiah.

“Fucking hell!” Gerald hollered as he and his mate fought off the horny shifters.

“Holy Fuck,” Lyvia said when Gerald threw three men over the wall and into the crowd.

“Pearl!” Gerald bellowed.

Pearl yelled the final words, and everyone in the room fell to the floor.

“Bitch!” the dark witch screeched as she ran at Pearl.

“No, that’s witch!” Pearl exclaimed.

The dark witch made it to Pearl and wrapped her hands around her throat before Pearl could stop her.

“Get off my mate!” Dylan bellowed as he wrapped his hand around the dark witch’s throat.

“Let her go!” the dark wizard snarled.

A Fireball flew through the air and hit Dylan, knocking him to the floor.

“Dylan!” Pearl screamed.

An angry growl ripped through the room. Everyone turned to the sound and froze. Daryl’s eyes were a bright golden color.

“Alpha,” everyone around him whispered as they bowed their heads to him.

“You’re dead,” Daryl said with a growl as he headed toward the dark wizard.

The dark witch had let go of Pearl’s throat to watch Daryl. Which was a mistake because now her back was to Pearl and Dylan. Dylan moved past his mate and wrapped his arm around the Dark Witch’s throat, cutting off her speech as they watched Daryl dodge the fireballs the dark wizard threw at him.

Daryl knew his brother would be okay; that wasn’t what drove him now. It was the fact that this piece of shit existed. They’ve not only compromised some of the Fated Mates, killed Josie and Maddy’s parents, and tried to kill them and their unborn cubs. But now his clan has found that these pieces of shit have been capturing shifters and forcing them to fight for Goddess knows how long.

In a single bound, he jumped onto the platform the wizard was standing on. The man’s eyes opened wide as he backed away and threw another fireball.

Daryl dodged the fireball, grabbed the wizard by the throat, and slammed his back into the wall.

The dark wizard stared into Daryl’s golden eyes. “Alpha,” he choked out.

Daryl leaned his face closer to the dark wizard’s face. “Did you think you guys got rid of our Clan Alpha when you killed our father?” he snarled. “Did you really think that would work?”

The dark wizard shrugged. “Can’t blame us for trying. At least now we know that your father wasn’t close to you because you all look pretty tight to me,” he said, looking at the others below.

“You have no idea,” Daryl growled in the man’s ear. “You know something about you dark witches and wizards? Under all that magic, you’re just a normal human,” he sneered, then snapped the man’s neck.

Daryl let go of the man and watched him fall to the floor, his eyes open wide and blank.

The dark witch screamed.

Daryl turned to look down at his family. “How’s your mate, Gerald?”

Gerald gave Daryl a thumbs up. “Just waiting for Tate to kill the vampire who has control over him.”

Daryl nodded, then jumped down to the lower floor.

“What do we do with her?” Dylan asked, tightening his grip around the dark witch’s throat.

“I want answers from her,” Daryl said as he walked over to the dark witch.

Before anyone could ask her anything, Tate and the other vampire appeared in the cage.

“What the fuck, Tate?” Bridget scowled. “You were supposed to kill her.”

“Don’t bitch at me, woman,” Tate growled. “She will die, but first, they want to see everything.”

Six men appeared in the cage.