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  Touch of Danger

  TJ Finn

  Dedication

  This first book is dedicated to my parents. Without their unconditional love and sense of family, I would never have gotten this far. My parents were my rock, my best friends and the reason I am who I am today. I love you mom and daddy. I will never forget.

  Acknowledgements

  This is my first book and there are so many people who helped me get me where I am now. So many names to list but I will put a few of them here. Dawn Potter, my best friend, roommate and the best damn writing partner I have ever had; Tracy O’Connor, that friend who will not tell you what you want to hear but what you should and need to hear. Aidy Award, ML Guida and Lyz Kelley who never get tired of my questions and help me deal with my insecurities becoming a writer. There are so many more who helped me get here. Know that, although I may not name you, you know who are and I am forever grateful for your love and encouragement that helped me get here.

  Chapter 1 - Claire

  If we can get this one to shift his fur will be worth thousands. Just have to remember not to damage the fur.

  What the...? Claire shot up from her hiding place behind the bushes to look out into the open meadow. The words had been loud and clear in her mind as she’d been kneeling down in the brush waiting to see if any deer or other animals would come into the meadow so she could draw them. It was one of her favorite things to do since moving from New Mexico to her little remote cabin in the Rocky Mountains.

  She could sit for hours watching the animals coming and going. But today seemed like a slow day in the Wild Kingdom. She was about to pack up her trash from lunch, along with her pad and paper and head home when she heard the voice in her head. It had shocked her because she hadn’t set up the walls in her mind to block out the voices like she did when she went into town. There was never anyone else around so she could relax and keep those walls down. It was exhausting to keep her defenses in place like that.

  A man suddenly bursts from the trees as if hellhounds were hot on his heels to drag him back down to hell and Claire was barely able to step back into the bushes before two men followed him into the meadow. Opening herself up, she found that she couldn’t read the first man, but the other two were coming through to her loud and clear. Surely, she hadn’t heard the words kill him but a moment after registering those words the two men stopped and raised their guns.

  Her hands rushed to her mouth to stifle the involuntary squeak as the sound of the guns echoed in the valley and she watched the running man fall forward. She dropped to her knees, her legs refusing to hold her up any longer. Her body was shaking and her heart pounding so hard in her chest it stole her breath. What had just happened?

  The silence after the gun shots was just as deafening but her curiosity won out over reason and she slowly stood to see the two men making their way to the fallen man, still holding their guns out in case he stood up. The word jackpot echoed in her mind and her eyes moved to the area where he had fallen. The shooters were slowly approaching and she was bombarded by all their thoughts as they whispered to each other.

  The word shift came back to her and, without a second thought, she stood and burst through the bushes, flicking her hand at the two men and creating a barrier between the shooters and herself. It wasn’t really a barrier but more like camouflage that kept her hidden as she ran to where she’d seen the man fall.

  Profanity and frustration echoed in her mind from the shooters as she literally skidded to a stop when she saw, not a man, but a beautiful silvery blue wolf, blood matting the fur on his side. The wolf lifted his head and lets out a warning growl as she approached him. Crap the last thing I need is to be eaten by wounded animal Claire thought as she dropped to her knees beside the animal, careful not to get too close.

  “Sshh I’m here to help you...uh boy.” She inched her hand toward the wolf’s head then jerked it back when the wolf exposed his lips curled back exposing its teeth as he snarled.

  “I swear to god we hit him. He should be right around here.” The men were close to where she was and she could hear them talking.

  “We’d better find him and get him back to Mr. James before he dies or it's our asses on the line.”

  “Did you see him when he shifted back there? Why the idiot shifted back is beyond me.” The voices faded as they headed into the forest at the other end of the meadow.

  Claire tried one more time to reach out and touch the wolf, who lay there, his ears flat, pointing outwards, slightly forward and his forehead furrowed, brows raised. His eyes were somewhat slit-like and peering at her, his muzzle twitched as he growled again and made a feeble attempt to snap at her. She jerked her hand back and barely kept herself from backing away. “It’s ok boy. I can help you.” At least she hoped she could. She pushed out some warm, healing magic and the wolf whimpered and dropped his head.

  Claire looked at the men, seeing that they had walked right past them and were headed in the opposite direction before standing. Even though the men were gone, she didn’t think it would take them long before they turned around. “Alright wolfie I need to get you out of here. But how?”

  She chewed her lip for a moment going over her options. She’d seen people stranded in the wilderness build a travois to drag wounded people behind them but who was she kidding? She was so far from being a boy scout it wasn’t funny and she probably didn’t have enough time to do it.

  Looking down at the wolf who now seemed to be calmer, Claire took a deep breath, flicked her wrist and the large silver wolf turned into a Shih Tzu. Claire grinned. She loved dogs and had often helped her friend Lacey back in Magic, New Mexico at her shelter. One day someone had brought in the cutest white and brown Shih Tzu and Claire had fallen in love with it.

  She took off the light jacket she was wearing and wrapped it around the dog, speaking to him trying to sooth him as she picked him up. He whined and struggled in her arms so she whispered a few words, putting him into a warm magical sleep.

  Waving her hand, the camouflage she had made disappeared as she quickly made her way out of the meadow along the path that would lead her to her cabin. Hopefully the men wouldn’t know she had been there and wouldn’t find the rough path she had worn down during her day hikes to the meadow.

  Looking up at the sky, she could see the dark grey clouds moving in. Good! She could smell the snow in the air and knew that they were in for a pretty big snowstorm. The upside was the storm would hide her tracks and any sign that she and the wolf had even been there. The downside? They had been predicting a bad snowstorm with blizzard warnings and high wind for days. That meant she would be stuck in her little cabin with a wounded wolf and, if the wolf shifted again, a man she didn’t know who had been running from someone. Who knew what kind of person he was and what he had done to get shot like that? But she didn’t have a choice. She wasn’t about to leave him to those two men.

  Her cabin finally came into sight and she hurried inside, laying the little dog on the rug next to the fireplace. She moved around her cabin quickly getting blankets and started putting more wood on the fire in an effort to warm them both up, but stopped herself. Maybe she would wait. The men looking for the man might see the smoke and that could lead them back to her cabin. She could heat the place up herself, using her ma
gic and then when the storm hit she could get a fire going. With a wave of her hand, the cool air inside the cabin started to warm. She smiled then headed to the door. Stepping outside, she made a point to strengthen the wards around the cabin. On the off chance, the men did follow her trail, they wouldn’t be able to get within 100 yards of her cabin without getting a big jolt of electricity from her wards.

  The first snowflakes were starting to fall when she took a moment to clean the wolf/shih tzu’s wound. She was thankful that the bullet seemed to have entered his side, coming out close to his stomach, which was good because she really had no idea how to get a bullet out of a wolf or a man for that matter. Unlike her mother and sister, Claire only had some basic healing magic, like being able to send out warm comforting thoughts and help others sleep.

  However, she had been able, mix up some healing herbs that her mother had taught her while the wolf/shih tzu lay sleeping. She applied the balm to the wound then loosely wrapped it to help the healing process.

  She had chosen not to change him back into the wolf for now, not really knowing how he might react to her. All his growling and snapping at her made her overly cautious. She would hate to fall asleep and wake up in the middle of a wolf attack. Besides, the little shih tzu was completely adorable and comfortable for now. Her spell would prevent him from turning back into a man and hopefully, if she did fall asleep, she’d wake up before the spell wore off..

  Now, she slowly rocked in her chair, gently stroking the little dog’s head, careful not to touch the wound. The snow storm was finally raging outside, the wind whipping the snow around her cabin, enclosing them in a white cocoon. Looking down at the little dog, she wondered about the man he would eventually shift back into. Who was he? She hadn’t gotten a good look at his face when he was running but she had noticed how broad his chest was and how big his upper arms seemed to be.

  The most curious thing about him, though, wasn’t the fact that he was a wolf shifter. Claire knew several back home. No, the most curious thing was that she hadn’t been able to pick up any of his thoughts. Why couldn’t she hear him? Like her other three sisters, she had inherited her strong magical gifts from her parents but she had also inherited a gift from their grandmother.

  Claire was telepathic and only had to be in the vicinity to be able to hear the thoughts of others. It was the reason she was in Colorado instead of her home town of Magic, with her family. She had been trying all her life to build her walls and defenses so that she could keep out most of the voices she heard. However, like her grandmother, she couldn’t seem to get them into place.

  Not long after her mother had been born, her grandmother had disappeared, leaving the family behind in an effort to get away from all the voices. No one really knew where her grandmother was now. They had received letters from her throughout the years but none in the last few. Everyone assumed she had died which made Claire sad because she wanted to meet and talk with her grandmother.

  Like her grandmother, Claire had finally packed up her things and moved out of Magic to the remote cabin she now lived in, keeping herself isolated, only making trips to Lake City when she absolutely needed supplies. She was thankful for the silence and peace, but, she missed her family and friends. Sometimes the sacrifice didn’t seem worth it.

  Rubbing the little dog’s ears, she wondered again why she hadn't been able to hear him. What was so special that he could block her out without really knowing he had. Claire yawned and lay her head back against the chair. She’d have to figure that out later. Now, with the fire warming her and the gentle rocking of the chair, she was fighting to keep her eyes open. Tomorrow, hopefully, once her spell wore off and the wolf/shih tzu would shift back to the man and she’d have her answers.

  Chapter 2 - Finn

  Finn rose from the dark abyss he was in as memories of being chased and then being shot slowly came to him. His wolf had taken over when he’d been injured despite all his efforts not to shift. The men chasing him had wanted his wolf’s pelt. He’d been trying to keep the wolf pushed down, but once he’d been shot, his wolf took over because he would heal better as a wolf than a man.

  Opening his eyes, memories of being a small Shih Tzu flashed in his head and he frowned He’d come awake sometime during the night and found himself wrapped in a small blanket and being held. Confused and disoriented, he struggled, nipping at the female who had been holding him. She quickly put him down and shook a finger at him. “No no!” He’d started barking louder, or as loud as a Shih Tzu could. They had their standoff for almost a good five seconds or so before she had started chanting a few words and he had slipped back into nothingness.

  Slowly sitting up, the blankets dropped to his waist and he instantly broke out in goose bumps at the sudden cold air hitting his skin. He scrubbed one hand down his face then held it out to examine it, grateful that he wasn’t still a yapping mutt. He felt his side and winced. He hadn’t been in his wolf form long enough to completely heal. Besides being turned into a Shih Tzu, he remembered the burning of the bullet hitting his body, the force of it knocking him off his feet. He remembered the female who had been holding him with hair the color of leaves that turned red in the fall, dropping to her knees beside his wolf and promising that she would take care of him.

  When his wolf tried to warn her away, she had turned him into a Shih Tzu of all things! Shaking his head, he still couldn’t believe that she’d done that but was thankful he was a man again. Hearing the sound of humming, he turned his head and saw the same woman, her back to him, standing at a sink, her hips swaying back and forth as if she were dancing to music.

  Standing, he pulled the blankets around him as a sudden rush of dizziness washed over him for a moment. He waited until that passed before he straightened completely. “Hello?” He called out to her but she didn’t seem to hear him as her humming turned into singing, her hips moving to a beat he couldn’t hear.

  Finn took a moment to simply watch her, his eyes taking in every curve of her body that she seemed to be trying to hide underneath an oversized sweatshirt and yoga pants. One long auburn braid fell down her back, almost to her waist, and her feet were bare. The intoxicating scent of lavender and lemon had his wolf stirring. Down boy, Finn thought.

  She turned around and lets out a loud EEEP as her hand flew to her chest and a cup she was holding slipped from her fingers shattering on the wood floor. “You’re awake!”

  “I’m sorry I startled you.” She took a step toward him and he held up a hand. “Careful. The cup broke.”

  A slight frown creased her forehead as if she didn’t understand what he said until she looked down where he pointed. “Dang it.” With a slight wave of her hand, the glass shards came back together and the cup flew back into her hand.

  “You’re a witch.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement and she looked at the cup then at him, nodding.

  “You’re a wolf.”

  Touché Finn thought as he pulled the blanket tighter around him.

  “How are you feeling?” She set the cup on the counter behind her but didn’t make a move to come near him.

  Finn looked down at the blanket then back at her. “Cold.”

  Her eyes moved down his blanket-clad body then back up to his face blinking a few times before shaking her head. “Of course, you’re cold!”

  Pushing away from the counter, she moved quickly past him, careful not to touch him. He followed her. His eyes fixated on the sway of her hips, and he had to loosen the blanket a bit. She seemed to be the nervous kind and didn’t need to see the effect her body was having on him at that moment.

  “I grabbed your clothes when I brought you here but they tore when you shifted so I had to repair them.”

  She opened a door and walked through it, leaving Finn standing there staring after her. Peaking around the corner she waved him over. “It’s just my bedroom. Your clothes are in here I have a master bath with a shower to die for.”

  He moved toward the door as she disappear
ed again then stood there looking in, the scent of lavender and lemon wafting over him once more. Looking around the room, he was surprised that it wasn’t all frills and girlie but seemed warm and comforting. There was a fire going in another fireplace and a queen-sized bed with a frame carved from wood sitting against the opposite wall. His clothes and boots lay on the bed.

  “The bathroom is here.” He looked up and saw the door she pointed at and nodded. “I’ll get some coffee going and some breakfast while you shower.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Of course!” She started to leave when he stopped her.

  “Do you have a phone?”

  Claire turned back and shook her head. “I have a cell phone but I rarely get calls You’re welcome to try, but sometimes the service is sketchy.” He nodded. His shoulders drooping. She gave him a soft smile before hurrying from the bedroom, closing the door soft but firmly behind her.

  Finn stood there a moment staring at the door, then let the blanket fall before stepping into the bathroom. It was small with just a shower and sink, in which every free surface seemed to be covered with various shampoos, conditioners and lotion. He picked a bottle of shampoo up and sniffed it. No, she didn't smell like this one. Maybe the lavender and lemon was her own natural scent.

  Turning on the shower, he stepped under the hot water, closing the glass door behind him. Picking up the bar of soap, he sniffed it. Lemon. That solved one of the mysteries. In no time at all, he’d shampooed his hair and used the soap to wash off. After rinsing off, he just stood there under the hot stream and let the pounding water soothe his aching muscles.

  His mind started racing as he wondered where he was. The last place he remembered being was in Durango, Colorado, traveling back to his pack. He’d been tracking the same poachers that had shot him and their trail had ended in Durango. He’d spent days asking around and following them, and now knew their routine. After an evening of drinking and playing pool at a local dive bar, the two had stumbled to their motel where he was waiting.