Shane never prepared to do what no other Leopard shifter had done before and that was fall in love. Try telling that to his heart because from the first touch of a certain Panther named Trevor, there was no turning back for Shane. Then just as Shane found his mate and true happiness, Trevor is brutally torn from him when a Cobra shifter, bent on revenge, captures the Panther. Now Shane finds himself helpless as he scrambles to find his lover before the Cobra enacts his final act of vengeance and kills Trevor.
Ever since his captivity, Trevor has known pain. He’s known degradation. He’s known terror. However, he also knows that Shane will be coming for him. And gods help the Cobra when Shane finally does arrive because hell hath no equal to a Leopard’s fury. Trevor only hopes that Shane finds him in time, or else all hope will be lost.
The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Shane’s Fury
Copyright © 2011 Stephani Hecht
ISBN: 978-1-55487-826-0
Cover art by Angela Waters
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Published by eXtasy Books
Look for us online at:
www.eXtasybooks.com
Smashwords Edition
Shane’s Fury
Lost Shifter Ten
By
Stephani Hecht
Dedication
To Nikole. You’re the best friend anyone can ask for. Thanks for being there for him.
Chapter One
Funny how one could get used to fear. All they had to do was live with it every day.
Dalton curled his fingers around the bars of the tiny cage as he stared at his newest masters. Like his previous owners, they were snake shifters and, like his previous owners, this new batch was just as mean. It’d only taken a few jolts from their cattle prod for Dalton to reach that conclusion.
His slavers seemed to be part of the same nest …coven…batch, whatever the hell a group of snakes were called. Unlike the previous gang, a mix of breeds and sexes, this bunch was all male Cottonmouths who were tall, muscular and horrific looking because their bodies were stuck halfway between shift. Not quite human, not quite snake, they were some kind of gross cross. It would seem like they had gathered only the bad features from both forms, too. So Dalton felt pretty certain none of them would be winning any beauty pageants anytime soon. Not even the makeup gurus from Toddlers and Tiaras could cover up that kind of ugly.
One of them glanced in his direction and Dalton felt a shiver slither down his spine as he caught himself locked into the creature’s red-eyed gaze. A smiled curled the man’s thin lips as his forked tongue darted out. His molted brown skin glistened under the poor lighting of the industrial garage. Dalton took in a deep breath and immediately regretted it when he got a nose full of reptile stink mixed with oil and rusted metal.
“The kitty looks tasty,” the snake observed, his eyes glowing with hunger.
Damn if a whimper didn’t bubble from Dalton’s throat. Not exactly his proudest moment, but not even a full-grown Jaguar or Tiger shifter could have been brave when being stared at by a dozen Cottonmouths. What chance did a puny Lynx like him have?
“You can’t eat him, Kirk,” the biggest snake snarled. A mountain of a man, Dalton immediately pegged him as the leader within ten minutes of the bunch buying him. His assumption was later proven true that same day when the man had killed, then eaten one of the members of his own group. Dalton still had nightmares in which the soundtrack was that snake’s final screams for mercy.
“Why not?” Kirk moved closer as that freaky tongue worked over his mouth.
Even in his human form, Dalton still felt small and defenseless. Add in the fact that he was trapped inside an overly large dog cage and he realized that if Kirk did attack, Dalton could do nothing but scream for help that would never come. He cowered to the back corner of the cage and tucked his knees to his chest.
Since they’d only given him one change of clothing since they’d first captured him eight months ago, his cheap jeans were crusted over with grime and they smelled nearly as bad as the garage. That still didn’t stop him from lowering his face onto his knees and hiding his eyes.
Even though he was a mere Lynx, the act of submission made him want to growl in protest. He told his inner predator to get over it. When they’d first murdered his family and taken him to his new life, Dalton quickly learned that defiance only brought pain and humiliation.
“We bought him for breeding, not food,” the leader reminded Kirk.
Even though that hadn’t been the first time Dalton heard what his new purpose in life was to be, a wave of revulsion and despair still slammed into him. Tears built up in his eyes. Never had he felt so alone…so cold. He just wanted to curl up with his littermates so he could be warm and safe.