Covet the Curves: a Romance Collections Anthology Read online

  Covet the Curves

  a Romance Collections Anthology

  Emmy Gatrell

  Carma Haley Shoemaker

  Aidy Award

  Ann Anders

  Laurie Treacy

  Deelylah Mullin

  Stephanie Morris

  Marie Mason

  Romance Collections

  Contents

  Emmy Gatrell

  Fateful Wish

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  About the Author

  Also by Emmy Gatrell

  Carma Haley Shoemaker

  Gifted

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Belle Maurice

  Rain on Me

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also by Belle Maurice

  Aidy Award

  Gray’s Seduction

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Untitled

  About the Author

  Laurie Treacy

  When It Happens

  About the Story

  Acknowledgments

  1. Devlin

  2. Catalina

  3. Devlin

  4. Catalina

  5. Devlin

  6. Catalina

  7. Devlin

  8. Catalina

  9. Devlin

  10. Catalina

  About the Author

  Ann Anders

  Make it a Double

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  About the Author

  Deelylah Mullin

  An Apple for the Teacher

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  About the Author

  Stephanie Morris

  Taking Chances

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  About the Author

  Marie Mason

  Stranded with the Wolf

  About the Story

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  About The Author

  Fateful Wish © 2018 by Emmy Gatrell

  Gifted © 2018 by Carma Haley Shoemaker

  Rain on Me © 2018 by Bell Maurice

  Gray’s Seduction © 2018 by Aidy Award

  Make it a Double © 2018 by Ann Anders

  When it Happens © 2018 by Laurie Treacy

  An Apple for the Teacher © 2018 by Deelylah Mullin

  Taking Chances © 2018 by Stephanie Morris

  Stranded with the Wolf © 2018 by Marie Mason

  First E-book Publication: June 2018

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  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is strictly coincidental.

  Romance Collections

  www.romancecollections.com

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  Fateful Wish

  Lupinski Clan 4

  Emmy Gatrell

  About the Story

  Edi has lived in the shadow of her father’s crime most of her life. After years of anguish, she made a wish that left her numb to the world. But not so numb to realize the danger she is in when her Alpha declares she will be his Mate for the Good of the Clan.

  She flees to the top leaders of the Lupinski Clan to plead her case and to free her people from a tyrannical ruler. Long lost cousins, dark family secrets, and unknowingly meeting her meeting her fated mate complicates the situation. Will she be able to find the help she needs or did she have it within her all along?

  *Can be read as a stand-alone.

  For my Grandma Edith

  The original badass female Alpha

  Miss you & love you bunches

  Chapter One

  I felt a tap on my arm and loosened my death grip on the armrest but stopped when the little-old-lady sitting next to me said, “You don’t have to let go. I was just letting you know there’s nothing to be afraid of and I’m here if you need me.”

  Taking a deep breath, I slowly opened my eyes to the smiling face of someone that would be typecast as Mrs. Claus: stark white hair, rosy cheeks, and sparkly-blue eyes completed her rounded body. Then I felt a little bad because, like
me, she was a bit small for her seat, and here I was hogging the armrest.

  Forcing a smile, I pried my fingertips from the armrest we shared and placed it in my lap, “Thank you.”

  “First flight, Dear?”

  “First time for anything really.” I gave her a half-smile, “I’ve never left home before.”

  “Where’s home?”

  “Foyers, Scotland.”

  “You don’t sound Scottish.”

  “My mother was an American, and we kept to ourselves mostly.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He passed when I was very young, but my mother fell in love with their home in the Lochs, so we never left… Ever.” That wasn’t the entire truth, she stayed because of me. While there were scattered familial groups of my breed of shifter around the world, they were very small groupings and were unwilling to take the risk of exposure of adding another massive creature in whatever small body of water they had claimed as home. Also, my mom was a different species and was essentially off the market because she had already met her mate, the chances of her having any more children were slim to none. Most clans didn’t see any benefit for them accepting us and being responsible for our well-being. Plus, the stigma of what happened to my dad—

  My seatmate patted my hand and said, “Sorry to hear about your father.”

  I shrugged. “It happened a really long time ago.”

  “Couldn’t have been that long ago, you can’t be more than thirty.”

  Oh, you have no idea Sally May, I thought but said, “I still have the good memories here.” I pointed to my brain and then my heart, “And remember what his love for me felt like here.”

  Sally May’s blue eyes shimmered as they began to fill with tears.

  “Oh my Goddess, I’m so sorry. Don’t cry. What did I say?”

  She smiled as a single tear rolled down her chubby-rosy cheek, “Happy tears, Dear. That reminds me of what my dear Michael used to say.” Her voice got a bit gruffer, she sat up straight and tried to appear serious as she mimicked her Michael, “No matter what happens Sally May, you’ll always remember how much I loved you by the memories you hold here—” She pointed to her head and then her heart. “—and feel my love here.” Grinning widely, “I think we were meant to meet don’t you?”

  “It certainly seems th—”

  “Howdy folks, this is your Captain. We’ve begun our final descent into Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. Please return to your seats and flight attendants please begin your final landing checks.” The loudspeaker crackled off.

  I took a deep breath and let it out audibly.

  “Almost there, Dear.” Sally May groaned as she tried to reach under the seat in front of her.

  “Let me.” I groaned and grunted as I maneuvered enough to grab her purse. As I handed it to her I said, “I’m Edi by the way.”

  “Thank you, Edi.” She reached into her bag and took her iPhone out. “I promised my grandkids pictures of the city as we flew in.” She gave me a grin before swiveling in her seat to look out of the window and began taking pictures.

  The plane was shaking a bit on the descent freaking me out again. I gripped both armrests and concentrated on my breathing. Sally May was a sweet lady. I hoped we could stay in touch, although I wasn’t sure that could happen because I had no idea what was going to end up happening to me. I was on the run, technically a fugitive according to my pod but we were part of a bigger picture.

  We had an Alpha, Beta, Omega, and overzealous ‘security’ officers ruling or bullying us locally into submission. But we, our rulers and all shifters everywhere were a part of one of several multi-shifter, and magical being communities called the Lupinski Clan. I was in the European group, who didn’t help and only made my situation worse when I went to them for help, so I was running to the very top-tier of the organization in the United States.

  We kept to ourselves, as did several other shifter species, but we were all ruled by the Lupinskis. They were incredibly powerful Alphas that could shift into many forms, including what the Americans called ‘Bigfoot.’ They could also exert their Alpha power over all shifters, not only their own kind, they’re the only breed of shifter who could. I bet none of them could turn into a Plesiosauria, though. Not that they would want to. What a pain-in-the-ass form to take in today’s modern world of insta-everything. Camera phones, overpopulation, loss of habitat, and loss of privacy with satellite imagery; we were so prominent in our shifted forms we ended up inadvertently having our photo taken and suffered the consequences.

  That’s not what happened to my dad though; his picture is famous to this day. The few times I went to the towns near my home I was inundated with a constant reminder of my father’s life and violent death. I glanced at Sally May who was still happily snapping away. I didn’t explain the entire truth to her. I mentioned I had the happy memories in my head and remembered how his love felt, both were true. But I had plenty of bad memories as well, and I only remember how his love felt because I couldn’t really feel anymore because a friend of mine granted me a wish that went sideways; I should’ve known better.

  I still relived the night my dad died, every day, over and over again for almost a hundred years. Thankfully the memories don’t evoke emotions anymore, I’m literally numb when I think about what happened. I’m mostly numb all the time, thanks to the sideways wish, but I’d rather be numb than in constant pain and fear. Unfortunately, I still remember what my feelings felt like that night. The sense of dread that overwhelmed me before the smell of smoke permeated the air of our home. The way my heart pounded and my stomach dropped when the front door was kicked open so hard it left a permanent dent in our wall. How terrified I was when five of the more brutish ‘security’ officers in our clan burst into our home and restrained my father before he was out of his chair.

  My mom and I jumped to our feet as well. I ran around the table attempting to save my dad, but my mother stopped me halfway around the table trying to keep me as far from the intruders as possible. Three of the brutes tied dad up with thick ropes in some genius medieval way, one ankle, to one wrist, up around his neck, then back down to his other wrist and ankle. If he struggled or fought at all, the ropes would tighten around his throat, similar to Chinese finger cuffs once tightened, they were unable to loosen and would slowly cut off his air supply. It took him a second to realize that, and the sound of his wheezing still woke me up during nightmares.

  I was screaming for them to let him go as I tried desperately to get past my mom whose arms were extended trying to protect me, but at the time it felt as if she was betraying us. I know she could have taken out everyone in the room if she shifted while everyone was in their human forms, but she wouldn’t stand a chance if they changed. Neither would our house since even as a small child I could not fit inside while shifted. I was so hysterical that I hadn’t noticed Reef come up behind me until he put a hand around my throat and squeezed as he yanked me back from my mother. It was then I felt his ever-present creepiness wash over my skin like an ice-cold shower leaving pinpricks in its wake. Reef had always given me the heebie geebies, but this time there was something dark peeking from behind his soul, I literally felt his menace, his pleasure with inflicting pain then, it didn’t seem to matter to him that I was a child.

  My mother whipped around, her eyes wide with fright but before she could take a step or make a sound, Sven grabbed her throat and squeezed her into submission. He had the decency to appear resigned yet uncomfortable. My mother and I stared at each other as one of the men who restrained my father did the same to us. Although they tied our hands together in front of our bodies and then tied the rope around our necks, leaving plenty on the end to use as a leash. But instead they took my mother’s and linked it to my dad close to his neck, and then they tied my rope near my mum’s neck as well. They didn’t say anything as they pulled my father outside, my mom and I being attached, dragged behind him until the ropes tightened around our necks a little
reminding us to keep up.

  Outside of our bothy, two more men waited holding torches for the other brutes. They passed them to the people that had invaded our home, and then six of them lined up on either side flanking us. Reef walked to the front of the group and he ordered us to march to our pod’s meeting place.