Southern Shifters: Impawsible (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Buchanan Clan Book 1) (2 page)

Even worse—definitely not better—she was a white rabbit.

As an FYI, that seriously fucked with her life. Like, a lot.

The door at the back of the room swung open, the heavy wood thumping easily into place as one of the most gorgeous women she’d ever seen strolled toward her. And really, Bethany wasn’t one to like the ladies, but this chick had her wavering on the dick path. She had pale blond hair (like Bethany) and shining blue eyes (like Bethany) and she moved with a strong fluid grace (very not like Bethany).

“Clan Buchanan?” The woman looked at her and Bethany let her bunny come out a little. Her nose twitched as she drew in the newcomer’s scent and discovered exactly what she’d expected. White cougar. It was official, life hated her. “Did you say clan Buchanan?”

“Um…”

It was the woman’s turn to breathe deeply. “But you smell like…” She frowned and tilted her head. “Like you are, but you aren’t. What are you?”

“Does no one know about personal boundaries?” she grumbled.

“I asked her the same thing,” Greer pointed out.

“I’m Niki.” The woman rounded the end of the bar, hand outstretched. “And you’re a white—”

“I’m me. Nothing more. Nothing less.” Bethany wasn’t rude, she was taught better, but she did discourage further conversation while she shook Niki’s hand.

“But you have—”

“Anything else?” She released Niki and focused on Greer.

“Nope, but you might wanna—”

“I’m good. Really.” Bethany didn’t want to do anything. She backed away from the white cougar and gave the rest of the room a small wave. “See you guys later.”

With that, she spun and walked (quickly, but not running because prey didn’t run from predators) to the exit. And while she did so, she totally ignored the hushed conversation behind her.

“She’s a white rabbit. I didn’t even know they existed…”

Chapter Two

Bethany was fairly certain visits to the mechanic shouldn’t involve men flying through glass windows. Ever. But that’s what she watched as she parked in front of the only shop in town. They handled everything from light body repair to engine rebuilds and, apparently, evicting males through plate glass. Huh.

If she were back with her lion clan, she wouldn’t have blinked an eye at the sight. The lions weren’t known for their patience. But here in Deals Gap… She stayed put and glanced around, looking to see if there were any panicked humans or frightened shifters. And got… nothing. Hell, everyone kept on walking as if they didn’t see the male slowly rising to his feet, brushing shattered glass from his jeans as he stood tall. And tall. And even taller.

Damn they grew ’em big in Deals Gap.

She cracked her window the slightest bit. Enough to draw in some of the surrounding scents. She sought the throwee’s aroma and sighed with relief. He wasn’t enraged. Annoyed? Yes. Enraged and hunting for blood? No.

He was also a lion. Or a wolf. Ah, a lion-wolf hybrid. Well, she couldn’t hold the cat against him.

She tugged the door handle and nudged it wide, allowing herself to exit her little car. She slipped free of the door then quietly closed it while doing her best to remain unnoticed. Sure, he wasn’t rolling in hatefire, but she didn’t want to draw his attention, either. So she stayed put, letting the lion-wolf yell at whomever tossed him as if he weighed nothing.

“What the fuck is your problem, asshole?” It was definitely a good question.

“You.” The thrower wasn’t one for a lot of chatter.

“You need to get your head outta your ass,” the throwee snarled.

“You need to leave before I decide tossing you out wasn’t enough.” The thrower seemed pretty calm for being so violent moments ago. Calm, but there was something in his voice that piqued the rabbit’s curiosity. Something that made her little animal sit up and take notice. The beast enjoyed listening to Greer, but the thrower…

“You think you can—”

“Yup.” She heard the heavy thud of boots, the thrower obviously moving through the shop’s office.

“You’re not an alpha here,” the throwee just wouldn’t shut up. He made a good point considering the neutral zone didn’t
have
an alpha. They had Bhric.

“Nope, I’m not. Doesn’t mean I won’t put your ass down for staring too long. The wolf won’t take it and the tiger wants your blood for even trying.”

Oh, and there came the rage. Maybe sliding into her car would be a good idea. It wouldn’t stop the male, but she could pretend she’d be safe from the shifter. Bethany’s nose twitched, her rabbit vibrating as fear tried to sneak into her blood. She pushed the emotion back, unwilling to let it take hold. Predators fought to keep their aggression in check. Prey battled to keep terror from their scent. It was a delicate balance, attempting to keep her terror from filling the air when all she wanted to do was shift and dig a happy little burrow.

Growls filled the air, the lion and the tiger rumbling, and they definitely couldn’t be classified as purrs.

And as quickly as the sounds reached her, they were silenced by one rough shout. “Jaxson! Carter!”

Bethany swung her attention to the speaker and noticed the lion did the same as the black-haired tiger peeked out the now broken window.

Greer. Apparently he really was Bhric’s right hand. He strode down the sidewalk, quick stride bringing him closer, and she tried not to notice that he looked damn good when he was angry.

It didn’t take the male long to reach them. “What the
hell
are you two fucking doing?”

The tiger grunted and pulled back, sliding out of sight once more.

But the lion wasn’t about to back down. “This asshole—”

This new rumble came from Greer. “Jaxson.”

So that meant the other male was Carter. And something… Okay, not something, her
rabbit
wanted her to get another look at the male. She’d seen the back of his head and now she wanted to see all of him. All. Of. Him.

Jaxson grunted and crossed his arms over his chest. The lions in her old clan grunted a lot too. So maybe it was a cat thing. “He—”

Carter stuck his head back outside. “I have the right to refuse service.”

“Tossing him through the window is how you wanted to get your point across?” Greer drawled.

“Yup.” With that, the tiger disappeared once more.

“I—” Jaxson tried again.

Greer sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Jaxson, he’s right. He
can
refuse.”

“Because his wolf is a pussy bitch?”

More growls from inside the shop. “Because my wolf wants to tear you into bite-sized pieces and
your
wolf is being an asshole.”

Bethany glanced at their surroundings once more and realized the street was now fairly empty. Okay, the public was fine when it was the two males, but the third scared them? Hell, for her, one was good.

“Enough,” Greer snapped and strode to Jaxson, dropping his voice low. “You need to walk away. Now.”

“Greer…” the male rumbled.

“Now,” the leader’s right hand ordered. “You wanna keep up this argument, we’ll finish it later when Bhric is available. Now is not the time.”

The snarl that filled the air she recognized well. Her lions used to make that noise right before they tried to pounce on her and—

Bethany couldn’t withhold her rabbit’s whimper, the small chitter that announced her distress. That single sound drew the attention of the two males in front of her and then the third’s when he stuck his head out of the building.

Greer, Jaxson, and Carter focused on her, their gazes intent. Or rather, in Jaxson’s case, predatory. She swallowed hard and kicked her fear in the ass, trying to shove it away beneath this lion’s gaze. She fought harder when Jaxson breathed deeply and gave her a smile she knew too well. He wanted her. Not in his bed, but on his plate.

Okay, she kinda expected that reaction, but Bhric assured her she’d be safe. They were animals, yes, but they were still men and he was the baddest. She’d be protected by his word and he’d knock heads around if needed. Thing was, he wasn’t in town at the moment.

A soft chuff had her shifting attention to Carter, and what she saw there was anything but hungry. Wait, it was hungry, but a different kind of craving. Not for blood, but sex. And staring at him—meeting his amber gaze—made her want it just as much.

Greer was pretty. Sexy, but he knew it. He knew his appeal and worked it to his advantage. But Carter…

He was wild and hot, ferocious and dangerous, and she wanted that. Hell, her rabbit was on board as well. It needed Jaxson and Greer to go away so she could get to Carter. To listen to him talk more. To look at him some more. To maybe taste…

She was prey. She wasn’t into tasting anything.

Except Carter
.

Right. Except Carter.

The dark-haired male eased his attention from her back to the other two men. “Get the fuck out.”

Jaxson glared at her first and then Carter. Greer did something similar, but instead of scowling, he grinned and cackled like a friggin’ witch while holding his stomach.

“Oh,” he wheezed. “Oh shit, really?” He laughed again. “Damn.” He shook his head. “Wow.”

Jaxson’s glare deepened, focus now bouncing between Carter and Bethany and the lion took a single step toward her. Apparently that was one too far for Carter because then he was in the lion’s path, body blocking Jaxson’s view.

Seriously blocking him entirely.

While Jaxson and Greer were large, Carter was massive, his height eclipsing the lion’s. His broad shoulders, massive biceps, and thick thighs attested to his strength, and if his physical appearance wasn’t enough, there was his scent. Pure dominance, masculine musk, crisp water, growing trees, and… dandelions. Holy crap, he smelled like her most favorite thing ever. Not chocolate, but the one aroma sure to tease her rabbit out of hiding—dandelions.

Bethany found herself taking a step forward, her bunny urging her to get closer to that delicious scent. It wanted her to rub and roll against him. Or dig through his pockets on the off chance he had one of those yummy flowers hidden away. Though, when she weighed holding a dandelion to touching Carter, she leaned more toward the
touching Carter
option. The rabbit snipped and scratched her with its tiny claws. It had a goal and… And a gust of wind brought her—them—more of Carter’s scent with a blaring, glaring, rejoicing message.

Mate
.

The message also scared the ever-living hell out of her. Mate?
Mate?

But she didn’t get a mate. It was a… thing. She was a white rabbit and they were scarce and her history and, and, and…

Apparently everyone she’d ever spoken to was wrong because in front of her, in all his rage-filled, tiger-wolfy glory, stood her mate. A mate she had never expected and didn’t know how to deal with, so she did the only thing she could. The one thing that had saved her more than once over the years.

She ran.

Chapter Three

Amazingly enough, he let her escape.

Now Bethany kept one eye looking over her shoulder while she finished her errands, constantly on the lookout for that drool-worthy tiger. She couldn’t shake the feeling she was being followed. But every time she looked around, she didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. There were whispers that trailed her, of course, but she was used to those. Prey couldn’t move into a town of mostly predators without being talked about. And other than the glare Jaxson shot her, she felt comfortable with each and every person she came across.

The butcher didn’t have a problem with cutting down some of the large portions in his case.

The produce manager promised he’d order some actual vegetables.

The hardware store said they’d order more seed packets and fertilizer.

They looked at her funny at first, but they smiled, nodded, and took her phone number.

With a final wave at the store owner, she gathered her few bags and strode to the front door, intent on slumping into her car and driving to the small house on the edge of town. Surprisingly, the place belonged to the wolf clan alpha’s mate, Kitty. She’d heard rumblings about her never really staying there long and that there was this whole big
story
that went along with her owning the cottage.

Honestly, it sounded like Kitty (a werecougar) was now happily mated to the werewolf alpha (who knew how that happened), so Bethany didn’t care all that much. All that mattered was that it was cute, had a large yard she was allowed to garden, and cheap. The magical trifecta of any work-at-home bunny shifter.

Her little car puttered up the hill. Okay, it was the side of the mountain. Deals Gap was settled in a valley, but the moment you eased past the edge, the roads grew gradually steeper. It was one of the reasons she’d stopped by the mechanic’s since she’d really pushed her vehicle getting to Deals Gap.

And then there was the throwing and the growling and the hot tottie mating guy. She sighed and her rabbit screeched at her.

“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled, hands tightening around the wheel until she had a white-knuckled grip. “I get it, you’re pissed.” Her nails sharpened and pricked her palms. “Stupid pain in my ass. You’re just hurting yourself, you know.”

The rabbit told her to suck a bunny tail.

“Since I have one and I’m not that flexible, you’ll have to try again. Talking about sucking, why don’t you go find a dust bunny to bang. Mate with
that
.” It grumbled and hopped to the back of her mind, doubly annoyed because they didn’t have their mate
and
Bethany still resisted the need to hunt him down like a dog. Er, tiger-wolf hybrid.

The rabbit stayed quiet as she navigated the narrow winding road. She turned off at her driveway, the gravel crunching beneath her tires while she rolled along. High pines bracketed her, casting her car into the shadows as she crept toward her home. The farther she drove, the darker it got, aged vegetation encroaching on the pathway, and she wondered if she’d need to hunt up a landscaping company to cut it back. She was all about preserving nature. She was also all about getting to her house.

The trees parted, growth dropping away to reveal her new home in all its charming, quaint glory.