Familiar Desires: 5 (Protective Affairs)

Rebecca
Airies

Book 5 of the Protective Affairs
series.

Alana returns to her hometown to
investigate a series of disappearances, but coming home means facing the men
who are her wizards and mates. A spell forces her to work alongside the
sexy-as-sin brothers and the heat of their ménage flares to life. Her inner
shifter wants to emerge and claim her men, but there’s so much unsaid between
them.

Kane and Michael have waited years
for Alana. Their Familiar fled without explanation and this time she’s not
going to slip away. Their shared magic grows more intense with each passing
day, but they mean to show her that there’s more than a mystical bond between
them. Michael and Kane will use the sizzling desire to lure her closer until
she realizes she belongs with them.

Even as Michael, Kane and Alana
savor the passion, they must discover who’s behind the kidnappings, before
their chance at forever is taken away.

A Romantica®
paranormal erotic romance
from Ellora’s
Cave

Devoe, Washington

Home. Damn, it feels good to be back in the mountains.
Alana wasn’t ready to come here yet.

Winding up the tree-lined road that led to Devoe, she
couldn’t help soaking in the beauty around her. The scents of pine and fir
drifted into the car, invigorating her and bringing back so many memories.
Light peeked occasionally through leafy branches. The shade and the thick
growth of bushes and trees made the road feel even more isolated than it was.

The evidence of spring had been obvious in Corona City and
the lower regions, but as she drove up the mountain, she could still see signs
of winter. The contrast between the vivid color of the wild flowers and green
grass along the roadside at the base of the mountain and the patchy covering of
snow just outside Devoe was startling. There might even be a few stragglers
hanging out at the resort a little farther up the mountain.

The beautiful surroundings and were so bright and inviting
she wanted to stop the car and hike into the forest to enjoy it. She’d savor
the crisp breeze and the early April chill. Lately, she’d been traveling so
much for her work with the Protectorate she was hardly ever in one place long
enough to enjoy any area she visited. It had made her more homesick than she’d
been in a long time.

It didn’t help that she’d been thinking about this place and
Michael and Kane so much. Those quick little missions hadn’t been able to drive
them out of her mind.

Alana stopped the car just before she entered Devoe. Nerves
knotted her stomach. Rolling down the window, she tried to find a little calm
within herself. She closed her eyes for a moment and listened to the call of a
bird, but couldn’t identify what it was.

When she’d found a little inner peace, she looked at the
welcome sign and took a deep breath. This wasn’t the way she’d thought she’d
return to her hometown and her mates. She’d wanted to come back on her own and
face what she now suspected were mistakes. Her mistakes.

Just seventeen more days and I could have come back
without the complication of focusing on anything other than my mates.
Clenching
her hand into a tight fist, she cursed the timing. If the call had come a few
weeks later, she wouldn’t be the agent on this case. The Protectorate would
have sent someone else. She’d already given notice she was leaving the Protectorate
and she had an end-of-service date. It was time to go home and discover if
there was a future for her in Devoe.

Now though, she was here for a mission. Several shifters and
a witch had been taken. No one involved in the case believed the disappearances
had stopped. The Protectorate had been called to help, because someone was
using Devoe as a hunting ground.

She needed to find out who was behind this and the briefing
on the kidnappings hadn’t given her much beyond a few basics on the missing
people. On top of that, she’d have to deal with the two men who’d occupied her
thoughts and dreams for years. Avoiding her mates while she was here would be
impossible even if they were cooperative.

Devoe simply wasn’t that big. It was a small city that had
sprung up near the ski resort on the mountain. The forest was now a protected
area, but the resort still thrived. In season, the town catered to skiers,
hikers and tourists who didn’t stay at the ski lodge, which was located a short
distance outside Devoe’s city limits. The rest of the year, the businesses
catered to hikers, fishermen and almost anyone who wanted to spend a little
time in nature.

Taking a deep breath, she focused. She had to get into Devoe
and find out who was doing this. Although it sounded a little crazy, she wanted
to leave so she could come back and begin a relationship with her mates the
right way. With a wry grin, she acknowledged it probably wasn’t going to happen
that way.

Michael and Kane might have their own ideas for renewing
their connection and she didn’t know if she could resist them if they pursued
her. She wanted to see if they could develop a relationship with them, but
trying to do that while on an investigation didn’t seem to be a smart idea. It
could make discovering who was doing this much harder.

If the kidnappings were so simple, they wouldn’t have needed
to call in help from the Protectorate. The major reason though was because of
the Shifter and Witch Councils, which monitored matings and shifter and witch
behavior in Devoe. They definitely wouldn’t stay out of the matter. Biggest
group of busybodies ever.

She shook her head and pulled back onto the road. Now was
not the time to brood about the past. Her first priority was to see if she
could get a handle on these disappearances. Depending on how long this
investigation took, it might be her last case. Then she could come back and see
if there was any hope for a relationship with her wizards.

Normally, she worked with a partner. It was Protectorate
policy to send in at least two operatives on a mission like this. This
situation was a little different. Alana had grown up in Devoe and was familiar
with the people here.

On top of that, the shifters weren’t normal run-of-the-mill wolf
and cat shifters. Familiars lived in Devoe, along with their witches and
wizards. Normal shifters sometimes didn’t relate peacefully with them. Some groups
of shifters didn’t know they still existed. Familiar shifters and the wizards
and witches associated with them avoided the areas where there had been attacks
by other shifters in the past. Even now, most humans believed Familiars were
myths and bedtime stories. That was the way the Familiars, witches and wizards
liked it.

Familiars and the wizards and witches with the Familiar bond
had been hunted more than normal shifters and wizards in the past. The link
between them seemed to increase the perception that witches and wizards were
evil. In truth, the relationship was more about survival. In times of
colonization and isolation, witches and wizards had created the link to
shifters to enlarge the mating pool and to enhance their strength against
threats.

Now, it wasn’t necessary to create the Familiar union
magically, although it could be done. Shifters with Familiar parents were born
with most of the abilities of a Familiar. Just being a Familiar shifter came
with some perks. Regardless of species, a Familiar could change into whatever
or whoever they chose. On top of that, the shifter gained a little something
extra after the Familiar bond.

When a shifter joined with a witch or wizard, they gained a
power, usually psychic or elemental in nature, but a few actually gained magic.
The attachment could be relatively weak, tying the shifter and witch only
lightly. Those usually ended up in friendship or companionship.

Both shifter and witch gained power from the Familiar bond.
A mating between the Familiar and witch made that increase incrementally
stronger. Alana’s tie to Michael and Kane was strong. She could call and
control lightning, although clouds usually rolled in when she used it, it was
only the lightning under her guidance.

She drove down the streets noticing little changes, but
overall, it was the same. She was home. At least for now. She guided the car to
the hotel she’d been told would be holding a room for her. Definitely not the
one she’d been expecting. It was a little more upscale than her normal
Protectorate-funded accommodations. She’d seen the place before she left Devoe
years ago, but never been inside. It catered to visitors to the mountain and
she’d grown up here.

The large, white-columned building looked more like some
kind of Southern manor than a hotel. She parked her car and grabbed her bag
from the backseat. There wasn’t valet parking, but then this wasn’t the peak
time for tourists. Not that the parking lot was anywhere near empty. She didn’t
remember if there was a valet in the fall when people came for beautiful colors,
or in winter when people came to ski.

The walls of the entrance lobby may have been white, but she
barely noticed them. It was the furniture and rugs that grabbed her attention
as well as the art on the walls. Everything was gold, vibrant green or had one of
those colors as a major component. It felt rich and luxurious, but inviting.

She walked straight to the white desk. She didn’t know the
young blond man, but noticed a flash of recognition in his eyes. The desk clerk
probably wouldn’t have been in high school when she left the area. That was the
only place they’d have met. He was a wizard. She could tell that much by the power
she felt from him.

She stepped up to the counter. “I’m checking in. There
should be a reservation under the name—”

“Alana Cohl. Yes, we’re expecting you. The Councils wish to
talk with you immediately.” The man looked directly at Alana.

Alana nodded. “After I take up my bag and freshen up a
little, I’ll go over there to see them.”

“They don’t like to be kept waiting,” the front desk clerk
called after her.

“Then they need to learn a little patience.” Alana laughed
as she walked away from him. That little phrase made her want to take as much
time as possible.

A full shower might be in order. She considered the idea as she
took the elevator up to the third floor. As appealing as the thought of the
Council sitting and watching the door for her sounded, she had more tact and
diplomacy than that. She would make them wait for her a little. They’d know she
arrived. She suspected the desk clerk had called the moment she stepped into
the elevator.

After finding her room near the end of the hallway, she
entered and dropped the bag on the bottom of the bed. Her eyes swept over the
cream walls and took in the bed covered with a deep-blue and gold spread. She
dug a few things out of her bag and took her toiletries into the bathroom. She
brushed her hair and checked her makeup, touching up her lipstick and eye
shadow. She got a cup of water and drank it slowly. Deciding she’d dallied
enough to goad them, but not far enough to infuriate them, she left. After she
walked out of the room, she made her way to the lobby of the hotel.

Infuriated Council members could keep her in the room for
hours. If she merely irritated them, the slight delay would only increase the
normally bad moods of most of the Council. That, she would enjoy. They’d done
everything they could to get her to come home. It wasn’t just the calls and
nagging. They’d cut her off from protection of the local wolf pack and the
prowl, a group of leopard shifters, to try to force her to come back.

The only good part of the busybodies taking away that safety
net was she was able to work with the Protectorate because of it. The
Protectorate had a rule preventing Shifters affiliated with a pack from
officially working for them. Before the Council had withdrawn the protection,
she’d occasionally freelanced for the Protectorate, but without ties to a prowl
she could officially go to work for them.

She definitely didn’t want the Council to know she was
planning to return to Devoe soon. If they got even a hint that she was willing
to give the relationship with Michael and Kane a chance, they’d take full
advantage.

Striding forward, she left the hotel. Her eyes swept over
the cars, buildings and sidewalks out of habit. She headed for city hall.
Luckily, it was close enough to walk. She could see the metal-and-glass
building above the rooftops of the businesses in front of her. She hadn’t been there
often, but she knew it had at least ten floors. It housed both the Familiar Council
and the Witch-Wizard Council as well as city offices and city records.

Even though she’d grown up around the councils, Alana
sometimes didn’t know whether to use witch or wizard when referring formally to
the Council of witches and wizards. Whether it was a Witch Council or a Wizard Council
depended on the person asked. Most females called it the Witch Council because
witch was a generic term for both witches and wizards. The men, on the other
hand, referred to it as the Wizard Council because there were more men on the Council
than women.

She walked up the steps to the building and through the
doors when they slid open. It was a typical city building. Aside from
differences in layout, she’d seen the color scheme in numerous towns and cities
she’d visited. White walls, gray flooring, brown trim and occasionally chrome
and black furniture. All very drab, businesslike and boring.

A security checkpoint stood just beyond the entrance doors.
Four officers worked at the security post. She let her purse go through belt
scanner and went through the standing scanner beside it. The equipment was only
the visible deterrent to show that the building was protected. Specifically, it
served as a warning to any human who might pass through here. It wasn’t the
main line of defense for the building though. That consisted of spells and
shifter senses.

“They’re waiting for you. Go on up.” The last of the guards
held out her purse as she walked up to the end of the belt.

The council room was on the second floor in one of the huge conference
rooms. She stopped in front of the large, old-fashioned wooden doors. She took
a deep breath, smoothed her hair and then walked into the room.

The Council of Shifters and the Council of Witches and Wizards
sat at the long, wooden, crescent-shaped table at the end of the room. The
overhead light gleamed off the polished table. Aside from the table and chairs,
the huge room was empty of other furniture. Gray carpet made her steps silent
as she slowly advanced, taking the time to ponder why they were all there. She’d
expected the Council of Shifters, because that was what she was.

Seeing all of the wizards and witches there threw her and
made her a little nervous. She had nothing to do with the Witch Council. Never
really had. As a Familiar, she would have appeared before the Witch Council at
some point, but the relationship with Michael and Kane had ended before it
progressed to that point. Thoughts whirled through her mind and before she realized
it, she’d made her way across the room to stand in front of the two tables.