Dreaming of the Shifter (Shifter World - Book Five) (Series of 13 Short Stories)

Pearl saw the next members of their group through a bright light. It’s time to bring them together. But how can that be? She tossed in her sleep, more confused than she was the first time she’d seen them.

“How is it possible?” she asked the Goddesses.

A beautiful face appeared before her.

“Senshire,” Pearl whispered.

“Hello, my child,” the Goddess said with a sweet smile.

“How can they be a part of our group?” Pearl asked.

“Did we not tell you all those years ago that we will provide?”

Pearl snorted. “Provide? With them?”

“Bring them together, Pearl Owens, and you will see,” Senshire said as she started to fade away.

“Wait!” Pearl called out. “Please wait.”

The Goddess blinked as she looked at her. “What is it?”

Pearl took a deep breath. “We have lost so many Fated Mates to dark witches and wizards.”

“They cannot be killed….” The Goddess started to say, but Pearl shook her head, making the Goddess’s eyebrow raise.

“I am sorry to interrupt you, but they have found a way to stop us.”

Senshire appeared in full form before her. She was so beautiful; Pearl sucked in a breath.

“We have been concentrating on the future and what is to pass. We haven’t seen the present in a while. What have they done?”

Pearl swallowed. “They’ve placed spells on other shifters or found ones willing to do their bidding. Female Fated Mates are being compromised.”

The Goddess’s golden eyes turned pitch black. “They are cockblocking my creations?”

Pearl chuckled; she couldn’t help it. To hear their Goddess say the word wasn’t something she’d expected.

“Yes,” Pearl said, still chuckling.

Senshire eyed Pearl for a moment, then smiled. “We did write those books; well, we dictated them.”

“You actually used the word cockblock?” Pearl asked, trying her hardest to stop chuckling.

“Well, it was the only thing that made sense. They use their cock to mate, and if another shifter uses theirs, they’re blocking them from their mate, are they not?”

Pearl nodded. “Yes, my Goddess.”

Senshire smiled. “You humans find the silliest things funny.”

Pearl sucked in a breath. “Believe me, the shifters find it funny as well.”

Senshire snorted. “Indeed,” she said with a shake of her head. “It started as something innocent and useful, then turned into something dirty. Just like the word fuck, it was never meant to become a nasty word.”

Pearl nodded. “Yes, I know.”

“I must go now.”

“What about the Fated Mates….”

“I will find some replacements if I can.”

“Is that possible?” Pearl asked. “To find replacements, I mean.”

“We’ll see.” Senshire nodded. “Go dream of your mate,” she said with a smile, then she was gone.

Pearl watched her surroundings turn to the field she used to meet her mate in.

“Pearl?” Dylan asked as he looked around him.

Pearl chuckled. “Sorry, love, Senshire set this up.”

Dylan smiled. “I would rather this happen outside of our dreams….”

Dylan sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes.

“You mean it?” Pearl asked as she sat up and ran her hands up his back.

He groaned as he turned to her. “Being mated to a witch can be confusing. We are awake, right?”

She giggled. “Yes, my love, we are awake.”

“Good,” he said as he leaned toward her. “Because I prefer to touch your flesh.”

“Oh, yes,” she said when he pushed her back onto the bed and moved over her.

“Pearl,” he whispered, kissing her neck.

“Yes, my love,” she moaned.

He knows her body well. It didn’t take him long to take her to the stars. Then he was inside her before she came back down.

“Fuck,” he groaned as he paused inside her.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered as she moved her hips.

He took hold of her hips and started moving with her. They moved together to the beat of their hearts. When she came again, he felt the spark start at the base of his spine. He grunted as he held her hands above her head and took one of her nipples into his mouth.

“Dylan,” she cried out as her body convulsed again.

“Pearl,” he grunted as he released his seed deep inside her.

Their wrists glowed as their bond strengthened.

~🧹~

“So, they will replace the ones that have been compromised?” Shar asked as she and Dustin sat on the couch, Joy in her arms.

Everyone was gathered in their house for a Fated Mate meeting.

“That’s what Senshire said.” Pearl shrugged. “But how? I have no clue. Because the Fated Mates were created long ago, and you were born separated, it’s not like they stuck a different soul into your body.”

“What about the ones that aren’t as special as us?” Drezden asked.

Everyone looked at him.

“What do you mean?” Dustin asked.

Drezden shrugged. “It’s in the books….”

“Oh my God, he’s right,” Shar said. She passed Joy over to Dustin and got to her feet.

Everyone looked at Dustin as Sharissa left the room. Dustin shrugged, then looked down at his daughter and cooed at her.

Shar returned to the room with one of the large books in her hands.

Fated Mates & Their Bonding.

“Does Mom know you have that?” Dylan asked with a chuckle when he recognized the book.

Shar looked up at him. “What do you think?”

“She stole it.” Dominic snorted.

Shar shook her head. “Amirah gave me this book; she said we’ll need it more than she will.”

“Way to go, Mom,” Drezden said with a rare grin.

“Okay.” Shar placed the book on the table and opened it. “I know. I read something about what Drez said.”

“I knew you’d catch it, little sister,” Drezden said with a nod.

Shar chuckled as she flipped through the book until she found the page she was looking for.

“Okay.” Shar settled on the floor in front of the book. “Listen to this.”

Everyone leaned in toward her as they waited for her to read.

“We created the Fated Mates to protect our creations. They’re the most special of all our creations. We created three this time. ‘For we learned our lesson the last time.’ The first is the strongest and will lead the others to victory. We will place them into five brothers and five extraordinary women.”

“How did you five not figure that out on your own?” Raj asked, interrupting Shar.

“Yeah, sure, like you’d have caught on,” Daryl grunted.

“Shh,” Lyvia hissed. “Shar is reading.”

“The second will be placed into several men and women, all strong in their own right, but will be stronger once they are bonded,” Shar continued as if Raj had never interrupted her. “The third will not be revealed until or unless they are needed. If they’re needed, that means our enemy is stronger than we’d anticipated or smarter. When or if this time comes, they will be activated.”

“Does that make them weaker?” Daryl asked.

Shar shook her head. “From what I’ve read, they aren’t any less than the seconds; they’re just a backup, an—in case shit happens.”

Dustin chuckled as he watched Sharissa.

“Okay, so the Goddesses do have a backup for if this shit happened. But how do we stop it from happening again?” Dylan asked, looking at his mate.

Pearl looked from her mate to the others, who were also looking at her. “Don’t look at me like that.” She snorted. “They don’t tell me everything. And somehow, the dark witches are figuring out who the next fated mate to awaken will be, and they send someone to find them before their mate can.”

“So, then we figure out how they’re doing it and put a stop to it,” Rolando said as he got to his feet. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t like that they have targeted my mate.”

“They’ve targeted all of us,” Lyvia said, looking at Raj.

“She’s right.” Daryl nodded toward Raj. “They used a friend to attack us from the center, and it almost worked. If it hadn’t been for Pearl’s knowledge of Fated Mates. Who knows what that dark wizard would have done to Sebastian or the rest of us?”

“Should Sebastian stay close to home?” Shar asked, looking up from the book.

“He’ll be fine, for now,” Pearl said, looking around the room. “I placed a spell on him. Nothing dark will be able to touch him.”

“What do you mean by, for now?” Dylan asked, looking at her.

She took in a deep breath. “Once he finds his mate, the spell will no longer work. But by then, I hope we’ll have him here.”

The others nodded.

“So, you’re admitting he’s one of us, huh?” Dylan asked with a wicked grin as he pulled her against him.

She sighed. “You all know, anyway. And besides, it’s information you need to know. I’d have been tongue-tied if I wasn’t allowed to say it.”

“Goddesses?” Shar asked, watching the witch.

Pearl nodded. “Yeah, they’re really good at blocking any talk about their pet project.”

Everyone in the room chuckled.

“Okay, so how are we going to find the dark witches and wizards, let alone stop them?” Daryl asked.

“Who do you think you’re talking to?” Pearl asked, looking at Daryl.

Daryl snorted. “Sorry, I forgot I was talking to a witch.”

“A white witch,” Dylan said with a grin as he squeezed Pearl tight.

“So, how are we doing this?” Dominic asked as he watched his brother and the witch.

“We’ll need everyone,” Pearl said.

“Maddy isn’t going anywhere,” Rolando said.

Maddy cuddled against her mate. “But I’ll be needed….”

“No,” Rolando growled.

“Josie isn’t going anywhere either,” Dominic said.

“That’s not fair.” Josie crossed her arms over her chest.

“You two are pregnant with twins,” Rolando reminded them.

“Yes, we’re pregnant, not disabled,” Maddy said as she moved off the couch and walked over to her sister.

The two women linked their arms together and glared at their mates.

“Wow,” Dominic said as he looked at them.

Rolando stood and watched his mate and her twin.

“Those two aren’t something you’d want to piss off,” Shar said with a laugh as she watched the twins.

“We need everyone,” Pearl repeated.

“NO!” Dominic and Rolando yelled at the same time.

“Look.” Pearl got to her feet. “I’m pregnant too….”

“You’re a witch. You can protect your cub,” Dominic pointed out.

“And we are all protected by the Goddesses. Do you think I would put your cubs at risk?”

“Protected from death,” Rolando said. “But not from kidnapping or torture.”

“Exactly,” Dominic said, pointing at Rolando.

“Enough!” Daryl thundered.

Everyone in the room fell to their knees; even those on the couches and chairs fell to their knees.

“What the fuck?” Dustin grumbled as he looked up at his older brother.

“No,” Daryl whispered.

“Fuck,” Drezden grumbled.

“Get to your feet,” Daryl said, staring at his family.

Everyone stood and stared at him.

“What the hell was that?!” Rolando demanded.

“Call Mom!” Drezden called out as he reached for his phone.

“We can’t all call her at the same time,” Daryl grumbled as he reached for his phone and dialed their mother. “Hey, Mom… no, why didn’t you tell me? What, you just got the call? Fuck!” Daryl hung up and stared at his phone.

“Daryl?” Dustin asked as he watched his brother.

Daryl cleared his throat. “Mom will be here soon.”

“What’s going on?” Shar asked as she looked from one brother to the other.

Daryl looked up at her. “Our father is dead.”

Shar and the other women in the room gasped.

“So how come we all kneeled when you shouted?” Rolando asked.

Daryl looked at Rolando. “You do understand that once you became a Fated Mate, you are part of our clan now, don’t you?”

Rolando nodded.

“With our father dead….” Daryl started and couldn’t finish.

“Daryl is the clan Alpha now.” Dustin finished.

“How did your father die?” Shar whispered.

“Mom will tell us when she gets here,” Daryl assured them.

“This changes a lot,” Pearl said, watching Daryl.

Daryl looked at her. “Does it?”

She nodded. “You need to learn to control your Alpha side, or we’ll be falling to our knees every time you get annoyed.”

Daryl grunted. “I never wanted this.”

“We know, Brother.” Dominic placed his hand on Daryl’s shoulder. “None of us thought Dad would die so soon.”

“What does this mean for the rest of us?” Lyvia asked.

“Only that we now have an Alpha among us,” Pearl said. “I know a couple of Alphas who could maybe help you control it.”

Daryl nodded to her. “Thanks.”