That Shifter Love

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Blurb:

A wolf shifter, werecat shifter romance story. Part 1 in the Forbidden Shifters series. It was either break the rules or risk her life. And for shifter Lucy, she knew what she had to do.

But she has broken her town’s law, and werecat and officer Nathan has no choice but to take her into custody. But as he grapples with his duty, an unexpected twist awaits. Will Nathan uphold his duty when it concerns Lucy?

Or will he give in to his heart and be there for Lucy when she needs him the most? Discover now in this paranormal wolf shifter romance novel by Mary T Williams.

Chapter 1

Lucy stared in the mirror. Her reflection stared back. She made a couple of faces at herself, then giggled at her silliness. She stretched her arms above her head and admired her brown skin, darker than most women of color, but perfectly flawless. She turned sideways, her bounteous body moving fluidly. She lifted her big bre*sts and ran her hands over her ample thighs, smiling.

Lucy had always been extraordinarily proud of her looks, even though she certainly didn’t fit the human ideas of traditional beauty. So she didn’t pay attention to their ridiculous ideas, dressing as she pleased in what she felt she looked good in. And she looked good!

She finished her inspection of her body and glanced into her bedroom to make sure the blinds were down. They were, so she shifted into her werewolf form to inspect that version of herself as well. Gorgeous, she thought, as a human and as a werewolf. She pranced around her room in her werewolf form, enjoying the freedom of the animal form. She actually hated clothes, had rarely wore them when she’d lived in the mountains with her pack.

But she loved being in the city. So much life, so many interesting people and things and places. So she had to wear clothes every day, big deal. The city offered her so much more than the mountains had; she’d had to leave.

Lucy shook herself out of her reverie before some of the bad memories surfaced and ruined her perfectly well-begun day and shifted back into human form. She stretched again, arms high and up on her toes, then dug through her closet for one of her work shirts. Her phone rang as she was shrugging it on over her bra and looking around for her shorts to complete her work uniform.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Lucy, it’s Marla.”

“Hey, Marla. What’s going on?”

“Not much, but I have a huge favor,” Marla said. Lucy and Marla had met through their online courses. Once a month, the online class met in the classroom with the professor, some by skype, others in person, and Lucy and Marla had become fast friends and often helped each other with classwork.

“What kind of favor?” Lucy asked, skeptical. The last favor Marla had asked for had included finishing a project for her, and Lucy just didn’t have the time to do both her own and most of Marla’s.

“I have to miss the meeting this month. Can you take notes for me?” she asked. “I’ve already told the professor, and she said it would be ok, just to get the notes from someone.”

Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. “I can do that, sure. I’ll make a copy of mine to give to you. You can buy me lunch the next day.”

“Deal,” Marla said, a smile on her face. “You know, I chose journalism because I’m a good writer, but I feel like I don’t know anything at all!”

“Same here, girl,” Lucy agreed, sliding into her shorts as she spoke. “But supposedly it’ll all pay off in the long run.”

“Yeah, we’ll see,” Marla grumbled.

“Hey, I’ve got to run. I have to get to work.” Lucy was tying her shoelaces. “The boss got pissy the last time I walked in at exactly the start of my shift. He prefers us to be a couple minutes early.”

“Bosses, blah. They’re all assholes,” Marla laughed.

“Yes ma’am!” Lucy chuckled as she ended the call, threw her phone in her bag, and headed out the door. She grabbed her keys off the hook as she left and locked the door behind her. She grumbled when she stepped out onto the stoop; rain was seeping out of the sky, creating small puddles everywhere. Just enough rain to cause a mess, she thought. She turned around to get her umbrella and an extra pair of shoes, contemplating a cab, but the expense wasn’t worth it.

Café Blue was more of a fancy bar than an actual café. They served cute little sandwiches, soups, and salads with wine at lunch, but after six, it was fried foods and beer. Two blocks from her apartment, it was convenient and a relatively safe walk for Lucy, and the boss had agreed to work around her school schedule when necessary. Lucy preferred the afternoon shift through the evening because the tips were better, and that was usually the shift her boss gave her. Today, though, she was working lunch until eight; the best tips were after nine, but any tips were better than no tips.

Lucy walked in the back door three minutes before her shift started, shaking out her umbrella and leaning it against the doorjamb along with a handful of others. She clocked in and smiled at the cook, Sammy, who was dishing up something that might have been gumbo, but she wasn’t sure. It smelled great, though, and Lucy knew what she’d be having for her break snack later. She plopped down on the bench next to the cubbyholes for their things and changed shoes, mumbling about wet socks as she did so.

“Do I smell a wet dog?” Her best friend, Kayla, stepped in, winking at her as she made her rude joke.

“Only if you’re smelling yourself, you nasty bi*ch,” Lucy joked back, and they laughed. “Enjoy the wet walk over?”

“Of course I did. I love wet shoes and clothes at the beginning of my shift,” Kayla replied sarcastically. “Keeps me from complacency.”

“Where did you learn that word? Word of the day calendar?” Lucy teased as she rose and reached for her apron, notepad, and pencil. Kayla threw a pencil at her, which Lucy caught it deftly and slipped into her apron pocket. “Thanks, doll. I can always use a spare.”

“Ugh, I forget your damn wolfy powers give you quick reflexes. Now give me my pencil back,” Kayla growled.

Lucy handed it to her and admonished, “Keep your voice down. Sammy is right there.”

“He’s not listening,” Kayla claimed after glancing in his direction. “Besides, he thinks I’m completely nuts anyway. He’ll think I’m just being weird.”

Lucy snorted. “You are weird.”

“And you love me for it.”

Lucy rolled her shoulders and put on her best fake smile. “Let’s go wait on some customers. I need some good tips. Mama wants to go shopping this weekend.”

*****

Three hours later, the lunch rush had ended. Between three and five, the café’s business was slow, so Lucy and Kayla used the time to do the little things that have to be done to keep customers happy, such as filling salt and pepper shakers, replacing ketchup bottles, and rolling the silverware in napkins. They chatted amiably as they completed these mindless tasks, talking about Lucy’s school and Kayla’s auditions or acting jobs, which ever she was working on at the time. And sometimes they talked about men, although that was usually a short conversation.

“So, any prospects?” Kayla asked as she rattled the clean silverware in a tub to find another butter knife to add to the fork she was rolling.

“Since yesterday? No,” Lucy responded. “I don’t go anywhere to meet anyone. I thought you were going to fix me up.”

“Oh sure, because I meet all kinds of straight men in dance class,” Kayla rolled her eyes.

“They can’t all be gay,” Lucy replied.

“They aren’t, but they’re too pretty for either of us.” Lucy raised her eyebrow in a what-does-that-mean look. “You know what I mean! They care way more about their own looks than we do. Ego, ego, ego!”

Lucy chuckled at her friend’s defense, but she knew it was true. Lucy had joined Kayla at one of her cast parties after a show had wrapped, and she’d been completely turned off by the men there. They had preened about like peacocks looking for a mate, and she’d been ready to leave about ten minutes after she’d arrived.