Untamed Winter Read online

  Untamed

  Winter

  ~~~

  Cassandra Lawson

  Copyright ©2016 Cassandra Lawson

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover Designed by J.N. Sheats

  Proofreading by Kendra’s Editing and Book Services

  This book is a work of fiction. All characters and events are creations of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.

  The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement is investigated by federal law enforcement agencies and is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Also by Cassandra Lawson

  Love Without Batteries Series

  Dirty at 30 (Book 1)

  Naughty at 30 (Book 2)

  Moon Virus Series

  Raven’s Blood (Book 1)

  Embrace the Heat (Book 2)

  Seducing Death (Book 3)

  Shattered Restraint (Book 4)

  Impulsive Destiny (Book 5)

  Psy-Vamp Series

  Vampires and Vixens (Book 1)

  Safe Hex With a Vampire (Book 2)

  Vampires Prefer Blondes (Book 3)

  The Vampire Will See You Now (Book 4)

  Wanton with a Vampire (Book 5)

  Vampire in Geek’s Clothing (Book 6)

  Spells That Bind Series

  Sinfully Spellbound (Book 1)

  Shamelessly Spellbound (Book 2)

  Acknowledgments

  I am extremely grateful for all my readers who have shown so much love and support for the Moon Virus series. I also want to thank my beta readers, Kari, Levenia, and Ria, who have helped me with all of these books. Finally, I appreciate my husband’s tireless efforts to get me to include a unicorn in the Moon Virus books.

  Table of Contents

  Also by Cassandra Lawson

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Chapter Thirty

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Chapter Forty

  Chapter Forty-One

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Chapter Forty-Three

  Chapter Forty-Four

  Chapter Forty-Five

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Chapter Forty-Seven

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Chapter Fifty

  Chapter Fifty-One

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  Chapter Fifty-Five

  Chapter Fifty-Six

  Chapter Fifty-Seven

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  Chapter Sixty

  Chapter Sixty-One

  Chapter Sixty-Two

  Chapter Sixty-Three

  Chapter Sixty-Four

  Chapter Sixty-Five

  Chapter Sixty-Six

  Chapter Sixty-Seven

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Chapter Sixty-Nine

  Chapter Seventy

  Epilogue

  Author’s Note

  About The Author

  Chapter One

  May 8, 1858

  With her body pressed to the jungle floor, Winter watched the jaguar stalk his prey. She loved seeing the members of her clan hunt. It filled her with exhilaration, pride, and a bit of jealousy. As a half-breed, she’d likely never experience the change, something that made her feel like an outsider. Her father and siblings never treated her like an outsider. In fact, no one in their clan had ever pointed out that she didn’t belong, but she felt it every day. When her twenty-seventh birthday went by without her shifting into a jaguar, the distance would grow. Watching the others embrace their jaguar form her entire life, Winter longed for that sense of freedom.

  In human form, she looked different from her family. She had fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes, while the rest of their clan had beautiful bronze skin, black hair, and either brown or golden eyes. Her looks were most likely from her mother, but she had no way of knowing since her mother had left shortly after her birth. No other details about her mother had ever been shared with her. Her father forbade mention of her mother, and as leader of the jaguars, everyone obeyed his command.

  Frowning, Winter realized she’d become so lost in thought, she could no longer see the jaguar shifter she’d been watching. Her tendency to become lost in thought was yet another thing that set her apart from her clan. At times, it was thoughts of her uncertain future, but more often than not, it was her strange bond to the surrounding land that stole her focus. All jaguar shifters had an affinity to the jungle. It was their home and necessary to their survival, so it seemed only natural they would feel a strong connection. Winter’s bond to the land was different—stronger. The land called to her when it was suffering. Once, she’d come across an old tree riddled with termites. She’d cried at the tree’s suffering, while still seeing the beauty in the termites' role in the life cycle of the jungle. At times, she even felt a bond with the elements of nature, especially the rain.

  “What are you doing out here, Winn?” her father asked as he dropped down beside her on the jungle floor. “Did you forget we have a special visitor coming to meet you today?”

  It might not be obvious to most, but Winter sensed her father’s sadness. He was good at hiding his emotions when he had to, but he couldn’t hide them from her. Her father’s sadness over this visitor was one of the reasons she’d been hiding in the jungle, not that it did any good. Her father was an excellent hunter who could always find her.

  “Who is it?” she asked, and when he hesitated, she looked away. “I see. Another question you won’t answer. Why would someone want to see a half-breed like me?” she demanded, worried her father was marrying her off to someone living among the humans. It had been done with other half-breeds, so she had good reason to fear an arranged marriage. Often, the children of half-breeds living among humans married others like her. It had been a fear of hers since the day she’d watched another crying female being ordered to leave their clan with her new husband—a male she’d known for less than a day.

  Winter was different in her thinking. Even among the jaguars, forced matings weren’t unheard of, and no one considered them wrong. It was just the way the world worked.

  Her father let out a sad sigh and rolled onto his back. “Ah, Winn. I’ve meant to tell you so many things, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I’ve failed you by keeping this from you so long. When you asked, I should have just told you the truth.”

/>   “Are you sending me away to live with humans and marry another half-breed?” she asked in a small voice.

  Her father let out a humorless bark of laughter. “No, Winn. There will be no marriage for you, and certainly no moving to a human village. Your future has much bigger things in store for you.”

  “It’s about what I am, isn’t it?” Winter asked after a long pause. “My mother wasn’t human, was she?”

  “No,” he replied, and there was such a long delay that Winter wondered if he was going to say more when he finally spoke. “Your mother is here. She is the special visitor you’re seeing today.”

  Winter said nothing. Her mother had abandoned her, and Winter had no interest in seeing her.

  “We should head back,” her father said. “She’s waiting for us.”

  “I don’t want to see her,” Winter told him with a pout.

  “You don’t have a choice,” her father admitted in a sad voice. “If it were up to me, you’d stay with us forever, but the only reason I got to keep you this long was I promised your mother she could take you at seventeen. Last week, when you turned seventeen, I’d planned to tell you, but part of me had hoped she wouldn’t come for you.”

  “I won’t go,” Winter insisted before taking off at a dead run. She knew her father could catch her. She wasn’t as fast as the jaguar shifters, but he’d respect her space and give her time to think. As she ran, the jungle called to her. Stopping, she looked around. Her arms dropped to her sides, and she screamed. Rain poured down through the trees, drenching her warm skin and soothing her.

  “Why are you out here?” Rafe’s growl startled her. He was her father’s second in command—a male her father trusted, but Winter had always seen him as more enemy than friend. He frightened her. Obviously liking her reaction, his lips curled into a sinister grin. “Did I frighten you, sweet Winn?”

  “Yes, you scared me,” she accused, sounding more angry than frightened.

  Rafe stood a few inches taller than her, with a lean muscular frame and calculating brown eyes. While many found him attractive, she’d never agreed, and his interest in her always made her uneasy. Obviously annoyed with her reaction, he took a menacing step toward her. “You should be frightened,” he purred. “An innocent cub like you could be harmed wandering the jungle alone, and I can’t have that. Someone needs to train you better.”

  In the past year, Rafe had become increasingly persistent in watching her. At first, she’d thought her father had put him up to it, but she’d discovered that wasn’t the case. Rafe had an agenda, one she suspected was in no one’s interests but his own. She’d also begun to notice the unnerving lust in his eyes.

  “You don’t need to worry about me,” she insisted. “I can take care of myself.”

  “She’s coming to take you away,” he began. “She’ll take you because your father is weak.”

  “How dare you insult my father!” Winter raged as lightning flashed across the sky.

  “I’m simply stating the truth,” he insisted. “You are a very important part of my future, and I’m not willing to let you go.”

  Winter’s anger grew, and the thunder rumbled again.

  “You’re very powerful, child.”

  Those cool words were spoken by a woman Winter guessed to be her mother. She had the same blonde hair and blue eyes. The woman studied her with almost cold eyes.

  Rafe snarled and put himself between her and her mother. “You can’t take her. She belongs to me. I own her.” Turning, he caught Winter’s arm and pulled her against his body.

  “Release her!” her father’s voice boomed across the air.

  Rafe released her with a snarl and stepped away. Regardless of how much he might hate her father, Rafe recognized he was submissive to her father’s alpha. “How can you let her go? Give her to me as my mate. I’ve been loyal and deserve this reward. If I claim her, then her power will remain with the clan.”

  Her mother laughed, or at least, that’s what it sounded like. The sound was almost strained, as if laughter wasn’t part of her life and she’d somehow forgotten how to do it. Winter suspected that to be true. This woman did not seem like she felt much joy, or much of anything for that matter. “Winter is more powerful than you can ever imagine.” Eyes locked on Rafe, she regarded him with a bored stare.

  “Back down,” her father growled. “Winn goes with her mother. It was always meant to be this way.”

  “Papa,” Winter pleaded, but he refused to meet her gaze.

  “Don’t be afraid,” her mother said, taking a step toward her.

  “I’m not afraid,” Winter insisted, and that was mostly true. “I just don’t want to go with you. My family is here. I am a jaguar.”

  Her mother nodded. “Many questioned my judgment when I left you with your father’s people, knowing how emotional they can be. Call it a moment of weakness, but I wanted you to experience this. There’s no room for that sort of thing among our kind.”

  “Our kind?” Winter asked.

  “The mage,” her mother explained patiently. “It’s time for you to learn what you truly are. You are destined for great things, child.”

  “How can you know I’m not destined for great things with the jaguar?” Winter demanded.

  “I know more than you can ever imagine,” she assured Winter. “Your life with the jaguars is over, and it’s time to embrace your future.”

  “Papa?” Her voice was weak and barely carried, but it didn’t matter. When she turned, her father was gone. He had left and somehow managed to get Rafe to go with him. The true betrayal for her was that he hadn’t even said goodbye. Then she realized that wasn’t true. The biggest betrayal came in the fact that no one had given her any say in her own destiny. It had all been decided for her.

  Chapter Two

  July 12, 2008

  Cord tugged at the collar of his shirt and scowled at the human female who’d been clutching his arm for the last thirty minutes. Her aggressive flirting was annoying, and the scent of her arousal was turning his stomach. It wasn’t that she was unattractive physically. With her mahogany hair, heart-shaped face, and sea green eyes, she was pretty. Under other circumstances, he might be tempted to spend a few hours enjoying her body. It was her reasons for flirting with him that he found abhorrent. Her flirting was all about control. She had money and believed his needing her support meant he’d fuck her to get it. As the leader of the cougar shifters, Cord was nobody’s plaything, and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could play nice with a bitch who thought she was alpha to him.

  Cord hated these events, but they were unavoidable. He had to deal with humans since humans had a tendency to take over everything. Any strip of open land represented a chance for them to build more houses for their constantly growing numbers. For that reason, he was very active in efforts to protect the few remaining local parks and wildlife preserves. He owed it to his followers to protect their resources so they’d have a place to run free and hunt. While he owned a compound where they could live a more natural lifestyle, he couldn’t expect his clan to remain cooped up there with no outlet.

  “Oh, a little bunny!” screeched the human clinging to him. “Don’t you just love rabbits? They’re so cuddly!”

  “Yes, I do love rabbit,” he told her. Later, he’d shift into cougar form and hunt down a nice rabbit. That would make him feel better. Pretending to be human always brought out the need to run and hunt. That need was made worse by his effort to control his alpha nature.

  Scanning his surroundings, his eyes landed on a female gazing out into the woods with her back to him. She wasn’t like the other females at the event, dressed in designer outdoor clothes. This female’s well-worn denim shorts showed off her toned legs and firm ass to perfection. A long blonde braid hung down her back. Her hand reached out to the redwood tree, and her fingers ran along the initials carved into it. For just a moment, he wondered if she was one of those who thought it was romantic when people harmed nature to show how much
they loved someone. At least, he thought that until he heard her speak.

  “What have they done to you?” she asked the tree, caressing it. She was speaking so softly, the humans couldn’t hear her, but as a shifter, his hearing was far superior.

  A jolt of power shot through the air, and he sucked in a sharp breath as lust like he’d never experienced before gripped him. He wanted her delicate hand on him, and his cock jerked to attention at that idea—liking it so much he had trouble pretending to be civilized. Hours of having the human female brush against him, and he’d felt nothing, but the sound of this strange female’s voice as she caressed a tree had him longing to strip her naked and fuck her. He also wanted to mark her as his. Shock registered before quickly being replaced by a strange sense of relief at having found this female. While he’d never spoken to her, he knew without a doubt she was his one true mate.

  “Excuse me,” he told the human, forcibly removing her hand from his arm and ignoring her complaints as he walked away.

  The closer he got to the strange female, the stronger his reaction to her became. If he got any more aroused, he wouldn’t be able to take another step in her direction. He could tell she sensed his approach, but she refused to turn toward him. Rather than being put off by her obvious attempts to ignore him, he was even more drawn to her. Females threw themselves at him. Most submitted to his dominance, and while that was nice in some ways, the lack of a challenge was boring. It was rare for any female to turn him down, and this one was making her rejection obvious. He definitely appreciated her attitude. The last thing he wanted was a biddable mate. While he needed a mate who would respect him in front of his clan, he’d always hoped to find one who would challenge him when they were alone.

  Cord grinned—he simply couldn’t stop himself. This was his female. The connection between them was undeniable and like nothing he’d ever experienced, but she wasn’t going to simply give in. He’d have to woo her, seduce her. It was no longer the rabbit he needed to hunt. Scenting the air, he tried to figure out what she was but couldn’t.