Shifter On Ice (Shifter World - Book Two) (Series of 13 Short Stories)
Chapter Seven: Game On

“Do you think Symone will be okay?” Lyvia asked as she turned in her seat and watched Dustin’s driveway disappear.

Raj snorted. “You kidding me? You just left her with a cougar and his mate, who’s expecting a cub. Those cats are going to be spoiled rotten.”

Lyvia snickered. “You’re right,” she said, turning back in her seat.

“Are you going to be okay?” he asked, taking her hand in his.

She nodded. “Yep. I’m with you,” she said with a bright smile.

“Good answer,” he said, squeezing her hand.

“Are you sure you won’t get in trouble for bringing me along?”

“That’s what we have Tate for,” he said with a smile.

“Oh yeah, the IOU, I promised.”

He nodded. “Hopefully, he won’t ask for anything outlandish.”

She shivered. “He’s a vampire. I have a feeling anything he does is outlandish.”

Raj chuckled. “Yes, but he’s loyal to his friends. So maybe he’ll go easy on you.”

“I never thought I’d be friends with a vampire or find my mate,” Lyvia said, beaming at Raj.

He grinned back.

When they got to the airport, Raj parked his car in the lot with the rest of his team’s vehicles. They dashed inside and barely got to their plane before they closed the doors.

“Next time, I’m packing you in a suitcase while you’re asleep,” Raj said when they got to their seats.

She chuckled as she sat down by the window.

“About time you got here,” Alec said as he walked down the aisle toward them.

“Alec,” Raj said with a smile. “I’d like you to meet my mate, Lyvia. Lyvia, this is the only other shifter on the team, Alec.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lyvia smiled as she held her hand out to the shifter.

“Damn, this is going to be trouble,” Alec said, shaking her hand.

“What?” Raj asked.

“Look around you,” Alec whispered. “The plane has shifters everywhere, and you brought your mate onboard. And she’s in heat.”

Raj looked around them and grunted. “Shit.”

“I’m not in heat,” Lyvia hissed.

Alec leaned in toward her and sniffed the air around her. “Trust me, honey, you’re in heat.”

Lyvia frowned.

“You should have left her at home,” Alec said as he stood up.

“Can’t,” Raj said once he was close enough to his friend. “We’d both go insane.” He held his wrists up for Alec to see. “You’ve read the same books I have.”

Alec whistled as he looked at the markings on Raj’s wrists. “Okay, so everything is true?”

Raj nodded with a smile. “Oh, yeah.”

“Well, I guess I’ll take this empty seat behind you. Just in case.”

Raj nodded. “Thanks, buddy.”

“Are we in danger?” Lyvia asked when Raj sat down beside her.

Raj smiled. “Just stay close to me.”

Lyvia nodded as she leaned against him and closed her eyes.

“Knock her up, then you won’t have to worry,” Alec whispered into Raj’s ear once they were in the air.

Raj nodded. There isn’t anything he wouldn’t want more than to do exactly that. But he must respect his mate’s wishes. Not that he has much to say about it, anyway. He can’t even wear a condom. And he knows she’d started the pill a few days ago. He’d found it in her top drawer. So, it’s all out of his hands for now.

~🐯~

“Go, Raj!” Lyvia shouted as she jumped up from her chair to cheer for her mate.

The game was going excitingly well. They were ahead three to one, and it was the last quarter. Raj and his friend Alec made a goal. Lyvia jumped up and down, whistling and cheering.

Luckily, they hadn’t had any trouble from the other shifters on the plane ride here. Also, luckily, that will be the only plane ride until they head home. Because even in sleep, she’d been nervous as hell that someone was going to kill Raj and his friend to get to her.

She knows Raj had seen the birth control pills in her top drawer; the clothes around them had been disheveled. She hasn’t taken one yet; she’s not sure if she doesn’t want to start a family with her mate. Sure, they don’t know each other that well yet, but he’s her mate. What other man is she going to have a family with?

She watched the countdown for the end of the game for a minute, then her eyes zeroed in on her mate. He turned to her, blew her a kiss, then made the winning goal just as the buzzer went off.

They won five to one.

The crowd erupted with chants, and Lyvia grinned as she listened to the crowd chant her mate’s name over and over.

“Did you see him blow that kiss at me?” a woman said from behind Lyvia.

“No, he was blowing a kiss at me,” another said.

Lyvia turned to the voices and found six puck bunnies fighting over who Raj had blown the kiss to.

Lyvia grinned. “Actually, ladies, he was blowing it at me.”

“Dream on,” a bunny said with a snort.

“Hey, aren’t you the slut who kept pressing her body against the glass last week? Yeah, like that will win Raj over,” the bunny snorted.

Lyvia chuckled, then growled at them. All six women moved back away from her. She smiled, then headed toward the exit of the ice rink to meet up with her mate.

She could hear the bunnies close behind her and rolled her eyes.

“Raj, Raj!” the bunnies shouted as they pushed past Lyvia.

“That kiss was for me, wasn’t it?” one of the sluttier bunnies purred as she took hold of Raj’s arm and leaned against him.

But Raj only had eyes for Lyvia. “Actually, no.” He pulled his arm free from the bunny’s grasp. “It was for my girlfriend,” he said as he moved toward Lyvia. “So, how was I?”

Lyvia grinned and kissed him. “Wonderful,” she whispered against his lips.

“How did that slut’s horrendous display last week win her a hockey player that no other bunny has bagged?” one of the bunnies whispered, not realizing that the two shifters could hear her.

Lyvia growled and went after them. Raj took hold of her arm and turned to the bunnies.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t call my girlfriend a slut or a bunny. She’s neither. There is a connection to shifters and their Fated Mates that no human but a mate, him or herself, will ever understand.” Raj sniffed the air and shook his head.

“Which none of you are. So back the fuck off and stop talking shit about my mate, or I’ll have you removed from every game, and believe me, I have my ways,” Raj finished with a growl.

All six bunnies paled as they looked at them. The glimmering silver of their eyes had all six bunnies freaking out.

“Oh my God, they’re shifters,” a bunny screeched.

The six females left in search of another player.

Lyvia chuckled. “Nice handling there, Romeo.”

He laughed. “Come on, we’ve got to meet everyone on the bus in fifteen.”

“Where do I wait while you’re changing?”

“There’s a lounge in the locker room. You can wait there.”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“I have to go to the after-party,” he said as he showed her to the room. “But after that, I’m all yours.” He gave her a devilish grin.

She smiled back. “The hotel is going to get complaints tonight because your playing has me all hot and bothered,” she said, leaning against him.

Raj growled and kissed her quickly on the lips, then walked to his locker to change.

Lyvia chuckled. He’s in for a world of wonder tonight, and she’s not stopping at one time. Maybe she will start a family with her mate. And they’ll start on it tonight.

~🐯~

The after-party went by too slow for Lyvia. She couldn’t wait to get her hands on Raj and tear his clothes from his sexy as sin body. Once the party died down, she practically dragged him by his ear to their room.

“You’re aggressive tonight,” Raj said with a laugh as they entered their room.

“I want to start a family,” she blurted out as she sniffed up his neck. “Tonight.”

He paused. “Are you sure?” he asked, his hands slowly moving to hold her arms so she would stay still.

But she wouldn’t have any of it. She took hold of Raj and turned him so fast that he lost his balance. She tossed him onto the bed and pounced on him.

“I told you the hotel would get complaints tonight,” she said, sniffing him from his navel to his ear.

He grunted. “What about the pills?”

She paused and looked at him. “I knew you’d found them.”

He grunted in answer.

“But yet you said nothing,” she said as she licked his jaw.

Raj’s tiger growled. “I told you it was up to you,” he said as he grabbed hold of her hips to stop her rocking against his hard cock so he could talk to her. He looked into her eyes. “Are you sure about this?”

She nodded, and Raj’s heart soared. He’d been so sad when he’d found the pills. He feared she’d never be ready to start a family with him.

“I haven’t taken one,” she whispered into his ear, and his body quivered.

“You haven’t?” he asked.

She shook her head, her hair flying around her face.

He smiled as he reached up and tucked the tendrils behind her ears so he could see her eyes.

“Why not?” he whispered.

She shrugged. “Because I wasn’t sure if my feelings were real or just nerves. I mean, I didn’t think I’d find anyone to spend my life with, let alone my mate.”

He nodded. He felt the same way. “So, we’re going to try for our own cub tonight, huh?” he asked with a cheeky grin.

She giggled. “Yeah, that was the plan. Now shut up and fuck me.” She jumped and tackled him.

They growled, mewed, purred, and rolled around as clothes flew around the room.

Lyvia wasn’t sure if her panties were pulled off or ripped off. Either way, they were naked, and then he was inside her, and thoughts of anything but her mate and this moment—left her mind.

He did as she told him and fucked her good and hard. He was so deep inside her that if they didn’t create a cub tonight, something was wrong with her.

“Damn, Lyvia, you feel incredible.”

She mewed as her back arched into his movements. He slammed deep and hard inside her, and she cried out his name when her orgasm took over her body and mind.

When she came down from the orgasm, he was holding her close and moving inside her as if he’d die if he didn’t fuck her until they both collapsed from exhaustion.

“Lyvia!” he cried out as his body shook with his orgasm. “Fuck, yes!”

“Holy Fuck!” she cried out when another orgasm erupted from her body.

Raj chuckled at Lyvia’s words as he returned to Earth, his cock still pumping his seed deep inside her. He pushed his hips forward several times before his knot stopped his movements.

“That was intense,” she said, out of breath.

He grunted. “Yeah.”

She wrapped her arms and legs around him. “Do you think we made enough noise?”

He laughed as he kissed her nose. “I think so.”

She nodded. “Good, we’ll do it again in thirty minutes.”

He smiled down at her. “If we keep this up, they’ll kick us out of here naked.”

She grinned up at him. “Then we’ll fuck on their front lawn.”

He laughed so hard his side ached. What had he done to deserve this woman? God, he loves her. He paused. Damn, he really does love her. Go figure—he’s head over heels in love with his mate.

~🐯~

The next morning, they didn’t have any complaints about them at the front desk, but they got many stares, and some of the women in the lobby licked their lips at Raj.

Lyvia grinned as she clung to his side and glared at the women. “Sorry, ladies, he’s taken,” she said with a smirk.

The women mumbled about him being a free spirit, and she turned on them with a growl.

“He may be a free spirit, as you say, but he’s my free spirit. So, you bitches, back the fuck off!”

The women’s eyes grew wide when Lyvia growled territorially.

“Lyvia.” Raj chuckled as he took hold of her arm. He looked at the other women and saw the silver eyes and knew why she was being so territorial, and grinned.

Her tiger was standing up for her mate to the other shifters. Which just made him love her even more. Because wasn’t that what he and Dustin were doing just a few days ago?

He looked at the other female shifters and smiled. “Sorry, ladies, but I’ve been claimed,” he said, holding his and Lyvia’s arms up.

The shifter females sucked in shocked breaths when they saw the bonded markings. Some of the women’s heads angled down, and others looked off to the side. Two continued to stare at the markings.

“May I see?” one of the females asked.

Raj looked at his mate, then at the woman. “We have a bus to catch, but sure, you can have a quick look.”

Lyvia snarled, but the woman didn’t go for Raj; she took hold of Lyvia’s hands and turned them palms up. She looked at the word UNITY on Lyvia’s right wrist, then looked at her left wrist and read her mate’s name, RAJ.

“You know why the name is on the left wrist, don’t you?” the woman asked, smiling into Lyvia’s eyes.

Lyvia shook her head, surprised at how nice the woman was. She noticed her silver eyes didn’t look right to be a shifter.

“Because like the human’s wedding band is on their left ring finger, this is directly connected to your heart.” The woman smiled.

Lyvia smiled. “That makes sense.”

“If love is not shared, you will go insane,” she warned them.

“Don’t have to worry about that,” Raj said, pulling Lyvia to his side.

The woman smiled. “Yes, I see that. It’s in your eyes,” she said, then looked at Lyvia. “But you, my dear, you are still confused. You want to start that family with your mate, but what you’re reading as something to make your mate happy, you’re denying yourself that love.”

Lyvia blushed, and Raj stared at her. Did she not love him?

“Don’t take my word negatively, Raj Cunningham. She knows her own feelings. She just needs to understand them better. But you two better catch that bus,” she said with a smile.

“You’re not a shifter,” Lyvia whispered.

The woman looked around them and then smiled at Lyvia. “Very perceptive.”

“Witch,” Raj said, taking a step back and pulling Lyvia with him.

The woman smiled and moved closer to them. “A white witch. You have nothing to fear from me. I just like to hide among the shifters. See what I can see.”

“What do you see with us?” Lyvia asked as she pulled away from Raj and moved closer to the witch.

The witch smiled. “You’re trying for that family, but it won’t happen when you want it to. It will come to you when you are ready and no sooner. You are no longer in heat, so shifters should back down now.”

“Thank you,” Lyvia said, one eyebrow raised. “I think.”

The woman chuckled. “Be safe, Lyvia. And remember that you don’t have to fear your feelings.”

Lyvia nodded and held her hand out to the woman. “Will I ever see you again?”

The witch smiled and shook Lyvia’s hand. “I suspect you will. I see myself looking for something—which will bring me to you again. But you must go now; your coach is waiting for you.” sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“Damn it!” Raj growled as he took hold of Lyvia’s arm and dragged her from the hotel.

“Wait, what’s your name?” Lyvia called out.

‘Pearl. My name is Pearl Owens. I will see you again, Lyvia Yule.’

Lyvia blinked. She has heard of witches invading minds like a vampire, except vampires can only penetrate a human’s mind. Like Tate does with Shar. Except with Shar having Dustin’s abilities and strength of body and mind, he can only vaguely read her mind.

He can’t put thoughts into her head or completely take control of her.

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