Magic for the Highland Wolf. Two-Natured London 7.5.

By Susanna Shore

Angus Shaw, the new alpha of the Shaw clan, has a pressing responsibility: finding his uncle Fergus who has disappeared into the Highland wilderness to mourn his mate. The mate that Angus had to execute for treason. So why is it that his mind is suddenly occupied with a bear-shifter woman he’s know all his life?

Seonag MacAslan is a bear-shifter who cannot shift. She’s grudgingly come to accept it and found purpose in playing pro-level rugby that other shifters are excluded from. She should be preparing for an international match, but instead her mind is filled with images of a naked, muscled wolf-shifter alpha.

Shifter mating isn’t for Seonag though, because she can’t form the mating bond. And then she’s given a chance to become a proper shifter.

It’s a choice between what she loves—and who she loves. But there’s a killer at their tail. She might not have time to choose before it’s too late.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susanna Shore
• Release date: Jan 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9789527061534

Susanna Shore

Susanna Shore is a historian turned author. She writes Two-Natured London paranormal romance series, P.I. Tracy Hayes mysteries, The Reed Files crime capers, and House of Magic paranormal cozies, as well as stand-alone thrillers and contemporary romances.

Book preview

Magic for the Highland Wolf

Two-Natured London 7.5

Susanna Shore

Magic for the Highland Wolf. Two-Natured London 7.5.

Copyright © 2022 A. K. S. Keinänen

All rights reserved.

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

No part of this book may be reproduced, translated, or distributed without permission, except for brief quotations in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, dialogues and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organisations or persons, living or dead, except those in public domain, is entirely coincidental.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover © 2022 A. K. S. Keinänen

Editing: Lee Burton, Ocean’s Edge Editing

Twitter: @SusannaShore

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Two-Natured London Series

The Wolf’s Call

Warrior’s Heart

A Wolf of Her Own

Her Warrior for Eternity

A Warrior for a Wolf

Magic under the Witching Moon

Moonlight, Magic and Mistletoes

Crimson Warrior

Magic on the Highland Moor

Wolf Moon

Magic for the Highland Wolf

P.I. Tracy Hayes Series

Tracy Hayes, Apprentice P.I.

Tracy Hayes, P.I. and Proud

Tracy Hayes, P.I. to the Rescue

Tracy Hayes, P.I. with the Eye

Tracy Hayes, from P.I. with Love

Tracy Hayes, Tenacious P.I.

Tracy Hayes, Valentine of a P.I.

Tracy Hayes, P.I. on the Scent

Tracy Hayes, Unstoppable P.I.

House of Magic

Hexing the Ex

Saved by the Spell

Thrillers

Personal

The Assassin

Contemporary Romances

At Her Boss’s Command

It Happened on a Lie

To Catch a Billionaire Dragon

Which Way to Love?

Table of Contents

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

Epilogue

About the Author

Excerpt from Hexing the Ex

Also in the Two-Natured London Series

Also by Susanna Shore

Chapter One

Angus Shaw climbed the front steps of Ben Alder Lodge, wishing he didn’t need to be there. The March day was as fine as it could be in this part of the Scottish Highlands, and the old grey stone castle that sprawled on the bank of Loch Ericht looked welcoming. Ben Alder, the mountain from which the bear-shifter clan took its name, still had some snow on its peak and looked pretty in the spring sun.

But his heart was heavy.

He had nothing against the bear-shifters. They were the closest neighbours of his Sithech Clan—Shaw Clan to the sassenach—and while the distance between the clans was only fifty miles by road, slightly less through the wilderness, though infinitely more difficult to pass, the two clans had maintained good relations for centuries.

He’d been looking forward to his first visit with the bears as the newly-minted alpha of his wolf-shifter clan. It should’ve been a joyous occasion, a feast in his honour, like his clan had arranged for Artair MacAslan when he had become the alpha of the Ben Alder bear-shifter clan.

Instead, he was here on an official clan business. And it wasn’t a happy one.

He hesitated briefly, collecting himself before reaching for the huge knocker and pounding it twice against the oak door. He didn’t have to wait. Bear sentinels had informed their alpha that he was on his way, and Artair opened the door himself, letting him into the foyer, resplendent in its oaken wainscotting and stone floor, the grand staircase taking most of the space.

Welcome, Alpha Shaw, Artair said in his gravelly voice. He was a bear of a man, bigger even than Angus, an impressive sight in his clan tartan. Angus had opted for a kilt too, feeling that the official visit merited it.

What brings you here so unexpectedly, and without giving us a chance to prepare a feast in your honour?

The echo of his musings made Angus smile despite his errand. Clan business. Is there anywhere we can talk?

There’s a fire in the library.

The damp chill of the castle didn’t really affect either of them, but fire was fire. It was nice to warm their bones without using Might energy for it, even if, as alphas, they had good reserves of the energy that powered the two-natured people.

They settled down on two wingback chairs by the fireplace and Angus leaned his elbows on his knees, staring at the fire. Fergus hasn’t come home, he said without preamble.

Angus’s uncle had disappeared into the mountains around their clan home in January to mourn the death of his mate, Màiri, and hadn’t been seen since.

The bear alpha regarded him solemnly. There’s no saying how long it takes to recover from the loss of one’s bonded mate. I’m not sure I have, and my Ùna has been gone for decades. He sighed. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for my part in it.

The whole nasty business still made bile rise to Angus’s throat, but he shook his head. No need. We’re utterly grateful for your help. Death was the only outcome for what Màiri did, and you helped everyone to accept it.

Màiri had betrayed the clan by inviting renegade vampires to attack them. Their previous alpha, Angus’s grandfather, Angus, died in the battle. It hadn’t been Màiri’s only betrayal, and when her actions had been uncovered, everyone had known she had to die.

It was the alpha’s duty to execute her, but the clan hadn’t had a proper alpha at the time. Fergus had held the position because he was the eldest son of old Angus, but the clan hadn’t truly accepted him. And no matter what Màiri had done, the clan wouldn’t have forced him to condemn his mate to death. So they had asked Artair to stand as the judge.

When the time came to hand out the punishment, Angus had declared himself alpha, mostly because he’d been called to it though Might, but also to save his aunt, Isla, from sacrificing her newly found love with a visiting alpha by taking over the clan as its alpha. Much to his surprise, the clan had instantly accepted him.

As his first act as alpha, he’d had to execute Màiri.

He still had nightmares about it: her bewilderment, defiance, fear; his cold determination to see justice served. They had both been in wolf form, and at his command she had bared her throat, her second nature accepting the inevitable even if her human side hadn’t. He’d sunk his fangs into her throat, crushing, tasting blood and her fear, and held until she died.

At the moment of her death, Fergus had disappeared into the mountains in wolf form, and he hadn’t come back.

I wish I could give Fergus more time, Angus said to Artair. But my connection to him is weakening. I don’t know why. Is he ill? Dying? I need him to come home so we can take care of him.

The older alpha nodded. What do you want my clan to do?

I can sense Fergus somewhere between our territories, but every time I go to look I can’t find him. I want to organise a proper search and comb the area with as many people as we can spare. My clan will approach the area from our side, and I was hoping your clan would do the same from this side.

Artair nodded without needing to consider. Absolutely. When?

Tomorrow, first light.

They went through the details, and then Angus took his leave, declining an invitation to stay for dinner. I expect there to be a proper feast when I visit the next time, he said with a grin as he exited the castle. Artair’s laughter echoed behind him as the doors closed.

He was heading to his car, his heart lighter than on his way in, when the steady sound of wood-chopping reached his ears from somewhere near. The rhythm was good, each log halving with one strike.

Curious to see who was skilful and strong enough for the feat—though probably even the cubs were, being bears—Angus followed his ears down the path that ran along the lake shore. The pace was punishing, and it gave him a notion that the wielder of the axe was angry. Furious.

An angry bear wasn’t somebody to trifle with, but their clans were on good terms. He had nothing to fear.

He hoped.

It wasn’t a long walk, but the chopper had cut half a dozen logs before he detected a large woodshed through the shrubbery.

He rounded the last bend and emerged from the winter-bare foliage into a small clearing. He paused when he saw who the woodsman was. The woodswoman, rather.

A slow, appreciative smile spread on his face.

Seonag MacAslan, the finest full-back in the women’s national rugby team—for Scotland, naturally—and the player of the year of the Women’s Rugby League three times in a row for the sassenach team she had played for these past ten years.

Angus watched the woman raise a large axe above her head and bring it down with the full force of her six-foot-two frame, all of it muscle, as he could easily see. She was wearing only a black sports bra with her running leggings, her skin glistening with sweat even though the Highland weather in March was brutally cold.

His body was warming up too, watching her muscles play under the golden skin.

He forced his mind hastily back to rugby before he embarrassed himself, or her. With her size, she would’ve been an excellent prop too, either position, but she was a brilliant sweeper who could launch swift attacks and tackle with brutal efficiency. Being a full-back suited her the best.

Come to think of it, most shifters would excel at rugby. Pity they weren’t allowed to play in human leagues—no one except Seonag—and they didn’t have a league for their own kind.

The large log cleaved in two, the pieces joining a heap of their brethren that had already met their fate. She bent over to pick a new log without a pause, and his breathing caught.

Tilting his head, he admired her fine backside, emphasised by the form-hugging technical material of her leggings.

She straightened and placed the log on the cleaving block. If you’ve done ogling, maybe you could tell what the hell you’re doing here, wolf.

Her voice was deep, and the tone was harsh, but he smiled. I had to come and see who was punishing the logs.

Punishing…

The axe came down again, and the log was no match for it. She turned to look at him for the first time, and the full strength of her black eyes hit him. She was a strong shifter, no matter the truth. Her mouth, wide and lush-lipped, twisted with disgust.

It’s myself I’m punishing.

Of course she was.

He cleared his throat, not quite having the words to console her, but needing to do it anyway. She might not be a member of his clan, but he was an alpha. He hadn’t been one for long, but he had noticed these past couple of months that he had a great need to make sure people around him were feeling well.

It was only one test match. It wasn’t that bad.

She snorted. "We lost sixty-four to nothing. To England." She practically spat the word.

There will be other matches.

Her hold around the axe handle tightened. Not against them. Not during this Six Nations anyway.

It hadn’t been a good Six Nations Championship Tournament for the Scottish women’s rugby team. They’d only won one test and lost four.

There’s Italy still, and you can face them on home turf. He smiled, hoping it looked encouraging. We’ll all be there to support you.

He had wanted to be there for the England match too, but it hadn’t been practical to travel to London at the time.

She rested the axe on the block. Sun glinted through the leafless branches, hitting her white hair. She’d always had pure white hair, even as a