Echo Valley Shifter Mates: The Complete Curvy Shifter Erotic Romance

By Vivian Hawthorne

Welcome to the valley, where shifters reign…

 

City girl Emma Leeds is taking a break from men and visiting her cousin in Echo Valley. Unbeknownst to her, the small town is crawling with wolf shifters, and they're at war with each other.

 

Alex Burroughs is more animal than man, and nothing gets him going more than a dark-haired woman with pleasing curves, just like the woman who walked into his favorite bar. Emma is just his type, but he also has a target on his back. He must resist his desire for Emma to keep her safe, which is easier said than done…

 

Now, all four spicy ECHO VALLEY SHIFTER MATES novellas are available in one collection! This bundle includes:

-Ravished by the Wolf

-Desired by the Wolf

-Pleasured by the Wolf

-For the Love of the Wolf

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Cam Girl Studios
• Release date: Jul 28, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201730512

Book preview

Chapter 1: Alex

There was a full moon tonight, hanging low and heavy in the sky. The shifters always got restless around the time of the full moon, even though we hadn’t been slaves to its phases for centuries. The werewolves were the ones who shifted along with the moon, and they’d died out long ago.

We were different. We were stronger.

Wolf shifter.

I tried to remind myself of that strength, my people’s strength, when we were ambushed.

It happened quickly.

Patrick and I were running in the woods. He was a good kid, though he had the arrogance of any other twenty-year-old human boy. As his mentor, I’d taken it upon myself to teach how to tame the animal side of our nature, and tonight’s run was to show him how to be wild...while still being human.

I let Patrick run ahead of me, his naked back glistening with sweat. Sometimes it felt good to feel the moonlight on our skin, even in our human bodies. On nights like this, we felt safe and whole, our powerful bodies ensconced in an ancient forest, our sacred wolves ensconced in our powerful bodies. We were connected to the earth, and we were in control.

Everything was perfect, so far.

Patrick grunted as he vaulted over a felled tree. As I copied his maneuver, he sniffed the air loudly.

Do you smell something, Alex— he began before the first shadow leapt out of the trees.

I was up in the air, mid-leap, when the scent hit me, too. Unlike Patrick, I knew exactly what that smell was.

It was the smell of a Denali wolf.

I landed hard on the other side of the log, my feet hitting the ground at the same exact time Patrick was knocked onto his back. The shadow from the trees turned out to be a black-furred wolf, and it had its paws on Patrick’s chest.

Instinct rippled through my body. Save. Protect. My lips rose into a snarl. The Denali wolf on top of Patrick snapped his jaws.

Patrick! Shift! I shouted.

Instantly, I followed my own advice.

I reached into my core, calling forth my wolf. It exploded out of me with the force of a geyser. My skin prickled as fur sprouted all over my body, and my skull cracked open and reshaped itself as a rush of fangs filled my mouth.

Patrick was struggling to shift while wrestling the wolf on top of him. I had to have his back. Now fully wolf, I crouched, ready to attack.

There was movement to my right. Suddenly, pain bloomed in my shoulder as my body whipped to the side. I slammed into a tree, and the wind was knocked out of my lungs. Slightly dazed, it took a few seconds for me to be able to stand back up on four paws.

After shaking off the pain, I raised my snout to see a human Denali standing just where I’d been standing, waving a baseball bat in his hand.

My eyes narrowed. I recognized him. The sneering idiot was Joe Denali, which meant that the wolf on top of Patrick was probably his twin brother, Liam.

What did I tell you mutts about coming around this town? Joe said as he continued to swing his bat. He was barefoot, wearing nothing but a pair of faded, ripped jeans.

I growled. If I had a mouth, I would’ve reminded him that although his family owned half the real estate in Echo Valley, the surrounding forest belonged to all. That was shifter law.

Spoiled frat boy, I thought viciously. Just like Patrick, Joe was an arrogant kid, but an incredibly infuriatingly arrogant kid, because he had the added bonus of having the typical rich-daddy entitlement issues.

And there’s two of them, I thought, tilting my head to fix one eye on Patrick and Liam. At last, Patrick’s wolf finally seemed to be surfacing as his wolf pelt began prickling up all over his skin.

Good. Two wolves against one human would be an easy match. All we had to do was take care of Liam first. Luckily, Joe and Liam had the combined intelligence of an old boot.

Tongue lolling, I danced forward. Just as I predicted, Joe reared his bat, taking aim for my skull. It whistled as it arced through the air, and I sprang back at the last possible moment.

Joe cursed when his bat connected with nothing, throwing off his center of balance. He tripped forward, correcting his stumble in two steps.

My ears swiveled like satellites. I could hear Patrick snarling and snapping somewhere behind me, fully wolf now. Liam growled back, overcompensating and loud, giving away his position.

I lowered my head, fixing Joe with my golden wolf’s eyes, slowly backing away, and coaxing him forward. Like a puppet dancing on strings I controlled, Joe followed me, sweeping the bat back and forth before him.

Patrick and Liam continued to spat behind me. Joe swung his bat, over and over. My ears pricked forward and back as adrenaline trilled through my veins. My mind raced as I strategized.

Then, everything seemed to click into place. Patrick grunted and Liam cackled behind me, locking their positions in my mind. Joe gave his bat one last swing.

My instincts surged. I leapt to the side, the bat barely whizzing by my ear and connecting with another wolf, the wrong wolf.

Liam yelped shrilly as the bat struck the side of his head. Joe’s expression slackened, bafflement giving way to horror as he finally realized he’d missed me and hit his twin instead.

I landed on four paws once again, sliding to a stop. Patrick in his pepper gray wolf’s pelt took one look at Liam’s shivering, broken form and howled.

The battle cry flooded my mind. I felt the entire world sharpening into one point as my muscles twitched with newfound power. Joe, dumb and confused, barely had two seconds to register what was happening before Patrick and I finally attacked.

Patrick went for Joe’s legs while I launched myself at the bat. My teeth locked around hard, lacquered wood, and my momentum drove me forward. His fist still wrapped around the handle, Joe screamed as I twisted his arm back. Eventually, he toppled backward and slammed across the ground on his back.

Meanwhile, Patrick tore into Joe’s pantlegs, shredding them to ribbons and exposing vulnerable human flesh.

Why isn’t he shifting? I wondered as I wrenched the bat out of his grip. After spitting it out, I turned around just in time to find my answer.

Joe was reaching into his pocket while trying to kick away from Patrick. Patrick managed to reach Joe’s shin and pierce the skin. I smelled iron in the air. By the way Patrick’s pupils widened, I knew he tasted blood.

Hungry for more, Patrick committed every cell of his body to tearing the meat from Joe’s bones. His excitement distracted him from what Joe eventually pulled out of his pocket, but not me.

The sight of it was enough to make every hair on my body stand on end.

Its scent stung my nostrils. Metal, oil, gunpowder. Joe had pulled a handgun out of his pocket, and he was pointing it right at Patrick’s face.

Not a gun. Not in these woods, I thought. Not shifter law.

I watched Joe taking aim at Patrick, and I saw red.

With a mighty roar, I exploded like I was the bullet exiting the gun. I knew I didn’t have much time, so instead of going for the gun in Joe’s hand—

I went for his face.

Joe released a mortal cry that would’ve horrified me if I were human, but I was a wolf. Instead, I heard the gargle in his throat as it filled with blood, and my brain sizzled like I was on drugs. I tasted and smelled the inside of Joe as my teeth crunched down through layers of flesh, bone, and cartilage.

Save. Protect, I kept telling myself. Meanwhile, my jaws continued to scissor through Joe’s soft face. Save. Protect. Save.

I could still smell the gun in Joe’s trembling hand, still see it even though my eyes were coated in his blood. Its mere presence betrayed the forest. How dare he bring it here, how dare he point it at my packmate—

Alex. Alex, stop!

My ears pricked up. Patrick was speaking to me with his human mouth. The fog of anger dissipated from my mind. Licking my chops, I stepped away from Joe’s body to see what I’d done.

His stillness disturbed me. Patrick had shifted back into his human form. He was crouched at Joe’s feet, his own mouth flecked with blood. As my jagged heartbeat finally slowed down, my eyes scanned up Joe’s empty, unmoving chest to what remained of his face.

The shell of his skull was cracked like a melon rind, his brains and soft tissue forming a vibrant pink soup with floating white teeth. I’d swallowed his eyes and his tongue.

I gulped.

Patrick suddenly planted his hands on the ground and retched. The sour smell of his vomit mingled with the sharp, coppery stench of human blood as I began my shift back to man.

What are we going to do? he said weakly. He wiped his mouth, his face sickly pale under the fringe of his dark hair.

He brought a gun into the forest and pointed it at you. I have a duty to protect my pack. I had no choice, I said. The others will understand.

And him?

Patrick turned his head, pointing his nose toward Liam’s body. Knocked unconscious, his body had gone into defense mode and shifted back to man on its own. The rise and fall of his back confirmed that he was breathing and still alive.

Leave him to find his brother with the gun in his hand, I said.

Patrick spat and dusted off his hands, finally rising to his feet. Well, what now, then?

I took a moment to assess our surroundings. The forest was still, and as far as I could smell, there were no other Denali packmembers nearby. I turned my gaze to the sky, to the glassy moon. If I closed my eyes, I could feel its milky light on my skin, collected in every bead of sweat, making my veins hum with its energy.

I felt at my most powerful at that moment. I was a wolf shifter, the son of an ancient and noble race. Perhaps my people weren’t slaves to the moon anymore, but sometimes I had to wonder if its fullness truly affected us at times.

Maybe its fullness had contributed to what happened tonight.

My body throbbed with energy. Now that I’d killed, I wanted to keep going, but I wanted something else. Something just as carnal and savage, but not nearly as deadly.

Let’s go to Kacee’s Tavern, I said.

Patrick raised his eyebrows. What? Why?

If I remember correctly, I began slowly, tonight’s ladies’ night.

Oh, Patrick said. Then, a slow grin crept across his face.

Chapter 2: Emma

It’s a full moon, Kelly said.

I frowned at my reflection as I straightened a section of my hair. So?

Weirdos come out during the full moon, Kelly said.

I laughed, but Kelly didn’t.

It’s true, she said. One time, my co-worker’s sister went out during the full moon...

I sighed as I let the rest of my cousin’s story drift in one ear and out the other. Unlike me, Kelly was definitely superstitious, probably because she’d grown up in Echo Valley. It wasn’t a small town, but it wasn’t a big city, either. It was just isolated, tucked in a bowl of land high in the Carson Mountain Range with only one way to get in and out. Route 106 was a forgettable, narrow road that splintered off the main interstate and snaked off into the wilderness, eventually turning into Central Boulevard, Echo Valley’s main street.

So, of course Echo Valley was isolated.

Even with family here, I grew up knowing almost nothing about my mother’s hometown. The last time I’d visited had been four years ago, when I was eighteen, for a relatives’ funeral.

...and that’s when she realized that she came home wearing a completely different hat, Kelly finally finished. She glanced up from her seat on the edge of her bed to meet my eyes in her vanity mirror.

I let my mouth flop open, feigning shock. Wow, really?

Kelly raised her eyebrows, each one a dark, dramatic arch of earnestness over her crystal blue eyes. Really.

So I guess you want to stay in tonight, huh? Being a full moon and all, I said teasingly.

Kelly hopped up. Hell no! I’m not letting my best cousin hit the town all by her lonesome, she said. You would look like such a loser.

I would look like a loser either way, I said.

Not with my help you won’t, Kelly said, smirking devilishly. Standing there with her long, dark burgundy hair contrasted with her emerald cotton sundress, she was definitely a stunner, the complete opposite of plain old me.

Still, I was never more thankful for having a girl cousin my age than at that moment, because I didn’t have sisters. All I had was Kelly, and if some of her confidence and charisma rubbed off on me, I would’ve been forever grateful.

Please, I said, spreading my hands imploringly. Work your magic.

Then hand me that straightener.

Obediently, I perched perfectly still on the stool while Kelly flitted around me, as glittery and energetic as a hummingbird. She pulled sections of my mousy brown hair through the straightener until every strand was ironed sleek and shiny. Then, she fussed over my skin as she began dabbing on foundation.

Someone’s not moisturizing, she said.

I just shrugged my shoulders. I guess I don’t have much time to worry about stuff like that.

Because of school, right?

Yup.

Kelly fell quiet as she picked through her makeup brushes. And what about dating? Do you have time for that? she finally asked carefully.

Involuntarily, I flinched. Your mom told you what happened, didn’t she?

Kelly flinched too, but hers was out of guilt. Yeah. Kinda. I guess your mom told my mom.

I sighed. Figures. I bet this whole side of the family knows by now.

No, they don’t, Kelly said quickly. But I’m still not sure what happened. Why don’t you tell me your side of the story? All I heard was that you were engaged to some guy and it didn’t work out.

That’s basically it, I said. Evan and I were dating for two years before he proposed. I thought everything was perfect. Then, a few months later, he just called it off. This all happened about a year ago.

Kelly shook her head as she dusted blush onto the apples of my cheeks. Did he tell you why he called it off? Close your eyes.

No. He didn’t.

Technically, it wasn’t a lie. Evan really hadn’t given me a clear reason about why he was breaking up with me, only that he wasn’t ready. The pain and confusion had torn me up for days. Then, about a week later, I’d spotted him walking out of Potato Barn with his ex, a girl I’d never met but heard much about. It all made sense at that moment, so my confusion was finally gone.

The pain still remained, though, even a year after the fact. Sometimes, I still caught myself thinking about him, losing my breath as I felt the hollow pang in my chest.

Bastard, Kelly muttered. Her soft brush feathered eyeshadow over my closed lids.

I chuckled. Yeah. You’re telling me.

Is that why you randomly showed up in town this morning? Did you need to get away?

I laughed uneasily. I mean, it’s spring break, but...

But it was true, wasn’t it? Thanks to gossip shared between mutual friends, I knew that their wedding was sometime this weekend. I needed to get away from the city I shared with my ex and the love of his life, at least for a little while.

I could barely admit that to myself, let alone my cousin, who I hadn’t seen since I was in junior high.

Don’t worry, cuz. I won’t tell anyone you have feelings, Kelly said.

I laughed again, but it was a genuine laugh this time.

Open your eyes now.

When I did, I almost didn’t recognize myself in the mirror. Sitting across from me was a sleek-haired, sophisticated woman.

What do you think? Kelly said.

I had no words. Whatever magic Kelly had performed on my eyes gave me a dramatic, aloof look, like an Instagram model. I looked ready for tonight.

I felt ready for tonight.

That’s amazing. Thank you, Kelly, was the most I could manage. But I meant every word.

Kelly waved her hand dismissively. It’s nothing.

So where’s the place to go in Echo Valley on a Thursday night? I said, spinning around to face Kelly.

Only one place for two single and fabulous girls like us, and that’s Kacee’s Tavern, she said. Then, she gestured across the room to the open window, which framed the full-faced moon. I have a feeling it’s going to be an interesting night.

* * *

Echo Valley was a strange place. During the day, it looked like a typical Nevada small town. The historic downtown area was charming, with lampposts and restaurant patios sprinkled out under colorful awnings. There had been almost no traffic when I drove in this morning, which struck me as simultaneously peaceful and creepy. It seemed like a nice town, the type of place to raise a family.

At night, however, I finally saw Echo Valley’s other face.

Kelly drove us along Central Boulevard.

Where did all these people come from? I