Shifter Magnetism by Stormie Kent

slightly away from the incoming convoy.
    She nuzzled him. “My parents are in the front car.”
    He didn’t let her go. She made no move to pull away, so he knew she still needed him. Her needs would always come first. He would make nice with the parents, as she’d had enough hassle for the day.
    He watched over her head as the front car pulled up next to them and parked. The other vehicles stopped, and people began to climb out.
    Her parents were a revelation. Her mother wore a red, stylishly cut suit and three-inch heels. Even he could tell they were designer. Her hair was styled in an intricate updo, and her makeup was perfect. Had he met her under different circumstances, he would have guessed she was a hard-nosed businesswoman, not the local Council leader.
    Leila’s father was tall and slim in his black-and-gray pin-striped suit. Though he towered over his wife, the animal in Nic knew she was the most dangerous. Her gaze traveled over her daughter in his arms and then over him. The firm set to her mouth didn’t appear welcoming.
    “What is going on here?” Zuria Barclay asked.
    Leila raised her head and turned to her mother but did not release him. “This is my mate, Nic Lobo.” She paused, and her mother simply stared at him. “He’s also the detective working the Brain Surgeon case you’ve seen in the news. The Brain Surgeon is a sorcerer who tried to kill me by stealing my soul and magic. Nic saved me.”
    Her father nodded at the trussed-up body of Radkin Lewis. “This is the Brain Surgeon?”
    “No, he got away the night he attacked me. We were investigating Radkin Lewis, and he captured me in his torture chamber. Daddy, he isn’t the only sorcerer in the area practicing fatal magic.”
    “Mr. and Mrs. Barclay, there is no way for the human police to hold these men. You must be responsible for your people.” Telling them what to do probably wasn’t a good place to begin their familial relationship.
    Zuria waved her well-manicured hand in the air. “You’ve captured this one, and we’ll deal with him. It seems as if you can’t keep my daughter safe, Mr. Lobo. She will come home with us. Leila, I can’t believe you would be as reckless as to allow yourself to mate a shifter. We have a wizard all picked out for you. No matter. The mating is magic. I’ll fix it with magic.”
    Leila gasped. “No, Mother.”
    Nic’s wolf pushed its way to the forefront. Its only thought was to protect and keep its mate. He wouldn’t allow anyone to take her from him. Leila’s witch mother wanted to take her away from him with her magic. He felt the partial shift as his wolf took over to help him achieve the goal they both wanted. He only paused for a moment as he remembered he couldn’t kill or maim her parents.
    He growled a warning at them to stay back. “No one will take my mate from me.”
    Leila tried to put herself between Nic and her parents. Nic tossed her over his shoulder and backed away. He had her in his SUV and was pulling away even as he felt a buildup of power surrounding him. Instinctively, he pulled on the magic he’d attained in their soul exchange. He pictured an invisible wall surrounding them both and then accelerated as he heard Zuria Barclay scream in frustration.
    “We need to train you if you’re going to be using magic now,” Leila said conversationally. She paused for a moment. “If you don’t want someone calling the police because they see a werewolf driving an SUV, you should calm down or pull over.”
    The tranquility in her voice relaxed him, and he eased out of the semishift yet didn’t stop driving. “I won’t allow your mother to null our mating.”
    A soft hand caressed his arm. “I don’t think she can. The most she could do would be a forgetting spell. Even then, we could find our way back to each other. This mating feels compulsive inside me, almost as if I would be drawn to you no matter what.”
    She was right. He would know a piece of his soul was missing