šŗ New on Substack: Shifter Mountain ā Read the First Chapters Free!
Even the hardest heart has its weakness.
Free Chapters for Followers ā Read the Prologue Here!
He lives alone above the clouds.
She never meant to find him.
Reclusive mountain lion shifter Keeton Stone prefers silence, solitude, and the steady rhythm of the wild. But when Marilena, a stranded hiker with a stubborn streak and a soft heart, tumbles into his world, everything changes.
Wounded, wary, and way too human for his peace of mind, she awakens something in him he thought was long buriedādesire. The kind that burns hot enough to melt stone.
Now Keetonās fighting instincts he canāt control and a bond he canāt deny. But danger prowls these mountains, and claiming his mate might mean exposing the beast heās spent years hiding.
š„ This is a steamy, emotional, fated mates romance featuring:
A Brooding, Reclusive Hero
A Strong, Big-Hearted Heroine
Fated Mates & Found Love
Forced Proximity
Mountain Survival Vibes
Grumpy/Sunshine Energy
How It Works
For the next few weeks, Iāll be sharing Shifter Mountain right here on Substackāchapter by chapter!
āØ Subscribers get the chapters free every couple of days.
āØ Paid subscribers unlock bonus extras.
š Ready to start the climb?
The first free chapter of Shifter Mountain: Hearts of Stone drops tomorrowādonāt miss it!
š¾ Hit Subscribe now so you can follow along and fall for Keeton before he disappears back into the wild.
Keetonās Mountain Lion hissed angrily as he boarded the plane for the States. Three months on Moongate Island did nothing to repair his faith in people. Shifter or human, they pretty much sucked.
True, he was no longer being blackmailed by the sniveling cretin whoād been part of his last black ops assignment. Fucker had stepped on a landmine deep in the jungles of a place Keeton was not at liberty to name. Not even in his own head.
Fucking hell.
Yeah, it meant he could return home now, but to who? Keeton had no family waiting for him. His few friends were back on the island, but that was no place for his inner feline. The beast craved the hills and valleys of the New Jersey forests he called home.
Heād bought a hundred acres of forest off the beaten paths of New Jerseyās Panther Mountains years ago. Even commissioned the building of a cabin deep in the woods. The design was environmentally conscientious and entirely sound. Two stories high, it had its own generators, additional solar paneling, and wind turbines for power, and indoor plumbing.
He wasnāt an animal, for fuckās sake. But even if Keeton was going to avoid people, he didnāt have to be uncomfortable doing it. Eyes closed, he sat seemingly at ease, but he was keeping tabs on every living thing around him on the plane.
Once a soldier, always a soldier, his two commanders, Callan McGregor and Landry Smyth, had said that often enough. Both men were Shifters, a unique Alpha and Omega pair whoād completed their Triad once theyād found their mate in Sage Freeman, a smart mouthed human female. That had been Keetonās cue to leave the island heād called home for eighty-nine and a half days.
They hadnāt kicked him out or anything. On the contrary. But he was restless and antsy. The island could no longer contain his need for isolation.
Memories of the disgust on Bruce Taylorās face when heād seen Keeton lose control of his shift during a particularly bloody battle were forever ingrained in his brain. The human male had been a new recruit in the special ops task force where Keeton had served his country for the last five years in secret.
Dismantling dictatorships and stopping atrocities the likes of which he could hardly put a name to before they could ever see the light of day had been his job, and blackmail was his reward.
Heād kept the fact that heād unwittingly told the secret about Shifters to the human from Callan and Landry until the night Bruce had died believing Keeton was the only one of his kind. The two men had investigated his claims, making sure that he never downloaded or emailed the proof heād recorded with his phone the night Keeton lost control.
The half a million dollars heād sent to Bruceās offshore bank was nothing. He didnāt care about the money. It was simply the point of it all. The man had not trusted Keeton because of his dual nature. And heād lost his life as a result.
āWe need to stick to this route, Bruce,ā he growled at the human whoād become increasingly toxic to their two-man operation.
āThink Iām gonna trust a fucking animal. Iāll go this way,ā the man argued.
After a few more minutes of trying to convince him, Keeton threw his hands up. His beast scratched at his skin, the animal sensing something was not right. The sounds of the explosion and Bruceās bitter cry rang in his ears, but he died before Keeton could ever hope to reach him.
It was his fault. He was the reason Bruce had died. After pledging his life to help save lives, heād brought death instead.
Keeton was better off on his own.
See ya next time!
C.D. Gorri