The Shifter Chronicles 11
by
Agent Pan has spent most of his adult life protecting shapeshifters from the Knights—an organization bent on their annihilation—and keeping the secret war in the shadows where it belongs. But the Knights are growing bolder, and a new threat has resurfaced after being buried in the ocean for centuries.
An ancient scroll, a key to a devastating weapon, is now in the hands of a recalcitrant Russian hawk shifter named Viktor. As a bird shifter, he knows his duty is to protect the scroll, but he wants nothing to do with the war. He leads a quiet life and wants to keep it that way. But when agents come knocking on his door, he finds it difficult to resist the charms of Agent Pan, especially since this isn’t their first meeting.
Three years earlier they spent a passionate weekend together, neither aware of the other’s true identity. Viktor never really got over Pan. Now with sexual tension at its peak, they must learn to trust each other and work as a team to protect not only their loved ones, but every shifter in the world.
Second Edition with revised text.
Publisher: Independently Published
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 4
Romantic Content: 4
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay, Pansexual
Protagonist 1 Age: 26-35
Protagonist 2 Age: 36-45
Tropes: Fated Mates / Soul Mates
Word Count: 50,730
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Same Universe / Various Characters
“The scroll?”
“It is safe.” Viktor must have seen Pan’s expression because he elaborated with “I check it this morning.”
“Good.” Pan set his half-empty mug down. “Look, I’m guessing we’re at an impasse regarding the scroll. But I still have to tell you that, right now, the safest place for it is with the Agency. Not only will that put you and your family out of immediate danger, but the Agency has special secure places for sensitive material. I know bird shifters are the traditional guardians and that you see it as your duty. I understand duty, believe me. But we also need to be practical and think of the long term, not just the here and now.”
Viktor was silent as Pan spoke, and Pan hoped he was getting through that thick, stubborn mind. It was an intelligent, sexy mind, but stubborn nonetheless.
READ MORE“If you’re worried about trusting the Agency, let me reassure you. We’ve made some impressive strides in the last several months, ever since we elected a new chief. We’re reaching out to shifter packs, herds, and clans and offering alliances and exchanging information. We’re networking, Viktor, trying to make it harder for Arcas and his Knights to fracture us. His greatest strength is our distrust of each other. If we keep isolating ourselves, then I’m afraid we might perish like the Native Americans. If all the tribes had banded together, they probably would have given the white settlers a run for their money.”
Viktor grunted.
“The Agency is even assigning ambassadors to the larger shifter clans,” Pan said, pressing his advantage. It appeared Viktor was actually listening. “A fellow agent and friend of mine is ambassador to the bear shifters. He’s the mate of Nordik.”
Viktor’s eyes widened. “The master shifter who protects Sanctuary?”
Pan smiled and nodded. “The very same.”
Nordik was the most well-known master shifter. He guarded a place the shifters called Sanctuary—the collected area of several national parks in Canada, Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. The part of Sanctuary in Montana was located near the town of Haven.
“If Nordik can trust the Agency….” He let that hang.
Viktor looked away and rubbed his brow. He seemed frustrated, and that didn’t surprise Pan. The entire situation was incredibly frustrating.
“I hear what you say. I understand what you say. But the decision is now out of my hands.”
Pan frowned. “What do you mean?”
Viktor stared at him for a long, intense moment. Those pale eyes of his were piercing and distinctly birdlike in their focus. Pan realized only then why Viktor’s gaze three years ago seemed so familiar: it was the look of a predatory bird. Pan’s cock thickened and pressed uncomfortably against his pants.
“My father is from ancient line of hawk shifters,” Viktor said. “But our last name is Orlov in honor of our famous ancestor through marriage.”
Pan waited, knowing the struggle it took to break lifelong secrecy. He knew it all too well.
“There is an eagle master shifter. Her name in this age is Glory. My sister and I, and some of our extended cast back in Russia, are part of her convocation. She is our leader. I called her last night after Natasha and Tommy left. She is coming here. She will decide what is to be done with scroll.”
Pan blew out a stunned breath. Then he gulped down the rest of the coffee.
“Well, that just complicated matters.” Should he call Captain Odin?
“She is my leader.” Viktor spread his hands.
“I know. I get it. I was just wondering if I shouldn’t call my superior and let the adults hash it out.”
Viktor smiled slightly. “Maybe Glory takes scroll, and that ends it.”
Pan didn’t think either Odin or Hera would go for that. “Maybe.” He checked the time. “Aren’t you opening the shop today?”
Viktor shook his head. “I think I stay closed until the matter is resolved.”
“I want to advise you not to change routine, but it makes it easier for me to protect you if strangers aren’t always coming in and out.”
Viktor frowned heavily. “You do not need to protect me.”
“Yes, I do,” Pan said easily, perversely enjoying riling Viktor up. He got the distinct impression Viktor’s hawk was also indignant and ruffling his feathers.
“I am not child.”
“I know you’re not.” Pan covered the back of Viktor’s hand. “But this is my job, Viktor. I take my job very seriously.”
Viktor frowned down at their hands, although he didn’t appear angered or annoyed by the touch.
“I miss you.” Viktor’s voice was barely more than a murmur. He flipped over his hand and gripped Pan’s. “I am glad to see you again.”
Once again Pan had visions of a “normal” life. One without war, without the Agency. A life of permanence with someone to come home to. The same someone. What would it be like to wake up to that face every day, drink coffee with him every morning?
But such thoughts were pointless. Pan was married to the Agency. But wasn’t the Agency itself changing? He’d said as much to Viktor. Poe, his friend and fellow agent had, against all odds, found love with Nordik, and because of that was made ambassador. Josh had managed to heal Xavier, the rogue wolf shifter Arcas brainwashed. Now they were mates and founders of a clinic that assisted shifters harmed by the Knights. Pan thought of Derek and Brian, whom he’d recently met: a wolf shifter mated to a veterinarian with his own special gift. They all seemed happy… content. Whole.
Pan looked into Viktor’s pale eyes and wondered.
They’d yet to establish an ambassador to the bird shifters since bird shifters were once thought to be extinct. Maybe….
Suddenly there was no time to think because Viktor was kissing him, and Pan acutely remembered what Viktor could do with his mouth. His resolution of restraint fled. He wanted him. Now.
Pan eagerly wrapped his arms around Viktor’s broad shoulders and pushed off the stool to press against his warm chest. Pan opened his mouth wide, insisting on tongue, and was rewarded when Viktor accepted the invitation. Moaning, Pan pressed closer as if trying to crawl inside him. Viktor’s taste, scent, touch, it all felt as wonderful as it had three years ago, but more so now because he knew what to expect. The anticipation of the familiar was striking. An ache formed inside him, and he needed Viktor to ease it.
Sliding his fingers through Viktor’s hair, Pan directed the kiss, showing with his mouth how much he wanted him. This right here was pure passion and lust and need. While Pan found satisfaction with his other lovers, with Viktor he found all the pleasures in one package: passion, spontaneity, play, humor, intelligence, and so much more. For some reason Viktor hit all his happy spots.
Viktor dug his broad hands into Pan’s back before lowering them to squeeze his ass. Pan pushed closer, slipping between Viktor’s legs, and pressed their groins together. They moaned when each found the other hard enough to burst.
“Now. Let’s… right now, let’s take the edge off,” Pan said, panting.
Viktor said something in Russian that Pan took as agreement, even as his pulse spiked. He really should learn Russian.
COLLAPSEFeather and Scroll by M.D. Grimm is book eleven of the Shifter series. I hadn’t encountered this series before now, and I can say that you don’t need to have read the previous books to be able to enjoy this one. In Feather and Scroll we meet Viktor, a bird shifter, and Pan, an Agent sworn to protect all shifters. As legend has it, there are four scrolls, and, if used together, they unlock something that could be used to destroy all shifters. Bird shifters are the keepers of the scrolls.
In this installment, the main conflict is that a scroll has been found and the Knights want it. As a shifter, Viktor is sworn to protect it. Pan, as an Agent, feels it is his duty to take the scroll for the Agency to protect it. After all, it’s the Agency’s job to protect all shifters.
Amidst this conflict, the attraction between Viktor and Pan is developed. As a bird shifter, Viktor is cold, but once he finds his true mate, the bond is forever. Pan, as an Agent, is not allowed to form permanent ties. He’s married to the job, and any kind of distraction could prove deadly.
The beginning of the story was a bit slow since I didn’t know any of the history, but once the Knights came into the picture, the action ramped up and the central storyline took firm hold. For people who have read the previous books in the series, I’m sure the story picks up and flows perfectly from previous books. For me, the slower start was more than compensated for, and rather quickly. The action is fast-paced. Points of view are switched often so that we can follow multiple perspectives as the book unfolds. Well written and engaging, I could barely put the book down for the last two-thirds.
In terms of heat, the sex between the main protagonists were pretty steamy, but it was the emotional aspect of their feelings that had the real magnetic draw. Both men long for something more permanent in their lives, and neither believes he can have it. That inner battle of knowing what the heart wants but listening to what the head says plays out masterfully in this story.
All in all, a great read. I definitely plan on going back and reading the stories preceding this one.
Timeless love against an ageless enemy... who will rise victorious?
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