The Baby Shift- New Hampshire Read online

  The Baby Shift: New Hampshire

  Shifter Babies of America 9

  Becca Fanning

  Copyright © 2019 by Becca Fanning

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Also by Becca Fanning

  Chapter 1

  As she smacked the stamp against the final page of the document on the table, Leila Montes felt like a basketball player who’d just scored a dunk. She nearly screamed with joy. Sorting and stamping hundreds of various documents sent to her by her new boss had been a task she would not be looking forward to doing anytime soon.

  It had taken her the entire day, but she had pulled it off. All files were neatly sorted into their different categories, stamped, and ready to be returned to her boss. Leila rose from her seat, picked up the documents and headed straight for her boss' office, which was directly by the right of her own office booth.

  Having only been working at Reno Tech for two weeks, she was eager to impress her new boss, Damian Macron, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to do just that.

  When she opened the door to his office, she realized he was busy on the phone with a client which meant she had to wait for him to finish up before handing them over to him. She watched him as he talked with the telephone pressed against his ear. Damian was a jovial man in his late thirties. He was the managing director of Reno Tech which meant she had to answer directly to him as his Personal Assistant. So far, Damian had been a kind and helpful boss, and she was more than satisfied with the job.

  When he finally ended the call, he looked up at her with a smile. "Good afternoon, Miss Montes, how can I help you?"

  She said, "I just stopped to drop off the files you assigned to me this morning."

  He looked mildly surprised. "Don't tell me you have completed them already."

  "I have. All files sorted and stamped. You can forward it to the sales department at your convenience."

  Damian smiled, exposing a sparkling set of teeth. "Why, Miss Montes, you really are a hard worker. I expected this to take you at least forty-eight hours."

  She flashed him a smile of her own. "It was nothing I couldn't handle, sir."

  He rose from his seat and rounded the table to stand in front of her. He said, "No doubt, completing such a task so fast would have zapped you of your energy." Then his voice lowered until it was almost a whisper. "Why not come relax with me - see if you can get back some energy. I have a room already reserved for me. We can go there tonight. Let's see if I can help you relax a bit."

  The implications of his words hit Leila like a resounding slap to the face. For a moment, she could not bring herself to formulate a reply. Damian Macron was a handsome man with a beautiful wife and three kids. Despite his dashing good looks and amiable charisma, his suggestion appalled her to a great extent.

  Leila calmly replied, "I'm sorry, Mr. Macron, but not only are you married, but you are also my boss. I don't think it's appropriate."

  He laughed. "Don't be silly, Leila. It's not like I'm asking you to marry me. We'll just be two people having fun - relieving the stress of a very busy day."

  "Can we not talk about this anymore? I'm getting really uncomfortable." She dropped the files on his desk and turned to leave. She had barely taken two steps before he called out her name, causing her to stop, although she made a conscious effort not to turn around to look at him.

  He said, "I'm a good screw. If you walk away you'll be missing out on the best sex of your life."

  She could not believe what she was hearing. So far Damian had appeared to be a principled and refined man. How he became so crude all of a sudden was something she was unable to process. She placed a hand on the doorknob and was just about to open it when he called out to her once again.

  "Don't walk out on me, dear. Turn around and look at me," he said.

  Leila stopped and slowly turned around. Avoiding eye contact, she said, "I still have to forward proposals for the Delta Series, so I'm a little busy."

  He replied, "No worries. I won't take any more of your time. Look, I'll give you more time to think about this. And even better, I'll be having dinner at the Red Castle restaurant by nine tonight. Here's how it's gonna work… If you show up for dinner, I'll take that as a yes. If not, I'll understand you are not interested. Either way, a room would be ready for me and a guest tonight."

  "Thank you, sir. I'll think about it," Leila said, and walked out of his office without so much as a glance behind her.

  As she walked into the Reno Tech building the next day, Leila realized she no longer felt the same thrill she used to. Damian's advances of the previous day had exposed a flaw in a system she once considered perfect. Now she had to continue working in the company being aware that such a thing could happen again.

  "Miss Leila Montes, I'm afraid I can't let you in," said the receptionist at the front desk where Leila was to sign in.

  The words made absolutely no sense to Leila. "I don't understand," she said. By now, a cold feeling of dread was already washing over her.

  Just then, she saw Carl Redmond, head of the Human Resources department as he walked past the reception. Leila called out to him. "Mr. Redmond! There seems to be a problem here."

  Carl, who was always very friendly with her, frowned as he said, "It's no misunderstanding. You're fired."

  It felt like Leila's world came crashing down in that instant. She asked, "Fired? On what grounds?"

  "Mr. Macron claims you deliberately missed an important business meeting without prior notification. Do you have a contrary claim?" Carl said.

  Leila froze for seconds, wondering whether or not to mention the events of the previous day. She decided it was best not to. It was his words against hers.

  "No, sir. I don't."

  Carl nodded. "Good. I wish you good luck going forward. Have a nice day."

  She waited there until the contents of her office were retrieved and handed to her in a paper bag. As soon as Leila stepped out into the morning sun, she took out her phone and dialed a number.

  Holding back the tears that threatened to pour out, she said to the person on the line, “Hello, Mom. I'm coming home."

  Russell was shocked he did not shed a single tear throughout the entire ceremony. Even now, as the coffin was being slowly put into the deep grave, the tears failed to come. Perhaps it was the fact that he had shed too many already, especially those first few days after he had learned of her death.

  His mother had been the closest friend he ever had. The only person who would walk to the gates of hell for him without expecting anything in return. They were in the Walters family cemetery. The large area had been the final resting place of the Walters bloodline for centuries. This was only the second time Russell Walters had been here. The first being during the burial of his father, Phillip Walters five years ago.

  Back then was different, however. He had been forced by his mother to attend his father's funeral. This time, he was here on his own accord. Phillip Walters had been the worst father Russell could ever imagine.

  "She loved you so much. And you made her a very proud mother," someone said beside him.

  Russell turned to see who spoke. "Thank you, Uncle Ryan," he said to his late mother's brother.

  The Walters were a family dynasty majorly consisting of were
bears for as long as anyone could remember. They were one of the wealthiest shifters on the planet and made conscious efforts to ensure their shifter bloodline was preserved. While most heads of the generations of Walters were content just to have as many werebear offspring as possible, Phillip Walters took this practice one step further.

  He did not just attempt to produce shifter children but wanted them to be pure-born too. Pure-born children were those born by two shifters from sexual intercourse in their animal form. The chances of such mating resulting in a child were extremely slim so in order to achieve this, Russell's father had to try over and over again, with various women.

  He had many shifter wives and tried to have only pure-born children with each of them. He sent those that delivered away after giving birth and those that couldn't he divorced. However, he fell in love and kept one of them, Matilda, so she stayed with him. Two years into the marriage, Russell was born and much to Phillip's disappointment, he was not a pure-born.

  Phillip hated Russell but kept him around because he had already fallen in love with Matilda. Before he died in a helicopter accident, he left nothing for the boy, except a small real estate business which he willed to the child's mother. His two other sons, born of other wives and certified pure-born, had the big businesses, which they ran down in a few years. Russell however, helped his mother build hers into the biggest enterprise in the family. But then she died.

  "You know, I never wanted her to marry your father," Ryan said. He was standing beside Russell and together they watched the ceremony. The cemetery was filled with dozens of people. Friends and family of the deceased were gathered in honor of Matilda Walters. Russell's half-brothers, Gareth and Irvin were standing a few yards away, not even trying to hide their indifference.

  Russell glanced at his uncle. "Why were you against it?"

  Ryan replied, "The Walters are the most popular werebear family in America, and that popularity is not just because of their immense wealth. They are ruthless and would do anything to get what they want."

  Russell smiled. "I'm one of the Walters, you know?"

  Ryan nodded. "I know, but you are nothing like them. For some reason, you took after your mother."

  "Well, my father didn't much care for me, so my mother practically raised me herself. Guess that was a good thing."

  "It was," Ryan said. "It really was."

  A loud bell broke through the chattering going on around the funeral ground. Russell sighed. It was time. Russell, his brothers, and over half the attendants of the ceremony stepped forward and formed a big circle around the grave. The bell rang the second time and they all sighed, bracing themselves. The others who had not seen a werebear funeral rite before stared in confusion.

  On the third ring of the bell, Russell and the others began to shift in unison. There was a collective roar as the men and women began to slowly transform into furry bears of different species. Russell and his brothers shifted into large grizzly bears, however, his pure-born half-brothers were considerably larger than him and every other bear in the area.

  Right there, in his bear form, as he roared out into the afternoon sky with the others, Russell felt the tears begin to fall off his furry cheeks.

  "Mr. Walters? A minute please," Gale Thomson called out. Russell and his family were just about to leave the cemetery. As was done in most werebear funerals, provisions for new clothes had been made prior to the shifting rite. Russell was already dressed in his spare tuxedo and was walking out of the cemetery with the others when Gale Thompson, the family lawyer for ten years, called out to him.

  "What's up, Mr. Gale?"

  The lawyer said, "I wanted to speak to you before you returned to the mansion."

  "About?"

  "Your mother's will. She left Walt Estates Management to you. Of course, this should come as no surprise."

  Russell felt a sudden sadness wash over him. He had made the meager company into a mega force with the help and support of his mother. He wasn't sure if he would be able to build the business without her immense help.

  "Are you okay?" Gale asked on seeing his troubled face.

  "Yes, I am," Russell replied.

  Gales said, "According to her, there was no one more capable of taking the business to the next level."

  At this, Russell's mind began to settle. His mother entrusted WEM to him, and he was not going to disappoint her. He would give it his all and make her proud even in her grave.

  He said to Gale, "When do I come over to finalize the paperwork?"

  Chapter 2

  This was Leila's first time on Walt Island. Her mother, who had only been working there for a year, had told Leila many stories about the famous personal island. Even as the boatman took her on a boat ride to cross the southern end of New Hampshire into the island, Leila could tell that her mother had been right; it was indeed as big as an estate.

  Going in through island security, she found yet another marvel waiting for her in form of the Walters family mansion. It was the largest residential building she had ever seen and she could not but wonder why anyone would need so much space.

  "Now remember all the things I told you on the phone," her mother, Catarina Montes said.

  Leila nodded. They were standing in front of a small quarters built just outside the Walters mansion. She said, "I remember everything. I just hope he believes me. I really need this job."

  Her mother's expression was sad as she said, "I know you do, honey. I can believe you have to come work as a maid just like me. The reason I put you through college is just so you didn’t have to."

  * * *

  Leila said, "It's fine, Mom. This is only temporary. I've sent my resume to several firms. I'm sure one will invite me for an interview soon, don't worry about it."

  Catarina nodded and knocked. Leila noticed the small quarters had no bell, and despite looking very stable, had an unprofessional touch to it. The walls looked rather unattractive and the roofing was uneven.

  "Come on in, please," a deep voice called out from behind the door.

  "Good luck, honey," Catarina said and took a step back.

  Leila took a deep breath. "Thanks, Mom. Here goes nothing." She opened the door and walked in through it.

  She saw him sitting in front of a computer screen. He was a lot bigger than she pictured although she was well aware of werebears and their tendency to grow big and stronger than usual. As if his size was not intimidating enough, Leila soon realized how handsome he was when he raised his head to look at her.

  "Hello, Miss Montes. I'm Russell Walters. Do take a seat," he said, gesturing to the small chair opposite his. The only other furniture in sight were two couches placed side by side on his right.

  "Good morning, sir. Yes, that's me," she said and sat down in front of him.

  He smiled, his eyes a bright color of gold, and for an awkward second, Leila felt butterflies flutter in her stomach. "How was your little trip?" he asked.

  "It was fine, thank you. This place seems really cozy," she said.

  "Oh, yea. I made it myself when I was a teenager. Took me eleven months to build. It's not the best of designs but I'm in love with it. When I'm home, this is the only place I can work in peace."

  Leila was genuinely impressed. Nodding, she said, "It's beautiful. Are you an architect?"

  "No, I studied civil engineering."

  "Oh. My mother thinks very highly of you," she said.

  He flashed her another smile. "And I think even more highly of her. She was my mother's favorite staff when she was alive. If you’re anything like her, you should fit in just fine."

  She said, "I'll try my best."

  "Good," he said. "Let's get down to business then. You are here for the interview, I guess."

  "Yes."

  "Let's begin."

  Within the next ten minutes, Russell proceeded to ask her some questions about house management, service, and the technicalities of being a maid. She and her mother had earlier rehearsed on some basic que
stions, but it would seem this were quite different from the ones the late Matilda asked. She ended up unable to answer most of them and fumbling greatly on the rest.

  When the interview finally came to an end, Russell sighed. He said, "I don't need to tell you, you failed woefully, do I?" he asked.

  "No. I'm aware of that. Sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Walters." She stood up to leave, unable to look him in the eye.

  "Wait. I didn't say you didn't get the job. I've done my evaluation and I've come to the conclusion that you'd make a terrible maid. However, I'm aware of your family's financial predicament and I believe you are of good enough character to work here without any major problems."

  She stared at his grinning face, dumbfounded. "Does this mean I'm hired?"

  "Yes. Your mother told me what happened to you at that firm. That was very low of your boss. You can work here until you are back on your feet again."

  She whistled happily as she sheared off the thorns from the large garden on the compound. This wasn't meant to be part of her job detail but after realizing how useless she was in most housekeeping chores when compared to the other maids, she decided to help the gardener with a portion of the garden. Gardening was something she had picked up in their old home in rural New Hampshire. Now she and her mother shared a room in the staff quarters of the mansion.

  Her father's death ten years ago had left them with little in the way of income. Her mother had to support her through school with the little she made from working as a maid and doing other menial jobs. Now that she was done with her education, Leila could not bear to live off her mother's earnings anymore. The Walters paid handsomely. She would save up as much as she could, then return to the city with enough to get an apartment while she intensified her search for a job.