Joey: The Whitfield Rancher – Tiger Shapeshifter Romance Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  World Castle Publishing, LLC

  Pensacola, Florida

  Copyright © Kathi S. Barton 2021

  Paperback ISBN: 9781953271662

  eBook ISBN: 9781953271679

  First Edition World Castle Publishing, LLC, January 25, 2021

  http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

  Licensing Notes

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews.

  Cover: Karen Fuller

  Editor: Maxine Bringenberg

  Prologue

  “Autumn Hunter?” Autumn stood up and made her way to the medical assistant. “Your name is really Autumn? Your parents hate you or something?”

  The same question, along with a few others she got every time she met someone new. Smiling, she did not tell the assistant they did indeed hate her, but not until later, after she’d been older. Instead, she stepped up on the scale and thought about how much weight she’d lost in the last year and a half. Being terrified of being caught up in shit and on the run all the time would do that, she supposed.

  “You’re here about your belly issues and the results of the test, correct?” Autumn told her she was also out of her pain medication, could she get a refill. “We’ll have to clear it through the doctor first. Once he’s told you—”

  The assistant looked at the folder in her hand, then at Autumn. She knew it was bad, but how bad was something she was about to learn. Reaching over to take the folder from her, Autumn read the words there before the woman asked for it back. Handing it to her, Autumn was at a loss for words.

  “He’ll be able to explain your options.” It was on the tip of her tongue to tell her she knew what her options were. There was only one. Death. It was just how she chose to do it. “You’ll need those pills. I’ll make sure you have samples before you leave.”

  Nodding, Autumn wondered if she should even stay. They’d told her— Well, she’d found out she had stomach cancer. She supposed knowing how she got it would be good, but it wouldn’t change the outcome. Standing up, Autumn was ready to leave when the doctor came into the room.

  “I’m sorry, Miss Hunter.” She nodded, sure that he knew she’d read the notes on her chart. “There are things we can do to make things easier on you. A great many more than we had even ten years ago. We’ll make you as—”

  “How long do I have? I mean, you know that, don’t you?” He nodded. “I don’t know if you remember my first visit with you, but I don’t care for bullshit answers. Just tell me how long I have and whatever pertinent information I need right now. The rest of whatever you tell me is going to go in one ear and out the other otherwise.”

  “Yes, I remember. You have just about a month. I don’t know how far you got to read, but it’s spread all through your body. Had someone bothered to give you good care when you were ill the first time, you would have had better chances of survival than you do now, two years later.” She asked him what he thought caused it. “Someone tried to poison you, as you know. And that weakened your immune system, which was ripe ground for cancer to dig in. I’m really sorry, Autumn.”

  “I need to go.” He nodded and told her to come back in a week. “Do you think I’ll be around then?”

  “I hope so. You’re going to hurt a good deal more than you are now. I’ll make sure you have what you need to deal with it. Autumn, whoever did this to you, it’s the same as if they’d used a gun to kill you. In fact, as you like it right to the truth, a bullet would have been much faster and far less painful for you.”

  “I know, but there is nothing I can do about that now.” Autumn got off the table and started to pull on her jacket. “I don’t know what I’m going to do right now, so I’ll call you soon and set something up.”

  “Autumn, please don’t end your life.” She looked at him and realized he had every right to think that would be something she’d do. “I promise you, when the time comes, you’ll not feel a thing. I’ll be there with you to make sure of it.”

  “I promised someone once that I’d not do that. And even though she’s gone, I won’t break my promise to her.” She could feel the tears building up in her eyes. “I need to go and think. Your assistant said she had some samples I could have, maybe.”

  The woman came in and handed her a white bag. It was heavy, but Autumn didn’t bother looking inside. She had enough to think about instead of whether or not she had been given a bag of rocks.

  Once out in the sunshine—the rain had stopped for now—she pulled on her sunglasses and made her way to her car. Crying without anyone seeing was an easy way to avoid the strange looks that she got.

  Getting inside her car, she drove to her home. There had been a plan to pick up a few things at the grocery store, but Autumn didn’t feel like that now. As she pulled into the driveway, she saw a car there that she recognized and decided she wasn’t in the mood for her sister either. Moving up to the porch, she saw April sitting there with an angry look on her face.

  “You locked the door. And my key doesn’t work anymore.” Pulling out her keys, Autumn unlocked the door and slipped them in her pocket rather than her purse. “Why would you change the locks? I’ve been coming and going out of this house since before you were born.”

  “Only because someone carried you in and out. You’re only eighteen months older than me. I changed the locks because it’s my house now, and not everyone’s drop in whenever you’re in town place. What do you want, April? I’ve had a shitty day, and you’re not going to make it any better.”

  “Well, aren’t you in a shitty mood?” She didn’t point out that she’d just told her that. When April opened the refrigerator door, Autumn pushed her own body against it and shut the door. “I want some juice. You always have the best kind.”

  “I have the best kind because I like the best kind. I don’t care for sharing it today. What. Do. You. Want?” April sat down. Flopped would have been a better word for it, she supposed. “This is getting you no closer to leaving me alone. I want to think.”

  “Grant is kicking me out of the house.” Autumn asked her why she thought she’d care. “I know you never liked him, but he was my husband. We have a child together.”

  “First of all, I like Grant. It’s you I don’t care for. And it’s debatable if the child is his or not. I told you he wasn’t as stupid as you seemed to hope he was. For Christ’s sake, April, the man is a doctor. It’s doubtful to me that they allow you to practice medicine when you’re stupid.” April asked her why she was taking his side in this. “Because, and this should be no surprise to you, you’re a bitch. You cheated on him several times in his own bed. The kid you shove aside for some other rabble isn’t his, and he’s a nice man. I said, I like him.”

  “Uncle Ross should never have left you this house. There are seven of us girls from his sister, and it should have been divided between all of us and not just you.” Autumn explained to her, yet again, that he didn’t like her either. “You’re very obtuse today. What’s up with you?”

  “I have cancer from the poison Mom and Dad gave me, and it’s spread throughout my body.” April just stared at her
for a moment, then asked her who she was leaving the house to. “Get out, April. Now, before I hurt you. You’re wondering why Grant kicked you to the curb? Perhaps you should record yourself having a conversation with someone and listen to it. Maybe that will give you a clue. You certainly don’t have any compassion anywhere in you. And the word you meant to use isn’t obtuse. It’s fucking rude. Get your insults correct. Get out and don’t come back. Ever.”

  Shoving her sister out the door, she locked it after checking to make sure she had the keys. Then she bolted the door, going to the back and side doors to do the same. If anyone came around now and thought to get in, she was going to blow them away with her uncle’s shotgun in the cupboard.

  “He left me the house because I stayed with him for four years while the rest of you acted like he was nothing more than a bank account for yourself.” She was glad he’d pulled his money from the bank after having a wall safe put in the house. There were no credit cards for them to steal. No checks to write out for cash. And everything he owned had been changed to her as the owner with him so no one could take whatever they wished from a dying old man.

  The house wasn’t much—two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and a single bathroom. What it did have going for it was the three hundred acres surrounding it, as well as the rigging that pumped out oil, the wide creek that supplied water to several towns below it, as well as a mine. The mine alone produced coal and gems, such as gold and diamonds, at a nice rate. No one, just her and Uncle Ross’s attorney, knew the amount of land she’d been left, nor the other operations supplying her with a good amount of income yearly.

  Autumn sat down on the couch and thought about her day. She had had so much planned for the afternoon after her appointment, but all that had gone to shit. Knowing you didn’t have long to live sure put a damper on things, she thought.

  The seven of them that April had been talking about were her sisters, all but one older than her—April was the closest to her in age—and all named for a month in the year. Autumn had always wondered if they’d planned to have twelve children.

  The sisters were named January, February, and April. There was May, June, and July, September, and then her, Autumn. The reason she was the odd one out was because she’d been born in September too—the thirtieth, as a matter of fact. Her name would have been October had she been born just twelve hours later. That was only one of the reasons her parents had hated her.

  Autumn was also the seventh child of a seventh son. It might not have made a lick of difference that she’d been born in September if she’d been a boy, what they’d been told they were to have. But being a daughter, the seventh one, it caused all kinds of shit to happen. Her father had a long line of sevenths born to his side of the family. It would only be skipped over when there was a different sex born to that line as the seventh child, such as her being a boy. Autumn was the seventh of a long line of seventh same sex children. Autumn was magical.

  “But not magical enough to keep from getting cancer.” Trying not to think about what her parents had done to her so they could, she supposed, cut off her magic, she looked at the things from her mailbox.

  Credit offers were nothing new to her, and she made sure they were shredded. With those applications in the wrong hands, her sisters would cause a disaster. She had a cell phone bill, as well as a bill for something called Dispatchers. Opening it up, she knew just who had put her name on the billing. It was really too bad on January’s part. Autumn had made it perfectly clear that any bills not okayed in writing by her would not be paid. She would have thought all her sisters would have figured this out by now.

  Pulling out her phone and making the call come from a restricted number, she didn’t think January would answer. When she did, Autumn asked her about Dispatchers.

  “Oh, they’re this amazing company that will pick up anything you order from anywhere in the state and bring it to you within twenty-four hours. That way, with me just having a baby, I don’t have to bundle her up and take her out. It’s so she won’t get sick.” Autumn pointed out that it was eighty-five degrees where she lived. “I know that, silly. But she could still get germs. Why do you ask?”

  “I’m not paying this bill. Not one dime of it, January. I made that clear to you guys when Uncle Ross died.” January tried telling her about germs and the baby. “Since I didn’t knock you up, nor did I have her for you, she is not my responsibility. Not now, not ever.”

  “You got the house, Autumn. The least you can do is pay for a few things extra for the rest of us. What’s it going to take for you to realize you’re not all that special?” Autumn thought about her sister’s house and tossed an expensive glass vase to the floor. “Did you do that? Damn it, Autumn, that was a wedding present from his parents. You’ll pay for that.”

  “Yeah, good luck on trying to prove I did it from Ohio when you live in California. I’m not paying this bill. And I have no idea how many things you’ve had delivered, but for six grand, I would have thought it would have been cheaper to let the baby have a cold instead of paying this bill.” January called her a bitch. “Perhaps, but you’ll be hearing from my attorney.”

  Hanging up on her felt wonderful. When the phone rang again, her sister’s number, she turned the phone off and put it back in the coffee table drawer. It was only used to call them anyway. Feeling better about herself and what had happened, Autumn decided to have a salad for dinner.

  ~~~

  “It’s been two years. How do you feel now?” Joey told Tanner he felt like he could hold his own with his magic now. “Good. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but you don’t have a lot of time to get to your mate. She’s having issues.”

  “What sort of issues?” When Tanner didn’t tell him, it left him to guess or rape his mind again. “Tell me, Tanner, so I can tell if I really do need to hurry along to get to her.”

  “She’s dying. And soon, from what I’ve found out.” Joey asked him what she was dying from. “I don’t have all the details just yet, but some form of cancer. She’ll need you to heal her before the big guns, as Ollie used to say, come for her.”

  “How long will it take us to get to her?” Tanner pointed to the tiny looking house that sat back from the road a good way. “We’ve been here the entire time?”

  “Yes. I didn’t know she was so bad when we came here. But I thought it could do us no harm by being as close as we could in the event she needed you. I should have told you, I suppose, but I don’t like having things changed around when I have no say over them.” Joey just cocked a brow at him. “Saving you from the flames is not the same thing. We needed to make sure of your abilities, and in the end, we were so wrong about that.”

  “Yes, no shit.”

  Joey had been sleeping in his tent for the entire time they’d been here. With the magic he had, he’d been warm and toasty when the cold came in. Now it was summer again, and he was starting to feel the heat at night. He also wanted a meal he didn’t cook over the grill and a long hot shower.

  As he packed up his gear, he realized Tanner was gone again. It was just as well. They had worked hard in the two years, and he wanted to move on as well. Gathering up his gear, he started toward the house. Might as well get this over with. Meeting his mate might be good or bad, but he’d not know until he got there.

  The screaming had him dropping everything he had and taking off at a run. His tiger took him over before they got too far, and the screaming was cut off. Whatever was going on, he knew it was pain and not just someone letting off some steam.

  Chapter 1

  Autumn watched the man pace back and forth. He did it very well as if he’d made a job of it, and now he was going for some sort of medal. When he stopped to look at her, she decided she’d had enough of him being there and sat up. Sitting there for several seconds, she realized how easy that had been.

  “I’m not as weak as I was an hour ago.” He sat down on
the floor in front of her. “You have some explaining to do, I think. First of all, who are you?”

  “Joey Whitfield. You’re Autumn Hunter.” She nodded. “You’re feeling better because I’m your mate. Also, I do believe you’ve been getting a little help from a vampire friend of mine, Tanner. I can smell him in this room, as well as on you. Do you have any more questions for me right now?”

  “Yes. You chased off my sister. Not that I’m upset about that, but how did you know she was here? I’m assuming you were lurking around outside and saw her trying to kill me.” He told her he was miles away. “I see. Actually, I don’t. Why are you sure—? Never mind. I was going to ask you how you were so sure you’re my mate when I realized I’m feeling better. You’re not just a cat, a tiger, are you?”

  “No.” She thought he’d say more, but he smiled at her instead. “You should know a few things before I explain what I am. First of all, you still have cancer. I could have taken it away from you, but I won’t do anything to you that I don’t ask about first. I can understand you’d want it gone—it’s a nasty thing to have. But I want you to trust me, and just doing things to you won’t have us starting out on a good note.”

  “I don’t want it in me. However, you should know I got it because of my parents. They hated me. I’m not sure why…well, I know a little. I’m the seventh child of a seventh child.” He nodded. “How do you know that?”

  “You’re magical. I’m assuming you didn’t want to share what you had with your family, and that made you a target.” She nodded. “I don’t believe you to be selfish, as they do, but smart. Using the magic you have would have drained you to be nothing more than a shell of what you were. Not giving into them saved you to become my mate. Thank you.”

  “They poisoned me—my parents. I believe my sisters were in on it as well. But as it was years ago, I don’t have any proof.” Joey put out his hand, and a ball—a sphere, she figured it would be called—appeared. As it grew in size, she watched it as she finished telling him what she’d later found out. “It weakened my immune system, which made it a prime place for cancer to dig in and take over. What is that?”