Authors: Anya Nowlan
“I can’t,” Marcus said, his voice trembling.
“Yes, you can. You are your father’s son. Like him, you can control your animal. Your mother taught you to be strong even without him around. Now’s the time to use it. Besides, if we get out of here, you can be as damn angry at me as you want. You don’t want to pass up on that opportunity,” he said, drawing a quick chuckle out of the boy. Small victories were still victories.
“Try,” Austin urged. “Close your eyes and go into that place that you felt when you were in shifted form. Let it take you. And stay in it, don’t struggle against it. Okay? I’ll be right here.”
There was doubt in Marcus’s eyes, but Austin was glad to see that he was considering it. Nodding slowly, Marcus closed his eyes and took a deep breath like Austin had shown him before, and a moment later, the shift claimed him. He was small and skinny for a mountain lion, attributed to his youth at the moment, with some spots still in his coat, but it was obvious that he was going to be a great big beast one day. Probably bigger than Austin himself.
Following his own advice, Austin changed as well. He had to imagine that Dahlia was losing her mind in the helicopter with worry, seeing both her men in such a dangerous situation. By the time Austin had changed, he felt much more comfortable on the miniscule outcropping. His golden eyes met Marcus, who bared his teeth for a moment in a yowl. He was ready.
With grace that came from decades of practice, Austin turned around and begun making his way up. He didn’t take the short route that he would have had he been alone, but the long, winding, safer one. Every now and then, he would check behind him to see Marcus readying himself for jumps or scratching at the solid rock for a foothold. But he always followed. Gangly and awkward as he was, he didn’t lack that physical power all shifters had.
The light of the helicopter followed them all the way up, and when Austin watched Marcus scramble onto the grass, their footing secure finally, he let out a big breath. He shifted back and Marcus did the same. Breathless and exhausted, Marcus collapsed on the cold grass, prevented from hitting his head on the ground only because Austin moved as quickly as he did.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Dahlia
It didn’t matter how many people reassured her that this was completely normal, Dahlia wasn’t going to leave Marcus’s bedside before he was damn well awake. It had been thirty-six hours now and he still hadn’t shown any signs of wishing to stir from his slumber. At first, Dahlia had been very near to a good old case of hysterics, but after three shifters individually assured her that Marcus was sleeping off his exhaustion, she could calm down a little.
Nevertheless, there she was, sitting at his bedside. Austin had been in and out of the room the whole time, though more in than out. He made her eat and tucked her in when she fell asleep with her head resting on her hands in the high-backed recliner that Austin moved into the guestroom for her. Her heart still ached with worry.
“Any change?” Austin asked, walking in with a steaming mug of coffee for Dahlia.
“No,” she said with a sigh, accepting the drink gratefully. “I know you and Kacey and Slate and everybody else tells me that he’ll be fine, but I can’t believe it before I see it, you know?”
Austin nodded and sank down on the armrest of the chair, nuzzling his nose into her hair and kissing the top of her head. It sent a pleasant tingle down her back. Kacey, the resident nurse, had come by to see him as well and confirmed that he would be fine, and that he needed to sleep it off. If things had been bad, she would have asked for help from a healing dragon that lived in the area, but apparently there was nothing wrong with Marcus that a good long nap wouldn’t fix.
Dahlia couldn’t help but feel completely guilty though. She should have known better, should have—
“Stop it,” Austin said, putting a hand on hers. “You’re doing it again. Blaming yourself. Stuff happens. He needed to find his shifter side eventually. I think it’s better that he did it when in the company of people that could understand. Now, he’s exhausted. It happens to all young shifters. It takes a damn lot of energy to shift, you know. Why do you think we eat so much?” Austin asked, chuckling.
Just then, Marcus’s stomach growled loudly and a second later, his eyes fluttered and then opened.
“See, speak of the devil.”
“Marcus!” Dahlia yelped, giving her mug back to Austin and getting up, smiling broadly. “Honey, are you okay? We were so worried!”
Marcus yawned a mighty yawn and stretched a little, curling to one side. “I’m hungry,” he said, eyes bleary with sleep.
Austin chuckled again, turning around on his heel after giving a quick salute. “I’ll go fix you up something to eat, kid.”
“Lots of something to eat!” Marcus corrected Austin, receiving a hand wave in response.
He propped himself up on the pillows, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.
“What happened? I had the craziest dream.”
“It wasn’t a dream,” Dahlia said, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “We think you fell into the gorge and managed to stay on one of the ledges. You had some bruises on you but they’re almost faded already. Must be that mountain lion working overtime for you.” Dahlia smiled gently. “Austin talked you into shifting again and you followed him out. It was amazing!
You
were amazing. Your father would have been so proud.”
Dahlia took Marcus’s hand and he let her, which made her mother’s heart jump for joy. If there was one thing she didn’t want to do anymore, it was fighting. She was tired of it and she had to assume Marcus was too. Couldn’t they just have a little bit of happiness now?
“You think so?” he asked, his voice quiet.
“I know so,” she confirmed.
“It’s … I don’t know. I always felt like he might have… you know. Because I didn’t shift ever and…” Marcus trailed off and Dahlia pulled him into her arms immediately, kissing his scruffy hair.
“Don’t you dare say that. Your father always said everyone accepts their fate in their own due time. He never rushed you and he was never,
ever
disappointed in you. He was taken from us because fate decided to, not because of what you or I or he did. He was so proud of you, Marcus.”
Dahlia’s skin pimpled with goose bumps. She heard Austin’s soft steps in the background, but he gave them the minute they needed. Marcus’s chest rose and fell heavily and he latched his arms around her, squeezing tight.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” he said, his voice light.
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s been hard for all of us. But I wanted to give us both a chance for a new future and I think here, in Shifter Grove, we might have it. What do you think? Would you like to stay here?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder and finding Austin standing in the doorway with a mild smirk on his lips.
Marcus looked from her to Austin and then back again.
“Are you two going to be together?”
“I’d like to give it a go. If the man of the Roberts household gives me his blessing that is,” Austin said, walking to the bedside.
Marcus hesitated for a moment, his face still a bit pale and looking like it fit in far too well with the gray and white covers on the bed. But when he smiled, the color returned to his cheeks and his gray eyes sparked with light, so similar to his father’s.
“Only if you behave, mister,” he said with a false tone of cockiness and maybe a little hint of twang, probably picked up from all the guys in Shifter Grove.
Dahlia giggled and Austin reached out his hand to Marcus, smirking. They shook on it like two men would, an unspoken promise passing between them. And Dahlia was damn sure neither one of them wanted to disappoint the other. When they withdrew from their solemn handshake, Dahlia couldn’t help but smile. It was like all the tension in the room had been wiped away, the air cleared and made new and promising. She took a deep breath and stood up from the bed, putting her hands on her hips.
“Now, with all of that settled, I think you, young man, need to get up and come to the kitchen if you want some food. No use in lounging around here all day!”
Of course, she didn’t need to tell that to Marcus twice. He scooted out of bed at the speed of light, grabbing a T-shirt on his way out the door and throwing it on top of the sweatpants he was wearing. Apparently there was one thing that could really get a young boy moving: the promise of food after an exhausting bout of shifting!
That left Dahlia alone in the bedroom with Austin. Marcus’s steps went farther fast, and it wasn’t a moment later that Dahlia heard the telltale slamming of cupboard doors. She turned to face Austin, but he was already pulling her to him, his fingers intertwining on the small of her back.
“So, I guess I got permission now,” he said with a devilish grin, that drawl of his licking at her ears.
“Permission to do what?” she teased.
“This, of course,” he said casually, dipping lower to steal a long, passionate kiss from her.
Her heart fluttered. Like she’d told Marcus, no one could replace Arthur. He would always have a very special place in her heart. But she couldn’t deny that the feelings she had for Austin had the promise of growing just as strong. Maybe fate did grant second chances, even to people who already found their bliss once? Finally, she was willing to give it a chance.
She smiled as Austin’s kisses turned into quick pecks, covering her mouth and cheeks in an endless array of barely restrained affection. Her hands rested against his chest and a feeling of warmth flooded her, a combination of happiness and the knowledge that she was exactly where she had to be.
And somewhere up there, someone was keeping an eye on her and her son. And she knew exactly who it was.
“I’m so glad I answered that silly ad of yours,” she said with a soft mewl as Austin hugged her close.
“I’m so glad I put up that damn thing,” he chuckled.
Funny how life worked sometimes. When she thought that things were at their worst, they turned to be at their best. And she couldn’t get enough of it.
One thing was certain: she was going to build a life here. And she had no doubt that she would find exactly the kind of happiness she had been longing for, right by Austin’s side.
EPILOGUE
Austin
Austin paused at the door, hovering there for a moment as he watched Dahlia and Danni flit about nervously through the wide glass pane on the front door. He chuckled to himself, that encouraging burst of warmth filling his chest and making his step lighter. It always happened when he saw Dahlia and for the life of him, he was sure that it would never stop.
He pushed through the door and stood in the small hair salon like a hulking mountain of calm amidst a stormy crisis, perfectly ignored for a moment. Dahlia and Danni were trying to maneuver a heavy massage table into the adjoining room, off of the main reception and styling room that Danni used. Even the little bell that had rung above the door when he stepped in didn’t get them to look up.
“I’m telling you, it will not fit!” Danni said, exasperated.
“It damn well better or I’m going to have to rip a hole in this wall with my bare hands,” Dahlia growled, giving the damnable thing a hardy shove that seemed to do nothing other than frustrate her further.
“How about I help,” Austin rumbled, casually walking past the two women.
He picked the table up, ignoring the chirpy gasp Dahlia made as he did so, turned it on his side and stepped through the door easily. Setting it down in the middle of the room, already complete with plush carpet and a wallpaper with soothing tones and a slightly oriental pattern that Austin had had the privilege of putting up a few days ago, he threw a smile over his shoulder at Dahlia.
“Is this where you want it?”
The women exchanged a look and Dahlia grinned, shaking her head and crossing her arms on her chest. Danni touched Dahlia’s shoulder lightly, smiling.
“I need to bring
my
men around here more often. Feels like Austin’s doing everything for us. I think Rhett and Rush should be jealous soon!”
“No need to be jealous, he’s all mine!” Dahlia laughed, gliding into the room after Austin and closing the door behind her. “My knight in worn denim!” she gushed, curling up close to him as Austin pulled her into his embrace.
“At your service, Miss. Now, is this where you want it or should I show you some alternative placements?” he asked with a grin on his lips, leaning on the massage table and pulling Dahlia with him.
Honestly, there really weren’t any other options. It was a small room, slightly longer than it was wide, and only big enough to fit someone getting a heavenly massage and someone giving it. Of course, Austin could think of plenty of other things to do on a flat surface at that very moment.
“Does that mean I could enjoy you manhandling that thing again?” Dahlia asked with a cheeky grin.
“I’ll manhandle you any time,” he quipped, stealing a kiss from her lips and making Dahlia erupt in giggles.
Spirits above, he loved to hear her laughing. And he loved to hear
himself
laughing. It felt like a lifetime ago when he last dared to really do it without feeling guilty, without feeling like he was cheating on Amelia’s memory by being happy for a moment. But the more time he spent around Dahlia and Marcus, the more at ease he felt.
Amelia would always be in his heart. One didn’t simply forget about their fated… But fate had given him another chance. Another shot at happiness. He would have never believed it to be possible if it hadn’t happened to him. All those tales of dying broken hearted when a shifter lost his mate – he’d taken them to heart. And he’d had no reason not to. But with Dahlia in his arms, he knew that there could be a better future. There was something shining on his path that he could reach out and grab and he was determined to never let go.
Dahlia and Marcus had been in Shifter Grove for two months now. While there wasn’t a fully staffed school yet, Teresa had started giving individual classes to keep the older kids up to date on their curriculum and Marcus was thriving. He went to classes with a smile on his face and he practically ran home to go and discover the wilds of Idaho. Better yet, he was spending time with Austin and getting lessons on how to both control and harness his inner shifter.