Shifting Michelle's Boundaries (Siren Publishing Ménage and More) (16 page)

With the possibility of open hostilities on the horizon, Michelle could be at risk. He and Jack could easily protect her, but there was a chance that something about their true nature might come out. Maybe a wolf would come knocking at the patio door, either from their pack or Blondey’s. Maybe a fight would start and they’d be forced to shift in front of her.

He and Jack had a general plan for revealing their nature when needed, and it usually took longer than the five or six days that they had known Michelle. In this case though, they’d have to rush things and hope Michelle didn’t run.

As he flicked through the channels on the TV, a documentary on wolves came up. He let it play and flicked a look at Jack. Jack frowned for a moment, then his eyes widened as he realized what Craig was hinting at, then nodded almost imperceptibly.

“Oh, leave this on,” Jack said. “I love this sort of thing.”

“Me, too,” Michelle said. “Wolves are such wonderful creatures, if a little scary.”

“What about big cats? I’m partial to a panther or two.”

Craig tried not to roll his eyes.

“Oh, those, too.” She grinned. “Who wouldn’t love a pet panther.”

They sat and watched the show for a while, Jack throwing in the odd comment about how much cooler cats were than dogs, Craig resisting the urge not to punch him. As the advertisements came on, Craig made a start.

“You ever hear the stories about werewolves?” He hated the term, but it was more easily understood than “shifter.” “They say they’re seeing more sightings all the time.”

Michelle shrugged. “I’ve heard things, yeah. There’s always some news article on wolves being seen in cities, followed by some crackpot insisting that it’s a sign that werewolves walk among us.”

“So you don’t believe in them, then?”

She turned to Craig, a smirk on her lips. “You do?”

“Well, I’ve seen some weird stuff, both in the city at night and when out hunting. I think this world holds a lot of mysteries.”

“I guess. What about you, Jack?”

Jack stood and stretched. “I think I need a coffee.”

“Real insightful,” Craig said.

Jack laughed. “As for the wolf stuff, I’m with Craig. Lots of unexplained stuff out there, and more of it every day it seems.”

Michelle was silent while Jack busied himself with the coffee maker. As he came back with drinks, though, she took a little breath, then glanced at both him and Craig.

“I once saw something, you know.”

Craig froze. Did she mean she’d seen something here? Had one of the pack stopped by and she’d spotted them out of the window?

“Oh?” he asked, his lips dry.

“Yeah. It was a few years back. I was out hiking in the hills with my ex, Ed. We’d been following some directions that were supposed to lead to a scenic spot, but we’d managed to get lost instead.” She reached down and took up her coffee. “Anyway, we got in this huge argument, and I stomped off the way we had come to see if I could find a trail, while he went to pee.”

Jack leaned forward. “And you saw a shifter?”

Craig winced at the use of the term, but Michelle didn’t notice.

“I don’t know. In the distance, I saw a man walking naked through the trees. At first I thought it was some couple out for some fun in the sun, but then he disappeared behind a tree, and there was this cracking sound. Next thing I know I hear a wolf howl. Scared the crap out of me, so I ran back to Ed and we got the hell out of there.” She shrugged. “That’s it.”

“Huh.” Craig scratched at his stubble. “Sounds weird.”

“Yeah, it was. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time.”

Craig nodded, mostly to himself. Normally he’d let someone think on things for a while before moving up to the next step, then finally revealing his nature. In this case though, the pack problems urged him forward. On top of that, he
wanted
Michelle to know. She was a great woman, and had accepted the idea of their relationship with little difficulty. While a ménage relationship and the existence of shifters were very different things, he took it as a good sign. Still, actually saying the words was damn hard. He chewed his lip, then opened his mouth to speak.

Jack beat him to it.

“Michelle, I’m a shifter.”

Michelle snorted a laugh and reached over to bat at Jack’s arm.

“Very funny.”

Jack wasn’t smiling. Neither was Craig. Michelle’s gaze flicked between them.

“You’re serious.”

Jack nodded once, and Michelle laughed again. Neither man joined her. This was getting weird.

“You’re a shifter,” she said. “A werewolf.”

“Yes and no. I’m a shifter, but I don’t become a wolf. That, uh, that would be Craig.”

Her attention flicked to Craig, and her stomach dropped. Jesus Christ, they were being deadly serious.
No, they can’t be. There’s no such thing.
Her thoughts went back to the day she had witnessed the man in the forest. For weeks afterwards she’d searched the internet for information on werewolves and similar creatures. She’d found all sorts of sites claiming their existence, but they were all tiny forums and blogs. There was no exposé from a major publication, so she had just told herself that the man had indeed been out with a partner, and that the howl had just been coincidental. Now she wasn’t so sure.

“Prove it.” She glanced up as she realized she’d spoken out loud. “One of you prove it.”

The two men shared a look, then Craig stood and left the room. She looked to Jack, who held out his hands.

“He’ll just be a moment.”

“What’s he doing?”

“Shifting.” Jack sighed. “I’m really sorry about this, Michelle. Usually we work up to revealing this. We take weeks making certain that the person will be okay with it. In this case though, things have forced our hand.” He glanced away for a moment. “Plus, we really like you, and want you to accept us for who we are.”

A crackling came from Craig’s bedroom that sent chills down Michelle’s spine. Heavy breathing was replaced by panting, then silence. Jack stood and walked to the door, then turned back to Michelle, his hand on the handle.

“Are you ready? Take a moment if you need—”

“Open the door.” She had to see. Had to get the joke over and done with. “Let me see.”

He did as he was told, and a large wolf padded into the front room.

“Oh.”

The world blurred for a moment, and the floor rushed to meet her. Somehow Jack crossed the distance between them and caught her before she hit the carpet. He helped her to the couch, his hand on hers.

“Are you okay?”

She shook her head to clear the fog. “Yeah. Sorry. It’s just…uh…” She looked over to the bedroom door, and the wolf sat beside it. “This is a joke, right?”

“No, it’s not.” Jack squeezed her hand. “This is why we usually take this slower.”

The wolf remained sitting in the doorway, though it somehow managed to look concerned.

“Craig?” The wolf nodded once, and Michelle let out an involuntary yip of surprise. “That’s not…you’re Craig?”

The wolf nodded again, then glanced at Jack.

“Can he come closer?” he asked. “He’s worried about you.”

“How do you know?”

Jack smiled. “It’s Craig, Michelle. Of course he’s worried.”

“Oh.”

She eyed the animal sitting fifteen feet from her. While it was most certainly a wolf, it acted more like a trained domestic dog. She looked it in the eyes, and the realization finally hit home. It really was Craig.

“Y-yeah. You can come over.”

Slowly, Craig stood and padded toward the sofa. While it was hard to gauge emotions from an animal, it was clear from his eyes that he was upset. He stopped a foot from the sofa. Within her reach, but not so close as to panic her, she assumed. With a breath and a fight against her instincts, she reached over and stroked his fur. Craig stayed perfectly still as she did, but his eyes seemed to light up with either happiness or relief.

“This is unreal,” she said as she leant back again. “You’re both werewolves.”

Jack smiled. “Almost. We’re both shifters, but only Craig turns into a wolf. I turn into a panther.” Michelle felt her eyes widen. “One thing at a time, though.”

She was glad he’d said that. She turned back to Craig. “Come here.”

Craig did as he was told, and walked up until he was directly in front of Michelle, then sat and placed his head on her lap, his eyes on hers. She ran a tentative hand along his head, then rubbed at his ear. His tail thumped from side to side in response and she had to chuckle.

“Okay, I don’t think I’m going to faint again.”

“I’m glad,” Jack said. “I know this must be hard, but we needed to be honest with you. We didn’t want to keep any secrets. Especially one this big.”

“I can see that,” she said as she stroked Craig’s ears. “And I’m glad you did.”

Craig sat patiently for what must have been ten or fifteen minutes while she stroked him. The act was calming to her, and no doubt Craig realized that. Either that or it felt good. She smirked and glanced up at Jack.

“Is he allowed on the furniture?”

Jack laughed as Craig stood and then jumped onto the sofa. He turned once then settled on the cushions, his head up against Michelle.

She looked down at the wolf, at Craig, and rubbed the back of her neck. This was insane. In the space of a week she had gone from a one-night stand, to a boyfriend, to
two
boyfriends, and now to two boyfriends who happened to be shifters. What the hell was next?

Jack dropped to his haunches in front of her and took her hand again. “You taking this in okay?”

“Yeah. And to think an hour ago the only worry I had was whether or not to try anal sex.”

He laughed and stood. “Do you want to see me now?”

Michelle chewed at her lip. “Yeah, but Craig has to change back first.” She turned to him. “You can do that, right? It’s not like you need time to prepare or anything?”

Craig shook his head once and headed back into the bedroom. The crackling sound returned and a few seconds later Craig stepped back into the living room, naked and breathing hard, his clothes on his arm.

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked as he quickly pulled his clothes back on.

“I think so, yeah.” She nodded at Jack. “Your turn, I guess.”

Jack disappeared into his room, and Craig sat on the sofa next to Michelle.

“Hey, maybe I wanted Jack to curl up like you did.”

Craig smirked and shook his head. “He won’t fit.”

The sound came again—one that Michelle could only guess was the sound of bones changing shape—and the largest cat she had ever seen stepped out of Jack’s room.

“Oh my god.”

Jack did as Craig had, and sat up beside his door while Michelle stared at him. He must have been eight feet in length, and three hundred pounds, with fur as black as night. While Craig had looked quick and lithe, Jack just looked powerful. Like he could knock a house down with an idle bat of his huge paw.

While the eyes were very different to Craig’s, being a cat’s eyes, the intelligence was still clear.

“Come on over,” Michelle said.

The cat—
Jack
—did as she said, though this time it took her longer before she worked up the nerve to touch the animal. A wolf was one thing, but a big cat was a whole other ball game. She knew it was Jack, but her instincts were still screaming “run.” She swallowed her fear and ran a hand along his flank.

In response Jack purred noisily, making her laugh. “You big pussy cat, you.”

Craig laughed with her and stood. “All right, well we’ve got the hard part over with. Now come the questions, I suppose.”

Michelle nodded. “Oh hell yeah. I have many.”

* * * *

Craig came back into the lounge to find that Michelle was scratching Jack between the ears. She had adapted far better than he’d expected, and much quicker, too. When he’d first come out of the bedroom and she’d nearly fainted, he thought his heart would break. Thankfully she recovered fast.

He set two coffees on the table, along with a bowl of water for Jack. He had started to leave, to change back, but Michelle had decided that keeping one of them shifted for the time being might help. Jack had been happy to oblige. No doubt so he didn’t have to answer any tough questions.

“So,” Craig said. “What would you like to know first?”

Michelle took her coffee and cradled it against her chest. “Um, I suppose we’ll start at the beginning, if that’s okay?”

He smiled and nodded. “Makes sense to me.”

In actual fact, he didn’t like talking about his early days, but he was trying to make Michelle feel comfortable, and keeping information from her wasn’t the way to do that.

“Were you bitten?”

“I was. It’s the only way to pass it on, and even then in most cases it won’t work.”

“So it’s something in saliva?” She looked alarmed. “Because we’ve kissed a lot.”