Authors: Kate Douglas
Mei continued holding out her hand, as if in supplication. The wolf moved forward, sniffed her hand and stood in front of her. Mei took another deep breath and let it out, drawing on whatever inner strength she had. This is Adam. This is truly Adam. She repeated the phrase in her head, over and over until she could run her fingers through his thick fur without fainting. Speechless, she could only touch him and wonder.
The Adam wolf licked her fingers, wrapping his long tongue around them, running it between her thumb and index finger. She felt a rich spike of desire from her hand to her pussy. Stunned. Mei looked over her shoulder at Oliver. Maybe he could give her more of an explanation. She glanced at him and burst into tears. He’d shifted as well. A huge black wolf sat behind her.
Beyond words, tears streaming down her cheeks, Mei glanced toward Eve. A pale wolf, more gray than brown, stretched out on the bed, staring at her. Pink tongue lolling, the wolf nodded her head in a most humanlike fashion. Then she shimmered and Eve lay sprawled across the bed, naked, in her place.
Mei walked past both wolves, pulled the bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket where it now sat in mostly water, popped the loose cork out with her thumb and held the chilled bottle to her mouth. She tilted her head back and drank, barely tasting the expensive vintage. She wished it was a bottle of brandy or whiskey instead.
When she turned around, Oliver was Oliver again and so was Adam and both men were pulling on their boxer shorts. Mei set the empty bottle back in the bucket, walked over to Oliver and slapped him, hard, across the face.
“How dare you?” Her anger simmered hot and dark. She rubbed at her arms, understanding now what the strange, itchy feeling was. Her body was preparing to shift. Preparing to change her into a wolf, just like the three of them.
“We couldn’t say anything, Mei. Not until we knew for sure.”
“And if it turned out I wasn’t like you? I couldn’t shift? Maybe I can’t. We still don’t know, do we? What then? What if I’m not what you think?”
“I’ve already told them. I plan to stay with you. I love you, Mei. Whether you’re Chanku or not, I love you. I won’t leave you.”
“You’d be miserable without them.” She swept her hand in a jerky wave that encompassed Adam and Eve. Both of them sat motionless, waiting. They probably thought she was crazy. Hell, she probably was crazy. Only a crazy woman would think she saw three people turn into wolves.
Adam finally spoke. “We plan to stay with you as well, Mei. We’ve shared too much to walk away from you, even if you weren’t Chanku. That’s not an issue now, though. We saw enough to feel confident you can shift. You’ll be able to come with us. You’re one of us.”
She shook harder, her hands trembling now so that she had to clasp them together in front of herself to hold them steady. “How dare you scare me like that, get into my head and find out everything about me and not warn me this was what you were doing?”
“We had no choice.” Eve looked about ready to cry. “We’re sworn not to give away anything about ourselves to anyone who’s not Chanku. Until we were sure…”
“I know you’re angry, but maybe if you know more about us, you’ll understand part of our problem.” Adam moved across the room and sat next to Eve, but he faced Mei. “Oliver’s been around shifters for years, but he only became Chanku about three weeks ago. That’s when he made his first shift. Same for me, same for Eve. We don’t know that much about ourselves, much less you. We’re still learning.”
Mei felt the air just sort of go out of her, taking the anger with it. They made perfect sense, so why was she being such a bitch. Because I’m scared to death. Too much, too soon, too hard to explain. She shook her head and glanced at Oliver. “I’m sorry. I never should have hit you. That was wrong and I apologize.”
Oliver took her hands in his and brought them to his mouth. He kissed her fingertips and rubbed his lips against them. “You have a right to be upset. It’s not every day someone turns into a wolf in front of you. Unfortunately, unless you see it, you’re not going to believe it.”
“That’s for sure.” Mei rubbed at her arms in what had become an unconscious habit over the past day. “When will it happen to me?”
“You’ll have your third pill tomorrow. Some women change in three days, others take longer. Sometimes a week. That’s why we want to head back to Montana as soon as possible. We want Anton close by when it happens.”
“His mate, too.” Eve scooted across the bed and hugged Mei from behind. “Keisha can explain a lot of things, like how we can keep from getting pregnant without using condoms or birth control.”
“I’ve got an IUD.”
Oliver burst into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Mei pulled out of his grasp and wrapped her arms around herself.
“Tala Quinn had an IUD the first time she shifted. Mik, one of her mates, said it fell out on the floor. Earrings, any piercings…none of that makes it through a shift. However, if you have injuries, they heal faster. We don’t get any sexually transmitted diseases, or any other bugs that we know of, for that matter.”
“You used a condom when we had sex.”
“Because I could make you pregnant. You weren’t Chanku yet, and not able to consciously stop the release of an egg. But Mei, we didn’t have sex. We made love.” Oliver slipped his arms around her. “I love you, Mei. When you can finally shift, you’re going to realize what an amazing gift it is, to be Chanku. You will come with us, won’t you? We have to go in the morning, unless you decide you’re not going. Then we’re all staying here, with you. I need to let Anton know.”
Mei looked into Oliver’s beautiful amber eyes and realized he spoke the truth. He would stay here in Florida with her. Give up his home, his friends, his life, to be with Mei. Adam and Eve had sworn to stay with her as well. She who had no one, suddenly had a family.
She reached out and touched Oliver’s cheek, where the dull red of her palm print was still noticeable against his dark skin. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Her throat felt thick, her eyes filled with tears.
Oliver lowered his head. Resigned. Accepting. Mei smiled at him when she realized he’d misinterpreted her apology. Gently she placed her hand over the print that marked his cheek and raised his head. “I’m sorry I got angry, and even sorrier I struck you. I’ll never, ever do that again. I promise. Here I was worried you guys were some kind of weird cult. Nothing like that…no, you just turn into wolves.” She laughed, but it ended in more of a sob. “I guess I’d better start packing. It looks like we’re leaving for Montana in the morning.”
Chapter 8
Eve stared out the window and watched the miles slide by. Thank goodness they’d gotten an early start, because it was one hell of a long way back to Montana. It sure hadn’t felt like this long of a trip when she’d made her mad dash east, but she’d been a little bit crazy then, chased back to Florida by whatever forces of fate wanted her in that little mini-mart in Tampa when Mei decided to steal the store blind.
She was still tossing that whole situation around in her mind, wondering how and why things happened when they did. Of course, she’d blamed it all on that desperate need to escape Adam and her stupid fears. What a fool she’d been. It scared her now, thinking how close she’d come to losing him. All because she was an idiot and didn’t know her own mind.
Now she rode with him in the cherried out black Ford pick-up while Oliver and Mei followed. They kept a steady pace, winding up through Georgia and on into Tennessee, with only a few brief stops along the way, but she’d had plenty of time to think about all the dumb moves she’d made in her life. Leaving Adam was by far the worst.
By the time they reached Illinois, Eve felt as if her butt had melded to the seat and her eyes were practically crossed. And she’d pretty much run through the entire litany of all the reasons why Adam should never have come after her.
Thank goodness he had. He didn’t even ask if she was ready to stop for the night. He had to have sensed her exhaustion. The fact she’d hardly said a word for the last three hours should have told him something. She was more than ready, though, by the time he turned the wheel and pulled into the parking lot of a nice looking motel just over the state line, turned off the engine and leaned his head back against the seat.
“Thank goodness.” Eve leaned over and kissed him. “I was afraid you intended to drive all night.”
He shook his head slowly. “I’m beat. It’s not safe to drive when you’re this tired, and I figured you were probably ready to stop, too.” He looked up. “Here’s Mei and Oliver.” The Jeep pulled into the next spot beside the truck. “Let’s get a couple rooms and something to eat. We can get an early start tomorrow.”
“I don’t remember it being so far when I drove out here.” Eve laughed, but she felt foolish again, thinking of that crazy trip across the country when she was so intent on putting distance between herself and Adam.
Adam leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I hope you know I’ve been in your head for the past three hundred miles. Get over it. I love you and what’s in the past stays there. You left, you found Mei, we’re going home. End of story. Or maybe the beginning, at least for Oliver and Mei.”
“What?” She snapped her head around and glared at him. “You’ve been snooping in my head?”
“Yep.” He kissed her again and got out of the truck. Eve sat there with her mouth hanging open and watched him walk across the parking lot with Oliver. Damn the man. She sighed. He was absolutely infuriating, but she loved watching him walk.
Feeling like a complete idiot, again, Eve slowly unbuckled her seat belt, crawled stiffly out of the truck and stretched. She tried to touch her toes, but she was so sore and tight from sitting for almost twelve hours, she couldn’t make it all the way down.
Damn, she wanted to run so badly! Wanted the wind in her face and the feel of fresh earth beneath her paws. Wanted Adam beside her…inside her. Now where the hell had that come from? She was so tired her thoughts no longer made sense. She heard Mei’s door click shut, and gave up on the parking lot calisthenics. “Hey, sweetie, how’re you feeling? Are you as beat as I am?”
Mei shook her head and rubbed at her arms. “I’m exhausted. I offered to drive but Oliver said he was okay. I know he’s tired, though.” She stretched her arms up over her head and grimaced when her spine made audible crackling noises. “Now that I know what those pills are supposed to do, I’m feeling really anxious. Oliver says it won’t just happen without my control, but I kept thinking, what if I turn into a wolf while we’re speeding down the highway? Wouldn’t that freak out the people in cars around us!”
Eve laughed. “It’s not quite that easy, especially the first time. Generally you want to be with someone else so you can link and follow their shift. It helps to imprint the right way to do it in your mind.”
Mei nodded. “That makes sense. My arms are really feeling itchy and tight, but I haven’t noticed any change in my vision or hearing. Oliver said that gets really acute before you shift.”
Eve nodded. “I’d forgotten that. Yeah…all of a sudden the night isn’t nearly as dark. I remember being able to identify different sounds I’d never even heard before. The difference between a mouse and a snake moving through the weeds, for instance. Before, I couldn’t even hear them and now I can tell them apart.”
“You girls ready?” Adam walked around between the cars and slipped his arm around Eve. “We’ve got a couple of connected rooms and there’s a restaurant on the premises. No place to run, unfortunately. I was trying to make it a bit farther so we’d be near a forest or something, then I figured we probably wouldn’t want to leave Mei behind. I’m beat. I’ll probably just want to eat and sleep.”
He raised his eyebrows in a suggestive leer and grinned at Eve. She shook her head, laughing. “Yeah, that’ll be the day when you just want to go to sleep.” She punched his shoulder, but she felt a coil of need just the same. Would it always be this way? She reached into the bed of the truck for her travel bag. “I’m just hoping the tub is big and the water’s hot.”
But really, she hoped for more. Eve wondered if she’d ever get enough of him. She certainly hoped not.
“Do you think we’ll make it all the way home tonight? Mei’s got to be getting close to her first shift. She had her fourth pill today. I want it to happen at home, not out here on the road.” Eve realized that even though she’d only lived with the others in the pack in Montana for a short time, the beautiful big house in the deep forest was now the place she thought of when she wanted to go home.
“Not sure.” Adam sounded distracted.
Eve looked away from the vast emptiness outside her window. “What’s wrong?”
“Shit.” He pulled over to the side of the road and glanced in the rearview mirror. Oliver pulled in right behind them. Steam billowed out from under the hood of the Jeep. Adam crawled out of the truck and walked back through a roiling cloud of white. He popped the hood.
Oliver walked around and stood beside him. “I’ve been watching the temperature gauge. It started climbing a few miles ago, then all of a sudden…” He waved both hands in the air.
Eve got out of the truck and went back to the passenger side of the Jeep. Mei looked like she was just waking up. “Want to get out and stretch? We might be here awhile.”
Mei nodded and opened the door. Night had fallen and the air was cool for July. “I must have fallen asleep. What’s wrong?”
Eve shrugged. “Whatever it is, Adam will fix it.”
“It’s nice to have that kind of confidence in a man.” She glanced back in Oliver’s direction. “It’s new for me. To feel as if I can let someone else worry about things. Oliver’s just…” She grinned. “He’s so together.”
“Wait until you see him in action. He runs Anton’s entire household, essentially for the whole Montana pack. I imagine it’s been chaos with him gone. That’s probably why Anton’s insisting we get back as soon as possible. Oliver keeps everything functioning the way it should.”
“He may do households, but he said he’s not good with cars. Good thing we’ve got Adam! I wonder what’s wrong?” Mei headed around to the front of the Jeep. Anton and Oliver both had their heads stuck under the hood. Oliver was holding the flashlight.
Adam glanced toward Eve. “We need a cardboard box, something I can flatten. The thermostat was stuck, so I’ve removed it, but that’ll make the engine run too cold.” He stood up and made a square with his hands. “Something about this big. I want to cover about half the radiator. That should work long enough to get us into Bozeman.”
“I’ve got something.” Mei came back with one of the boxes from her shopping trip. Adam took the lid, flattened the corners and pressed it against the radiator.
“Go ahead and start it. That’ll hold the cardboard in place.” Oliver got in and started up the motor while Adam topped off the radiator with some of their extra water. He shouted at Oliver over the noisy engine. “You want me to drive it in?”
Oliver shook his head. “We’ll be okay. I’ll keep an eye on it. Let’s get going. Can you call Anton? I don’t have a signal.”
“Me either.” Adam slammed the hood down. “We can give him a call once we find a room. We’re not going much farther tonight.”
“It’s not fancy, but at least the room looks clean.” Oliver held the door open to the one room they’d been able to find at the first motel they came to. Two beds and a small sitting area with a nice bathroom.
“It beats sleeping in the back of the truck.” Adam laughed and carried his and Eve’s luggage into the room. Mei followed Eve inside.
It was starting. Mei’d gotten out of the Jeep, looked around the darkened parking area and realized she could see almost as well as if it were dawn or early dusk. The moon was almost full tonight, but it wouldn’t be up for another hour or so. She’d stood there a moment in what should have been pitch-black night, but wasn’t, staring out toward the rugged hills surrounding the motel, listening.
She’d picked up the sound of an owl flying over, the steady whooshing beat of its wings easily discernible. She’d heard a toad hopping across the pavement and managed to grab it and put it into some bushes before it got flattened by someone driving through the lot. Her arms still itched, her skin felt all crawly and weird, and there was a buzzing in her head. A feeling of something about to happen.
“Oliver?”
He turned and smiled at her. “What’s up, babe?”
“I think it’s happening. I feel really weird. I’m hearing stuff I’ve never heard before, and I can see in the dark. Do you think maybe I’m ready to shift?”
“Oh, crap.” He took Mei in his arms and gave her a quick, hard hug. “Adam? Is there anyplace out there where we can run? I wasn’t paying attention when we drove in.”
Adam walked out of the bathroom, drying his face with a towel. “There’s at least a small patch of forest on the hills behind the motel.” He smiled at Mei. “Do you feel like you’re ready?”
She nodded, almost afraid to give voice to all the changes going on inside.
“Well, let’s go then.”
Just then Eve walked back inside. She’d gone back to the truck for her overnight bag. “Go where?”
“Mei’s ready to shift.” Oliver grinned, and his relief was obvious, but she knew he’d expected it before now. “We’re going up the hill behind the motel. You girls might want something more than just sandals. We’ll need to hike up a bit and shift once we’re out of the lighted area.”
Eve looked back down the trail they’d followed up a steep canyon behind the motel. The trail wouldn’t have been visible to anyone with mere human sight, but they’d followed it soundlessly for almost half a mile without a flashlight to guide their way.
Mei hadn’t stumbled at all. She’d buzzed with an energy all of them felt. Eve couldn’t wipe the grin off her face. Her first shift was still so fresh in her mind and now Mei would get to experience the same thing.
If they hadn’t found each other, if Eve hadn’t gone to Tampa…she hated to even think about it. She really needed to listen to Adam and put the past where it belonged…in the past. Over and done with and time to move forward. Why, when that made such good sense, was it so hard to do?
The guys stopped in a small, protected meadow completely surrounded by trees and low-growing shrubs. The lights from the motel were barely visible below them, lost in the tangle of leaves and trees.
Mei stood nervously moving from one foot to the other on the uneven ground. Oliver took her by the hands. “You need to take all your clothes off. Just put them in the bag I brought. That’ll keep the stickers out of them and hopefully the ticks as well.”
Adam laughed. “May I explain that Oliver learned that lesson the hard way.”
Oliver glared at him. “You may, as long as you don’t describe where the tick decided to pause for a meal.”
Mei giggled. “I can imagine, but I’d rather not.” She slipped her shirt over her head, stepped out of her shoes and pushed her shorts and panties down her legs. She bundled everything up and stuffed the clothes into Oliver’s knapsack.
Eve and the others did the same and Oliver tucked the bag beneath the trunk of a fallen tree. The four of them stood there, naked. Mei looked nervous as all get out, but excited, too. Adam and Oliver had big grins on their faces. Eve felt as nervous as Mei, as excited and happy as the guys. “Adam? Why don’t you and Oliver shift first? Mei, concentrate on what they’re doing, how they do it. I’ll shift with you.”
Mei nodded. She was shivering, either from the chill in the air or just plain nerves. She wrapped her arms around her middle and hugged herself tightly.
Adam shifted. Oliver did the same. Eve stared at them for a moment, caught in the beauty, the pure impossibility of two wolves where men had stood. She took a breath and smiled at Mei. “Okay. Are you ready? Did you get the mental image, the process, okay?”
Mei frowned. “I did but…” She shrugged. “This is just way too weird. Maybe we need to wait another day. Let me take another pill…” Her voice trailed off.
Eve laughed. “Get in my head. Do just as I do. Ready?”
Mei nodded, a short, sharp jerk of her head.
Eve shifted. She immediately looked at Mei. Mei stood there, naked and shivering, still entirely human. She stared at the three wolves and burst into tears.
Eve shifted back. So did the guys. “What happened? Couldn’t you feel it?”
Mei nodded, sobbing. “I could. Honest. I was right there in your head and I tried to do everything you did. Nothing happened. The buzzing in my head got louder and my heart sort of skipped a couple beats, but nothing.”
Oliver wrapped his arms around her and she cried even harder. He tilted Mei’s chin up and forced her to look at him. “Do you want to try it again?”