by J. M. Witt
“Mina…” Fuck, I wanted her. She pressed her hips against me and I could feel her warmth through the denim of my jeans. “Christ. Let’s go somewhere.”
“I, what? No.” She didn’t stop kissing me and I was becoming amused and annoyed with her. Did she want me to take her in the parking lot? Because I would. Her words were refuting me while her actions were egging me on.
Pulling us apart, I set her back on the ground. Holding her shoulders between my hands I questioned her. “Mina, make up your mind. What do you want?”
Sighing, she shook her head. Glancing in my eyes she crushed me with her words. “Not this.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Immediately I was on the defense.
“No, that’s not what I meant. Shit.” She ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath. “You’re the right kind of wrong and I can’t do this with you. Not like this. I’m done with random hookups and I don’t have time for a relationship.”
Tilting my head at her I tried figuring her out. It seemed my powers of persuasion had no effect on her. Not that I wanted to persuade her to sleep with me, but I did want to persuade her to tell me the truth. So she was used to random hookups, but was done with them? She wanted to hookup, but not this quick, not in a parking lot? I wasn’t into playing games and I was beginning to think that she was.
“Honey, you’re going to have to spell it out for me. I want you, you want me.” Leaning in I whispered, “I can smell it on you.”
She gaped at me and spit out, “Don’t talk to me like I’m a bitch in heat!”
Grinning, I couldn’t resist retorting, knowing what I knew. “Aren’t you?”
Her face immediately turned red as thunder boomed from above. Her hand lifted and I stopped her just before she made contact with my face. “Fuck you. This is exactly why this can’t and WON’T happen.”
She shoved me away from her and hurried toward her truck. “Mina, wait. I’m sorry. This can happen, it WILL happen.”
Jumping in her truck she yelled, “Prove it!” She slammed the door and then peeled out of the parking lot, leaving me staggering back to avoid getting side-swiped by her truck.
“Shit!” Prove what? That I was sorry or that this would happen?
What the hell was wrong with me? ‘Prove it!’ Why had I said that and what did I want him to prove? I didn’t have time for this, for him, especially finding out that he was Scott’s nephew. FUCK! I needed to get back to trying to find out who killed Scott and who it was he was trying to tell me to trust. Then there was the issue of who my father was and who murdered my mother. It’d been almost fifteen years, but something else was going on with me. I was having blackouts, mostly after shifting and suspected it had something to do with my father. I didn’t have time for Rollo and the devastation he would cause my heart.
Part of me was furious with my mother thinking she may have known something about my father and never told me. I was only ten when she was killed. And I’d lied to Rollo about his uncle just being my mechanic. Did Rollo know Scott was my legal guardian? Ugh. I had been a rotten teenager and though I made it incredibly difficult on him, he’d offered to adopt me on more than one occasion, but I’d refused.
Scott knew what I was and never judged me for it. The only thing he’d ever mentioned was that he was from a shifter family, but hadn’t inherited the gene. Now that I thought about it, he’d never mentioned family of his and I didn’t recall him ever leaving to visit relatives. If Rollo was here to take over his business how come I knew nothing about it, about him?
Something was off. Maybe Rollo wasn’t really his family. Scott and I hadn’t talked very much prior to his death and I regretted that. His attorney had told me about Scott’s nephew and yes, I’d just handed everything over willingly. I didn’t think anything of it except that if I’d let Scott adopt me, I’d have been the relative in charge of all of it. But, I was just some brat he took care of who never appreciated him the way I should’ve.
When I pulled into the cemetery, I got out of my truck and headed to where he was buried. A headstone had been ordered, but it wouldn’t be finished for months. I sat down and let my emotions take over. Not something I did often. He was the closest thing I had to a father and I’d treated him like crap.
A storm moved in and I was beginning to feel like I had an eternal rain cloud following me. A surge ran through me as I closed my eyes. Fighting it off never did any good, instead it almost made it worse. Another blackout was coming, the migraine that preceded them was making its way up my spine. The cracking of a branch alerted me that I wasn’t alone. I inhaled deeply, but my sense of smell was off. In fact, I couldn’t remember what Rollo smelled like and I had just been with him. Something was terribly wrong with me.
Turning my head, I saw him. The red husky had returned. I knew I was safe with him—though his pack was another question—but I wanted to know who he was. Returning my face to Scott’s grave, the husky came to sit next to me as I wiped the lingering tears from my face. I was trying to catch my breath when he placed his head on my lap and I lost it all over again.
“I miss him so much. I was horrible to him and all he did was love me like a father should love his child. Yet, I denied him that right.” Inhaling and exhaling shakily, “But I wasn’t his child. My mother is gone, my father a mystery. Something’s happening to me and I don’t know how to stop it, or even what it is.”
Another crack of thunder boomed from above as we both looked up. I outstretched my arms as the rain began to fall, silently wishing lightning would strike me down. Then there wouldn’t be any more worries about who killed Scott, my mother, or who my father was.
I heard him whine and looked to him. He stood and started running in small circles, wanting me to play with him. I just shook my head.
“I can’t. I can already feel it coming. If I shift I’ll black out.” He barked toward my truck and I looked between the two. “This is crazy. I’m talking to a dog like you can understand me.” He barked and growled at me knowing I was taunting him, and then sat down on his hind legs, glaring at me. “Ok. I don’t know why you won’t just show me who you are.” Nothing. “Do I know you?” Nothing. Sighing, “Ok. I’m going home. If you are what I think you are, you’ll meet me there.”
I stood up as he nuzzled up against my side. He was big, his shoulders reaching my waist. Stroking his head and scratching behind his ears, he leaned into me. After a moment, I headed toward my truck and climbed in. He barked at me and I reiterated my words.
“You know where to find me.” Then I drove off. His image stared at me in the rearview mirror and part of me wanted him to shift, but instead he ran off into the woods. “I’m truly losing it. Now I’ve resorted to talking to stray dogs that I think are shifters.”
I got home and headed to the kitchen. Starving, I pulled some lunchmeat out of the fridge and made a sandwich. I was startled when I heard barking on my back porch. Turning the light on, I peered out the sliding door and there he was, my stray red husky. I opened the door and he cautiously stuck his nose in the door.
“You better be housetrained.” He snarled and I giggled. “Just saying. Don’t shit on my floor or try marking your territory.” He buried his head in my crotch as I pushed him away. “Hey! Knock it off.” He sat down and stared at the last of my sandwich. “Begging huh? You hungry?” I threw the remainder of my sandwich in the air and he caught it, inhaling it down.
When he was done licking his lips he started pacing. I raised my brows and sat down at my small dining table. Gently, he put my foot in his mouth and pulled on it. He wanted to go run and I shook my head. He barked so loudly, I jumped.
“I told you, if I shift I’m going to black out. You prepared to carry me back here?” He barked again as I scratched my head. “Alright. I’ll take that as a yes. Turn around.” He growled as I raised my brows. “I’m not stripping in front of you.”
He stepped back through to the porch, keeping his back to me. I stripped my clothes
and walked through the door, closing it behind me. Shifting, I then rammed my head into his side, throwing him off balance, and took off in front of him. We ran for a few hours and I didn’t black out. Instead, I passed out from exhaustion.
This went on for a couple of weeks. Each time I woke with him next to me. Sometimes I was in shifter form and others in human form, but he always remained in shifter form. I didn’t see much of Rollo, but when I did he kept his distance, and that was fine with me.
I came home from work every night, avoiding Vider’s, hoping to find Red—that’s what I named him—waiting, and most nights he was there. I sat on the back porch as the first snow began to fall with his head on my lap. It was early for snow and that’s when it dawned on me it was Halloween. I groaned and he lifted his head to look at me.
“Don’t look at me that way. You’re giving me a complex. You need to show me who you are or I stop this.” He whined in response. “This is crazy. You know more about me than anyone and I don’t even know who you are.”
He jumped up and pushed me down, pinning me and licking my face.
“Hey, stop it! I’m not a fan of doggy kisses, not when I’m in human form.” My cell rang and I pushed him off of me as I got up to answer it.
It was Debi. She had the night off and wanted me to meet her at Vider’s for their annual Halloween gathering. It was funny how even on her night off she spent it in the bar. I needed the girl time. Debi was a shifter, too. Maybe she was just who I needed to talk to.
“Ok. Give me a few. I’ll meet you there.” I slid the phone in my pocket as Red whined. “Not tonight. I’m going out.” Walking through the sliding door I went to close it as he tried coming inside. “Nope. Until you’re ready to reveal yourself, this stops.”
I shut the door as he stared back at me. Hesitantly, I turned the light off and closed the curtains. Why did I feel guilty? This was ridiculous. Opening the curtains again, he was gone. I changed my clothes, freshened up, and headed back into town. I’d grabbed my devil horns and that would have to suffice for my costume.
I found Debi in the corner playing pool and made my way over. Dressed as a cheetah, also her shifter form, I laughed at the irony. She was flirting with some college boys as I tried ignoring it. We weren’t that much older than them, but it was just not my M.O. Debi could have her fun, but I wasn’t interested.
An hour later, the door to the bar opened and there he was. My panties immediately soaked at the memory of our last encounter. His eyes met mine as he smiled. There was no denying I wanted him. But the minute Dixie sidled up next to him, I wanted to vomit, or punch her in the crotch. If they weren’t a couple he was doing everything to make me think otherwise. I couldn’t be with someone who shared his women and wasn’t loyal. I knew she was with Zeke, too. I wanted to belong to one man, no one else. Someone who was willing to make me his and announce it to the world.
Debi elbowed me and whispered, “If you don’t stake claim on him, I will.”
“Don’t you dare!”
She pointed her finger in my face, “I knew it! You have a thing for him.”
Groaning, “Ugh. It’s purely carnal and not going to happen. I mean, look at him. Women are falling all over themselves.” He was surrounded by a flock of women and I found it infuriating and repulsive. I envisioned myself walking over and staking my claim, but it was preposterous.
“Carnal is what we do, Mina. Is he what you want?”
Her question surprised me. Shaking my head, “I don’t know. Everything is all screwed up in my head.”
She nodded. I’d told her about Red, Rollo being Scott’s nephew, the headaches, and the blackouts. She had told me if Red wasn’t willing to reveal himself to me that he wasn’t worth my time. She thought Rollo was time worthy. I thought differently.
“Well, you’re hot and by the way he’s looking at you, he wants you, too, Mina.”
I just shook my head. “He’s trouble with a capital T.”
“That’s what makes it so much fun.” She giggled and ordered us some shots then headed to the jukebox. When she came back I asked her what song she picked and she just said, “You’ll know when you hear it.”
I didn’t get another chance to talk to Debi like I wanted and maybe it was for the best. Rollo and I kept stealing glances at one another and a few minutes later Monster by Lady Gaga came on. I knew it was the song Debi had picked. She had a twisted sense of humor. I downed one shot after another, staring at Rollo, our eyes never parting as the song played.
We were playing a game of chicken, waiting for the other to make the first move, and both too stubborn to do it. Instead we’d end up crashing into each other at some point and the aftermath was sure to be fatal.
I drank too much and let a couple of frat boys get a little too grabby with me and Rollo tried stepping between us.
Pushing him away, I declared, “I got this.” He ran his hand through his hair, mumbling something I missed before walking away.
Debi had disappeared, probably out back or headed to the dorms or her place. I knew I should go. I knew it wasn’t a good idea for me to drive, so I’d just crash at my shop. Thank God for the couch in the back office.
Stumbling out the door, I made my way through the parking lot.
“Mina!”
Fuck. “Go away, Rollo.” A sudden cold wind blasted us as he caught up to me.
“You’re not driving.”
Dangling the keys in front of him, I stated the obvious. “Duh. I’m going to my shop. I’m fine. Go. Away!”
“You told me to ‘Prove it’. What did you mean?”
My head hurt at the thought of it all and it was instantly sobering. Looking up to him, I lost focus and just stared at him. “I, oh, never mind.” I turned back toward the shop when his hand captured my arm.
I didn’t fight him as he pulled me close. “No. I need to know.”
His warmth was soothing as the temperatures dropped around us. “That was weeks ago, Rollo. You have your pick of women. Go bother one of them.”
“I don’t want one of them. I want you.”
Christ on a cracker, I’d fall over if he let his hold on me go. “You’re just saying that. I know your kind all too well. It’s all about the challenge, the victory, and then you drop me like a sack of potatoes.” He lifted his chin as his eyes looked down upon me, studying me. “Stop looking at me that way.” I backed up against the brick wall and knew I was trapped.
“What way?”
“Like you’re going to devour me.”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do, sweetheart.” He pressed his body against mine. “This isn’t a one-time deal for me.” He nuzzled my neck as a chill ran up my spine.
“What if I said it was for me?”
Grinning, “One time will never be enough and you know it.”
He threw me over his shoulder and asked for the keys to my shop. I handed them over and he opened the door. All the fight in me was gone. Just one time. I’d be his for one night. It would have to be enough to last a lifetime because a lifetime was too long for anything to last. Lord help me.
Over the past few weeks I found out things I never knew about both our families. I got confirmation that my uncle Scott had actually raised Mina after her mother’s death. How was it that I’d never known that before? I’d heard the rumors that he was in love with Mora and now I believed it. I began to wonder if there was a chance he was Mina’s father and the possibility was definitely there, but it didn’t explain the powers that resided in her. There was so much mystery surrounding all of it and I had to know why.
Scott was my father’s brother, though they weren’t blood. Scott had been adopted in by my grandparents and did not have the shifter gene. So even if he was Mina’s father, there was no blood connection between Mina and me. Thank God. But it sure would’ve made for interesting conversation. I was thinking about things like I had already planned our future. Maybe part of me had.
I’d spoken with Victoria and asked que
stions without trying to make her suspicious. Victoria was still adamant of her hate of the Spitz line and I just didn’t understand why and began questioning everything I’d ever been told.
I had to be careful because she was also Zeke’s mother. A child my father welcomed to the family and raised as his own. Zeke was more than my best friend, we were raised as brothers. Now I was suspicious of everyone and everything, including Zeke. Except Mina. She was something and someone I had complete faith in. But why did my stepmother want her dead? I never questioned doing the bidding of my family, until now. Scott was adamant in his letter that I should protect Mina, but it was killing me that he hadn’t elaborated.
I’d spent almost every evening with Mina in my shifter form. Every time she asked me to show her who I was, it got harder and harder to resist. Tonight had been no exception, but I knew she just wasn’t ready for it, couldn’t handle it. And I wanted her to want my human form more. I was playing a dangerous game and I knew it.
Now, walking into her massage shop with her over my shoulder, all my plans to make her wait, to woo her properly, had been pushed aside. Closing the door behind me and locking it back up, I let her slide down my front. She stepped back from me, her nerves taking over as I took in my surroundings.
She had a pretty good setup. Oils, lotions, and other items lined the wall behind the counter. There was a sign with the types of massage listed along with their price.
“So, if I wanted a massage would you be my therapist?”
She gaped at me before shutting her mouth. “Yes, I’m the only therapist.”
Removing my leather coat and dropping it on the counter, I asked, “Have any openings? I’m awfully sore.” She just stared at me dumbfounded as I smiled. “I can pay.”
“I, you want a massage. Now?”
“Why not? No better time.” I winked at her.
Shrugging her shoulders, she surprised me with her reply. “Follow me.” We walked into the room on the left as she turned the light on. “It’s going to take a minute to warm up.” She turned on the heating pad on the table and laid down some blankets over it.
