by Jana Downs
“I think I might be there,” Evan admitted. “I’m annoyed for no reason, and my skin feels tight.”
Jude’s eyes narrowed. “He shouldn’t have let you go if he thought it was a possibility. What if I weren’t a shifter? You’d be turning in an office with no one else around who knew the signs. I’m not even that experienced.” That sounded a lot like a reprimand from where Jude was sitting.
“He’s doing his best,” Evan countered. “He said to call if I started feeling funny.”
“Well, if it gets worse, you need to.” Jude put his arm around Collin’s shoulder as the man came to stand beside him in Evan’s office. “While the mate who turns us doesn’t technically determine our animal, the fact that you’re soul mates tends to make the animals similar. Logan is a red fox. I’m a fennec fox. Get it?”
“I guess.” He swallowed. He didn’t know how he felt about turning into something aquatic. “Brandon is a tiger shark.”
Jude’s eyes bulged. “Um, yeah, don’t shift into that here. We don’t have anything big enough to hold you. The aquarium is only a hundred gallons.” The aquarium he talked about was the saltwater piece they’d bought last month to go in the lobby. Fear licked his insides. Would he suffocate? Get stuck in animal form? Jude crossed the distance between them and put his hands on Evan’s shoulders. “Deep breath, man. You’re hyperventilating. Shifters will change under stress. Calm down.”
“You want me to get him some water?” Collin asked, crowding in as well.
“Yeah. Go ahead and grab him a bottle out of the fridge,” Jude instructed. “Let’s go out to my office. The open windows will help settle the animal.” They’d recently relocated his office to the newly renovated open space in the back of the shop. It helped keep his animal steady.
“Okay.” Jude knew best when it came to stuff like this.
He let himself be pulled from his chair and out into the hallway. It emptied out into their game room/lunch room, and he sank into his beanbag chair. Collin handed him a bottle of water, which he took gratefully. He twisted off the lid and sipped the cool liquid. The moisture helped take the edge of his anxiety for whatever reason.
“You okay?” Collin asked, his eyebrows lowered in a furrow. “You look a little pale.”
“I’ll be okay. Just feel a little weird. Don’t want to shift.”
Jude pulled out his cell phone. “I’m going to call Brandon. Is his number in your cell?”
“No,” he protested. “Don’t. He had a late night at work last night and sHarmony is in shambles with the break-in.”
“He needs to know. Your mate will settle you better than I can.”
His skin tightened. “Okay.” He swallowed. “My phone is on my desk. His number is on there.” Jude nodded and turned away, heading back toward his office.
The vibrations started in his core and radiated outward. He opened his mouth to say so, but it seemed that his vocal chords were frozen. He blinked, and his vision altered. He thought he was falling for a second, but the disorientation stopped short as his body settled. Collin shouted something he couldn’t discern, and Jude let out a string of curses as he whipped around.
At least the vibrations had stopped. He opened his mouth to ask him what was wrong, but nothing came out. He tried to make his body sit up straighter but just sort of melted against the chair. Panic set in. Holy shit. What am I? He’d shifted. There was no other explanation. His feet fell off the side of the chair and dangled loosely. He didn’t feel solid. It didn’t make sense, but he just didn’t feel like he was as heavy as he normally was.
“Evan, can you understand me? Wave your tentacle if you understand.”
Tentacle? He flopped his leg and finally got a good look at the dusky red limbs that hung off his body. I’m an octopus. Or a squid. He blinked. What’s the difference? Shit. I don’t know much about cephalopods. At least he knew that much.
“Okay. We’re going to put you in the aquarium. You’ll be able to fit on the sandy part of the aquarium pretty easily. Just hang out and don’t eat the other fish.”
If he would’ve had a nose, he’d wrinkle it. He wasn’t going to eat their aquarium fish. Seriously. Collin poked him, and Evan glared at him. “Sorry,” Collin said, his eyes wide. “You are so squishy. How are we going to pick him up?”
Jude knelt down beside him. “He’s pretty long, but he should fit into a bucket.”
“Where are we getting a bucket?”
“Closet.”
They scrambled away from him. He was getting uncomfortable as his skin dried and the ability to breathe became difficult. It was like he was holding his breath. He touched the beanbag chair, tasting leather. Weird. He could taste with his feet.
Collin returned, bucket in hand. “Slide in, darlin’.”
He moved, and it was surprisingly easy. The yellow bucket they used to change out the water in the aquarium tasted salty. Collin grunted as he hefted the bucket. “Dang, you’re a little heavy.”
He hurried him into the lobby, and Jude went ahead of them, taking off the top of the aquarium. “I hope it’s the right temperature. Shifters are more tolerant than actual animals, so I hope you’re okay,” Jude said as he was lifted into the air. The smell of water made a ripple of longing go through him. Without thinking, he slid into the water with a plunk, sinking into the flowing water. He sucked in a breath, relieved at the oxygen that flowed through him. The muffled voices of his friends seemed unimportant now that he was in the tank. He really didn’t feel comfortable out in the open curled into a ball but it couldn’t be helped. The chunk of coral on the other side of the tank was occupied by a little eel that looked shady as fuck.
* * * *
“You turned him and then sent him on to work without any coaching at all,” an unfamiliar voice snapped on the other end of the line.
Brandon blinked. “Um, excuse me? Who is this?”
“It’s Jude Lawson, Evan’s friend and business partner.”
His stomach dropped out, and he readjusted his Bluetooth. “What happened?”
“He shifted. He’s currently occupying our aquarium and doesn’t seem to want to shift back. He’s not paying us any attention. I think you need to get your ass down here and deal with your mate. Got it?”
The guy sounded like a drill sergeant. “I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Fine. I’ll text you the address.”
He raised his head as the other guy hung up. “Hey, Max, can you cover for me? I’m going to have to take a PTO day. Tell the boss that I’ll work from home for the rest of the day. I can access everything there and will write up a maintenance guide.”
Max, his other shift supervisor, nodded. “Sure thing, boss. I’ll cover you.”
He packed up his stuff quickly and hurried out of the security room. He stopped by the front desk to tell Quinn that he’d be back to pick him up at close after explaining the situation. Quinn was really understanding and wished him luck.
Fifteen minutes to the dot he arrived at the address Evan’s business partner had texted him. He parked in the space nearest the door and beelined it inside. The soft tan and blue lobby was small, much smaller than sHarmony’s, but it was welcoming and professional all the same. There was a window where he supposed a receptionist would sit, but he didn’t need to approach it. Two men, one in business attire, the other in a pair of chalky jeans and a button up, stood staring into the aquarium that ran along one wall facing the front window.
“Hi,” he greeted. Both men turned and looked up at him. They had similar builds to his Evan and both were beautiful, though not as good looking as his mate in Brandon’s opinion. “I’m Brandon Payne. Where is he?” What is he? would’ve been the smarter question. He couldn’t be a shark because the tank wouldn’t have held one.
The taller of the two with the chalky jeans leveled a green gaze on him before pointing to the tank. “He’s in there.” He had to be Jude. The voice was the same.
“I’m sorry about this, gents,
” Brandon said, walking over to the glass. “So what’s he shift into?”
“A giant Pacific octopus. At least that’s what we think he is,” the other guy piped up. “I’m Collin, Evan’s other partner.”
“Nice to meet you.” He eyed the dark-brown and red flesh of his shifted mate. An octopus seemed like a bizarre animal for Evan, but the shifting animal was their core animal. Apparently his mate’s inner animal was a slightly slimy invertebrate. He put his hand against the glass, and Evan regarded him before extending a tentacle and touching the place where Brandon’s hand was.
“Oh thank God. We have movement,” Jude said, stepping to Brandon’s right. “How are we going to do this?”
“Do you have info on the necessary environment? Salinity requirements, temperature, et cetera?” Brandon asked.
“Full sea water, no hotter than 51.4 degrees Fahrenheit,” Collin rattled off, staring at his iPhone.
Brandon nodded. “I’m going to have to chill my pool.” It was a good thing his animal could tolerate that temperature. It would be hot for Evan and cold to him, but it would allow them to coexist.
“I can e-mail you the animal husbandry thing I just downloaded from the zoo’s website,” Collin offered.
“That’ll be fine.” He took out his cell phone and dialed Quinn.
“Hello?”
“I need your help, man. Is there any way you can take a lunch break and go to my house?”
A pause on the other line. “I will be able to leave in about twenty minutes. I can get someone to cover the phones then.”
“All right. That’s fine. My mate is fine where he’s at—”
“Mate? You have a mate? Why was I not informed of this?” Quinn all but shouted in his ear.
Brandon winced and pulled back the phone. “Easy, Q. Jesus. I have a mate. We just met. I accidently turned him a bit earlier than I originally wanted. But now he’s shifted, and I need some assistance.”
“What do you need me to do?”
“Go to my house and start the cooling unit in the pool. It needs to be about fifty-one degrees.”
“Okay,” Quinn said. “Anything else?”
“Start the water in the six-hundred-gallon tank downstairs in the lounge. You still have a key to my place, right?”
“Yeah, I’ve got the key from when you went on vacation in Cancun. I’ll go ahead and start the coolers and fill up the tank. I’ll give you a call when the pool reaches the correct temperature. Do you need me to pick up anything else?”
“I’ll e-mail you a list to your phone after we get off,” Brandon said, dipping his finger into the top of the tank so Evan could wrap his tentacle around his finger. The suction was surprisingly strong. “I’m a little unprepared for this. He’s a Pacific octopus, and I know nil about them.”
Quinn made a humming sound. “Try to talk him out of his shift. You don’t want him to spend so much time in the animal right off without you to balance.”
Brandon nodded, realized Quinn couldn’t see him, and made the verbal affirmation. “You’re right. I don’t know if he’ll pay any attention to me if I’m not in the water though.”
“Well keep trying. It’ll take a couple hours to get everything settled. The six-hundred-gallon is going to have to sit overnight.”
“I know. Just do what you can.” They said good-bye, and he hung up the phone before he turned his attention back to the other two men Evan worked with. “My friend is going to get my pool ready for him.”
“What do you need us to do?” Jude asked as Brandon pulled the pad of the sucker off his arm and out of the water.
Brandon shrugged. “Just go on about your business. I’ll talk to him for a little while and see if I can’t coax him to the top and back into human form.”
“But we’re his friends,” Collin protested.
Jude bumped Collin’s shoulder. “It’s a mate thing. Leave them to it.” He crossed the lobby and flipped the close sign in the window. “Just let us know if you need anything else.”
As soon as they were back out of the room, Brandon turned his attention back to the tank where Evan sat. “Hey, beautiful. You scared your friends a little bit.” The octopus just stared at him. “I shouldn’t have left you alone. Why don’t you change back so we can go to my place and talk this out?”
Evan shrugged his whole body before holding up two arms as if to say, “How?”
“You just have to calm your mind and think of yourself as a man. It’s gotta be calm and steady. Can you do it, beautiful?”
Evan shrugged again.
“Try.”
Evan slowly slid up the glass, wrapping his arms around the rim of the aquarium. He reached out, and Brandon stepped forward, allowing Evan to wrap four of his arms around him. God, that feels bizarre. It felt strange. The suckers were surprisingly strong against his shirt, and Evan’s body was surprisingly heavy as he clung to him. Brandon wrapped his arms around Evan’s spongy body. I’m never going to be able to eat calamari again. This was the man he’d been with, the man he was beginning to care about. He couldn’t put anything in his mouth that resembled his lover’s shifted form.
He crossed to a chair and sat down. “Come on, beautiful. Let’s get you in human form so I can kiss you properly, eh?” Relief filled him as the vibrations started in his lover’s body.
A second later his lover, warm, wet, and naked, blinked into existence on his lap. Water clung to Evan’s dark lashes as he blinked at Brandon. “Hi,” he said, sounding hoarse.
“Hi yourself, beautiful,” Brandon murmured. “Why didn’t you call me when you started feeling weird? You could have been seriously hurt if your friends hadn’t had an aquarium handy.”
Evan’s cheeks darkened. “I’m sorry. I thought I could handle it.”
“And you did handle it,” Brandon said. “But turned shifters are always more stable with their mates by their side. Just remember that.”
Evan nodded, shame painting his expression. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. “I really am.” He shuddered. “I’m a creepy-crawly. I thought I’d be something pretty.”
Brandon gave him a squeeze. “You are perfect, beautiful. Octopi are some of the smartest animals in the sea. It suits you, and you should be proud of your animal.”
Evan snuggled closer. “I’m naked.”
“I noticed,” Brandon murmured, smiling at the words. “Let’s get you into some clothes and then home, hmm?”
“My home?”
Brandon shook his head. “I think it would probably be best if you stayed with me for a few days until you get a handle on your animal. I’m scared you’re going to be at home and shift without any water nearby. Aquatic shifters have to be especially careful on land.”
Evan nodded again. “Okay.” He paused. “Do you think maybe you can save shifting with me until I get used to the idea? Swimming with a shark still freaks me out.”
Brandon chuckled a bit at that. “Okay. No shark dives until you’re ready.”
Evan sagged, relief evident in his expression. Brandon just laughed.
Chapter Six
Evan was embarrassed by what had happened at work and the fact that his mate had had to come pick him up like a misbehaving child at daycare. “I’m sorry,” he repeated for the millionth time as they pulled up in Brandon’s driveway. He shouldn’t have given into his sexual desire and jinxed himself with his encouragement of Brandon to turn him. It was just another mistake he’d made in a long line of them.
“I am the one who should be sorry, beautiful,” Brandon said, putting the car in park and cutting the engine. “I’m the one who bit you. Without that, even if the condom had broken, the chances for the change would be smaller.”
His house was even more beautiful in the daylight, sprawling and majestic, like something out of a Southern Living magazine. The sheer scale of the estate was pretty impressive given how far they were from the city. This was the sort of neighborhood everyone wanted to live in if they were interested in keeping up
with the joneses. Of course, Evan imagined that Brandon just lived here because of the privacy.
Brandon smiled over at him as he unbuckled his seatbelt. “You’ll get to meet my housekeeper and gardener, both shifters. My best friend Quinn came ahead of me to get the pool cooled down just in case. I won’t shift tonight, so I won’t worry about the temp for me. However, I’m setting up the six hundred gallon monstrosity I used before I got the pool. I couldn’t really do more but increase the current flow and swim against it, but it worked for a little while.”
“I’m sorry to be such trouble.”
His lover reached over and covered his hand with his own. “Don’t apologize, beautiful. You’re not any trouble at all.”
He was a liar, but, bless him, he made Evan feel better. He gave Brandon’s hand a squeeze before releasing it and unbuckling his own seat belt. Brandon climbed out of the car, and Evan followed. His mind was unfocused though, far from appreciative of his current circumstances. He was too busy worrying about the fact that he’d once again rushed into a decision and become a burden to his friends and loved ones.
Brandon unlocked the door and pushed it open. “You are thinking way too much, beautiful. I can practically hear your wheels turning. Today is a happy day. This is your first day as a shape-shifter. It’s different, but being one of us is a wonderful existence. You don’t have to look so gloomy.”
“I’m a sticky octopus who dragged you away from your job and halted an entire work day at mine. I suck.” He was beginning to expect that he couldn’t do anything right.
His lover put a restraining hand on his arm. “Hey now, none of that.” Evan allowed himself to be pulled into his lover’s strong arms, resting his chest against the hard swell of his chest. “Evan, you’ve got to stop this. Everything is great.” He opened his mouth to apologize again, but Brandon pressed his finger against his lips to stay the words. “You always think too much, Trigger.” The reminder of their interaction on Hackverse settled him for some reason. He knew this man, knew his hopes and his talents. If he were being honest, it wasn’t Brandon he didn’t trust. It was himself.
