by E A Price
Jake knit his brows together. “Really, how?”
How on earth could anyone’s true nature actually be hidden from them?
“With enough powerful magic, her beast could have been suppressed. But it would take a lot of magic, and she would need to have worn some kind of charm to keep it going all these years.”
“Fuck, she would have needed to have worn it since she was 13… her ring.”
He recalled what happened earlier and how upset she had been. She told him it was her mother’s ring, and that she had worn it for years and couldn’t take it off. The only reason they had to – and it sure as hell hadn’t wanted to come off – was because it was virtually crushing her finger.
He explained to Melanie about the ring, and after Mal had found it in his now-destroyed office, she inspected it and agreed that it was magical. She held it up to the light. “Yes, it’s enchanted. This would do it.”
Jake felt a twinge of anger at whoever had put her through this. Maybe she really never had any idea about who she really was.
He gritted his teeth. “Why would anyone suppress her abilities?”
Carly gave the leopard a sympathetic look. “Maybe she couldn’t handle being both a witch and a leopard. Hybrids are quite rare creatures, genetic flukes, and the emergence of both witchy powers and her animal might have been too much for her to handle, so it was just easier to get rid of both. I imagine it probably hasn’t been easy, I’ll bet her leopard has been trying to break through for years. I guess when she met her mate, she had a really big reason to get out.”
Jake was met with a few raised eyebrows and a few smug smiles. He ignored all of them.
“What do I do now?”
Melanie gave him a half-smile. “Wait for her to wake up and then… I don’t know.”
Chapter Fifteen
Val groaned as she became aware that the bed she was lying on was really hard. And cold. And it felt like... linoleum. She tried to curl up and pull the cover around her. Ugh, her duvet felt itchy.
“Morning,” murmured a soft, deep voice that sent tingles of awareness right through her.
Her eyes fluttered open, and the greeting she was about to give him died on her lips. Instead of being met with the welcome sight of a bedroom, she was faced with fluorescent lights and bars.
Something inside her growled, and she shot up and looked around her, her, cell?
Jake kneeled beside her and carefully pulled the blanket around her, so it covered her delicate areas. The look of worry on his face was evident, and the tension in his body, palpable.
“What’s happening? Where are we? What’s going on?” The words tumbled out of her mouth, and she felt the oddest sensation of sympathy. Was she feeling sympathy for herself? Did she had a split personality?!
“We’re just at the station. Do you remember what happened last night?” he asked, gently cupping her cheek.
She relaxed against his hand and nuzzled into his palm. “Last night?”
Val tried to recall. They went to the construction site, she sucker-punched Trip, they came to the station and then… and then… something very strange happened. She held up her hands, searching for the fur and claws that had come out the night before. They looked normal, but surely she hadn’t imagined all that…
“I… I started changing… unless I was hallucinating… it felt like I… like I was changing into a wild animal!” she stammered.
“You did,” he told her bluntly, but in as gentle a voice as he could manage.
Val shook her head fervently, trying to hold back tears that wanted to fall. “Not possible, ordinary people don’t just go around turning into animals!”
“No, they don’t,” he agreed, his hand slid down to her shoulder.
Panic welled inside of her, but for some reason there was a small part of her that didn’t seem afraid of what was happening. A small, pushy, growly part of her, that was trying to get her to accept all this. She chose to ignore it.
“Then why did it happen? Am I… am I cursed? Was this some kind of a witch’s curse? Have I been eating too much rare meat?”
Jake gave her a skeptical look. Well, there had to be some explanation for it!
“Who did this to me?”
“Sweetheart, no one did this to you. You had to have been born…”
“Did you do this to me? Did you turn me into a… a… wolf when we had sex?!”
“What?”
“Well, how else do you explain it?”
She scrambled away from him, disregarding the look of hurt that passed through his eyes. That hurt made her feel guilty, but damnit, she was too discombobulated to do anything about that. She’d just turned into some kind of freaking animal! And she was having just a little bit of trouble dealing with that.
He sighed and rested his hands on his thighs. The stubble on his chin was more pronounced, and he was still wearing his uniform from the day before. She could tell because one of the pockets had a slight tear in it from when he had tussled with the construction guys. He looked tired like he’d had a restless night. Restless from fretting over her, no doubt. Yet, he still looked edible. She just wanted to run her tongue all over those tight muscles and… Oh, lord! She almost bit her tongue as a snarl of desire erupted from her lips.
Jake raised his eyebrows but didn’t comment - on that at least. “First of all, you’re not a wolf.”
“Then what the hell am I?”
He watched her carefully. “Don’t panic about this, but you’re a leopard.”
“A leopard!” she squawked. She was a cat? Weren’t those things big, scary and had tons of sharp teeth?
“Yes, and I didn’t turn you into a leopard. You had to have been born one. Was one of your parents a shifter?”
“I, no, I don’t… I don’t think so…”
Wouldn’t she have heard about that before now? Wouldn’t that kind of whopping big factoid have come up in conversation at some point over her 30 years?!
Jake moved toward her, eyeing her warily, like she was a wild creature that might just bolt if frightened… yeah, apparently that was exactly what she was.
He stopped when he was only an inch away from her, part of her was glad that he wasn’t touching her, while a bigger part wanted just to retreat into his arms and alternate between kissing him all over and crying into his shirt.
“Sweetheart, one of them must have been,” he said insistently.
He was trying to be kind, but he was also trying to tell her something that she didn’t want to hear or accept. She acknowledged that this situation was hardly easy for him either, but that didn’t allay her troubles any.
Val pouted. Yeah, she was being sullen, and she didn’t care. “Then why haven’t I ever shifted before now? Isn’t that weird? I thought you guys shifted when you were teenagers.”
Jake ran a hand over his head. “I take it you don’t ever remember shifting then?”
“Yes! Up until now I’ve been lying; I’m just pretending to be surprised by all this. Really, I shift all the time and sneak into the zoo to hang out with all the other freaking leopards!” she snapped sarcastically.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
He traced his fingers over her purple painted – because what was the point in nail polish unless it was a fun color - toenails and she let out an involuntary giggle.
“No, I’m sorry,” she muttered. “I don’t mean to… I’m just…” A freaking cat! Well, she had the catty comments down.
“Growing up, did you ever get sick?”
She blinked at the change of subject. “No,” she answered curiously.
“When we were drinking the other night at the bar, you drank almost a whole bottle of wine.”
Val scowled at him. Why the frak was he bringing that up? Was he trying to tell her she was a lush? Of all the times to tell her that…
Her face must have betrayed her outrage because he was quick to reassure her. “My point is you didn’t get drunk. Shifters have a higher tol
erance for alcohol, just like they rarely get sick.”
“But recently I have been getting sick. I’ve been having cold sweats, burning muscle pains and headaches. Up until I came to Rose I was in agony!”
Jake chuckled, not unkindly. “They’re all the things that shifters go through before their first shift. Your beast has been trying to push out and finally, she did.”
“My beast…” Just saying the word was odd. “This is so… surreal.”
“She’s a beautiful creature, just like you.”
“Really?”
Well, yeah, okay, when she’d seen them on TV they were gorgeous animals. And if she had to be any animal then wouldn’t a leopard be near the top of her list? A feeling of warmth settled in her stomach. No, what was she thinking? She was starting to think it was a good thing! “No, I don’t care, whatever this thing is inside of me, I need to find a way to get it out.”
Even saying the words was painful and hurt smacked right through her. Was that hurt coming from her, gulp, beast?
“I know you’re scared, but you can’t get it out of you, she’s a part of you. She always has been.”
Val folded her arms and gave him a defiant chin jut. “No, I can’t believe that.”
“I know this is difficult…”
“Do you?” she asked as her bottom lip wobbled. Boy she was a rollercoaster of emotions at the moment. “Have you spent your entire life as a human and then one day someone turned round and told you that you’re actually part animal?!”
Ah, hysteria was now putting in an appearance.
“No.”
“Then you don’t know!”
“You’re right.”
Val rubbed her arms. “Stop agreeing with me,” she grouched.
Why did he have to be so reasonable about all this?
Jake shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.”
“What do you want, sweetheart?”
There was such a sincere look on his face that she wanted to whimper. She wanted him surrounding her, reassuring her with his presence, his strength, his warm, masculine scent. God, he smelled heavenly. How could she not have noticed that before?
“Maybe, I just need to be alone.” Even as she said it, she knew it wasn’t true. Left alone with her thoughts and fears… who knows what she might do?
She didn’t need to worry though. The moment she said it, Jake folded his arms, obstinately and declared, “Can’t do that.”
“What?” She could be alone if she wanted! Ugh, she was so contrary.
He smiled at her and patiently tried to explain. “For one thing, if you shift again. Your leopard…”
“Let’s stop calling her that,” she interrupted sulkily.
“Your beast…”
“That’s worse,” Val exclaimed. “Let’s give her a name.”
Jake arched an eyebrow, and the jaw in his muscle twitched as if he wanted to laugh. “A name?”
What was funny about that? “Well, yeah, don’t you call your wolf something when you, ugh, communicate with him?”
He cocked his head to one side and seemed to ponder that. “No,” he said slowly, “he’s part of me, I’ve never considered that he needed his own name.”
“Well, that’s just rude,” she told him primly.
Jake was openly grinning now. “Rude?”
“Yeah, he deserves a name.”
“Honestly, it never occurred to me.”
Val looped her legs under her and inched forward so their knees were touching. “Some men actually name their penises, and you never thought to name the wolf who you share your life with?”
He seemed pleased that the conversation was on a more even, flirty ground. “Well, I’ve never named my penis either. What do you suggest?”
Her eyes flared a little with lust. “Ginormo?”
Jake burst into laughter. “For your leopard, not my penis, but thank you.”
“Well, I’m not blind…”
“How about Venus?”
Val snickered. Her first honest laugh since all this started. God it felt good. “Venus? Like the planet or the fly trap?”
He placed a hand on her knee and was obviously pleased when she didn’t remove it. Well, she didn’t ‘not like’ having it there. “Like the goddess of love. Valentine and Venus.”
“Hmmm, almost poetic,” she mused.
“Very occasionally I have my moments,” he replied huskily.
The sexual tension just shot up by a couple of notches. Soon enough, it was going to hit the top rung, and a bell was going to go off. She fanned her face. Did the cells have to be this warm? Weren’t people put in there to be punished? That certainly wasn’t what she was feeling at that moment…
“So, getting back on track, you were saying?”
Jake cleared his throat and tried to rein in his heavy breathing. At least it wasn’t just her. “If Venus puts in an appearance, she’ll be skittish and scared and I want to be here to calm her.”
“You think you can calm her?”
She knew that technically the leopard was supposed to be a part of her, but she couldn’t remember what happened after she shifted. What was to say she would remember the next time? What if she suddenly acquired a taste for human or wolf meat?
“I, umm, seemed to be the only thing that did, she seemed to get pretty riled when she thought my Alpha was threatening me.”
“She did?” If Venus were a bloodthirsty feline, it would certainly explain why her own courage and combativeness had exploded.
“She seemed to be more than a little keen to take a bite out of my Alpha.”
Val thought of the burly Alpha she’d seen stomping around town. He was even bigger than Jake and at least a foot taller than her, admittedly, short-assed frame. “You’re kidding?”
“No,” he answered, thoroughly amused.
“Shit, did I, or rather, did Venus hurt him?” Was there likely to be any retribution coming her way?
Jake was completely unconcerned. “He’s a big wolf; she didn’t get anywhere near him. But I need to be here for her.”
“Why do you have such a calming effect on her? If she’s scared, why would she listen to anyone?”
Val was pretty scared at that moment, and she was having trouble listening to Jake; why would the leopard listen to him?
He actually looked a little chagrined. “That’s my second point.”
“Oh?”
“You’re my mate,” he blurted in a rush.
“What?”
“You’re my true mate,” he repeated a little slower and a little more quietly.
Val stared at him, managing to keep her face a blank mask as she tried to process the new information. It was just surprise after surprise…
Alright, her first reaction was happiness, unmitigated happiness, and a strong sense of, ‘yep, called it,’ which she was attributing to Venus. Now that she was getting used to the idea of having a leopard inside her, she guessed that every thought and emotion that felt alien belonged to her, ugh, beast. Yes, it had only been a few days, but she couldn’t deny her feelings for him. Being with him had felt so… so right, and part of that must have been because he was her mate. He was meant to be with her. Holy cow, fate had decided that he was supposed to be with her! She hit the jackpot!
Yet, a niggling doubt stuck up her hand and begged for attention. Did Jake only want her as his mate now because he knew she was a shifter? Why didn’t he admit that she was his mate back when he thought she was human?
“Why didn’t you say anything before now?” she asked quietly.
“When you shifted for the first time, your scent changed and that’s when I realized. I knew you were special; I knew I wanted you, but… I didn’t know until you became who you were meant to be that you were definitely meant to be mine.”
She looked down at her hands covering his on her thighs. When had that happened? Last she remembered he had one hand on her. Somehow the other had crept on there, and she’
d gone so far as to add hers to the mix.
“You believe me, don’t you?” His voice was laced with anxiety.
Val continued staring at their hands. His were large and dark; hers were small and pale. She liked the contrast between them
“I wouldn’t lie to you, Valentine. I wanted to be with you before I realized we were true mates.”
“Did you?” she breathed, barely daring to hope.
“I did; I even went so far as to make a plan to stop you from leaving town. Admittedly, I only got as far as plan B.”
Val looked up and met his fearful gaze. He really was bothered that she might not believe him.
“Plan B?”
“Yeah, I was hoping to get a plan A, though. Plan B involved chaining you to my bed until you gave in and agreed to stay with me… I never said it was a good plan.” He chuckled nervously.
Probably would have been effective though she thought ruefully.
“So you’re glad that I’m your true mate?”
Yes, she knew that she sounded needy and more than a little whiny, but she didn’t care. She’d take all the comfort she could wring out of him at that moment.
“Amazed is more like it. I already wanted you to stay and be my mate, and to find out you are my true mate… it’s… it’s…”
“Like a punch to the gut?” she supplied.
“More like having all your Christmases come at once. Which is why I was even considering something as insane as plan B.”
Val sighed. “This whole situation – that’s what’s insane. I’m 30 years old for hell’s sake. I shouldn’t be waking up to find out that I’m actually a shifter. And now, I can feel all these emotions and urges inside me that aren’t mine.”
Crap, she just admitted her real age to him. She was sort of hoping to get away with being 29 for a little while longer. At least he didn’t seem to notice the age thing.
“That’s Venus making herself known. I know it’s not the same, but I do remember my first shift, and I was scared and confused, and everything felt so different. I felt like part of me was splintering, and I didn’t know who to talk to. I was alone, but you won’t have to go through it alone.” He squeezed her leg reassuringly. “You have me.”
Hmmm, maybe she would get her chance to probe him after all. “Why were you alone? What about the pack?”
