She didn’t see Jacob for a few days after that. Every day, her guilt got a little worse and she fought with herself, replaying his handsome scowl in her mind. But, he didn’t have to be so stubborn! Or attractive, but that was another matter to contend with. She kept herself busy scrubbing her house inside and out after her work for the day. At night, she kept herself cozy with hot chocolate and more books.
The invitation to the weekly dinner slipped away from her mind completely. It wasn’t until Jacob showed up at her door one evening that she remembered. She raised her hands to her lips. She was still in her work uniform with dirt smudged all over her face, stinking of sweat.
“You forgot?” he asked with a cocky grin.
“I was too busy worrying about whether those teenagers would charge a lawsuit,” she confessed and then heard a familiar coo coming from behind Jacob’s back. “You brought Phoenix?” she asked with a smile.
He turned to show her the baby, happily wrapped and stowed away in the carrier. She waved hello, and Phoenix reached out a strong hand to wag her finger. “She’s so powerful!” Ashley muttered with surprise. He chuckled, laughing so hard that Phoenix bounced happily in her carrier.
“She’s a Shifter, human.”
Ashley scowled. “Do you have to call me that? I’d prefer neighbor…or my name.”
His cocky grin didn’t seem to leave. “You have two minutes to freshen up before I drag your stinky self to dinner with a clan of bears.”
She gulped and dove back into her house, quickly brushing her teeth and spritzing on some perfume. When she came out, she’d changed into dark jeans and a form-fitting cranberry sweater. She pressed a hand to her warm cheeks.
“I hope they won’t judge me too much,” she told him. He laughed.
“They’ll probably like that you smell like dirt.”
She glared at him. “Oh, thanks.”
“I meant it as a compliment.”
“I’m sure,” she muttered. “Anyways, I’ve been working hard on the park.”
“I’ve seen the trails from the mountain. They look nice. Too bad the humans will mess them up all over again,” he said the last part with a bit of pompous satisfaction. She rolled her eyes.
“Can you ever just be positive about humans for once? We’re not perfect, but some people really do love nature and treat it with respect.”
“Like those teenagers lighting up a cigarette next to some dried-out trees?” he asked playfully. To her displeasure, Phoenix giggled along, as if she understood!
Ashley shook her head. “Let’s talk about something else besides your prejudice against humans. What should I expect for dinner?”
“Home-made brew and a lot of meat,” he replied honestly. “I hope you’re not vegetarian.”
“I was in college,” she admitted with a shrug. “Don’t worry. I’ll eat whatever you have. I should’ve baked something for you guys.”
He chuckled, his handsome laughter tickling her ears with delight. “Don’t worry. We’re not crazy for sugar like…”
“Humans?” she remarked with a laugh. To her delight, Phoenix began giggling at this! Victory! Ashley grinned to herself as they approached the Shifter fort. She took a deep breath. This was a new adventure. One she wasn’t sure if she was prepared for.
Chapter 4
“You invited the human to dinner?”
His clan had been about as surprised as Jacob was with himself. He awkwardly cleared his throat as forty pairs of eyes stared him down. “A human?” Ken echoed their other clan member. Amanda grinned, her eyes twinkling.
“This way, we won’t have another Carl.”
The table breathed a collective groan. Ken stroked his beard thoughtfully. “Well, that might be a good idea. One of our cubs nearly took off that last guy’s head.”
“I don’t think we’ll have issues with the new ranger,” Jacob assured them. “But I’d rather not repeat our last experience.”
Amanda was smirking to herself, cradling the young Phoenix. The clan had been sharing their weekly dinner and finishing up with a round of after-dinner drinks. “What’s the new ranger like?” she asked in an innocent tone.
“Pretty, I hear,” Ken called out and winked at his wife, who was fully enjoying teasing Jacob.
“Nice and not nosey like Carl,” Jacob assured her with a half-grin. “She’s not bad looking.” Another clan member whistled from down the table. “We’re all going to be on our best behavior for her next week.”
And that had been their meeting about it. When Jacob brought up something to the table, it was said and then done. He’d inherited a leadership role in the clan through years of hard work. He suspected some even felt bad raising any opposition against him after his mate’s passing.
They couldn’t risk having another Carl, to be fair. It had nothing to do with the fact that he liked the scent of that human woman or that he admired the way she stood up to him. Although she was wrong about those teenagers. They needed to be knocked a peg. It was the same with the cubs in the clan. They had to have a lesson about respecting authority and nature. Gods, she’d seemed furious with him. He smirked, remembering her quick turn on her heel and march away from him back to her cozy cottage.
Her heart was in the right place, he thought. Still, he wasn’t planning on going easy on teenaged delinquents. He wasn’t going to hurt any of them…just not let them hurt the natural world around them. He liked to volunteer for the patrol watches lately. Amanda was happy to take Phoenix, but sometimes he enjoyed her coming along. A modern human might balk at bringing a child on such long escapades into the woods, but it was natural for Shifter children to be about in the wilderness.
Ashley didn’t seem to mind him bringing Phoenix with him to fetch her for the dinner. Although it was hard to tell since she’d evidently forgotten. He smirked as his mind came to the present.
“It’s not too bad, right?” Ashley said as she sniffed her own underarm area. “Oh my God, I cannot believe I didn’t have time to take a shower.”
“Bears don’t smell that great either,” he reminded her.
She squinted at him with a suspicious look. “Don’t you have a crazy sense of smell?” He rubbed his nose, feeling a sudden bashfulness come upon him.
“Nonsense,” he lied.
She threw up her hands. “You’re lying!” Phoenix giggled happily. Ashley glanced at her, bouncing along in her carrier. “Do you think I can hold her at some point?”
“If she doesn’t bite you,” he replied with a wicked smirk. Ashley’s mouth dropped open. “Just kidding. She doesn’t bite…that much.” They made it to the fortress in short time. The music had already started. Old Mike had brought out his twangy guitar, and his son had fished out one of the vintage drums out from his collection. They were singing an ancient Shifter song. A love song. He nearly marched them back away from the fort, but merely pressed on with a brave face.
The fortress swung open. Ken was waiting with open arms and two frosty beers.
“Welcome, human woman!”
“Ashley,” she squeaked quickly, looking up at the towering man. Amanda appeared quickly with a grin. She was nearly as tall as her husband, but not quite as broad-shouldered. She extended a powerful hand towards the park ranger.
“Nice to meet you,” Amanda said with a twinkling smile and sly look towards Jacob, one that the human woman didn’t catch thankfully. “We’re so happy to have you as our honored guest.”
Ashley accepted one of the beer glasses from Ken and Jacob took the other. Amanda went to unhook Phoenix from his back and cooed at the child, who was watching Ashley with her wide eyes.
“Do you want to hold her?” Amanda asked. Ashley sipped her beer, which looked too massive in her petite hands.
“Can I trade for the beer?” she asked. Amanda threw her head back and cackled.
“A baby for a beer. Only if I get to drink it,” she replied. They swapped, Amanda taking the beer with a wink and Ashley scooping Phoenix into her
arms. Jacob watched intently as Phoenix happily grabbed at Ashley, who had thankfully tied up her hair so his little rascal daughter couldn’t tug at anything. Ashley smiled down at the child. Warmth bloomed in his chest. Ken elbowed him, drinking from his own beer.
“We’ve got a clan-wide bet that says this will be the first human-Shifter romance in our clan’s history.”
“A bet with who?” Jacob whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
“Everyone’s in,” Ken said back with a chuckle. “Except the children.”
Jacob groaned. It was going to be a long night.
Ashley smiled happily down at Phoenix, who seemed right at home in her arms.
“We’ll talk about the bet after dinner,” he told Ken. His friend smirked and said nothing.
Chapter 5
“You had dinner with a bunch of the Shifters?” her boss asked on the phone in an aghast tone. She had called in for one of their weekly check-ins while making her coffee for the day.
“Yes, they were very friendly,” she assured him. It sounded as if his jaw had fallen off on the other side of the line. He sputtered nonsense before collecting himself.
“Geez, whatever you’re doing, keep doing it. We’ve never had great relations with that clan.” After they discussed a few more tasks for the park, they ended the conversation. She poured a large cup of coffee and grabbed the creamer from her small fridge. The clouds were gathering overhead today. She’d have to try to finish most of her work before the big thunderstorm came today. Carl had mentioned that there were issues to the roof and had left behind a few metal buckets just in case. She’d hidden her laptop in a safe, dry place. After her coffee, she set to work and rushed to get everything done before the first downpour. As the thunder rumbled in the sky, the first sprinkling began just as she was rushing back.
Lightning lit up the gray clouds, and the rain became twice as hard. She gasped as her shirt quickly became soaked and dashed inside the cottage before the pressure grew even heavier. She peeled off the wet clothes and flung them in the dirty clothes bin. A small leak had begun in the corner near her bed. She groaned and flung a bucket underneath the spout.
She hopped in the shower, located in the small bathroom attached to her main cabin. The water was hot, but she wasn’t in there for long. She piled her hair into a towel and wrapped herself in her fluffy robe. A knock sounded at the door. She peeked out of the bathroom to see a bulky figure at the door.
“Jacob?” she asked as she opened. He was soaking wet! “Please don’t tell me you have Phoenix with you.”
“Not today,” he said as she motioned him inside. “I was doing patrol and thought I could make it back in time, but the water’s coming too fast down the mountain.”
“Can you transform to get back?” she asked as she grabbed a towel. “Does it work like that…?” He chuckled as he accepted the dry towel from her.
“It would be much easier in my bear form,” he confessed. “But have you ever smelled wet bear? It’s not a pleasant experience.”
She noticed that her robe was slipping, boasting a small amount of her cleavage. How could she have forgotten that she was naked underneath?! She flushed wildly. “Do you want a drink?” she asked as she rushed quickly over to her kitchenette. He smirked. Could he sense her nervousness?
“Do you have coffee?”
“I’ll put some on,” she said with pink cheeks. “How long do you think the storm will last?” She scooped some coffee into the silver maker and placed it on the stove. She nearly dropped the tin of coffee when she turned to see him stripping off his dripping wet shirt. Abs. Hard muscles. Glorious slick skin. Her mouth went dry.
“Everything ok?” he asked with some amusement as he patted his broad chest dry. “I don’t bite.”
She let out a nervous laugh and set the coffee tin down. “I’m sure. Not like Phoenix?”
He chuckled. “She’s not so bad.”
“I know,” she replied. “She’s lucky to have such a loving father.” She glanced at him, steeling herself with some bravery. “Do you want me to try to root around for a shirt for you? The heating in here isn’t great.”
“No worries,” he said with a grin. “Bear shifters don’t get cold easily.”
She nodded and then prepared two cups for them. “Milk and sugar?”
“Just black.”
“Of course.” She laughed and brought them over to her small kitchen table, where he was now seated. He’d flung the towel over one shoulder, so his glorious naked form wasn’t as obvious as before. “I forgot you Shifters don’t like sweets. Just beer.”
He smirked and accepted her cup. They watched the rain coming down outside. She suddenly felt as if her cabin was too small, too intimate between them. How would they pass the time together? A rush of heat came over her, and she tried to calm down. Amanda had mentioned, while tipsy, that Shifters are very good at sensing human emotions. She cleared her throat.
“How’s the clan?”
“Excellent. They said you’re welcome back for the weekly dinner.” He paused. “If you want.”
She smiled. “And why wouldn’t I want to?”
He shrugged. “We can be a bit rough around the edges. We wouldn’t be that offended.” Silence lapsed between them. It wasn’t often that they had this much time together…
“What’s it like?” she asked suddenly. “To be a Shifter.”
His eyebrows rose, and he asked, “Did you want to become one? Unfortunately, we don’t have vampire rules.” Again, her cheeks flushed, but she was too stubborn not to continue.
“I’m not interested in being one,” she said. “Only what it feels like to be a Shifter.”
“Powerful,” he was quick to answer. “But, you have to learn how to control everything. Your emotions, your reactions, your anger…it’s worse for some of the rowdier boys when they go through their puberty. They want to fight their own fathers and,” he laughed. “I don’t need to tell you about their other urges. It’s the girls too, of course.”
Her cheeks were still pink, but she simply nodded. “Interesting. Was it hard for you?”
He shifted his head to the side as if trying to dream up memories of his youth. “Yes. I was always getting in trouble. Lots of fights.”
“And girlfriends?” she asked with a knowing smile. He smirked but seemed reluctant to comment.
“I was a young dumb idiot,” he said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. “What can I say?” He sipped his coffee and stared at the window. “Do you want me to look at your roof? That bucket won’t last another storm.”
She glanced at the bucket in the corner and shrugged. “Not sure. Carl left them behind when you ran him off and told me to beware of the leaks. I’ve just found the one so far.” As she spoke, a new drip began to appear. Water droplets struck her table, narrowly missing her coffee cup. She groaned and buried her face into her hand. “Perfect.”
“I’ll grab a bucket,” he offered and snatched one of the metal buckets from the supply closet. He placed it on the table. “I’ll come look at your roof tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to do that,” she said seriously. He glanced at her.
“You’re awfully closed off for a human woman,” he said. She pulled back and felt a cold shiver run down her back.
“Excuse me?”
“I’ve been wondering,” he said. “The same as you’ve been wondering about me being a Shifter, why a pretty young woman like yourself would venture out to live in the woods alone. I’m just curious. You seem like…you seem like you don’t want to open up to people.”
She let out a dark laugh. “This is funny coming from the Shifter who specifically told me to stay out of his clan’s territory. You live in an actual fortress.”
He smirked. “That’s fair, but we’re pretty open about, well, not being open. What I can’t figure out is why you are.”
She flushed. “I had a bad experience before I came to the park to start over.”
“A
new life?”
“Yeah,” she said with a half-smile. “I suppose you could say that. I had a boyfriend. For a few years. I caught him cheating on me a few months ago and decided to start over.”
He grimaced. “Sorry. He sounds like a real bastard. Want me to tear him apart for you?”
She smiled, noting how handsome he looked even in his disheveled state. Somehow, he was made more attractive by his wildness. He looked like a modern-day Tarzan in her kitchen. Her pulse quickened. “No, he’s not worth it.”
“I suppose everyone in this forest has a few crosses to bear,” he muttered. They sat together in pleasant silence and watched the rain. He didn’t leave until the clouds began to clear. She was sad to see him go.
Chapter 6
Amanda and Ken found Jacob outside with Phoenix the next day.
“You like her,” Amanda announced. Jacob was bent over a workbench, Phoenix perched safely in a crib underneath a shady tree. His baby daughter seemed to be watching the exchange with interest. Betrayed by his own flesh and blood!
“And what of it?” he asked. Ken’s mouth dropped open.
“So, you’re admitting it?”
“What are we?” he asked with a frown, setting down his sharpened ax from the wood he’d been chopping. “Teenagers?”
Amanda glanced at Ken with a sly look. “Some of us are more mature than others. What are you going to do about it?”
“Be a normal person?” he asked with a shrug. “Wait until it passes.” Amanda and Ken let out a note of protest.
“You’re not going to tell her?”
“My wife—”
“Your wife would’ve wanted you to be happy,” Amanda said sharply. “Whether it was with a human woman or an inanimate object. Don’t you see that? You can’t keep using your grief as an excuse.” Ken sucked in a sharp breath at his wife’s remark.
The Baby Shift- Ohio Page 2
