Spook her? Hell no! But Gerri was having none of that. For this match to work, Annie needed to know, accept AND embrace the truth.
When the girl walked into the pastry shop Gerri had grown to love while in Clearwater, Gerri stood to greet her.
Annie embraced the older woman. She owed her a lot. “It’s so nice to see you. I’m really sad to see you go.”
“I’ll miss you and Bill both, but I do need to get home and get back to work. There a lot of lovely shifters out there.” Gerri cut right to the chase and noted that Annie averted her eyes, ignoring the remark while perusing her menu.
The waitress came and took their orders for coffee and Gerri asked for a sampler plate to be brought out that consisted of scones and biscotti.
“I have such a sweet tooth,” she confessed.
“I do as well,” Annie confessed. Chocolate biscotti was one of her favorites. Gerri had beat her in ordering some.
“Now dear, before I go, I had one thing I wanted to confess to you, but first tell me if you think Bill is your perfect match.”
Annie smiled. “If you would have told me two weeks ago I would fall in love so quickly I would have laughed in your face. But the truth is, I am falling hard. Thank you so much for introducing us.” Annie couldn’t believe she had confessed so much to this woman, but it was Gerri, after all, who made this happen for her. But these were feelings she hadn’t even admitted to herself yet, let alone Bill.
“Good, I’m glad. I had a feeling you were right for each other. There is just one problem.”
Problem? What could it be? So far everything was perfect. Well, almost perfect, Annie thought. Gerri’s eyes were piercing and Annie knew her earlier comment about having other shifters she needed to find mates for was purposeful. “What problem?” Annie asked, playing dumb.
Gerri’s bobbed black and white hair swung around her face. “He IS a shifter. As am I.”
“Gerri, please. I . . .” Annie looked around the pastry shop to avoid Gerri’s eyes. Also to see if anyone else was listening.
The waitress was coming with their coffees and the tray of sweets.
Gerri’s voice dropped to a whisper. “My dear. I have been at this too long not to see doubt in your eyes. I don’t hold back and I always speak the truth. He IS a shifter. And I am as well. Now drink up. Have a sweet. Then, I’ll show you.”
Show her! Holy fuck! Her heart began to beat wildly in her chest. The waitress walked the final ten feet to their table and set their cups down and the plate of cookies. Luckily she was distracted by another table beckoning her.
Gerri watched as Annie quickly grabbed her cup and blew on the strong black brew before taking a sip. The girl was a wreck of nerves. She was scared. And Gerri knew why. She didn’t hold it against the girl. Many people were unaware of their existence and that was fine by her. It kept her people safer. Though being in the open was a great thing, too. There were many towns and villages across the country where shifters could be themselves without worry.
Gerri picked up a treat and wolfed it down. She did not shift often anymore. It took a lot of energy to do, and she would fortify herself with sweets to do it. For Bill though, she needed to make sure Annie would accept him—all of him.
Annie was beyond frightened. The way Gerri spoke of this shifting so candidly, made her nervous. She kept blowing on the steaming brew and sipped some caffeinated courage. She didn’t know if she was ready for this or not. Her mind told her it was better to know the truth, than to fall deeper under Bill’s spell.
She watched as Gerri downed her coffee quickly and consumed several pastries. She spoke of her home and expressed her desire to have Annie and Bill come visit when they could. Annie politely responded while nibbling on one of her biscotti. She’d been craving the chocolate earlier though now she didn’t even taste it.
“Okay, sweetheart. I’m ready. Please follow me to the rest room.”
Annie’s mouth suddenly went dry. Could she watch this? A woman shift into a wolf? And if she did witness this, could she believe her eyes? Annie wasn’t a coward. Never had been. Never would be. She set her cup down, gave Gerri her assent, and followed her into the restroom.
Once they were inside the single room, Gerri locked the door. “Promise not to scream or faint.”
Annie nodded mutely again.
“I don’t wear undergarments. I wanted to warn you so when I shift back into a human I shall be naked.”
“Naked?” The word came out in a squeaky whisper.
“Well now, a wolf in a bra and panties would look quite silly, wouldn’t it?” Gerri was smiling.
Annie tried to picture that. Tried to find the humor in it, but instead she watched as in the blink of an eye, Gerri began to turn her back to her. Her human form collapsed in a heap on the floor beneath her dress. Annie’s hand flew to her mouth. Shut the fuck up!
With a shake of her head, Gerri threw off the material, and turned back to Annie.
Annie saw. She stared. She pushed out her air in a long slow breath. A beautiful gray wolf with ice blue eyes stood proudly before her.
“Well, holy shit on a stick. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.” Annie mumbled, rubbed her eyes, covered her mouth. Then she reached down to pet the creature before her. “Gerri?”
The wolf’s head bobbed up and down and pushed its head into Annie’s outstretched palm. Annie scratched Gerri behind the ear. “Fucking balls. You ARE a fucking wolf. A real goddammed wolf!”
The wolf pulled back, and Annie watched as Gerri changed in reverse. The woman was naked and Annie helped her to stand and then quickly helped her to dress. “Well, do you believe now?”
Dumbly, Annie just bobbed her head quickly, still too shocked to form words that made more sense than, “fuckity, fuck, fuck!”
Gerri hastily finished dressing. “Well, what do you think?”
What did she think? Think? “Fuck me. I think, I think, sweet cherry, cool beans!” She smiled, as the older woman fixed her hair into place but continued to watch her from the mirror.
Her eyes glittered with mirth at the younger woman. She was perfect for her Bill. “Wonderful. Now, let’s go back and finish those pastries. You can ask me whatever you like. I’m sure you have lots of questions.”
Annie followed her back to their table. Finished her biscotti and rained questions down on Gerri like a tropical storm in the Golf of Mexico. Her man was a wolf, and she needed to know a heck of a lot more.
Chapter 9
Annie used the key Bill had given her to access his house. He’d given her one before he’d left for New Orleans and she wanted to be there when he returned. The meeting with Gerri had blown her mind, and she and Bill now needed to talk.
Gerri had answered all her questions, and she had many. Gerri had explained everything to her over three cups of coffee and one more sampler plate. But instead of cookies, they’d gotten the decadent plate of mini cheesecakes and cake pops.
Gerri described their history, the hows and whys of changing. How packs, clans, and pods worked. Pods? There were tigers, lions, wolves, bears, seals, dolphins, and many more creatures. There were even elephants. Goddamn elephant shifters. She explained how mates could turn humans. But Gerri also let her know that choice was hers to make. A human and shifter could be very happy together without turning. There were a few problems though, like clan acceptance, and the fact that humans were weaker. Shifters could heal more quickly and often lived longer lives unless there was a hunting accident. She’d told Annie about Bill’s sister, who’d been shot by a hunter while in her wolf form. That was why it was important to only shift in secluded hunting areas that they had control over. If they hunted on someone else’s land they were putting themselves at risk. Luckily, the early founders had purchased up a lot of the land on the western side of the mountain that was clearly marked as private property. That kept most human hunters out though on occasion they did have trespassers. That was what had happened to his sister. Some men out hunting deer on pack land had sp
otted her and killed her. She had managed to get far enough away to not be discovered, but it had been a tragic lesson for them all.
It had been a lot to take in, but surprisingly it hadn’t scared her off. She was in love with Bill. In fact, she was happier finding out he was indeed a shifter and not some kind of a kook, as crazy as it sounded. The paranormal world that was so popular in TV and film, and books, was a reality. Blow her fucking mind! Shit balls.
She fumbled with the key. It was dark. And it felt like a summer storm was coming. A tropical depression possibly if the weather report could be believed. Tropical Storm Keriann might become a reality! There were no stars to help and Bill’s porch light was out. She would have to tell him about it so he could have it changed.
A noise to the right caught her attention. A set of bright, electrically green pinpoints off in the scrub. Fireflies? No. Too close together. A trickle of trepidation tickled along her spine. A deer? She searched deeply. She saw it again, and then there was another two pinpoints of blue. One set green. One set blue.
Her key finally plunged into the knob, and she twisted until she heard the click. Her imagination and the stories Gerri had shared over their repast had her thinking of the swamp ape, the Florida legend of the hairy Big-Foot like creature that lurked in the mucky Florida sawgrass. Or was it?
Annie rushed in slamming the door behind her. She locked the door and fastened the security chain for extra measure. Silly. She’d just learned about a part of the world she thought imaginary. It was enough to spook anyone. Feeling silly, she still began to flick on all the lights, feeling safer in the brightness.
What was she going to do? She had decisions to make, but one thing was for certain. Giving up Bill was not going to be one of them. She would suck it up and grow a pair, she thought smugly as she made her way into Bill’s massive bedroom and dropped her purse on top of the dresser he’d purchased for her to use.
She would grab a quick, hot shower and snuggle into Bill’s big soft bed. Tomorrow, when Bill arrived was soon enough to think about what the future would hold.
* * *
The two wolves padded softly back from whence they came. When they reached the car along the dirt road, they shifted back into their human form.
“That was her? Wasn’t it?” Dwayne asked getting behind the wheel of the car.
“It was,” replied Danielle. She had googled the realtor who looked even prettier than her realtor’s picture. Blond with big tits! Bill must be in his glory, she growled within herself not wanting Dwayne to see her jealousy. Her wolf wanted to rip off Annie’s face. Bill was theirs, hers and Dwayne’s. He belonged to them and needed to come back to Cazenovia to make their triad complete. She liked Dwayne and the power he would wield someday, but Bill was the man she had always craved. After six months with Dwayne, she had known he alone would not satisfy her, and that was when she had come up with the plan to convince Dwayne he needed to lead the clan with a triad.
And convincing Dwayne had been easier than she imagined. With the help of some herbs from a witch she knew, she had been able to make his mind susceptible to her suggestions. The only problem was she had to keep giving him the drugs to keep the effect going. There had been another concoction she needed as well. Dwayne’s mate had died and to convince him that she was another mate she’d needed a powerful brew. That brew worked in two ways. It made her scent over powering to him, convincing him that she was his life mate. He’d been in love with Bill’s sister and he lost her to a hunting accident. Although at first he had been suspicious, the mind control drug, and the brew made him believe he was special enough to have two mates roaming the world, and that forming a triad with his first mate’s brother would make the circle complete. It was perfect.
That was until rumors in Cazenovia that Bill had found a mate began to circulate. It was what had brought her here. While at Dave’s Diner, Bill’s father had been bragging that Bill had found his life mate in Florida. Her cousin had been there and overheard it all. Though her cousin, Isabelle, wasn’t aware of the plan, she knew she had felt something real for Bill in the past so she’d called her right away.
Danielle had been green with envy, and knew this was something she couldn’t allow. Bill was hers. A fantastic lover, an omega that she could not live without. She needed both Bill and Dwayne to claim her in the ritual way in order to secure her position as part of the triad that would rule the Cazenovia pack.
“What should we do?” Dwayne asked as he started the ignition on their rental.
“We need to get rid of her.” Her words were said calmly though her inner wolf was howling in anger. It wanted out and wanted revenge on the woman who was stealing her man.
Dwayne nodded numbly, focusing on the drive back to the hotel where they were staying. He would do whatever Danielle asked of him. He didn’t think clearly when she was around. All he knew was that when she was near he needed to have her, and do whatever it took to make her happy. She was his life mate after all.
Chapter 10
Bill had taken an Uber from the airport back to his home in Clearwater. Annie had dropped him off, but because the return trip was an early morning flight he hadn’t wanted to bother her. He was incredibly happy to find her in his bed when he walked into his master suite.
“Fancy meeting you here,” he whispered, with a bit of a growl behind it, in her ear.
She made a sexy purring noise when she turned over and held her arms out to him. That was an invitation he wasn’t about to refuse. He pulled her into a hot morning kiss that had her toes curling and his cock rock hard.
“And to what do I owe this pleasure?” He pulled back in order to begin removing his clothes. He was anxious to join her in bed, but she had the advantage of being already scantily clad.
“Believe me, baby, the pleasure will be all mine in a moment.” Her voice was eager and he could sense her arousal.
“In a moment?” he questioned with an arched eyebrow as his pants dropped to the floor. He climbed into the bed with her and pulled her to him. “I plan to please you right now, Mademoiselle.”
“And I look forward to it, but there is something I want to tell you before we . . . um, you know do the nasty.,” She was teasing him and he loved it when she talked dirty. With Annie there was no pretense. She said what she meant and usually said it quite colorfully.
“But I want to kiss you now, baby.”
“If you kiss me now I won’t be able to resist that charm of yours and not just the one dangling between your legs.” She laughed at her own joke and it was a husky sound that had his blood rushing to his groin.
“Okay baby, make it quick because when I make love to you I want all that attention focused on what I’m doing to you.”
“I wanted to let you know that I had a long talk with Gerri yesterday.”
That stilled him. Gerri had left this morning and he felt bad about not being here to see her off, but his business had taken him away at an inopportune time. “That was nice of you to keep her company.”
“She actually invited me out.” Annie sat up on the bed and pulled the sheet over her breasts. She saw his eyes gaze over them briefly and burst into flames. Her man was going to have to be patient. She wanted him focusing in on her words and not her endowments.
She pulled the band aid off in one swoop. “She shifted for me.” She wanted him to know that she knew and believed him.
Fear struck him and he searched her face for answers. “She did?” he asked. His fear abated when she smiled. That smile made hope surge within. She knew and she accepted him. All of him. He truly did want to howl.
Though he had wanted to do it, Gerri had done him a huge favor. He breathed out a sigh of relief. He had been putting it off in fear that she wouldn’t be able to accept the reality of the situation. Gerri had told him that she was indeed his one true mate and he shouldn’t fear that, yet still he had stalled.
“Yes, she did.” Annie was still smiling and her smile was getting bigger.
“And what? You’re incredible. I’m falling for you. I want you to know that I’m not going anywhere. I’m not sure I want to be a wolf, but I do want to see where this goes.”
Those words were music to his ears. He growled. His wolf howled while he pulled Annie onto him. She yelped in surprise. “Oh, Annie. I need you, baby. Show me I’m your wolf.”
Annie turned over, pushed him back onto the bed and then straddled him. Him giving her control meant so much. This was about her showing him her feelings were real. They were real. More real than anything she had ever felt before. She eased herself onto him, locking eyes. She would show him, and followed her wolf’s command.
* * *
“I’m just going to run over to my place. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Annie kissed Bill at the door to his beach bungalow later that evening. She needed to check on her dog, take him for a walk.
“Bring Buddy back with you,” Bill suggested.
“You sure?” she asked. She hated leaving him all day. These past two weeks had been hard for her poor pup, though her friend and neighbor had a key to her place and had been checking on him for her. That neighbor, was also her dog walker. She took Buddy out each afternoon while Annie was at work and walked him with her own beagle, Tiny. She’d only spent a few nights at Bill’s because of him. Buddy was her pal. She walked him every day. He was her comfort and companion.
“Absolutely. He’s adorable. Maybe I’ll take him for a run,” he suggested. Bill had been to her condo and liked the dog. He didn’t even mind when he snuck onto the bed in the middle of the night a time or two.
Paranormal Dating Agency: In Dire Straits (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Cazenovia Pack Book 1) Page 6
