Shifter

by Jennifer Reynolds

  Dimitri helps his mother cut off my shirt and treat my wounds as he explains to his father what happened. Someone brings Sam in after they take the female’s body away to perform some healing magic on me. Devan is sent after Dr. Smith. Her protections had kept Mave out, but not the weres.

  I come to two hours later, listening to Dimitri and Dr. Smith talking.

  “How did she know the woman was a were?” Dimitri asks. “I mean she shouldn’t have been able to sense that. She doesn’t have any supernatural blood in her, does she?”

  “I didn’t think so. My sense of such things is much stronger than yours, and I can’t sense anything in her blood, but...” Dr. Smith pauses.

  “But what?”

  “She’s changing. I don’t know how or in what way, but I can sense something different about her. Something has changed in her over the past few months.”

  “Do you think Mave has done something to her?”

  “No, not Mave.”

  “Who then?”

  “I think it is you, but I’m not sure how.”

  “Me? How?”

  “I said, I don’t know. Shifters can’t change humans, can they?” she asks.

  “No. Weres have to do it through their saliva. If we could, I would think we would do it the same way. And at no point has my saliva come into to contact with her, in any form.”

  “That is what I thought. I’m not sure what is going on here. I’ll need to do some research, but…”

  I can hear in her tone of voice that she has a few guesses as to what might be happening to me, but she doesn’t seem to be inclined to tell. The sight of Dimitri is a little blurry, and I can tell that he is thinking about pressing the issue, but the uncertainty of her demeanor stops him. If she has a definitive idea, she would discuss it with him.

  “I’ll ask around and see. In the meantime, watch her. If anything else happens, summon me. You can do it the same way you do your family,” she said.

  “Will do. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Just remember her shoulder hasn’t completely healed. She’ll need to be careful with it for the next few days. She needs rest and lots of it. Her body will be in shock from the bullet wounds and from the healing. Human bodies aren’t meant to heal that fast.” She says this last part in a contemplative tone.

  Fast, what does she mean, my body is healing fast.

  I try to force myself back to sleep, but my brain refuses to make sense of what I’m hearing. They must have given me some good drugs. This medicine-induced fog is playing havoc with my interpretations of things.

  In a puff of white mist, Dr. Smith evaporates from my house. Her disappearance is more than enough for my brain to take. I moan and try to get up from my bed. I have to move. Have to wake up. Have to somehow drain my body of the wretched medicine. I have never been one to take strong painkillers, muscle relaxers, or anything that can alter my reality. Mostly because my tolerance for such things is so low that I react badly on them.

  Dimitri must have been listening for me because he comes running the moment I move. “Hey, now. What are you doing?”

  “Getting a glass of water. My mouth tastes like cotton.”

  “I’ll get it. You lay back down.”

  “No, no. I have to get up. I...”

  “No, you don’t. You’ve been shot. Twice. In the shoulder. You’ll be in bed for a few days. Now lay down. I’ll be right back.”

  I’ll be damned. The wolf really had shot me. Damn. I’ve never had a broken bone or major surgery or anything dire in my life. This is actually kind of cool. Except for the pain and this weird out of body feeling I’m having.

  “Here, let me sit you up so you can drink this.” He props all of my pillows up behind me and lifts me with such ease I might as well have been one of the pillows instead of the boulder I am.

  “Was I really shot?” I ask after nearly downing the entire glass of water.

  “Yeah, twice. One actually entered your body. The other grazed you. Mom got the bullet out and sowed you up. Dad has been in touch with Dr. Smith, discussing the charms and the spell. He called her when he got here. She popped in and healed the wounds the best she could. You’re human so you’re not a hundred percent, but you should be fine in a few days.”

  I nod and finish off my second glass of water. “What else is wrong with me?”

  “What do you mean? Do you hurt somewhere else? I checked you over myself. I didn’t see anything.”

  I feel my face flush at his words and the intense look that shadows his eyes as he talks about disrobing me. Fear immediately overrides my embarrassment. He has seen my body. Seen the marks that had popped up as my skin has stretched. Seen all the unwanted curves that I hadn’t yet been able to get rid of. The scars from my past relationship. He surely doesn’t want me now. I wouldn’t be getting that kiss he had nearly given me in the kitchen before the she-wolf attacked. Tears well in my eyes.

  Taking the tears as a sign of pain, he grabs my empty glass, leaves the room hurriedly, and returns with a full glass and bottle of meds.

  “I’m not hurting,” I say, pushing the bottle away but taking the water.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. Besides I don’t do pain meds. They make me loopy.”

  “This is all herbal and magical. They won’t affect you that way.”

  “Oh, well, maybe later. And, no, I don’t hurt anywhere but my back. I just over heard you and Dr. Smith talking about me. Something about me changing. Is something wrong with me?”

  “No. I don’t know. It’s nothing really. How did you know that woman was a were?”

  “Don’t know. I just did. I could feel it or sense it or something. The moment I opened the door I knew something was wrong, then when she started talking, I knew she was lying, and a voice in my head said she was a were. Am I not supposed to be able to tell?”

  “No. Most humans with a little of supernatural blood in them can sense when a being is bad or good, but they don’t know why. Full-blooded supernaturals are able to tell when another supernatural is around and in most cases what they are. You are a pure blood. You have no supernatural blood in you. You shouldn’t have been able to sense anything about her.”

  “Are you sure I’m pure blooded?”

  “I am. Dr. Smith is an Angel. One of the strongest supernatural beings in the world. She would know instantly what you are, if you are anything.”

  “But that doesn’t mean anything, does it? I mean, I met that one were, and I knew what he was because when he smiled, I saw his teeth. Maybe there was something in her demeanor that I recognized subconsciously.”

  “No...” He looks off as if he is about to say something else but isn’t sure if he should.

  “What else.”

  “I’m not sure. I can’t be positive, but... It looks as if your body was already trying to heal the bullet wounds before Mom even got a chance to work on them.”

  “I was healing myself?”

  “Yeah. That is only something a full-blooded supernatural can do. Granted, your body wasn’t doing it as fast as mine would have, but nonetheless, it shouldn’t have done it at all.”

  “What’s wrong with me? Did Mave do something to me?” I was panicking now.

  “I don’t know. I don’t think so. There’s no way she could have. You’re human. She wouldn’t have dared. It’s one thing to curse another supernatural and a whole other thing to do anything to a human.”

  “But if she knows she is in trouble for what she did to you, maybe she doesn’t think it will matter if she does something to me in the process.”

  “No, I’m just a severe punishment. You are a death sentence.”

  “Then why is she after me?”

  “She doesn’t intend to harm you. Just use you as bait to get to me. Kidnapping you will be a charge against her, but as long as she doesn’t harm you in any real way, she will live. Besides she doesn’t expect to be charged with anything.”

  “The wolf tried to kill me
.”

  “Yes, but that was the wolf, not Mave. She may have put the bounty on your head, but I will lay money the bounty says not to harm or kill you. The wolf acted on her own, and I killed her for her actions.”

  “If it wasn’t Mave, then who? Did Devan do this? Did you?”

  No. No. Devan would never, and neither would I. Besides, shifters can’t change humans. Only weres can. And no, you weren’t bitten by a were. The scratch doesn’t count. We don’t actually know what is happening to you. I think Dr. Smith has an idea, but it’s not one she is confident enough with to share.”

  “Is there a way to reverse it?”

  “Not that I know of. And right now, we don’t need to with the bounty on your head. You need to be able to sense other beings and heal rapidly. Both may help save your life.”

  He has a point, and I’m kind of glad I’m not a normal human being anymore.

  “Listen, don’t worry about it right now. You need to get some rest. You’ve been through a lot today.”

  I nod, place the cup beside my bed, and scoot down the mattress trying to get comfortable. He lifts himself from my bed and starts to leave. “Dimitri?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Will you stay with me? I don’t want to be alone right now.”

  “Yeah.” He kicks off his shoes, pulls off his shirt, and crawls into bed beside me. I roll over onto my side to face him, wincing in pain as I do so, and scoot close to him, not all the way up against him as a lover would, but close enough to feel the warmth of his body lightly brushing mine.

  To my shock though, once he gets himself settled, he pulls me as gently as he can into the contours of his body. My head and wounded arm drape on his chest. His hand slowly strokes my back as he flips on the television. Within minutes, I am drifting off to sleep.

  Chapter 24

  ~~Abby~~

  I didn’t dare tell my sister that someone shot me. For the last week, I’ve feigned being sick instead. She has begged me to go to the doctor, but I keep telling her it is a cold, and that I will be over it soon, though, it wouldn’t be a good idea for her or the kids to come over.

  Dimitri has been wonderful, taking care of the house, me, and everything. Whenever he is human, that is. Oddly enough, since the shooting, he has been human more than he has been an animal. He says his powers are stronger and that the only thing he can’t do is shift into any other form but a cat. Although, he is sure he is almost to the point of being able to control that shift. He is nearly able to stop from shifting when the need comes at inopportune times and can almost shift back once he is tired of being a cat.

  Mave and her cronies have been lying low. No more bounty hunters have showed up at my door. That doesn’t mean they aren’t still looking. One of Dimitri’s pack members ran into a wolf at a bar near my house. The wolf was bragging about having a plan to catch me, so when he left the bar later that night the pack member followed him, summoning a few others to his aid. They caught the wolf and offered him a deal. He could either die or leave the country. The wolf opted to leave.

  Another of Dimitri’s pack members ran into a wolf trying to enter their territory. The pack member caught him and hauled him in for questioning. The wolf told the pack council that Mave still had the bounty on my head, but most of the wolves were opting not to come after me, not while the pack is still protecting me. That didn’t mean that if they saw me out they wouldn’t make a move for me, they just weren’t coming to my house anytime soon.

  In the meantime, my back has completely healed. All I have to show are two, small, pink scars that Dimitri says will be nothing but a memory in less than a week. This super healing thing is awesome. Too bad, it can’t take care of the scars I already have. Dimitri says that is a sign that I’m not turning vampire. He says that a vamp’s entire body smooths out when they change. Not that vampirism is something we are worried I’ve caught. Dimitri and I can’t think of a single moment when I could have come into contact with a Vampire. As a matter of fact, we can’t think of any moment where I have come into contact with any supernatural being capable of changing a human.

  That is good news. I know vampires are all the rage, but I didn’t want to become one. The immortality would be great, but I don’t like the idea of living off blood for the rest of my life. Yeah, I know, I would probably love the taste of it once I became a vamp, but right now, the thought of it makes me ill.

  The only real explanation for my healing that he and his family are able to come up with is a spell of some kind. This means that Sam came to examine me yesterday. There was no part of me that wanted her to touch me or to be in my house, and I argued that if Dr. Smith hadn’t been able to find anything on me that suggests that Mave put a spell on me, then Sam wouldn’t be able to either. They ignored my argument. In the end, I grudgingly promised Dimitri’s parents that I would let Sam look me over.

  I know I shouldn’t dislike someone so much that I barely know, but Sam spent most of her examination of me making subtle, offhanded comments about how imperfect my body is in front of Dimitri, while giving him a look that clearly said she wanted to sleep with him. And he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He followed every move her hands made as she examined me for marks.

  My entire body burned from the heat of my embarrassment, not that anyone noticed. Although, how they didn’t, considering I was wearing the shortest pair of cut off shorts I owned and a white, stretch camisole is beyond me. I’ve worn less in front of him since getting shot, but at those times, I didn’t have a skinny, little witch pointing out all of my flaws. She chose every scar, freckle, blue and purple vein, stray hair, and cellulite dimple as something she should examine in-depth in case one of them might be a place where some supernatural being touched me.

  “What kind of mark are you looking for?” I ask, trying to divert her attention. “Do all spells leave the same type of mark or different marks for different kinds of spells?”

  “It depends. Most look more like a tiny birthmark. But your more talented witches can disguise them.”

  “How can you tell when a mark was left by a spell?”

  “As a supernatural and a witch, I see the world a little differently than you do. The mark will glow slightly and be a bit blurry. The different types of supernaturals that make up this world all have different ways of doing things, and I’m looking for those types of marks. None of your marks match a vampire’s bite or a pixie’s bite, which are the two most common supernatural beings in this area. Although, I guess the two spots where you’re developing varicose veins in your legs might look like the results of a succubus’ touch, but they don’t normally go after women, and they can’t turn humans into succubi.”

  Her reminder of my physical flaws brings me back to the scene, and I shut up.

  Dimitri and I told her before she started that Mave has had very little direct contact with me, but she swore her examination was protocol for situations such as mine, even though I don’t think they have ever had a situation like mine.

  I think she wanted to expose my not so smooth or muscular body to Dimitri in a way to purposely show off my flaws. Her efforts were in vain. He barely noticed that I was in the room.

  I held my tongue, refusing to give them the satisfaction of getting to me. I did have the satisfaction of watching Dimitri turn into a cat while she flirted. Why he did, I’m not sure. Maybe she turned him on a little. She pouted when he shifted, and in a very not like me way, I told her that he only shifted when he is bored. She wrapped up my evaluation quick after that and left.

  Chapter 25

  ~~~Dimitri~~~

  Since the day the she-wolf shot Abby, it has taken everything I have to keep my hands off her. Seeing her laid out on that kitchen table, bleeding had been more than I could handle. I know it is wrong to want her. She is human. I age slower than she does. I would out live her by more years than I want to think about. None of that matters though. Every part of my body wants her.

  She doesn’t seem to see it or reciprocate
it. Sure, she is a little more dependent on me, but that is probably due more to fear than anything else. She flinches from my touch, despite the fact that I touch her every time I can. I even make up reasons like nonexistent fuzz or a loose hair on her shirt to touch her.

  Two days ago when Sam came to examine her, I had to force a shift to escape the obvious need I felt for her. Sam was using every excuse to expose every piece of Abby’s flesh and the pink color Abby was flushing in embarrassment from it was turning me on. The plus side is that a forced shift is a good sign in my recovery, especially since my body tends to want to shift into a human when I’m aroused not the other way around.

  Today Abby woke up completely healed. I woke an hour or so before she did and was lightly tracing my fingers over the exposed flesh of her shoulder where the bullet had been. There is no sign of the wound ever being there.

  “How bad does it look?” she asks when she finally wakes. For an instant, I start to jerk my hand away, but then I decide that I’m not going to be able to stay away from her; therefore, I might as well give her my all.

  “It doesn’t. All signs of it are gone. There isn’t even a scar.”

  “What?” She jumps out of bed and rushes to the bathroom.

  I laugh and go after her. I find her with her back to the bathroom counter. Her arm pulled through the small strap of her tank top. Her shoulder bent forward as she cranes her head around to see her shoulder in the mirror.

  “That’s incredible,” she says.

  “Yeah,” I say, stepping up beside her and pulling the back of her tank top down a little more to show her the spot where the second bullet grazed her. I also do it so that I can feel the warmth of her skin across the tips of my fingers. “Even this one is gone.”