by Ally Summers
“You think this is related to the stone? You think this is all connected, don't you?” She chewed on her lower lip while she turned away from me, clearly working it out in her head as well.
“I mean I've read some studies,” she mumbled more to herself than to me, “but nothing's been conclusive. I just couldn't see why anyone would take the risk.”
“What risk?”
She turned back towards me and sighed heavily. She removed her gloves and stuck them in a baggie before placing it in one of her sterilized cases. She wore a navy lab coat with the Hunter’s Lake emblem on it, it was the only thing I had ever seen her in. “The risk is that if you took the shifter stone and tried to alter it and let's say use it on someone who is already a shifter, there's been some talk that it could possibly enhance their abilities. But that's all it is, talk. There's no positive lab results or data backup that knowledge. It's just a hypothesis at this point. And the risk is that if you did that to someone who is already a shifter,” she trailed off.
“Vanessa what would happen?”
“Well, I think you would kill them. I don't see how someone's genetic makeup could survive that type of change. You know how painful the change is on all of us, could you imagine already being a bear and then changing again? It just all sounds insane!”
She was right, it did sound insane, but as I looked over my shoulder at what was left of this young man, insanity was the only thing that made sense.
11
Jessa
I couldn't believe this was happening, I was sleeping with and possibly dating a shifter! Everything just felt so new and fresh and I couldn't get enough. So I called Rawlings and invited him out to the old movie theater in the center of town. I think they played new stuff occasionally, but every Friday night it was old black and white movies and it just seemed romantic and perfect for us.
Rawlings immediately agreed to come via text and he said that he pick me up. I put on a hot pink top, and skinny jeans making sure that my ass looked as good as possible. He had been so apologetic since the other night when he had to run out on me. But I totally understood, he was married to the job. I was becoming probably a bit of a distraction. But I couldn't help the way that I felt about him. Even though suddenly I had a pang of guilt sit in the bottom of my belly. I didn't know what his closure rates were, or how often he even dealt with murder cases. I didn't know him that well at all. And I began to wonder if I wasn’t the reason that this case wasn't open and shut. What if there was more to it? What if he wasn't closing the case because he was focused on me?
I tried to shake the thought out of my head as I heard him beep outside. I grabbed my purse and ran out excited for another evening with my new guy.
He paid at the movies and we got popcorn and sodas, but he seemed distracted. The entire movie he kept checking his phone and he was jittery. It was a horror flick, but it was an old-time one with hardly any special effects and pretty brunette on the screen who screamed an awful lot. But I don't think either of us knew what actually happened in the film. He was focused on something else, and I was focused on him.
After the movie was over and we began walking down Main Street hand-in-hand I stopped him.
“What's going on Beau? You're being super weird tonight.”
He shook his head. “It's just work, I'm fine.”
I looked deep into his grey eyes. “Rawlings, you can talk to me. You can tell me things, you can trust me. Just tell me what's going on.”
“If I'm going to tell you everything, I need a drink.” He said winking at me and hooking his thumb over his shoulder at a dive bar we had just passed.
“Sounds good to me. Sounds like I might need a drink in order to handle what you're about to tell me.” I admitted.
He pulled two bar stools up to a small high top table and ordered me a martini and himself a beer. We waited for our drinks in silence, I didn't want to push him. I wanted him to tell me because he wanted me to know. Because he trusted me.
After a waitress set our drinks down on the table he fidgeted with his napkin for a second before taking a swig. And then he set his eyes on mine. They just pulled me in every time he looked at me.
“So when I left you the other night, it was to go to the site of a murder.” His eyes drifted from mine.
“Of murder? That's a lot more serious than the burglary.”
“I'm sure you've seen in the news that hikers have been going missing in the woods. They're being picked off, one by one. Young shifters who don't know the area very well. We hadn't really found much of a connection, but this new kid? He's not missing. He's dead. The first body we have found. And Jessa, it was horrific. The worst I've ever seen.”
I saw a sad darkness in his eyes I had never seen before. This murder hurt him, it hit too close to home, I could tell. I reached out and held his hand in mine. I rubbed slow circles on the back of his hand.
“I don't know what to do, or how to think. I just want to fix this problem. I want to help the people of my town, and I just can't figure it out.”
I let him relax for a moment. “What about your partner? Or other people in the forest? Did they have any ideas?”
He shook his head. “The only person that came up with anything is a tech named Vanessa. I do trust her, she's really smart. But the idea she came up with just seem so fantastical. Like it couldn't be true.”
I laughed at him. “Let's remember that twenty years ago, humans didn't even think that shifters could be real or true. And here we are sitting at a bar together like it's nothing.”
“It might be nothing for you, but it still something for me. You're still a human and I'm still a shifter. Things will never be the same for us as they are for human and human couples.” He grit his teeth.
I shrugged. That didn't bother me. “So? Does that matter to you?” I asked him.
He smiled and pushed a strand of hair behind my ear.
“It doesn't matter to me as long as I get to be with you.”
“Okay so tell me this girl's hypothesis. What does she think is going on?”
“This is like some Superhero level crazy, okay?” His eyebrow shot up as he asked me.
“Yeah, okay. Lay it on me. I've seen a lot of movies, I know how these things work.”
“Fine, so she believes the shifter stone might actually have some scientific qualities that would make it if you had shifter in your genetic code that it would awaken something inside of you.”
“Okay, that's essentially what all the myths say too, but doesn't really sound that scientific.”
He nodded, “Except that she says that some studies have been done in Europe with a stone like ours, and it's actually worked.”
My eyes practically popped out of my head. If it actually worked, then that could create a whole new subset of shifters. People who thought they were human their whole lives, it could change everything. Maybe it could even awaken something in me.
The drinks continued to flow and we opened up more and more to each other as the night went on. I found out that he was an only child, just like me and that his parents both still lived in town. Even though he didn’t see them quite as often as he would like, due to his job. He did let on that he was concerned about them as well with the shifter stone missing and all of these people vanishing as well.
“They've been here forever, you know? They know everybody and everything, and yet during all of this they've been incredibly quiet. It just makes me wonder if something like this has happened before.”
I was surprised at his honestly, he had only spoken about his parents once before. “You think your parents are hiding something from you?” I asked not believing it could be true.
“No, nothing like that, I just worry that history likes to repeat itself. I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything.” He took another swig of his drink.
I felt horrible for him. I could tell that he was really trying to solve this case and it was weighing on him. No new leads were coming up and if t
his possible Super Shifter idea was true, would he ever be able to catch them?
“Are you happy?” I asked leaning on my hand and swirling the olive in my drink.
“I think so. Before this case, I solved a lot of cases. And I was happy. I don't think I realized how happy I could be until I met you.” He smiled at me devilishly.
“I like the sound of that.” I felt my cheeks fill with warmth.
“What about you?” He asked me.
“Are you happy that you left Denver? Your friends, your family? The ex?”
I sat up straighter in my chair. “How did you know about the ex?”
“Nobody leaves a perfectly great job in Denver to come to Hunter's Lake if they're not running away from something. Or someone. I know we talked a little about home before, but I could tell you were leaving something out.” He said with a wink. “So? Am I an upgrade?”
I pushed his shoulder playfully, “You know you are. In so many more ways than one. He and I just fell out of love. There's nothing more to say than that, he wasn't the man that I thought he was.”
“And what about me? Am I the man you thought I was?”
He ordered another round of drinks for us as mine was getting low.
“I'm not sure yet. But I'd like to find out.”
“Then let's throwback these drinks and head back to my place,” he offered. “There's only one way to learn more about each other.”
We had downed our drinks and were headed up to his place in town. I was excited because I have never seen his place before. As we rolled up, I was taken by the beauty that surrounded us.
“Rawlings, this place is beautiful.”
“Yeah we try to keep it nice up here,” he said. “Come on let me show you inside.”
We walked up the steps to a rustic looking home. Once inside, I was taken back by how immaculate the place was. It had the feel of a cabin in the woods, however, there were modern accents and state of the art appliances everywhere, and we were just five minutes from downtown.
“Damn…” was all I could say.
“Wait until you see the bedroom,” he winked.
I followed behind him and I let out a soft sigh at the sight of his large king sized bed. He grabbed me quickly and we tumbled down into the bed and snuggled up against one another.
“So tell me more about you…” As I spoke, I moved my butt, rolling my hips so I could graze his cock. Rawlings was in the middle of saying something, but he stopped.
“Cut that out or I’m going to have to fuck you,” he said in my ear.
I didn’t stop. I kept moving my butt, till I could feel his cock growing in his boxers.
“Stop it, woman!” he growled and I giggled.
Within moments Rawlings had thrown the covers off and he sat up on his knees, pinning my wrists down on the bed. He kissed me everywhere, on my lips, down my neck, cupping and squeezing my breasts in the meantime.
I thrust my hips up towards him, rolling them in invitation. I could see his cock tenting his boxers. I couldn’t stop laughing while he kissed me. I was happy…so happy in the knowledge that every night, Gage came home to me.
He was the kind of man who wanted to take care of his woman and his kid. He wasn’t going anywhere. My heart was filled with love for him.
Slipping his fingers under the straps of my thong, he pulled it down my thighs so he could get to my pussy. My clit was swollen and it throbbed as he slipped a finger into me.
“Is this what you wanted?” he asked. I looked up at him, at his eyes and I nodded. He towered over me, his bare wide shoulders strong and muscular. I reached up so I could run my fingers all over his tattoos. His chiseled abs…his flat rock-hard stomach.
Rawlings thrust his finger in and out of me, rubbing and stroking my clit at the same time with his thumb.
I could feel an orgasm building up inside me, growing stronger by the minute. I moaned as his finger slid in my juices.
“What else do you want?” he growled. My mouth was hanging open with pleasure. I was covered in goosebumps. Even now, it was crazy that Gage could have this effect on my body.
“Fuck me, Rawlings!” I exclaimed.
He drew his fingers out of me and whipped me around on the bed. He had me pinned down, with my butt up in the air. He smacked my butt and I felt the pleasurable sting of it. It made me shudder with desire for him.
Without losing another moment, Rawlings was inside me. He thrust his cock deep into me from behind and started moving.
I moaned and cried out his name. He thrust deeper and deeper, stroking the hottest wettest core of me. I wedged my hand down between the bed and my body so I could reach my clit. While he pounded his big throbbing cock into me, I stroked my self.
I could feel my toes curling as I came close to the orgasm.
My breathing became harsh. The more I stroked myself, the harder he pounded into me. I could feel the length of him filling me up.
“Come for me, ” I heard him growl.
It was all I needed to hear.
I cried out his name, as my body soared. I could feel myself give in to the pleasure of him…of Rawlings…this big strong man who was now a part of me. His cock slid and thrust in and out, filling me up and I came hard.
When I finally began to relax, he turned me around so I could face him again. He was breathing hard too and I bit down on my lip.
“Is that all you got?” I asked, arching my eyebrows high up my forehead. He glared at me.
“Don’t challenge me, woman!” he growled and I laughed.
“Remember, you asked for it!” he added.
He was lifting me up off the bed. Then he threw me over his shoulder and carried me to the window in his bedroom. He sat me down on the ledge and I wrapped my legs around his waist.
He wasn’t going to take it slow. Not this time. Not when I’d egged him on like this.
Within moments, he was inside me again. Thrusting and pumping his big throbbing cock inside me. I leaned my back against the cold glass of the window as I felt myself being pushed to the edge of an orgasm again.
Once Rawlings started, we could be going for hours. It wasn’t until we were both so exhausted that we could hardly move; that Gage would finally stop. It was like, no matter how much we had of each other—it was never going to be enough. I was never going to tire of him.
12
Rawlings
I dropped a coffee on Griffin’s desk as I walked past. But he was focused on something happening in the conference room.
“What's going on in there?” I asked moving towards my own desk.
“County Commissioner is here.” He said practically spitting the words out of his mouth. “I don't know what's going on in there, but it ain't good. We don't have any new leads, and this whole idea that Vanessa has about some type of super shifter is just getting weirder and weirder. Plus there's some shifter liaison from the government in there, things aren't looking right around here. I would almost rather being Thunder Pike than sitting here and feeling the chill in the air.” He finally noticed the coffee in front of him and took a swig.
I sat down in my desk chair and it squeaked under my weight.
Griffin leaned in closer to me. “So there's a rumor going around that you're sleeping with the new employee at the library.” He said in a hushed whisper.
I nodded I am, “So what about it?”
“Rawlings you got to be careful, messing with the victim like that. Not to mention what if she's not a victim?”
I pulled back away from him. “What's that supposed to mean? That she might not be a victim? Are you saying she's a suspect?”
He rubbed his forehead with his hand. “I'm just saying that when I walked past the conference room before her picture was up on the wall, and not with the other victims.”
“Of course she wouldn't be. She’s not kidnapped or dead. You are reading too much into things.” I tried to sound confident but I wavered at the very end. Was he right? Was Jessa some type of suspec
t in the case? I mean I guess I could consider it. She showed up in town and suddenly the stone went missing. I wasn't actually totally sure how many days she had been in town prior to the stone going missing, so I guess she could be the kidnapper. But with her small frame and her sweet disposition, I couldn’t believe it. That part didn't make any sense. So even if I looked at it objectively, they couldn't be looking at her for the kidnapping. But maybe for the burglary? Shit.
It was almost as if Captain was reading my mind and called my name from the conference room. Griffin's eyes went wide. “Good luck man. Don't let things get too heated in there, okay?”
I nodded but didn't say anything. Slowly I walked over to the conference room and I was surprised to see it was nearly full. The county commissioner, A sergeant, the captain, and some woman in a black button-up suit. She had a scowl on her face that reminded me of someone who pretty much hated everything in life.
“What's up Captain?” I asked as I scanned the room. My bear sniffed out that the woman was human.
“Have a seat Rawlings. We need to talk about the company you've been keeping lately.”
So Griffin was right. They were looking into Jessa, and as a result they were also looking into me.
“Yes sir?” I tried to sound as innocent as possible. I had seen potential suspects do it a million times. Usually we could see right through it, but I knew I had nothing to worry about. Jessa was innocent. And so was I. She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, targeted because she was new to town. And I happened to fall in love with her. My bear roared in agreement, he wanted to protect her. Not that we would lie to the captain, but we wouldn't have to. I would tell the truth, and this would all end as quickly as it had began.
“This new girl in town, Jessa Langdon. What do you know about her?” The county commissioner asked me.
Be honest, I thought to myself. “She worked in Denver for a few years, but when she and her ex-boyfriend split up she decided she wanted to start fresh and moved here to Hunter's Lake because there was an opportunity at library. I believe she sent applications to multiple cities and their libraries but this was the first job that came through and she was ready to move on. She has now been in Hunter’s Lake for a couple weeks, she's a quiet book nerd, she's beautiful, and she's a good listener.”