Chapter Five
I dreamed.
It was the last few minutes of dusk and I was on a darkening forest trail running very fast. Giant tree branches loomed overhead casting sinister shadows across my path. I was barefoot, but the carpet of sorrel plants cushioned my feet as I sped along past fallen branches and fragrant shrubs. I saw movement up ahead so I ran toward it, curious, but also afraid. Three men were arguing about something. One of them had a gun. Suddenly I realized that I was no longer on the trail, but looking down on them from a great height, safe for the moment, yet still exposed if the man with the gun decided to take a shot at me. A beautiful male cougar lounged on a thick branch in the tree next to mine. He winked at me. When I looked down again, a large brown wolf stood on the path where the man with the gun had stood a moment before.
Suddenly I was awake. What kind of crazy dream was that? I shook my head to clear it, disturbed by the vision. Through the window I could see a trail winding off to the right, but I didn’t have a clue where it led and I still felt weak from last night’s adventures. The rumbling noises coming from my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t eaten much yesterday, maybe only a third of the steak and a few fries. I stood and stretched, hoping there might be cereal or toast available in the kitchen.
I gasped to see my backpack on the small chair by the window. Apparently, locking the door didn’t make any difference around here. Rummaging through the bag for my cell phone, I wasn’t surprised to find it missing. At least my Mp3 player was still in its usual pocket. I made use of the bathroom and then unlocked the bedroom door and peeked out. Taking a deep breath to bolster my courage, I walked down the short hallway, rounding the corner to the kitchen.
As I entered the combination living room/kitchenette, Rob was typing on a laptop at the table and Ethan was stretched out on the couch with a book. Both of them looked up when I entered the room. Rob had a concerned expression but I stubbornly refused to meet his gaze.
Ethan closed his book and smiled charmingly. “So, Cinderella, what are you cooking us for breakfast?"
I sat at the table across from Rob and snapped back, “Didn't you get your cat food this morning, Garfield?”
“Garfield?” he scoffed. “I’m definitely more like the Cheshire Cat.” To prove his point he grinned widely and then disappeared behind his book.
Rob smiled. “He’s kidding. He ate six eggs, eight slices of bacon and four pieces of toast an hour ago. He definitely eats like Garfield."
Ethan groaned in protest, raising his hand and waving it around. "Growing cougar here."
“There are leftovers in the oven. Help yourself." Rob went back to working at his laptop.
I didn’t want to cooperate with Rob, but the smell was making my mouth water. Hey, I could always eat first and then try to sneak away afterward. Deciding that this was an extremely intelligent plan, I opened the oven door and breathed in the heavenly smell. Eggs and bacon—yum. I scooped a mound onto a plate and sat down to eat.
Ethan closed his book, pulled a chair over to the table and sat beside me. He was wearing jeans and a navy blue sleeveless tee, his hair still a messy jumble and his golden-brown eyes shining with curiosity. I was still in the sweats I’d slept in, feeling kind of grungy, so I ignored him and kept on eating. Ethan reached out hesitantly to brush a strand of hair out of my face, watching me warily for any hint of a violent reaction. Feeling more confident, he started gently twisting the long lock in his fingers. When he leaned in to sniff it, I quickly pushed him away with a firm, “Down boy.”
He sighed. “How old are you?”
“Seventeen on Wednesday.” Not wanting him to catch me smiling, I stuffed a piece of bacon in my mouth. He was really kind of cute.
“Hmm. You seem older.” He stood up and plopped himself back on the couch, humming the tune to, “A Very Merry Unbirthday.”
Rob looked up from his laptop, smiling. “You can’t take him too seriously. He’s a young male shapeshifter and he just turned eighteen. They’re always on the prowl. He’s relatively harmless.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” I’d actually had plenty of experience discouraging healthy young human males. How different would a shifter be? I’d been the “New Girl” in three different high schools, always attracting the attention of the guys who were looking for something fast and easy. The key was to let them keep their pride intact while you backed away gracefully. Otherwise it could get ugly.
I looked at my hands as I scooped up another forkful of eggs. Had they really changed into paws? “How did I hurt you and Ethan the other night? If you’re both shifters then I’m not stronger than you are. Was it the drug? Not that you didn’t deserve to bleed a little.” I glared at Rob, who answered.
“Yes, the first dose of the drug, which was only supposed to balance your body chemistry for the next dose, caused your hands to shift. You were upset and disoriented and flailed about in panic. I tried to calm you down so you wouldn’t hurt yourself and finally managed to get you to fall asleep on the couch.
"But while I was with you, Ethan decided it was the perfect opportunity to make a run for it. I figured you were out for the night, so I ran off to look for Ethan. You woke up, ran into Ethan before I did and sliced him up a little. I discovered him passed out in the woods. Apparently he’d hit his head on a rock when he fell. He’d definitely had an unpleasant altercation with your long claws. Ethan, what happened exactly?”
“I’m too much of a gentleman to kiss and tell.” Ethan beamed at me. His gorgeous eyes sparkled with humor, but I pretended not to notice, going back to concentrating on eating my breakfast.
Rob continued to tell his story, shaking his head at Ethan’s joke. “When I went back for you, you were nowhere to be seen. I searched around and finally heard you call out for help.”
I frowned at him, feeling tension growing inside me. “I saw the blood all over me and hoped that my attacker had left thinking I was dead and that some nice hiker or hunter might find me.” Rob looked guilty. Good. “I know you think that I’m going to be a good little house pet and go along with all this shit, but that’s not going to happen. You can chain me up and throw away the key. I’m not going to change into an animal for your messed up idea of entertainment.”
No one spoke for a while. I chewed my food, Ethan turned the pages of his book and Rob tapped away on his laptop.
Ethan finally broke the silence. “Rob’s a good guy. He’s trying to help us out ’cause he had a bad experience when he first shifted.”
I scowled and ignored Ethan’s accolade. “Why couldn’t you just come to Maggie and Justin’s house and tell me all of this without drugging me? You say they knew what I was.”
“Think about it. You probably wouldn’t have believed me, and because of your history, we figured that your reaction would have been extreme. You do have a temper, running when you get upset. Being in the center of a human community is not a good place for a shapeshifter to flip out. If you’d told a human cop or neighbor, we’d have had a real problem on our hands. We would've been forced to go around scrubbing memories.”
“You can do that?”
“Not me, but my associate can.”
I saw Ethan scowl. “Garrett—he’s a vampire.”
“Are you saying that the one who watched me when I was younger was a vampire?” Rob nodded. Okay, that is flat out creepy. I stared at my hands, twisted together in my lap. “How is it that every scar I ever had has disappeared?”
“Shifters have an amazing ability to heal. I’m fairly sure your older scars went away because of the strength of this particular serum. I hope you weren’t too attached to them.” He tried to sound lighthearted, but I could tell by his expression that he was worried.
“No, Rob. I wasn't.” My sharp tone jarred them into silence. I'd never willingly dredge up that experience again, having buried it in hell where it belonged. I walked to the window and looked out at the dreary day. This part of the country was prone to a lot of rain and fog, w
hich matched my current mood just fine.
Rob spoke. “Look, I don’t want you to go through what a lot of other rogue shifters have experienced. Ethan can tell you that shifting isn't so bad. In fact changing into your animal form can be liberating.”
“What's a rogue shifter?”
“A rogue is a shifter who doesn’t grow up with a family of shifters—one who doesn’t expect the change and has no support system in place.” I caught a quick wince, maybe from a remembered experience of his own, before he continued. “I’ll be giving you another dose of the meds tomorrow. Today we need to do some preliminary blood tests and physical agility tests.”
That was so not happening. “You can test my blood and my physical abilities, but you’re not giving me another dose of that crap.” I walked outside, fuming, giving in to the familiar tightness that usually had me running as fast as I could. I’m getting out of here. I’ll swim if I have to, or float on a tree branch until some boat comes along.
I yanked on the bottom of my tee shirt and twisted it to tie it into a knot. I tried to roll up my sweatpants, preferring to run in shorts, but the legs kept falling down. In frustration, I took a pair of scissors down from the hook on the wall. I cut and ripped a jagged four inches off the bottoms. The morning was getting warmer and I could feel sweat start to bead at my hairline. I leaned down to tighten the laces on my sneakers, which had been cleaned and left outside my bedroom door.
Must’ve been the elves.
“There’s nowhere to go.” Ethan had followed me out and watched me adjust my clothes with an amused expression.
I stretched out my hamstrings, calves, and quads the way I always did before a run. “Says the guy who tried to escape the other night.”
“You don’t want to end up chained to a bed, believe me. It’s really boring.” He watched me stretch for a few moments longer. “On second thought I could come and visit you. I’m sure we could think of something fun to do.” His impish smiled annoyed me enough to throw a small rock at him, which he dodged easily. Too bad his reflexes were so good.
“I'm going for a run, so tell the big bad leopard to chill. I’m not trying to get away; it’s just what I do for tension, although if I really wanted to get off the island, I could.” I narrowed my eyes in challenge, but Ethan wisely chose not to argue.
Rob yelled from inside the cabin. “You two will be back here in an hour. Stay on the trails.” Not a question, just a statement.
“Whatever.”
I took off at an even pace, moving along a forest trail with Ethan loping next to me.
“You’re nuts if you think you can keep up,” I taunted.
“You’re crazy if you think I can’t.” He grinned and winked. I kicked into first gear and sprinted off. Ethan did his best for a while, but was tiring quickly. His muscular body was designed for strength, not speed, and although I’m sure that he ran for exercise, he was totally outclassed.
It had started to rain and the path was softening. Ethan disappeared for a minute or two, only to reappear in his cougar form. “Cheater,” I yelled, smiling. He actually stuck his tongue out at me, or was he licking his nose?
His brown and tan body was a streamlined work of art. I admired the way his powerful muscles bunched and relaxed as he ran beside me, passing me gracefully. He seemed to be having a great old time making me stare at his tail, until I decided I was warmed up enough, kicked into super gear and left him behind me in the dust. He could watch my human tail for a while.
Rebirth - Book 1 Rogues Shifter Series Page 5