Rebirth - Book 1 Rogues Shifter Series

by Gayle Parness

  Chapter Seven

  Rob gave me orange juice and told me to rest up. In an hour or so he was going to give me several physical agility and endurance tests. I lay down in Ethan’s spot on the couch, and caught a whiff of eucalyptus, Ethan’s signature scent—kind of an outdoorsy spicy odor. I picked up the book that he’d been reading and read the synopsis on the back cover. It was a mystery about a park ranger who works to solve a murder in one of the US national parks. Ethan was definitely a guy who liked his outdoor drama. I laughed to myself and started to read.

  The next thing I knew, Ethan was sitting on the edge of the couch poking me gently in the stomach and saying, “Wake up, Speedy. You have to get tested.” I yawned and started to stretch, thought better of it, and stood. He'd already run out the door to the front yard, so I followed him.

  Rob put me through my paces all right. He timed me running, although I didn’t run as fast as I could—no reason to give everything away—and measured the distance and height of my jumps. He had me doing sit-ups, pull-ups and running in place for what seemed like hours. Ethan lounged on the porch grinning and laughing. I wanted to drop kick the annoying asshole over the cabin roof.

  Finally Rob pointed to the right indicating an enormous oak tree and told me to climb it. Now here’s something I may not have mentioned. I really don’t like heights. When I was around eight years old, one of the other foster kids pushed me off the top of a tall slide in the playground. I broke my wrist and never climbed up another slide. From that day, I've freaked when I was up high and too close to an edge.

  “Uh, sorry, but heights aren’t really my thing.”

  “You can do it; just push yourself past the fear.” He looked at me confidently.

  I shook my head. “I don’t like heights … ever. How about asking me to climb it when I’m a jaguar or whatever it is I’m going to be? Maybe it won’t be frightening when I’m an animal.” I shrugged and started to turn away.

  “Your human fears will affect your abilities in animal form. You need to get over this one fast.” His voice had taken on a sterner quality and I felt beads of sweat form along my hairline. Just thinking about climbing that tree was making my throat dry up.

  “Oh, c’mon, Jackie,” Ethan chimed in pushing me toward the tree, “This is easy!” He started climbing. He was like a freaking machine, pulling himself up smoothly branch-by-branch, until at last he sat smugly near the top, maybe 100 feet in the air, grinning down at me.

  My eyes narrowed as I looked up at him. What an arrogant ass. He’d heard me say that I didn’t like heights and he pulls this move in front of Rob? I looked up. He was actually waving at me.

  “C’mon up.” If anything was going to get me up that tree, it was Ethan sitting there taunting me with his no-fear-of-heights attitude. My fear drained away as anger spilled in to take its place. I glowered and stretched my arms in evil anticipation of shoving him off of that top branch and hearing him scream as he fell.

  Up I went, all the time keeping my eyes on Ethan, never looking down at the ground. Before I knew it, I was sitting on the branch right next to him. But instead of making a snide comment, he patted my shoulder, smiling and saying, “You can really climb fast! That was cool.”

  That remark destroyed my murder-by-pushing plan as I stared into his gleaming brown eyes in surprise, seeing only genuine admiration in his gaze. Rob called out from below, “Good work, both of you! Now you can come back to Earth.”

  Stupid me glanced down and the world instantly flipped and spun in a nauseating tumble. I grabbed onto Ethan’s shirt for dear life and closed my eyes, shocked to hear myself whimpering a little. He put an arm around my shoulders to steady me, his other hand on a branch above us.

  My voice sounded squeaky but I was too scared to feel embarrassed. “Ohgodohgod! I can’t move. I’m gonna pass out.” I was shaking so hard I thought I'd break the branch in half.

  Don’t think about the branch breaking. The branch is sturdy. The branch will not break. We are sitting on the strongest branch ever grown on a tree. This is the freakin' super branch of all branches.

  My head was nestled so close against Ethan’s shoulder I could smell his uniquely spicy scent, and for some reason it calmed me. He held me securely, murmuring words of encouragement into my hair. He seemed very calm, not fazed at all by my fear, but I could've used a double dose of Rob’s wintergreen tranquilizer to stop the trembling.

  Ethan continued to speak softly. “Relax. You’re going to get down one branch at a time exactly the same way you got up here. And I’m going to help you.” Placing a finger under my chin, he forced me to look at him. “You’ll have to trust me.” He spoke to me calmly but with authority, not like the goofy, flirting Ethan that I’d seen so far.

  “I can’t do this, I really can’t.” My eyes were glued shut as I dug my face back into his chest and desperately clutched at his shirt. I think I heard a seam rip, but I was way beyond caring.

  “How do you expect to get down if you don’t climb down?”

  Sweat dampened my brow and palms. Trembling, I continued to cling to his shirt as I answered him, my voice sounding muffled against the material. “I don’t freakin’ know, Ethan. Maybe you can knock me out and carry me down unconscious? I definitely can’t do this the normal way.”

  “Nah, you're too hard-headed.” I knew he'd meant it as a joke, but I wasn't in the mood to laugh. He grunted, taking a firm hold of my chin, forcing me to look him in the eye. Our faces were only inches apart. “You will do this. You will climb down and I'll be behind you the whole time. I won't let you fall. I'll keep you safe.” He let that sink in for a minute. “Tell me you trust me.” I shook my head up and down quickly. I did trust him. He was channeling Rob or something, but I didn’t care, as long as he could get me down again.

  “Say it. Out loud.”

  “I trust you.” The words came out a shaky whisper, but he seemed to hear them.

  “Good. Face the trunk.” I did what he said, although I was whimpering again. Put one hand next to mine and the other on that smaller branch. I’ll be with you for every step. Don’t look down at all.”

  His calm manner and reassuring voice gave me a touch of confidence, and after a very shaky start, I was able to follow his orders all the way to the ground with only a few tearful, frozen pauses along the way. When my feet touched the forest floor beneath the tree, I sat down hard, wrapped my arms around my knees and sobbed with relief and embarrassment.

  I looked up to see Rob glance at me with concern then pat Ethan on the back and walk back to the cabin. Ethan sat down on the ground next to me and reached out to hold my hand in support. “You really did great. If it makes you feel any better, I can’t swim. I start to panic in about three feet of water.” He reached out to wipe the tears off my cheeks with his ripped shirt.

  “I guess an island is a great place for you to be a prisoner,” I sniffled.

  He laughed. “Yep, without a boat I’m stuck here. But I don’t really feel like a prisoner and neither should you. We’re here to train and then we’re free to leave.” He brushed a stray leaf out of my hair and tried to do the same for his own.

  I looked up at him and attempted a smile. “Thank you, Ethan. You—”

  “Rob would have caught you, but you’re welcome.” He leaned over and kissed me gently on the forehead. Then he got up and walked in the direction Rob had gone, making sure that I could see how cute his butt looked as he walked away. Back to the old Ethan, I sighed and smiled.

  A few minutes later I followed his spicy scented trail back to the cabin.