LUCAS

by V. A. Dold

  “All right, for argument sake let say I believe you. How can you prove to me his partial shift wasn’t a sleight of hand trick?”

  “If you would like, I can shift into a complete wolf. I doubt that could be done with sleight of hand.”

  A wild wolf in the room, even if Krystal could somehow control the animal would be a huge risk.

  “I promise, when I am in wolf form I’m in complete control. I have a human brain and human thoughts. I’m just in another form. I won’t attack you or bite you.”

  She ran her fingers through her hair as she considered her options. If Krystal couldn’t change, it proved they needed help and she would have a better chance of convincing Krystal to let her call for help. And if she could... that was another whole can of worms she didn’t want to consider yet.

  With a nod, she said, “Okay. Let me see you shift into a wolf.”

  “Promise me you won’t scream or run from the building.”

  “I promise, if you promise to quietly go to the hospital for help when you can’t become an animal.”

  “Deal. Why don’t you sit in that chair? I’ll stay over here so you will feel safer.” She didn’t mention she put her wolf between Kensie and the exit in case she freaked out.

  She waited until her soon to be cousin was comfortable before she began. “Ready?”

  “Yes.”

  Instantly a beautiful, dainty wolf sat across the room. Kensie’s eyes became huge, she began to stammer incoherently, and hyperventilate.

  Quickly, Krystal shifted back. “Are you okay? Should I get you a glass of water?”

  Kensie shook her head, and stared at the woman-wolf….whatever, across the room. Krystal could hear Kensie’s heart pounding and smell her fear. Slowly, very slowly, she sensed the analytical side of her mind kick in. Her breathing normalized and she calmed enough to prevent her from bolting for the door. She became more interested in the mystery of the wolf trick than she was terrified.

  “Do you have any questions?” she asked gently.

  “I can’t for the life of me figure out how you pulled off the trick or where you hid the wolf.”

  “You said you could talk to Lucas, right?”

  “Yes,” she answered warily. They were back to Lucas again?

  “Then you would be able to talk to him when he is in wolf form. You could telepathically tell him what to do. And if you became frightened, he could speak to you and assure you you’re safe. Would that help to prove everything for you?”

  “So I can tell him to sit or come or whatever without speaking out loud and if the wolf was him, it would do it?”

  “Yes.”

  Kensie considered the suggestion for a moment. They wouldn’t know what she told the wolf to do. “Okay, under one condition, I only want one of you in the room at a time. So, when he comes in, you need to go outside. I can’t imagine how you would pull off a trick like that. If this works, I promise, I’ll try to understand this whole shifter thing.” She agreed to try, but didn’t expect their trick to work. She’d play along, no sense in upsetting the crazy people.

  “Call Lucas with your mind and ask him to join us.”

  Crud, she forgot about the telepathy stuff, she couldn’t explain that away. Lucas, would you come into the main house, please?

  Certainly, mon amour.

  A minute later, he walked into the room. Worry etched lines across his handsome face.

  Krystal spoke first. “Kensie would like you to shift to your wolf so she can test you by telling you what to do telepathically.”

  His gaze shot to Kensie. “Are you sure? I refuse to terrify you again. The experience of your fear almost tore out my heart.”

  Krystal nodded to Kensie and quietly left the house. Once she heard the lock click, she turned to Lucas.

  “Yes. I’m positive. I would like you to go over there near the fireplace and shift. Then sit down and don’t move until I tell you to.”

  Lucas did as he was told and once in place shifted to a magnificent gray, black, and white wolf. He was gorgeous. The only feature which remained the same was his eyes. There was no mistaking his intensely blue eyes. How the heck did they manage that? Hold on. You were the dog at the pool!

  Yes, I admit I watched you swim. Now, what would you like me to do, babe?

  She looked around the room and expected to see Lucas behind a chair or floor plant. This is rather creepy. A wolf is talking in my head.

  He purposely let the wolf’s tongue loll out of the side of his mouth so he looked silly. It is an acquired taste, but you’ll get used to it.

  She couldn’t help but grin. Fine, I’ll play. Please, walk half way across the room and sit down again.

  Obediently, the wolf did exactly as she asked.

  Holy fright! You...you… Then the lights went out.

  Kensie woke to Lucas with a smelling salt under her nose and Krystal holding a glass of water. “You…you...” She waved toward the spot he had shifted into a wolf.

  “Yes, mon amour. I shifted into a wolf. Do you believe me now?”

  Her eyes shot to Krystal. “You did, too.”

  “Yes, Kensie. I did, too. Are you okay? I got you a glass of water in case you need a drink.” She held out the water for Kensie to take. “Do you want to take a minute?”

  “Yeah…I need to think.” She looked Lucas directly in the eyes. “Please, don’t take offense, but I really need some space.”

  Lucas touched her face before he stepped back and took a seat across the room.

  She needed a few minutes to breathe and wrap her brain around what happened. It wasn’t every day she talked telepathically to a wolf. But even she couldn’t deny what occurred. As much as she wanted to explain it away, she couldn’t.

  Five minutes of excruciating silence ticked by.

  “Okay, Now that I’m prepared for this to be, God forbid real, would you shift again? I just need to try this one more time, verify I saw what I saw. ”

  “Of course.” In a blink his wolf stood across the room.

  Good lord, she knew a werewolf, correction two werewolves.

  Shifters. Lucas reminded her with a chuckle.

  Oh, shut up, Fido. Lucas’s wolf chuffed as she considered what to have him do next. Please walk to me and lay your head in my lap. But if you bite me, I’ll neuter you.

  Damn, woman. You have a mean streak.

  Chapter 14

  The wolf walked to her and carefully laid its head in her lap. The handsome animal watched her every expression, as if it waited for her to pass out or run from the room again. She didn’t.

  Please tell me you don’t have a scalpel on you.

  You’re safe for the moment, Rin Tin Tin.

  He groaned. Could you ease up on the dog references?

  Where’s the fun in that?

  Carefully, she reached out a trembling hand and tentatively stroked his head.

  You’re so soft and pretty.

  Handsome and dangerous, mon amour. I’m a guy. I’m not pretty. Right? Please, tell me I’m not pretty.

  Kensie giggled at his ongoing dialog.

  If you’re ready, I’m going to shift back now.

  “Should I stand back or something?” Kensie scrambled to move away from him.

  Before she got past the arm of the chair he was human again. “No, cher. You didn’t need to move.”

  She settled back into her chair and drank him in. She shook her head. “No wonder you stay hidden. If anyone found out, you would be locked up in a lab somewhere while they studied you. Believe me, I understand that.”

  Lucas narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, you understand that?”

  She adjusted her position uneasily in her chair and tucked her mass of hair behind her ears. “Well. How do I put this? You’re not the only one in hiding.”

  Lucas squatted in front of her. “Why would you be in hiding, cher?”

  She glanced between Lucas and Krystal. “Please, don’t be offended, but I’m not in a position t
o disclose my reason. Only one person on this planet is privy to my secret and for now, I’m more comfortable keeping it that way.”

  He looked at his cousin, she nodded and he turned back to his mate. “We trust you, Kensie. Otherwise, we never would have revealed ourselves to you. Don’t worry about offending us. We understand your reluctance. When you feel comfortable, I’m sure you’ll tell us.”

  Kensie looked away, she was ashamed of her cowardice. She’d lived in secrecy for so long the thought of exposure was terrifying.

  Lucas touched her gently. “Is your secret why you accepted our ability to shift? Because you feel so different from everyone else?”

  “Yes, that pretty much sums it up. I’ve always been a freak of nature and I needed to hide myself. If anyone knew, they would study me like a lab animal. Cut into my brain to figure out how I do what I do.”

  “Rest assured, as long as you’re with me, no one will harm you.” Then Lucas frowned. “Is this secret the reason Dr. Anderson demands so much of you. Does he know or suspect something?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. I’m pretty sure he believes there’s something odd about me and he intends to use it against me. That was one of the things I was thinking about when I went riding today. He’s getting too close. I need to leave the Mayo Clinic before he works it out and exposes me.”

  Both Krystal and Lucas shared a look and nodded. “Babe, I don’t mean to dictate or tell you what to do, but I think you need to leave the hospital immediately. With your reputation you could work anywhere. I’m afraid you’re right, that man is getting much too close and you’re in more danger than you realize.”

  “I know. I discussed moving to Texas and opening a practice with Jojo. I’m considering it, but I need to do more research before I make such a drastic move.”

  “That makes sense. Is there anything I can do to help?” Krystal offered. “I have gotten quite familiar with the area towns and met many of the people on the city councils and such.”

  “Give me a few days to work things out in my head. I may take you up on that, though.”

  “Okay, I’m here if you need me.” Krystal walked toward the private section of the building. “You two have a lot to talk about, so I’ll say good night.”

  Lucas breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, they were alone again and Kensie was calm and willing to listen to him.

  Kensie studied him. “So. What did she mean? What do we need to talk about?”

  Lucas suddenly looked bashful. The emotion was incongruous with the man she was beginning to know. “Well,” he began, but hesitated. “Remember when I called you my mate?”

  “Yeah! I forgot about that. You said I’m your mate and you’re mine. What the heck did you mean by that?”

  “Exactly that, mind if we move to the couch so I can sit down? This could take a minute to explain.”

  “All right.”

  They relocated and got comfortable. Turning toward her he took her hands and said a silent prayer to the wolf goddess.

  “To explain mates, I need to explain wolf shifters. You see, there is a wolf goddess, her name is Luperca. The goddess is the original creator of the wolf shifters. A long time ago, she blessed a small group of humans with powers and gifts. Basically, she took an entire village and gave each person a second soul, a wolf. The second soul is like the essence of a wolf living within the human. The soul gave the human the ability to change at will into the wolf living inside him. The powers she blessed them with are the same for each shifter. We have several of them. We have the ability to dress or undress with a thought. We also heal ten times faster than humans, which I’m sure you will find fascinating. We can move so rapidly, the human eye can’t detect us. Shifter mates can speak telepathically to each other. And I haven’t shown you this yet, but we can send caresses and feelings of emotion to each other, too.”

  “You said she also blessed the humans with special gifts?”

  “Each shifter is born with one special gift. The ability manifests during childhood.”

  “What’s your gift?” she asked.

  “I can astral project myself anywhere in the world as long as I have an idea of my destination. Well, it’s like astral projection, but more. When I travel, I can talk to people on the other end and if I desire, I can be seen too.”

  “No way!”

  “Yeah.” He laughed at her excited expression.

  “So how does all that explain what a mate is and why I’m one?”

  “It doesn’t, I’ve only explained how shifters came to be. A mate is the other half of a shifter. When the first shifters were created the goddess arranged for each shifter to be matched with a destined mate. There is only one mate for each shifter. She created the perfect situation where the shifter has half a soul and his human mate holds the other half. Neither can be truly complete without the other. This forms an astounding bond between the two, both emotionally and physically. This magical bond fast-forwards falling in love with your mate. The courtship of mates is insanely short. What takes a human months or years to feel emotions for each other, mates will experience in a matter of days. I think it is all part of the destiny thing. Mates are destined. There is no wondering or testing the waters. The bond is already in place before the two people even meet so the love and sexual desire are almost instantaneous.”

  Kensie smiled and blushed an intense red. “That explains a lot.”

  He chuckled and nodded. “Yes, I’m sure it does. The goddess created three signs for the shifter to watch for. If those three signs were present in his prospective mate, he knew he had finally found the one he was seeking.”

  “You’re referring to the attraction, scent, and telepathy aren’t you?”

  “Yes. And we have all three signs.”

  “So, what does that mean. Now that you found the person you were looking for. Now what?”

  “If you accept me as your mate and agree to complete the ritual, you will receive a shifter soul and all the gifts that go with that. From what I hear, any psychic gift you have as a human will be enhanced as well. That enhancement becomes your special gift. To complete the ritual is like a private marriage ceremony with specific vows and such, which I will teach you. But unlike a human marriage, the ritual is permanent. There is no divorce or walking away.”

  “Wow, that would take some serious commitment on the human’s part. What happens if the human doesn’t do the ritual?”

  “Neither the man or woman will ever be complete without the other. They will always desire each other and need to be close in distance to each other. Even you as a human will never find happiness or fulfillment with a human male. Your soul reaches for mine and craves my presence as much as mine reaches for yours.”

  Kensie frowned. “So, I could never marry anyone else?”

  “You could try. Anna, my oldest brother’s mate was married before she met Cade. Needless to say, her marriage ended badly. She described the feeling as never fitting in with humans. She had always felt different until she met Cade and did the ritual. Then things fell into place and she finally felt like she belonged.”

  Kensie was absorbing everything he said, nodding and mentally taking notes.

  “You need to understand, the emotional bond that forms between the two destined mates is very intense. Even before the ritual is completed, you will need to be near me, and you will want to touch me even if it is just a hand on my arm. The yearning is almost like an addiction, which doesn’t come with a twelve-step program. My brother Stefan’s mate tried to deny him and he became extremely depressed. El was in therapy for a trauma she’d endured and she wasn’t doing well either. The family was afraid Stefan was becoming suicidal. Luckily, we got them together before it was too late.”

  He paused to let her think about everything he’d said.

  “So, if I get a wolf soul and all the abilities you talked about, does that mean I will be able to shift, too?

  “Absolutely. It’s all part of the magic in the ritual. You’ll receive
a wolf guardian at the same time you get all the gifts. I bet you have a sexy red wolf that is cunning and very sassy. Your wolf always takes on a color that is naturally in your human hair. For example, I have very dark hair. As you saw, my wolf had black in his coat.”

  “Interesting. You’ve given me a ton of information to process. Now I understand my strange attraction to you and intense feelings. I’m glad I extended my vacation. I think I’m going to need it.”

  He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close. His wolf sighed in relief, to finally hold his mate. The peace Kensie gave them by simply touching them was immense. After a few minutes, he relaxed his hold on her, and cupped her face, waiting for her to raise her eyes and look at him. “I’m glad you extended your vacation, too. I refuse to think about you ever leaving. Now that you understand I’m a shifter and the attraction and emotions I feel for you are not only natural, but also very real, I’m not afraid to tell you I love you. I know you’re still processing everything but I want you to know the depth of my feelings for you. This isn’t a summertime vacation crush, it’s very real.”

  “I don’t doubt, your feelings. I’ve never been in love before, so I hesitate to say I’m in love. But I admit, I’ve never had such deep, intense feelings for anyone before. I know I don’t want to be away from you. And I want to talk to you all the time. I want you so damn bad, I can’t sleep at night. Is that love? I suppose it might be?”

  He lowered one palm from her face and took possession of her hand, arousal glowing in his eyes. When he raised her knuckles to his lips, the warmth of his breath raised goose bumps up her arm. Holding her gaze, he swirled his tongue over the kiss he’d just pressed to the back of her hand. Then he gently turned it over and placed an erotic kiss to the center of her palm.

  Her breath hitched and she shivered in the Texas heat from his sensual seduction. Energy seemed to arc and race over her skin with each tiny lick and sexy kiss. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear she saw actual sparks.