by E A Price
It actually felt kind of anti-climactic. After all her worry, that was it, her part in it was virtually over. She wondered if she would still have a job at the company. She wondered if Conrad had asked Glenn to do this. Would there even be a company after tonight?
Ugh. Val rubbed her sore arms. Dang, she hadn’t felt this bad since before she came to Rose. Actually, no this was even worse than before she came to Rose. Sharp, electric tingles coursed through her body.
She felt her insides start to boil. Oh hell, what the fuck was happening to her? Her whole body started shaking uncontrollably. She needed to get to Jake. She tried to stand, but her legs felt too weak. It felt like her freaking bones were realigning!
Her hands were numb, she could barely use them, but still she desperately tried to grab for the phone. Why wouldn’t her damn hands work!
Fury lanced through her, and a bolt of lightning shot out of her hand and destroyed the phone.
Val screamed in terror. What was that? How the hell had she done that?
“Valentine!” roared Jake.
Val tried to call his name, but the word died on her tongue. Her mouth felt wrong - like she couldn’t make words anymore. She forced herself to say something and the only noise that came from her was a ferocious growl.
He burst through the door, followed by various pack mates. They stared at her in horror.
What was wrong? What were they looking at?
Argh, hair was growing out of her arms! Claws were pushing out of her fingers. Clothes were stretching and tearing off her body. Her bones cracked and creaked as her limbs molded themselves into new shapes.
She turned her scared eyes on Jake and tried to scream at him to help her, but nothing would come out. She sucked in a breath, and as she let it out, her control slipped away. A deep, primal urge pushed forward, and Val felt herself falling. She was terrified, but for the first time in years, she actually let go and allowed herself just to give in. It was wonderful.
Chapter Fourteen
A leopard. Honest to god, Valentine just turned into a leopard.
Jake gaped as the leopard, no, as Valentine, scratched and tore at his desk. Even his wolf didn’t know what to do. What the fuck?!
Was this some kind of trick? Was it some kind of crazy practical joke? Had Valentine replaced herself with a leopard as some kind of elaborate joke? No, not possible. He heard the crash, he heard her screams and then he saw her as a painful shift forced her to turn into the irate cat currently chewing on his chair.
Some kind of spell maybe…
He stilled as he caught it. Her scent. It was no longer obscured, not it now free to elate and tease him in equal measure. It was a gloriously sweet orange blossom flavor. Orange blossom and leopard. The soft tendrils invaded his senses, curling around his heart, inflaming his desire and sending his inner beast howling with happiness.
His mate. His true mate. Whatever had happened, she had changed somehow, and he could tell that she was his true mate.
He took a step toward her and held out his hands. “Valentine,” he whispered softly.
The leopard looked up, pinning him with an intense stare. A low snarl vibrated in her throat as she leaped onto his desk.
His pack mates gasped but held their ground. They were brave wolves, but she was a leopard. She had a ferocious set of claws and fangs. She was big – big for a female – but still smaller than Jake’s own wolf. He felt comfortable that he could subdue her if necessary, but he wouldn’t take it for granted that she was a deadly creature. Sure was beautiful though…
Her silken looking fur was golden down her back and white on her stomach, covered in those distinctive black rosettes. She looked every inch a majestic predator. He just wanted to run his fingers through that soft fur.
Jake held up a hand to his pack mates, telling them to stay back. He inched toward her, not breaking eye contact.
“Valentine,” he repeated quietly. “It’s me, Jake.”
She snarled with more force.
“We need some tranqs,” said Acksel.
The leopard snapped her jaws. Her eyes flashed to violet, and an aerial picture of the town flew off the wall and smashed right into Acksel’s head.
The wolves started grumbling and letting out their own growls as they prepared to shift.
“No,” commanded Jake. “You’ll frighten her.”
“Frighten her?!” exclaimed Mal. “She looks like she’s about to eat you!”
“Everybody calm down; she won’t hurt me.”
He hoped. The two of them were close and but not all shifters could control their beasts when they shifted, and he had the feeling this was a completely new experience for Valentine.
He reached out a hand to her nose. Her yellow eyes bore into him savagely, but she stopped growling and sniffed him. The leopard scooted forward on the desk and pressed her nose against his fingers, and damn, she was actually purring.
Boldly, he pushed a hand over her head and scratched her ears. She closed her eyes, and a shudder racked her huge frame.
“There’s a good girl,” he crooned softly.
The cat rubbed her head against him, roughly, wanting more. He petted and stroked her with both hands and the tension left her; she relaxed into his soothing touch.
She pressed a paw against his chest, and he chuckled. Yep, this was definitely Valentine. His mate.
He couldn’t believe it. She really was his true mate. Whatever had prevented her from shifting, whatever had affected her scent, it was gone, and his wolf was pushing him to claim her. He had wanted her before he knew for certain that she was meant for him, and this was just an added bonus!
A leopard, too. His mate was a leopard. Unbelievable. He’d never imagined such a creature was meant for him. She was magnificent both in her skin and her shift.
And judging by his destroyed phone and the whole ‘throwing pictures around the room’ thing, there was more to her than just being a shifter. She had magic…
Adam, his Alpha, pushed his way into the room shouldering his way past Acksel and Mal whose jaws were practically sitting on the floor.
“What the fuck is going on?” boomed the Alpha. “Jake, explain all this!”
The leopard nudged Jake out the way and began snarling at his Alpha. Adam narrowed his eyes and bared his fangs.
“Jake!” he hissed as his muscles trembled, trying to contain his own beast.
Jake pressed his cheek against hers, rubbing against her soft fur. “Shhh, it’s okay, sweetheart. He’s not going to hurt us.”
She let out a huff and hunched her shoulders, preparing to attack if need be.
“Jake…” rumbled Adam.
“It’s Valentine, she… shifted... into a leopard.”
Adam narrowed his eyes. “But... how?”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know.”
The Alpha stared at the leopard, dumbfounded. “Maybe magic… I don’t… maybe a witch can provide some answers. Acksel, can you distract Hans and get Melanie to come help?”
Hans was Acksel’s brother, and extremely protective of his witch-mate Melanie. There was no way he would be okay with his mate trying to deal with a potentially aggressive leopard shifter. Hence, Acksel drawing the short straw of trying to get Melanie away from Hans long enough to provide some help.
The Chief Enforcer nodded shortly and backed out of the room, lest he should rile the confused leopard. Adam took a step closer to Jake and Valentine, but stopped when she bared her fangs.
“We need to get her somewhere safe.”
Jake scowled, and his wolf yowled in fury. “She’s not in danger, is she?” If anyone dared to try and hurt his leopard, he’d rip them to shreds!
“Settle down, I’m more worried about what she might do to others. If this is actually her first shift, then she’s almost as uncontrollable as a wild leopard. I can’t risk her getting out and attacking pups or females.”
He didn’t like it, but he had to admit
that the Alpha had a point. Jake’s main concern was Valentine, but Adam had to worry about his whole pack, and although she seemed attached to Jake, there was no telling what she might do to random pack mates, or even random townspeople who couldn’t even shift to protect themselves.
“I could take her into one of the holding cells. But unless we want to feed her, we will need to get the idiots we arrested out of there.”
Neither he nor his wolf was happy about it, but it was for her own good. He didn’t imagine that Valentine would be thrilled to wake up and find out that she had accidentally attacked and eaten a few random strangers. That sort of thing could really screw up your confidence!
Adam nodded. “We could put the cell’s current occupants in the pack recreation center until Alexandria PD collects them. Will our cell hold her, though?”
The leopard swished her tail, and Jake scratched under her chin. “They held up against an onslaught from Cain, didn’t they? I’ll admit that she’s stronger than a she-wolf, but she’s not quite up there with a Kodiak bear.”
“Okay, Mal find some rope…”
“Rope?” snapped Jake. “She’s not an animal… alright, so she sort of is, but how would you feel if someone tried to put a leash on your wolf?”
The Alpha folded his massive arms. “The difference is that I can control my wolf.”
Jake jutted his chin, and his wolf snarled. There was no way he was putting a leash on his mate. “She’s not exactly running around ripping throats out. Just let me get her to the cell, but no rope.”
Adam gave him a hard stare. “Okay, but this is on you.”
Meaning that if she did manage to get away and run off on a feline rampage, the Alpha would have him by the balls – most likely literally.
Jake nodded in agreement. “It’s probably best if everyone got out of the station… just until I get her settled.”
Just in case…
*
An hour later, Jake sat on the floor of a cell with his leopard’s head resting on his thigh. His poor little kitty cat must have been exhausted. The first shift was always the hardest and took a lot of energy. He ruffled her fur, and she purred contentedly.
The cell was locked; more to appease the minds of the wolves and bear on the other side of the cell than for him. He knew she wasn’t going anywhere.
Cain leaned against the bars of the cell. “Are you sure you want to be in there, boss?”
“Wouldn’t you be, if it were Carly?”
Jake gave him a pointed look, and Cain chuckled softly. “Yeah, but the difference is Carly’s a tiny, little wolf and Val’s a… uh…” He stammered as he caught the narrowed glare from Jake. “Well, she’s big even for a female leopard – and they’re not that small to start with and... oh, crap!”
The leopard lifted her head, startled at the bear’s outburst. Jake scowled at Cain before making hushing noises to his mate and lulling her back to her dozing state. The reason for the huge bear’s exclamation was clear when Carly made her way into the room.
“What are you doing here?” hissed Cain in a chilling, throaty voice.
The other occupants of the room tensed at his tone, and Adam made a move to step forward. He’d always felt the need to protect his Omega from other wolves, probably because she was physically weaker than the rest and also her abilities were needed to maintain the equilibrium of the pack. He needn’t have worried when it came to Cain, though; Carly had the big lug wrapped around her delicate little finger.
The she-wolf waved a hand at him dismissively. “I came to help. I came to see whether Val needed any emotional support. I can sense straight away that she’s confused and anxious.”
“It’s not safe,” ground out Cain flexing his muscles.
“Pshaw! Unless she can pick locks, I’m fine, besides she has Jake to calm her down…”
“So she doesn’t need you!”
“But I can help clear her mind; like I said, she’s confused. Besides, I have you to protect me. I know you won’t let anything happen to me.”
With those words, and the beatific smile she sent his way, he completely melted. Sucker.
Cain fidgeted a little awkwardly. “I guess it’s okay, although I really regret calling you to tell you what was going on. I won’t be doing that again.”
Carly pressed her lips together to stop herself from smiling. That was a feeble threat. She and everyone else had soon come to realize that her bear mate was a terrible gossip. Carly found it immensely cute.
She kneeled down next to the bars of the cage and blushed as Cain did the same, crowding her small body, pressing against her.
Jake looked between Carly, whose face was scrunched up in concentration, and his lovely leopard who was actually starting to relax a little more.
“It’ll be easier when she shifts back,” murmured Carly in dulcet tones. “But she’s actually handling all this very well – better than I would have guessed. Probably because of you.” She looked at Jake and smiled.
He gave a light shrug of his shoulders, not wanting to show how pleased he was by that.
“She’s not in physical pain, at least,” continued Carly, “which is a surprise. We tend to shift when we’re teenagers because our bodies are still growing, and we’re more… adaptable. I’ve not met anyone else who first shifted when they were an adult, but I’ve heard it can be brutal.”
She hugged her arms around herself, and Cain rubbed her back. “But it probably helps that she’s not exactly a shifter. But you already know that, right?”
Everyone in the room looked at Jake, and he said, “I suspect that’s true.”
“Then what the hell is she?” demanded Cain in a strident voice.
The leopard let out a rumble, and everyone shushed Cain at once. Slightly chastised, he repeated his question in a whisper. Not that it mattered, because a few seconds later two arguing male voices punctuated by a weary female voice started drifting towards them. This was followed by Acksel returning with Hans and Melanie in tow.
Both males looked a little disheveled. Jake almost snorted out a laugh. He could easily imagine what happened. Acksel went to find Melanie to ask her to help; Hans wouldn’t let his mate go anywhere; the two males got into a scuffle while Acksel tried to enforce his Alpha’s orders and Hans acted like the crazy possessive wolf that he was, until, finally, Melanie was the voice of reason and agreed to go with Acksel if Hans could come too. Absently, he wondered if Melanie ever got tired of being in the middle of the two brothers. Hans wouldn’t be comfortable with his brother being near Melanie until Acksel took his own mate, that was for damn sure. Maybe not even then.
Adam glowered at Acksel, and the Chief Enforcer gave him a look of sufferance in return. They all would have preferred it if Hans weren't there, but it was too late.
“What do you need my mate for?” demanded Hans.
“We need a witch’s help,” replied Adam, drawing himself to his full height.
Jake could see that his Alpha wasn’t happy with Hans’ behavior – but then, when was he ever? – so he was grateful that Adam was fighting the urge to do anything about it. The last thing they needed was a fight breaking out; everything needed to remain as peaceful as possible unless they actually did want a leopard bouncing around against the bars of the cell… in which case, they could go nuts!
Melanie, while Hans was otherwise engaged, sat on the ground next to Carly.
“There are other witches in the pack,” grumbled Hans.
Adam let out a long breath. “Who are pregnant.”
Hans’ eyes flashed to amber. “I see, so you’re willing to risk my mate’s safety but not theirs?”
“Hans, cariño,” murmured Melanie, “witches don’t have magic when they’re pregnant, and I’m not in any danger. Come and see for yourself.”
Huffing and puffing, he did and dropped to the floor next to her. With a sweet look from Melanie, he remained quiet.
“Wow,” breathed Melanie watching the leopard.
> “Can you turn her back to human?” asked Adam.
Melanie shook her head. “No, while she’s like this, she’s immune from my magic.”
Jake looked up at her. “Does that mean…”
“Yes.”
“For the slow kids?” interjected Mal.
“She's a shifter and a witch - she’s a hybrid,” explained Jake.
He was just saying out loud what he already knew. He knew it the moment she threw a picture at Acksel’s head – it was pretty hard to miss a sign like that!
“A hybrid?” repeated Mal in confusion.
Melanie chewed on her cheek. “Yep, her mom and dad must have been a leopard shifter and a witch.”
Acksel rubbed his chin. “But I thought that mixed species children always took after either their mom or their dad. Is that even possible?”
“It’s rare but yeah, it happens. Most hybrids are usually kids of a human with supernatural gifts and a shifter, or even sometimes when you get compatible shifters like lions and tigers. Shifters with magic are really rare – shifters were never supposed to have magic.”
Melanie licked her lips and looked at Jake. “Did you have any idea that she was…”
“No, and I don’t think she did, either.”
Nobody seemed more surprised than Valentine when all that fur was sprouting out of her body.
“The first time we met, I immediately sensed she was a shifter – but she told me she wasn’t,” said Carly softly.
The leopard was asleep and breathing deeply. He tried to move his hands away from her, but her breathing started to hitch, so he placed them back on her body. At least she was resting now; he just hoped that she didn’t have any trouble shifting back.
He knew there was something unusual about her scent and her eyes from the moment he met her, but he had no idea that she would be a hybrid. It didn’t change how he felt about her, though.
“How could she not know?”
Melanie shrugged. “It’s possible it could have been shielded from her.”