Sharp Change

by Milly Taiden

  “The four of us?” Chase put his empty beer bottle down.

  Julia came over, put down a napkin, and plunked down a fresh bottle. She leaned over the counter and gave her husband a quick kiss. Great, so he was going to have to watch them play footsie while Sophia pretended he didn’t exist.

  “Did you ask him?” She smiled at River, then turned to Chase.

  “I just did, sweetheart. He still hasn’t said if he’s coming.” He grabbed her hand and lifted it to his lips. She stared at him, the heat in their eyes clearly visible for anyone to see.

  Julia gave Chase a small frown. “Well? Can you come? I really want you there, Chase.” She gave her husband a small pleasure-filled smile. “We’ve got something we need to tell you guys, but we only want to do it once, so you have to be there.” She grinned. Her eyes sparkled when she spoke.

  He’d never seen River as happy as he was since meeting his mate. It made Chase feel uncomfortable to be a voyeur to their love-fest.

  “Ah shit, come on Julia, do you honestly think I’d ever say no to you? I’d never hear the end of it from Don Juan over here.” He curled his lip in his trademark smile and winked at his sister-in-law.

  Julia was family now, and he did anything in his power to make the females in his family happy. Even if that meant torturing himself to be near the woman of his every dirty fantasy.

  She laughed, grabbed Chase’s face, and kissed him loudly on the cheek, which shocked a blush out of him. Fuck, now she was trying to turn him into a domestic animal.

  No way, he was alpha and still the dominant leader of his pack.

  “Great!” she said. “Just make sure you come, or I’ll have to hunt you down and make a wolf rug out of you.” Without waiting for a reply she went back to serving drinks, her happiness radiating warmth all around.

  “So, are you going to be OK with Sophia joining us?”

  Chase’s gaze landed on his brother and his shrewd stare. He didn’t want to know what River meant by his probing, but he could only think that his sibling had noticed Sophia’s obvious dislike of him. For fuck’s sake, the woman acted like he had rabies. Whenever he walked in, she walked out.

  “Yeah, why wouldn’t I?”

  “Hmm. No reason. Then I’ll call you Sunday. Don’t forget.” River gave him the look that he’d given him before his wedding, the one that said if you try to get out of this, I’ll bitch and moan so much you’ll visualize killing me multiple times.

  Fan-fucking-tastic.

  * * *

  Sophia woke up to a loud ringing next to her bed. She groaned, turned over, and tried to ignore the cell phone on her bedside table. But the loud sound of Cindy Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” wouldn’t shut up.

  Why the hell had she let Julia pick her own ringtone?

  She reached blindly until her hand grasped the phone and pressed the button on the side to stop the annoying sound. She put the device to her ear under the pillow, her voice muffled when she spoke. “The house better be burning down around me or you are so dead.”

  Her sister’s tinkling laughter on the other end made her wince. God, when did she start laughing so loud?

  “Get your ass up, you lazy bum. Did you forget our barbecue? You’ve got exactly two hours to get up, get ready, and get some chocolate cake at the bakery.” Julia’s voice turned a little rough. “Do not forget the chocolate cake, or I’ll make you go back and get it.”

  “What the heck do you mean the barbecue? Isn’t that on Sunday?”

  “Sophia? Are you OK? You do know it’s Sunday right?” Her sister’s humor faded as worry filled her voice.

  Ah shit! It had taken all of two seconds to burst her sister’s bulletproof happiness bubble. “Of course I know it’s Sunday,” she lied with a chuckle. “I’m just messing with you. I’ll see you in two hours, OK? Don’t worry sis, I’ll be there.”

  She took a deep breath. Thank God Julia wasn’t next to her, or she’d smell the lie in no time. Stupid shifter genes. There was no hiding the truth from any of them.

  Ugh, her body was sore and sensitive, like when she was PMSing or ready to get the flu. Keep working like a robot, you nimrod, and your mistakes are only going to increase, she thought.

  The groan that slipped through her lips came out sounding more like a strangled frog, which begged the question, was she also getting a sore throat? She couldn’t believe she’d slept through Saturday. She must have been super exhausted.

  She needed coffee. Tossing the pillow to the floor, she sat up and looked around her room. Something was off, but she couldn’t put her finger on what. Her nose wrinkled at a distant foul smell. Something to investigate later; right now she needed to take a shower.

  She sat on the toilet, relieving her ready-to-burst bladder. Still wondering what was different, she kept her eyes closed, stripped off her tank top and shorts, and walked into the shower. A low hiss pierced the air as warm water caressed her skin.

  She looked around, wondering where the noise had come from.

  There was nothing.

  She took her time washing her hair and hummed while she brushed her teeth. Much more awake when she got out of the shower, she stretched and yawned.

  She grabbed a fluffy blue towel and dried off, wondering why the material felt so coarse on her skin. Sandpaper would probably feel softer. Apparently she needed to change her fabric softener.

  Wrapped in her short purple robe, she walked out of the bathroom, not bothering with the foggy mirror. A noise at her front door grabbed her attention as she was about to get dressed.

  “Coming,” she yelled as she walked to the door.

  Leaving the chain on, she opened the door to look outside. On her front lawn lay her weekend newspaper, ready to get soaked by the sprinklers that were going to turn on in a few minutes.

  Growling at having to go outside and get it in her robe, she peered around and saw no one. She ran out onto her front lawn just as two of her neighbors walked out.

  Chapter Two

  The man across from her, Henry—or was it Harry—had asked her out once, but she’d declined. He grabbed his paper and took a deep breath. His head snapped up, and he looked right at her.

  The other man, Richard Lezz, she knew from The Back Door. He was a regular there and made her feel super uncomfortable with his slick toothy smiles and I’m-too-sexy demeanor.

  Richard, or Dick as he preferred—although why he’d like to be known as Dick Lezz was beyond her understanding—also took a deep breath and turned to stare in her direction. Then to her consternation, they both started walking toward her.

  Something weird was going on with their faces. Dick had never looked so severe, and Harry looked positively feral. Self-preservation made her run into the house and lock the door.

  What the fuck?

  Taking shallow breaths, she peeked through the peephole and saw them stop in the middle of the street. They stared at her house for a few moments and turned back to their own, walking back slowly and looking at her place every few steps.

  What the heck was that about? She was tempted to make the sign of the cross and find some holy water. As she walked back to her room, she decided she’d have to control her mental instability at the barbecue. No need for Chase to know she was halfway past deranged.

  She pulled on a charcoal wrap dress and some flat sandals to go with it. Walking to the bathroom she looked at her hair and almost collapsed. When the heck had it grown so long? Had she been ignoring it to the point it now reached her shoulders?

  She knew she’d gotten a cut only two weeks ago…hadn’t she? There was no debating she’d been preoccupied with her research; she must not have noticed how long it had gotten. One thing was for sure: that long sleep seemed to have helped her get some color back.

  Her skin was positively glowing with vitality, and even her eyes had a clear, gemstone sparkle to them. Hey, maybe now that she actually looked better than just a geeky geneticist, she could find a way to make her vocal chords work
in front of FBA Chase.

  For some reason she didn’t want to question, she felt the need to check the street before she walked out. Her two neighbors’ reactions had scared the crap out of her. Plus, she didn’t have any weapons to fight big, four-legged, super-fast man-animals…hmm…manimals…now that was funny. She’d made up a new word.

  Slapping her mental self back in focus, she reminded herself those two neighbors were part of the shifter group. Thank God for the automatic starter button on her key ring. Her hands made a move toward the hall table and stopped. About to grab her prescription sunglasses, she frowned, lifted a hand to her face, and realized she wasn’t wearing her glasses.

  Squealing, she dashed to the bathroom and stared at her eyes all over again. Holy shit! She took in her surroundings with much more accuracy, and her jaw dropped. Her usual myopic vision was gone. It had been replaced with sight so perfect she could see right down to the few strands of hair that littered the floor.

  She retrieved her smart phone and made a note of the first evident change that occurred after her accident. She grinned. That was one kind of side effect she wouldn’t argue with. Perfect vision rocked.

  Grabbing her black shoulder bag and keys she made a run for the car. Surprisingly, it took her less time than she thought to get to it. She floored it when she saw Dick’s front door opening.

  She looked in her rearview mirror and caught him standing in the middle of the street, watching her car speed away.

  She stopped at Tryx’s Bakery on her way to Julia’s house to pick up her signature chocolate mousse cake; otherwise she’d find herself with one angry wolf. Tryx’s shop was an absolute delight of yumminess.

  There were cakes, cookies, truffles, pastries, assorted specialties, and of course, Tryx’s signature chocolate mousse cake. She only made that by request. Everything was displayed to make the customer want to try it all.

  Sophia walked in and was instantly surrounded by enough sweets to give her dentist work for at least six months. Every time she walked into the shop, Sophia was sure she’d gone down the rabbit hole.

  “Sophia!” Tryx grinned and came around the counter. As the only female in the family, River and Chase’s cousin was thrilled to have Julia to keep her company. Her short spiky hair feathered over her face with a couple of blonde, pink, and blue strands making her look like a little pixie. She wasn’t very tall for a shifter, only about two inches over Sophia’s own five foot three frame. She was slimmer than Sophia and Julia by a good twenty pounds.

  Tryx hugged her tight and then lifted her head, narrowing her eyes.

  “What?” Sophia asked at the strange expression on Tryx’s face.

  Tryx gave her a look as if she were stinking up the place. She hoped she’d put on enough deodorant and didn’t smell funky. She’d had to stop wearing body spray to keep her sister’s new, sensitive shifter senses from complaining over the strong scent.

  “You smell weird.” Tryx wrinkled her nose and sniffed Sophia’s shoulder.

  Sophia took a tentative step back in order to put some space between herself and the other woman’s frown. “Um, oh that. You see, I got this dress dry cleaned, and they told me they mixed it with someone’s stuff by mistake, so I think you might smell the other person. I think they were a shifter too. Anyhow, do you have that cake? I don’t want to disappoint Julia with as busy as she’s been lately.”

  After another sniff, Tryx’s brow smoothed, and she smiled at Sophia. “Of course. I would never want to see my beautiful new cousin angry. It’s all ready, and I’ve added a bag of cookies just for you.”

  She strode to the counter and picked up a white bakery box and a bag. Both were closed and tied with pink and gold ribbon, the shop’s signature colors. After she handed Sophia the box, Tryx stared into her eyes for what felt like an eternity, then gave her a soft warm smile.

  Completely sure there must have been something wrong with the water, Sophia was glad to get out from under Tryx’s scrutiny. Not to mention she could smell the cookies in the bag, and her mouth was starting to water. She was sure if she didn’t eat one soon, she’d drool on her dress.

  She turned to face the door and almost jumped out of her skin. Five men stood there scrutinizing her. She staggered back with a thread of unease. Shit, hadn’t these guys ever heard of moving to the side to let a lady pass? Or at the very least not blocking the frigging door?

  Tryx jumped in front of Sophia and urged her back. Sophia stared at the other woman’s back as Tryx took an aggressive stance.

  Growling, Tryx unleashed her claws. The male faces were tense; the men stood rigid as though they wanted to start a fight with her or turn the woman into puppy chow. It made no sense.

  The she-wolf snarled loudly and two of her really big, male assistants came out of the back, jumped over the glass counter and were ready to help the angry Tryx.

  Sophia wasn’t sure what was going on, but she was grateful when the men walked out the door, even if they did so reluctantly.

  She turned to give the pixie wolf her thanks but was cut off before she even started.

  “We’ll walk you outside, Sophia. Can you just do me a favor? You’re not stopping anywhere before you go to Julia’s house right?”

  Tryx was obviously worried for her, but Sophia had no idea why.

  “No, no. This was my one stop. After this it’s straight to her place.” She hoped her response had reassured the wolf sprite. Her stomach cramped, and her eyes darted to the cake box. The sharp needling pain reminded her she’d yet to eat, and damn it all, she was hungry.

  “Is Chase going to be there?” Tryx looked hopeful.

  “Um, I guess. As far as I know I think it’s just the four of us.” She didn’t really feel comfortable talking about Chase. The thought of him made her hot and bothered, not a good thing as far as she was concerned. That line of thinking was hopeless. Chase was known for his discerning taste.

  Picky was his middle name. Sophia had seen one of his girlfriends and was sure the woman came off the cover of For Him Magazine. Only the sexiest feminine bodies in the planet graced that cover. Green with jealousy, Sophia had visualized doing horrible things like calling in Father Dominico and saying the girl was a hooker in need of salvation.

  Tryx looked her straight in the eyes. “Promise me that even if Chase isn’t there, you’ll have Julia call him over. He’ll know why once he gets there.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  “Just promise OK?” Tryx had gone from cute to way-out-there bizarre, but Sophia supposed it was best to just nod and get the heck out of there before somebody else acted weird.

  After agreeing to Tryx’s demands, Sophia was safely on the road again, munching on the distracting cookies. She wondered what the hell was wrong with everybody. Not herself—she knew she had a few screws loose. It was what made her so good at being a geek.

  * * *

  Chase sat down in one of the lounge chairs by his brother’s pool with a cold beer in his grasp. He’d just walked out of the nice cool water and had to admit he was actually having a good time. Of course, Julia had yet to do one of her Oscar-worthy performances, but it was still early.

  It was clear summer had arrived by the presence of the high temperatures, the smell of barbecued meat, and the uncovered pool ready for use. Every few minutes, Julia would bring out more food to the side table they had set up. What was she feeding, an army?

  Granted, he and his brother could eat, but she’d made enough food for twenty. His stomach grumbled in complaint, letting him know he was easily able to eat enough food for twenty.

  Julia was really excited about the news she was going to share with Sophia and him. Of course he knew what the news was. His keen sense of smell detected the change in her the minute she’d conceived, but he’d kept his mouth shut. Women were strange about being pregnant, having babies…and weddings.

  A car pulled up in the front, a door opened, and a soft voice called, “Jules, I’m here.” His gut clenched. Whethe
r he wanted to admit it or not, Sophia had arrived, and the wolf that had been lying dormant inside him lifted its head in sudden interest. She came around the side of the yard straight to the back. She was wearing a short-sleeve wrap dress that showed off her curvy body.

  He frowned when he saw long, loose brown curls hugging her shoulders. He knew the last time he’d seen her it had been cropped to her jaw line. Her glasses were also missing.

  Knowing she could barely see without them, he found that strange. Julia had said Sophia didn’t like contacts—they irritated her eyes since she worked such long hours. But it seemed she must be wearing some.

  She carried a white box in her hands, and the minute she saw him, she stopped midstride. He watched her nostrils flare and her eyes brighten to a molten gray when she took in his wet and barely clothed state.

  He tightened his stomach muscles in a conscious effort to keep her gaze on his body. His dick hardened at her perusal of his physique, and when her tongue darted out to lick her lips, he got the impression she liked what she saw.

  Interesting.

  Would it be too much if he walked over, grabbed her hand, and placed it on his aching cock? Yeah, it might seem somewhat depraved and give her the wrong impression…or it might give her the right impression—that he was so hard for her he couldn’t fucking think straight.

  Sophia stopped walking the minute she caught sight of Chase lying on a lounger like an erotic, half-naked sex god. His skin was wet from having been in the pool, and it glistened with a healthy bronze glow.

  She took a moment to stare at the only man that made her babble and left her tongue-tied at the same time. Overwhelming, lust-filled heat invaded her body. Fascination seized hold. She watched drops of water crawl slowly down his muscular torso and cling to his nipples.

  Oh good Lord, help me not attack this man and tear those shorts off that sexy ass.

  Her mouth turned into the Sahara desert, and she used her tongue to lick at her suddenly dry lips. The wicked water droplets on Chase’s chest seemed to beckon her as they traveled his six-pack abs to the waistband of his brown swimming trunks, right where a smattering of hair peeked.