An eerie sensation crept up her spine. “Thank you.”
He sighed. “You may not thank me tomorrow.”
“What did you do?” She twisted her head to stare him, and only shadows played beneath his eyes.
“It was the only way.” He looked guilty as shit.
“Tell me!”
“I bit you to save your life.” He watched her like he was afraid she'd smack him. “I’m not exactly human, you could say.”
“Whatever you are trying to pull, it’s not funny.”
“Jessica, I’m a wolf shifter. If you don't transform into a canine form in the next few minutes, the werewolf venom will kill you.”
The guy was nuts. She pushed out of his arms. She wrenched the car door open, and stumbled out. Her skin burned and itched everywhere, like she'd smeared her body with poison ivy lotion.
“Accept the wolf or you'll die!” He climbed out of the car. Naked.
Horrified, she watched as his muscles and flesh contorted. Within seconds of her eyes refusing to believe what she was seeing, the wolf stood before her, white fur gleaming in the moonlight.
She turned and bolted through the woods. It had to be drugs. Ryan must have given her something and now she was on a drug-induced trip. Branches slashed at her legs as she careened up the hill to the road. She had to get away from the wolf... from Ryan.
At the edge of the road, her knees wobbled and buckled. She fell. Her face struck the grass. Her insides warped, as though trying to tear out of her body.
“Don't fight it.” Ryan was beside her again. Holding her hand.
Sweat broke out all over her body. She couldn't stop shaking.
“I won't lie to you, it hurts like a bitch to transform. But afterward, there's a bliss I can't explain. Trust me.”
How could she accept what he said? Werewolves were a myth. But how could she explain seeing him shift in front of her?
Another searing pinch racked through her. When the agony ebbed a bit, she pushed herself to her feet.
Should she believe him? If this was a dream, then anything was possible. Did Ryan hurt like this each time he became the wolf? And he'd done it for her. To show her. Help her.
“Let go and breathe,” he urged, his fingers stroking over her knuckles, making it hard to concentrate on his words. “Imagine your body is flexible. Moving seamlessly from one form to another.”
This was impossible. “I can’t.”
“I believe in you.”
Piercing pain broke through her legs, and she cried out. She just wanted the torture to end.
Ryan swept her up into his arms.
“Don't make me lose you. I can't watch you die... not again.” He brought his lips to her mouth and kissed her deeply. His tongue was dancing with hers, full of hope and want.
Tingling spread through her limbs as she clung to him in desperation.
Her body convulsed, and she broke the kiss.
“Change with me, Jessica. I know you can do it.”
As he morphed back into the wolf, her body mimicked his moves, as if his transformation was somehow calling to something primal inside her. Then she was dropping on all fours, body lengthening, face elongating. She never moved her gaze from Ryan’s. She watched the gold ring around his pupil intensify and grow, until it was the only color besides the black center in his eyes.
Her mouth grew, feeling like every tooth had a throbbing ache. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. Before her, Ryan was once again the white wolf. She could do this. Anything to live... to stop the pain. A shiver exploded through her. Fur broke through every pore. She panted. Her face twisted, her gums bled, and she tasted blood mixed with bile. She’d opened her mouth to spit, when a whine erupted from her throat.
Then Ryan nuzzled her cheek, and her body was no longer twisting in agony. She was weak, her muscles awkward, and they burned as she tried to stand. But she’d done it. Joy leapt in her heart as the pain that had racked her body vanished. It was replaced by relief, giddiness, and wonder.
The world was a contrast of grays and black and white. Nearby, a rabbit ducked behind a tree, and before she knew what she was doing, she leapt after the creature. The land sang with hooting owls and chirruping bats. Scents that she didn’t even recognize filled her nostrils along with those of dirt and trees, grass, and animals.
She raced through the forest, Ryan beside her. Spotting another rabbit, she dove and caught the beast, its sweet blood coating her throat. For a long while, they ran and chased each other. Every other thought vanished, only the one about catching Ryan remained, pouncing on him, nudging her head into his ribs, nipping on his ears playfully. Then he led her to his car parked on the side of the road.
A werewolf. She was in love with a goddamn wolf and now she was one too. This had to be a dream.
What did she look like to him as a wolf? She rubbed herself against his human form.
“It’s okay. The first time to shift is the hardest. I won’t lie to you. It hurts like hell, but you look forward to the freedom it gives you. Changing back to a human doesn’t suck as bad.” He shrugged. “Guess since it’s our natural form.”
Trusting him once again, she brought forth the image of her human body. All her fur sunk into her skin, her muscles reshaping. Some lengthening, some shortening. Her fangs burrowing down into a more human shape and size. Sweat glistened over her skin as her body contorted to its original shape. After what felt like every bone in her body painfully popping, she found herself on two legs and standing by Ryan’s side.
“Wow, you’re a natural.” He picked her up and spun her around.
“So,” she laughed, “I still can’t believe this is really happening.”
“It sure is, and you make one hell of a sexy wolf.”
She slapped his shoulder. “What did I look like?”
“Delicious.” He kissed her neck, making tingles spread from the pit of stomach to her toes.
“Be serious.”
“I am.” He kissed her until they were both breathless, and his erection pressed against her leg.
“Was my fur white, like yours?”
“It was a blend of silver and white.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Now may I drive you home so we can continue this conversation where we’re not standing in the woods naked?”
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Epilogue
Jessica
Jessica frowned as she retied the Christmas bow on the table’s centerpiece. Her hands trembled. She wanted everything to be perfect for the children’s fundraiser and to help Ryan and his team’s publicity. And she still had to finish the damn article for her newspaper. What was she going to write about? That real werewolves roamed New Zealand?
No one would believe her, and she was one now too. Mr. Casey would laugh at her and fire her altogether. What was she going to do? She loved writing and being a reporter. All those years working on the obituaries for nothing. For this chance of a lifetime.
Amber would be here any minute with the rest of their guests. She’d started her physical therapy on Kevin, Ryan’s brother, yesterday. Tonight, she was wheeling him here to participate. And Jessica and Ryan had spoken about telling Kevin the wolf secret and letting him choose to become a werewolf or not. There were no guarantees that it would restore his leg, but they wanted him to have the chance. It was risky, but Ryan had faith that even if his brother refused the bite, he wouldn’t blab their secret.
“Hey, beautiful.” Ryan wrapped an arm around her back and drew her towards him and smelled her hair. “Ready? The doors open in ten.”
She spun in his arms. “No. I’m so nervous. Why did you talk me into doing this?”
“Cause I owe you a dance. And if I remember correctly, you all but insisted on changing the decorations the night before. My hands are still cramped.”
Music drifted through the school’s auditorium, a soft, classical song. Ryan placed a hand on her hip and held her hand as he danced with her.
“I want five minutes with you before e
veryone else crowds in.”
“So you’re a great cook, wonderful dancer, and a decent pool player.” She brushed a piece of lint off the collar of his suit. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
“That’s tough since I’m amazing at everything.” He chuckled. “I’m terrible at golf. Not too good with first impressions. And I can’t sew or crochet. Tried when I was ten because my mom demanded I know how to fix my pants that I was forever getting torn up.”
“And did it work?”
“Nope. Two years of being the only guy in class, I still don’t know how to sew a button on right.”
She laughed. What about her training? The years she’d spent taking journalism classes? She wanted to stay with Ryan, but what about her career? “Ryan, what am I supposed to do about the article I came here to write? I’ve been racking my mind, but I can’t think of what to say.”
He tilted his head to the side, thinking. “Tell the truth. That I’m an amazing cook and lover. That I give to animal shelters and can beat you at pool half the time.”
“I guess.”
“What do you want, Jessica?” His gaze softened. “That’s the question. Do you want to stay here with me? Or do you want to go back to Sydney?”
She bit her lip. What did she want? Before she’d come here, that answer would have been easy. Now she wasn’t so sure. She was falling in love with Ryan more every day, yet she couldn’t just hang around with him and the team. She had her own life. As a matter of principle, she’d finished her article, showing Ryan and his team had done intense teambuilding programs overseas. She included their persistent training and organic vitamins as part of their success. When she sent the email attachment, she thanked Casey for the opportunity, but declined the full-time position. Living in Sydney, even part-time, no longer appealed to her. Maybe it was the wolf in her wanting to be mating with Ryan or the fact she nearly died that made the idea of newspaper reporter seem like just a job. Still, she had to do something besides sit around. “I don’t know. I’d miss writing. I can’t give that up.”
“What about a compromise, then? Do you have to be a reporter and work in Sydney? I’m friends with the New Zealand Herald’s CEO and could get you an appointment. Could you freelance? Or ghostwrite? Or how about those romance novels?” He waggled his eyebrows, and she laughed.
“Yes. I could do that. I won’t get the top reporter job and live in another country, but I could freelance.” And writing romance novels… hmmm… that was something she could do. She loved reading them. “Of course, I’ll have to remove some things about you in my article.”
“Oh?” He dipped her, then brought her back upright. “Like what?”
“Like you’re a fabulous dancer and a good listener.” She grinned. “If I didn’t edit them out, other women would be beating down your door, and I might just have to chase them off with my teeth.”
“You’re the only woman for me. Many wolves mate for life and I’m fine with that.”
She pulled away, hearing pounding feet coming their way. “You’d better be. Now let’s get this fundraiser over with, so I can pounce on you later.”
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The End
About the Author
Arya Karin lives in the south and writes steamy paranormal romance and reverse harem novels.
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Besides being crazy about reading and obsessed with all things romance, she likes to dance, sing, and spend time with her family.
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Want to know more about Arya? Click here to go to her website- https://authoraryakarin.blogspot.com/
Or sign up for her newsletter: http://eepurl.com/c7lTtr
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Read More of Arya Karin’s Books:
Reverse Harem:
Zodiac Chronicles series
Blood Clan Boxed set
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Paranormal Romance:
Incubus Desires series
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Follow Arya Karin:
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Blood Bio-Med
Beyond Medical Science Vol I
Elvira Bathory
About Blood Bio-Med
Feline shifter, Aleah Macleod, is excited to start work as a member of a supernatural research team—until she meets William Wolfe. The alpha shifter makes life on the team miserable for her, and she’s not sure why. As the pressure intensifies and the stakes increase, the only person she can turn to is Wyatt Masterson, a shifter she finds she has more in common with than she thought.
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In addition to being a highly sought-after researcher, Wyatt Masterson has the ability to shift into the rare crocodile alpha. He tries to focus on the research but finds himself distracted by Aleah Macleod. Not only does his respect grow for the sexy shifter, but so does his attraction. When she asks for help against William Wolfe, he readily agrees, but he doesn’t realize it will have devastating consequences.
Prologue
It’s been six months since the supernatural community announced our existence to the world. For many centuries, witches, shifters, vampires, and the like have been living alongside humans in shadow and silence, watching as you slowly kill yourselves. Yes, we have been watching as you wage your wars, the senseless and needless killing that you humans seem to long for. Some of us have even fought by your side in some of those wars. We watch the same newscasts; we’ve seen the state of the world just as you have. The lack of surprise you showed when we came out of the proverbial closet shocked me immensely.
You don’t know how the supernatural community became known to the humans? Well, why don’t I tell you. You see, six months ago a witch fell in love with a human. It was more like an obsession really, but I digress. So, the witch became obsessed with this human who was engaged to the human woman he was in love with. Not one to take rejection lightly, the witch cast a love spell to steal the man’s affections away from his beloved. However, the witch neglected to take into consideration the effects true love might have, and the spell backfired. Torn between the two women, the human male killed himself and his beloved accused the witch of foul-play. There was an extensive investigation and the witch was arrested; she was put on trial for manslaughter and was sentenced to fifteen years in jail. The witch, not wanting to give up easily, had other ideas and exposed her powers to the entirety of the court room. As you may have already guessed, the outcome of that decision resulted in her jail time turning into a death sentence. This was because of one simple fact: humans don’t trust what they don’t understand. The witch never left that court room alive.
With that one act, the witch caused a domino effect that found every supernatural being suddenly out in the open for the first time. Not sure what to do with themselves, the supernatural community kept themselves out of the limelight as best they could for fear of retaliation. A bell had been rung and there was no un-ringing it.
This is where I come in. My name is Aleah Maclead and I’m a thirty-year-old doctor. I’m one of six specialists that have been hand-picked by the Director of Supernatural Bio-Medicine, a fairly new area of study. The six of us work closely with Dr. Morgan to help all supernatural beings.
In my spare time I’ve been helping the Director figure out the differences between shifters and humans. He decided to start with the shifters of the supernatural community and move on from there, depending on the results. Some of the beings in our community are self-explanatory. Vampires, for example, seem self-explanatory to me as death can make someone completely different from the living. Of course, we plan on conducting studies on the undead members of our community as well, but the Director feels shifters aren’t as easy to determine differences between human and supernatural with just a few tests as the undead is. So, we start with blood. It always comes down to the blood, doesn’t it? I suppose it’s a good thing that blood happens to be my specialty as a Hematologist.
Dr. Morgan and I have been performing blood tests and experime
nts on me, for now. He’s uncertain how many of his team members are paranormal but he has too much class to just come out and ask, so any experiments that are needed are being done on me. Oh yea, I should probably mention that I’m a shifter myself. My other form is that of a Servaline Genet, but I’ll explain the who’s and what’s of that later.
Now, here’s where the real story begins. Are you ready? I certainly hope so because the tale I’m about to share will begin to show you the trials and tribulations of supernaturals in a mostly human world.
Chapter One
Aleah took a closer look at the reflection staring back at her. Her cheeks could use a little more color, but with her long work hours cutting int her sleep, that would partly explain that. The other part would be due to her recent blood loss, also from work, but for different reasons. She sighed as she opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out her make-up bag; it was time to return some color to her cheeks.
Aleah sighed as she opened the bag and pulling items out, setting them on the sink for easy access. Starting with the foundation as she looked at her reflection again, Aleah applied a small amount with the powder brush to ensure an even application. Satisfied that the foundation was applied light enough to maintain a natural look, Aleah selected a light blush color to apply next. Sucking in her cheeks to have a better view of her cheekbones, she applied a small line of blush with her fingers and blended it well, so she didn’t look like a clown. As she continued trying to get ready for her shift at the hospital, her mind wandered to the day the team assembled met for the first time.
Falling for Shifters: A Limited Edition Autumn Shifters Collection Page 68