“But you don’t know that for sure.” Tara stated.
The doctor hesitated, his mouth starting to form a word but then thought better of it before saying “No, I’m afraid you’re a unique case. I can only speculate at this point.”
Tara nodded. “So how can this transition business be made easier?”
“Well, for one thing, pain medication is a good start and I’ll write you a prescription before I leave today. Your mother told me she hadn’t given you anything for the pain because she didn’t know how you’d react to it. Making the transition in water also helps ease the muscular-skeletal pain as well as the skin irritation. You should also load up on calories before you transition as well since it takes a lot out of you. I would suggest lots of meat.”
Her father stepped forward, “You’ll also have all of us with you this time, baby girl; your brothers too if you want them here. We’ve all been through it.”
“Think of us as your own personal cheering squad, sweetheart.” The rude arrogant ass grinned and winked at her. If he didn’t stop being so amusing she’d have to amend his title again.
Tara took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. She looked at each face in the room. “Alright, so… slumber party here in about nine days - give or take?”
True to his word, Doctor Bascomb wrote out a prescription for pain medication for Tara before extracting a promise that she would call him if she had any questions and e-mail him with an update on her transition. He warned her to be cautious in the e-mail and use generic words like hormones or traits rather than be too specific. Even though he lived in a shifter community it was best to be discreet. He would be staying tonight at the bed and breakfast in town but then returning home to Maine first thing in the morning.
Once everyone had departed after dinner, Tara spent several hours on her laptop, reading up on wolf packs as well as the mythology of shape shifters, specifically lycanthropes. She had nine days to mentally prepare herself and right now Google was her friend. As for physically preparing herself, she had no idea if that was even possible. Her body was in pretty good shape – she wouldn’t call herself an athlete or even a health nut, but she ran every day and ate relatively well. She had strength and endurance, much more so than when she had been a scared thirteen year old. This time she would know what was happening to her. She just needed to keep giving herself mental pep-talks or she’d find herself huddled under the table, a nervous wreck.
After reading several on-line articles and even watching some wolf behavior videos on YouTube, Tara looked at the clock in the corner of her laptop. It was after three in the morning. She needed to get some sleep.
Lying on her bed her mind was still a jumble, so she pushed those thoughts away and thought of something much more pleasant: an image of Riley Cooper, the rude arrogant and somewhat amusing ass, filled her head. Tara drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, Riley was again on Tara’s mind so on a whim she decided to run up the road toward his place and see if he was there. What better distraction than a sexy (though aggravating) man?
The road ended at his drive and Tara slowed to a walk. She could hear noises coming from the side of his house – a loud thwack, followed by thumps. Walking around to investigate, she stopped short and swallowed hard.
Sweet mother of all fantasies – the sight that met her eyes actually stole her breath; Riley stood a few yards in front of her his booted feet braced apart, his long legs and incredible ass encased in faded jeans and his shirtless back was glistening with sweat from his exertions. He was chopping wood, his muscles flexing with every movement as he swung the axe and then threw the split pieces into a pile before picking up the next log.
She couldn’t pry her gaze off of him, couldn’t speak, and could barely breathe. He hadn’t turned to look at her, but she suddenly heard: “Coffee’s on in the kitchen, sweetheart, go ahead and help yourself.”
Tara felt her entire face burn with embarrassment to be caught gawking at him like some sort of stalker. She cleared her throat. “How long did you know I was here?”
He shrugged a broad shoulder and then swung the axe again before turning his head to look at her, a half smile crooking one side of his appealing mouth. “I’m part wolf, sweetheart. I caught your scent as soon as you came on the property.”
She suppressed the urge to lift her arm and sniff herself to make sure her deodorant was working. “Ah, um, yeah, well, I guess I will go raid your coffee then.” She turned to head back to the front of the house, once again feeling like an idiot. Oh, but those few minutes of visual pleasure were totally worth it.
Tara didn’t know what she expected of Riley’s house; a man cave, maybe. But what she saw was beautiful in a rustic sense and clean. Everything was in gold tones of finished wood with an open floor plan. Both the front and the back were walls of paned glass to let in lots of natural light. She had to resist the urge to explore further, not wanting to invade his privacy.
She quickly went to the kitchen section to pour some coffee. The counter tops were polished granite, the fixtures all stainless steel. Tara was impressed.
She had just taken a sip of coffee when Riley came through the door wiping the sweat from his chest with his discarded T-shirt. “Did you find everything okay?” He asked.
Tara nodded, afraid that if she opened her mouth nothing but ‘gah’ would come out. The man was truly beautiful and he had absolutely no idea what his naked chest was doing to her right now. It was all golden with a light fleece of dark hair that disappeared at his washboard abs.
“I need a shower, sweetheart, but I’ll only be a minute. You go ahead and make yourself at home.”
Tara continued to sip her coffee, listening to the sounds he made, imagining him getting into the shower naked once she heard the water come on then imagined him running soap over his wet body. Tara groaned. Think of something else, dammit or you’ll be panting and drooling by the time he comes out.
With that in mind, she recalled the day she saw her father as a wolf, and then Addie yesterday. She wondered if her brothers looked just like their father and for that matter, if she would look like him as well. How did they tell each other apart when they were shifted? What did Riley look like as a wolf? Now that, at least, was something she could find out today.
As soon as he stepped into her line of view, hair wet and fully dressed she asked. “Could you shift for me?”
Chapter Twelve
“What? Right now?” Riley asked. He had no problem with the idea but he wondered if she knew he had to be naked when he did.
She nodded. “I’ve seen what Dad looks like and I’m kind of assuming I’ll look pretty similar to him, and I’ve seen what Addie looks like. I’d like to see what you look like shifted.”
“Ah, okay, sweetheart. I have no problem shifting for you but I can’t shift in jeans, so I’ll need to strip down. Do you actually want to watch me shift or do you just want to see what I look like after I shift?” Riley watched her bite her bottom lip in contemplation and he was half hoping she’d tell him she wanted to watch him shift so he had an excuse to take his clothes off in front of her and see where it led. The way she had looked at him when he came in without his shirt on told him that she’d liked what she’d seen, but that didn’t mean she actually wanted to act on it.
“I saw Addie shift, so I guess I’ll just see what you look like after if you want to go back in the bathroom.” She said with a nod.
Riley went back into the bathroom and made quick work of stripping out of clothes and then shifting. He walked out of the bathroom door he’d left cracked open and back into the main room. He watched warily as she came around the kitchen counter and tried to gauge whether she was afraid of him. He was quite a bit larger than Addie and she had seen Vahl from a distance so probably hadn’t considered how big he was. On all fours his back would be just below her waist and her breasts would be pretty much at eye level. Nothing to complain about there he thought.
“You’re bea
utiful.” She said as she slowly approached. He wanted to be able to remind her that he was still himself, that he would never hurt her. She raised a hand tentatively toward him and he pushed his head into her hand so she’d know he was okay with her touching him.
“You can still understand me, right?” She asked, stroking her hand over his ears and through the fur at his neck. He nodded his head and sat back on his haunches. She whispered “I’m kind of afraid, Riley.” He whined, and she continued. “Oh, no, not of you – I just meant of what’s going to happen to me. How is it possible to go from this,” she said motioning to herself, “to this?” She finished, stroking her hand down his back. “It seems impossible, regardless that I’m seeing it’s not. I mean, when Addie shifted, it kind of took me by surprise. There were no bone popping sounds or groans and screams like they show in the movies with the whole slow transformation they always depict. It was like – bam – whoa, Addie’s a wolf. It was all kind of freaky but cool. Does that make any sense?”
She sat down on the floor next to him and blew out a breath and Riley nudged her under the chin with his nose and then licked her cheek. He gave a few thumps of his tale and then turned to walk back to the bathroom.
When he returned as a man again and fully dressed except for his bare feet, he sat next to her on the floor; his long legs stretched out in front of him, and put his arm around her to pull her close. “It’s perfectly understandable to be afraid. You don’t know what to expect or how it’s going to feel. I know the transition is rough, but that’s just your body getting ready. Once it is, it’ll feel natural. It’s not painful to shift after you’ve transitioned. You can ask me any questions you want, sweetheart, about anything. Hell, there’s a whole town of people who will help you through this.”
“I think it’s just fear of the unknown, how much it’s going to hurt this time around, how long it’s going to last, that sort of thing.” She said sadly.
“Do you want me to tell you about my transition? Other people can share their experiences too. I think that will make you feel more comfortable. I can call a few people and have them come on up. Think of it as group therapy.” He said with a grin.
She nodded. “I think that sounds like a good idea.” Then she looked up at him with those big brown eyes and he just couldn’t help himself any longer. He kissed her. Her lips were warm and responsive and he had to remind himself not to push too hard or go too fast and risk scaring her off. His hands came up to cup her face and her lips opened under his as he slid his tongue inside to caress hers. She gripped handfuls of his T-shirt and he let his hands roam over her back, soothing her before one hand moved up into her braid. He longed to see it down again as it was yesterday; so long and fiery red, wind tossed and wild.
His phone rang and he couldn’t help the snarl that broke from his lips when she pulled away and he turned his attention to the offending object. She cleared her throat and smoothed her hair down where he’d rumpled it with his fingers. Her lips looked shiny and slightly swollen from his kisses and he just wanted to yank her onto his lap and pick up where they left off.
“You better answer that.” She said as the phone continued to ring.
He nodded and got up. At least she wasn’t running straight for the door; whoever was on the other end of that call better have a good reason for interrupting.
Riley pushed himself up from the floor and grabbed the phone “Cooper here.”
“Hey Coop, it’s Vahl. Margaret Tully just called me. Some hunters were spotted below the East Ridge. Conner and I are heading there now if you could meet us there. I tried calling Tara to tell her to stay inside but she’s not answering.”
“She’s here, Vahl, we were having coffee. I’ll tell her to stay in and I’ll meet you in ten.”
He hung up and turned to Tara. “Seems we have some hunters on the property just below your place; your father and Conner are on their way and I’ll join them to flush the bastards out. Stay here and I’ll be back soon.” He said throwing his boots on and lacing them up.
“Hunting isn’t allowed?” she asked.
Riley checked his handgun before sticking it in the back of his pants and then grabbed a rifle out of the closet and checked it. “All of the forests around the town are private property and posted. And considering I just checked the signs not a week ago, they were sure to see them and are just ignoring them. They’re poachers.”
He couldn’t resist grabbing her and giving her a hard kiss on the mouth. “Don’t go outside, sweetheart, just in case. I’ll be back soon and we can go get some lunch.”
He was outside in a flash and jumped in his truck to take off down the road. He spotted Vahl’s truck on the narrow road just below Tara’s house that headed out to East Ridge. He parked right beside it to block the way. Vahl and Conner both jumped out of the truck.
Riley was barely out of his truck when Vahl growled. “So my daughter was having coffee at your place because she woke up there with you this morning?”
“Nope, she walked up to my place this morning because she wanted to talk more about our shared heritage.” Riley said as he walked, keeping his eyes on the terrain.
“Then why do you have her scent all over you?” Vahl snarled.
Riley stopped and faced Vahl. “Do you really want to do this now? I kissed her Vahl, and I’d like to do more than kiss her. I’d like to take her as my mate if she decides that’s what she wants, but first she needs to get to know me better. Do you have a problem with that?”
Conner spoke up. “Dad, can we kick his ass later and look for the hunters now?”
Vahl growled again but then nodded. “Fine, but this isn’t over.”
“I didn’t think it was.” Riley sighed.
The hunters were easy to track considering the noise. If they actually thought they were going to be able to sneak up on something to shoot with all of that hooting and hollering they were flat out idiots, and judging by the rather pungent aroma coming off them they were high as a kite. They weren’t dressed in hunter orange or camouflage, but regular street clothes, so whatever their intent it was probably a spontaneous decision to make mischief.
Vahl yelled out “Do you boys know you’re on private property?”
Two heads swiveled in their direction with owl eyed expressions. “Aw, hell we weren’t going to shoot it, we just wanted to see it up close.” One of them said.
“See what, exactly, up close?” Riley asked his eyes narrowed on the two men who were clearly carrying rifles despite their protests.
“An albino deer! We saw it clear as day from the road and been following it this way to get another look.”
“An albino deer,” Conner repeated and then sniffed the air and chuckled. “I can’t say as I’ve ever seen one of those. How about you, Coop?”
Riley sniffed the air and laughed as well. “Nope, I sure haven’t.”
Just then there was a rustle in the brush a few yards to the left of Vahl and a bleating ‘waaaa’, just before Vahl went over and grabbed the trailing end of a rope. He led out a white goat chomping a clump of greenery and started laughing. “Fellas this here is Billy the Kid and he’s just a goat, but I’m sure Mr. Brewer will be mighty happy you found him. But don’t you worry. We’ll be happy to escort you back over the property line so you don’t get lost.”
Riley walked along with the group but let Vahl and Conner answer the questions the two morons had about getting permission to hunt and such. He would much rather let his thoughts dwell on Tara who was waiting for him to come home. Something in his chest squeezed tight with pleasure at that thought. He imagined coming home to her daily to find her working on her laptop or fixing dinner in the kitchen, greeting him with a smile on her lovely face.
He dreaded the conversation with Vahl he knew was coming – not out of fear, but the further delay it would cause. He sighed. He wanted to get home, he wanted to make that group therapy thing they’d spoken of earlier happen for her, he wanted to take her out for lunch and maybe c
ook her dinner later. He wanted to keep her in his home, in his bed and never let her go.
He was so busy thinking about Tara and making plans he hadn’t realized they’d gotten to the property line and the hunters’ truck, nor had he noticed that the trespassers had driven off and he certainly never saw the right cross coming. It took him right in the mouth and snapped his head back. He tasted blood and put a finger to his lip. “Jesus Christ, Vahl, you could have knocked some teeth out, dammit!”
Conner chuckled. “Good luck kissing my sister with your lip all cut up.”
Riley was somewhat satisfied to see that Vahl’s knuckles looked swollen and cut from one of his teeth.
Vahl snarled “If you hurt my daughter you son of a bitch I’ll rip your heart out and feed it to you.”
Riley growled. “I have no intention of hurting Tara. Didn’t you hear me before? I want her as my mate, not just some meaningless one night stand.”
“If she chooses you,” Vahl stressed.
“If she chooses me,” Riley agreed. “But you have to admit, no one could protect her better than me.” He heard both Vahl and Conner growl and put his hands up palms out before amending “outside of her own family of course.”
Vahl and Conner both nodded and then Conner chuckled. “So who wants to deliver the albino deer back to Mr. Brewer?”
Chapter Thirteen
Tara had made the decision she had been putting off. After discovering such love and support from people she was technically a stranger to, she couldn’t deny that Malsum Pass was where she wanted to stay. The thought of leaving and returning to New York or even Virginia made her feel depressed and lonely. Here she had family and friends. So while Riley was gone, she used his phone to call her landlord to give notice and inform him that she would hire a moving company to pack up her things and have them sent to her once she researched reviews of her options on-line. That would have to wait until she got home since she didn’t want to use Riley’s computer without his permission.
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