“It’s called knotting. Our dicks expand to lock inside our mate when we fuck, to make it easier to get her pregnant.” He winces on that last part, but it’s not the part I fixate on.
“What do you mean lock inside?” I mean, it felt much fuller, but I’m pretty sure my pussy’s flexible enough if he needed to pull out even if he was somehow magically bigger.
“I mean my dick would be stuck inside you until I came. Once it’s in, there’s no going back.”
“But wait... You took it out when we started,” I say.
“That’s where the control comes in. We can control it, to a certain extent. I wasn’t ready to lock in. That doesn’t happen until our brain tells our body its time.”
“So you did that?”
“I’m sorry, Maggie. I know this is all new to you. I don’t know how you feel about it. I guess I just assumed you knew since you’ve slept with Lukas and Theo already. Mating happens when wolves are ready to start a family. You wouldn’t be ours now if that wasn’t how you felt too, even if it’s maybe not the first thing on your mind...”
And he’s rambling madly, freaking out. I kiss his chest and smile at him.
“I might already be pregnant,” I tell him. “I’m ready.”
“Thank Christ,” he says, laughing.
“I just need to know about the shifter stuff,” I add. “Because I’m human...”
“You’re shifter now. You accepted that,” he reminds me softly.
Oh holy hell. He’s right.
“I’m shifter now, and I need to know what that means.”
I don’t think I feel any different. I mean, apart from my hand healing instantly and the appearance of the new super-erogenous zones on my body. Maybe it’s kind of hard to judge when I’m in bed with a gorgeous guy who made me come enough times to send me into a coma.
“Where are Lukas and Theo anyway?”
“Lukas had to go check something out. Theo’s cooking. He seemed to think you’d be hungry once you woke up.”
I don’t know whether to be disappointed that they weren’t all surrounding me when I woke up, or happy that it means there’ll be dinner ready on the table when I get out of this bed.
“How long did I sleep for anyway?”
“Maybe four hours,” Sebastian tells me, stroking my hair.
Ugh it’s probably a greasy mess. I should get up and shower before dinner.
“I’m going to the bathroom.” I dash away before he can complain.
When I look in the bathroom mirror I have to blink a few times before I believe what I’m seeing. My hair isn’t the slightest bit greasy. My skin is bright, no bags under my eyes. No beginnings of the wrinkles I’d started to get around my eyes.
I may not feel different, but becoming a shifter has definitely done something to this almost thirty year old body of mine. I don’t think I’ve lost weight exactly, but I seem more toned that I was.
“Holy shite,” I mutter, as I give a little spin and admire the me on a very good day that seems to be my new normal. Wish I’d have known about this shifter thing sooner, so I do.
I run the shower anyway, just to clean up before dinner. I take my time getting ready, and pick out clothes quickly while Sebastian watches me from my bed.
“Where’s the fire?” he asks, giving me an incredulous look when I frown at him.
“A girl’s got to eat. Are you not hungry like?”
He sighs and gets up. “I suppose I could eat.”
“Then I’ll meet you down stairs once you’ve got some clothes on,” I tell him, throwing on a long top and leggings as quickly as I can.
“My clothes are down there, actually,” he informs me.
So they are. I remember him taking them off before he turned into a wolf.
“When will I do that?” I wonder out loud, making him draw me a questioning look.
“Turn into a wolf?” I clarify.
He shrugs. “It’ll happen when you’re ready.”
Vague, much? I shake it off as I head down the stairs, keeping slightly out of Sebastian’s reach.
I’m a bit nervous that I have a little sliver of skin that can make me come if he touches it. I made sure I picked a top with long sleeves that covered it, so none of them can touch my bare skin and give me a screaming orgasm out of the blue.
“Where’d you say Lukas went?”
“He had to check something,” he tells me.
“Had to check what?” I ask, getting the feeling he’s being deliberately vague about Blondie.
He shrugs and I decide he’s a lost cause. I’ll ask Theo. He’ll tell me.
I leave Sebastian in the living room getting dressed. There are delicious smells floating through from the kitchen, and I find Theo at the stove, stirring what looks like stew.
“Mmm,” I murmur. “Dinner smells great. What is it, exactly?”
“Hey,” he murmurs, glancing at me with a smile. “It’s just a beef stew. I figured you’d be pretty hungry after everything. How’s your hand?”
“Didn’t need a hospital, like you said.”
“How do you feel?”
“Pretty damn great to be honest,” I tell him, realizing I have more energy. It’s more than just superficial this change.
“Good,” he tells me, looking like he’d be happy to turn the stove off and give me a bit of a stir instead.
“Oh shite, I need to open the bloody pub, don’t I not?” I smack my head. All this wolf shite is making me forget the legal shite. I have instructions I have to stick to if I want to inherit my parent’s money and have a snowball’s chance in hell of getting out of this one horse town.
“Relax,” Theo says. “You have at least an hour. If you’d been sleeping we would have sent Lukas to open the pub. Considering almost everyone in this town thinks he’s your husband, we decided that would be the best plan.”
“Where is Lukas right now?”
“He’s out checking something.”
“Checking what, exactly?” I ask, not willing to drop it now. They’re both being vague. I want a straight answer here.
He hesitates. I frown at him.
“Did I not just blindly accept all three of you on your words last night? Did I not let all of you bastarding arseholes bite me? You’ll damn well tell me where he is, or you’ll not get anywhere near me again.”
He turns the stove off and turns to me, just as Sebastian enters the room in his rumpled shirt and trousers.
“Sit down,” he says. “Dinner’s ready. We can talk about it while we eat.”
So, it’s a whole other thing then. Separate from all the shifter stuff.
I made an irritable noise under my breath, but I sit my pissed-off arse down.
He’s already cleared the table and set places. Four, not three. He expects Lukas back soon. That takes some of the heat from my anger. Lukas would tell me if I asked. I know he would.
I drum my fingers on the table as Theo dishes up dinner. Stew and mash. It smells divine. I’ve never been that bothered about meat and two veg dinners. Considering my mam was always burning the meat and letting the veggies go cold, I could never really see the appeal. But this? I pick up my fork and take a bite.
“Aw my God. What is this gravy? Fecking hell. I could drink this by the bucketload.”
Sebastian smiles, watching me eat, his fork and knife poised over his own plate. “I love a woman with an appetite.”
“Bugger off, I’m not talking to you,” I manage to mumble between mouthfuls.
Theo snorts as he sits down. I watched him put a plate in the oven for Lukas before he sorted himself. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to see him looking out for Blondie.
“So, now,” I say, putting my fork down. “Where’s Lukas, exactly?”
They both hear the hard edge in my voice and glance at each other guiltily. Neither of them want to be the one to tell me. That’s clear as day.
“If I have to wait for him to tell me, he’s the only one getting laid f
or the next year.”
That makes Sebastian’s eyebrows shoot up. Theo sighs.
“You know we’re wolves,” Theo says, folding his arms and leaning them on the table. “You saw one of our kind kill someone when you were a kid.”
I nod, the confusing uncovered memory flooding my thoughts again.
“The person he killed wasn’t a person at all.”
I remember the way the body felt, how it seemed to be coated in darkness. “What was she?”
“A banshee,” Theo says. “Hereditary. Afflicts only women in a bloodline.”
“What does that mean? Did she hurt anyone?”
“She killed four women in a neighbouring town,” Sebastian adds, clearing his throat, when Theo pauses. “We think she didn’t strike in Widow’s Walk because she lived here.”
I blink at him. “She lived here?”
They look at each other again.
“Goddamn it, just tell me,” I plead.
“She lived here,” Sebastian went on. “The reason no-one remembers her is because our kind wiped their memories of her.”
“What?” I ask. Anger fills me as I realize this is why no-one believed me. They thought no-one was missing because bastarding wolves wiped that woman from their memories. “Who the hell was she?”
“She’s your friend’s mother,” Theo says, making me frown.
My friend? What friend? This town is full of arseholes. I only have one real friend...
“Oh feck no.” I remember the woman’s vivid red hair. The same vibrant shade that Fergus has. How could I not have clicked before now?
“How could you not tell me?” I ask, seriously pissed now.
“We didn’t know,” Theo explains. “Not until...”
Sebastian shakes his head. I slam my fist down on the table, making everything shake. It bloody well hurts, but I know if I break anything it’ll heal.
“Tell me,” I demand.
“The body disappeared from the morgue before we could take it and deal with it,” Theo tells me, his expression weary. “The banshee is loose.”
My eyes widen. “We have to protect Fergus.”
He was a baby when she was killed. She must be thinking about him if she’s resurrected. Surely?
They shake their heads.
“Male sons don’t inherit the abilities of the banshee,” Theo says. “He’s human. She couldn’t care less about him. He was just part of her disguise.”
“Then, what? You still haven’t told me where Lukas is.”
“Lukas went to pick up her trail. He’s the only one who’s familiar with it since he was there when you found her.”
“That sounds dangerous. He shouldn’t be out there alone...”
“No. What’s dangerous is leaving you without enough protection,” Theo tells me, standing up when I do. “We’re with you wherever you go from now on.”
I huff out a breath, beyond angry. My friend’s mother is a scary supernatural creature and one of my mates is out there looking for her? I want to scream. I want to... I want to...
I feel the air in the room change as I start to shift form. It’s as if it’s electrified and the charge is what turns me into a wolf. My vantage point changes and I look around as my mates shift after me, trying to box me in.
They don’t want me chasing the banshee, but I can’t stand the thought of Lukas endangering himself because I couldn’t let the past stay buried. Why did we have to go digging for that body?
I stumble around, trying to get past my men while we’re all in wolf form. It’s not going to happen. They’ve been wolves their whole lives. This is my first shift. It’s hopeless. Besides, I don’t know how I expect to get out the front door in this body. I huff as I give up and lay down on the floor.
They lay down beside me. They’re so getting their arses kicked when I figure out how to change form back to human. Right after I make sure Lukas is okay and kick his arse first.
Turns out I have to relax to shift back to human. It only took me thirty minutes to get there, a complete and utter miracle considering how volatile my emotions are right now.
Bad news is I’m naked. How the hell did that happen?
“Where’d my clothes go?” I ask, as Sebastian and Theo shift back to human and wind up just as naked as I am.
“This is why we usually strip before we shift form,” Sebastian tells me.
“Where did they go, seriously?” I ask, looking around. I mean, they should be shredded or something, right? They can’t just be gone.
“They just cease to be,” Theo says, shrugging. “The shift is triggered by a form of witch magic. All we know is if you wear clothes when you shift, they’re gone forever when you shift back.”
“That’s annoying,” I tell them, looking at Sebastian. “Wait a sec. Does this mean you don’t have clothes left?”
Theo brought a bag of clothes with him when he moved into the basement without telling me. Lukas has clothes at the guest house in town where he was staying, which he hasn’t had the chance to pick up yet.
“I have a case with some clothes in my car,” Sebastian says, shrugging. “Don’t really need them around the house anyway.”
Oh, this guy is way too comfortable already. “I think I liked you better when you were just my hot lawyer.”
Theo snorts, clapping his hand over his mouth.
“She just called me hot,” Sebastian says, grinning.
“Nope. She just called you a pain in the ass,” Theo corrects him.
“Okay, both of you get out of my way,” I tell them.
“No,” Sebastian says.
Is it just me, or is he looking a little petulant right now?
“You can’t go after Lukas,” Theo tells me.
“I know,” I tell him, though I don’t like it. “But I need to get to the pub.”
“Oh.”
“Right,” Sebastian says.
“So you guys better eat your dinner and get dressed too,” I say as Theo lets me pass.
I rush upstairs and look out clothes that I’m not too attached to. I don’t know when I might need to shift again, if this crazy banshee woman shows back up.
Guilt hits me suddenly. She’s Fergus’ mum. He found her body. That’s so messed up. I know he can’t remember her, but it’s still messed up.
I rush back down the stairs and get my boots on as Theo’s coming back inside with a suitcase. He’s wearing jeans and a T-shirt, and cowboy boots. I’m in a plaid shirt that’s kind of on the big side and jeans that have frayed knees. He raises an eyebrow at me.
“That doesn’t look like your usual style.”
“Hey, if I might shift again while I’m wearing clothes, I’m not losing something I like.”
He snorts. “You’re adorable.”
Sebastian comes out of the living room and grabs his case.
“Hurry up, okay? The locals get restless if I’m open late.” I cross my arms under my chest. “Is it really a smart move to even open the pub if this banshee bitch is out there somewhere?”
Theo shrugs. “We can’t tell what her first move will be. The morgue isn’t in Widow’s Walk so the chances are she claimed her first victim already. If she thinks she’s going to take up residence here again, I doubt she’ll spill blood in town.”
Okay. That calms me down some, but I can’t help thinking about Fergus. She gave birth to him. Surely that makes him important to her? I kind of hope it doesn’t, but considering he’s been holed up the past couple of days pretending to be ill, I’m worried about him anyway.
Sebastian exits the living room in a shirt and trousers, like he doesn’t own anything less formal. He probably doesn’t.
“Okay let’s go,” I say, opening the front door.
Theo insists on taking the lead, leaving me walking with Sebastian at my side.
“Right you two,” I tell them. “Don’t show me up at the pub. Remember they think Lukas is my husband.”
Sebastian smirks, but he hides it when he thi
nks I’m looking.
“Of course,” he murmurs.
Oh, he’s a sly one. I’m going to have to keep an eye on him.
We get to the pub without incident and I open up. Sebastian decides to keep an eye on things outside while Theo keeps me closer company behind the bar.
“This place is kind of cool,” Theo tells me.
“It’s kind of a dive,” I tell him.
He puts his arms around me from behind as I shove the drawer with the float into the till.
“I don’t know,” he says, leaning down to kiss my neck. “It has a certain charm to it.”
I laugh. “You just like that I’m here.”
“Well...” he trails off, kissing my shoulder.
The sudden rush of desire that washes over me takes me by complete surprise. He brushes the shirt off my shoulder and it intensifies, but I don’t come until he kisses my bare skin where he bit me.
I cry out and he holds me closer as he pulls my shirt back up.
The door opens and Mr Murphy enters.
I bite down on my lip, hoping he didn’t just hear me. Hoping I’m not blushing my arse off.
“What can I get you?” I ask, as I elbow Theo to get him to let me go.
Theo backs off reluctantly, but he does let me go.
“That’s not your husband,” Mr Murphy says.
“No, I’m her boyfriend,” Theo tells him, shooting a grin my way when I glare at him.
Mr Murphy raises his eyebrows but doesn’t say another word. I get him his usual and shake my head at Theo. He doesn’t seem to care that he just made me sound like the town bike.
“What?” he whispers.
“Are you serious?”
He leans in, and whispers. “If you really care what these arseholes think I can wipe his memory.”
I sigh. He has a point. I shouldn’t care what they think. I don’t. Not really. I’m just wound up right now.
Mr and Mrs Wallace show up next and Theo is on his best behaviour. I serve them, seeing Moira whisper that that’s the guy who claimed to be my husband in her shop.
I turn around and pull him to me, kissing him long and hard. He reacts quickly, turning it into a steamy session that really should have been saved for behind closed doors, or at least the cart out back.
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