Shifter By Christmas

by Brea Viragh

  Excuse me? He did not appreciate that one bit. A growl welled up in his throat and he strained hard to force it down, with little luck.

  His woman, having heard it, took it as a sign. “Rabies!” She grabbed her camera and began to inch away, slowly and carefully, watching him like the rabid beast she now assumed he was.

  It was too much to bear.

  Without thinking, Lakota took drastic—and quite possibly stupid—measures.

  He let the magic swirl through him, always a part of him down to his DNA. The swift pinch of pain was nothing compared to the overwhelming sense of euphoria any time he changed forms. His claws retracted, teeth and muzzle shortened into a blunt, square human jaw. Finally, he stood in front of her as a fully formed male, his hands on his hips.

  “I do not have rabies!”

  Chapter 3

  No way.

  It was worse than rabies.

  Somehow, she’d contracted a viral infection affecting her brain and now she was hallucinating, probably dying. Farris could have sworn the lynx she’d spent days photographing had suddenly become a man.

  Right before her very eyes.

  A man with long black hair, a straight nose, and pointy nipples. A trail of dark hair sprinkled down from his chest—wowzah—toward his navel and surprisingly pert member despite the frigid temperature.

  Nope. It wasn’t happening. It wasn’t real.

  Her brain was turning to mush. Or he was a shape shifter.

  A shape shifter?

  The words seemed to whack the outside of her skull, trying urgently to get through. Entry denied.

  The scream bubbled up before she could control it and she found herself in the middle of an intense flight or fight situation, adrenaline shooting through her veins fast and hard. Her body wanted to flee but the rest of her seemed stuck. The snowshoes she still hadn’t quite figured out were skewed at odd angles and made running for her life next to impossible.

  “I’ve gone insane!” she screamed out. Trying desperately to get away and finding her body uncooperative. She was going down, down, down.

  The man made to reach for her then sighed, retracting his hands. “Please stop screaming. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that.”

  “I’m officially gone. Right over the deep end!” Why couldn’t she stop screaming? It was impossible; her vocal cords had taken on a life of their own. Then her lungs decided to seize up and there was really no way to scream once she couldn’t breathe.

  The man was looking at her like she was the one having a problem.

  “You just…you…oh, my God!” Her back was against a tree. No wonder Farris had a hard time moving away. “What the hell is happening right now?” She slapped her hand on her chest.

  “Please try to calm down. You’re going to hyperventilate.”

  “Too late!”

  “Look, I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have shifted in front of you like that, especially considering you’re a human. I didn’t mean to scare you.” His face hardened with indignation. “But you said I have rabies.”

  “What? Oh. No. Maybe I’m the one who has rabies. I’m obviously hallucinating.” Yup, still screaming. The snow on the tree limbs above her head threatened to tumble. She tried to move out of the way. The damn snowshoes were half off her boots and sticking upright. Tossing them aside was proving hazardous. “I should have stayed in the room. Maybe I’m actually dying and you’re the last-ditch effort of my frozen mind trying to keep me alive.” Fanning herself, she willed her heart to still. If the brain-wasting disease didn’t get her first, she might just die of a heart attack.

  “You’re not dying,” the sexy naked man told her. “Although we’re starting to lose the light and soon we’ll have a hard time getting back to where you parked.”

  “Oh God…”

  “Your camera—”

  “Oh God…” She’d forgotten about it in the chaos. “Keep it!” Another scream. “Take whatever you want. Just don’t let me die.”

  His hands went to his hips again in a strangely effeminate gesture for such a masculine man. A masculine very naked man, her half-dead mind reminded her. “I’m not going to keep your camera. You need it for your calendar.”

  And it clicked into place. Finally. “Wait a minute. I know you… You’re the guy from the hostel!” Her eyes narrowed. “You followed me out here.” Another revelation, and less a scream this time. “You’ve been out here making a fool of me all week.”

  “Lakota Linden, nice to meet you.” He held out a hand like he expected her to take it. Weirdly erect penis waving at her and all.

  It wasn’t in her nature to freak out and go hysterical. Not really. Or maybe it was and she’d kept that part of herself buried down deep. Because no one wanted to list freak-out ability as a virtue.

  Instead of taking his hand, she knocked against the tree again in an attempt to get away. “Don’t touch me!”

  The limbs let loose their snowy burden and sent the entire load falling down onto her head. Farris inhaled and swallowed more than her fair share, adding insult to injury as she flailed, coughing and choking.

  Capable arms dug her out of the drift and helped right her on her feet. “You really need to be more careful. I understand being upset and a little nervous, but have some concern for your basic safety, Miss…” Lakota trailed off.

  “F–Farris.”

  “Like the wheel? I’ve never been on one.”

  “No, Farris, like the musician.”

  “Well, it’s a gorgeous name.” He brushed snow off her hat and righted it, staring into dark eyes the color of old leather. “I really am sorry for startling you and giving you a minor heart attack. I’m also sorry if you think I took advantage of you this week. Or rather, made a fool of you. You caught me unawares.”

  “I caught you? Ridiculous!” Then she realized his fingers were on her arms still. Keeping her in place. Even stranger? She didn’t want him to let go.

  “Come on. Let me help you gather your things. The sun’s going down and it’s going to get very cold very soon.”

  Farris couldn’t stop herself from glancing down at his crotch for the umpteenth time. Instead of being embarrassed, he followed her gaze lower and chuckled.

  “The cold doesn’t bother me like it does normal people,” he explained.

  “So I can see.”

  Breathe, she told herself. Breathe and try to accept the impossible. No, not just the winter erection. The whole beast-turned-man bit. You’d think one would be equal to the other but they both seemed strange and impossible.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” Lakota said quietly, handing her camera gear to her.

  She nearly stumbled before getting her feet under her. “Are you a mind reader too?”

  “Your face gives away everything you attempt to hide. You’re trying to understand what I am and how you’ve lived your whole life without knowing people like me exist.”

  Her eyes bugged and at once she felt foolish. “Of course. There must be more like you. I should have guessed. I’m not thinking straight.”

  “Don’t start hyperventilating again!” His chest rose and fell in an exaggerated motion while he urged her to calm down and breathe with him. “There are shifter clans around the world. Old Glory Mountain, where we are, happens to be lynx territory. We share boundaries with other cold-adapted creatures, but please don’t let it worry you. You’re safe here with me.”

  “I don’t feel safe,” she muttered. She felt exposed. She felt like she was standing on a stage and someone had ripped her clothes off in front of a crowd. How many revelations could one woman have in a day?

  She counted them quickly as Lakota set about adjusting her snowshoes. Her animal model, the one she’d been following-slash-praising this week, was really a human. A human who could change his form and become an animal. There was one.

  Two, the same lynx shifter was also the handsome gentleman at her hostel who had offered to help her with her computer.

 
Three, she was out of a job if she didn’t get the shots she needed, which depended on the same handsome gentleman.

  Four…there were more wolfmen out there.

  Her love for old B-grade horror films reminded her of the dozens of movies she’d watched where men turned into beasts under the light of a full moon.

  “You aren’t the type to kill, maim, and torture innocent villagers, are you?” she couldn’t help asking, her voice shaky. “I mean, I’m just worried about my safety here. And realizing I’m out in the middle of the wilderness with the sun going down and a naked werewolf tying on my snowshoes.”

  Lakota chuckled again.

  Without the hysteria riding her, the sound hit her somewhere in her abdomen before traveling lower. Much lower. It was like the tolling of a bell, with rippling echoes resounding through her center. Oh yes, he was yummy-looking. Strong, too. And those hands! She tried to keep her gaze from traveling to regions of his anatomy where her peepers desperately wanted to go again.

  “No, sorry. There’s no maiming unless you harm one of our own.” This said with a completely straight face.

  “So there’s no chance you’ll ransack my village and plunder me?”

  “I didn’t say that.”

  Oh, man. The shivers were back and this time they had nothing to do with the cold.

  “Come on, Farris. Let’s get you to your vehicle. If you don’t mind, it’s much easier for me to get you back on the right trail as my other self.”

  She blinked at him when he straightened, standing a full six inches taller than she. Which wasn’t difficult. But man, it made for an imposing picture. Lakota was tall and strong. Sturdy-looking.

  “I never got my photo,” she murmured, then watched as his lips curved up in a drop-dead gorgeous smile, revealing perfect white teeth.

  “Trust me, honey, you’ll get your shot soon enough. Just not tonight. Now, try not to have another attack when I change. Are you ready?”

  She bit her lip and nodded, tugging her hat down over her ears against the cold twilight wind. Lakota closed his eyes and let his lungs deflate.

  It was over within seconds. Because of her own inferior perception, a haze of mist surrounded him and took the scene out of focus. When she was finally able to see, a lynx stood in front of her, large paws buried in the snow inches from her boots.

  Part of her, yes, part of her wanted to scream again. Her lungs were gearing up for a good howl. The lynx lifted his upper lip and growled. A short burst of sound. A reminder of her agreement. She gulped and swallowed the scream reflex.

  Farris went to great lengths to still her ragged nerves, even as her stomach roiled and her throat felt like it had been rubbed with a piece of sandpaper. “You’re right, and I’m trying here. Really I am. Please lead the way.”

  She stopped to get her camera bag and tripod, swinging one over her shoulder and tucking the other beneath her arm. In the dreamy violet-colored light of evening, she followed her lynx through the trees. Wondering if this was all just a dream…or the start of a grand adventure.

  “What do you mean, I don’t have a reservation?” Farris’s eyes were doing that buggy thing again where she felt like a cartoon character and left with a serious case of dryness she had to blink multiple times to combat. Only this time, there was no shock. Just deep anger and confusion. “I had a reservation when I left. And that was a few hours ago! No one said a word to me then.”

  The woman behind the front desk shrugged in an I-couldn’t-care-less motion. “I’m sorry, we were double booked for the night and the second reservation was made before yours. I spoke to the hostel owner about this and he apologizes for the late notice, as the matter was only made aware to us when the second party came to check in. We’ve removed your belongings. You’re going to have to find other accommodations for the night.”

  A casual flick of her gaze directed Farris’s attention to the corner of the hostel lobby. Yup, there was her luggage, heaped as though they’d been flung.

  Farris leaned forward on the desk and cradled her nose between her thumb and index finger, fighting to remain calm when she wanted to rant like a toddler. “I’m tired. I’m hungry. I’ve been out the entire day re-shooting because you don’t back up your internet data and I lost everything.” And because her computer crashed, to be fair, but in the interest of her grand tirade, she wasn’t going to bring that up. “I just want to take a hot shower and crawl into bed without dealing with any more bullshit. Please tell me you have something available.”

  The receptionist’s eyes narrowed until she resembled a Tibetan sand fox. “We can no longer accommodate you. There is nothing available. I apologize.”

  This would normally be the moment when Farris backed down. When she had problems standing up for herself and rolled over to expose her belly, metaphorically speaking. It had happened with her ex-boyfriend when he sold their combined shares of the magazine they’d started, after he told her he was leaving her for a younger, slimmer, smarter version of herself. It had happened again when her new boss kept her on constant edge by threatening to fire her and take away the last shred of stock she still had in the magazine. Or whenever he chose to humiliate her with his double entendres and inappropriate innuendos.

  Was she going to let this bottle-platinum nobody intimidate her into silence this time? No.

  Well, maybe. Probably. But she wouldn’t go quietly.

  “I’d like to speak to your manager,” Farris began, with the nicest grimace she could manage.

  “Jeez, I’m sorry again. He’s not in right now.”

  “Then get him on the phone and tell him you have a disgruntled customer who…who would like to do more than leave a bad online review.”

  The woman raised an eyebrow. “Sweetie, I am sorry. I know this is a terrible inconvenience. I tried calling your cell once I found out about the double booking but you must not have been in range. I can recommend a nice place a few hours’ drive from here, unless you’d like to blow your paycheck on a night at the ski resort?”

  Ooh, the harpy knew Farris didn’t have the funds for the resort. Otherwise, this wouldn’t be an issue. What else did the harpy know? This was too strange to be a coincidence.

  “I’m not buying it,” Farris insisted, letting her hands drop into fists on the counter. She quickly removed them once she saw how aggressive the motion looked. “I want to speak with someone higher than you. And if you tell me there’s no one—which I refuse to believe—then I will make the biggest stink you’ve ever seen. And trust me, I’m good at making a stink.” At least her voice had stopped trembling. “This has been a long time in the making and I’m not going to let you sit there looking—”

  “What’s the problem here?”

  A smooth voice cut through the tension and she whipped around to see a very familiar man striding toward her across the lobby. Now clothed, thank God, although the clothes did nothing but accentuate the muscles. Dark jeans hugged his legs, made his ass look good enough to bite.

  Farris purposely wouldn’t look him in the eyes when she spoke to him. “You just keep showing up, don’t you?” She couldn’t help the snarkiness coloring the statement. “Every time I turn around, there you are.”

  “I can’t help it,” Lakota said simply.

  She could tell he was close by the way her back started to tingle. “You can help following me. You were supposed to be on your way home.”

  And when she swiveled around to face the receptionist again, the look on the other woman’s face told her what she needed to know about the situation. Punctuated by a muscle tic near her temple.

  This wasn’t a random overbooking, and the odds were good that the room was still available. This was because of some drama between the woman and Lakota.

  Motherfu—

  “Is there a problem, Susan? Because my new friend here looks very upset.” His tone took a sharp right turn past perturbed and straight into harsh. “I find myself wanting to do everything in my power to keep her from being
upset. And I think you remember how nasty I can get when I’m angry.”

  Susan. What a perfectly wretched name for the harpy.

  “There was a double booking and we no longer have any room for your friend,” Susan commented. “She’s going to have to look for other accommodations. There is nothing I can do.”

  This wasn’t going quite the way Susan had planned, Farris could see that. Which brought an unexpected silver lining to the otherwise bleak situation.

  “If you touched any of my things and broke them, then so help me God, I am going to come back here and I’m going to find you,” Farris threatened. “If I go through my luggage and a single item is missing or out of place, you are going to be in big trouble.”

  “What can I do to help?” Lakota asked.

  Having had enough of Susan—and she refused to think of it as rolling over—Farris walked over to her luggage and tried to tamp down her exhaustion. The night was going to be a little longer than she’d anticipated, that’s all. She could handle a few extra hours. Couldn’t she? She’d been through a lot worse, she tried to console herself, and came out on the other side.

  “You’ve done enough already.” Her fingers massaged the small of her back and the knot of tension balled there. “I don’t need any help.”

  “Did I fail to mention that rescuing gorgeous damsels in distress is a specialty of mine?” Lakota followed her over to the corner and reached out to take some of her bags.

  She swatted his hands away. “I’m in distress because of you, numbnuts. Did you not see the way she was eyeballing you? She thinks we’re sleeping together.” She scoffed. “I don’t even know you.”

  “You think this is because of me?” He glanced over his shoulder at the fuming picture Susan made, magazine tapping against her desk, staring at the two of them with daggers shooting from her eyeballs. “Okay, well, maybe you’re right. And if it is, then I’m sorry!”