Her Guardian Angel (Fire and Snow)

by Khloe Wren

  "Yes, Dominic. I will be yours and you mine. Forever." He moved his hands up to her face, holding her as he devoured her mouth. He trailed kisses down her jaw and neck before he sat back from her. He had something else to ask her, something that couldn't wait any longer. His cat was pushing him hard to mark her and he was having increasing difficulty restraining himself.

  "There's something else I need to explain." He moved so he sat next to her on the couch, and she twisted so she was facing him with her eyebrow raised.

  "Is this a shifter something?"

  "Yeah, it's a shifter something." He couldn't stop his chuckle; she really was handling the whole shifter thing a lot better than he'd feared she would.

  "As well as getting married, I want us to be mated."

  "And what exactly does getting mated entail? We don't have to have witnesses in the bedroom or anything, do we?" The slight panic in Adele's eyes had him chuckling again; trust a female to draw that conclusion.

  "No, love, nothing like that. No one other than us will ever be in the bedroom with us." He couldn't resist giving her a quick kiss before he continued; she was so sweet and naive.

  "Shifters mate for life. When we mate, I'll leave my mark on you and you on me. Others then know we belong to each other, and they also know to keep their paws to themselves."

  "What do you mean 'mark'?"

  "We will make love and when we climax together, claws will sprout from the fingers on my right hand and when they do, I'll scratch you. Don't worry, it doesn't hurt because it's magic, I'm not really cutting into you. You'll be left with my mark. It will look like four wide scratches that reveal leopard spots beneath. People who see it will think it's a tattoo."

  "But how do I mark you? I'm not a shifter? This mating thing, it won't change me, will it?" Adele's forehead was all creased up as she was obviously getting herself all tied up in knots. He'd better finish explaining this before he totally lost her to her mind's randomness.

  "After I mark you, the magic flowing from me to you will allow you to grow claws, just this once, enabling you to mark me. It won't change you. You need the right DNA to be able to shift. It's not like the movies where a bite or scratch is going to convert you."

  He sat silently watching the emotions flicker over Adele's face as she processed everything he had told her.

  "One last question. Where will you mark me? And where do I mark you?"

  "We can leave our marks wherever we want to, but traditionally the male leaves it just above the inside of his mate's right hip bone. The female leaves it over the male's heart on his left pectoral."

  He watched her straighten her shoulders and raise her eyes so she held his gaze with her warm chocolate colored eyes.

  "I love you, and I don't ever want to be without you, Dominic. Yes, I will mate with you." As she spoke those words, he felt like his heart had just exploded from the sheer happiness he simply couldn't contain. Then she wrapped her left arm around his neck and pulled him in for a scorching kiss he felt all the way to his blissfully happy soul.

  ~ * ~

  Jake sat down with a sigh as Sophie curled up next to him on the couch. They'd just settled Kelly into bed and were now enjoying a glass of port together. Jake had spent the afternoon going over the lists of Lost Ones, starting his own list of all the ones that were suspected of being in Australia. He'd also looked back over Choden's advice and decided it meant he didn't need to worry about the whole next Alpha thing at the moment. So he wasn't going to. The Lost Ones search would keep him plenty busy enough, especially while he was back on Captain duties down at the station.

  "I can feel your worry, Jake. Tell me what's troubling you." Sophie could always read him so clearly.

  "I've been going over the Lost Ones lists. There are so many, and there are a lot that they suspect are in Australia. I'm going to have to send out a search party I think. There's only so much you can do on the net and by correspondence."

  "Which Leaps suspect their Lost Ones have come to Australia?"

  "The Chilean Leap suspects that a pregnant widow-mate whose mate was murdered by the Caravan of Death in the military coup of 1973 escaped the country on a boat bound for Sydney. Unfortunately, the Leap was caught up trying to save the remaining shifters in Chile. By the time things settled down and the Leap could start looking, they couldn't find any trace of the widow-mate.

  "The French Leap have a pregnant future-mate that went missing back in 1989. They have no idea where she's gone, so we're all looking for her.

  "Then the African Leap are still searching for four families who were in Rwanda around the time of the genocide in 1994. They might have been killed but they might have managed to get away. Being able to turn into a leopard has its benefits in Africa, the only place where it actually makes hiding easier. There are more, all similar stories."

  Sophie hugged him tightly and nuzzled her face into his neck.

  "The Leap will help you find them. Send a small group of the unmated males out. They may even find their mates while they are off on their travels."

  "Hmmm, you have a good point. I know the twins are starting to suffer for not having their mates. Xander even more so; poor man has been dreaming for years now."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Adele had never been so happy as Dominic scooped her up off the couch and headed to her bedroom. She traced her fingers lightly over his dark eyebrow, down his straight nose, over his soft lips. The man was so handsome. She couldn't quite believe he was going to be hers alone for the rest of their lives. By the time they made it to the bed, her cheeks were aching from the massive grin that was plastered over her face. As he sat down on the bed with her, she caught sight of the print above her bed.

  "That print--it's a photo of you, isn't it?" Now she knew he was her chaton so many things were making sense, little things that had been niggling at her--all the things he'd done that had seemed familiar or feline-ish.

  "Yeah, beautiful, it's me in our field. Conner came with me and took the photo." He was looking a little sheepish.

  "This is going to sound silly, but can you please shift for me? I want to feel you nuzzle my neck in the real world." She felt like a ditz for asking, but she needed to know his leopard outside of her dreams.

  "Love, there is nothing silly about it. And sure, I can shift for you." He stood up with her in his arms before he gently placed her back on the bed with a kiss.

  "I need to strip before I shift, or I'll shred my clothes. Hmm, I think it's only fair you strip too." He followed up the request with that cheeky lopsided grin he knew she couldn't resist. She really needed to build up a resistance to that grin.

  "You'll need to help please, I can't do much with this cast on." She didn't need to ask twice, and within moments he had her naked and back on the bed. She shuffled over so she sat in the middle. When she looked up, it was to see a very naked, very sexy Dominic staring at her.

  "You ready, beautiful?" She couldn't find words, her mouth suddenly dry at the sight of all that muscular flesh before her so she just nodded. His body was engulfed in that same bubble of blue electric energy she had seen in the basement room before his body shifted to that of her chaton. She smiled as she took in the beautiful creature standing before her bed.

  "You are more beautiful in reality, chaton." In one lazy leap he pounced on the mattress before her. He landed lightly on his feet, the bed barely making a groan at the added weight. He padded around her, rubbing his soft fur all over her skin. It felt so good and tickled like nothing else. She started giggling. He nuzzled against her cheek and into her neck before the cheeky boy licked her from shoulder to ear with his rough tongue.

  "Oh, now, you know how much that tickles!" She sunk her hands into his fur on either side of his massive head. Oh wow, it was so soft. She rested her forehead against his while she closed her eyes and rubbed behind his ears, just how he liked it in her dreams.

  "This can't be real, it's just so...it's too much." As if he sensed she needed something to
focus on, he shifted his head down, touching his cold nose on her nipple, then he really sent her head reeling by licking up the underside of her breast and over her nipple with his rough feline tongue.

  "Ohh, okay, if you're going to start getting me all hot and bothered, you better shift back to Dominic. I don't think I'm ready to be fooling around with a snow leopard--that's a little too much for me to cope with just at the moment."

  Moments later Dominic--the man--sat before her. His eyes were hooded and dark with desire.

  "You know, I can shift just my tongue. Did you like the feel of my rough tongue, beautiful?"

  "Uh-huh" That was about all she could manage to say. He already had her wet and hot. Her mind had gone fuzzy from the hormone overload. He chuckled as he prowled over to her and gently laid her back against the bed. Using his rough feline tongue, he licked, nipped and kissed his way from her mouth down to between her thighs where he settled in and proceeded to show her the best use for such a wonderfully rough tongue.

  When he had her boneless and totally spent, he worked his way back up her body to kiss her. He pulled back slightly and whispered a plea.

  "Will you let me in your body, my love, with no condom? For the mating, will you let me feel all of you?"

  She didn't have to think about that one. She wanted to feel him inside her and wanted to feel claimed by him...and if she got pregnant? Wouldn't that be something, to have this wonderful man's baby growing inside her?

  "Yes, Dominic. Claim me completely."

  He gave her the most reverent, most powerful kiss he'd ever given her. He pulled back and rolled her over on her tummy; she looked over her shoulder with an eyebrow raised.

  "This is how shifters mate, from behind. Normally I'd get you up on all fours but with your wrists, that won't be happening for a while." He pulled a couple of pillows down and tucked them under her tummy so her bottom was raised in the air. She felt so vulnerable and open to him--which she guessed was the point. She was showing him she trusted him.

  He leaned over her back, placing a fist into the bed on either side of her shoulders, he bent his head down and nuzzled her neck. As he slid himself into her wet heat, he gently bit her neck, just above her collar bone. Using the sensitive flesh to pin her under him, dominating her. She loved it. She felt surrounded and filled with Dominic's power and love. Oh, what she would give to be able to freeze time right now and feel like this forever.

  ~ * ~

  Dominic had never felt such bliss. His mate was beneath him, accepting his dominance. He began pumping in and out of her glorious wet heat. After a few strokes, he felt her walls ripple. She was getting close which was a damn good thing, because he wasn't going to be able to last long; the feel of his naked erection sliding in and out of her core was more than he could stand. After a few minutes, he felt her tighten up around him as she began to climax. He released her neck and sat back, gripping her hips in his hands and roared as he joined her. His right hand was perfectly placed just above her hipbone when he felt the magic roll through him and his claws ripped through his fingertips then into her flesh. He dragged his hand around to her side, marking her before he placed his palm over the mark. He pulled himself from her body and rolled her onto her back. He lifted her encased right hand to his chest. Her sharp claws looked so right coming from her fingertips. He used his fingers to help her curl the tips over and scratch down his pectoral over his heart. He then took the palm of her left hand and placed it over the mark. He leaned down to kiss her but didn't make it. She cried out and started to shake.

  Dominic wasn't sure what was happening, but he was in an instant panic--his mate was in pain. Mating wasn't meant to hurt. He reached for his phone to ring his dad to ask him for help when a blue glow started forming around Adele's body. What the hell? She was shifting? How on earth...

  "Baby, don't fight it. Go with it. It won't hurt if you go with it. I don't know how or why, but you're shifting."

  He saw the panic in her eyes before the blue glow engulfed her, and she reappeared as a stunningly beautiful snow leopard. He reached over to stroke her fur. He was totally dumbstruck...lost to his mind stumbling over itself. Until he heard her whimper, oh hell, bugger the whys and hows. His mate was hurting, confused.

  "Adele, you're okay. You just shifted. It's okay. We'll work it all out. Dad will know why. Just relax your mind. Think about what you look like as a human and focus on it." It took her a few minutes, but eventually the blue glow began to shine and she returned to human form. Before either of them could speak, she grabbed her left wrist and screamed out in agony. Shit, the cast had shattered when she'd shifted and now her broken wrist was out of line. Moments later she passed out on the bed. Dominic sunk down next to her, stroking her face and taking some deep breaths to collect himself; that was so not how he planned on finishing their mating.

  Finding his pants, he pulled out his phone, rang Clint and explained what happened. Clint told him Adele needed to get back to the hospital ASAP to get her wrist re-set and checked over. He dressed then he put Adele in clean underwear and wrapped her up in her robe before gently carrying her out to his car and laying her on the rear seat. He locked up the house, jumped in the car and drove to the hospital.

  While Clint was x-raying and re-setting Adele's wrist, Dominic rung his Dad.

  "Hey son, kind of late for a phone call. Everything okay?"

  "No, Dad, nothing is okay. Adele, she shifted."

  "Come again? She what?"

  "We completed the mating. I marked her and she marked me. Then she cried out, started shaking and shifted to a snow leopard. I don't get it, Dad. She's human."

  "I think I might know what is going on. I'll come over to explain. Where are you? At Adele's?"

  "We're at the hospital. The shift shattered her cast. She shifted back and was in agony from her wrist. She passed out. So I rung Clint and bought her in. She's just in getting it re-set now."

  "Okay, I'll come down to the hospital. Go be with your mate, son, I'll be there soon."

  ~ * ~

  Jake quickly rose and dressed ready to head to the hospital. Suddenly, what Choden had said to him made sense. There was no point wasting time looking for another future Alpha because Dominic was in fact mated to a shifter. He scrubbed his hands over his face as he sat on the edge of his bed. As he put his shoes on, he figured he better ring Tristian and let him know they found a Lost One with a French background. He glanced at the clock, eleven forty pm. That made it mid afternoon in France. He picked up the phone and dialed. Tristian picked up on the second ring.

  "Bonjour, Jake. What has you ringing me at this hour? It must be near midnight your end."

  "Bonjour, Tristian. Yes, it is getting late, but this matter is urgent. I think we just found one of your Lost Ones."

  "Oh, that does sound promising. Please, tell me more."

  "It's Dominic's mate. She presented as fully human, but after mating, she shifted. I know her mother was French, moved to Melbourne when she was pregnant."

  "Do you know her mother's name? Or the year she would have moved?"

  "Ahh, I don't know her mother's name but Adele's last name is Petit. She was born in 1989. November, I think."

  "Incroyable! You found her! Oh Remi is going to be so happy. Merci, my friend, merci beaucoup."

  "You know her father? Personally?"

  "Sit back my friend and let me tell you a story."

  Twenty minutes later Jake hung up the phone. Damn, he hoped Dominic and Adele handled this news well, because, depending on how fast Remi could get on a plane, Adele's Dad was going to be here in the next day or two. He'd made the call to Tristian on speaker so Sophie would know what was going on. She gave him a tight hug and wished him luck and strength as he headed out the door to go to the hospital.

  It was close to one am when he walked into Adele's hospital room. She lay unconscious on the bed, and Dominic was pacing back and forth across the room. His son looked like he'd aged ten years since he had seen him ea
rly yesterday. The anguish, confusion and pain rolling off him cut Jake to the bone.

  "Hey, son. How is she?" He watched as Dominic raised his head to look at him

  "I didn't know it would hurt her Dad. I don't get it. I don't understand why she shifted. I'd just told her that the mating wouldn't change her and then she goes and shifts!" Jake strode across the space and wrapped his son in a bone-crushing hug; Dominic sagged into his embrace, resting his head on his father's shoulder.

  "She is one of the Lost Ones, Dominic. I don't know how the mating triggered the shift, but her mother was a future-mate. Her father is one of us. I spoke with Tristan before I came. I have a lot to tell you both, but I would like to be able to tell you together. Has she woken up since we spoke?"

  Dominic pulled from his embrace and scrubbed his face.

  "No, she hasn't. Clint said she should at any moment. He's put her wrist back in a cast. It's healing faster now that her shifter DNA has been triggered."

  "How about I get you a coffee while we wait for your mate to return to us?"

  "Sounds like a plan, Dad, because I really want to hear some answers, and I'm certain she will too."

  ~ * ~

  Adele awoke to find herself in the hospital. Damn it, how the hell had she ended up back here? In a rush, the previous night came back to her. She arched her back, pressed herself deep into the mattress as she tried to breathe through the remembered pain. Dominic was right there rubbing her face and arm, saying soft gentle things to her, calming her with his smooth deep voice. But it was his fault; he'd promised her the mating wouldn't alter her.

  "You said I wouldn't change. But I did! What the hell is going on, Dominic?" She was pissed off. How could he trick her like this? She didn't even see Jake until she heard him speak.

  "Dominic knows as little as you do about what happened last night, Adele. Please, don't be angry. None of us saw this coming." She rested her head against Dominic and inhaled, taking his scent deep within her.

  "Please, Jake, if you have answers, can you explain them to me; to us." She didn't have it in her to guess and play cryptic games. She heard Jake take a deep breath and felt Dominic's hold on her tighten; he had slipped onto the bed and had moved her into his embrace.