Shifting Hearts

by Ivy Hayes

  Shaking my head, “That is not what happened. Let’s have a seat and I explain it.”

  I let go of his arm and start to sit on the chair at my back. Thankfully, he follows suit and heads towards the other one. With enough distance between us, I start to relax. I don’t have to worry about his casual touch making me lose my wits.

  Pausing for a second to form the best way to start, I wring my hands together. Less out of nerves, more as a quick distraction, or so I tell myself.

  Letting out a breath, I start, “The other guy never got his hands on me. We tied him up, then once he was down, I knocked him out.”

  “Why, was he trying to fight?”

  “No, he wasn’t struggling. I had a couple reasons to hit him. I was furious and wanted to hurt him, and I couldn’t have him talking when the constable showed up. Truthfully, he is lucky I only knocked him out, he deserved the same fate I gave the other guy.”

  “If he didn’t struggle, how did your dress get ripped? It wasn’t when I left you in the alley.”

  “I asked Grant to do that. I needed to look a more convincing victim.”

  Gregory said through clenched teeth, “I am going to have to talk to Grant, he shouldn’t have torn at you, no matter what you said.”

  “No, Gregory, you will leave Grant alone about this. He didn’t hurt me and I really needed his help.” I can tell my words had no effect, I hope Grant can hold his own against his brother. He is so protective, I can’t decide if it makes me want to smack him or kiss him.

  “He could have hurt you while he did it. I can’t let him off the hook for risking you.” He shook his head, “This is beside the point, why did you even need to lie.”

  “I wanted to avoid the gossip. I am new to town and I didn’t want to be seen strange.” Trying to sound as convincing as possible, “A woman who is a victim is normal. People will talk, but it would eventually blow over. A woman who savagely beat the men who tried to attack her, not normal.”

  Gregory was silent for a second, thinking about what I said, “That is not the whole story, your reputation alone could not have been your reason for lying.”

  “I only wanted to stay forgettable and normal,” I responded.

  “But why?” Gregory said, “And don’t try lying, I will find out the truth eventually.”

  I lean forward in my chair, “Can you just accept that it is safer for me to stay under the radar?”

  “Not a chance,” he said sternly, “What are you afraid of?”

  I need to give him at least some of the truth or he won’t let me leave. “There are some people looking for me. I assume rumors of a woman beating two men bloody would raise their suspicions enough to come investigate. They know I can fight.”

  “Why do you even know how to fight like that?”

  “Everyone in my cla..er family trains. We live in an area that sees a lot of violence. It’s safer to be prepared, then to need to rely on someone else helping out.” Shit, hopefully, he didn’t hear that slip about my clan.

  He stood up and positioned himself in front of my chair, caging me in. Gregory leaned in and said my name, “Ash,” letting the seconds draw out what he was about to say. “I asked you not to lie to me. Don’t try to speak, but nod if I am on the right track.”

  “You have been training to fight for years?” I nodded yes.

  “You are on the run, from what I guess is a group of people?” Another nod.

  “And they are after you because you belong to a clan of shifters.” I try to jump to my feet, but he grabs a hold of my arms, stopping me in my place. “You didn’t answer my question,” he muttered.

  I struggle to break his grip, “Fine, I will take that as a yes.” His grip is steel, he is holding me in place, but somehow is managing not to hurt me while he does.

  “Ash, stop fighting. I don’t want to expose you. I could have already done that if I wanted to.”

  What? Confused, I stilled from the shock and spoke, “What are you talking about?”

  He loosened his grip on me, “I saw you, weeks ago in the woods. I found it odd to see an eagle flying around at night, but it all made sense as soon as you landed. I saw the whole shift, I even went over to you after you fell asleep.”

  “Oh god, did you tell anyone what you saw?” I was frantic. If he did, the ones who attacked my clan could be almost here.

  “No, I didn’t, I was leaving in the morning, so I decided to wait until I got back. I hoped you would have left before then, so I wouldn’t have to expose you.”

  At least that’s something. I still have time to run, if I can get out of here. “But I didn’t leave. Why didn’t you expose me yesterday?”

  He hesitated, “I didn’t want to if you weren’t a danger. When I saw you working at Nash’s I figured you hadn’t caused any trouble yet, so another couple of days wouldn’t hurt.”

  “But why protect me? Most people wouldn’t have hesitated to turn me in, and they definitely wouldn’t come to my aide.” I try to stand up, and he lets me, but he stays right in front of me, “They could have been the answer to your problem today if they killed me.”

  “Nobody is going to kill you,” he pulled me close to him and kissed me hard. It only lasted a few seconds, but I was breathless nonetheless. “I protected you because, from the moment I saw you in town, you became everything I needed.” I can tell he truly believe that and I feel my arousal rise. I am desperate for another kiss which means it is time to get out of here. Now.

  Time to get angry.

  I push him away, “I don’t need you to protect me, I would think that would be obvious after today’s events.”

  “It doesn’t matter if you want it, you have it.” He tries to step back closer to me, but I mirror his movement to keep the distance.

  Crossing my arms over my chest, I see him looking me up and down. “Did you get me a dress? I would like to go home. I am exhausted and have a lot to process.” My tone is frigid, and I can tell he sensed it.

  “I am not done asking you questions,” he tries to approach me again.

  “Gregory.” I put a hand on his chest to stop him, “I promise to answer all of your questions tomorrow, after I have had some time to rest.” Or time to run out of town, as fast as possible. “Please give me the dress, I don’t want to walk home in just your shirt, but I will if I have to.”

  Looking sympathetic, he sighs, “I will come to Nash’s for breakfast. We can talk then.” I watch him remove the chair from the door and slide it open. The dress was on the floor right outside, he must have discarded it as soon as he found the door jammed shut.

  Grabbing it from him, I ask, “Can I have some privacy to change?” I can tell he wants to say no, and stay, but courtesy wins out and he responds, “Sure, I need to go talk to Grant anyway.” Pausing before closing the door, he looks back at me and asks, “Can I walk you back to Nash’s?”

  Shaking my head, “That won’t be necessary, it’s only a couple of minutes and I will be fine.” In truth, I would like nothing more than that, but it’s already going to be hard enough to sneak out of town, no reason to make it more of a challenge by keeping him close.

  Not responding with words but keeping his gaze locked on my eyes, he shuts the door. I have no idea if that is an agreement or not, but I will not be waiting around to find out. Taking no time at all, I strip off his shirt and climb into the borrowed dress. It’s easy to get on, as Gwen is close to my size. It is fancier than the dresses I usually wear but it will be enough to get me home without arousing any suspicions.

  Opening the door to leave, I take one second to look back on his room, taking in a final sight of it and thinking a quick goodbye and good riddance to Gregory.

  ELEVEN – GREGORY

  As soon as I shut the door, I hesitate. It is obvious she is going to flee and I don’t blame her. If someone found out my secret, I would run as fast as she wants to. I know I should let her leave, it would make everything so much easier but I want her to stay, more than anything
.

  I have to find a way to make her stay, make her trust me enough to keep her secret – and keep it safe. It should take her at least an hour to gather enough supplies to head out. I don’t think she will fly, she is far too scared of people knowing what she is. I hope I am right because if she goes on foot, I will be able to catch her. I don’t have a plan when I find her, but I am sure I will think of something.

  Until then, I have an abundance of built up sexual energy making me restless and a bone to pick with my brother. A fight with him might be just enough to burn off that extra energy. I start walking towards his room when I hear his voice carrying from downstairs. I turn to the direction of his voice. Rounding the bottom of the stairs, I see he is in mid-conversation with Gwen.

  When I am in earshot, I hear Gwen say, “Why would daddy invite Parker to stay? He must have something planned.”

  “As far as I know, it’s just peace-keeping. Parker will be doing the same thing that I did when I stayed in Westhaven.” He acknowledged my arrival with a nod, then continued, “I wouldn’t worry, Gwen.”

  “What is going on?” I ask.

  “She is worried father has something planned by bringing Parker here.”

  “Hmm, that’s an interesting thought.”

  Throwing her arms up, “It just makes sense. I am nearly twenty-three and unmarried. Daddy desperately wants peace in the area. A marriage with Westhaven would all but ensure that!”

  “You make some really good points. Maybe we should encourage Parker to court you, as soon as he arrives,” I say with a laugh.

  “Shut-up,” she glares at me. “You will stay out of this. I have no intention of marrying that man.”

  “Just wait until you see him.” Grant says, “He was quite the gossip among the young ladies of his town.”

  “So, he is a player,” she grimaces, “even better.”

  Grant looks stricken, “No, not like that. They all liked him, but he couldn’t be bothered with courting any of them. He was too busy working and learning from his father.”

  I cut in, “Why not just wait to meet him, before jumping to conclusions.” I look at the two of them. “Gwen, do you mind leaving this conversation for later, I need to talk to Grant about something?”

  “Fine. But I know Daddy is up to something and I will get to the bottom of it. With or without your help,” she then storms off.

  Watching her leave, Grant says, “She is too smart for her own good. If I were father….” He trails off as he sees my face. “What’s wrong?”

  Not holding anything back from my voice, “Want to explain to me why you would willingly rip apart Ash’s dress? You could have hurt her!”

  “Hell, Gregory, I wasn’t going to hurt her. I only did that because she asked.”

  “But you could have,” I said as I stalked closer to him.

  Not backing down, “But I didn’t! Besides, you should have seen how terrified she looked when she asked for my help. Would you rather I have said no?”

  I took another step closer, “You will never do something like that, ever again.”

  “Calm down, I would if she asked me to. After what she did, I am confident I will never be able to actually hurt her.”

  Damn it, he makes sense. But I am still angry, so I tackle him anyway. We crash to the floor. Since Grant is easily the same size as me and we have been sparring for as long as I can remember, I don’t have to worry about causing any real damage. I have the top, but not enough control to keep it. Grant lifts his hips and grabs my shoulder, which opens it up for him to throw me. I roll to the side and he is on top of me in the same second. “What the hell, Greg. Calm down.” I growl and try to arch my back, hoping to throw him off the same way, but his hold is better.

  Grant is straddling me, blocking me from having any use of my legs, plus he has a grip on both of my arms. I know I am stuck and at his mercy, but I don’t stop thrashing. I still have so much energy to burn. After some useless struggling, Grant says, “Brother, stop. What is going on with you?”

  I stop fighting, “I don’t know. I am all over the place after this afternoon with Ash.”

  “If I let you go, do you promise not to attack me again?”

  I nod and he gets off me. He reaches down to help me to my feet and I take his hand. “I am sorry I jumped you, I have so much energy from first not fighting those men earlier and then after being alone in the room with Ash. I was mad at your for ripping her dress, but it was amplified by everything else.”

  “It’s cool, next time, just ask me to spar and we can take it outside.” He looked around, making sure nothing was broken.

  So, I ask, “Can we take it outside? The fight was way too short to help.”

  He looks me over, then nods, “Swords or fists?”

  TWELVE – GREGORY

  We had decided to fight hand-to-hand. Given my rage, using even fake swords seemed like too much of a risk. I may be mad at Grant, but that doesn’t mean I want to break any of his bones. When fighting, we lived by the basic rule of never trying to damage the other person. If either of us called out in pain, everything stopped as it was, until the other person was confirmed okay. Same went for tapping.

  We started out standing up, trying to find the opportunity to tackle the other on the ground. As soon as it was on the ground, the goal was to get the other to submit, either by pain or inability to move.

  We were at it for about an hour before I finally calmed down enough. Most of the rounds ended with Grant defeating me, one way or the other. I am too distracted to be a good competitor today. I wasn’t looking to win, I just needed to brawl.

  After our final round, we decided to cool off in the river behind the manor. It is late in the day, the temperature should have lowered, but instead it is still sweltering and humid. I hope this isn't an indicator of the summer heat that is to come.

  Floating on our backs, we don’t talk for some time. I was lost in a daydream of Ash, wondering if she liked to swim, when Grant breaks the silence, “So what did you find out? Did she tell you why she needed to lie?”

  “No, all she admitted was needing to stay under the radar.” I lie to my brother, but I don’t want to tell him about Ash being a shifter. I have no idea how he would react, he doesn’t even know I am one.

  “That's the same she said to me, do you think we will ever find it out?”

  “I am sure I will. She promised to answer all my questions tomorrow morning.” I pause, “I think she was worn out from the day. She admitted to lying about being in shock, but I doubt she could fake exhaustion.” And instead of sleeping, she is probably frantically packing and trying to leave town. I should have convinced her to stay. There is no need for her to be afraid or want to run away from me.

  “Want me to come with you in the morning?”

  “No, I think she will be more likely to open up if it is just one of us.” With that, he lets the silence grow and we go back to our own thoughts. A short time later, I add, more to myself, “I want to be with her.”

  Grant swims over to me, looking serious he asks, “Does she want that?”

  “I have no idea, but ever since I first saw her, I haven’t been able to get my mind off her.” I stop floating, “Before I can find out, she has to learn to trust me. It won’t work unless she does.”

  “That’s the truth. Tomorrow morning will be a good start. Be patient and make sure you listen to her, people with secrets scare easy. Whatever you do, don’t blow up – I know your temper, and that will run her off faster than anything.”

  I smile, remembering how her face looks when she is angry, “I don’t think it would. She has a rage herself, I’d bet a good shouting match would excite her.”

  It’s been close to two hours since I left her in my room. She is likely on the road already, and I am longing to run after her, but I need to wait for the cover of darkness. I am restless waiting. I swim towards the shore and yell out, “Let’s go get some dinner.” I might as well eat, it will kill time, plus, I
am starving. No point going out on a late-night excursion on an empty stomach.

  As Grant and I walk back to the house, I think hard about what I am about to do. I have never told anyone about my ability to shift, but if I want to be with Ash, that is something I must do. There is no other way she will trust me. There is no guarantee this will work, but it’s my best shot. Setting my resolve, I find that I am not as scared as I thought I would be. Perhaps my secret has been a solo burden for too long.

  THIRTEEN – ASH

  Change of plans. I am leaving tonight, as soon as I can gather enough supplies. Gregory knows I am a shifter and even though he hasn’t told anyone yet, there is nothing stopping him from doing it now. A big part of me doesn’t think he will ever do that, but I can’t risk it. People can do horrific things to shifters, especially ones that are strangers.

  I figure there are about another three – maybe three and a half hours of daylight left, enough to make some real distance. I’ll find somewhere secure to sleep, then continue at first light. With any hope, I will be at least a six-hour walk before Gregory even finds out I have already left. If he is smart, he will leave me be once he discovers my absence. He even said he wished it before when he first saw me. But I have a feeling he will search for me. I won’t make it easy. I won’t worry about it tonight, but I will start hiding every time I hear someone approaching from Cliffden’s direction.

  Despite my resolve, I can’t stop hoping he will somehow manage to find me. That is even more reason to run, Gregory is destroying my capacity for critical thinking and self-preservation.

  Hurrying back to Nash’s, I realize I cannot tell him I am leaving. I am not sure how much he knows about what happened today, but I worry if he finds out I am leaving, he will go find Gregory or Grant. Not to rat me out, more because he will be worried. He will want to know more about what happened this afternoon, and why I decided to run for the hills. As soon as he showed up asking questions, Gregory would get on one of his ridiculous horses and find me within minutes.