A Shifter's Fevered Heart (Distant Edge Romance Book 3)

by Chloe Adler

  “What?” I jumped down her throat.

  “There’s some growing from the side of a tree out back. It’s too high up. You’d need a three-story ladder. Maybe Burg can jump it but I don’t think so. Maybe your griffin?”

  “I can get it,” said Alec, stepping forward.

  “How?” I asked him. We’d never shared our shifts.

  “My medium shift,” he said. “I’ll change in the bathroom.” I pointed the way and he disappeared through Sadie’s living room door into her hallway.

  Several minutes later an adorable monkey emerged from the bathroom. Rex lifted his head, growled, then sniffed the air and put his head back down again.

  Alec climbed up my body and perched on my shoulder. His body was gray, tan and white, and his face had a very unique design. A black widow’s peak of fur came down over brown eyes tinged with tan fur and then a ring of white. A small tan hand reached out and batted playfully at my ear before making a high-pitched screeching noise. I followed his hand, which pointed toward the sliding glass doors that made up the back wall of the living room.

  Sadie unlocked and opened them. Her back patio lit up when she hit a few switches. Twinkling white and pink lights were weaved in and out of the foliage and along the back gate. It was like a magical little fairyland complete with potted plants sprouting flowers of every color. That girl had the greenest thumb.

  “It grows at the top of that silver maple.” She pointed upward. “It’s called Aechmea fasciata and it attaches itself to a flower that forms a symbiotic relationship with other plants.”

  We all craned our heads up. “That blue-purple-looking flower?” I asked.

  “See the green spiky-looking plant shooting out next to it? That’s the wolf’s claw.”

  Alec scurried off my shoulder and up the tree. I lost sight of his nimble body in the darkness.

  A minute later, he shimmied back down with the stem of the plant in his mouth, then ran back inside and skittered to a halt on the table in front of me. He presented the sprig with a tiny fist. I handed it to Sadie and he climbed back onto my shoulder.

  Once she had recast the circle and was scrying again, the congregation had dispersed. But that was all right because we could see the main guy talking to someone in a smaller room. After Sadie added the wolf’s claw and a few other herbs that Ryder had brought her from the kitchen, we could hear him too.

  “Why did you . . .” The leader’s voice was raised and angry, it but cut in and out like a bad cell phone connection. I glared at Sadie.

  Shrugging, she said, “Sorry, the wolf’s claw is unpredictable, not as stable as orris root. We may not hear everything.”

  My breathing quickened and I suppressed a growl. Surges of anger electrified me. Alec tittered in my ear, bringing me back.

  “What about your brother?” asked a minion. “. . . want . . . dead.”

  The leader barked, “He doesn’t matter . . . faggot . . . kill . . . that reason . . . but we can’t risk another one . . . congregation . . . caught.” He shook his head at my sister like she was his recalcitrant but beloved child. Sam shrank a little, not meeting his eyes. “Samantha disappointed . . .” She was visibly shaking.

  What the hell was going on?

  He reached out and touched my sister’s chin, bringing her face up gently, almost tenderly. I shuddered and Burgundy put her arm around me, pulling me close, but I shrugged her off.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” she sniffled.

  “What the fuck?” I screamed and rushed toward the crystal ball, breaking the circle and trying to grab it. It cleared, the vision gone. My intention had been to throw it through a window but I couldn’t move it. “They’ve brainwashed her,” I hollered. “Or she’s playing them to save me. Must be.” I crumpled to the floor, my head on my knees, my arms wrapped around my body.

  Burgundy crouched next to me, cradling me in her arms. This time, I let her.

  We all slept at Sadie’s that night. Our house was still trashed and no one was in the mood to clean it.

  My brain circled like a hawk looking for its prey.

  Alec and I shared one of the couch daybeds and Burgundy slept on the other. Since shifting was exhausting, Alec slept soundly after he changing back. I sat up, restless for most of the night. Rex’s snoring did not help but he was cuddled up with Burg and the sight of her spooning him was nauseatingly adorable, pulling me out of the what-ifs and the what-the-hells.

  “Hey,” Alec’s sleepy voice rang in my ears. “Can’t sleep?”

  I shook my head.

  He was facing me, eyes closed. Leaning in, he kissed my face so tenderly. I sighed as some of my angst flitted away. Placing small light kisses on my cheeks and jawline, he reached down between my legs to squeeze my cock. It responded even though I had been half-frantic about my sister. But Alec’s hand on my cock turned off all those thoughts like a switch and I moaned quietly into him.

  “Can I watch?” came Burgundy’s voice, laced with sleep and tinged with lust.

  Alec’s eyes popped open and I laughed. “It’s fine with me if Alec doesn’t mind.”

  “I-I . . . wow. Damn, I’m not sure what to say right now,” he stuttered. “I want to relieve you so you can sleep but . . .”

  “I won’t make a sound,” whispered Burgundy. “And it’s nothing I haven’t seen before.”

  Alec let out something between a laugh and a hiccough. “Okay, if you’re game, sweetheart, than so am I.” He leaned in and kissed me hard, grinding his thigh against my already hard member.

  Her breathing changed but I focused on Alec even though it usually turned me on when Burg watched. He climbed on top, grinding against me. When the pre-come seeped out, he flattened himself on top of me, rubbing the slippery wetness over our slick shafts. As he kept touching his mouth to mine, the contrast between the mashing below and the light kisses above were delicious. He upped the speed, a pace I happily matched.

  “Aw come on, boys, let me see some cock. A girl’s imagination can only go so far,” purred Burgundy.

  Complying, which surprised me, Alec rolled off, grabbing my cock with his hand. Leaning into my ear, he whispered too quietly for Burgundy to hear, “Let’s give her a whack-off show.”

  I groaned in response and grabbed his cock. Alec rolled onto his side, facing me and her, and I remained on my back. We clasped each others cocks, masturbating one another.

  “That’s more like it.” Burgundy’s voice was hoarse and clipped, her breath short as the sheet between her legs rose and fell with her own ministrations. Usually she lay spread-eagle right in front of me, but I was grateful she was hiding herself for Alec. I knew so little about him; if he saw her naked, he might lose his erection and we wouldn’t want that.

  We kept our eyes on each other, but he didn’t kiss me. I assumed it was so that Burgundy could have an unencumbered view. We both adjusted our positions to use two hands on each other, one stroking and the other fondling. We built our momentum together, moving over our tips simultaneously to gather more wetness and then riding one another’s shafts. Alec’s eyelids drooped to half-mast and his breathing quickened. There was no denying that this was hot and my lover thought so as well.

  “I’m close,” he murmured, pushing his groin harder into my hand.

  “I’ll come when you do,” I responded, tightening my grip on him.

  “Me three,” yelped Burgundy, her pants increasing.

  “Oh yes. Alec, yes,” I yelled, as my cock spurted upward, drenching my six-pack only a second before Alec spurted over me, soaking my chest. Burgundy cried out too, moaning and writhing in her bed.

  The light switched on and Sadie stood in the doorway, surveying our messy scene, wearing nothing but an enormous smile. “Yum. Need any help cleaning up?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  We woke tangled up together, his head resting on my shoulder. I didn’t want to move because the weight of him was delicious. But the events of the night before rushed back like the fast moving water und
er a hard layer of blue ice. Bile flooded my mouth, causing me to swallow repeatedly, the movement rousing Alec.

  He kissed my face, his eyes still closed. Fingers stroked my back and lazily played with my hair.

  “Hey, sleepyheads,” Burgundy’s voice called out. Oh shit, I’d let her watch us last night. Why had I agreed to that? Because that was our usual fare. But Alec wasn’t just candy, his feelings irrelevant or unwanted. Was he okay? I sat up as Burgundy set down a tray of coffee.

  “Thank you,” Alec said to her, adjusting himself and reaching for a cup.

  “It’s the least I could do after you let me enjoy your special moment last night.” She leaned in and kissed Alec full on the lips. He was so shocked he just sat there and let it happen, his eyes expanding. When she pulled back, he was smiling up at her though. The grip on my heart lessened. She was making an effort to include him. Of course.

  Thank you, I mouthed to her and she offered me one of her half smiles before retreating back to the kitchen.

  The sounds of cooking and the warm smell of bacon permeated the living room. Alec and I sipped our coffee and then fell back on the couch together, facing one another, petting and smiling.

  “Alec?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Last night . . .”

  “It was hot. I wouldn’t have thought so before, but it was. I’m good with it. Not good enough to include her in our regular lovemaking sessions but . . . yeah, it was hot.” He leaned in and kissed my nose, just the way my sister did. Samantha. Pang.

  “If you’re ever uncomfortable at any of her suggestions, please let me know. You come first in our relationship.”

  “Oh no, honey, you do,” Alec teased, his smile growing.

  We kissed, tangling our tongues and our legs, pushing against each other until we both grew hard. If I urged him to a sexual place right now, both girls would love to watch or even join in, Ryder too, but I didn’t want that.

  I wanted him all to myself.

  Where had that come from? I had never bonded with a mate, and living without biological family my whole adult life meant I didn’t really know what mating signified to shifters. But I had always assumed it was something controllable. My parents had talked about it with Sam and me several times growing up, referring to it as an innate sense, but no matter how hard they’d tried to describe it, it hadn’t felt real to me. Around her senior year, even Sam had joined in trying to explain it, insisting it was instinctual. I’d dismissed my sister’s take on it, convinced she was being an obnoxious know-it-all. How would she know at eighteen years old?

  I’d dismissed my parent’s explanation because they’d been together since they were in high school. Maybe they’d mistook being childhood sweethearts for bonding. The few other shifters I’d asked about it over the years believed in it but no one could show me any concrete evidence. Worse, shifters here in the Edge were preposterously homophobic, and the few I had mistakenly talked to about mates had insisted I would never find one anyway, homosexuality being an “unnatural state.”

  Disengaging from our entanglement, I jutted my chin toward the kitchen. Alec understood immediately. His eyes darkened and he licked his lips.

  “I have an idea,” he whispered.

  “What kind of idea?” I smiled at him, wondering if he wanted to have a sexual liaison somewhere else in the house, beyond their watchful eyes.

  “It’s about your sister.”

  Or maybe not. I sat up, rubbing my face. “I’m listening.”

  He sat up too, hugging me from behind, leaning into my ear. “We can track her ourselves. Do you have anything of hers?”

  I had thought of that, of course, but I didn’t have anything. I shook my head. “She arrived without a suitcase or clothes and left in a flash, leaving nothing behind.”

  “What about the T-shirt she wore to sleep? It looked big, like it was one of yours.”

  “It was but she took it with her when she left. I checked.”

  “Let’s go back to the house and clean up. Maybe we’ll find something else.”

  After breakfast we made excuses to return to the Casa, telling Burgundy we wanted some alone time. She smiled conspiratorially and my throat tightened at the lie.

  Opening the door to the chaos was more difficult than I’d thought it would be and I immediately reached for Alec’s hand. “Where do we even start?”

  “What about the sheet she slept on, on the guest futon?”

  I shook my head. “Burgundy washed them. She was worried about glass shards.”

  “Okay, well, she spent the night in the living room, right? After I arrived. So let’s start there. Did she use a sheet?”

  “Also washed.”

  “Why would Burgundy wash her scent off?” Alec’s voice rose slightly.

  “She thought she was doing the right thing, worrying about glass shards, not her scent.”

  “Are you sure about that?”

  “Of course. What are you suggesting? That my best friend doesn’t want me to find my sister?”

  “Maybe she’s trying to keep you safe.” He shrugged. “I’m not saying she even did it consciously.”

  He might be right but that didn’t mean I was going to accept it. I said nothing.

  “I’m hoping one of your shifts is a natural tracker,” he stated matter-of-factly. “It’ll be a lot quicker if you search the house to pick up her scent.”

  I nodded.

  “Before you shift . . .”

  “Let’s form a plan,” I finished.

  It took us several long minutes to iron something out, including a rough way to communicate in our animal forms.

  “I’ll be right back,” I said when we were finished.

  “Great, I’ll wait here.” He sat down on the couch.

  I changed in my bedroom, excited. Of all my forms, my small form was my favorite and I couldn’t wait to show him off to Alec.

  His reaction did not disappoint.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me. Come here, adorable,” he cooed and reached out to touch me. I slid onto his lap, letting him pet my soft red fur, wanting nothing more than to curl up and fall asleep safe and protected. No time.

  Jumping off, I gekkered at him and then ran about the house, letting my senses guide me. The smells of Burgundy, Chrys and myself were overwhelming to the point that it was easy to pick out what was new. I sniffed in the living room and smelled the three of us plus Alec and Carter. Then the kitchen, running around in a circle. No Sam there. The bathroom. Aha. My nose led me to the bathroom sink, where a hair tie remained on the porcelain counter.

  I ran back to the living room, carrying it in my mouth, and climbed back into Alec’s lap.

  “You have it?”

  I gekkered.

  “My turn to change,” he squealed and I knew this was going to be good but before doing so he opened the front door, leaving it ajar.

  He placed Sam’s hair band over my neck, where it was snug enough, then retired to my bedroom, leaving me to wait in deep anticipation. I was rewarded when he emerged as a massive brown bear. Cool. And he’d grabbed the backpack, wearing it in the front, with clothes for us to change into at the other end. Not bothering to leave a note for my roommates, I jumped up on his back, where I rode until we got to the beginning of the dirt trail.

  There, I jumped off and led, using the hiking trails and service roads up into the hills. It wasn’t unusual to see shifters about but Alec was obviously making an extra effort to be quiet for mortals by not snapping any branches behind me. Humans didn’t love coming across wild animals in their everyday lives and I couldn’t blame them. Especially since they couldn’t know if it was a shifter or a true beast.

  Leading with my nose, I ran ahead, stopping periodically for Alec to catch up. The scent took us far from Distant Edge and into University City—part of San Diego proper. Three quarters of an hour later, we finally reached a remote building bearing a sign for the Uni-Denominational Church of University City. The old struct
ure looked out of place for this area, and it hadn’t been renovated in years. It reminded me of an old wooden schoolhouse with a clock tower rising out of the center. The original white paint had peeled off in places, exposing the wooden panels below. From the outside there was no telling if it was the same church we’d seen in Sadie’s ball. I ran to the front window and peered inside. It was.

  I led Alec around to the back, where a dilapidated barn looked like it would collapse at any minute. Sniffing its perimeter, I could tell no one was inside. One of us had to be in human form to enter. Alec turned his back while I changed.

  I approached him, naked, to retrieve the clothing he’d brought in the pack. Those dark ursine eyes looked me up and down—a strange sensation indeed—before he heaved up on all fours so I could reach into the pack.

  As a bear, Alec could also scent-track. Not as well as I could over long distances, but from here, not a problem. I held the now broken hair band under his nose, and he lumbered out of the barn toward the back door of the church.

  “Really? Inside the church?”

  He growled in response and it was far too loud. “Shhh,” I admonished. “You wait here.”

  He did not like that idea and inched closer. I tried the handle; it was locked. I looked around for a key, checking under the “Welcome Christ into Your Life” mat and around the immediate area. Nothing. I looked into one of the windows, but it was very dark inside.

  Turning back to Alec, I was going to ask his opinion on what to do when he basically tore the entire door off with one large paw.

  “Well, that’ll work. And alert this part of town that we’re here,” I said to him.

  He growled in response.

  “Okay, bear.” I stifled a giggle. “You’re too big to fit through the door so wait here, and if you hear me scream, break through.”

  A grunt and a tongue click of agreement.

  I ducked inside the splintered wood and let my eyes adjust. We’d forgotten to bring flashlights, but there were some prayer candles and matches on the dais in the back room. I grabbed and lit one. Holding it out in front of me, I proceeded forward cautiously, looking around. It seemed like the church was empty. Could we be mistaken?