by Sam Crescent
****
Dani woke up with a smile on her face, her body was aching in all the best places, and she felt more at peace than she ever had.
Huh, who knew mind-blowing sex could make you feel like this? Ha! And who knew every man before Emmett had been doing it wrong?
She opened her eyes and noticed the empty spot in the bed next to her. It was disappointment she felt, surprisingly enough. Most mornings after, even in long-term relationships, Dani had always been annoyed to wake up to a man invading her space.
So why am I irritated that Emmett isn’t here next to me?
Then she saw the note.
Baby, I woke up early to get a jump on the mantle. You looked so peaceful I didn’t want to wake you. I should be back with something for you later this afternoon. I’ll bring lunch. XOXO
Dani wasn’t usually one for pet names. Andy The Asshole had always called her doll when he was trying to distract her from something, and it only pissed her off more. But it was beginning to feel like—aside from his bossy tendencies, Emmett couldn’t do much wrong.
She was humming as she grabbed a plain cotton slip dress and threw it on before heading downstairs to start a pot of coffee. Dani opened both patio doors and sighed as the smell of fresh morning dew and sun-drenched forest drifted into the house. It was so incredibly beautiful here, being surrounded by raw, unspoiled nature. Dani understood why her aunt hadn’t left often.
Wandering out into the backyard, steaming cup of coffee in hand, she enjoyed the refreshing feel of the soft, damp grass against her bare feet. Someone must have been watering and tending to Bess’s vegetable garden since she had passed, as it was green and loaded with delicious things. Dani would have to ask Martha who’d been looking after it so she could thank them.
A small noise drew her attention to the woods to the left of her. It was almost like a whimper, or the cry of a small child. When the sound came again, Dani immediately followed it, hoping the animal was okay. The call had pulled on her heartstrings and she could never leave an animal that was hurt.
After picking her way through the bushes, she came to a small clearing. On the other side of it was a brown ball of fluff, and it cried out again when branches broke beneath her feet.
“Oh no, are you hurt, little one?” she cooed, trying not to startle what she now realized was a bear cub.
The cub stilled when it heard her speak, and then, suddenly all that brown fur seemed to melt down until a small, filthy toddler sat in the very spot the cub had been.
“What the fuck?” she yelled out, startling the small boy just as much as herself as his lip wavered and he began to cry.
She was just stepping forward to reach for him when a huge blur of dark brown came barreling at her from the side, an ear-piercing roar along with it. Dani felt the burn of something sharp along her arm and torso before she hit the ground and everything began to slowly fade.
“Oh poop, what have I done?” A woman’s voice sounded far away and faint. “Billy, you’d better run and fetch the Alpha, right away!”
That was all she heard before she slipped into darkness.
Chapter Nine
“How did this happen, Patty?” Emmett tried not to growl as he looked down at Dani lying in his bed, being tended by their healer. The angry, bleeding claw marks running down her shoulder and torso made him see red.
“Ben wandered off on his own and got lost. We were out looking for him when I heard him cry out and my sow just took over. She must have heard and come to investigate the same time I found him.” Patty wrung her hands nervously. “You know, sows and their cubs and all that. I didn’t mean to hurt her, Alpha.”
Emmett sighed and pulled Patty in for a hug to reassure her. “I know, Patty, I just hope Dani’s going to be all right.”
“Alpha?” Derek, who’d been their pack healer now for ten years, sounded surprised as he looked up from the stitches he was currently placing in Dani’s pale skin, “Take a look at this. It looks like the wounds are trying to close.”
Emmett released Patty and took a closer look. “How is this possible?”
“Well”—Derek shrugged—“just because Bess wasn’t able to turn doesn’t mean that Dani doesn’t have the ability. Though, without some kind of catalyst to begin the change, even a traumatic injury shouldn’t be enough to start it. Did you have any open wounds, Patty? Did she get your blood in her?”
Patti shook her head, and then it dawned on Emmett. He hadn’t used protection when they’d been together last night, so it was his semen that would have been the catalyst to cause Dani to begin turning. He breathed a sigh of relief. These kinds of wounds would heal quickly for a shifter, and they wouldn’t have to worry about infection or complications. The only thing to worry about now would be how Daniella was going to take the news that she was now going to be much more than human.
****
When Dani woke this time, it was with none of the warm fuzzy feelings she’d had this morning. In fact, her entire body felt like it had been hit by a train. Before she even managed to open her eyes, however, the most incredible scent came to her nose, and it was one that she knew.
Mine.
Whoa. What the ever-living hell was that growly voice in her head? Had she fallen down and knocked something loose up there? Dani cracked open one eye to see she was in a room she’d never seen before. Not only that, but there had to be about ten people in the room with her, none of whom she recognized except for Martha and Emmett, who was standing by the door talking with a tall, blonde woman. The woman reached out and placed her hand on Emmett’s chest and something inside Dani just snapped.
Before she even registered what her body was doing, she had leaped out of the bed and grabbed the blonde by the offending wrist. She felt satisfaction when the tips of her claws dug into the soft flesh beneath her grip.
“Mine.” She snarled, her teeth only inches away from the other woman’s neck, who was now down on her knees. “How dare you touch what’s mine.”
Besides her own heavy breathing and the slight whimpering from the woman in her clutches who had turned her head away in submission, you could have heard a pin drop in the room.
“Shhh, it’s okay, Dani.”
She heard Emmett’s voice from beside her and turned toward him only to see a fine dusting of brown fur along both her arms. Dani screamed, holding up her hands to see not only the fur but the long dark tips of claws at the ends of her fingers. She felt her ass hit the floor as she scrambled back away from everyone.
“Everyone out.” Emmett’s voice was firm and had a tone that almost insisted she stand and follow the procession out the door. Then his palm was cupping her cheek and she couldn’t help but lean into his touch.
“Hey, I know this must seem insane.” His voice was gentle. “But it really is going to be okay.”
“What’s happening to me?”
“Well, it’s a combination of two things that started your transition. First, it was having sex with me, then when you stumbled upon Ben and Patty accidentally attacked you, that put your body into survival mode and it activated the dormant shifter genes that run in your family.”
She just stared at him for a few seconds, waiting for the ‘just kidding’ to follow his explanation, but he simply stared back.
“Are you kidding me?” she screamed at him. “You’re telling me you gave me some hinky-ass STD, I was attacked by a bear-lady … and now I change into an animal?”
Emmett’s lip quirked up at the corner, and so help her God, if he laughed, she was going to punch him right in the balls. Apparently, her expression said it all because he cleared his throat and continued.
“First off, it’s not an STD. If you hadn’t had dormant shifter genes, then sleeping with me wouldn’t have made a difference. But lucky for you, you did. I don’t want to scare you any more than you already are, Dani, but you were mauled by a female grizzly bear protecting her cub.” He finally sat down on the floor beside her. “With the wounds you ha
d, and the blood loss? Let’s say a regular human most likely would have died.”
“I think I’m freaking out.” She looked up into his soft brown eyes and hoped this was all in her imagination. “This has to be a dream. Emmett, tell me I’m just sleeping right now.”
“I’m afraid not, baby.” He stood and picked her up, gently placing her back in bed. “But I’ll be right here to help you get through this.”
When he let go to sit further down the bed, she grabbed his hand, almost desperate for contact with him. “Will you just please hold me for a little while? I feel … calmer when I’m touching you for some reason.”
Chapter Ten
Emmett debated telling her anything further just right that moment, but what would be worse: telling a scared woman she’d inadvertently joined herself to him for life while her shift was unstable? Or telling a woman that had control over her shift into a huge, dangerous predator, that you may have omitted the fact that for all intents and purposes, they were now married?
Nah, with how many members of the pack that were present when she claimed him out loud, there was no way they’d be able to keep that quiet.
“About that…”
Dani had snuggled into his arms, and Emmett tensed, hoping her reaction wouldn’t be too bad as she looked up at him.
“About what?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Why you feel comforted by my touch and my presence. You’ll also heal faster with me here, because, well … I’m your mate, and you are mine.”
Dani’s eyes went wide with surprise as that information sank in. Then he felt the ripple of muscles under her skin and he released her just in time to watch her first full shift into a lovely grizzly sow with dark auburn fur. A loud yip sounded from her as she realized she was no longer bipedal and just as suddenly, the pale softness of her skin came flowing back until she was a panting, naked heap in the middle of the bed.
Emmett’s heart ached to see the tears that trailed from the corners of her eyes and he gathered her close once again, kissing her head as he gently rocked her back and forth as she grieved for the world she thought she knew. He hoped she realized, from now on, she’d never be alone in anything, ever again. Dani would have him and an entire community to support her for the rest of her life.
“How is this even possible?” Dani looked at her hands like she was searching for any clue that there were now deadly claws hiding just under the surface.
“Love, it’s in your genetics,” Emmett softly explained. “Your mother’s family were shifters. That’s why Bess lived here with us.”
“Oh, my God, Aunt Bess was a bear too?” she screeched.
“No, Bess’s shifter gene was dormant. So she could never change. But her husband was one of my pack and a wolf shifter.”
She just sat there staring for a moment.
“My grandmother,” she finally whispered. “She always swore my mother’s family had the devil in them. That’s why she kept me from my aunt after my parents died. Do you think she knew?”
“I doubt it, but some full humans naturally can sense the predator in us, and it makes them uncomfortable. It’s one of the reasons we tend to live in isolation.”
“This just can’t be happening.”
“It is happening, baby, and once it has time to sink in, I swear you’re going to love it.”
She looked at him like he’d grown another head. “Love it?” she choked out. “Why would I love turning into an animal?”
“Dani, your sow has always been inside of you. She’s been a part of you from birth,” he explained. “With your change triggered, you will be stronger. You’ll finally be whole and exactly who you were meant to be.”
“Just close your eyes and sleep for a bit, love.” He pulled the blankets up over them both and lay back. “That was really fast for a first shift, and your body needs time to re-settle.”
Emmett was still contently watching her rest when the bedroom door cracked open and Boone popped his head in. “Everything okay in here, Boss?”
“Yes.” Emmett gently removed himself from her grip and joined him in the hall. “She’s just sleeping off her first full shift. What’s up?”
Boone’s eyes went wide. “She did a full shift already? Damn.”
“Her mother’s line is very strong.” Emmett could tell from his friend’s body language that something was up. “Now tell me.”
“They got an alert at the cop shop on Dani’s name. Someone’s looking for her … and he isn’t being too subtle about it.”
“Is it a warrant?”
“Nope, that’s what raises the red flags. All it says is that she’s a person of interest and to notify Dawson PD if she’s spotted, but not to engage.”
Emmett couldn’t stop the growl from his chest at the idea that someone was looking for his mate. Jeffery had mentioned in passing that he’d gotten the impression one of the reasons she’d been so keen to come and do the renos herself was that she was looking to get away from something—or someone, perhaps?
“Notify the pack. If anyone we don’t know sets foot in town, I want to know about it.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Boone nodded before he paused and added, “Also, Keith may have gotten himself arrested in Cutler.”
Shit. “For Goddess’s sake, again?” Emmett ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“I tried to speak to the Alpha to get him released, but you know that ornery son of a bitch. He won’t do anything until you go see him in person.”
It was an hour drive there and back to get to Cutler, and Emmett really didn’t want to leave Dani at the moment, but since Keith lost his brother in an accident a few months ago, the wolf had been getting into all sorts of trouble. Emmett worried that he’d eventually pick a fight he couldn’t win. His pack member needed him.
“I want someone with Dani at all times. Make sure she has anything she needs.” With luck, Dani would still be sleeping off her first shift by the time he got back, a sad wolf in tow.
Chapter Eleven
Dani woke with a stretch and this time, she felt pretty good.
Pretty good? Damn, I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt this amazing.
And then her brain caught up with her body and she sighed.
“This trip has really gone down the rabbit hole,” she mumbled, pulling the covers higher until high-pitched giggles sounded out from across the room.
“Now, you boys be quiet and let our Alpha sleep,” a matronly voice whispered right after, but it was too late. Whatever this new entity was inside her seemed to be the curious sort, because she couldn’t resist cracking one eye open. The huge brown eyes and adorable mussed mops of brown curls were peering from the edge of the bed, but from the tops of their heads, she could tell the boys were about four or five years old.
“Boo!” She popped up from the blankets, smiling, and a riot of giggles and baby squeals followed, making her laugh in return.
“Oh! Alpha, you’re awake.”
Dani recognized the woman’s voice as the same one who she stumbled into in the clearing that started all this mess. The poor woman looked incredibly nervous and meek—which seemed odd for a woman who could change into a giant bear.
“Patty?”
“Yes, Alpha,” she replied and came closer. “Is there anything I can get for you? I’m so very sorry about what happened.”
Dani looked at the small children who were now staring up at her with possible adoration, and she may not have babies of her own, but of course, she could understand the instincts Patty had been dealing with.
“It’s okay, I know it was an accident.” She took a brief peek under the covers and cringed. “Could you get me something to wear?”
“Of course.” Patty smiled and seemed relieved to have something to do. “Boys, you stay right here and don’t cause a fuss, I’ll be right back.”
They just stared at her, shy smiles on their faces, until their mother returned with an armful of clothes.
“Where’s Emmett?” Dani asked once she was dressed.
“The Alpha had to go into Cutler to take care of one of our pack, he should be back in a few hours. We were given instructions to make sure you have everything you need while he is away. Your wounds have all healed. Your bear is exceptionally strong.”
“Honestly, Patty, what I really need is some alone time. Can someone give me a ride back to my place?”
“You want to leave?” The crestfallen look on Patty’s face hit her harder than it should have, but for some weird reason, it pained Dani to have her upset. Before she realized she’d even moved, she had pulled the relative stranger into a hug.
“I just need some space to collect my thoughts. This has been a lot to take in is all, Patty.” Dani stepped back, nodding in satisfaction as the other woman seemed to have calmed.
“Of course, it has, forgive me Alpha—”
Why did she keep calling her that? Deep inside, something rumbled that it was appropriate, but Dani was getting a sneaking suspicion that there was more to the job of being Emmett’s ‘mate’ than anyone had told her as of yet … and it was just one more thing that was beginning to freak her out.
“Dani,” she interrupted, “you can just call me Dani.”
“Oh.” Patty paused. “Okay, Dani. I will ask Boone to escort you to Bess’s house.”
An hour later, she had half of the living room painted in a soft warm taupe but Dani just couldn’t concentrate for a second more. It had taken quite a while to convince Boone to drop her off and leave. He said she shouldn’t be alone this early after her transition, but when Dani lost her temper and outright told him to leave, he seemed to be unable to argue with her and left mumbling something about stubborn females and Emmett dealing with her when he got back.
Something inside of her felt like it was trying to take over, telling her to go back to Patty and the children, back to the house where her mate would soon return. It was like having a complete stranger trying to take over her brain, and Dani didn’t like it one bit. She needed space to absorb all of this, and the only place she could think to go was home.