B0079G5GMK EBOK

  “No. Not magic. Just the connection of all living things and an ability to make it work as you want it.”

  “Impossible,” David said and looked at me with eyes full of fear.

  I blushed and shrugged, like it was nothing.

  “Imagine what that person could do.” David continued, wondering.

  “My mom is a seer,” I said, quickly, and hoped that would make them forget me.

  “What does a seer do?” Marie asked curiously, and wondered at the shadows of her swinging legs on the floor.

  “A seer can see the past and the future. It's kind of like a prophet, dear,” I said thankfully. I had at least fooled one of them and gotten Clarissa off my back.

  Clarissa looked at me with eyes that said my attempt was hopeless. There was no way I could avoid the third degree examination later.

  “Adam,” Marie said in a frightened tone.

  Adam turned and looked at her. He quickly jumped close to her and grabbed her hands a second before Marie started to convulse and fell on the floor. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but as Tiamhaidh harshly pushed him away he decided to stay silent. Adam turned to me, but I gestured for him to be quiet. Frustrated, he left scuffling downstairs and went out. The door banged and I looked at Marie, whose head was resting on Tiamhaidh's arms. Her convulsing started to ease and as Clarissa ran to us with Marie's medicine, we discovered that we didn't need them. Tiamhaidh took Marie in his arms and carried her to their bedroom to rest. Clarissa glanced at me apologetically and ran after Adam.

  I fell down on the sofa, next to David. Would this ever stop? Would Marie's life be like this, always? David hugged me tight and we stared at the fading flames of the fire together, and thought they were fading as fast as the hope of Marie's recovery. Thank goodness David stayed silent. There were more questions to ask, but right now, I was too tired to talk about the special gifts of the shape shifters. As if he had heard my thoughts, he lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. I leaned on him gratefully. No accusations, no questions. Just unconditional love that never stopped surprising me.

  CHAPTER 26

  Clarissa

  Clarissa found Adam lounging on the guest house sofa. He seemed relaxed, but she could sense what an uproar he was in. Her family had brushed him aside, like he was nothing more than an annoying mosquito. They hadn't listened to him. Not even when he obviously had something to say. Clarissa knew how it felt. When Marie had gotten sick for the first time, Mom and Dad had done the same to her. She had been scared too, but no one listened to her. They had harshly pushed her aside. Not on purpose. She could be a hundred percent sure of that, but they hadn't even noticed it. Marie had been in mortal danger and had needed all they could give her and more. Clarissa had survived because her grandparents and her friends had helped her.

  She felt the jab of jealousy that had become familiar to her, but she forced it aside. She knew it was stupid. She loved Marie a lot, but once in a while she couldn't help but envy the attention her sister got. Silly, yes, but she couldn't control her thoughts.

  She flopped on the sofa next to Adam and started to massage his fingers. Slowly the massage turned into a cuddle and finally his fingers were in her lips. She kissed his fingers, one by one, and felt the tension inside of him give way. Adam rolled easily onto her. Clarissa laughed nervously. They had done it before, but never in here, her home. It bothered her to know that anyone could pop in the door at any time.

  Adam slowly opened the buttons of her shirt. Clarissa couldn't help herself. She noticed her hands wandering wildly on Adam's gorgeous body. Slowly, bit by bit, Adam pierced her and they melted as one. The sky exploded in her mind.

  “Oh, God,” Clarissa screamed, but Adam silenced her with his mouth.

  Adam conquered her so completely that she was no longer sure where her body ended and his began. She felt the shooting stars in her eyes. Adam's mind was like a black-hole that inevitably drew her in it. She knew exactly what he was thinking, felt every muscle he had in him. A fallen angel, she thought and drowned again in his burning eyes. Something exploded inside of her and she wanted to get away from Adam fast. She was terrified. She didn't dare go on. Not for a minute longer. But Adam's body wanted more from her and his mind held her in such a tight grip, she couldn't escape. Clarissa's head swayed from side to side and she screamed as much from pleasure as from fear. What was happening to her? Panic rumbled inside of her. She had to get away! Clarissa tried to message Mom. She badly needed help, but Adam blocked her mind. The moment she thought about her Mom, Adam's mind surrounded hers and took it as its own. It claimed something, pushed her to the edge of something she couldn't do, and in the end she just couldn't take it anymore. Adam's skillful hands guided her and she screamed and screamed until the world around her exploded to pieces. Adam suffocated her screams with his mouth and eventually, when she became conscious again, she found out she was still alive and was lying on the floor with something warm covering her numb body.

  However, everything was not okay. When Clarissa opened her eyes she had to close them right away. What had happened? She could see the tiniest particles of dust on the floor and the bright fire in the fireplace seemed to burn her eyes. She moved awkwardly and tried to perceive her own body. She couldn't. She couldn't feel her legs or her hands and it was really difficult to move. She tried to lift her head, but it felt weird and heavy, so she gave in. It was so hot in here! How could it be? She was naked, so she should be shivering from the cold. Clarissa tried to move the blanket, but her hands didn't obey. She tried to sit up, but found herself on all fours on the floor.

  “Adam,” Clarissa tried to scream, but all that came out from her mouth was some weird wailing.

  At that moment she figured out everything. She made a sound again and howled with joy. She was a wolf! And the blanket on her was her fur. And Adam, who lay behind her, was a wolf, too. She rolled on her back and faced Adam's eyes that were full of pride. “I knew you could do this. If you just let me help you.” Adam's voice echoed in her mind. “But how?” Clarissa wondered. Adam licked her snout. “Too many barriers, mo gaol, I needed to get rid of them first.” Adam lifted his snout in the air and howled with such a pleasure that every single hair on her neck rose.

  Clarissa couldn't believe that she, the daughter of Sofia and David, Miss Stewart, had just experienced the first proper shape shifting in her life. And how effortless this was! She could stay in her shape without even trying and she knew now she could shift her shape to a wolf whenever she needed in the future. She also knew she could keep up the change as long as she wanted. Unbelievable! Totally comatose! Mom would never believe this! Adam looked at her, amused. She was like a big, furry baby. Clarissa got to know her new body and played and jumped around Adam, while Adam just lay on the floor and grinned at her.

  On that day, Clarissa learned more about shape shifting than ever before. Adam forced her to change her shape a million times between wolf and human. Finally, she could do it without thinking. She learned how to listen to her surroundings and how to imperceptibly touch the minds of the other shape shifters and humans. And the best thing was, she learned what the real Adam was like.

  She loved the tough, rude Adam incredibly much, but more than that, she loved this new stunning male she had found inside of him. This male was an unbelievably gentle and patient teacher. A hot lover and a man that would stand beside her for her immortal life. Every fear and doubt she had ever felt was gone. She knew, better than anything, that she wouldn't have to doubt him ever again. She would be the only one in his eyes. She would be all he would need, forever. Clarissa sighed happily.

  “Tha gaol agam ort.”

  “Tha gaol agam ort,” Adam whispered in her mind.

  CHAPTER 27

  Sofia

  A howl of a wolf woke me from my sleep. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and turned. David's body was so warm and felt so good, that I sidled close to his back and tried to get to sleep again. That, however, was im
possible. My senses registered everything around me, and I couldn't relax. A couple of relentless blue tits were knocking about in a nest on the corner outside of our bedroom roof, and a happy chirping filled the spring morning. The sun was still asleep, but the darkness of the night had started to fade little by little, and the dawn had taken the sky before the morning sun. The ground was still covered in snow and the creek was tightly frozen. Yet, the air smelled like the promise of spring and the warmth of the sun.

  A wolf howled somewhere further again, and this time another wolf joined in. I got up indignantly and sat up in bed. I had accepted that Adam turned into a wolf whenever he wanted, and I had decided not to make a big deal out of it. Adam was a wild wolf, maybe the wildest one I knew, but now he had obviously tempted someone else from our pack to join him, and that I couldn't ignore. I had to interfere and punish Adam as well. I couldn't let our pack run in the woods whenever they felt like it. Sooner or later someone would notice and it would start a wolf hunt. If there was something I had learned during these years, it was that wolves and humans were not supposed to live side by side. They could do so, yes, but eventually, humans would blame the wolves for every single thing that they didn't like. So, wolves and humans living together in a suburb was not a good thing. I glanced at the clock again. Half past four. I really didn't want to get up from my warm bed, but I had no choice.

  I sneaked quietly downstairs and let my mind touch the minds of the shape shifters in our house. They were all sleeping in their own beds except for Tiamhaidh, who was sleeping with Marie. I was really confused. Who was hunting with Adam? I didn't bother to get dressed, but went out with only my white morning gown that was thin as haze. The cold ground under my feet made my toes shrink, but I didn't care. As soon as I reached the woods, I turned myself into a wolf, leaving only a white bundle of haze behind me. A wolf's paws didn't mind the coldness and for a few seconds I let myself enjoy the soft snow under my paws and sniffed the exquisite smell of a wakening wood.

  I walked with a steady rhythm and opened all my senses. I had no trouble finding Adam. He hadn't bothered to cover his marks, so I could find those behind the first hill. Next to his footprints were smaller ones that looked like a female's or a small male's. I sniffed the strange prints, but I couldn't identify the smell. Something familiar was looming in the back of my mind, but I couldn't catch it. Maybe it was a hunch, maybe something else, but rage filled my mind. I shook my fur and growled. Was Adam hunting with a strange female, when Clarissa had promised herself to him? I howled furiously. Adam took my challenge and howled back. A low growl slipped from my mouth and I revealed my canine teeth. I had two options. Challenge Adam or back away. But if I wanted to keep my pack in order, I couldn't back away. So I let my rage rise and howled at him.

  Adam and Clarissa

  Adam rubbed the side of a young female wolf and enjoyed her smell. The female had her first period and Adam wanted to step on her. She, however, was so confused that Adam had to put his needs aside and help, because this female was the most important thing in his world. Her warm snout searched his neck and ears and at times she temptingly licked his snout. Her tail was wagging softly, and every time Adam approached her from the back, she moved her tail away, offering herself to him. Adam had to really struggle not to take on her call. That would've been a bad thing. It was bad enough that he had kept this from Sofia and had hidden the female's real talents. If he stepped on her now, Sofia would go crazy.

  The female howled quietly, almost purring with pleasure when Adam responded to her petting. A wolf howled far away, but the female didn't seem to hear it. Adam, however, listened carefully. “Shit! Run, Clarissa!” Adam howled in the mind of the female. Clarissa looked at him with laughing eyes, and didn't move. “Run!” Adam ordered and pushed her back with his snout. Clarissa took a few playful leaps and howled as Adam bit her ear. Clarissa ran after Adam, hurt, but didn't speed up a bit. She jumped like a puppy, here and there, slowing Adam's run. Finally Adam stopped in front of her and looked at her, hurt, his ears drawn back. He growled at her. The female wolf fell down, revealing her stomach and surrendering to Adam. A wolf howled again. This time, it was much closer. Adam knew the game was over. He placed himself protectively above the female and prepared to face Sofia.

  Sofia

  I smelled Adam and the strange wolf long before I saw them. The female was lying on the snowy moss, completely unaware of the danger. Adam stared at me challengingly with his black eyes. I tried to invade his mind, but he shut me out completely. I could easily have wiped his mind by force, but I wanted to know more about this strange female wolf, so I let his mind be. I turned my golden brown eyes to the female. I tried to step a little bit closer, but Adam stepped between us and growled. I was stunned. Was he really going to challenge me? I revealed my teeth and growled back at him. He didn't move. The hair on my back stood up and I prepared to attack when something strange happened. The female turned and started to crawl towards me. Everything in her told me she wanted to surrender herself to me and finally Adam had to back away a little. Adam's eyes were panicked. He begged me to forgive him and be gentle with this female. I sniffed the female. Adam growled in pain and the hair on his back stayed up. I sniffed again. The female barked like a puppy and licked my snout. I backed away, surprised. Who was she? She was so familiar, and I should've known her. She looked like me when I was a cub. The female licked my feet and waved her tail and suddenly a thought came into my mind. Awesome! Impossible! I forced myself quickly inside Adam's mind. Could this be? I had waited for this for so long! I looked at Adam's eyes and I knew.

  I licked her snout lightly, and she freaked out completely. She whined and pleased me. I let her get up and slowly went around her. I didn't notice how my tail started to wag and my alerted ears rose up, excited. How perfect she was. I howled with joy and gently intruded into her mind. “Clarissa?” I asked, carefully, but I knew the answer. “Mom!” she answered happily. I shook my head, disbelieving, and changed my shape into a human. Adam and Clarissa changed, too, and we stood face to face staring at each other. I touched Clarissa's beautiful face and hair, all wet from sweat.

  “How long have you known how to do it properly?” I asked Clarissa as well as Adam, who was trying to look somewhere behind my head, confused.

  “Since I was with Adam,” Clarissa said and blushed. “I mean, when we really were together. You know, with the explosion and stuff.” She reached for Adam's hand and when she found it, pulled Adam closer. “Since last night,” she whispered, embarrassed.

  I looked at them, wondering. Adam was obviously embarrassed by his nakedness, but Clarissa didn't seem to notice it. Sometimes we left clothes behind us, so that we could be free of all disturbing things but sometimes we just shifted with our clothes on. I had never really figured out how we could do that, but now I was as naked as a new born and I, too, wished I had changed my shape with my morning gown on. I shivered from the cold. My body could feel my wolf's warmth, but a few degrees of frost succeeded in slipping under my skin and made me shiver. I looked at Adam strictly.

  “You should have told me at once,” I accused and turned back to a wolf.

  Adam nodded seriously, and he and Clarissa turned back into wolves as well. I looked at my daughter. How effortless the change was. I wondered how long she could keep up the change and Adam's mind answered me at once. “As long as she needs to.” I scowled at him. I had meant that thought only for me, and I didn't want him messing around in my mind. Not now, when I needed to think this through by myself. Clarissa rubbed my side and I felt how jealous Adam was. I hastened my steps and left the staring Clarissa behind. A complete shape shifting, I thought happily.

  No one could deny anymore that Adam and Clarissa belonged together. If being together had started Clarissa's change, it meant they were originally meant to be together. Clarissa completed Adam and vice versa. I grunted. David would freak out. The circumstances were probably that Adam had held back and had not stepped on her when she wa
s a wolf. If they had been together as wolves, we might have had a handful of cubs in our home. Or would we? How could I be sure their offspring would be wolves and not human? Oh, God, this was way out of my knowledge. I felt a headache knocking in my head. I knew that sooner or later I had to face the elders. They could answer all my questions. I stopped. Adam and Clarissa almost ran over me. The excitement shined from my eyes. If it worked with Adam and Clarissa, shouldn't it work with Marie and Tiamhaidh? David would never agree and the mother in me wouldn't either, but wouldn't it be worth it? Adam howled, amused, and I revealed my teeth to him. “Stay out of my mind!” I shouted, and he withdrew, leaving me alone with my lunatic thoughts.

  CHAPTER 28

  The phone rang and I tried to grope it from the nightstand. My hands couldn't reach the nightstand, but raked the empty air. I sighed and tried to force my eyes open. The phone stopped ringing and I turned to my side, satisfied. The peace lasted for a few seconds and the phone started to ring again.

  “Mom, wake up,” Clarissa's voice intruded into my dreams.

  I mumbled to myself and tried to force myself to wake up. Someone was shaking me and with an effort, I could finally get my eyes open. Clarissa pressed the phone into my hand and I lifted it to my ear.

  “Say something,” Clarissa whispered impatiently.

  “Stewart,” I said sleepily on the phone.

  “Thank God,” Joan Miller's voice sighed in my ear. “I've been trying to reach you the whole morning! We need to hurry! Social services called. They're having a meeting tomorrow, where they're going to discuss Marie's future!”

  “What?”

  My eyes were fully open now, and I looked goofily around me. Obviously, I had fallen asleep on the sofa, but I couldn't remember anything about it. I shook my head and tried to concentrate on the voice in my ear. At that moment an image of Clarissa and Adam as wolves flashed in my mind and I smiled, mesmerized. Clarissa pushed me impatiently and whispered. “Not now, Mom! At least try to focus.”