A Shift in the Water

by Eddy, Patricia D.

  “Boss-man?” Livie padded out to join him. She wore a pair of gray sweatpants and a faded blue sweatshirt. Her angled bob fell across her scarred cheek. She was pale. Her arms cradled her belly.

  Cade saw red. For the second time in as many days, Livie had hurt Mara. He growled and grabbed her by the arms. He lifted her up onto her toes and barely avoided shaking her. Despite her pregnancy, she wasn’t fragile, but fear flashed in her blue eyes as they widened. “You put your hands on Mara. You left a bruise.”

  Her pasty cheeks flushed with color. “I’m sorry, boss-man. Really. I didn’t mean to. I needed to know she wasn’t going to hurt you. I’m not used to touching humans. Or elementals. We don’t bruise like they do. All I wanted to do was stop her from walking out on me. She’s yours. I get it. I’d never hurt her.”

  Livie looked away almost immediately, a sign of submission to Cade’s strength. He couldn’t ask her if he was still her alpha, but even if he wasn’t, his wolf was stronger and Livie knew it.

  “You shouldn’t have touched her at all.” He couldn’t stand the idea of another wolf hurting Mara. Not now. Not when the mating call was so strong.

  A tiny whine, the sound of Livie’s wolf apologizing, reached his ears. Cade released her and turned back to the kitchen window. “I can’t handle being close to her. Or being apart. I feel like I’m about to come out of my skin. I shouldn’t have let myself lose control and take her last night. Now I’ve got ten days of this shit to deal with.”

  “I remember.” Her voice dropped low. “Shawn and I couldn’t stand to see each other the couple of days before the ceremony. I locked myself in Christine’s apartment. She had to babysit me so I wouldn’t go to him.”

  Cade pressed the button on the espresso machine to turn it on. A whir and hum from the machine marked the grinding of beans and the rich scent of espresso wafted over him. “It gets better, doesn’t it?” He turned back to Livie.

  “Yeah.” She chuckled. “The first month I was with Shawn, it was terrible. I didn’t want him out of my sight. Christine brushed against him by accident about a week after we mated and I nearly lost it. But it passed.” She laid her hand on Cade’s arm and he stiffened. He didn’t want Livie touching him. She laughed and pulled her hand away. “Sorry. You need to go screw her again. It’ll lessen the pull. Always did it for me.”

  Livie snagged the first mug of espresso out of the machine and cupped it protectively in her hands. “This pup lives on caffeine. I’m going to turn on the TV. I won’t hear you.” She winked at Cade.

  He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve missed you.” If it wasn’t for the mating, he would have hugged her. Instead, he withdrew a carton of almond milk from Mara’s fridge and proceeded to make them both cappuccinos. A splash of vanilla syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon dusted Mara’s mug. She’d made herself cappuccinos several times when he’d been trapped as his wolf. He remembered the scent. He hoped he got it right.

  When he returned to Mara’s bedroom, she was curled on her side, facing him. Her eyes were closed. He grinned and knelt, positioning the coffee mug below her nose.

  “Honey, wake up. Coffee.”

  Mara stretched under the blankets. Her eyes fluttered open. Green orbs the color of emeralds looked back at him. Cade smoothed a hand over her hair. Touching her calmed the storm inside of him. He’d known from the start, he realized now. From the first moment he’d seen her, from the first time he’d inhaled her delicious scent, he’d known she was his.

  “I could get used to this,” she said, sitting up and accepting the coffee mug from his hand. She brought the mug to her lips and took a reverent sip. Her eyes narrowed. “What is this?”

  “An almond milk cappuccino with cinnamon and vanilla. I got it right, didn’t I?”

  “How’d you know?” She took another sip and licked her lips. Cade was mesmerized by the tiny flick of her tongue and the swell of her breasts under her shirt as she moved.

  “You made them a couple of times when I was trapped as the wolf. The steamer wand was loud and scary. I didn’t like it. The first time I heard it, I hid under your bed.” Cade forced himself to look away as he shed his jeans, slid under the blankets, and rested his back against the headboard. “Some things I remember.”

  “What else?” Mara snuggled close to him and he draped an arm around her shoulders. Everything about her was soft. Her skin against his chest. Her hair brushing his arm. Her legs against his. Rough fingers danced along her skin. He thanked whatever deity was up there that his fingertips still had sensation after everything Katerina had done to him.

  “Sleeping on your bed. I wanted to be as close to you as I could. You made me feel better. At first, I didn’t even know I was a man. I was too far gone. I hadn’t had a coherent thought in months. That first night, all I knew was that I had to be next to you or I’d die. You saved my life.” Cade flushed a deep crimson. “And you smelled good.”

  Mara laughed. “You like chlorine? I think it comes out of my pores these days.”

  “Not chlorine—though I could smell that.” Cade pulled her closer and pressed his nose to her hair. “Your shampoo smells like coconut. Your soap is almonds. You smell like fresh rain. And coffee, of course. Every morning I could smell it on you. I remembered coffee. I knew that scent—missed it.” He smiled sheepishly. “The pack owned interest in a coffee shop in Bellingham. Best beans in town. I never much liked coffee before we bought that shop. Your beans are almost as good.”

  “Almost?” Mara chuckled. “Well, fine. Tomorrow, you can come with me to the roaster in the University District and pick your own beans. Don’t insult my coffee, shaggy man. I take my coffee seriously. Does the shop still exist? Did you see it yesterday?”

  “I didn’t look. I didn’t remember it until now.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, furrowing his brow. “Every few minutes, there’s something new. It’s like a dam broke. Bits and pieces of my life are falling into place.”

  Mara slid her arm around his waist and squeezed. She’d done this. She’d fixed him. Not only had she freed him from his wolf, but accepting his feelings for her had changed something inside of him. Despite the scars, and the lingering weakness in his body, he was whole now that he had his mate next to him.

  “So tell me about your life,” she said. “What happens now? You can shift at will, right? Like Livie? Can all wolves? Will you run with your pack tonight when they get here?”

  The bottom dropped out of his stomach. The mug shook in his hand. He shrank away from her, desperate to escape, but he was unable to force himself from her bed.

  “What is it?” Mara set her coffee down and eased his mug from his unsteady hand. “You’re scaring me.” She straddled him, cupping his cheeks and forcing him to look at her. “Cade.” The last word snapped out of her like an order, and freed his tongue.

  “You’ll never see the wolf again. I can’t shift. I won’t. I wouldn’t come back from it.”

  “But he’s part of you. I can see him in your eyes. You can’t ignore who you are. I did and it nearly killed me.” Mara tried to lean forward and brush her lips to his, but he jerked his head away.

  “You don’t understand. You can’t. It was more than the starvation, Mara. More than Katerina’s fire charm. I’d given up. Before I realized that she’d let the charm on the earth lapse, I was ready to die. I can’t take the chance that I’d be trapped again.” He grabbed her hands and held on tightly. “I used to love the wolf. Running under the moon. Shifting with my pack. I don’t know if I have a pack any longer—if they’re still mine—but if I do, I sure as shit won’t run with them again. The wolf is dead. Or he might as well be.”

  Mara bit her lip. “I freed you once and I didn’t even know what I was doing. Now?” She extricated one of her hands from his death grip and turned her palm up to the ceiling. Her eyes closed. The air in the room thickened. Cade’s skin prickled with energy. The hairs on his chest and the back of his neck stood on end like they’d been rub
bed against a balloon.

  Above her upturned palm, an eddy of air tumbled over itself. It thickened, slowed, and turned into a tiny droplet of water. The drop grew, slowly, undulating and elongating until it was the size of a dime. Mara’s cheeks flushed. Her breathing quickened. When she opened her eyes, they were glowing.

  “Shit,” he said in awe.

  “If you’re trapped again—which I doubt will happen—I’ll free you again. You can trust me.” She focused her gaze on the trembling sphere of water, pursed her lips, and sent the water into her empty coffee mug where it landed with a plop.

  Cade dumped her unceremoniously onto the bed. He stood, his chest heaving. He needed Mara to understand, needed her to hold him and tell him it would all be okay. The room threatened to spin. “Seven months. Seven months of rotten meat, being burned and blistered within an inch of my life, always cold but still burning up inside. I couldn’t form a coherent thought. The wolf stole everything from me. I hate him. I can’t ever let him free again. End of discussion.”

  Mara sputtered, but he couldn’t even look at her. His emotions were too volatile to be around his mate.

  “Wait.”

  “No.” He risked a glance in her direction. She sat on the bed with her arms wrapped tightly around her knees. Her eyes burned brightly, her lips pressed together. Anger and hurt played across her face. He had to get away from her. At least for a few minutes. “I need to be alone.”

  Mara waved her hand. “Fine. Be that way. I need more coffee anyway.”

  She slipped out of the bed and left him alone in her bedroom.

  Livie looked up from the couch where she was stretched out watching the morning news. A mug was balanced on the rise of her belly. She grinned at Mara. “Pup makes a good table.” The smile faded from her lips and she pushed herself up to a sitting position. “What’s wrong?”

  “Is it that obvious?” Mara headed into the kitchen and punched the button on her espresso machine for another cup. “You want one? Tea? Something without caffeine?”

  Livie muted the television, joined Mara in the kitchen, and handed her the mug. “I can handle coffee. Wolves burn it off really fast. I was sitting out here with the TV blaring so the two of you could screw. And it’s pretty obvious you didn’t.” She folded her arms around her belly. “What’d he do?”

  “What makes you think it’s him?”

  “He’s male.”

  Mara couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped her lips. “That he is.”

  After both mugs were filled, Livie gently took Mara’s elbow—careful not to bruise her again—and led her back to the sofa. The two women sat in silence for several minutes, not paying attention to the commercials streaming by on the television. Mara leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. Livie waited patiently for her to explain, sitting back and balancing the mug of coffee on her belly. The commercials came to an end and a blond reporter’s face filled half the screen. “Oh my God.” Livie snatched the remote off the coffee table and turned up the volume.

  “An early morning fire in Bellingham burned through an entire block of storefronts, including the law offices of Baker and Folsom, the First National Bank of Washington, and a children’s bookstore. A second fire destroyed a row of townhomes next to Maritime Heritage Park. This was the second suspicious fire near the park this year. Back in May, the Whatcom Mariner Apartments burned to the ground, killing seven local residents.”

  The perky blond reporter on the screen went on to say that the fire department investigators suspected arson in both cases as the fires burned hotter and longer than usual. The townhome fire was thought to have killed five. The fire department weren’t sure what accelerant was used, but Mara knew. It wasn’t an accelerant. It was her sister. “Maggie. That’s Maggie’s house. Oh Goddess. Katerina’s in Bellingham.”

  Mara sprang up and ran for the bedroom with Livie at her heels. When she burst into the room, she found Cade sitting on the floor on the far side of the bed, staring out the window. He wore jeans but nothing else and his eyes were bloodshot and red rimmed.

  “What is it?” he asked. His face didn’t light up when he saw her. His shoulders slumped, and his head barely lifted. Something in Mara’s stance must have conveyed her horror because he quickly got to his feet and grabbed her by the upper arms. “Honey, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  “There was a fire. Katerina killed Maggie.”

  Cade pulled Mara against his bare chest and wrapped his arms around her. His entire body shook, though with anger or fear she couldn’t tell. “It’s my fault,” he whispered. “We shouldn’t have gone to Bellingham.”

  “You don’t know that,” Livie replied. “This is Katerina we’re talking about. For all we know she would have burned down the whole town to get to you. She clearly has no qualms about killing an innocent old woman. Your shop is gone, along with every business on that block.”

  “We need to leave,” Cade said, tucking Mara in the crook of his arm.

  Mara looked up at him. “Why? She couldn’t possibly know where I live. I haven’t had any contact with Katerina for eleven years. I was living in Sacramento then. I’m not in the phone book. My only family is Lil and she certainly would never tell. And if Katerina did know where we were, she would have found you already. The fires happened in the early hours of the morning. If I remember anything about my sister from our single encounter, it’s that she doesn’t have a shred of self-control.”

  Both werewolves stared at Mara for several tense seconds. Livie broke the silence. “She’s right, boss-man. It’s been like eight hours since the fires. If that bitch knew where you were, she’d already be here. I don’t think we should be shouting your presence from the rooftops or anything, but as long as we stay in the house, I think we’re safe here.”

  “I’ll call Eleanor,” Mara said. “Make sure Katerina can’t track us somehow. I don’t understand how her fire element works. Hell, I barely understand how my own element works yet. As long as Eleanor thinks we’re okay, I say we stay here until the rest of your pack arrives.”

  “And I’ll let Liam know what’s going on.” Livie left Cade and Mara alone.

  Cade buried his face in her neck and inhaled deeply. “It would kill me if anything happened to you,” he said, the subtle vibrations in his chest reassuring, even if his words weren’t.

  “Nothing’s going to happen. I’ve got two werewolves protecting me.” Mara smiled.

  Her words registered like a slap to Cade’s face. Flinching, he released her. He stalked over to the window and stared out into the street. “I told you. I won’t shift.”

  “I wasn’t asking you to,” Mara replied with a tiny shake of her head. She ran her hands through her hair and tugged, hard. The pinpricks of pain along her scalp focused her thoughts and helped her get past the frustration with the man standing in front of her. “Even if you never shift again, you’re still a werewolf. The sooner you get that through your head, the sooner you’ll feel steady again.”

  A rough snarl escaped his lips. “Goddammit, Mara. Stop reminding me of who and what I am. Don’t you think I know? Don’t you think I wish I could shift again? Fuck.” Cade stormed out the door. “I need a shower. Alone.”

  “Stupid alpha male bullshit.” Mara belted her robe tighter around her body and headed for the kitchen. She needed to call Eleanor and make sure that Katerina couldn’t track her. In the hall, she nearly ran right into Livie.

  “What’s up Cade’s ass?” Livie asked. “He growled at me on his way to the bathroom. Even in wolf form he’s not usually that angry.”

  “I don’t know if I should tell you,” Mara replied. “He’s your alpha.”

  “And you’re his mate. Which makes you part of the pack whether you want to be or not. We’re a family. There aren’t any secrets among wolves.”

  “But isn’t it kind of like tattling on dad?” Mara asked. “I don’t know any of the rules. You obey him. Right? I heard him yelling at you earlier. I’m sorry f
or that.” She rubbed her arm and gestured towards the living room sofa.

  Livie shrugged. “He was right to. I shouldn’t have hurt you. And yeah, he is kind of like my father and big brother rolled into one. Which would make you my big sister. Assuming you ask the pack to accept you as his mate.”

  “Would you? They? Um, accept me?” Mara held her breath.

  A serious look darkened Livie’s blue eyes. “When I found him—both of you—he was hurting. I’d never seen him so weak. It wasn’t physical, though he still looks too thin. He was haunted. This morning, everything changed. He’s back. He’s my alpha again—the wolf I’ve known for years. You did that. So we’re solid. I can’t speak for anyone else. But the way things work is that Cade’s the strongest wolf. Liam’s next, our beta. I’m third. It’s all based on bloodlines and how much Lycos is running through our veins. You’ll need to convince Liam, but boss-man’s claim on you will go a long way towards that. And if anyone challenges, they’d have to fight his wolf. No one wants to do that.” Livie grinned, but Mara stifled a groan.

  “And what if he refused to shift?”

  “Huh? Why the hell would he do that?”

  Mara looked away, focusing on a tiny bird hunting for food on her frost-ravaged lawn. “Forget I said anything.”

  A low growl rumbled in Livie’s chest. “Not a chance. Tell me why you said that.”

  When Mara didn’t move or speak, Livie pushed herself up. “I’m getting to the bottom of this.”

  She strode towards the bathroom with Mara at her heels. The shower shut off as Livie wrenched open the bathroom door. Cade pulled back the curtain and glared at the two women. He made no move to cover his nakedness. The hair on his chest glistened. Mara couldn’t tear her eyes away from his body.

  “What the hell, Livie?”

  “You won’t shift?” The female wolf jabbed Cade in the chest and stared up at him. Water dripped from Cade’s arms, his hair and he growled at Livie. Mara stepped forward and handed him a towel.