Calder’s voice boomed in her head, and though they’d spent hours in conversation and more hours making love, the voice in which he had spoken surprised her. It wasn’t his normal voice, the voice she’d become familiar with. He sounded like her mate, yet at the same time he didn’t. Curiously, she was the only one who kept her head held high and straight ahead, watching her mate. The others seemed as if they struggled to remain upright.
“Listen to the power in his voice, child. He is the true Alpha of this pack. Those who questioned him are now feeling the power of a true Alpha, some for the first time in their lives.”
“Who are you?” Through her conversations with Calder, she knew he often spoke to his wolf. Was the voice in her mind her wolf? It was either the wolf or she’d lost her mind. Maybe the stew she’d made was bad and making her hallucinate?
“I am you and we are one, child. Breathe free; all is well with your mind. I will guide you in our majikal and ancient ways—ways that your human body and mind have no inkling of.”
Daisy did as her wolf instructed and sucked in a deep breath, not feeling threatened by the voice, nor intimidated by it. The voice comforted her, cocooning her in her favorite blanket, keeping her mind peaceful—and quite frankly, keeping her from losing it altogether.
“What do we do now?” Daisy asked her wolf, having no idea what the proper protocol was.
“We wait.”
***
Calder sensed Daisy’s shift the moment it had started. Surprise, shock, amazement—any of those words could have worked for the emotions that zinged through him at the knowledge that his mate had been gifted with a wolf of her own. Odin had indeed found her a worthy mate for him, and had rewarded her in kind.
The worry he’d felt when he first realized that his mate was a human vanished. Anyone who sought to challenge her position would first go through him and his wrath, and a pretty sight it would not be.
He continued to press his power on the pack as a whole. From this moment forward, he was done with the games, done with the holdovers from the corrupt former Alpha. His mate would be safe, protected; it was non-negotiable. Those who longed for a different life were welcome to leave.
The sound of incoming sirens howled in the distance. Calder eased up on his display of raw power, his features returning to normal from his half shift. The pack recovered quickly from his emotional outburst aimed at defending his mate’s honor, and shifted back to human form. His sweet Daisy was the last wolf standing. He approached, reveling in the beauty of her animal—thick chocolate brown fur that matched her eyes. His wolf panted and whined his approval.
He remembered her fear: “Don’t you ever worry about getting stuck in animal form?” He reached out, stroking her fur. “Feels good, doesn’t it, Ást?”
She whined, leaning in to rub her head against his leg.
“All you have to do to shift back is imagine your human form. Let the transformation come naturally.”
Chapter Fifteen
Thankfully back on two legs, Daisy stood next to Calder as a contingent of fire trucks from neighboring towns rolled to a stop. She was amazed at how much her life had changed in less than twenty-four hours. Not only had she mated a shifter, much to her surprise, she’d become one herself. Talk about some crazy-ass shit! She was a little miffed that neither Gerri nor Calder had given her a heads-up to the possibility that she could end up sprouting fur and a tail, an issue she’d take up with both of them later. Her questions would wait until she was certain all pack members were safe and accounted for.
The sound of howling pulled Daisy from her thoughts. Before she could process what was happening, Calder’s head snapped toward the sound. He took off in a blur—only to come to a dead stop, falling to his knees.
Daisy screamed in horror as she watched her mate collapse, blood pouring from the fresh hole in his chest. Two men she didn’t know tackled the man who had insulted her. A gun fell from his grip and bounced on the ground.
She ran to Calder’s side, assessing his injury. “Can he recover from this?” she shouted in her mind to her wolf.
“Not without intervention. He’s losing too much blood.”
“Can you help him?” the fire chief asked.
“Yes, but I need my bag. It’s on the front seat of his truck,” Daisy said, as she ripped the thin T-shirt from Calder’s body.
“Once the silver bullet is removed, he’ll start to heal.”
“Silver bullet? Who would use such a thing?” Daisy asked in dismay.
“Someone who wanted the Alpha dead. It would be the fastest way to kill him.”
“Fuck!” The sight of the wound was bad, deep and messy, not something any doctor liked to see.
Daisy had no idea if Calder could hear her or not as he lay on the street, but she had to try reaching him. “Hang on, Calder. Just a little bit longer and I’ll be able to get this bullet out of you. My wolf said you could heal, once it’s gone.”
“Here’s your bag, doc.” The chief dropped her bag at her feet.
“Thanks. What’s your name, chief?” Daisy glanced up at the man. If she was going to be the Alpha’s mate, she needed to start learning a few names.
“Jared Jacobson Engle.”
He pronounced Engle in an odd fashion. The g languidly rolling off of his tongue suggesting his name had some special connotation. As the newcomer she had no idea why his name would be a big deal.
“Daisy, run!” Calder shouted in her head.
“Surrender to me, now,” her wolf demanded, snarling in her mind.
Catching a glimpse of the discarded gun out of the corner of her eye, Daisy closed her eyes and listened to her wolf, her intuition telling her the animal would do everything in its power to protect her and their mate.
The wolf didn’t hesitate, not for a second. A bat of an eyelash and a bystander would have missed her ferociousness as the wolf lunged for Jared’s throat, tearing the fleshy chunk of meat from his body and dropping it on the ground.
The man reached for his neck, and gurgling sounds accompanied the sprays of blood that coated her fur. Her wolf—certain that he had no chance for recovery, and that he no longer posed a threat—relinquished her control and Daisy shifted back to her human form.
“Calder!” Daisy dug through her bag as quickly as possible. She’d already wasted too much time in the few seconds it had taken her wolf to deal with the threat.
Finding the case she needed, she spread it out on the ground and grabbed her scalpel. She sliced a small line over the area where the bullet had lodged in Calder’s chest, all the while speaking to him in a calming voice. “I almost have it. Just stay with me another minute and I’ll have that silver out of you.”
Working diligently she separated the skin, then carefully reached in with a pair of tweezers to grab the edge of the silver bullet. She prayed removing the bullet would do the trick and allow his healing to kick in. She had no idea how shifters healed or anything about the majik that flowed through their bodies. She could only go by what her wolf had told her, and she had to trust that the animal knew what she was talking about.
“There we go.” The bullet slid free from Calder’s chest, and she dropped it on the ground.
“Will he be all right, doc?”
For the first time, Daisy looked up, almost horrified by the number of people surrounding her, watching her every move.
Calder coughed and his eyes slowly flickered open. “Daisy.” He tried to yell, but only managed a faint whisper.
“Shhh. I’m here.” She glanced down at the wound, only to see the skin beginning to knit itself back together.
“Yeah,” Daisy said with a smile. “He’ll be just fine.”
Whispers from different people standing around reached her ears. “Did you see how she saved our Alpha?”
“Dude, she took down Jared in two seconds flat.”
Daisy should have been horrified by the conversations about her and the brutality of her actions, but she wasn’t. T
he man would have killed her and taken away any chance she had at saving Calder. If she had to do it all over again, she couldn’t say that she would have done things any differently.
Chapter Sixteen
Daisy stretched, muscles aching that she’d had no idea even existed. She didn’t know what time it was, and didn’t really care. The night before had been filled with twists and turns that she had never expected to face in her life.
“Good morning, Ást.” Calder yanked her from her thoughts by initiating a hot trail of sensual kisses over her shoulder and back, followed by lazy licks with his hot tongue, tasting every inch of her. His hand cupped her breast and gently massaged.
“Good morning, indeed. How are you feeling?” Still worried about his injury from the night before, Daisy moved to roll over and face her mate.
“I’m fine, thanks to your quick thinking.” Calder held her firmly in place, his hand tight on her hips. He slid the length of his cock against her backside, teasing her.
Daisy giggled, wiggling her ass against his cock. “I just did my job.”
“From what I heard last night, it was far more than your job.” Calder nibbled on her mating mark. “I think I should show you just how grateful I am for saving me.”
“Oh really.”
“Mmmhmm.”
Daisy gasped as Calder flipped her on her back and pulled her legs apart in one swift motion. Her fingers flew into his hair as his mouth came down over her, gently sucking her clit into his mouth.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of seeing you go down on me. It’s so fucking sexy.” Daisy had propped herself up on her elbows and was watching Calder’s every move.
“Good, because I can’t imagine ever tiring of your taste. Now, lie back and relax so I can thank you properly.”
She decided against arguing, knowing her reward would be immense. And ohh boy, was it ever, as he licked her slit furiously, his tongue dipping in and out of her pussy. Her legs quivered with each shift of his pace. She wrapped her legs around his neck as he slid two fingers inside her wetness, driving them in and out. She was surprised by the knowledge that he’d held back the first time they’d made love.
Within minutes, Daisy found herself flying off toward the heavens, screaming his name as her climax slammed into her. Calder was on her the next second, his cock pushing against her, demanding entrance.
“I love watching you come,” he said as he slammed home.
Epilogue
A week later
Daisy had indeed taken a leap of faith in becoming Calder’s mate, and she knew deep in her heart it was a decision that she would never regret. The love that Gerri had described, that Daisy had never imagined, filled every moment of her new life with Calder. He was everything Gerri had described and more.
Attentive—check.
Caring—check.
A fabulous lover—check.
Kind—check.
Possessive in all the right ways—check.
He worshipped each and every curve on her body in and out of the bedroom, never making her feel self-conscious like the men from her past. As for the whole love part of the equation—well, as silly as it had sounded to her the first time the thought had popped into her head, yeah—she loved her sexy shifter and she had no problem telling him each and every day.
As for her job, she’d emailed her boss, giving her notice that she was quitting, another non-regret. The hours sucked and the stress was high.
Twisted Tail had a serious shortage of medical staff, and with her mate’s help and resources she was looking forward to building and staffing her very own clinic—a dream she had never thought possible.
She had planned on taking a day trip back to her small apartment to pack up the things she wanted with her at Twisted Tail and donate the rest to charity, but Calder had insisted on hiring movers to pack everything up for her and deliver it to her new home. It was a plan she could live with—the hassle of moving was definitely not her forte, and she was most happy to avoid any and all parts of it.
There was only one thing she had left to do, and that was to pen a short letter as a thank-you to the woman who’d believed her when no one else had, and who had made her new life possible. Daisy grabbed a pen and paper and sat down at the table to scribble out her thoughts.
Dear Gerri,
Thank you for letting me run into you that day on the street. My life is now better than I could’ve ever imagined, all thanks to you.
Sending all my love,
Daisy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Melanie James is the author of more than two dozen books. She grew up in western Pennsylvania before heading off to Chicago, seeking new adventures. She found life in a big city fun for a while and even met the love of her life there. Melanie quickly tired of the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle and settled down with her one true love in northeast Wisconsin.
Melanie has two kids, three step-kids, a beautiful daughter in-law, and the cutest grandbaby. She also has two dogs and two cats that often make appearances in her books.
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Paranormal Dating Agency: His Twisted Tail (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 6