Authors: V.A. Dold
Simon used his body as a shield and remained solidly between her and the cowering grey wolf. “Shift. Now!” he demanded.
Startled, she screamed and clutched Simon’s leg. Her eyes grew wide as she registered the fact that a wolf had just become an older man.
Averting his gaze, “Forgive me
, my lord, I meant no harm.”
Simon remained in his attack stance
. “Tell me who you are and what you are doing on Le Beau land.”
“
I’m Jason Ledet.” He bowed and kept his gaze low. “I followed my nephew Travis onto your land. My prince, your brother, Lord Cade tasked me to be responsible for Travis’s actions. I beg you to pardon this unforgivable intrusion.”
With the threat alleviated, he relaxed slightly. “
Why would he come here?” Simon scowled.
Jason snuck a glance at Rose before fixing on the ground again
. “Travis can become confused, erratic. His mind is no longer … right.” He hesitated. “He must be constantly watched.”
“Mr. Ledet, look at me
,” he demanded. “Why is his mind ‘not right,’ as you say?” Simon’s gaze pinned the older man to the spot.
It was like watching an ant
squirm under a magnifying glass. “He has a singularly unique gift.” He visibly struggled to not look away then cleared his throat. “He’s the first shifter of record to be born a blocker. He has a very bad habit of using his gift against other shifters, then being sentenced to blood rights. The repeated blows to his head have adversely affected him.”
Simon
frowned. “What’s a blocker?”
“He can block any shifter from using their gift against him. Worse yet, he can prevent them from using their gift at all.” Curling his lip back from his fangs
. “He has prevented one mate from speaking to the other telepathically.”
Simon gasped, his eyes wide.
What are they talking about?
she wondered.
On shear instinct, Simon’s arm snaked out and snatched her from the ground to his side.
She squeaked and stood stiffly against him. He smelled her fear and his wolf snarled, angry at his treatment of its mate.
“That’s not possible
,” he all but whispered.
“
I’m sorry to say, it is. His supervision has been a hardship to say the least. When his parents passed, it fell to me to oversee his ‘behavior,’ and attempt to keep him in line.”
“How dangerous is he? Do I need to put additional security in place?”
Jason dropped his gaze to his feet. “I’ll make every attempt to keep him away from this part of the bayou.” He shuffled his feet nervously.
“But…
?”
“Once he gets something into his head, he sees it through no matter the consequences.”
That had Simon growling. “What, exactly, has he gotten into his head?”
“I don’t know yet. Even as addled as he is,
he’s still quite cunning.”
“Thank you for protecting
, Rose, I apologize for misunderstanding the situation. Do what you can with Travis and keep me informed.”
“I
’m honored to protect the mate of one of my princes.” He bowed so low his nose almost grazed the grass. A moment later as a grey wolf, he bounded into the forest and out of sight.
Now alone, Simon turned his gaze to his mate. He cringed when he saw the terror written on her face. He lifted his hand to brush the hair from her eyes but she cowered from his touch. “I’m so sorry
, Rose…”
Before he could finish speaking she tore from his arms and ran to the safety of Anna’s house.
SHIT!
Simon jerked his c
ell phone from his pocket. “Cade, how quickly can you and Anna be home?”
“We have about another hour of work, why?”
“I need you and Anna to talk to Rose about shifters. There was an incident and she saw me shift. I scared her, Cade. My mate is terrified of me. Then it got worse when two other shifters came at her from the forest.”
“Dieu
sacrebleu!” Cade covered the phone. “Anna, we’re leaving immediately.” Then he spoke to Simon again. “Twenty minutes, hang tight.”
He stopped his pacing for the hundredth time to see if Cade
’s car had returned.
Simon rubbed his chin in thought
.
How am I going to explain everything to Rose without scaring her back to Denver? Where do I even begin? After what she’s seen and heard she may never speak to me again.
The sound of a car in the driveway had him bursting onto his front porch
.
Cade signaled him to stay put while he and Anna went into the house.
Rose rushed to the front door the moment she heard the car pull up. Anna was still a good two feet from the door when Rose threw it open and dragged her inside.
“Hurry, there’s a werewolf out there! We need to get Cade inside!”
Anna hugged her tight and shushed her like a baby. “It’s okay, hun. There isn’t a werewolf outside. You saw Simon shift.”
It took a few seconds for that to sink in. “What? You knew he was a monster and left me with him!”
Cade stepped through the door as Rose broke from Anna’s arms and glared, confused and angry at her best friend.
“Calm down and just breathe for a minute. I’ll explain everything just like I did with Etienne.” Anna said as she reached for Rose’s arm and led her to the couch.
Cade was about to speak when Anna put one finger to her lips.
Let me know when you want me to help explain.
Anna had this under control.
“Would you like something to drink while I tell you about us?” Anna asked calmly.
“Yes, a VERY strong whiskey coke. NO, make it a double, better yet a triple
.
Wait, what? Anna? Us?
!
”
Cade can you get her that drink asap?
Sure, cher
“Yes
, sweetheart, US. All of the Le Beaus are shifters, including me. When Cade and I completed the mating ritual I was converted. Long ago, shifters were created by a Goddess. They only have half of their soul and their destined mate has the other half. I am Cades mate and you are a shifter mate as well.”
Anna paused as Cade handed Rose a VERY strong drink and his mate a glass of sweet tea.
“We aren’t werewolves like in the movies. Shifters change or shift at will and we don’t attack people. We are basically humans who live a long time, have a few magical qualities or should I say abilities, and can change into a wolf.”
Rose took a gulp of her drink and eyeballed Cade. “You are absolutely sure they don’t bite when they go all furry? Or have I gone insane and your just keeping me calm until the men in white coats show up?”
“Cade would you please shift for her and let her pet you?”
You are going to owe me for this
. He growled suggestively into her mind.
“Are you ready, Rose? I would hate to scare you.”
Rose scooted closer to Anna. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Suddenly Cade the wolf stood before her wagging his tail.
“You can pet him, hun, he is still human inside. He can think and control his actions just like he does in human form.”
Rose hesitated glancing between Anna and the wolf when Cade stepped to her and rested his head next to her on the couch still wagging his tail.
She gingerly touched him with only her fingertips at first. “He’s so soft,” she said quietly.
As she became more comfortable with the wolf at her feet, she petted him in long sweeping glides.
“Simon will be frantic by now. He’s very worried about you and concerned that you won’t speak to him again.”
“I’m okay now…I think. He shocked the heck out of me and when the other wolves showed up snarling and all drooly I freaked. But I’m good now.”
He stared at their house and prayed for a sign from Cade. He didn’t hear any screaming or crying, that had to be good, right? He raked his hands through his hair again, in frustration. If he kept this up he would be bald by dinner.
An excruciating forty-five minutes later Cade walked across the yard. “Are you holding it together?”
“Barely. Is she okay?”
“Anna calmed her down and we explained shifters to her. She believes you’re a shifter now. You’ll still have to explain what a mate is and that s
he’s yours, our rules and magic as well as the ritual.” He glared at Simon. “She made me shift because she thought she had gone insane and made it all up.”
With hands on hips he hung his head
. “What should I do, Cade?”
“She’s ready to see you again
. Take it slow, her nerves are stretched very thin. And before you try to complete the ritual, you and I are having a talk.”
“Why
? Is there something I need to worry about?”
“The effects of the ritual on women over thirty is different than younger women.
I’ll explain it later, for now, go see your mate.” He clapped Simon on the back and walked with him to the house.
As they entered the great room
, Cade reached for his mate. “Come on, cher, Simon and Rose need privacy.”
Simon entered the room slowly, afraid fast movements would set her off. The scent of stress and anxiety rolled from her in waves.
“Rose, please don’t be afraid of me,” he begged.
“I’m not afraid of you, at least not anymore. You scared the crap out of me
, though. I dread the dreams I’ll have tonight.”
“I’ll hold you and keep the nightmares away
, if you let me,” he whispered.
“
In your dreams,” she quipped.
“May I sit with you?”
She patted the cushion next to her on the couch.
He hesitantly joined her. As he reached for her hand he stopped and searched her eyes
. “May I hold your hand?”
She chuckled
. “You don’t need to worry that I’ll run screaming from the room. I have it together now.”
He breathed a sigh of relief and took her hand.
“Obviously, I believe you now. You can indeed turn into a wolf. And, it seems there is a lot I don’t know about you,” she said as she sank further into the couch.
He nodded and looked ashamed as he met her gaze, then a frown creased his brow.
“I really am sorry. I thought Anna would have told you about us by now. I know she wasn’t supposed to, but you are the closest she has to a sister. I thought you were just staying quiet about it.”
She put her hand up like a stop sign
. “I’m not sure I’m ready to hear all of the wolf details, but I do have a few questions.”
He liked the idea of her leading the conversation with questions. Maybe he would avoid being an idiot again. “Okay, what can I explain for you?”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not forgetting about you sprouting fur, but start with the whole prince thing, and we’ll go from there.” She had one brow cocked like she’d caught him in a lie.
“Technically, my family is the royalty of the shifters. I’ve never seen the actual pomp and circumstance it used to involve. My parents ceased that before I was born. I wasn’t aware we were still considered the royal family until today.”
“So, Isaac is the king. Is Cade automatically the next king?”
“I guess so, like I said it all ended before I was born and we never really talk about it.”
“Do I need to be worried about that crazy guy Travis?”
“
I’ll be calling a meeting with the family. I’d like you there as well. We do need to prepare for his return, to follow through on whatever it is he’s set his mind to. I’m not sure who or what that is yet, so I can’t truthfully answer you. I will say, I don’t want you outside the house alone until this is dealt with.” The more agitated he became the more he rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand.
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. He scared me to death. But you might want to ease up on my knuckles before they start to bleed.”
“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I had no idea I was doing that. Did I hurt you?”
“No, I’m fine.” Rose shook her head, her long blond hair tumbling over her shoulders. She chuckled and patted his hand to emphasize her poin
t.
“Can you explain what a mate is? Cade and Anna told me she’s one and I am too. Whose mate am I?”
Sheepishly he looked her in the eye. “You’re my mate. I told you in my kitchen, but you were pretty upset and must not remember. I knew the moment we met, I just wasn’t sure how to explain all the wolf stuff and being a mate is a part of that. A shifter only has one mate in the world, needless to say it’s rare to find each other against those odds. A mate is like a spouse for a human but so much more. Do you want me to explain it now or when you’re ready to hear all the ‘wolf stuff’?”
Rose had turned a vibrant shade of pink
. “Does that make me your girlfriend?”