Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Jayce smiled as his mate melted into the bed. She was too sated to move. She didn’t even straighten out her leg or try to pull her pussy together as he removed his fingers.
After cleaning his hands and gently wiping his mate’s pussy and bottom, Jayce put a fresh diaper on her and then a clean nightie. She needed to feed again. The calories would give her the strength to shift when the time came.
“Daddy…” she murmured when he scooped her into his arms. His Little girl was exhausted. It wasn’t just from consummating their union and preparing for her first shift. He suspected the two visions she’d had zapped her of energy.
He kissed her temple. “I’ve got you, Little one.”
She whimpered as she snuggled into him. “Thirsty.”
“That’s good. Let’s get another bottle in you.”
She didn’t fight him as he settled on the couch, holding the nipple to her lips. She also eagerly sucked down the formula. That was a good sign. For one thing, she was submitting to him without argument. For another thing, she recognized what her body needed.
He couldn’t bear to put her down when she fell asleep.
She was warm. Too warm. Her temperature was rising quickly.
He suspected she would shift much sooner than the average mate.
There was an odd shimmer in the house. Not something he could put his finger on, but an urgency.
She felt it in her visions, but he could sense it all around them.
Unease crept up his spine. He watched her sleep in his arms as he reminded himself that Fate had given him this perfect mate. She would not take her away.
Yes, there was unrest. Everyone knew that. Something big was going to happen. But Jayce refused to acknowledge that any of them would lose their mate. Why the uneasy feeling, though?
When Sienna grew restless, he slid her pacifier into her mouth.
It calmed her. She suckled. He didn’t blink very often because he couldn’t take his gaze off her.
He kept trailing a finger along the edge of her round face, memorizing every single feature, every freckle, every dimple and lock of hair and crease in her brow.
He worried she would have another vision. He feared it would be more stressful than the last. There was no way to know what they meant. They didn’t have enough details to make sense out of anything.
A bear growled at her. He chased her. He scared her. She had the sense that he was encouraging her to seal her bond and shift. Why would the bears care?
Sienna slept so soundly that she wet herself again. Maybe her body recognized that it was safe to do so. That often happened as Little girls learned to accept being diapered. Even their subconscious minds knew when it was safe to fully relax because they were protected.
He was eternally grateful that she slept without having another vision. By the time she opened her eyes, she was so hot in his arms that he suspected she would soon shift.
She popped her pacifier out and stared at him. “It’s time,” she said.
He flinched. How did she know? But he didn’t doubt her.
“Okay, Little one.” He sat her up and kissed her gently.
It was still daylight. He didn’t think any mate in recent history had gone through the transition this quickly.
But it didn’t shock him to find that his mate was extraordinary.
It wouldn’t surprise a single Alpha or any of their mates.
Sienna tugged at her nightie. “Take it off, Daddy.”
It wasn’t necessary for a shifter to remove their clothes when they switched forms. In fact, it was rare for them to do so because when they arrived wherever they were going, they would be naked.
However, it was normal for a female to be naked for her first shift.
For one thing, she was overheated. For another thing, no one would see her but her own mate.
“Arms up, Baby girl.” He whisked the nightie over her head and tossed it aside before tugging on the tabs of her diaper so that it fell open. After standing her on her feet, he rolled the diaper up and set it on the cushion.
She didn’t even comment on the fact that she’d wet herself. Either she was too focused on more pressing issues to notice, or she simply didn’t care anymore.
It surprised him that she was sure-footed. He kept a hand on her hip, but she wasn’t swaying or even trembling.
“I’m ready, Daddy.”
He smiled at her. “I’m so proud of you.” He kissed her temple. “Whenever you want, take a few steps back, close your eyes, and let your wolf come to the surface.”
“It’s that easy?”
“Yep. You’ll drop onto the floor on all four paws in seconds.
” Though everyone in the valley occasionally shifted, many young people had never witnessed it, especially the marked.
They were so protected by their parents that they often didn’t have the same experiences as their peers.
Unless their own parents shifted in front of them, they might have never watched the transformation.
That seemed to be the case with Sienna. She had enough trepidation that he suspected she was unfamiliar with the process.
He was so proud of the way she backed away from him, head high, shoulders back. She paid no attention to her nudity. Her spectacular body was on full display.
When she stopped, she met his gaze and gave him a slight smile. “Here goes nothing.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath.
Jayce watched, mesmerized as his Little mate shimmered into her wolf form before his eyes.
A second later, she was on all fours, wobbly but unbelievably gorgeous.
She was nearly black just like her human hair.
Average size. Same green eyes. And when she howled, her voice was so loud it shook the foundation.
She must have shocked herself because her big eyes widened, and she glanced around as if unaware the howl had come from within.
“You’re stunning,” he said softly.
She jerked her gaze to him and tripped over her front paws when she tried to take her first steps. It was common. He didn’t react at all as she picked herself back up and tested her legs again. On her second attempt, she trotted toward him.
Jayce reached out a hand and stroked her fur, grinning. So proud. “Wander around, Little one. Work out the kinks. You won’t want to spend long in wolf form this first time. You’re going to be exhausted.”
She found her footing and pranced around the house, looking at everything through new eyes. Though the truth was she hadn’t really explored much yet anyway. She hadn’t had a chance.
Eventually she trotted to the front door and pawed at it.
“Not tonight, Little one. We’ll go outside another time.”
Sienna tipped her head back and howled again, louder.
Frowning, Jayce slowly stood. It wasn’t like her to be blatantly defiant for no reason. He was confident that would never happen. If she wanted him to open the door, it wasn’t because she was a brat. It was because she felt some sort of urgency he needed to heed.
“Okay. Okay.” He joined her and tipped her head back, meeting her gaze. “Stay by my side. Do not move even one inch away from me. Understood?”
She nodded.
He leaned down, holding her snout. “I mean it, Sienna. You’re my mate. I don’t care what you think you know or what kind of calling you feel compelled to follow, you obey me first and foremost. Do not move from my side,” he reiterated.
Another nod from his mate.
Jayce opened the door and kept a hand on the top of her head as he guided her onto the porch.
He was surprised to find six other shifters in the clearing around his house.
All of them were in wolf form, but he knew them by sight.
He wasn’t shocked to discover he was facing Gavin and Molly, Hayes and Rylee, and Isaac and Amber.
Isaac shifted and stepped closer. “Felix called us. Khloe had a vision.”
Jayce nodded, waiting for Isaac to expound.
“Surge and Thorn are headed this way. They’re coming directly here to your house.”
“I’m not surprised,” Jayce said.
Sienna began pacing and whining on the porch.
She was stressed, but it was possible she was simply overwhelmed.
She could easily be anxious simply from the thought of Surge and Thorn paying them a visit.
It didn’t seem she’d had a vision, but there was no telling what was happening to her in wolf form.
It wasn’t as though Jayce could ask. And she wouldn’t want to shift back to her naked, human form in front of all these people.
Amber shifted next. “They’re almost here.”
The rest of the wolves followed until everyone stood in their human form. There was no time for introductions. That would have to wait until later.
Jayce squatted next to his mate and threaded his fingers in the hair at the back of her head. “You’re safe, Little one. Always.”
She cocked her head to the side and stared at him as if to say, “Are you fucking kidding?” If the situation weren’t so serious, he would have chuckled at how well he could read her, though he doubted she would have used the word fuck.
Jayce jerked his gaze toward the clearing as the bears bounded into view. They shifted into human form almost as fast as they landed.
Sienna audibly gasped, or some semblance of such a noise, and she took a step back. A normal reaction for her first time seeing two large bears enter her space. She knew of their existence and had even envisioned one of them twice now, but seeing them in real life was always shocking.
Everyone crowded in closer, making a U-shape in front of the porch.
Jayce remained crouched, hoping to provide emotional support for his mate. “This is Sienna. She’s just had her first shift. She’s not prepared to shift back in front of everyone.” They would all know what he meant.
Everyone nodded.
Surge extended a slight bow. “Welcome, Little one. We’ve been expecting you.”
His words were jarring. What did he know?
Jayce looked toward his mate. “Did you recognize either of the bears before they shifted?”
She nodded toward Surge. That answered that question.
Surge frowned. “Recognized me from what? A vision?”
“Yes.” Jayce stood. “As some of you know, Sienna has had odd visions for weeks leading up to today’s claiming ceremony.
They were innocuous. She described them as though she were a forced voyeur in everyone’s lives.
They mostly happened in the early morning or evening.
She would be thrust into everyone’s homes and watch them eating dinner or getting ready for the day.
Normal activities that occurred in real time. ”
“But…” Thorn encouraged.
“She’s had two visions since we got home. Both were of her somewhere in the forest. The only other being present was Surge.”
Surge gasped. “Me? In bear form?”
“Yes. No words were exchanged. You chased her. You seemed to be encouraging my mate to speed things up as though she were needed. She felt compelled to go through consummation and then transitioned to her first shift with unprecedented speed.”
“It’s not even nightfall,” Gavin commented.
Molly gripped his hand. “Khloe saw her shift. At the same time, she sensed Surge and Thorn deciding to head this way. That’s why we all sprang into action. I could hear your urgency.”
“I could scent your confusion,” Rylee added as Hayes pulled her in front of him.
“I could see the two of you racing to get here,” Amber confirmed as Isaac frowned next to her. This was very unnerving for all of them.
Surge rubbed his chin. “I’ll admit, we don’t know why we’re here.”
Jayce was taken aback. “What do you mean?”
They all looked at him.
Surge shrugged. “We felt compelled. We were hoping you would enlighten us when we arrived.”
There was a lengthy silence.
Finally, Jayce spoke again, “Perhaps everyone needed to meet my mate, or she needed to confirm the bear in her visions was one of you.”
Surge’s brow was deeply furrowed. “I’ve never seen your mate before now. I’ve certainly never chased her through the forest.”
Jayce shook his head. “We know that. We have no idea what the visions mean, but there must be a reason we’re all gathered here.” He looked around as if he might spot something in the trees or farther in the distance.
Suddenly the hairs on his arms stood on end, and he gripped the fur on the back of his mate’s neck firmly, feeling the need to remind her not to move.
It bothered him that she’d had two visions of being in the forest without him.
If the visions were futuristic in nature, would he have the power to stop them from happening by forbidding her from stepping even one foot away from him?
But the visions could not be from the future if the reason for them was to compel Sienna to transition. She’d already done so now.
Sienna stepped closer to the edge of the porch, tipped her head back, and howled louder than the previous two times. It was a distressed howl that every animal for a great distance would hear.
The trees seemed to blow back and forth as if being whipped around in a wind tunnel. As if the branches also knew something and commiserated with Sienna.
Did she, though? Know something?
She jerked her head back and forth as though scanning the area. Her ears stood up.
Everyone else looked around, too.
“I don’t see anything out of the ordinary,” Amber said.
“I don’t hear anything,” Molly agreed.
“And I don’t scent anything.” Rylee sighed as though she joined the others in feeling frustrated that none of them could sense whatever had Sienna’s hackles up. Danger?
Sienna bared her teeth, growling, the tone unnerving. Could she see or sense something? She wasn’t looking at the bears, so it didn’t seem she found them to be a threat.
Jayce stroked her head. “Let’s go inside so you can shift back, get dressed, and then tell us what you know.”
She tipped her snout back and looked at him before jerking her attention to the mountains around them. After scanning the area, she howled again. So loud. Filled with warning and distress. But for what reason? They were all standing here. Did she sense some sort of danger?
Finally, she turned and trotted into the house.
As soon as Jayce shut the door, she rushed into the bedroom. He followed her and didn’t even have to encourage her to shift back. She did so on her own.
Sienna was panting, frantically looking around. “I need clothes.”
Jayce swooped her up and carried her into the nursery. He grabbed a pair of panties and helped her into them before adding a simple navy cotton dress. When she was presentable, he lifted her onto a hip and carried her back outside.