Chapter 6
“Isaw you with your human man. How long before he wants more than hiding in Creature Hollow?” Reyman leaned against the outside of Jake’s building.
Jake had just finished a double shift and all he wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep the entire eight hours until his next shift.
That was something both he and Adam complained about in their many text messages, as well as trying to schedule their next get together.
If they managed twice a week, it was a good week.
They were onto their second jigsaw puzzle now. It had taken them a few goes to finish the first one, especially since Adam took delight in bending over the table and wiggling his ass every time he placed a piece.
He wanted to tell Reyman to fuck off but couldn’t—he was Jake’s pack leader after all.
“We’d been up all night fucking and needed coffee and food to keep going.” He put his key in the lock, then stopped. He didn’t want to be forced to invite Reyman in or to appear rude by locking him out. “What is it you want?”
Aside from feeding my own fears?
“I’ve made some friends, and they’ve given me magic that will allow us to shift again.”
Jake’s heart lurched. He could barely remember what it was like to shift between wolf and human. He didn’t remember his face from before… He’d only been a teenager when the collapse happened.
What would he look like now?
His stomach dropped. If he regained the ability to shift between forms, he wouldn’t look like this, and Adam wouldn’t want him. Adam liked the furry beast.
He jerked his chin up, trying to look interested. Was he? Having normal human hands would be great. With human lips, he’d be able to kiss Adam properly, not just lick him. He’d be able to give him a blow job. They felt so damn good it wasn’t fair that he couldn’t return the pleasure.
Not that Adam seemed bothered, but he might be bothered if Jake looked more human. His stomach squirmed even though he knew Adam had only wanted him to try werewolf sex to start with, and Jake hadn’t been about to turn down sex. “What’s the cost of this magic?”
Because magic was never free. And the ability to shift wasn’t a small magic, otherwise, they’d be able to do it. Even lesser dragons were more magical than werewolves, as lesser dragons could still shift.
“We leave San Fran and move to LA.”
Jake frowned, not sure what Rayman was up to, only that he was up to something. “That’s not our territory.”
“It’s being offered to us.”
“So we’re being given the magic to shift and new territory… Why?”
“Don’t question me, pup,” Reyman snarled. “Do you want more than Creature Hollow or not?”
Jake swallowed and shook his head. “I have a job and a boyfriend here.”
He had friends and a life. He didn’t want to leave and start over again. It had taken him too long to find his feet in the human world as it was.
“You’re a fool.”
“Maybe. But magic and territory… What do they want from us?”
“All we have to do is lead the unicorn out of the city.”
Jake’s eyes widened. “There’s wild magic here?”
“It’s all over the news.” Reyman sneered at Jake. “Don’t you watch the news?”.
“I’ve just come off a double. I haven’t seen or heard shit.
” His eyes were gritty, and he wanted to eat the pack of mince in his fridge and fall into bed.
But wild magic… That explained why some of the nurses had mentioned people behaving weirdly.
Wild magic was powerful and dangerous and…
Reyman’s friends wanted to take it away from the mythos who lived in San Francisco and give it to those in LA.
This was bigger than being able to shift or new territory.
“I’m exhausted. I need to sleep.” People were taking Samhain off to party, so he’d accepted another double tomorrow. He tried to think of the extra money in his pay packet, not how tired his feet were and how he hadn’t seen Adam in four days.
“We march tomorrow. I want you there.”
Tomorrow was Samhain, and he was hoping to see Adam the day after. They had tentatively locked in Adam sleeping off night shift at his place so they could be together.
“Yeah, I’ll see how work is stacking up.”
“Don’t worry about work. This is important. You can find a new job in LA.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Think about your boyfriend. You’ll look mostly human again.”
Jake forced a smile onto his face. “Yeah, yeah. Can I please crash out now? I’d rather sleep in my bed than on the doorstep.”
Reyman laughed. “You kids are soft these days. You don’t remember what it was like on Tariko. Hunting on four feet in the depths of winter.”
“It was summer when I started shifting, then the collapse happened.”
He’d never had the chance to hunt.
Never had a boyfriend, or sex, in any other body than this one.
Reyman slapped him on the shoulder. “You’ll love shifting again. Can I count on you?”
His stomach was a tight ball, rising higher in his throat with each heartbeat. “Is the rest of the pack on board? What about Xan’s pack?”
“Fuck them. This is about us. We deserve better than this.” He lifted a furred fist. “And I intend to take it.”