Chapter 21 #2
“Safe.” Sebastian nodded, his movement abrupt. “But here in New Orleans.” He grimaced. “They’ve stopped agreeing to be left places under guard.”
I chuckled. I couldn’t imagine Ciara ever agreeing to be sidelined. “Speaking of mates, I need to get back to mine.”
“Wait.” Sebastian microwaved more baggies of blood, using an enormous mug he pulled from a cupboard. “Make sure you feed her. She will be hungry.”
“Sure.” Oh, I’d feed her. Offering my own vein seemed like the best option, though.
I left the kitchen, although I didn’t know a whole lot more. The fact that they were all here was oddly reassuring, though. If anything went wrong with Ciara’s transition, I couldn’t be alone. Someone could help me fix it.
Confusion blasted through me, then fear and pain, and I almost dropped the blood I was carrying.
It hurt. My whole body hurt. Only it wasn’t my pain. I broke into a jog as I crossed the bridge back to the bedroom. Ciara.
I shoulder barged through the door, blood splashing over my hand and wrist with the violence of the movement, and found Ciara on all fours on the floor at the foot of the bed. She was rocking back and forth and making a low keening sound.
“Ciara?” I rushed to her side, and she turned her head towards me.
“It hurts, Jason. It hurts. Is it always like this?”
I shook my head. I didn’t know. How the hell didn’t I know?
Her green eyes glowed a little like something had lit them from within, and there was a sudden pop as one of her joints snapped. I watched as her limbs twisted, and she opened her mouth to cry out.
Her teeth formed into small fangs, and her face elongated, becoming a muzzle. Before I had time to process all the changes, she leapt forward, knocking me over, and the blood in my hand spilled across the carpeted floor.
Jaws snapped next to my ear as she pushed her nose toward my neck.
“Ciara, no!” I shouted the command as I tried to push her weight off me. Then she started to sniff and snort before lapping at the carpet fibers.
Shit. I struggled out from underneath her. “Ciara?” My mate was a wolf? She’d shifted? I rubbed my hand over my face.
What the actual hell?
She stopped licking the floor and returned her attention to me, her gaze curious. Like she recognized something about me but couldn’t decide what.
I held out my hand. “Ciara, it’s me. Can you change back? I know you’re hungry. I can get more blood for you.”
Drool dripped from her parted lips.
“Ciara?” I backed away. “I know you’re in there.”
She snapped her teeth together again and took a slow step toward me. A hunter on the prowl.
“No, Ciara.” I kept using her name, kept trying to remind her who she was.
My mate. Not simply a huge fucking wolf about to take on a vampire.
I shoved my hand into her fur to see if I could hold her off, and she suddenly flipped onto her back, rolling over and exposing her belly like touching her again had sparked something new.
I stroked the soft fur she exposed, and she wriggled, making low noises of pleasure.
“Good girl.” The words of praise slipped out. “Good girl.” Well, she was a good girl, right? She wasn’t ripping my throat out, anyway.
Slowly, she stopped moving, and the noises of pleasure stopped, and she closed her eyes like she was tired.
I kept my hand on her, noting as her breathing evened out and she fell asleep.
Then her limbs shifted again, although the process of transitioning back looked a lot more peaceful than when she’d become a wolf.
Soon, my mate was human again, and I scooped her into my arms to cradle her against my chest.
“Well, shit,” I whispered. “Looks like you do have a superpower after all.”
I stood and walked toward the bed so I could lay her down in a comfortable position.
She’d probably be extra hungry when she woke up, but I didn’t plan to leave her again.
Not now that I knew what could happen. We couldn’t have a shifter running loose around the house.
One of the guards might take her on. I had to find out how much control she had first.
Once I’d drawn the bedcover back over her, I drew my cell phone from my pocket and called Kyle. “Can you bring some more blood up?”
He chuckled. “You running low on energy already up there?”
I looked at Ciara. “Something like that.”
Ciara sat, knees to her chest, blankets around her waist, warm mug of blood clutched firmly in her hand. “I can shift now? What?”
“I know.” I didn’t know, but there was nothing else to say. “I think maybe starting the transition to vampire amplified your natural tendencies somehow?”
“It brought my wolf?” She shoved the blanket aside and stood, the movement sudden, and my cock twitched at the sight of her naked body.
She had the power to arouse me just walking across the room.
But she grabbed her jeans off the floor and yanked them on. “I have to see Conri.”
“I’ll come with you.” The last thing I wanted was to head out to pack lands, but it really was time to face the music. “He probably thinks you’ve been abducted or something. He didn’t even know you were leaving, right?”
Her cheeks pinked, and she shook her head.
Great. She’d sneaked out in the middle of the night, and now she was a vampire.
And I was the reason why.
“I think you need backup then. From your new mate.” I withheld my sigh. I could be signing my own death warrant, but my desire to be with Ciara was stronger than my desire to avoid Conri.
Besides, I could take a wolf if I was prepared. Probably.
“Come on then. Let’s go see your brother.” As soon as Ciara was dressed, I opened the door, and she walked out of the room, her cell phone to her ear.
As we climbed into my car, she was still talking to her brother.
“I’m sorry, Conri. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just had some…” She slid me a glance. “Some official business.”
I bit back my chuckle. I didn’t need to announce my presence to Conri with a laugh.
“See you at home. I won’t be long.” She didn’t mention me, and I couldn’t tell if that was by accident or design.
It didn’t really matter either way, and I took her hand as I drove the rest of the way to Ciara’s home. Her previous home, I corrected myself. Now her home was with me.
The journey seemed shorter than usual, and soon we were rolling to a stop outside the little house Ciara had shared with her brother. No one had challenged us at the gate, but we’d received a couple of curious looks.
Conri appeared on the covered deck before we even got out of the car.
“Shit. He’s pissed.” Ciara glanced at me. “Time to face the music.” She got out of the car and stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at him.
His nostrils flared and growled, the sound rumbling in his chest and carrying through the air around us.
“What did you do?” he bellowed. Then in the sudden noise of shredded clothes, Conri shifted and leapt toward me.
I braced myself, waiting for him to land on me, but nothing happened. Instead, there was a second growl in the air, and the thud of furry bodies colliding, and when I looked up, Ciara was facing off her brother, and she was in wolf form.
My mate had shifted to protect me.