Chapter 18
Stacey squirmed as she waited. The man who’d answered the door had to be related to Dylan, and he’d seemed to know who she was, but she hadn’t met him before.
The last thing she’d wanted to do was insert herself where she didn’t belong.
Actually, as she’d caught a glimpse of the crowd in Dylan’s house, she realized the very last thing she wanted to do was interrupt whatever it was he had going on that night.
She swept her eyes up to the stars. Her mother had spoken about fate, but that wasn’t anything Stacey had ever put much stock in.
She knew about schedules and routines, meetings and appointments, black and white, yes or no.
She’d been the kind who sat down and wrote out lists of pros and cons when she had a tough time, not the type to leave it all up to her heart.
Until now. Or at least, that was what she was going to try now.
The door opened so swiftly that it made her jump. “Hey, Stacey. Sorry to keep you. I, uh…” He gestured over his shoulder, where several people were still moving about. One or two craned their heads to look at her.
She rocked back on her heels and clutched her left elbow in her right hand, unable to remember a time when she’d felt this nervous and excited.
Even as a bride on the day she’d married Todd, she hadn’t felt so jangly inside.
“No, don’t be sorry. I think I came at a bad time.
I was just going to see if you might want to take a walk.
I had some things I wanted to talk to you about. It can wait until later, though.”
“No, it can’t.” Dylan stepped outside and shut the door behind him, closing off the noise and curious looks. “I think this is a perfect time, actually.”
Stacey glanced over her shoulder as they stepped off the patio. He definitely had company. “I don’t want to keep you.”
“Really?” he smiled. “I was kind of hoping you would.”
Caught off-guard for a moment, she felt her cheeks heat up.
Stacey swallowed and shook it off. Dylan had revealed something deeply personal about himself when he’d disclosed his identity as a shifter.
How could she be embarrassed about anything in front of him?
And after all, she’d come to him because she knew they had to get down to the core of what was between them.
“I’ve had some time to think since we last spoke. ”
Dylan led the way out onto the beach. The stars were brilliant overhead, and the sliver of the moon gave them just enough light to see by without needing anything artificial.
He walked just outside the tide’s reach as it swept in and then lazily glided away.
“I imagine what I told you would take a lot of thinking. Probably more than a day’s worth. ”
“Probably,” she agreed. Even after rolling it around in her head for a full day, she still had a hard time understanding how an entire population of shifters had been living right there on Earth among the humans without everyone knowing.
The more she thought, the less she understood.
How did their bodies accommodate two different forms?
Did it hurt? How did they control whether they were man or beast?
None of those questions mattered right now, but she wasn’t sure she was ready to get to the ones that really did. “I guess I just want to know more. It was so much to take in at the time. I probably missed some of it. I want to know more about you.”
He was watching her carefully, and even in the dim light, she could see the softness in his eyes. “It means a lot to me that you do.”
How could I not? Stacey already knew he was an incredible man, and that was well before she’d even understood that people like him existed.
Though the reality of it all had made her insides turn into water balloons, she couldn’t help but feel even closer to him than she had before.
“I guess I can’t help it, but I’m not sure what to say. ”
“We could start with the little get-together at my place.” He gestured with his head toward his home, where lights still shone in the windows.
“It’s my house, but it’s also the clan’s.
We have regular meetings to discuss what’s happening for our members, whether it’s that someone in our little community needs some assistance or is celebrating a big moment.
It’s also a good chance for everyone to socialize, which helps keep us close. ”
“That sounds nice.” It truly did. In fact, that was the sort of thing Stacey had always wished she had.
Though her relationship with her mom had always been close, it wasn’t the same as having a big family.
It seemed that the Brighams were born into a large support system.
She wondered if they knew how lucky they were.
“You really shouldn’t have let me take you away from that. ”
“We were done,” he assured her. “Actually, I brought them together to tell them about you.”
“Me?”
“I told you our secret, and it’s only right that they know that.
By telling you about me, I revealed something about them to a complete stranger.
It was my choice to make, and there’s nothing wrong with it, but it’d be wrong not to let them know.
” His voice was as calm and constant as the rush of the water.
Dylan was so much a part of this place that almost everything about him made her think of the nature they were surrounded by. Would she ever have that kind of belonging, or would she just be pretending for the rest of her life? “I can’t imagine how that went over.”
He smiled as though he knew something she didn’t, but he didn’t offer to tell her what it was. “Better than you might think.”
Stacey thought about a house full to the brim with shifters. Wild creatures, but also not. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“What else do you want to know?”
“I don’t know.” She studied the long line of houses that marched down the beach, each one of them home to someone like Dylan.
“I’m a little lost on that. The old version of me would’ve written out a bunch of questions and taken notes to try to understand it all.
I’m trying to think with my heart more than my head, but I still need some practice. ”
“Maybe I can help.” He stopped, turning to face her. “So far, you’ve only seen a shifter in animal form from a distance.”
“Right.” She’d seen it with her own eyes, but was this man standing in front of her really the same creature who’d been on that boat? “I don’t think I’ve completely convinced myself that it’s not all just some fever dream.”
He’d already been smiling, and now it grew into a grin. “Good. Then what I have in mind is exactly what you need. We can make it more of a reality, something more concrete for that logical part of your brain to play with. Are you ready?”
Her mouth opened and closed without any words slipping through. Did he really mean what she thought he meant? “I’m not sure.”
“Just know that everything is all right,” he said, sliding his warm hand down her arm. “You’re perfectly safe with me. I promise.”
Dylan took two steps back. He inhaled deeply, and as he exhaled, he was no longer Dylan—or at least not the version she knew.
His already wide shoulders grew bigger, and shiny black fur sprouted thickly all over his body.
His face rearranged into a long muzzle, and his ears were two fuzzy little arcs near the top of his head.
His heavy paws sank into the damp sand, the claws leaving neat little puncture holes behind when he shifted his weight.
It all happened so quickly that she barely had any time to process it.
Stacey gasped, shocked not only by the change but also by the speed.
It was unimaginable, yet it was right there in front of her.
She fought for air as her lungs refused to work.
Her vision darkened at the edges as her brain tried to process what it’d just seen.
But as she looked, she saw she had nothing to fear. “That’s really you,” she breathed, studying his eyes. They were different, of course, as they watched her from that furry face, but somehow, she still knew they were his.
She ought to be terrified. Even at a zoo, she’d never been this close to a bear of any kind.
But the rush of adrenaline that moved through her body was one of intrigue instead of terror.
He’d said he would make it more real, and he’d been right.
Stacey couldn’t question herself now. She couldn’t wonder if he was pulling her leg or if she was hallucinating when he was right there.
Stacey lifted her hand uncertainly. “Can I—Can I touch you?”
Dylan took two lumbering steps forward. He scooped his long nose under her palm, forcing her hand down onto his fur.
Her body buzzed at the sensation as she smoothed her hand up over his forehead and between his ears, the fur so thick and luscious.
He was warm and soft, and as she moved slightly to the side, she touched his shoulder, the muscles beneath his fur strong and hard.
How could she be so comfortable standing on the beach petting a bear? It stretched her mind to its limits but filled her heart with a deep sense of tranquility.
No, that wasn’t true. There was one other time she’d felt that serenity. It’d been strong enough that she hadn’t wanted it to end, and Stacey hadn’t thought she’d ever find a feeling quite that deep again. The idea took her breath away.
The bear gave her a long look, and then it was gone. Dylan stood in its place, and her hand was now on his arm. Neither of them made any move to change positions. “What do you think?”