Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Istared after Rowan as he left the kitchen.
Good lawd, he was something. I knew the war he was waging within himself.
I just didn’t know how to help him if he didn’t let me.
Being a born shifter, I was strong, but he clearly was going to be an alpha.
Already, I saw the way his black eyes flashed to blue and couldn’t wait to see him shift.
My ears picked up the sound of running water.
I’d never actually helped a human through the change, but from what I’d been told, it usually took a couple of days for the full turn to take effect.
Obviously, they’d never dealt with the likes of Rowan. Damn, I didn’t even know his last name.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and cursed at the cracked screen and the lack of power. “Shit. What am I going to do? Syn is probably going apeshit right about now.”
Grabbing the phone off the wall, I quickly dialed my best friend’s number.
When voicemail picked up on the first ring, I left a brief message outlining what had happened and told Syn I’d call back in the morning.
I hoped the other girls were okay and hadn’t already called in some reinforcements, and I really wished my phone wasn’t fucked up.
Another deed to lay at the feet of the rogue wolves.
I then dialed my phone number to see if Syn had called and left me a message.
As my voicemail came on, I dialed in the code and listened to several frantic calls from Syn and Nene.
I blew out a relieved breath that turned to panic when Syn told me she’d called Kellen.
I wasn’t scared of my alpha, much. More like freaked he’d put me and the others on lockdown until they found the ones responsible for the attack on me.
“Just what the doctor ordered, not. Stuck at the Club with a bunch of overbearing big brothers.”
Without pausing to stop, I walked into the living area, lights coming on like they’d done in the kitchen when I stepped into the open space.
Modern tech meets country living. The floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace held no family pictures, nothing to show who or where Rowan had come from.
When I left the room, the lights went out, leaving the room in darkness.
Following the hall leading to where I presumed his bedroom was, I could hear the shower running.
The thought of him naked and slick with water made me break out in goosebumps.
Never had the image of a wet and naked man brought on such arousing thoughts that I had to force myself away from going to him.
An open door caught my attention before I could act on my impulse to check on Rowan.
He had several computer monitors set up on an L-shaped desk.
Either the man ran his business from home, or he was a computer geek.
Even the image of him wearing a suit and tie didn’t lessen my need for him, nor my wolf’s.
When I moved farther into the room, the lights came on revealing, unlike in the family room, he had pictures lining the walls.
The first one I came to was of a group of soldiers standing next to a military vehicle.
I fingered the frame, easily picking out which one of the young men was Rowan.
Out of all the smiling faces, his stood out to me like a beacon.
Several more framed pictures featured the same group of men, until the last two.
My breath caught in my throat at the images of the men who were no longer smiling, holding a flag for their friend who was no longer with them.
“I see you’ve made yourself at home.” Rowan’s voice broke into the quiet room.
I spun on my heel. “For crying out loud, you move quieter than a ghost.”
Rowan’s smile flashed. “That’s what we were. A ghost team.” He prowled into the room, sucking the air out of the space with his presence.
I stared at the healing wound on his side, transfixed by the already-knitting skin and the amount of bare flesh he was showing in the low-riding jeans.
I wasn’t sure what the hell was going on, but I didn’t think Rowan was normal.
Or maybe not completely human. “Rowan, is there something more to you than just…you know, human DNA?”
“To my knowledge, up until about two hours ago, I was all human. Now, I don’t know what the fuck I am, except ready to claw my way outta this skin.” He held his arms out at his sides.
Not a single tattoo or piercing marked his smooth flesh. I circled him, looking for old injuries from his time in the military. Surely, he would’ve gotten a cut or something that left a scar. “Have you ever broken a bone or needed stitches?” I asked.
“I’m pretty tough, I guess. My mama always said I was too ornery to get sick or hurt. She obviously didn’t expect me to get bitten by a werewolf. That’s what you are, right?”
Sweat popped out on his forehead. He was fighting the pain and stress of shifting. I wanted to call an elder or a council member. Heck, I was willing to call Kellen and ask him for help if it would save Rowan more pain. However, the only thing that would help him now was shifting.
“Rowan, I’m going to need you to trust me. Do you think you can do that?”
He shrugged his massive shoulders. In his shifted form, he would be at least twice my size and could easily dominate me.
“Usually, this is done with the pack surrounding the new member. The alpha is the one who helps all shifters through their first transition because it’s difficult for one to control their beast. I should’ve taken you to Kellen, but I was stupid and thought we’d have a day or so before I had to admit my mistake to my brother and the alpha.
Now, I don’t think we have time to do anything except get you through the shift. ”
He braced his feet apart. “What aren’t you telling me, Lyric? Don’t mince words or pussyfoot around. Tell me what I need to know so I can be prepared.”
Taking a deep breath, I laid it out for him. “Once you shift, you will want to hunt. You will want to fuck, and you will most likely want to kill. I don’t know in what order you will want these things, but there you have it.”
His eyes widened. “What the fuck will I want to hunt and kill? Am I going to go out and take down Bambi, fuck it, then kill it and follow up that grand adventure by eating it?”
I laughed. I seriously couldn’t believe the things that were coming out of his mouth. “Oh my gawd. You are hilarious.” I wiped the tears streaming from my eyes, not realizing he’d begun stalking me across the room. My back hit the wall next to the pictures I’d been admiring.
“Are you laughing at me, darlin’?” Rowan nudged my legs apart, putting one of his between mine.
Looking up into the black eyes of Rowan, I licked my suddenly dry lips.
“No, not laughing at you, laughing at what you came up with. I mean, you would probably want to hunt down a deer or two and kill it, but even in your wolf form, you’d never want to have sex with a deer.
I don’t think even mated pairs have sex in their wolven forms.” If they did, I’d not heard them talk about it.
I’d never gotten turned on by seeing any of the men in their shifted forms. Beautiful?
Yes. Sexy as in I wanted to hump them? No.
“So, you are in danger of me wanting to fuck you after I shift?” He lifted his leg into the V of my thighs.
“Not me, per se. Just that most who are turned tend to get a little out of control.” I shivered as he rubbed me in the exact spot that was begging for attention.
“Let me ask you another question.” He leaned in and nuzzled close to my ear. “As a shifter, is my sense of smell heightened?”
I tried to keep from rubbing on his steel-hard thigh and to concentrate on what he’d asked. “Everything is heightened. Sight, smell, and hearing. Why?”
He braced his arms on the wall, bracketing my head. “Because I can smell your desire. If I were to reach down between your legs, I’d feel you dripping for me. Am I right?”
Knowing my face was bright red, and that he could easily see it, I wedged my arms between us, shoving him off me.
The movement caught him by surprise, if the look in his eyes was any indication.
“Excuse me, but if I were to reach down between your legs, I’m pretty sure I’d feel something hard, and it wouldn’t be a banana in your pocket.
Oh, wait, I don’t need to reach down. The little guy is pointing due north.
So what?” Fake it till you make it was mine and Syn’s motto.
“It’s called chemistry. Our wolves are calling to each other.
It’s no big deal. Once I help you through the shift, it’ll dissipate. ”
I hoped his sense of smell hadn’t become so acute that he could tell a lie from the truth like a born shifter.
Rowan turned away from me. “Damn it, I’m being an ass. Forgive me, Lyric. You should go take a shower, and then you can help me through the shift or whatever.”
I’d hurt him with my dismissal, but his actions scared me.
What did I know about him other than he was my mate?
My wolf sat up and yipped at the acknowledgment.
Unable to look him in the eye, I walked toward the door.
“For what it’s worth, it’s a big deal. I’ve never done this before, Rowan.
You called to me when I first saw you in that dark hallway.
I’m sorry I got you mixed up in my mess.
” I fled from the room before he could say anything, hiding the tears streaming down my face.
I followed his scent to the last room he’d been in, closing and locking the door to first his bedroom and then the bathroom.
The tiled room was like the rest of the house, masculine and top of the line, and showed me just how far out of my league he was.
I fell against the door and slid down until my ass hit the floor.
I folded my arms around my knees and let myself cry for a few minutes, then got up and shook out my limbs.
“Time to put your big girl panties on and get ‘er done.”
I stripped off my clothes and entered the shower, staring at the high-tech gadgets around the enclosure.
“Oh, for crying out loud. Who needs five showerheads?” After figuring out how to turn the water on, I took the quickest shower in history.
One day, I’d have loved to spend time letting all the different waterspouts pummel my body.
Luckily, Rowan had a towel on the heated shower bar.
I didn’t want to put my dirty clothes back on and figured I’d have to get naked shortly.
It was my job to show Rowan how to shift.
Yet, coming back out with nothing on felt too brazen.
After scanning his bedroom, I pulled one of his T-shirts out of the dresser and a pair of sweats three sizes too big. He was waiting for me in the kitchen, drinking a glass of water, looking too good for my peace of mind.
I had to grip the glass to keep from dropping it when Lyric returned wearing my clothes.
I felt my teeth grow, and the uncomfortable urge to toss her onto the counter and mark her was nearly overwhelming.
The new sensations were taking me out of my comfort zone, and I was never out of control.
My world was built on structure and organization.
I had a feeling letting Lyric into my life would upset it more than an F5 tornado would.
“Are you thirsty?” My words came out sounding more gravelly than I’d hoped.
Lyric held her dainty hand out and swiped my glass.
I watched as she turned the cup and sipped from the spot I’d drunk from, her pink tongue licking where I’d had my lips.
A growl more wolf than man rumbled out of me.
“Girl, you don’t want to tempt me too much right now.
I don’t have a tether on this beast that seems to be growing inside me. ”
She nodded. “I can feel him reaching out to mine. I’ve never felt the need to play the way I do right now. Like I want to rub up on you and see how far I can push before you take control.” Her head tilted back as she drank the rest of the water.
I tracked her movements, utterly transfixed at the sight of her swallowing, something I’d never found sexy unless the woman in question had my dick in her mouth.
“My skin hurts like a motherfucker, Lyric. Honestly, I can’t stand the feeling of anything on me, except I think I could handle having you pressed against me.
” I smiled when her eyes widened, and her scent permeated the air.
“Let’s go outside and attempt to get you through your first shift. But, Rowan, I need you to try and remember I’m not the enemy and I’m not up for fucking.”
Hearing her say words that belied her body language, I took the glass from her hands.
“First of all, darlin’, I know you’re not the enemy.
I’d never want to screw them six ways to Sunday.
Second, I’ll only fuck you when you are one hundred percent ready and willing.
Your body is telling me one thing, your mind another.
You are as safe as a nun in a convent.” I pressed a quick kiss to her forehead, hearing her breath catch in her throat and her heartbeat increase.
She grabbed my hand. “Come on, big guy.”
We stepped outside in companionable silence, my palms sweating while the rest of my body was ready to implode. “Is it like in the movies, where you’ll hear all my bones popping and see shit looking all fucked up like?”
“Oh, it’s so much worse than that. The first time, you’ll feel every little snap, crackle, and pop.
For those of us who are born shifters, it’s not so bad because we shift as kids, and our bones are softer.
I’ve only seen a couple of humans change, and let me tell you, I think they wished for death. ”
“You’re not making this any easier.”
She shrugged and didn’t say anything else. The moon wasn’t full, so I figured that was another falsehood the movies portrayed. “How about clothes?”
“We most def want to be naked when we shift. Of course, there are times that you aren’t able to control your emotions, or so I’m told, and then you end up ruining your favorite outfit.”