Chapter 17
Acouple of days later, Delilah was starting to feel like herself again. She had been able to nurse McKenzie for the past two days, but that was about it. At least she could do that much. She still had some emergency breastmilk stored in the freezer that she had pumped, just in case, but so far they hadn’t needed more than a few ounces.
She stretched and rolled over. Today’s nap had been amazing. She felt like she had been taken care of. When was the last time anybody had taken care of her? She caught sight of a mug on the nightstand. Ben must”ve brought it in first thing this morning. She reached over to touch the side and it was warm.
Her gruff housemate had shown a new side of himself while she”d been ill. She rather liked it.
She heard voices outside, so she peeked out her window. Ben was on the back deck, talking to his parents. Emil held McKenzie and was lifting her up and down. McKenzie was smiling.
Delilah opened the window a crack. Ben looked up, and Delilah waved. ”I”m just gonna take a fast shower,” she said.
”Take your time,” he said.
Was it just her imagination, or had he almost smiled?
He added, “My parents were wondering if they could take McKenzie out today—is that all right with you?”
“Oh,” she said, surprised. “Yeah, sure.”
A few hours’ break from mothering? Heck yes, she’d take that. She just hoped she wasn’t a sobbing mess by the end of it, missing McKenzie.
She got into the shower and stood under the hot water, feeling as if she was washing away the sickness. Other than feeling like complete shit over the past two days, she had enjoyed spending time with Ben and McKenzie. Ben had kept her company and even talked to her a little. And—she touched her forehead—it must”ve been her imagination, but she thought he had kissed her on the head once.
No, that was crazy.
She turned off the water and dried herself. She listened to Emil talking to McKenzie. ”Good thing shifters don”t get sick,” he said.
What were shifters? Delilah wondered.
Teresa said, ”Ben, I”m just glad you were here to take care of Delilah. Poor human. She”s very strong, but still frail with their sicknesses and diseases.”
Delilah stared at the mirror in front of her, her forehead scrunched. They were talking about her like she was a different species. Were they aliens or something? What would make them so different from her?
”Shifter genes are dominant,” Emil said to McKenzie in a coddling voice. “Lucky for you.”
”Quiet,” Ben said.
”No human can hear that well,” Teresa said.
What? Surely Delilah was hearing them wrong. Because this was just too weird.
A new hairdryer sat in a box next to the sink. Ben must”ve brought it in here recently, because Delilah hadn”t seen it before. Well, that was nice. Maybe he’d picked it up at the store during one of his outings with McKenzie.
She blow-dried her hair and got dressed. Then she made her way out onto the back deck, holding her lukewarm tea. She wasn”t sure what to expect with Ben”s parents after the weird things she had overheard, but they were as warm to her as before.
”How are you feeling, dear?” Teresa asked, pulling Delilah into a hug.
”I”m good. Better,” Delilah said.
”And you’re sure it’s okay if we take McKenzie out today?” Emil asked.
”We know you just met us,” Teresa said. ”It”s okay if you want to say no. We won”t be offended.”
As weird as their conversation had been a few minutes ago, Delilah didn”t get any strange vibes from them as far as their care for McKenzie. Maybe they had some funny beliefs, but Delilah had met all different kinds of people. Besides that, her year on the streets had given her a really good bullshit radar. She knew without a doubt that McKenzie would come back to her safely.
”I trust you,” she said with a smile. ”Where are you guys going?”
”We’ll just watch her at our house down the road,” Teresa said. ”You can come get her or check on her anytime.”
Delilah nodded. ”There”s some milk for her in the freezer, I”ll go get it for you.”
They all went inside, and Delilah helped Teresa and Emil pack up some of McKenzie”s things. They fit McKenzie”s car seat base into their back seat and they were just about to drive away when Ben ran into the house and came out again, carrying one of McKenzie”s blankets.
Delilah looked at him in question.
He passed it through the window to his mother. ”She seems partial to that one,” he said gruffly.
Delilah hid her smile.
After his parents and McKenzie had driven away, she and Ben walked back into the house.
”So, now what?” Ben asked. He even sounded shy.
Delilah stopped at the door and turned to face him. ”I have some questions.”
“Okay.”
”I overheard some weird things.” Delilah watched him closely.
”Shit.” He rubbed the back of his neck. ”While you were in the shower?”
Delilah nodded. Her heart was thumping erratically in her chest. So there had been something weird—he was as good as admitting it right now.
”It”s nothing that you need to worry about,” he said.
Delilah raised her eyebrows. ”I think I should be the judge of that.”
She sounded tougher than she felt. Whatever was going on, she didn”t understand it. Something to do with genes. Shifters. Was a shifter like a grifter? But con artists didn”t have anything to do with genetics.
She might have been able to overlook it if it didn”t sound like McKenzie was involved.
Ben still hadn”t responded.
”Well?” Delilah prompted.
He turned around and sat on the front step. ”I”m not sure what to tell you.”
Delilah threw her hands in the air and gave an exasperated sigh. ”I don”t know, how about, maybe, the truth?”
”I want to tell you everything.” He took a deep breath, and Delilah watched his back expand beneath his tight t-shirt. So handsome. So secretive. And right now, he sounded so sad.
Despite her frustration and confusion, she sat down next to him on the step. ”If you want to tell me everything, then why don”t you?”
While he seemed to think that over, she watched his profile. He hadn”t shaved this morning and a deep auburn scruff covered his chin and cheeks. She wanted to run her fingers over it, feel the texture. Instead, she folded her hands tightly together in her lap.
”Look,” he said, ”there are things that you can”t know yet, but you will learn. When McKenzie”s older.”
”I”m not a patient person,” Delilah said. ”You need to tell me now.”
He turned and looked at her. She leaned back in surprise. It was the first time he’d been so close and gazed into her eyes like this. Her heart clenched at how tortured he looked, but she wasn”t going to let him off the hook.
”Maybe McKenzie and I should go,” she said. ”Surely it”s safe for us to return home now.”
”It”s not,” he said.
”Why? Seriously, just take the problem to the police. They have more resources, I”m sure.”
”It has to do with my kind,” he said.
“Your kind? And what kind would that be?”
He shook his head.
”That”s it,” Delilah said, standing up. ”I”m sick of the bullshit, Ben. It”s time for me to start packing. If you really think it”s unsafe at my house, McKenzie and I can stay in a hotel.”
He reached out so fast, she hadn”t even seen the movement. Suddenly his warm hand closed around her wrist. She looked down at where their skin touched, shocked at the warmth. The heat. It was just the same as when he’d touched her before her shower last week, his hand on her face feeling like so much more.
”I”ll tell you,” he said, ”but you”re not going to believe me.”
”Try me,” Delilah said. She didn”t pull away from his grasp. Instead, she turned and sat down next to him again.
He closed his eyes, opened them, and stared straight at her again. She found herself feeling lost in the brilliant amber color of his irises.
”I suppose you heard the word shifter?” he asked.
Delilah nodded.
”That”s what my family is—shifters,” he said.
”Okay,” she said slowly. “What does that mean?”
”It”s short for shapeshifter,” Ben said.
Delilah stared at him. She gave a little laugh. ”Like, werewolves?”
”Something like that, yeah,” he said seriously.
She shook her head. ”This is a really stupid joke, Ben.”
”Not a joke.”
She stood up again. Up and down, up and down. She was starting to feel yanked around by this guy and his stories. ”You know, Chase seemed pretty secretive, too. But at least he didn”t tell me lies.”
He looked physically pained. ”I can prove it if you want.”
”What, turn yourself into a wolf? Right here? Are you sure you don”t need a full moon or something?” She didn”t like the angry, sarcastic sound of her voice, but she couldn”t help it. She had thought her time on the streets had given her a good bullshit radar, but apparently it was faulty. Or maybe it was only faulty when she was starting to have feelings for someone like she was starting to have feelings for Ben. Because it hadn”t detected an ounce of bullshit in anything he had told her.
”I won’t turn into a wolf. That”s not my kind.” He stood up and took off his shirt. His torso was bulky and muscular, with large pecs and perfectly cut abs.
Delilah pushed her admiration aside. This was most certainly not the time for drooling.
When he started tugging off his jeans, she stepped back. ”What are you doing?”
”Animals don”t wear clothes,” he said.
He removed his pants. He wasn”t wearing underwear. She forced herself to look away from his generous cock. While he stood in front of her, the air around him began to shimmer with a white light, and he fell to all fours.
”What the hell?” Delilah whispered.
Everything around Ben was unclear, shrouded in brilliant white shimmering light. But if she squinted, she thought she could see Ben”s body changing shape.
Shifting shape. Shapeshifting. She stifled a hysterical giggle. This was impossible. Her housemate was kneeling in the driveway, giving off light, and his body was changing before her eyes.
As soon as it began, the light faded away.
A mountain lion stood in front of her, patiently looking at her with amber eyes. Delilah scrambled backward for the door, fumbling with the handle. ”Oh no, oh no, oh no.”
Would it eat her? Was Ben still in there, or was he all animal now?
She finally got the door open and she ran into the house, slamming the door shut behind her and locking it. She held her hands against the wood, waiting for the thump of an angry mountain lion trying to get inside after her.
It was hard to breathe. She took gulp after gasping gulp. Maybe she was imagining this entire thing. Maybe this was all just one long, weird, fever dream. Like the kiss on her forehead that she had imagined. None of this was real.
Someone knocked on the door and Delilah jumped back with a shriek.
”Delilah?” The doorknob rattled. ”Delilah, it”s Ben. Open up, please, so we can talk.”
She couldn”t bring herself to go closer to the door. There was a mountain lion out there, she had seen it.
And the mountain lion was Ben.
”Please, Delilah,” he said. ”I”m sorry. I shouldn”t have shown you like that.”
She didn”t know how to respond. It was still hard to breathe.
There was silence on the other side of the door. ”Take deep breaths,” he said. ”You”re going to pass out, otherwise.”
Delilah gasped and gasped, but she couldn”t change her breathing. This wasn”t okay, none of this was okay. She hadn”t seen what she had just thought she had seen. One moment a man, the next moment a lion.
As she gasped for breath, gray creeped in at the edges of her vision. The room got darker until it went black.