Chapter 6 – *Shifter Romance*

It kinda hit a bump during this chapter but i think it’s okay…

 

Kaitlin awoke with a start and checked her watch. Eleven twenty.

Her needing scent had perfumed the room during her sleep and it hung heavy. She was surprised it hadn’t woken Rhys yet, but maybe he’d become attuned to it since he’d been in her company for the last twelve hours or so?

It was time to go for a run.

Rhys would find her and mate with her in animal form but only after winning her puma over.

She glanced across at his sleeping form and smiled. They’d certainly worked each other into a frenzy earlier and she had to admit she’d had the most mind-numbing orgasm of her life. Maybe he’d be worth the hassle in the end. Her parents would most likely disown her but he seemed the type of guy who’d stand by her whatever happened.

A cloud moved and bright moonlight lit the room. Her needing scent intensified and she felt her body twitch with the urge to shift. For a second, she considered fighting it. It was stupid of her to shift when she still didn’t have one hundred per-cent control of her puma but she also knew it was futile. The full moon was impossible to resist.

Rhys moved under the covers and she knew she had to leave now.

Nude, she stood and silently made her way outside. Crouching on the wooden porch, she relaxed her body and reached out to the power of her puma. She gritted her teeth against the pain of the shift as muscles and bones lengthened and stretched to accommodate her feline form. A few minutes later the shift was complete and she yowled and shook herself out, getting the feel of her new body.

Rustling came from inside the cabin and she turned to see Rhys coming out of the bedroom looking dishevelled but extremely hot. His amber gaze locked with her grey and the puma hissed at him before turning and running.

It was strange for her when she shifted to puma form because it was like she was having an out of body experience, she could hear and feel the puma’s thoughts and feelings but they weren’t her own. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Her mind and the puma’s were supposed to be one and the same, she was supposed to have some control of the animal’s actions but she had none as the puma weaved through the trees at a steady run.

Kaitlin could sense Rhys closing in behind her and the increasing distress of the puma. That wasn’t good news.

Minutes later they reached a steep cliff overlooking a murky river and the puma backed away. Rhys skidded to a stop behind her and the puma hissed a warning and backed up a few steps, the cliff crumbling a little beneath her feet.

No, no, no…

The puma couldn’t seem to decide which way was safer; past the wolf or into the water. It seemed to choose the water, turning to leap.

“Kaitlin, stop!”

Her entire being froze at the command in his voice and she breathed an inner sigh of relief. He was using his alpha tone and it was working. The puma glanced over her shoulder and she saw he was stood there naked in the moonlight, his eyes bright with some emotion.

He must have pushed himself hard to perform an almost instant transformation from wolf to man. It must have hurt immensely but he’d done it to save her.

“Back away from the edge and shift back,” he ordered, his voice wavering slightly.

She held her breath waiting to see whether the puma would obey. After a few tense seconds it stepped forward and she felt it give itself over to her and she quickly reached for the energy that made her shift possible. This time it seemed more painful and took every bit of energy she had to shift back to human form.

Kaitlin curled in on herself on the hard ground and shivered, too tired to do anything.

“Fucking hell, Kaitlin! Why the hell did you come to me if you don’t have control over your puma?! It’s suicidal—as you nearly found out! Wolfs and pumas are natural enemies so to have me chasing you was a stupid idea.” He dropped to his knees beside her and pulled her into his chest. “I nearly lost you,” he whispered.

“S-s-sorry,” she managed to say through her chattering teeth.

Her eyelids fluttered closed and she fell into a consuming blackness.

 

                   *************    

 

Kaitlin shifted and winced. She hurt everywhere.

Opening her eyes, she instantly knew she was alone and in an unfamiliar bed. Glancing around, memories came back to her of the previous night and she cringed.

She’d hoped it had all been a bad dream but obviously not.

“Ugh,” she groaned, rubbing a hand over her face.

The bed beside her showed no sign of being slept in and she wondered where Rhys was.

Rising from the bed she moved into the other room and found him sat at the kitchen table. His gaze was fixed on a point across the room and his face was tense. “Why?” He growled.

Kaitlin shifted stance slightly. “Why, what?”

“Why can’t you control your puma?”

She shrugged. What could she say? She’d never been able to. “I don’t know.”

“Who trained you?”

Kaitlin frowned at him. “What’s that got to do with it?”

“Who?!” He shouted, his voice taking on an inhuman rumble, startling her.

“M-my father,” she stammered.

Rhys let out a ferocious growl and she shrank back from him, her fingers latching onto the door frame as she noticed his fingers had shifted to claws, digging into the table top. “I should have known.”

Anger spread through her, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

For the first time since she’d come out of the bedroom he looked at her. A tic was pulsing erratically in his jaw and his eyes were dark and stormy. “Have you not wondered how I managed to stop you from…” he broke off and swallowed, “to stop you?” He eventually finished.

That was an easy question. “You used your Alpha.”

He nodded and raised a brow, waiting for her to get what he was saying. She thought it over carefully and it suddenly hit her like a runaway freight train.

Her father was an Alpha! He should have had the same control over her as Rhys had!

“Oh my God! Why didn’t he…?”

“I think he wanted to control you. A female shifter is becoming rarer all the time so for him to be able to control you, by you being afraid of shifting, he can decide who you mate with.”

“Tito…”

Rhys’ lip curled at the name. “Probably in on the plan.” Kaitlin shook her head vehemently. “Cat,” he said softly, “you heard what he said that night. He was bragging and not in a good way.”

Kaitlin knew he was right. Things had always felt strange between herself and Tito; like it had been planned. Her whole life suddenly seemed like a lie. Closing her eyes she dropped her head into her hands.

“Cat…Kaitlin…I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

The whole thing was playing havoc with her head the more she thought things through and she could feel a headache coming on, so decided to change the subject, mumbling through her fingers, “Where did you sleep last night?”

His amber eyes blinked slowly, thrown by the sudden change in conversation. “I didn’t sleep.”

“You didn’t? Not at all?” Grimacing, she said softly, “Afraid I might throw myself off a cliff?”

His voice was soft, “You were unconscious so that wouldn’t have happened.”

But he’d obviously thought about it!

Ugh, could she have made a bigger fool of herself last night? In front of her supposed mate as well.

Remembering that gave her an idea. It was still early and her scent was still lingering in the air. She eyed him appreciatively. “Since we didn’t get around to it last night…why don’t we pick up where we left off?”

Rhys’ eyes cooled considerably. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. We should be heading back.” He stood. “Get your stuff and we’ll go.”

Kaitlin stood there feeling like a failure. Both as a woman and a shifter.

What did it say about her if she couldn’t even tempt her mate into bed?

Fighting back tears, she collected her belongings, went outside and climbed in the SUV, not daring to look at him in case the dam broke inside her.