Wolf Rising (Beta Wolf Academy Book 4), page 10
“So…” Daphne drew the word out. “Basically, the long and short of it is that I’m a multi shifter.”
I blinked. “A... what?”
She grinned. “My initial reaction exactly. I’m a multi shifter and it means exactly what you think it means.”
My mouth dropped open. “You can shift into other animals?”
Daphne nodded. “After a lot of training, yes.”
A flush of color brightened her cheeks.
“Holy shit!” I muttered, staring at the woman I’d thought beautiful and smart but who was, obviously, so much more than that.
“I know, right?” Daphne said, eyes bright with excitement. “It’s insane and cool, and I’m not the only one. The thing is, Lexi, there are more exceptional wolves in this world that anyone could have ever thought possible. You’d be shocked at what some of our students can do.”
My head spun. I was grateful to be sitting down because I wasn’t sure I’d have been steady on my legs if I’d been standing. It felt like the world I knew had been pulled out from beneath me.
But it wasn’t the first time I’d felt that way.
“We’re not freaks,” I whispered as hope punched a hole straight through my shock. I lifted my gaze to Daphne who watched me intently. “That means we’re not alone. We’re not freaks.”
“No, Lexi,” Daphne said, rising to her feet and crossing to perch next to me on the couch. “You’re not freaks. You’re exceptional and we’d like to help you and your mates understand your powers so you can control them and, maybe even use them to help others.”
Relief and pride flooded my chest, filling me with emotions hard to pinpoint. I wished desperately for my mates and opened my mind to them, just a little, hoping they’d feel me and rush back to learn the amazing news.
Questions rushed my mind and, this time, I didn’t hold them back.
“How many animals can you shift into? What did you shift into first? Can you show me?” They fell out of my mouth in a jumble.
Daphne laughed and patted my arm. “In order, I can hold twenty-seven shapes so far and am working on more. The first thing I shifted into was a dog because it felt the most familiar and similar to my wolf. And…” She pushed to her feet and turned to face me. “I can definitely show you something cool. Let me just make some room.”
She pushed the brand new coffee table out of the way, creating a big space in the middle of the living room. I got up and helped then stepped back and bounced lightly from foot to foot, excited beyond belief.
Daphne glanced around, considered silently, and nodded. "Okay, this should be enough room."
I started to ask why she'd need that much room, considering the space that had been cleared by moving the coffee table, then froze as she closed her eyes, shook out her body, and began to vibrate.
My heart thundered in my chest as ancient magic, different from what I felt every time I shifted, or was around others who shifted, but similar in many ways, filled the room. My skin tingled and my soul leapt with fear and joy. I covered my mouth with the palm of my hand.
I was afraid, and excited, and unable to express any of it as I stared in wonder at Daphne.
Her body seemed to vibrate at a faster pace with each passing second, blurring out of sight. I blinked rapidly, trying to refocus, but it wasn't me.
A sound, deep and primal, poured from her throat as her muscles began to shift. Her bones broke and reformed, so quickly it was hard to tell what she was becoming.
Horror and fascination twisted my face as I watched the unfamiliar shape that began to form in the middle of my living room. Large, too large to be a wolf, and covered in dark fur. It had four thick, strong legs, claws that curled into the rug, and ears that rose high on her elongated head.
I stared at the huge grizzly bear in the middle of my home and let out a squeal of delight as she lifted up onto her hind legs, just as my mates strolled into the apartment.
CHAPTER 14
I turned to explain, lifting my hands from my mouth to assure them that there was nothing wrong.
Snarls erupted from my mates’ throats. The door crashed against the wall, punching a hole where the handle landed, as Lucian, Dimitri, and Chase rushed forward, teeth bared.
Dimitri threw himself forward, shifting so fast my breath caught at the memory of him ripping out Randall’s throat. The image of blood, of the life draining from my half-brother’s eyes, dragged another memory from the depths of my soul.
Alyssa, staring up at me, blood staining her white dress crimson as she died in my arms.
Grief warred with shock and confusion as my mates circled Daphne, who backed up slowly and rumbled a warning deep in her throat.
“Lexi,” Chase said in a low growl, “back away, slowly.”
The sound of his voice, so primal and terror filled, knocked the memories from my mind and brought me back to the moment. I stepped forward instead of back and threw my hands up to stop them.
“No!” I shouted, shaking my head. “It’s Daphne Little Foot. Dalia’s daughter-in-law. She’s a multi-shifter. She’s the one Dalia brought to talk to us.”
Ear piercing cries rang out like gunshots, shifting my mates’ rigid attention from Daphne to Ember, who strained forward in her grandmother’s arms, calling for her mother.
The air seemed to shimmer again, familiar magic this time, and, in a moment, Daphne stood, naked, in the middle of our living room. She bent, grabbed her dress, and pulled it over her head in one sinuous motion, then strode across the room to take Ember in her arms.
Ember, angry and hungry, nuzzled her mother’s breast until Daphne pulled one strap down and offered the crying baby a snack.
“I’m so sorry,” she said, shaking her head. “I should have waited for you guys to return before shifting. I’m sure that was a hell of a shock.”
Lucian straightened slowly, lowering his hands to his sides and forcibly releasing his fists. I stepped close to him and brushed my hand over his.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “There’s no danger here.”
Dimitri’s wet nose nuzzled my other hand. I stroked my palm over his head, then bent to press my lips to his neck.
“Come back to me, baby,” I murmured. “There’s a lot we need to discuss.”
“You were a bear,” Chase said bluntly.
I glanced at him, surprised to see shock still written clearly on his face. We’d all been shocked but he seemed locked in place, unable to adjust to the new reality before him.
Daphne nodded. “Yes, I was.”
“You were a bear. And now you’re not.” Chase inhaled deeply, seemed to taste the air, then frowned. “I still smell the bear, but also your wolf. How—”
Dalia interrupted. “Why don’t we all sit down and discuss it like civilized people who didn’t just see a bear turn into a woman who can also turn into a wolf?” She moved past Chase, whose body was beginning to loosen up now, and clapped a hand to his arm. “Come on, champ. You look a bit strung out. Got any beer?”
Chase nodded slowly as if coming out of a daze. “Yeah, we’ve got beer. I could use one.”
“I think we can all use one,” Dimitri said, emerging from the hall while pulling a t-shirt over his head.
He moved fast, my Russian mate. Too fast sometimes.
Dalia pulled beer from the fridge and a bottle of vodka she found in the freezer.
“Seems like we could use it,” she murmured, grabbing a stack of plastic cups from a cupboard.
She poured more than a single shot in five glasses, then waited while my mates and I all took one to raise her own and throw it back.
“Sláinte,” I murmured, putting the cup down and grabbing a beer. Remembering the breastfeeding mother, I called out, “Can I get you something else to drink, Daphne?”
“A big glass of cold water, please,” she said from where she sat on the couch with a happily feeding Ember. “Thanks.”
I grabbed a tall glass, filled it with ice, and then topped it with water from the fridge. Chase, who’d snapped out of his shock, took it from my hand, then leaned in for a quick forehead kiss before handing the glass to Daphne.
“Thank you,” she murmured, taking the glass from him. She drank deep while everyone settled in on the couch across from her.
“So,” she said, after finishing the glass and setting it aside, “Rose has told me so much about all of you.”
"Don't believe a word of it," Chase drawled, leaning out of his chair to offer Daphne his hand.
"I'm Chase," he said. "Commonly referred to as the southern playboy."
I nearly choked on my beer.
Chase sat back and shot me an amused grin. "Oh, you didn't know I was aware you called me that?" The sound of lazy summer days and magnolias rolled off his tongue. "Baby girl, I know everything."
Pleasure poured through me, catching me off guard, at the sound of the playful endearment. I made a mental note to mention my reaction when we didn't have company, so it could be repeated as a kind of experiment.
Lucian leaned forward next, offering his big hand to Daphne.
"I'm Lucian," he offered with a firm shake. "Welcome."
Daphne nodded, then turned to Dimitri with her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"That must mean you're Dimitri," she said, extending her hand to my broody mate.
Dimitri stood stiffly and stepped forward to take her offered hand.
"It is nice to make your acquaintance," he said, pulling his hand back as if the formality was too much to handle.
I bit back a sigh and barely refrained from shaking my head. As much as I loved him, Dimitri was an antisocial dark horse who needed to learn a bit of social niceties eventually.
Daphne, thankfully, didn't seem to notice Dimitris' abrupt nature.
At least I had one, or two, gentlemen in my little reverse harem. Two out of three wasn't so bad. Every group needed a badass, after all.
Watching Daphne, I wondered who in her tight-knit friend group, which included Katherine LaFamme and Rose, was the badass. Quinn, Katherine's husband, probably. He was a big guy and could be intimidating as fuck. But I’d also seen pictures of Daphne's husband, Keme Little Foot. The man was a giant with shoulders that would make even Lucian's look narrow. Maybe he was the badass.
Nah, I thought, dismissing those possibilities. I knew damn well who the real badass was in that group.
My sister. Rose.
She’d escaped captivity and made her way from Ireland to Canada to get help from a man who hadn’t known she or any of us had existed. She’d moved Heaven and Hell to free us all and was the biggest badass who had ever existed.
Pride swelled in my chest.
“So,” I said, returning my attention to Daphne who was calmly switching her daughter from one breast to the other across from us. “Do Rose and Katherine know what you are, what you can do?”
They were such close friends, I couldn’t imagine them not knowing.
“They think it’s a cool party trick,” Daphne said with an exaggerated shake of her head. “Just joking. They know. While they’re not as involved in the school as Dalia and I, they’ve been to visit and have met most of our students.”
“How many students do you have” Lucian asked, leaning forward to steeple his fingers under his chin.
“Last count was two hundred seventy-four,” Dalia said with pride. “But there are a few more being registered this coming week and Jose is in the field in South America looking into some rumors we heard. He’s got some amazing psychic abilities that help him pinpoint wolves who are different in any way. Think Charles Xavier.”
“That is freaking cool,” Chase said, grinning over at Dimitri who sat, stony faced, taking it all in. “What other kinds of abilities do your students have?”
Dalia glanced at Daphne and a silent conversation flashed between them. I bit back a smile, knowing how much that simple connection with her daughter-in-law meant to Dalia. She’d lost everyone that mattered in her life when her power had manifested, but she’d done the work and won them back with trust.
I was proud and honored to have her as my mentor. And thankful that I would never have to go through the depths of darkness that she’d traversed.
My darkness would always be there, simmering beneath the surface. It was as much a part of me as my soul. I didn’t want to deny its existence.
But knowing something was a part of you and letting it control you were two very different things.
I had my mates; I had my friends and family. There was no reason to believe that I’d ever devolve into the snarling, blood covered berserker I’d become to save my mates ever again.
But she was inside me, a part of me, and if I ever needed her… but that was something I didn’t like to think about.
I tucked my leg up onto the couch, hugging my knee to my chest, and let my guys ask all the questions that I’d already asked. Chase and Lucian moved from shock to awe and back again so many times, it made me laugh.
Dimitri was still quiet, still assessing with those dark eyes of his, but I could see the relief in the set of his shoulders. We weren’t alone in being different. We weren’t freaks. Of all my mates, he was the one who worried about that the most, at least as much as I did.
I stood, stepped around Chase who was entirely focused on Daphne’s description of a young girl who could semi-shift into her wolf at will, and slid onto Dimitri’s lap.
His dark gaze moved to mine. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I whispered, leaning into the curve on his neck. “Hope this isn’t uncomfortable.”
He shook his head slowly. “Not at all. You’re always welcome on my lap but I have to ask why you’re here now.”
I shrugged. “Just needed to touch you.”
He moved his hand around my waist and tucked me more securely against his chest as a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. Inside my mind, love and comfort radiated through our bond. I sighed and melted into him.
We sat like that, his arm wrapped around my waist, as Chase and Lucian asked question after question. Then, they tentatively asked Daphne if she could shift again.
She blew our collective minds, by becoming an eagle, a horse, and then a mountain lion in the middle of our living room.
By the time she was ready to take Ember home and rest, I needed some quiet time to myself, while Chase and Lucian bounded about, too riled to even think about settling down.
“Thanks for coming over, Daphne,” I said, lifting her coat from the hook she’d set it on earlier. “Rest up and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”
She smiled wearily and nodded. “I hope we can get you guys to the school sometime soon. Maybe over March break if things stay relatively stable. In the meantime, I’ve got a meeting set with Dr. Daniels tomorrow morning to discuss his thoughts on the brain scans he took of each of you after the experiment. Dalia and I think he would be an asset to the research department.”
Dimitri’s voice rumbled through his chest and into me. “Have you seen these other abilities affect the mating bond with anyone else?”
Daphne nodded. “We’ve seen a few instances, actually. Nothing quite like yours, but there is one young man whose abilities transferred to his mate the moment the bond snapped into place.”
“What can he do?” Lucian asked.
“He’s…” Daphne trailed off. “We’re not entirely sure of the full extent of his abilities, actually. He has an affinity for the elements. As in, he can kind of manipulate elemental forces. It’s all very fantastical and mind blowing. There’s never a dull moment, I’ll tell you that.”
From her stroller, Ember loosed an angry wail and scrunched up her little face.
“And there’s our cue to leave,” Dalia said, pulling open the front door. “I’ll message you about another group session in a few days.”
She rocked the stroller back and forth and murmured soothing sounds to try to quiet Ember’s cries.
“Unless there’s an emergency, I’ll be on grandma duty for the next few days.” She grinned widely and blew Ember a kiss, then pushed the stroller out the door.
“It was lovely meeting you all,” Daphne said, zipping up her coat. “I’ll message you tomorrow, Lexi, about getting together again before I leave.”
“Sounds good,” I said, holding the door for her. “Go rest and snuggle that little baby.”
Daphne nodded wearily. “Goodnight.”
I closed the door behind her and turned to my mates. “So, what do you think?”
Chase and Lucian began talking simultaneously, saying a lot of the same things, laughing and pointing at one another when their ramblings matched up. I blinked several times and glanced at Dimitri who arched an eyebrow and shook his head.
“I’m too wound up to sleep,” Chase said with a grin at Lucian. “Want to go shoot more hoops or what?”
Lucian nodded. “Let’s do it. Dimitri?”
Dimitri shook his head. “No, man. I think I’ll stay here. You guys go without me.”
Lucian paused, then nodded and reached for his boots and the bag he’d dropped when they’d come in that held his sneakers and gear. “Cool. We’ll be back in a few hours.”
He stepped into me and lowered his mouth to mine for a kiss that ended with a huge grin.
I laughed at his excitement and reached up to chuff his chin. “Go, play. And work off all this energy. You two are like puppies right now.”
“I’ll give you puppies,” Chase said, sweeping in for a quick kiss that still seared my lips. His hand moved around to cup and squeeze my ass. “Love you, baby girl.”
I went hot and soft.
Chase’s eyes sparkled with awareness of what he’d done and amusement that I was such a basic bitch.
I snapped my teeth at his lower lip and glared playfully.
“Go, play,” I repeated, shaking my head.
He laughed and grabbed his bag, then bounded out the door after Lucian, leaving Dimitri and I alone in the apartment. A rare occurrence.
The air in the room thickened and the arousal Chase had stirred roared to life. I braced my hand against the door and stilled, wondering what pent-up emotions my Russian mate was about to let loose.
