Sam

A hard smack against my chest woke me up. Chloe groaned as if in pain, thrashing out again. At first, I thought she was having a nightmare. I spoke quietly; soothing words to bring her back from whatever hell she was reliving, but they didn’t help. Chloe wasn’t asleep. Her eyes were wide open and frightened.

“Sam,” she gasped, breathing hard, “what’s ... wrong ... with me? Is this ... part ... of the mating ... bond?”

Now wide awake, I turned on the light beside the bed. Chloe was as pale as the snow outside, her skin drenched in a cold sweat. Her small body was racked with head-to-toe tremors. What really slayed me was the pain in her eyes when she looked at me.

“It ... hurts, Sam. You ... should have ... warned me.”

My blood ran cold. This was not part of the mating bond. I had known other bear shifters who had mated humans, and some had said their mates had experienced some mild, flu-like symptoms in the first forty-eight hours or so, but nothing like this.

I cursed myself for my weakness. Chloe had just recovered from a nasty bout of flu. Her body was still weak. I should have waited before claiming her. Less than twenty-four hours into our mating and I had already failed to keep my promise.

“Where does it hurt, baby?” I asked.

“Everywhere,” came her strangled reply.

I didn’t know what to do. Chloe was suffering, and it was all my fault.

I reached for my phone and quickly dialed the lodge. My uncle Eli was a doctor. He would know what to do.

“Dad, it’s Sam. Something’s wrong with Chloe. I need Eli. Now!” I disconnected, cursing when Chloe began to seize.

I gathered her in my arms and held her, not knowing what else to do. I didn’t even realize I was crying until the tears hit her skin.

My uncle arrived a few minutes later, along with my mother and father. It took both my parents to convince me to release her long enough for Eli to examine her. Then my mom made tea while my father stood in front of the bedroom door to keep me from rushing in there. Their faces held concern, but they were handling the situation better than I was.

Chloe’s anguished screams of pain were gutting me. I could hear my uncle’s deep, rumbling voice asking questions, trying to get to the bottom of things.

“What the hell is happening?” I demanded repeatedly as I paced. Unfortunately, no one had an answer.

Seconds passed by like minutes; minutes like hours. I was at my rope’s end when a loud roar suddenly shook the entire cabin.

My blood chilled. I couldn’t imagine what would make my uncle go full bear unless there was an immediate threat.

My parents and I exchanged glances, then rushed toward the bedroom. Since my father was closest, he got inside first and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” he said softly

I pushed him to the side, only to find my uncle, still in human form, looking awestruck.

I followed his gaze to the far corner where a small, golden she-bear huddled in fear.

“Chloe?”

At the sound of my voice, her head whipped in my direction and she let out a soulful roar.

In seconds, I shifted into my bear and went to her, nuzzling her face and head. She immediately placed herself behind me and whined.

“Leave us,” I chuffed in grunts and rumbles. Then I turned and gave my full attention to my mate.

Chloe was confused and scared. She didn’t understand what was happening to her. Frankly, neither did I. I mean, I knew what had happened—my beautiful human mate had just shifted into a stunning golden sow—but I didn’t understand how it had happened. Explanations and answers would have to wait, however. What was most important at that point was reassuring my mate, which I did with a series of rumbles and growls.

I wasn’t sure Chloe understood me, but her bear did. Handing over control to one’s animal was a difficult thing to learn, even when prepped for it. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to just have it happen suddenly and out of the blue like that. It had to have been terrifying.

The physical shift wouldn’t have been any easier. It was a painful process the first few times, and downright excruciating the first. The change had probably been coming on all evening and, not recognizing it for what it was, Chloe’s mind and body had been fighting it.

Eventually, I got her calmed enough to shift back into her human form. She remained in my arms, trembling and shaking. Only then did I shift back, too.

“What happened to me, Sam?” she asked weakly.

“You shifted.”

“But how? Why?”

“I don’t know, baby, but we’ll figure it out. The important thing is, you’re okay, and I’ve got you.”

I kissed her head and rocked her until she fell into an exhausted sleep. Then I tucked her into bed, threw on some pants, and went out into the living room to get some answers. I left the bedroom door open so I would hear Chloe if she awoke or started spontaneously shifting again.

My parents and uncle were still there, talking quietly in the kitchen.

My mother looked up the moment I stepped out. “How is she?”

“She’s sleeping.” I looked pointedly at my uncle, who looked somewhat shaken himself. “What the hell happened?”

“She shifted.”

“I know that,” I snapped impatiently. “How did that happen?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’ve witnessed plenty of primary transformations, but never in anyone as old as Chloe. I take it you didn’t know she was part-shifter?”

“She’s human.”

My uncle shook his head. “Half-human, maybe, but not full-human. Shifting is physically impossible without the genetic foundation to do so.”

“Could it be because I bit her? DNA transfers, right?”

“Some of it does, yes. Enough to allow for procreation, but not enough to change her physiology. If she shifted, Sam, it’s because it’s in her blood. The fact that it hasn’t occurred before now suggests that only one of her parents was a shifter, or less likely, a grandparent. Some half-breeds never shift. It depends on which genetic code is dominant.”

“Her father wasn’t one of us,” my dad said, the scowl on his face conveying exactly what he thought of Jack Lewis.

“Chloe doesn’t remember her mother,” I said, remembering our conversation from earlier. It seemed like a lifetime ago. “Do you think she could have been a shifter?”

The corners of my uncle’s mouth quirked. “Given what I just saw, I’d say there is no doubt about that.”

“What now?”

“Now you—we all—need to help Chloe acclimate to this new part of herself,” Eli said. “Physically, the worst of it is over. Coming to terms with her dual nature is going to take longer. It’s like discovering a twin you never knew you had.”

I nodded, still somewhat in shock.

“In the meantime, she will find you her greatest source of comfort,” my uncle said, rising. “If you need me, call. Otherwise, I think it’s best we all give you and your new mate the time and space to deal with this.”

I thanked them all for coming so quickly. It was good to know my family had my back, and now Chloe’s, too.

“Take care of my new daughter,” my mom said, pressing a kiss to my cheek as she prepared to leave. “She’ll be wanting a woman to talk to at some point, so have her call me. Any time, day or night, you hear me?”

“I will, Mom. Thanks.”