Chapter Fourteen
Xander didn’t know how to take Greer’s admission, especially when his wolf was riding so close to the surface. He’d sensed her fear, the moment of horror.
How was this ever going to work if she couldn’t see that the wolf was just a part of him, but it was nothing to fear?
A scream of pain erupted from across the hall and Xander leaped up from the bed, racing to Jill’s room. As soon as he threw open the door and saw her down on all fours, he knew she was shifting. Her shirt ripped as her bones contorted. Tawny hair sprouted up through her skin. As her face became fuller, rounder, he met her aquamarine eyes and the terror inside them.
“It will be fine, Jill, just relax. Let it happen.”
She screamed again, the sound blending into a cougar’s cry.
By the time Greer had gotten her shirt back on and joined them, it was over. Jill stood on all fours with her long tail swishing behind her, her clothes in a ragged pile around her.
Xander watched her as she covered her mouth, her brown eyes wide as she stared at her best friend. Xander almost thought she would run out of the room but she surprised him. She took one step, then two until she kneeled down in from of Jill.
“I am so sorry,” she choked.
Xander stood back as Jill wrapped an arm around Greer, her paw resting on the opposite shoulder. Jill nuzzled her short face into the crook of Greer’s neck and the two of them sat there, motionless except for the rise and fall of Greer’s shoulders with each silent sob.
Xander felt as though he was intruding, especially when Greer pulled away and cupped Jill’s face between her hands.
“I love you. No matter what.” She kissed the end of Jill’s nose with a wet laugh. “Besides, I kind of like this look. Brings new meaning to the term cat in heat.”
Jill released a scream, and suddenly, she was shifting again. Greer stumbled back and Xander bent over to help her to her feet. When Jill finally stopped, she was huddled on her side in the fetal position, naked.
Greer rushed forward and yanked the quilt off the bed, spreading it over Jill.
“I’ll get you some water,” Xander said. “I always need a tall glass after I shift.”
He left the two women alone and stopped off in his room to grab another shirt and a pair of sweats for Jill. By the time he came back with the water and the clothes, the two of them were on the bed. Jill’s head rested in Greer’s lap as she stroked her hair, humming a tune he couldn’t place.
He set the clothes on the edge of the bed and held out the glass. “You can put these on, if you want.”
“I hurt everywhere. I don’t even want to move.”
Jill took the glass from him and he tried to be reassuring. “It gets better. Pretty soon, you just have to think about it and you’ll change.”
“I never want to do that again.”
“I can demonstrate, but then I’d have to get naked.”
Jill made a weak howling noise.
“You’re not getting naked,” Greer said sternly.
Xander quirked an eyebrow at her and pulled his t-shirt over his head. “One thing you’re going to have to learn about shifters, baby, is we are not a modest breed.”
Greer tried to get up and stop him, but Jill wrapped her arms around her waist, holding her there. He had been hoping some teasing would make her feel better, but Greer’s almost possessive reaction to him undressing was delicious.
By the time he’d dropped his drawers, Greer was covering Jill’s eyes, bent over with laughter.
Jill kept grabbing Greer’s hands, and yanking them away. “Come on, I was assaulted and turned into a were-cougar! The least you can do is let me ogle him.”
Greer’s face turned tomato red and he took the opportunity to slide smoothly into his wolf form. Jill sat up when Greer climbed off the bed. She took a hesitant step in his direction, holding her hand out to him.
He jumped up on her, his paws hanging over her shoulders and ran his big thick tongue over her cheek.
She burst out laughing. “Okay, okay, you can stop now.” She ran her hand over his dense coat and he leaned into her caress.
“You do make that look easy,” Jill said.
Xander dropped back and shifted once more, standing with his back to them as he got dressed again.
“Good butt,” Jill whispered.
Xander heard a loud smack, followed by Jill’s outraged, “Geez, I was just saying.”
He didn’t think she’d meant for him to hear what she said next, she’d probably mouthed it, but he’d heard it loud and clear.
“Mine.”
Xander was surprised by how much he liked the sound of that.