Chapter Two
“Mom,” Kennedy called as she pulled open the freezer door and took in the options, “did you bring any ice cream?”
They’d been at the cabin for just over three hours and already the sun was pounding off the heat-whitened rocks so intensely that Kennedy and her brothers had been in and out of the lake several times already. At first she’d been pretty reserved, still frustrated at being forced to go camping with her family, but then the twins had pulled her under the water and the resulting battle to the death had restored her good mood. It was fun, acting like a kid again. She’d spent most of the last year doing anything but.
Sarah stuck her head around the corner and frowned. “I knew I should have made your father stop in Cochrane!” She marched across the room and glared at the too-empty freezer, crossing her arms over her chest. With a sigh, she shrugged. “I guess I’ll make a run into Moonbeam. Maybe pick up a few bottles of wine while I’m there. You want to come with me, sweetie?”
Kennedy was about to tell her mother no when Sarah let out a started yelp. “Oh, I forgot about the lasagna!” She hurried to the stove and pulled the cover off a huge pot of water, which was boiling rapidly. Setting the cover aside, she tore open a box of noodles and slid them into the water. Sarah looked over her shoulder. “Sorry sweetie, I can’t go into town right now. No one else makes lasagna as good as mine, and it takes constant watching.”
Kennedy didn’t disagree. Her mother’s lasagna was amazing. The thought of the meaty, cheesy concoction was enough to set her mouth watering, reminding her, yet again, that her ban on meat was apparently over. She hadn’t had so much as a bite of the delicious pasta dish in five years, but tonight would change that. Still feeling weird about it, she sidled over to the counter and asked, “Can I have some of it tonight?”
Sarah laughed. “Of course you can! You know there’s always leftovers when I make it, plenty for you and your brothers. Do you still want a side salad?”
Kennedy nodded. “Please.” She might have been craving meat, but it wasn’t easy to break a five-year habit right away, not that she would have ever tried to. She enjoyed eating vegetarian for the most part. She turned to leave.
“Why don’t you take the SUV and head into town yourself?” her mother called out, already pulling a couple twenties from her wallet as she spoke. “Pick up whatever you like. There’s plenty of room in the pantry and deep freeze.”
Kennedy took the money hesitantly, wondering if it were a trick. Her parents had been hedging around her so much since she’d come home that this sudden return to normal was startling. “Okay,” she said, forcing a smile, “do you want red or white?”
“Red or white what?” Sarah cocked her head to the side, confused, before a grin spread across her face, making her look ten years younger than she was. “Wine!” She laughed. “Both, please. Might as well get a few bottles. We are here to relax, remember?” She pulled a few more twenties free and handed them over. Then she gave Kennedy a kiss on the forehead and went back to prepping the sauce.
Kennedy glanced down at her bikini and went to get a cover up. Nothing too heavy, because it was sweltering outside, but enough to make her not appear naked. A few minutes later, she put the key in the ignition and backed out of the driveway with the radio blaring Rhianna. Inside the cab, with the air conditioning on bust, she felt a million times better than she had earlier. The weather network had said today was reaching record highs but that tonight would bring rain to cool the area and restore the status quo.
The drive into Moonbeam took less than ten minutes as their cabin wasn’t far from the small community. Kennedy had gotten sick of the pop music station and had switched over to classic rock after the first song, and was now singing along with Bowie at the top of her lungs. When she saw a sign that read “Best local ice-cream!” with an arrow pointing down a dirt road, she made a snap decision. Checking her rear-view mirror, Kennedy clicked on her blinkers and made a U-turn, anxious to test out the sign’s claim. There was nothing better than home-churned ice-cream.
The small stand sat at the end of the road, next to a parking lot that was filled with vehicles of all shapes and sizes. The line for ice-cream wasn’t as long as she’d figured it would be, so she thanked her lucky stars and stepped into line to wait. Ahead of her, three children, a few teenage girls, and one tall, broad-shouldered man stood waiting their turns.
A mom and her son walked away, holding delicious smelling ice-cream and chatting happily about what they wanted to do next, swim or go to the playground. Then the man stepped up to the stand. Kennedy smiled as the teenage girls, probably fourteen or fifteen, preened and giggled, pointing at his tight ass in a pair of well-worn blue jeans. She didn’t blame them. It was a spectacular ass. It lay just below a trim waist that expanded upward into a triangle, forming strong, sexy shoulders. The taut t-shirt he wore did little to hide the toned body beneath.
Kennedy allowed herself to look. There was no harm in that. She hadn’t wanted to check out at a man for so long that there’d been a part of her that had begun to worry if she was asexual, so this sudden desire to watch this stranger was a relief. Everything about him screamed outdoorsman, from his muscular forearms to the broken-in boots on his feet. He was the most masculine man she’d ever seen. He even smelled masculine.
Even with the girls between them, Kennedy could smell him, the fresh pine scent mixed with something deeper, darker, and more primal. It was a strange scent, something she’d never come across before, but the more she breathed it in, the more she felt like pushing the teenagers out of the way and pressing her nose against his shirt.
What the fuck?
Kennedy frowned and chastised herself for being weird. Who thinks that way? Who wants to smell strangers? Apparently she did, because even her stern self-talking to wasn’t working. Her skin tingled, starting with her fingers and spreading rapidly, over her arms and torso, down her legs and through to her feet. She felt hot, cold, and confused all at once. Kennedy stumbled back, away from the girls who looked at her with contempt and scorn, and let out a soft moan.
****
Trace’s cougar crouched, ready to pounce.
Startled, Trace whipped his head around, looking for the source of danger and saw a woman fall to her knees just past the teenage girls who had been eyeballing him. Her head was lowered and her breathing labored, and for a long moment, he didn’t know what he should do—call 911 or let someone else deal with it. There were other adults around, after all.
Then she raised her head and looked straight at him.
Mate.
Trace’s cougar reacted instinctively, not allowing for the human half of him to think. He rushed forward and picked her up from the ground, calling out behind him, “She has epilepsy. I know her,” while he rushed her to his truck.
The woman’s body shook in his embrace, flashing from boiling hot to freezing cold. Her eyes were open in terror, but he knew she saw nothing. It was a look he’d seen before, but not in a very long time. She was experiencing her first shift, and it was coming fast.
“Shhh…” he soothed, the unfamiliar sounds coming out gruff and rusty from his throat. “You’re going to be okay.” He needed to get her away from this public area, away from the interested eyes that were watching them both keenly, probably making mental notes about his description and license plate number to give to the RCMP. Trace didn’t care. Let the police show up. He had bigger things to worry about now. The existence of his kind was in danger.
He closed the passenger side door and ran around to the driver’s side, anxious to touch her again. His need to physically connect with her was intense, almost overwhelming, after a lifetime of shunning intimacy of any kind. Gritting his teeth against the need, he left her where she was, slumped on the front seat, and pulled out of the parking lot, heading for home.
This was the last thing he fucking needed! He didn’t want a mate, didn’t need a female in his life, especially one who looked like a woman but was going through her first change like an adolescent girl. Trace breathed through his mouth, leaning his head out the window to find fresh air. Inside the cab, the woman’s semi-conscious body released waves of pheromones so enticing that his cougar had its claws out and was slicing at his will-power, shredding his insides.
He hurt. His entire body was half in pain, and half in what he thought were the throes of hormonal mania. It was miserable and wonderful all at the same time. Trace sucked in deep breaths to keep himself centered and focused on staying on the road, on keeping his hands off her.
The turn-off to his place was in sight when she cried out and began to convulse, her body arching so acutely that he feared she would snap her spine. Trace’s entire being came into perfect focus at the sound of her pain. He stepped on the pedal and tore down the pavement, turning sharply onto his remote road.
One hundred meters in, Trace pulled the truck over and slammed on the brakes, throwing out his hand at the last second to stop her body from rolling onto the floor. The instant he touched her skin, he regretted it. Searing heat shot through his hand and straight to his groin, pulling much-needed blood from his body and brain. As painful as his sudden massive erection was, the shock of fear that clutched at his heart when she didn’t respond to his touch was worse.
“Open your eyes.” He pulled her to his chest and out of the cab. “Come on!” Trace adjusted her in his arms, cradling her body and ran for all he was worth.
The boreal forest swallowed them quickly, surrounding them with thick evergreens and damp, verdant earth. Trace stopped in a small clearing and carefully lowered the woman to the mossy ground, his eyes raking her convulsing body for signs of awareness.
It was taking a long time, too long from what he remembered. She should have been turning by now. Fuck, what if she dies? I was seen carrying her out of a parking lot!
“Come on.” He scowled down at her and reached for her arms, shaking her lightly, and then more vigorously. “You need to let it loose.”
Her mouth slipped open and a keening sound that small animals made when they were in pain slipped free. It shot straight to his heart, crushing it and making it hard to breathe. Trace drew in rough inhalations and prayed to whichever god was listening that she didn’t die. As hard as he tried to ignore it, he needed her to live.
Uncertain what to do, Trace went with instinct and began pulling his clothes off, leaving them strewn across the mossy floor of the forest. He closed his eyes and called to his cougar, rushing into the change. Pain exploded over his entire body as his bones elongated, snapped, and then clicked into place. His skin, pulled too taut, adjusted over the new bones and then sprouted thick, tan-colored fur, covering his bare human flesh. In seconds, the pain was gone, and so was his human body.
Trace stared at the woman and stepped back as her eyes flew open, unseeing through the pain. He knew the agony, remembered his first change, but that had been different. His parents had been with him, and they’d helped him, shown him how to accept the pain, to use it to usher in his cougar. He didn’t know how to do that for her.
Needing to do something, he nudged her hand with his nose and instantly she grabbed for his fur. Her fingers dugs deep into his hide, pulling him closer. He sunk to his belly next to her, his large cat frame longer than her human one, and nuzzled her neck, urging her to accept the change.
The first crack of bone was like a welcoming parade to Trace’s ears, but the scream of agony following it made it hard to breathe. He paced his inhalations, trying to help her find the rhythm, and leaned against her, offering his body heat.
Slowly, bone by bone, she stretched and broke, and then reformed. Last came her fur, thick and tawny-red, an almost perfect match to her human hair. Trace thought it was beautiful. He touched the tip of her nose with his and watched as she blinked open eyes the color of the forest, deep and mesmerizing, and utterly terrified.