CHAPTER NINETEEN
Time passed, the wind increasing around them. Asher was glad he could shield her from the autumn wind while she was lost in her sorrow.
He watched her lift her right hand and look at it.
“My mother once told me that I had my grandma’s hands. Her mother’s. Did you know my grandmother was a gypsy healer? Strong hands. Not beautiful, but capable. And now, I’m not even sure of that. For two goddamn years, I was sure I couldn’t use them anymore. And even now, I’m still unsure of what happened back then, of what could still occur. The destruction I could do.”
“You defended the entire Sanctuary, and nothing exploded. How can you be sure you haven’t healed in those two years? Maybe you’re capable of using your magic again without causing any harm.”
“I… There’s nothing sure. I can’t trust myself anymore. What if it was one free pass? What if the next time I use it, the house catches fire, or I hurt the person I’m trying to heal? What if this whole day is one giant free pass?”
“That’s a lot of what-ifs, don’t you think?”
“Don’t take this lightly, Asher. I’m probably a time bomb.”
Asher knew only one way to convince her. He released her and stood up, offering her a hand. “I think it’s time to put the what-ifs to rest, once and for all.”
“I’m not going to put you in danger, Asher. Neither you nor the Sanctuary.”
“And you won’t, I’m convinced of that.”
Her eyes narrowed, incredulous. “How can you be so sure?”
Asher wasn’t confident he could put his gut feeling into words. It was as if she would be okay, if only she stayed close to him. “Come with me, Valeria, please.”
She hesitated, but as he suspected, she was unable to resist taking his hand. As he couldn’t resist her touch.
They walked even further into the forest, and he kept her close, preventing her from falling, using his night vision to steer her onto a safe path. The trees opened up to a clearing leading to a small lake.
“How big is this sanctuary?”
Asher smiled. “Quite big. Shifters need a lot of space to roam, and if we get too cramped up, it becomes dangerous. The house is mainly used for non-shifters, like Maya and Genevieve who are faes, or vampires. A section of the entire basement is adapted to their needs. Shifters prefer to live outside most of the time, but they have a room of their own if they wish it.”
“Is there anybody nearby?” Valeria checked around, but with the darkness, it would be impossible for her to distinguish anything other than silvery outlines.
“No, we’re alone here. You don’t have to fear anyone here.”
She turned to him. “It’s not fear that I dislike, it’s being helpless.”
Asher let go of her hands to face her. “You don’t have to be. You never should be. All you have to do is trust your inner wolf.”
For the first time, Valeria started to laugh, and the sound seemed to bubble and shine through the trees.
“Asher Stonelake, I’m sure you’re well aware that I have no shifter or werewolf blood in me.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, Miss Lancaster. There is a wild beast in you. One that helped you survive those two years on the streets, one fierce enough to face a Pack Master, one who wanted to protect a child and risk her own life. You possess many qualities that we, shifters and werewolves, cherish. You need to tap into that.”
“Easy for you to say, you are wolf.”
He took a step back and removed his sweater.
“What are you doing?” Valeria crossed her arms as he undressed.
“You need to start somewhere, and I’m a willing volunteer.”
“Asher, I don’t think…”
Her voice faltered when he held out his arm and sharp claws extended from his hand. Before he could change his mind, he sliced opened the freshly healed wound on his side. The pain was excruciating, but he didn’t emit a single sound. He felt blood coating his fingers before he turned back to her.
“I think I need help, nurse.” He couldn’t help but offered her a pitiful smile.
Outraged, Valeria pulled at her hair. “You think this is funny?” She crouched beside him to see the wound. “It’s even worse than before!”
Blood trickled steadily down his side, soaking his jeans.
“Asher!”
“Valeria, it’s simple. You leave me bleeding to death, or you heal me.”
“What if it backfires?”
Asher felt dizzy a little when he smiled at her. “It didn’t before, it won’t now. I trust you.”
“Don’t you dare say that.”
“I trust you, Valeria.” She winced when he repeated it.
The sound she made was both groan and whimper of distress. “You’ll pay for this, wolf.”
“Promises, promises.” He locked his knees to prevent himself from buckling to the ground.
He saw her place both her hands about an inch from the gaping wound, before hesitating.
“Don’t think, just do it, Valeria.”
His order seemed to spur her as he felt a push. It wasn’t her hands but a steady flow of magic. He saw how much she controlled herself, contained her power.
It took time, but he felt steadier by the minute, the pain receding and finally dissipating completely. This time, she let the magic complete the healing process. When she was done, breathing hard, Valeria let herself fall to her knees.
“See, that wasn’t so bad.”
He clearly heard her teeth grinding. “Don’t ever pull that stunt again.”
“Oh, I don’t know, seeing you kneeling like that in front of me, gives me ideas.”
She shook her head. “Is everything a joke to you?”
“Right now, I have never been more serious.”
Sighing, she got back to her feet.
“How do you feel?”
Asher touched the skin on his abdomen where the wound had been and tentatively probed. “All is good, no pain, no twinge. You’re good.”
She nodded and exhaled slightly, clearly seething.
“That was a good beginning.”
“Beginning?”
“You don’t think I’d let you off the hook so easily?”
“Asher…”
“No, we started, I want you to finish. Now, tell me something that you used to do, the magic that you used to do that was second nature to you.”
She thought for a moment, and her golden eyes came alive with mischief.
“Oh, I can think of something alright… It’s something that no other witch or wizard I know can do. I’ll start with me, and then, if I succeed, you’ll be next. But you should promise not to tell a soul about it. Agreed?”
The teasing exhilarated him and made him wary all at the same time. “Why do I regret my suggestion suddenly? But I’m a man of my word. I agree, go ahead.”
A thin mist of magic started to swirl around her, not as thick as he had seen before, but enough to be distracting. It blurred her features for a moment before dissipating.
“Hell… Valeria…”
His exact reflection stared back at him. What was that? He touched the arm of his clone, and it followed its precise movement. But it smiled.
“The look on your face is worth a million dollars, Asher.”
His voice… it spoke with the same voice, and had the same eyes. “Valeria, is that you?”
His clone bowed and poked out his tongue. “Yes, well, I’m Valeria inside, but I’m you outside.” Tentatively, he saw Valeria examining her new body.
“I have to say, it’s always weird taking the body of another.”
Asher walked around her, examining every inch of himself standing before him. “When you transform like that, do you become like me?”
“You mean do I become a werewolf? No, I retain my own powers. It’s only the body. Fully functional body, though. Interesting, isn’t it? Now your turn.”
“My turn?” The mist engulfed him, and for a minute, he felt a change. Unlike the change he experienced transforming himself into a wolf, this was painless but weird. Valeria used the same words, and then the mist dissipated. Valeria was still in his own form, and part of him was scared to see what she had transformed him into.
“So? What do you think?”
“What do I think of what?” His voice!! Damn! Now he had to check down at himself. “No, you didn’t!” He had the voice of a woman! Of Valeria!
“Oh, I did. I’m sure you always wanted to know how it feels to be a woman.”
Asher examined his body. He was Valeria. Her body. Her curves. Her breasts. His skin was now pale as moonlight with delicate, feminine hands. He went to touch himself but jerked back. Valeria laughed.
“It’s you, your body, I mean. There is nothing wrong in touching it.”
“Whoa, I never thought I’d say that, but I can’t. Call me old fashioned, but I can’t. I have to admit, you’ve successfully freaked me out. Turn me back. Now.”
“Your wish is my command.” It was clear she was making fun of him. This newfound sense of humor warmed something inside him, making any discomfort bearable.
The mist swirled faster, transforming them both back into their original selves.
When he dared to look down at himself and saw his own body, he couldn’t help but make sure everything was in place, cupping himself.
“I wouldn’t have forgotten such an important part of you, Asher.”
He chuckled. “Sorry, male reflex.” And she had reverted into her own body too. And it looked good on her. “That was a neat trick, though.”
“Yeah, not everyone can do that. Transformation is a very unusual talent.”
“You see! It worked well! No backfire!”
Valeria nodded, but he saw that she held something back. As her mood had brightened up, he decided to keep it that way. “I have to ask you for something before we continue.”
“What?”
“Promise me never to use that to impersonate me ever again. Never.”
The witch angled her head at him, a very solemn expression on her face. “I would never do that without you knowing, Asher. Apart from parlor games, I never used that trick for anything else.”
Asher saw the sincerity in her eyes and nodded.
“Asher? I have a special request too.”
“Anything.” But part of him worried a little, after what he saw her do.
Valeria smiled. “Don’t worry, it’s nothing big. But if it’s something you can’t or don’t want to do with me, I would understand.”
She seemed unsure, and Asher couldn’t resist replacing a lock of hair behind her ear, trailing his finger against her cheek.
“Ask, Valeria.”
“I want to run with you.”
Asher blinked. “As in jogging, you know, I’m not really into that…”
“No, no. I mean as a wolf.”
Something tingled in his chest. “You want to run with me as a wolf. That means that you can transform into a wolf too?”
“I’ll try. When perfecting transformation, I was forbidden to try animals. My father found it degrading. I did some transformations into birds, but not much more. You wanted me to try something new… that would be it.”
Asher cupped her cheek and bent to take her lips. The gesture surprised him, but the need was primal, and he needed to taste her like he needed his next breath. This witch was his forbidden fruit. She came to him naturally, touching him, deepening the kiss. God, he couldn’t get enough of her. He had only taken her once, and it was as if she had become an addiction. Reluctantly, he ended the kiss.
“Let’s run then, together. I can’t wait to see you as a wolf.”
Valeria laughed. “Just don’t forget that I’m not a werewolf. I will be a human inside a wolf body. I won’t have the instincts or knowledge.”
Asher nodded, and she closed her eyes, extending her arms on each side. This time, no mist, but the air shifted and trembled. She seemed to blur before his eyes as she transformed into a deep brown wolf. Small by werewolf standards, more like the natural counterpart, but a wolf nonetheless.
“You succeeded, and you’re gorgeous.”
Valeria, the wolf, eyed him and sneezed a couple of times, before losing balance and falling on her behind.
Asher laughed. “Don’t worry, you’re not used to having such a strong sense of smell … at first, everything will make you sneeze. I’ll transform now. Stay close to me at all times, okay?”
Valeria sat straighter and bowed her head. A clear agreement.
His transformation was less graceful, as bones and muscles magically reknitted themselves into his new shape. Turning into a wolf was pure exhilaration, as if both sides of him were in perfect sync. He was the best of himself as a wolf.
Transformed, he sniffed the air, taking in all possible smells around him. And then her smell reached him. He turned, and Valeria was there, glancing at him with her big golden eyes. Asher had to restrain the wolf, who wanted to take her. It wasn’t the moment, especially not in wolf form. He would bide his time. But now, they would run.
Asher jumped forward, as Valeria started to leap. Her movements were awkward as she began to use and understand her new body. Asher moved slowly until he saw that she was stable enough to run. He kept an eye on her, and after a moment, he sensed a shift, to excitement. Joy. She accelerated and pushed him faster. She was becoming a wolf, at least a part of her was at this exact instant.
They ran for a while. He let her take the path she wanted, jump and tumble as she wished until he sensed her fatigue setting in. She was not a werewolf; her body couldn’t go on at that pace for an extended period of time.
Asher was about to direct her toward the house when the wind shifted. A smell had caught him before he saw who was in the shadows. It was one of the sentinels, his eyes on Valeria who was oblivious to the danger. Nobody could roam the Sanctuary grounds without previous authorization and a meeting with security. The sentinel didn’t recognize the transformed witch, and, from a distance, it appeared as if Asher was trying to escape from another wolf. Asher emitted a low bark to ward off the sentinel, but it was too late. Valeria, alerted by the sound, turned to see a dark gray wolf coming at her, fangs bared. She bounded and sprinted away. Asher pushed himself as fast as he could, but the distance between them was great. The sentinel would catch up with Valeria before he would be able to intercept them both.
Just as the sentinel was about to catch up, Valeria leapt into the air and transformed into a swallow. As she flew higher, she transformed again into an eagle. Her screech was anything but friendly as she hovered, her broad wings flapping and creating wind of her own.
Asher turned into human form and the sentinel, still as a beast, came beside him.
“The wolf was Valeria, Anton. She was testing a spell with me, transforming her into a wolf.”
The gray wolf sniffed, understanding, his eyes on the angry eagle over their heads. Then, the raptor dove at them, clearly aiming for Anton.
Asher wasn’t sure what he should do, it was the first time one of them was attacked by a bird of prey. He knew it couldn’t inflict real damage to a werewolf, but the surprise made Anton jump sideways and hunker down, trying to escape. Valeria flew close to him a couple of times, before landing on the fallen trunk nearby. Apparently, she was getting the hang of her powers as the change was quicker this time. Now, she was sitting on the log, fully clothed and breathing hard.
“Who is that?” She pointed at the wolf now sitting beside a tree, a safe distance from her.
“A sentinel. He didn’t recognize you, that’s all. Anton wasn’t in the kitchen earlier, as he was battling the wizards in the forest before securing the outer sectors of Sanctuary. He only did this to protect me.”
Valeria jumped on the ground and went to Anton, who remained still.
“I’m sorry, Anton. But when I’m attacked, I tend to retaliate.”
The gray wolf angled his head and shook himself before taking a last look at Asher and running back into the forest.
“I think I’ve insulted him.”
“I believe you’ve surprised him. He went to attack a wolf, and he was instead attacked by an eagle. Unusual, to say the least.”
When she turned to Asher, she averted her gaze. “I forgot that when you turn back, you don’t have clothes. Do you want me to summon some for you?”
Asher looked down. He never noticed if he was naked or not, never affected by temperature unless it was freezing cold. It was only when he saw Valeria staring at him, her eyes darkening, that he remembered.
“If you must.”
Eyes still fixed on the trees, she coughed. “If I must?”
“If it makes you uncomfortable, you can dress me up.”
“You must find me stupid. I’m just not used to be around people so at ease with themselves.”
“Earlier you were surrounded by naked people, and you didn’t seem to mind. Patricia and Ian did the trial of blood naked, and you looked at them as if they were clothed.”
“But they’re not you.” Her voice had warmed.
Asher came closer to her. “Look at me, Valeria.”
She turned her head. “You humans create problems where there are none. For us shifters, it’s simple. We eat when we’re hungry, we run when the forest and the moon call to us, we sleep when we’re tired, we have sex when we lust.”
“Well, for us humans, it’s not as apparent.”
Asher couldn’t deny his nature. “I want to kiss you, Valeria. I want to touch you, and for you to touch me. I want to bury myself inside you and lose myself in you when you cry out my name. If you don’t want the same, say so. If you do, you know what your next move is. Whether you clothe me or not.”
Asher knew the signs; every one of them screamed lust on her face. They were so close, he could smell her arousal, and it enflamed his. Blood rushed through him, making him almost unaware of their surroundings. Almost.
He sensed two people approaching fast. Sentinels.
Valeria must have heard them as well, as he felt clothing materializing on his skin a moment later.
Reluctantly, he stepped away from her and turned to the two approaching forms. The bear transformed back into human form. It was Patricia.
Ignoring Valeria, she walked to Asher. “One of our contacts at the police station just called. They’ve found Robert’s car in a ditch on the main road. An accident.”
Asher’s heart stopped. “With Robert and Ellen in it?”
Patricia shook her head. “Blood, but none of them were in the car. It’s as if they’d magically vanished.”