Chapter 13
Carter
Che’s room wasn’t far from Katya’s, but it was down the hall farther, past a noisy laundry room. There were no other residences besides his. That made it unlikely anyone would overhear us. It was the perfect place to explain Katya’s true nature to her.
And it was definitely time. Just as we walked to Che’s room, her bones popped several more times. She cried out in pain each time.
I exchanged worried glances with Che. It might not be long before she shifted.
He unlocked his door and waved us inside, leading us to a small dining room. We sat at the table and Katya glared at us. “Now will you two tell me what’s going on?”
“We’ll tell you everything.” I put my hand on top of hers and met her gaze. “Do you promise to keep an open mind?”
“Can you make this stop hurting?” Her voice was pinched.
I nodded. “We can. All the popping will stop, guaranteed.” But the one thing I couldn’t promise was that she’d like the answer—shifting into a jaguar. I took a deep breath and tried to figure out the best place to start.
Che cleared his throat. “You know how you’ve always felt different from your mom and sister?”
Katya stared at him. “How did you know?”
“And you know how we’ve always had a connection?”
She swallowed, but didn’t say anything.
“Well, there’s a really good reason for that.”
“I always thought it was because you were a father figure. And that you knew my dad. You’ve been willing to tell me more about him than Mom is.”
“And what I’m about to tell you is something not even she knows about him.”
Katya rubbed her side. Then she turned to me. “And you’re somehow involved in this? With whatever’s between Che and my dad?”
“I never knew your dad, but yeah.”
She stared back and forth between the two of us. “And that’ll explain why you two have become besties?”
I nodded yes. “Not that we’d call each other besties.”
Katya rubbed her neck, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. “Okay. Lay it on me. Why does this pain make me different from Mom and Alley?”
Che rubbed his own neck, but for entirely different reasons. “There’s a family secret. It’s so important that, even though your dad walked away from the family, he couldn’t tell your mom. But you have to know now, because you’ve inherited it.”
Katya’s eyes flew open. “What have I inherited? Is it a disease? Is that what really killed him? Am I going to die, too?”
I placed my palm on her back. “You’re perfectly healthy. I swear.”
She turned to me, her expression panic-stricken. “What is it, then?”
I glanced over at Che. “Would it be better to just let her experience it? To see it? We could take her out to the forest.”
Katya’s face paled. “See what? Just tell me!”
My mind raced. I’d grown up knowing that one day I would shift. It was a rite of passage I’d eagerly awaited for years. I couldn’t even remember anyone ever telling me. By the time I was old enough to speak, I just knew it as reality. “You’ll keep an open mind?”
“I don’t have much of a choice, now do I?” Another bone popped. She cried out.
I pulled her close, and turned to Che. “We need to get her out of here.”
“Can we get to the woods in time? I don’t have a car.”
“I do.”
Katya jumped up from her chair, tears shining in her eyes. “I’m not going anywhere until you two explain everything to me!”
I rose and met her gaze. “You’re about to shift into a jaguar.”
Her face paled even more, which I hadn’t thought possible. “What?”
“Shifters are real.” I took her hand, which shook in mine. “Werewolves, dragons, bears, and plenty more. You, me, Che—we’re all jaguar shifters.”
Katya turned to Che.
He nodded. “So was your dad, and so are those guys who attacked you that night you brought Carter here.”
She swayed back and forth.
I pulled her close and held her, rubbing her back. “They’re the reason Che and I are bruised and bloody. He called me when they showed up at the hotel again. I came over, and we had to fight them to leave.”
“Wh-what do they want?”
Che and I exchanged another look. Katya might just fall completely apart if she knew they wanted her.
“Don’t worry about them,” I whispered.
She pulled out of my grasp and glared at me. “Don’t tell me not to worry! What do they want? Those… those shifters?”
“You really want the truth?”
“That’s all I’ve wanted all along.”
“You.” I let the lone word sink in.
Katya sat back down. “They want me?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her more.
She turned to Che. “Why?”
He frowned. “They’re from your dad’s family.”
“They’re my relatives?”
“Right.”
“Like cousins or something?”
“Something like that.” Che reached across the table and took her hand. “But you need to understand that there’s a good reason your dad left them. He risked his life when he made that choice.”
Katya’s mouth fell open.
“Leaving put a target on his back. But mating with a human, that was like painting targets all over his body. That’s what got him killed.”
“Those people—they’re the ones who killed my dad?” Katya shook.
Che nodded.
“They need to go to jail! Why are they walking around free?”
“Because shifters live by an entirely different set of rules and regulations. According to their laws, your father’s death was justified.”
“Because he walked away from them? Because he loved Mom?”
“Right.”
She slunk into the chair. “This is too much.”
I glanced at Che. “Should we take her out to shift?”
“The popping has stopped,” she whispered. “And you don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here.”
“Sorry. What should we do?”
“Talk to me like I am here.”
I brushed some hair away from her face. “No. I mean, do you want to shift? Do you need something else?” I tried to imagine myself in her place, but couldn’t.
“I just want to lie down. In my own bed.”
Che threw me a worried glance before turning to her. “But what if you have to shift?”
Katya drew in a deep breath. “That passed. Nothing’s popping, nothing’s sore. I barely have the energy to walk to my room.”
“I’ll help you. Lean on me.” I helped her to stand. The three of us trudged to her room. Che unlocked the door, and I helped Katya to her bed.
She sat and looked over at Che, then me. “What now?”
“Rest, if that’s what you need,” he said. “I’ll be close.”
Katya turned to me. “Will you stay?”
“Of course.”
“Call me if you need anything,” Che said.
I nodded. “And you let me know if those jaguars show up again.”
“I doubt they will. At least not tonight. But if they do, you’ll be the first to know.”
“Oh, and Toby’s sending over a couple of our pack members. Make sure they get a room close to here.”
“Will do.” He turned to Katya. “Do you need anything before I go?”
She shook her head.
He spun around and left, closing the door behind him.
I pulled the covers back, and Katya climbed underneath. After turning off the lights, I sat in a recliner.
“Hold me.”
My pulse raced at the thought of climbing under the covers with her, but who was I to argue with what she wanted? I went around to the other side of the bed, kicked off my shoes, and slid over next to her, pulling her close. I tried to ignore how delicious she smelled and how soft her skin was.
We lay in silence for some time. She shook, drew in deep breaths, and every once in a while, drew even closer to me. I kissed the back of her head several times and threaded my fingers through hers. Not once did any of her bones pop.
“Is Professor Foley a jaguar shifter too?”
“Toby? No, he’s a werewolf. Most of my pack is.”
“Why do you live with them?”
“Because they’re a helluva lot nicer than my family.”
“So, when you say family, do mean pack? Or do you mean your literal family?”
“Jaguars hate the term pack. Most of our kind looks down on werewolves, so we use the term family loosely.”
She nodded and took a deep breath. “Most of our kind are jerks?”
“That’s putting it politely.”
“Why does my dad’s pack want me? Do they want me dead?”
My breath caught. The truth would likely gut her.
“I can handle the truth. I know I seem weak right now, but this is a lot to take in.”
“You’re anything but weak. I can’t imagine how I’d handle hearing the news like you did, with no idea about the supernatural world.”
“Supernatural world?”
I cringed. Why had I said that? The last thing she needed was more dumped on her plate.
“Tell me.”
“Okay. There’s a lot more than the various shifters out there. We’re just a small part of the overall world of creatures that humans think only exist in stories and movies.”
Katya took a deep breath. “You’ll have to tell me about that later.”
Relief washed through me. “For sure.”
“So, am I now sworn to secrecy? I can’t tell my twin about any of this?”
“No, it’s far too dangerous.”
“For her, or us?”
“Both.”
We lay in silence again for a while. Then Katya rolled over and looked into my eyes. “What’s going to happen when I shift?”
“It’ll be like the popping you felt, only all over.”
“In other words, it’ll hurt.”
“Yeah, especially at first, but it does get better.”
“Does it always hurt?”
I took a deep breath. “Yeah, but it’s manageable after a while. Once it’s over, you’ll forget all about it.”
She grabbed my hand and pressed her palm against mine. It was a simple action, but it sent a wave of warmth through me. “What’s it like, being a jaguar?”
“It’s unbelievable. There’s nothing that compares to running free and sensing everything so much more. It’s hard to describe. Everything is brighter. The smells stronger. Noises crisper. Tastes are magnified. And the speed… we can’t move nearly as fast in this state.”
“It sounds amazing.”
“It really is.”
She threaded her fingers through mine. “Will you go with me when I shift?”
“Of course I will.”
“Can we go now?”
I gave her a double-take. “Do you feel like you need to?”
“No, but now I’m curious.”
“Then let’s wait.” I kissed her nose. “You’ve got the biggest game of the season tomorrow. If you’re out all night running as a jaguar, you’re likely to be exhausted.”
“What if my bones start popping and cracking again?”
“You’ve held off this long. One more day shouldn’t be too difficult.”
She looked deep in thought. “Why does my dad’s family want me? I still don’t understand. Do they want me dead because my dad left them?”
Anger raced through me as I thought of their motives. “No. Quite the opposite, actually. They want to bring you in.”
Her mouth dropped open. “They accept me? They want to get to know me?”
It took all my self-control to keep my voice steady. “They want to possess you. To marry you to a man who will treat you like his property. You’d be nothing more than a maid and baby-making factory.”
“You’ve got to be kidding. In this day and age?”
“Now you see why your dad left. Why Che left his family. Why I fought to be free of mine. I can’t live under those archaic rules.”
Katya was quiet for a moment. “Is it crazy that I’m more surprised by that than the fact that my body wants to turn into a jaguar?”
I traced her jawline with my thumb and scooted closer. “Not at all. The traditional ways make me sick. I would never treat anyone the way jaguar men treat females.”
She pressed her soft, sweet lips on mine. My eyes widened with shock. Katya placed her palms on my face and kissed me hungrily.
I wrapped my arms around her and returned the kiss, following her lead. I didn’t want to go faster than she did, especially given her emotional state. Having her mouth against mine sent a wave of excitement through me like I’d never experienced. I’d finally met the woman I was meant to be with.
She pulled away and leaned against the pillow, her eyes closed. “Thank you for telling me the truth.”
I pulled her close and kissed her cheek. “You deserve nothing less.”
A few moments later, her breathing deepened. Once I was sure she was asleep, I closed my eyes, too.