Chapter 229 Chapter 229
Jesse paced over and looked out across the field. He could see Thera and Minn dashing around, he still couldn’t believe Evanna had shifted again so soon. Something about wanting to check on Minn and work on their bond.
“Hello?”
He’d forgotten he was on the phone. “Yeah. Sorry, Cal, I’m just stuck in my head.”
“That sounds fun.” The sarcasm wasn’t hard to hear. “What’s going on? I thought you said everything was fine.”
“It is.” He rubbed his hand across his forehead, “considering I’m hauling a leopard around, it’s going much better than I expected.”
“Okay—”
Jesse hissed out a breath, “shit, Cal, I don’t know which way is up right now.”
“What’s happened? You have someone following you?”
Jesse turned and looked along the road, he could see for miles in all directions. “No, no tail.”
“Then?”
“It’s Leah,” he snorted, “and Evanna and Minn.”
“Minn?”
Jesse watched her race ahead of Thera, “her cat.”
“Her cat has a name?”
It wasn’t hard to hear how strange Calum thought that was. “Yeah, her cat is a separate personality, like Evanna is.”
“All right,” Calum cleared his throat, “Is everything okay with her—them?”
“Sure, there’s just this one thing that isn’t, or mostly it’s me I think.”
“You used to make more sense than you have been lately.”
Jesse laughed quietly, despite it not being that funny, “They’re my mate. At first, I thought it was just Evanna, but no, it’s Leah and Minn synchs with my cat.”
“I—uh, don’t know how that works.”
Jesse appreciated the honesty, “that makes two of us.”
“Does she know?”
Checking the road again, he shook his head, “I don’t know. I don’t know if her elders explained any of that, or if they were even able to, she was in cat form more than two legs—and she shifted so early, so they may not have thought it would be an issue for a while…” He lifted his hand and let it drop, “I don’t know.”
He could hear Calum exhale loudly, “I can talk to Shae and see if she’s gotten anywhere with the shifter doctor she’s been talking to.”
“I’m just happy one of ours knows about this disassociated,” he waved his hand around, “disorder.”
“That’s what I took it to mean when she was talking about it earlier. Hang on, she’s coming this way now.”
Jesse nodded, even knowing he couldn’t see. “Yup.” He added just so Cal would know he wasn’t zoned out again. He could hear Cal’s deep voice, but nothing from Shaelan.
“Jesse, it’s Shaelan.”
“Hi.” He turned back around to see the cats coming back this way. Going over to the van, he grabbed a few bottles of water, noting they’d have to stop for supplies sooner than later.
“I was just telling Cal some of the statistics the doctor shared with me.”
He was surprised, “good kind of statistics?”
“Yes, it’s more common than any of us ever imagined.”
Stretching, he got the bowl from under the seat and set it on the ground beside the van. “Then she knows about mates with this?” He poured the water into the dish and looked to see Minn veering off so Evanna could shift as Thera came back.
“She does, it’s complicated, which I don’t know about you, but I expected. Have you figured out if it’s just one personality or all?”
He didn’t need to clarify. “All.”
“I suppose that’s easier than if it were just one.”
Jesse snorted, then rolled his eyes, “I don’t think easy is a word I’d use for any of this.” He watched Evanna walk out from behind the small cluster of trees, “so,” he cleared his throat, “do you think she knows?”
“You could ask her.”
She was pulling her hair up, he watched her, not that his focus could be anywhere else, she was beautiful, graceful, and all parts of her were always graceful. “You don’t think that will upset her?”
“I don’t think so, she knows what she is and for the most part I believe how everything works.”
Jesse nodded slowly and then smiled back at Evanna as she got closer. “Okay, I guess I’ll broach the subject and see if she does.”
“While I’ve got you, do you want me to arrange to have someone here when you get here? That doctor has said she’ll be happy to come.”
Jesse rubbed his hand along his jaw, “hold on, I don’t want to make that decision for her. I know Leah agreed, but I just want to clarify.”
“Of course.”
He lowered the phone and held it against his chest. “Shaelan is asking if you would like to meet with the doctor when we get to Blair’s.”
Evanna paused and ran her hand along Thera’s back. “This doctor knows what’s wrong with us?”
Jesse nodded.
Evanna inhaled a slow breath. “Okay,” she nodded, “I guess the sooner we talk to them the sooner we’ll have help for Minn.” She made an exasperating sound, “I had to fight to get back control again just now.”
Jesse straightened and really looked at her, he could see it around her eyes, the headache was bad. As he reached for the first aid kit, he put the phone back to his ear. “Shaelan, she said yes, she’d like to talk to them as soon as possible.” He opened it and took out the acetaminophen, “she’s having a hard time controlling Minn.” Opening it, he tipped two into his hand and then turned and held it out to Evanna.
“I spoke to Rayne about that, and she said she knew of someone that can work with her to help with her cat. Someone from Ed’s clan may be able to,” she paused, “Blair’s clan still has a lot going on, so I haven’t asked them.”
Evanna took them and gave him a small smile, before reaching around him and opening the cooler. “That sounds good, get all the help there for when we arrive.”
“Devin is sending a trailer for you to stay in while you’re here.”
He watched Evanna take the pills and then finish the juice box. Had she looked that tired before the run? He needed to start watching for that better. “I appreciate that. I’ll call him later.”
“When do you think you’ll be here?”
He could hear other voices in the background now. “I’m hoping to drive straight through and be there late tomorrow. If not, then the first thing the next day. It depends if we stop to rest or just take short breaks.”
“Make sure you’re getting some rest, Jesse, this is going to get more stressful before it improves.”
He nodded, “I will. Okay, we’re going to get back to it, Shaelan, thank you.”
“Any time, Jesse. Take care.”
Hanging up, he looked down at Thera, “ready for another drive?” She didn’t look thrilled but jumped into the van. He smiled at her, “soon, I promise, you can race around Blair’s for days if you must.” She huffed and lay down.
Closing the door, he watched Evanna as she opened the passenger’s door. “You should try to get some sleep.”
“I should be okay once those pills work.” She motioned around her, “I just like seeing something different every time I look out the window.”
He closed the door when she got in and leaned on the open window, “next few hours are miles of nothing to see, grab some rest while you can.” Reaching in, he flipped the handle on the side and reclined the seat.
“Oh,” she chuckled as she was suddenly laying back, “that’s handy.”
Jesse smiled, “I’ll wake you if there’s anything worth seeing.” He patted his hand off the door, “tonight we’re going to have to stop at a store, so get some rest while you can.”