Chapter 15 The mysteries of the werewolf inspired you
Closing her eyes, she let her inner bear take control. The pain that always came from a shift whipped into her, stiffening her limbs and making it harder to move her joints. Fur quickly skimmed over flesh as the sound of her bones breaking and reforming struck. For a moment, she was dizzy as the amber filled her eyes. Her body sizzled as the fire of the shift took over, traveling from the tips of her toes to her fingernails. A low growl escaped her as she dropped to the ground on all fours. She opened her eyes and found Marck and Brennan in their human forms, studying her.
She made a sound as close to her human moan as she could, then plastered on what she hoped they’d see as a smile. Suddenly, she felt huge and clumsy. That feeling had never come over her before while in her bear body. But how could they look at her and like what they saw? She was a big, hairy, and not at all sexy.
“Damn, girl. How could such a little girl turn into such a big animal?”
Shame struck her and she spun around, pounding her way toward the tree line. Even her paws seemed too large for her body.
“Hey, Nic, stop!”
They raced in front of her and held out their hands to stop her. Brennan placed a palm on top of her furry head. “I swear I didn’t mean that in a bad way.”
“Just remember the source, baby. He doesn’t always think before he opens his big mouth.” Marck bent lower and tracked a hand over her fur. “You’re beautiful. Even as a bear.”
She moaned again, loving the feel of his stroke. Did she feel as soft as they had?
“Yeah, baby. It’s not that you’re ugly or anything. It’s just that you’re not a large woman. We kind of expected you to be a small bear, too.”
Were they serious? Or were they saying nice things to keep from hurting her feelings? She sat down on her haunches as they squatted next to her.
“You’ve got to admit this is weird.” Marck scratched behind her ear. “I mean, two werewolves and a werebear? We don’t know about you, but we’ve never heard of it happening before.”
She hadn’t, either. In fact, she could remember her father telling her the rules against different kinds of shifters getting together. But were they werebear laws? Or laws of nature?
And yet, they were all humans. Didn’t they have the same fears, the same hopes other people did? Didn’t they deserve to have love wherever they found it? In whatever form it came in?
“Shift back, baby. We need to hold you.” Brennan slid his hand along her long muzzle. “As the
sexy woman you are.”
She did as he asked, letting the change take her again. Her bear protested as it always did whenever she wanted to return to human form, but she ignored it. She, too, needed to hold her men.
In a short time, she was human again, naked and shivering as the breeze flowed over her body.
They pulled her between them once again, forming a loose kind of hug. “Watch it, bro. No swords touching.”
She giggled, enjoying Brennan’s humor as she always did. Pushing them back, she took the chance to again slide her gaze over their bodies. Their cocks had remained flaccid while she was in her bear body, but now they were up and waving at full strength.
“I can see you two like me better as a woman.” “Definitely.” Marck nibbled on her shoulder.
“So I didn’t scare you away with my bear body?”
“Of course not. Were you grossed out by our wolf bodies?” asked Brennan.
“Of course not,” she mimicked. “But have you thought about this? How can we be together when we’re so different?”
“It’s our inner animals that are different. Not the real us.”
“But my inner bear is a part of the real me, Marck. Doesn’t that make being together impossible? What about children? Can I even get pregnant, much less carry a child to full term with its father being two werewolves?”
She saw her concern reflected in their eyes. Sorrow swept over her, taking away some of the joy of being with them.
“Look, I don’t have the answers.” Marck took her by the chin. “But I do know we wouldn’t have the connection if we weren’t meant to be together. We’ll figure it out. Some way, somehow. You’ve got to trust that we will.”
“He’s right, baby. We just got back together after dreaming about you for years. Don’t give up before we’ve begun.”
“I won’t.” If they wanted her to believe, she would. “The hell you will.”
The loud, booming voice sounded way too close. Jenny yelped and scrambled for her clothes, twisting around to see her father standing at the edge of the clearing.
Shifters were used to seeing family members and others in their “naked human bodies,” but that didn’t mean she wanted to stand there with her father getting an eyeful. She turned to face him right after she’d pulled on her clothes. “Dad, how’d you find me?”
“Never mind. What do you think you’re doing messing with two damn dogs?”
The Cagle brothers had come to her in the shifter forms. As far as she knew they’d either left their clothing at home or had stashed it in the woods to be retrieved later. To their credit, they weren’t cowed by her father’s anger.
Or by the shotgun he held.
He settled it against his shoulder and pointed the barrel straight at Marck. “I’m going to blow your head clean off your body, boy.”
“Sir.” Marck stepped away from her, putting distance between them. “Don’t go doing anything foolish. You wouldn’t want to hurt your daughter by accident.”
“Trust me, dog. I’m a good shot. What I hit is what I aimed to hit.”
Brennan took his place beside his brother. “Mr. Monroe, please calm down and let’s talk this out. I’m Brennan Cagle and this is my brother Marck.”
“I know who you are and I know who your father is, too. Damn Carl Cagle.”
“Yes, sir, that’s right.” Marck’s tone held an edge to it. “With all due respect, sir, I’ll have to ask you not to curse my father. If you’ll just put the gun down, we can talk.”