ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (52 page)

Once they were out of the bathroom, Shane lent her a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Both were too big but at least the sweatpants had a drawstring. She sat in his kitchen as he cooked breakfast. It was a nice kitchen, very homey. Lexi wondered if his mother or sister had helped him pick everything out. There was a wooden block island in the center of the kitchen, and pots hung overhead. There were two chairs on one side of the island, creating a tiny breakfast bar area.

“Do you cook a lot?” she asked as he flipped over the omelet.

“When I have the time I do. You don’t get into helping restaurants out without really loving to cook. I was always the one helping my mom out in the kitchen because my sister can’t boil a pot of water. It’s pretty sad. Her fiancé can’t cook either, so they’ll probably survive on take out.”

Lexi snorted into her orange juice. “I’m trying to imagine you as a little kid but I can’t.”

“Well since I refuse to show anyone pictures of my horrifically styled childhood, you’re out of luck.” He turned and slid part of an omelet onto her plate. It was steaming and looked delicious.

He pulled the second chair around so he was facing her and began to cut up his own omelet. “This is amazing,” Lexi said after her first bite.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“So are you and your mom still close?” she asked.

“Sort of. Things have been extremely busy in the last few years so it’s a little hard to spend time with her. And my dad is pretty sick, so that takes up a lot of her time. We don’t see each other very often, but she usually tries to go to all of my restaurant openings and we do try to have dinner as a family once a month or so.” He took another bite and then looked at her. “How about you? Are you and your family close?”

“We used to be. And then when I started dating my ex we became distant. He sort of isolated me from everyone. So the last year has been a lot of relationship rebuilding. I try to spend time with my sister and her kids a lot, but both my parents died in a car accident about six months ago.” She tried to sound calm, but her lip quivered. She could feel a tear leak from the corner of her eye. It killed her that her parents died just as she was in the midst of repairing her relationship with them.

Stood up and moved around the table. “Shit, Lexi. I’m so sorry.” He put his arms around her and she buried her head against his side.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. She took a deep breath, and calmed herself. “I’m okay.” She looked up at him and his lips met hers. His touch was so comforting that it almost made her nervous. He was too good to be true. She was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. “Your food is going to get cold.” She pointed to his omelet.

“Are you alright?” His eyes searched her face.

“Yes, I’m fine. Promise. Now eat!”

They were halfway through their meal when Shane’s phone began to buzz. He didn’t go to check it, but the moment the call went to voicemail it began to buzz again. It happened three more times. “I think you may want to get that,” Lexi said, pointing at the phone.

Shane picked up the phone and looked at the caller ID. “It’s my sister, Amanda. I don’t really want to get it. I know exactly what she’s going to say.”

“Are you two arguing?” Lexi asked as the phone began to buzz again.

“Something like that.”

There was a loud knock on the door and the phone began buzzing once more. “Fuck,” Shane hissed. He dropped his fork, and stood up. “I’ll be right back. Stay here.”

Lexi could hear him move through the living room and open the front door. She couldn’t quite hear what was going on, but Shane and the feminine voice at the door (Lexi assumed it was his sister) were clearly going at it.

The voices became clearer as they moved into the apartment. Lexi figured whatever was going on, Shane was losing his battle.

“Shane you’re being ridiculous—“

“Get the hell out of my apartment, Amanda. I’m dealing with things the way I see fit to do so.” Lexi stood up. She didn’t think Shane wanted her to hear this. If she peaked her head in, maybe they would quiet down. If not she wanted to let Shane know she could leave while he and his sister figured things out.

She padded to the living room, and stopped in the doorway.

Amanda stood in the living room. She was the tallest woman that Lexi had ever seen in person. She was also wearing six inch heels. Her arms were crossed, and she looked so angry. “Shane, what the hell were you thinking? You brought a human into your home? Matt is at the council right now, screaming about how you’re betraying our kind—“

Shane locked eyes with Lexi. “Amanda, stop it.” Shane’s voice was low and angry.

“No, you have to listen to me. This isn’t appropriate right now. If you want some human side piece that’s fine but not right now!” Amanda turned away from Shane and looked right at Lexi.

Human?
Why in the world would she call Lexi human? It wasn’t as if Amanda wasn’t too. And what council was she talking about? Was it Shane’s board of trustees or something?

“Oh, shit. You didn’t tell me she was here,” Amanda said as she looked over her shoulder at Shane.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen.” Shane crossed over to Lexi. “You should go Amanda.”

“I will not! Not until you do something about all this. No offense, Lexi. I’m sure you’re lovely, but this is a really bad time for our family.” Amanda waved Lexi away, as if banishing her.

“Fuck, Amanda!” Shane ran a hand through his hair.

“Would one of you mind telling me what’s going on?” Lexi asked. She was getting really sick of being talked about like she wasn’t here. Family issues or not, she was involved now. Especially because Matt wanted to hurt her.

Amanda and Shane looked at each other. If was as if they were having an entire conversation silently. Anger rose in Lexi. This was completely inappropriate. If Shane didn’t want her involved in his crap, then he shouldn’t have asked her out. Or he should have let her handle Matt. “Whatever. I’m done. Shane, call me if you want. Or don’t.” She turned, and walked towards the door, planning on grabbing her purse and leaving. Her hand was on the doorknob when she realized that her car was still at the hospital. She hesitated for just a moment before Amanda spoke.

“We’re werewolves. Or shifters. Or whatever the hell you people call it.”

Lexi shook her head. She must not have heard it right. She turned to the two siblings. “What are you talking about?” She searched Shane’s face, waiting for him to shout ‘Punked!’ But he didn’t. He wasn’t looking at her.

“People who can turn into animals. They exist. Some people can turn into bears. Some into wolves. I’m sure there is other shit out there too. But Shane and I can turn into wolves and Shane is heir to the pack throne. So obviously it looks messed up when he’s dating human women instead of one of the girls from the pack.” Amanda tossed herself onto the couch and crossed her legs. She looked like she was on a photoshoot. Even her relaxed position looked beautifully posed. “So that’s what the whole fight with Matt is about. Well, it’s not about you. It’s about Shane being into humans and what humans can do for us, and Matt fucking hates humans. For good reason, you are all sort of assholes. But Matt would be a fucking horrible leader. He’s too hot headed. Case in point.” Amanda pointed at Lexi.

“Who attacks someone their rival has been seeing for like two weeks? Hell, I’d have been more worried that you put this all together yourself once you had Shane’s bloodwork. You wouldn’t be the first doctor to figure it out. So it would have made sense to try to kill you because of that.”

Lexi leaned against the door, her legs suddenly week. “Is this some joke? Are you trying to get me to stop seeing your brother?”

Amanda laughed. “No, sweetheart. He really seems to like you. I don’t care who my brother fucks. I do care about the pack and what is best for the pack. And right now, you’re not. It really isn’t anything personal.”

“You’re crazy.” Lexi mumbled.

Amanda laughed. “I wish I was!”

Lexi looked at Shane, but he wouldn’t meet her eyes. “Shane? Is this…is she telling…” Lexi couldn’t even finish her sentence. What was she supposed to say? What was she supposed to do? Just accept that…werewolves existed? That made no sense. It would be medically impossible for someone to shift forms. She had to look at the lab work. She had to know the truth.

“I’m leaving,” she whispered. She pushed herself up. One hand on the wall kept her steady.

“Lexi,” Shane whispered. “Lexi, I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know what you want from me, Shane. I really don’t.”

She wasn’t sure if she imagined his reply, because she was halfway out the door, but she was almost certain he said, “I just want you.”

When she was two blocks away she called a cab. She sat on the sidewalk and waited. It wasn’t until she was home that she remembered that she left her favorite scrubs back at Shane’s. She opened her door and checked the time. She had a few hours until her shift started. She jumped into the shower. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt dirty. And wrong.

She finished, dressed for work, and then sat on the couch. She turned on the television, hoping to distract herself from Amanda’s words, and Shane’s reaction, but she couldn’t focus on the television. She stood up and paced around the room. How was it possible for a human body to mimic an animals’ body. There was research that came out a few years ago that suggested that dogs shared some human DNA, but humans turning into wolves…no, it was impossible. Right?

Lexi needed to see the lab work. That was it. The lab work would tell her everything she needed to know. She called another cab, cursing the fact that her car was at the hospital, and then called a lab she worked with to find out if she could get some wolf blood.

The guy on the other line made her feel insane. But she made up a story about a patient being attacked by a large animal and needing to confirm the DNA. She scheduled the courier service to the hospital. Her heart thumped as she walked through the sliding doors.

“Lexi!” One of her favorite scrub nurses greeted her. “Your shift isn’t scheduled for another few hours. Why are you here?”

“Just checking on a couple of things,” she smiled.

“You’re such a workaholic,” the nurse admonished playfully.

Lexi shrugged. “I can’t help it, I love my job!”

The nurse laughed and turned to walk away. Lexi headed towards the lab. She pushed open the lab door and was greeted by one of the lab technicians, Greg.

“Hey, Lex! You got a package. It’s in the fridge; it’s the box with your name. Obviously.”

“Thanks, Greg. Can you pull the file on the John Doe who came in with the gunshot wounds the other week?”

“Are the two things related?”

“No, not at all.” Lexi felt bad lying to him. “Just figured that since I’m down here I can double check something with that anyway.” Lexi took her samples out of the medical refrigerator and began to set up slides. She compared her slides to the pictures and pathology from Shane’s report. The more she compared the more her heart sank.

Amanda wasn’t insane. And she wasn’t trying to drive Lexi away from Shane. There were too many similar markers. Amanda was telling the truth. Werewolves, or shifters or whatever, were real.

Lexi sank down onto one of the chairs and put her head in her hands.

“You okay, Lexi?” Greg asked. He put his hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, I think my blood sugar is just low. I got a little faint for a second.” Lexi took two deep breaths and Greg handed her a protein bar. “I’m not going to take your lunch,” Lexi said, passing the bar back to him. Greg basically lived in the lab, she was sure he lived on protein bars and protein shakes.

He smiled and opened a cabinet, displaying three boxes of the meal bars. “You wouldn’t be. Eat something, Lexi. You look like you’re going to pass out.”

She opened the wrapper and took a tiny nibble. She felt too sick to really dig into it. She wrapped it up as best she could and slid it into her pocket. “Thanks for that,” she said and gave Greg a smile.

“No problem. Try not to over work yourself,” he said with a sympathetic look. She cleaned up her slides and deposited them into the proper waste bins.

“I’ll do my best. No promises.”

Her shift ended too quickly. It was a blessing to have a heavy work load with lots on her mind but the moment she badged out everything came crashing back. She sat in her car for fifteen minutes before she managed to put the key in the ignition. She held her phone in her hand, hovering over Shane’s contact information, trying to decide if she should text him about the blood samples.

She put her phone in the cup holder and drove home. She made herself something to eat and then crawled into bed. Her phone beeped and she picked it up. It was a text from Shane.

Can we talk?

She looked at the text. Before she was able to type a response her phone began to ring. Shane’s number popped up on the screen. She swiped the screen, answering the call. She stayed silent for a moment.

“Lexi? Are you there?”

She found herself nodding. When she realized that she slowly said, “Yes.”

“I’m sorry about earlier. That’s not how I wanted you to find out. I’m not sure how I wanted you to find out because I’ve never dated a human in any serious capacity before. I was going to tell you.”

“When?”

“I don’t know. This is new territory for me, Lex. I…I don’t know how to handle it. How are you doing?” She looked at the phone, and ended the call. What sort of question was that?

It started ringing again almost immediately. She dropped the phone on her bed and rolled over, pulling a pillow over her head. The moment the ringing stopped and sent Shane’s call to voicemail the phone started ringing again. She let him call twice more before picking up.

“Honestly, Shane? I’m not sure how I feel. I don’t exactly think there’s a litmus test for the guy you’re dating telling you that he’s a…a…werewolf.”

“We prefer the term ‘shifter.’”

“Ugh… It’s a lot to take in.”

“I get that. I just wanted to know if this… I mean, if there’s a shot... can you forgive me?... Please, Lexi, allow me another chance.” He sounded a bit nervous, not quite like the cool and collected Shane he was used to.

“I really don’t know.” She sighed. “I’ll call you when I’ve thought some things out.” She didn’t wait for his response before hanging up. She sighed and scrubbed her face with her hands. Too bad there wasn’t a manual on how to feel after you find out your boyfriend isn’t a human.