Shifter Romance: Werewolf Shifter Romance: Problem Child (Wolf Shifter Romance Baby Romance Shapeshifter Romance) (Alpha Romance Short Stories Romance Shifter Romance) (3 page)

THREE MONTHS LATER

Rebecca stepped off the train and instantly the sea air hit her in the face.

The month was April. It was a little sunnier, but still every bit as chilling as it had been back in January and she shivered heavily. It had been warm in the city.

It seemed strange to find that she had missed it here. Even though she had only ever been here for two days in her life before, she had found both Jet and Whitby had taken up a disproportionate amount of her thoughts since.

“Didn’t you take his number or anything?” Her friend Anneka asked, incredulously, when she had finally been forced to confess that, yes, something more than just the nuts and bolts of some very dry genetics had taken place that weekend.

Well, they had had a genetics mini-conference of their own, cooped up in that hotel room. She had seen sadly little of the sight and sounds that the charming little town had to offer, but she could not say she had been too disappointed at the time.

However, she presumed it would be unlikely to run into Jet again. If she did it would be nice, nothing more, she tried telling herself, sensibly.

There had been nothing “nice” about him, though, great for a one nighter, certainly, but probably not the best basis of a relationship. That would not be logical.

And besides, there was the small issue of her job. She was in charge of a large study into the genetics of shifters, with a view to properly identifying and classifying them for later research and, if possible, nullification, actually meeting a real life one, up close, for the first time ever had been fascinating although not quite in the way that Rebecca had envisaged.

They said people were drawn to them against their will, although until now, she had not realized just how much so.

All in all, it was best to wear her rationalist hat for this one.

Rebecca tried her hardest to keep her science brain in charge, but there were times it had to be said it had failed her. That was how Mark had happened.

He was sensible, kind, nice to her but ultimately boring. She sighed deeply. Six months later and he was STILL in her flat. It was ridiculous, but how was she supposed to get rid of him?

You need to knock that on the head quick fast honey.

The voice said, mockingly

“Yeah but...” Muttered Rebecca aloud, forgetting for a moment she was walking across a busy street – the main street links the two halves of the town together by an impressive drawbridge.

Hang on just who was talking to her?

She turned around. She was in the middle of a crowded street, so anyone could have spoken to her, but she couldn’t see who.

She paused to take in the view of the dark gray sea bubbling up its icy welcome from the bridge. This time, she would definitely-

Look out!

That voice, again, but, this time, she could not see because she was suddenly tossed into the air, propelled by some unseen force. She thought maybe someone had pushed her, and she would simply come down at any moment, bruised and embarrassed on the road. But she hadn’t stopped falling yet. The road seemed a long way down. As her body speeded up, her mind slowed down to process what was happening. The road had vanished. She was falling hard and deep into the sea.

The bitter chill of the ice snapped her out of her daze. She was still going down and fast.

Now comprehensively under water, Rebecca was struggling fast to push her way to the surface, but failing fast. The shock, the cold, the confusion enveloped her and she simply faded into the black pit that had opened up to welcome her.

“Please sir, we’re making your wife as comfortable as possible and that’s all we can do for the time being,” said the nurse, rushing from one patient to another, in the busy emergency ward. Her face told of kindness and sleepless nights, but her voice was blunt in its delivery.

Anger flushed in his cheeks. No one spoke to him in that tone and got away with it. Jet was accustomed to being treated with respect.

Then he turned back towards Rebecca. She was breathing, she was alive. That was the main thing. He swallowed down the flash of fury that had arisen as best he could.

Actually, Jet had never said that Rebecca was his wife, they had just sort of assumed that she was and he hadn’t thought it important to mention at the time.

It had been an accident, nothing more than that. There was no way anyone could have seen it coming. And he didn’t, exactly. But he had known just where she was and that she was in sudden and instant danger.

The instinct was so fierce it actually was a surprise to him sometimes. Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a paranormal agency that he was running, if he couldn’t see these things. But all the same, the clearness of the signal had been remarkably strong, a flurry of noise and a fast-moving procession of white coats and paramedics spun by the corridor.

The cyclist who had plowed into her was being rushed in on a trolley. He was heavily concussed but still breathing.

That could be sorted, though.  A couple of phone calls were all it would take. Jet didn’t have to explain much in his life to anyone.

The rising tide of anger hit a peak and he bit down hard against the platinum ring he was wearing. It was more than just fury this time, though. He felt for her hand by the side of the bed.

She was a strong girl, she would come good in the end… she had to.

“Mr. Black?”

He quickly spun around. The medic permitted himself a smile.

“I’m Dr. Puntis. I’ll be brief. You’ll be pleased to hear there is no lasting damage to your wife and she is expected to wake up any time now. But it might just be best to let her rest for the time being.”

“That…that’s brilliant news I just...”

“I’m sorry we’re incredibly busy, one of the nurses will help you...”

He turned swiftly on his heel to go, before remembering something. He paced back and drew the curtain behind him.

“Oh, apologies. Of course. Here. The sonographer gave me this earlier, I’m sure you will want this. Everything seems to be fine with the baby as well.”

Jet’s jaw fell wide open.

“I really must be going now”

He held her limp hand tightly with his left hand and surveyed the grainy Polaroid in his other with abject disbelief.

Some psychic you are kid.

She didn’t remember it being this sunny. The light filled her head and literally seemed to want to crack her skull in two.

Rebecca opened a throbbing, traumatized eyelid to discover the sun a whole lot closer than it had been when she had gone to sleep in the sea.

“Don’t try and sit up I’ll get the nurse.”

She turned to see Jet, through her heavy blurred eyes. A ton of saltwater had rendered them extremely puffy.

Where had he come from anyway?

Blinking through her confusion, she realized the “sun” was a strip light and she was laid down in a hard, uncomfortable bed.

“You’re alright, just concussed.” He continued. “Some idiot knocked you off the bridge into the water. Lucky I was around.”

Rebecca opened up her mouth to speak, but couldn’t find anything to say.

There was a silence while a general humming noise distracted her further.

“How did you get here. And..?”

When her voice finally did come to life, it was not as she recognized it. It was like listening to someone else, someone still underwater. She sounded croaky and generally exactly as she would expect someone to sound who had consumed half of the North Sea.

“That’s not important, what is...” Jet trailed off.

“Could you pass my purse” Said Rebecca. She was suddenly sitting bolt upright in bed, “Oh my God my hair!”

Her untamed curls were indeed looking particularly medusa-like. She set to work subduing them with the afro comb in her bag.

“Jesus is that the time?” Rebecca sprung out of bed in one single movement.

“Rebecca, is that a good idea?” Asked Jet.

A nurse appeared immediately wearing a starched expression of concern.

“Mrs. Black please get back into bed...”

“No no no.,” said Rebecca, clutching her few possessions that were drying off at the foot of the bed. “I need to be somewhere, real soon...”

“Please, Mrs. Black.”

“What  ... who?” She burst out exasperated.

However, she had bigger things to think about.

“I need to get to the conference Jet; I think I told you before it’s my job! The only reason I’m here.”

“Rebecca, I’m sure they can do without your admin support for one day considering what’s just happened,” said Jet exasperated, he and the nurse sharing a steely scowl between them.

“Admin? You don’t understand Jet. I’m delivering a speech there in a couple of hours!”

“What.. but?”

When Jet had first come across Rebecca he had known she was attached to the science entourage that was in town, the one that was doing such deadly research. But despite running a highly successful paranormal agency, he had still let a hefty dose of good old-fashioned sexism skew his judgment.

It simply had not occurred to him that she was one of the scientists involved in the work and to put it bluntly, persecution, into shifters.

“Rebecca?” said Jet, simply to shell-shocked to feel anything other than confusion at that moment.

She carried on walking, heading towards the exit of the ward, pushing open the double doors and then the next and then the next.

A few minutes later she had reached the outside. She could again smell the sea air and hear the cries of the seagulls in the air above.

“Mrs. Black” The faint voice of the nurse back inside the corridor rattled out.

Under her breath, Rebecca could not help herself the correction.

“Dr. Storey, and I’m outta here”

If she hurried, she could get back to the cottage, shower and change quickly and then… She stopped, in a daze and turned quickly to look at the hospital behind her.

Then, she realized she didn’t have the faintest idea where she was. Peering a bit closer, she made out the sign.

“Scarborough Hospital”

She turned to Jet, with unease.

“Where the hell am I Jet?”

Despite himself, Jet laughed out loud.

“Don’t worry. I can give you a lift back.” He said. “But first we have got things to discuss Rebecca.”

“We sure do, like starting with why everyone seems to think that you are my husband”

He fished the black and white scan out of his pocket.

“Like when you were going to tell me about this.”

Rebecca stopped; open mouthed, breathing like a landed fish. She thought she was going to be sick. Her brain had literally stopped functioning.

“Wh... what... is this?”

Jet looked blankly at her.

“You mean you didn’t know?”

By the time they reached the little harbor it was starting to get dark and stars glinted icily in the crisp night sky. Rebecca shivered. When Jet had said he could give her a lift, she had rather thought he meant straight from the hospital. It was starting to feel as if they were going to be walking all the way to Whitby.

“Is it much further?”               She asked eventually, not wanting to sound like a moaner but wondering how much more she could actually walk, with all the things that had happened to her today.

The conference didn’t kick off for another couple of hours – this was to be an icebreaker drinks reception in the hotel lobby, a sort of warm-up event. But she still wanted time to get ready.

“Yep. Parked up right here.”

Rebecca turned around to look. There were no cars parked up anywhere in the vicinity. At least, none of the type that it looked that someone like Jet might drive.

“What. Where”

Jet smiled slowly.

“Right here honey, hop aboard.”

In front stood a large boat with the name “Luna” painted in white italics on the side.

For not the first time that day, Rebecca was struck dumb.

Once aboard, the insides did nothing to quell her surprise. The interiors were all walnut and oak. Jet motioned to her to sit down on the two-seater Chesterton.

“Is this... yours?” She asked in disbelief.

“Yeah, it’s pretty basic but it’ll get us to Whitby in time enough to have a little chat.”

Basic? From where she was seated Rebecca could see a double bedroom with a four poster bed. It was not so much a boat but a floating hotel suite. For the first time, she started to realize that Jet was wealthy, seriously wealthy.

He bounded up off from the couch to go to the helm, just ahead of her.

“The thing is. I am more than willing to take care of everything.” He said after what seemed like an age. Rebecca joined him on the deck as he steered the vessel in the dark. It was very cold by now and her clothes were still damp and on top of everything else she started to realize that she stank of the sea.

Jet extended an arm onto her shoulder and rubbed it warmly.

“Christ, you’re cold. Hold this here a sec – just keep the wheel steady” He said, bestowing the controls of the yacht to her. “Won’t be a mo.”

Within two minutes he had returned with a large fur coat. He draped it over her frozen shoulder blades. It melted her congealed blood almost straight away.

As he placed the collar on the nape of her neck, he could not resist the touch of her contours. At the very register of his fingertips, she almost leaped out of her skin, although not in a bad way. To her surprise, she found she actually wanted him to touch her, to have him on her skin. It felt warm, right.

She frowned and struggled to put her brain in charge. She couldn’t simply crumble like this. After all, wasn’t this how she had come to be in this situation already?

In her head she could hear her mother’s voice, chiding her.

Christ sakes Rebecca, you’re nearly thirty and didn’t even know that you were pregnant!

Rebecca moved out of Jet’s reach, pulling the coat on further in an attempt to button out the wind.  On it, she could detect the faintest whiff of perfume on it. She wondered idly whose coat it was and how she would feel about another woman wearing such an obviously expensive piece.

“There is absolutely nothing to worry about at all. I can pay for everything you need.”

“Pay?” said Rebecca, in confusion.

“Totally, I take responsibility for this mess.”

They sailed on in total silence. She wasn’t sure just how long it took, but by the time the lights of Whitby bay sparkled into view, she was more than grateful to be disembarking.

As Jet moored the yacht, Rebecca began to make her excuses. Never mind the drinks party, she needed to think, alone.

“We can’t leave it too long Rebecca,” He shouted, through the spray and gentle rain that had started falling in big ice-cold droplets from the North Sea. “I’ll call you – tomorrow.”

Rebecca turned back.

“But you don’t have my new number” She nearly replied. But instead, she turned around to face him, smiling politely.

“Bye Rebecca. Have a nice night.”

If he couldn’t call her it might not be the worst thing in the world and so she walked away, waving at him with an external serenity she most certainly did not feel.

“Bye Jet”

As she wandered about Whitby harbor, stinking of seaweed and generally feeling like a piece of driftwood that had just washed up on the bay, an intense tiredness overtook her. All she wanted to do was lie down and sleep.

She didn’t though. Her feet obediently transported her to the correct destination and after a ten minute freshen up in the ladies, she managed, just about to put a comb through her turbulent curls and wash the worst excesses of the sea out of them in the hand basin.

Somehow, her body contained its intense longing for oblivion, as she stayed erect just long enough to hear her voice delivering a speech into the quest for human genetics and the containment of shifters as a species.

There were even applause and polite murmurings of approval from the audience. The deep irony of the words she was saying the actuality of the biology that was unleashing itself in her womb was not lost on her.

What would a shifter’s baby be like? Thoughts tumbled madly into her overheated brain. She certainly as hell hadn’t planned to be a test case in the cause of her own research.

“Hey that was a great speech Rebecca – I just wanted to say I’m really looking forward to working with you on this project.”

A voice dragged her from her thoughts. It was the weedy blond from the other night. She knew him about as well as she wanted to already and couldn’t say she was looking forward to their working relationship much.

“Thanks er ..Glen.”

“Duncan”

For a small fellow, he sure seemed to suddenly over occupy his place – and her personal space. She smiled and attempted to move past.

“I’d really like to talk to you a bit more about the impact that shifters have had-“

The impact that shifters have had? He could try in her womb – ha!

“Look Glen – sorry Duncan, it’s been a long day ... Maybe we could discuss this tomorrow at the conference?”

With that she was out of there, back on the sea front, with the might of the North Sea blowing against her face, keeping her, just about, awake for long enough to arrive in front of her holiday cottage door, in a state of beyond exhaustion.

From somewhere inside her handbag, her mobile phone trilled loudly. More incredulous than anything else, she answered it briskly.

“Hello?”

Jet’s voice echoed across the line oddly.

“Rebecca I’m going to pick you up at nine tomorrow, be ready.”

She couldn’t believe her ears. How the hell had he gotten her number anyway? In cold fury, she slammed the phone in her purse.

How fucking dare he!

It wasn’t even like she knew what she wanted to do yet, but either way, she was coming to the conclusion that she was better off doing it by herself.

She wasn’t sure that she needed his input.

Not now, not ever.