Shifters of Grrr 1 (15 page)

Without warning, she screamed and took off, heading towards the entrance.
 

Jake was fairly certain he could hear his own heart breaking as he sat as still as a statue, letting her go. The hurt was very real, hitting far deeper than he had thought possible from a simple rejection. He lay down, a slight whimper escaping from his wolf, who sympathized with him.
 

Perhaps, he thought, perhaps it was never meant to be after all. The idea that a shifter and a human might mate was so rarely heard of to begin with, that perhaps he was just confusing a deep connection with what he thought a mated bond was supposed to be like. After all, he'd never experienced one before, so he couldn't know differently.
 

He was about to change back, until his ears perked up, hearing something in the distance.

***

Harper

Harper ran as fast as she could, thankful that she had chosen not to wear heels, but instead had put a pair of flats on. Her dress was flying everywhere, but it didn't matter as long as she put some distance between herself and the monstrosity that she had thought was Jake.
 

She hadn't known what to do, staring in wonder as he began to change. But when his face twisted and those horrible, horrible teeth were bared, she had started to feel terror. Watching it happen had been so grotesque that she felt frozen, rooted to the spot though she had wanted to flee. Then, when it had moved, she was suddenly in control of her body again.

The last of the trees were behind her now as she fled across the street. Chancing a look back, she breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't been following her. She slowed her pace somewhat, which was the only thing that stopped her from barreling headfirst into a large stranger.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, moving to go around the denim-jacket wearing figure. Dark had fallen, and she couldn't make out many of his details under the hat he wore. But when he spoke, she rolled her eyes in frustration. This was
not
what she needed just know.
 

"Why 'ello, fancy seeing you here ma'am. Did you come looking for me finally, in need of a little lovin?" He pursed his lips at her, making kissing noises as he stepped forward. She tried to back away, but he grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Hey, let me go!" she yelled, pushing against him in vain. His grip was like steel, unrelenting.

"No, I think you're going to come with me this time actually."

Harper wasn't sure what to do, having a hard time believing what was actually happening. He dragged her along the sidewalk, heading somewhere only he knew. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but perhaps if she screamed, someone would hear her. She sucked in a breath of air, trying to get something out quickly, for she knew he would try to stop her.

Before she could do anything though, his other hand clamped over her mouth, and then he elbowed her sharply in the stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She doubled over, trying to recover, but he grabbed her hair and yanked her upright as she gasped for breath.

"Now, let's not have any more of that, okay?"
 

She couldn't speak yet, but he took that as a sign of agreement. They reached a dark alleyway, which, she noticed, happened to be right beside the bar. In her own haste, she had been fleeing straight towards the only place in town she should really have been avoiding.

He pushed her all the way to the back. It was very dark, the single dim light at the bars rear exit was more than halfway back up the alley. His body pinned her against the wall as he tried to kiss her. She kept moving her head out of the way each time, hoping he might get frustrated and leave her alone. Instead, he just grabbed one of her breasts and began to massage that instead.

Teeth gleamed in the night as he chuckled evilly, enjoying what he was doing to her. Harper was still trying to formulate an escape plan when it suddenly became very, very clear, that someone else was going to take care of it for her.

Something scrabbled against the concrete. Her attacker turned to look, one hand still holding her up against the wall. The both of them peered into the dark, where it seemed there was nothing. When nothing revealed itself, he began to turn his attentions back to her body. Before he could touch her again though, a very deep, low sounding growl echoed through the alleyway.

Fear flowed through her body. Jake had found her!

"Please let me go. I don't want to die. He's going to kill me," she pleaded, tears forming in her eyes, leaving cold streaks down her cheeks as they began to fall.

"What? Who's going to kill you? I won't let them."
 

Her would-be attacker turned away from her, placing his body between her and the open alley. Then he took a step forward, trying to see what was out there. His hand found a free piece of wood, which he smacked solidly against one hand as he advanced closer to the light.

At first Harper could see nothing, wondering if perhaps they had been hearing things. Then, as her attacker turned protector took another step forward, two yellow-orange eyes resolved themselves in the gloom on the far side of the light. Her knees wavered and then gave out as she half-crouched half-fell into the corner, trying to push herself as far away as possible from the monstrosity that she knew lurked behind those eyes.

"A dog? Really, that's what you're scared of?" He turned back to laugh at her, giving his broken piece of wood a menacing swing the other direction to hold it at bay. As he did, the wolf moved into the light. She cried out in terror, pushing herself farther into the corner at the site of him. She could still remember the way Jake's face had twisted demonically, everything pushing forward in a way that was just unnatural.
 

Jake might still be in there somewhere, but to Harper, it was all snarling, snapping wolf that she saw now. What he had done wasn't supposed to be real, and her mind was having a hard time coping with it, resorting to the easiest way out; that of fear.
 

A shout of surprise came from the ball-cap wearing man as he turned back to see the size of the wolf. At the same moment, the wolf sprung at him. He hit it as hard as he could with the piece of wood, connecting solidly with the side of the wolf's head. Momentum carried the body past him, till it crashed into a heap next to Harper.

Although the wolf was hurt, blood pouring down its head from an open cut, it wasn't out of the fight yet. It turned a look of what she thought was its best attempt at exasperation on her, before turning back to face the third party in the alley. Just before it leaped, Harper screwed her eyes shut.
 

The sounds of a fight were clear to her eyes, the groans and cries of pain of the man, and a squeal from the wolf as another blow landed on it. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually there was nothing but silence in the alley as the man ran off, crying in pain. Slowly she opened one eye to look around.
 

Sitting there five feet away from her was Jake. He was back in human form though he was covered in scrapes, with a few nasty cuts and a big bruise forming on the side of his head.

"It's just me," he said simply, before getting up and walking over to her, holding out his hand, to help her up. He sighed when she didn't take it, instead continuing to cower in terror.

"Harper Jane Muller. Pull yourself together woman. I'm not a monster, and I'm most certainly not going to hurt you, so stop acting like it."
 

He spoke sternly and with a voice of authority, once that she had rarely heard before. It was one of someone used to being obeyed, of not having his decisions challenged. She saw now why he was the leader of his friends, the one who they all turned to. He practically radiated power in the dark, and she found herself responding to it without thinking.
 

Hauling her to her feet, he took her shoulders and put her back to the opening, giving her the ability to run, so that she didn't feel cornered. Then he looked at her expectantly.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her voice betraying her, forcing her to say it again. "This is just too much for me to handle right now. I, I need time to think," she managed to stammer out, slowly backing out of the alley.
 

She had just enough time to see his shoulders slump before she turned and ran.

***

Jake

"I'm glad you gave me a second chance," Jake said, sitting across the table from her.

They were at the local deli, somewhere public and well lit, in the middle of an afternoon on Saturday. Despite the fact that she had seen him a number of times since that evening, she had always made sure it was somewhere public. Their bond had begun to grow stronger, but she still wasn't ready to be alone with him.

"Well, you didn't exactly give me much of a choice," she replied dryly.

He had shown up at her place the next day, refusing to leave until she talked to him. At first Harper had cooped herself up inside. But by the time the second day came around, she couldn't put up with it anymore, so she had gone outside to see him.
 

She had given him another opportunity but had told him that she wasn't ready to discuss his other side yet. So, in an attempt to help her feel comfortable with him, he had stayed just a little farther away from her than normal and had promised to only be with her in public places.
 

For two weeks that had been their relationship. They would eat a meal together, or walk in a park during the day.
 
Often they would only see each other while they supervised the construction efforts. It was weird, but it kept her at peace.

Finally though, he had called her out on it, saying enough was enough. If they were to be together, they had to talk about the serious issues. She had been unwilling to face it at first, until he forced the issue.

 
I revealed my biggest secret. You owe me the chance to explain it.

He had used those words only once, but to devastating effect, and he knew it. She couldn't say no to that, for he had a point. What Jake had shown her was something only supposed to exist in myth. Something that everyone knew wasn't real. Yet, he had shown her that not only was it feasible, but that he could do it. So she had decided to meet with him today, to finally put it all out into the open.
 

She owed him that much for his trust in her, risking who knew what type of life if someone like the government, say, were to find out about his abilities. Whether she could understand it, and accept it, was another matter that she still wasn't prepared to face, though something told her she would have to make a decision very imminently.

"You're my mate, Harper, I couldn't give up. I'll never give up on you."
 

She could sense the honesty within him as he spoke, feeling it communicated through whatever bond it was they shared. That was yet another thing she didn't understand either. He kept referring to her as his mate and saying they shared a bond. It was time he explained that.

"Okay, you need to clarify that. The term 'mate' is not something people use now, if they ever did before. It's used for animals. I'm not an animal."
 

"But I am, Harper. You saw it, there is a wolf within me. It operates differently than we do as humans. It finds a mate, someone that has the all the personality and physical traits, and it picks that one for life. Then it bonds with it." He was getting excited as he talked, eager to be able to reveal to her some of the truths of his life, she guessed.
 

It must be tough, living a life of secrecy the way he had to. She wondered if his friends were werewolves as well. That would make life a little easier at least, having a group of friends who you could share your secret with.
 

"You've felt that bond," he was saying, "I know you have. I can sense you through it, just like you can sense me. That isn't something that just happens, Harper. It occurs when a shifter, which is what I am, finds his mate. I can't turn it on and off, I can't pick and choose who I want to bond with. That's decided by my wolf."
 
She didn't know what to say to that powerful statement.

"He picked you, Harper," he whispered into the silence.
 

The love emanating from Jake was so strong she thought she could actually visualize it. This man was ready to do whatever it took to be with her, she was positive of it. If it was like he said, they had this magical bond between each other, then he couldn't lie to her. She would know it.

"Why are you in Moonshine?" She needed to know the answer to that question. What had brought him all the way out here, to a nowhere little town?
 

"If a shifter doesn't find a mate by the age of thirty-five, they end up alone, often forever. It's a painful way to live, and many of those who find themselves alone, choose the other option. It's not something we like to talk about, but to help prevent that, most shifters will go on a trip, to seek out their mates."

"Like a quest?" she giggled, immediately clamping her hands over her mouth in shock as she realized what she had said. This was the life he had known, and here she was making fun of it!

"I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me. It sounds like a tough lifestyle you are forced to deal with. But you said 'we', there. Does that mean there are more of you?"