Wolf Tales VI (22 page)

Mei watched him carefully. As he talked, Anton’s cool and formal manner seemed to fade. Animated now, he smiled and gestured. “I learned all I could of Chanku history. I had already formed my own theory that the ability to shift had been lost due to some unknown ingredient in the diet, since they could no longer shift once they left their ancestral homeland. I was drawn to a group of grasses native to the Himalayan steppe and nowhere else. I collected a wide variety of plants, dried them, and ate some every day. Even so, you can’t imagine the emotions I experienced when I suddenly realized I had the ability to become a wolf.”

“Were you expecting it to happen?” Mei thought of her own expectations, and what a shock it had been to suddenly be something other.

“Oh yes. I knew the Chanku became wolves, but in the back of my mind existed a huge reservoir of doubt. What if this was just fantasy? How could I be sure? But shortly after I began ingesting the grasses, I felt the changes in my body begin and knew I was no longer entirely human. My eyesight, my hearing, my perception of sound and sight. It was all changing. When I finally shifted, the sense of relief was amazing, but something else happened as well. That’s when I realized, with my enhanced perception, that Oliver could be just like me.”

“Did you tell him about it?”

“No.” He rolled his eyes in a terribly non-Anton gesture. “Can you just see trying to explain that one? He knew I was studying necromancy, but had no idea what I had learned. I’d kept my information about the Chanku entirely secret from him. Instead, I added the nutrients to his food, fully expecting him to join me as a wolf. He would be the first of my new pack. I had it all planned out, only it didn’t work the way I expected. Oliver gained telepathic abilities almost at once, but was unable to shift. By then we had become close enough, he’d told me about his horrible childhood. I realized his emasculation had cost him that part of his heritage. He’d been cheated out of something he’d never missed. Now he missed it. Terribly. And it was my fault.”

“You must have felt really horrible.” At least she hoped he had. Anton appeared to have a habit of disregarding those around him.

He nodded. “Unfortunately, you’re quite right. Keisha is trying to cure me of my shortcomings.” He smiled.

“Is it working?”

This time Anton shrugged and his sheepish expression made her laugh. “Not very well.”

“Well, now that we have that out in the open…” Mei sipped her cognac. She wondered if Anton realized how open he was being with her. He so rarely talked about his private life, or his own shortcomings. “What about Stefan?” She’d been curious about him. Stefan appeared to have so many different sides, from clown to thoughtful mate and father, to loyal friend. “How did he end up here?”

“Ah, Stefan. Stefan Aragat was a famous magician. His star was rising as mine was falling, but then I was pursuing other knowledge that took me out of the public eye. It was during a time when Oliver had returned to Barbados, hoping to discover something more of his own history, and I was alone. Stefan came to me. He begged me to teach him what I knew of necromancy. We were young, so full of ourselves and cocky as hell, but I was his mentor and I relished the role.

“As soon as Stefan came to my home, I sensed he, too, must be like me and I decided to find out. I never thought of the dangers of what I was doing when I added the nutrients to his food without telling him. I figured he would suddenly find out he could become a wolf and I would tell him all about my wonderful discovery. He would then, of course, revere my brilliance.”

The self mockery in his voice stripped away the humor and left Anton looking bereft. He swallowed, seemed to gather himself, and his eyes glittered when he looked at Mei.

“You think I’m an egotistical pain in the ass, don’t you?” He laughed. “Don’t worry, my dear. You’re not alone. It’s my nature. I figure as long as Keisha can put up with me and still love me, that’s all that matters. However, Stefan was many times worse. He was determined to beat me at my own game, to be the better magician, the more powerful wizard. Now we understand the dynamics of two alpha males, but then we had no idea how to make it work. We argued shortly after I began giving him the nutrients. I demanded an apology. He refused. I cursed him.” Anton paused and took a deep breath.

“I cursed him, and he shifted. Only the shift was partial because he hadn’t had enough of the grasses for his body to completely change from human to Chanku. He crouched there in shock, half wolf, half man. Terrified, furious, but more frightened than anything. I tried to explain what had happened. He would have none of it and ordered me to change him back.” Anton laughed. “He ordered me, with a voice twisted and almost impossible to understand, and I was such an arrogant bastard, I refused. I didn’t have the courage to tell him I had no idea how to change him, and I didn’t know enough yet to realize he merely needed more of the nutrient to complete his shift. I demanded his apology. I was his master and he had wronged me. Hell, I accused him of hubris, yet no one was more guilty of it than I.”

Mei thought of the easy camaraderie between Stefan and Anton, their obvious love for one another. It was impossible to imagine how much they must have hated one another then.

“Not hate.” Anton held up his hand. “I know. Stop snooping.” He laughed and took another sip of his cognac. “I arranged for a driver to come and get him. He had paws and there was no way he could drive. Completely disguised, he managed to get to his home in Oregon without the media catching wind of his changed condition. I arranged for Oliver to go to work for him, to keep an eye on Stefan for me. I felt guilt, but not so much that I worried about making him better. In my mind, he deserved what had happened. What I didn’t realize at the time was how much of my anger and dislike was a result of the true emotion I felt for Stefan. I loved him. Passionately, but I didn’t understand my own convoluted feelings, nor was I aware of the impact the grasses had on the libido. The arousal, the desire I felt for Stefan, manifested itself as anger, an emotion I understood much better.”

Mei stared into her glass, thinking of all she had learned. Wondering how it applied to her. “How did you end up…” She flipped her hand, searching for the words. “Here, where you’re obviously the best of friends.”

“Alexandria was the key. She fell in love with Stefan while he was still partially a beast. That spurred him to come here, to apologize and ask me to change him back. That’s when we finally discovered, with Alexandria’s less than subtle prodding, that he and I loved each other. Desired each other. I also discovered that this lovely woman was just like me and Stefan. I gave both of them the nutrient, and both of them shifted within the week.”

“And what of Oliver.”

“He was here waiting when Stefan arrived. Stefan finally understood that I’d not abandoned him, that I’d sent Oliver to watch over him. I just hadn’t learned enough about our species to help him. The thing is, Mei, Alexandria found Stefan…actually, he found her when he rescued her in a blinding snowstorm. Oliver found me. Stefan came to me. We were somehow drawn to one another, and I believe it has to do with our Chanku genes. Eve left a man she loves to return to Florida for no special reason, but she found you. Adam was hitchhiking when Oliver drove past him. The truck broke down right in front of a man who fixes things, one who is also Chanku. The stories go on and on and on, for every single one of us. Somehow, we all find one another. I believe in fate, Mei. Stefan and I tease one another with our silly ‘coincidence versus destiny’ argument, but there’s no denying the unbelievable sequence of events that have brought all of us together.”

“Except all of you are Chanku wolves, and I’m a snow leopard. Explain that.” Her glass was empty and she set it down, harder than she’d intended. It clattered loudly on the table beside her chair. Anton immediately added more of the dark, golden liquid. He stayed there, standing over her.

“I can’t explain it, which is why I brought you here, why I’ve told you some of our history. I want you to trust me enough to let me inside your head. Not a mating bond, but a link every bit as deep as that you feel with Oliver. I’m asking you to share my bed. Just you and me. You will learn things about me I’ve shared with no one else but my mate. Keisha understands and agrees. I hope to learn things from you that will teach me more about all of us.”

Anton stepped away and set the decanter on his desk. He turned around and leaned against the edge again, as if he’d not just thrown her for an emotional loop. “I have not spoken to Oliver because I wanted your permission, first. If you agree, you can discuss this alone with him, or I will go with you. It’s up to you. Mei, I want to know if the beast we become is due to our nature, or if it’s merely the way our brain perceives the change. Do we all have the ability to become more than one creature? Can you also become a wolf, Oliver a leopard? Can you both become horses or birds? Can any of us choose the creature we become, or is it somehow hardwired into our brain? I don’t know, but I want to find out. I have to, and you are the key. With your permission, we may be able to learn more about ourselves than we ever have in the past. To do this, you have to trust me.”

Mei blinked. Trust had never come easy, but she’d never loved before, either. She loved Oliver. Anton held out the hope she and the man she loved might somehow be able to mate, to become a bonded pair. All Anton asked was to take her to bed and have wild monkey sex—and fuck with her brain at the same time.

No problem. Right? Could she do it? Maybe, if Oliver agreed. It wasn’t as if Anton didn’t turn her on, even if he was an old guy. No, just the opposite. She found him extremely sexy, and Oliver had been right. She could think of sex with Anton without guilt.

Oliver had explained the changes that happened once they started taking the nutrients, how the brain seemed to completely rewire itself. He’d explained the lack of jealousy among packmates, how sex was an important part of the pack’s interaction. She’d thought he was kidding, but the day they all climbed into bed together in that motel had certainly opened her eyes. They’d made love to her with the same purpose, though. They wanted to get inside her mind, and she’d agreed. She’d been excited seeing Oliver and Eve together, she’d loved Adam’s touch, loved the sense of sharing.

That’s what it was, after all. Sharing. Bodies, thoughts, needs…desires. Anton wanted even more. He wanted to share knowledge she didn’t even know she possessed.

Knowledge that might allow her to bond with Oliver. Mei glanced at the cognac beside her, picked up the glass, and found it surprisingly easy, now, to swallow it down in one gulp.

Who was she to stand in the way of education? She stared at Anton a moment longer, more curious than she would have believed about his reaction. More interested than she probably should be about his plan. If she wasn’t Chanku she’d think this was the worst pick-up line she’d ever heard, and she’d heard a lot of them.

But she was and it wasn’t, and Anton watched her with those glittering amber eyes, the eyes of the alpha wolf, and silently demanded her acquiescence. He was not a man to beg, though she imagined he would, if that was the only way to get her into his bed. If the only reason had been for sex, she would have turned him down immediately, Chanku or not. Even if he begged.

Of course, it wasn’t about sex at all. Sex was merely the means to an end, a pathway to knowledge. Odd, how it all made perfect sense to her, now. She spun the empty glass between her fingers, then looked up, expecting to see a smug expression on Anton’s face. Instead, he looked unusually sympathetic.

She nodded. “Okay. I’ll do whatever you ask, Anton. So long as Keisha is okay with it, because I really love your mate. And only if Oliver agrees.”

“Thank you.” Such simple words for such a strange, complex situation. He gazed into the distance a moment, then held out his hand. “Oliver knows. We will hear his decision in a moment.”

Then he took Mei’s hand and led her back outside to the deck.

Oliver looked up when the door opened. Mei stepped out first, but it was Anton’s vivid gaze that caught him. Oliver’s heart stuttered in his chest. If he and Mei had already bonded, he’d not think twice of her sharing Anton’s bed, but he couldn’t ignore the taint of fear he felt, of the pack’s ultimate alpha male bedding the woman he loved.

Yet it was the only chance of Oliver ever bonding with Mei. There was no choice other than to agree, but it wouldn’t be easy, knowing they were making love, their minds linking at a level beyond anything Oliver and Mei had shared. Anton was capable of so much more than Oliver! Would it change Mei’s feelings for him? Would she turn to Anton afterwards, preferring him to a lesser member of the pack?

He stood up and put his hands on Mei’s shoulders. “I love you. Whatever you and Anton discover, remember I will always love you, even if it means…”

Mei’s finger touched his lips. “Nothing negative. Anton will find the answers he needs. I love you, too.” She leaned close and kissed him, and they might have been the only two people on the deck. Then Mei turned away and led Anton back inside. Oliver felt as if his heart might explode.

He loved them both. No matter what, he would always love them both.

“Oliver?”

He jerked around at the gentle touch of fingers on his shoulder. Keisha stood behind him, smiling. Before he could speak, another set of fingers trailed in a slow, sexy dance across his back. He whipped around the other direction. “Xandi!”

Alexandria smiled. “Stefan’s watching the babies. Eve and Adam just shifted and headed for the forest. I imagine they’ll be gone awhile. We thought you might like to join us.”

“Join you?” Why had his brain suddenly stopped functioning? It might have something to do with Xandi’s scent or Keisha’s warm fingers slipping beneath his loose T-shirt.

“She loves you, Oliver.” Keisha found his nipple. She circled it with one perfectly manicured nail. He felt the shock all the way to his balls. “She’s young and more beautiful than any woman has a right to be, but she loves you, not Anton. If she didn’t, I wouldn’t be standing here so calmly, hoping to seduce you.” She laughed and plucked at his nipple, pinching just to the point of pain. He almost whimpered.