Chapter 6

Rick drove while I sat bundled in the passenger seat.  It was so nonsensical how cold I was.  I vastly preferred my fur, not clothes that scratched and irritated my pink skin.  The car moving underneath me caused my senses to become agitated, and I gripped at the seat, gritting my teeth.

“Where are you taking me?”  I asked, my voice faint.

Rick kept his eyes on the road, but he answered me, “My friend has a farm a few kilometres from town, away from forested land.”

I looked at him as if he was dense.  “I have to shift!  I can’t be out in the open!  Damn, Rick, think!”

“I am thinking,” he snorted derisively.  “You’re not going to shift for a while.”

“What?”

“You’re not going to shift.”

My temper was fast coming.  “I heard you.  And yes, I am.  Why wouldn’t I?”

Now it was his turn to look at me, his eyes telling me I was dim-witted.  I bristled.  “From what your father told you, it’s important to keep a stable balance between your two forms.  At the moment, your animal is overbalanced, and if you shift again, it’s only going to tip that scale further.”

I groaned.  “I can’t not shift!”  Though the thought of shifting now was enough to make me whimper.  Almost.

“You have to.”  He was relentless.

“Why?  What if I want to stay like that?  To be an animal?”

His eyes grew stern, but I saw worry in them.  Was this what human fathers were like?  As far as I knew, he didn’t have a wife – or, rather, a divorced one - or children.  Did human fathers coddle their daughters like this?  It offended me to some extent that he felt the need to protect me, but I also found it endearing.  My other side was human, so it comforted me that someone was there for me, helping me.

“You have to get your life back on track, Azalea.  It’s too dangerous for you to stay like this.  Something about your instincts is lacking, so you have to be careful.”

I knew I shouldn’t be offended by that, that he only spoke the facts, but I wanted to yell at him, ask him how he thought he knew so much about shifters.  But I stopped myself.  He might not know much about us, but he was a very logical thinker, so he came to conclusions that was only practical in his mind.

Taking a deep breath, I remembered something.  “He knows my name.  The alpha.”  And I knew his.

He nodded, as if he already knew this.  “I was standing in line behind him at the coffee shop, asking the girl about you.”

“What?  Who, Lily?”

He grunted.  “Guess so.”

I pulled the blanket closer to me.  It was all I had left from home.  That and my bag.

Silence stretched between us, but like always, it was comfortable.  Until another unpleasant thought popped up.  “I guess I have to sell the house,” I said quietly as I looked at the environment swimming by me.

He didn’t answer, but I kind of didn’t expect him to.  It was obvious.  We finally slowed and I saw a turn coming up.  One of those dirt, one-way roads that led into the farm.

Dust rose after us as we sped down it.  The farm looked practically abandoned, just a vast field of tall grass, which looked wild and untended, almost like an uninhabited forest of green.

We stopped in front of a small, well-groomed house, at odds with its encircling vegetation.  At the sound of Rick’s truck stopping, someone peered from a window and then disappeared.  The door opened a minute later.

I got out of the truck, my movements still awkward.  I staggered forward, tripping on the blanket.  I felt silly when I clutched the truck’s front, my clammy hands making slippery sounds as I regained my balance.

A warm hand went around my arm to steady me, and I glanced up at a sensual mouth, which was curled into a sinful smile.  My eyes followed his narrow face to his straight nose, plucked eyebrows and green eyes.  Reddish hair flung over eyes that were now laughing at me.

“Well, hello there.” His voice was surprisingly deep.

“Er…”  I didn’t know what to say.  Who was he?  Was this our host?  It felt like I was in a daze for a moment.

He still hadn’t let go of my arm and I was starting to get nervous.  His scent was funny, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.  It almost smelled like pepper and mint, a scent I wouldn’t forget easily even though I was sure there was more to it than my dull human nose could pick up.  He was definitely a shifter; the only question was what he was.  He wasn’t very tall, so I could look into his eyes.

He was one of those pretty boys.  Boyishly handsome, where you described him as beautiful rather than manly or old fashioned good-looking.  He wasn’t like Dwayn, who was rugged and attractive in a rough way.

Rick was suddenly there, pulling me next to him.  Away from the mysterious shifter.  I blinked at him in shock.  Why was he suddenly so protective, or was it my imagination?  I also felt numb; I hadn’t expected him to bring me to another shifter’s territory.  It was uncomfortably near to my now-stolen territory, and I wondered how big his was.

“This is Azalea,” he introduced me, leaving out my surname.  “Azalea, this is Keith.  He’s a jackal.”

Well, that explained it.  I didn’t mean to stereotype him, but a jackal seemed to fit his appearance correctly.  In human form, shifters didn’t look like their counterparts more often than not, so I guess that applied to me, too.  It wasn’t like my hair was yellow with black spots.

He inclined his head and even took my hand and kissed it.  I couldn’t help but blush.  Man, who was this guy?  This was so cliché.  He got a broad smile on his face, as if he knew what I was thinking, and I could see his rather large canines.  Definitely a dog.

“Welcome to my territory.  I hear you have werewolf problems.”  Generally, we didn’t call wolf shifters werewolves, but it was the same, wasn’t it?  And did his voice have to be so low, as if we were the only ones in a locked room?

“How’d you know?”  I didn’t see Rick talking on his phone on the ride.

“Text,” Rick said simply, starting to lead me into the house.  I glanced over my shoulder at Keith.  His eyes were trained on my lower body, but when he sensed my eyes on him, he winked my way.  I didn’t think my blush would die anytime soon.

His house might be small, but it was quite stylish.  That was probably because I didn’t take the time of day to decorate my own home, which looked like a rat’s nest.  I hadn’t gotten around to cleaning it a few days before I shifted, and I prayed that no one took the liberty of inspecting it in my disappearance.

The living room was decorated with two green sofas with a grey, patterned rug between them.  A flat-screen TV dangled on the wall opposite them, and the fragrance of male and that unique scent that was his made the room quite refreshing.  My skin flushed when I thought that.

What was wrong with me?  I couldn’t remember the last time I was so humiliated so much.  I snorted.  It was just my hormones rushing from the shift.

“Is something amusing you, Azalea?”  The honey that went into my ear shocked me, and I turned towards him, my smile slipping.  His eyes were intense.  I felt my own widen in disbelief.  I do believe my heart was going to set on fire when it started racing, and my blinking tried to keep up.

I was aware of Rick watching us narrowly, and I tried to break my gaze away from Keith, but I couldn’t.  I swore he was trying to tell me something.

“Come on, Kitten.  You’re probably hungry after that shift.”

Just like that, Keith turned and disappeared around a corner where I presumed the kitchen was.  My eyes closed for a moment as dizziness overcame me.

Putting a hand to my forehead, I spoke to Rick without opening my eyes.  “What is he?”  I didn’t bother to keep my voice down.  Stupid dog’s hearing - somehow their senses were stronger even in human form.

I opened my eyes finally to see his reaction.  He had a stoic expression on his slightly full face.  “Already told you.  Jackal.”

I sighed, suddenly feeling too drained to be irritated at his obvious lie.  “I’m not stupid, Rick.”

But he didn’t make any move to answer, and when I asked again, he just walked away.  Gritting my teeth, I followed him to the kitchen, where Keith was busy fixing a ham and cheese sandwich.  He grinned over his shoulder at me, and I shifted, not sure how to make of his full attention on me.

I spotted a chair at the island and sat down on it, watching his hands as they cut strips of cheddar cheese.  Rick sat in the chair beside me, leaning his elbow on the island while he stared at the tiled floor.  It all seemed very awkward, and for the first time ever, I couldn’t bear it.

“So,” I began cautiously.  “How do you guys know each other?”

Strange, it almost sounded as if I had an accent, but I’ve never had one.  My speech patterns were still strange and slow.

Keith went to the fridge to get the ham while he answered.  “We met in Oscalia about two months ago, so we don’t really know each other.”  Well, that was quite blunt.  And didn't Rick say this man was his friend?

I looked at the lean muscles of his back moving as he worked, his every action precise and perfect.  I wanted to snicker at that.  You would think he was a cat, like me.  I wasn’t a perfectionist, but I absolutely loathed being dirty.

I glanced at Rick, who looked uneasy.  I wanted to ask him why he brought me to a stranger shifter’s territory without him even knowing him, much less trusting him.  He looked very suspicious of Keith, but I found it pointless to stay here if that was the case.  If Rick didn’t trust him, I didn’t feel very fresh on the idea of staying with this guy.  Especially since, he kept glancing at me.  As a loner, I didn’t like too much attention.

Finally finished with my sandwich, he cut it in half and handed it to me.  I smiled faintly at him in thanks, and his face lit up with a brilliant smile.  He had a really nice smile, I noted, feeling completely stupefied.  And nice, straight teeth with moderate fangs.

Someone cleared his throat and I blinked, realising that I was still staring at him.  My focus returned on him, seeing a satisfied smirk on his face.  Blood rushed to my face again, and again I was caught in his burning gaze, my body warming rapidly.  My hormones raged, and the blood drained from my face and into the pit of my stomach.  From here I could perfectly see the yellow flecks in his emerald eyes, but when he tilted his head to the side, the colour altered, almost like there was an undertone to it…

“Eat,” Rick snapped, his voice so rough in the soft moment, where all my body’s contents were turning hot and fuzzy, that it cut through my intense haze.  It felt like coming up for air from the watery depths of a dream.

“Sorry,” I mumbled hastily and took half of the sandwich down in one go, stuffing it into my mouth to hide my embarrassment.  What was wrong with me?  I knew why Rick was being so… himself.  He was the one to teach me not to stare at people for too long, as if they’re prey.  But this time, when I’d been locked in Keith’s gaze, I’d felt like the prey, frozen in the gaze of a seductive predator.

Shaking those thoughts from my mind, I wondered why the old man was so insistent that my mind stay focussed – when I looked at the jackal shifter, it was like my mind wasn’t there.  He wouldn’t leave me here if he thought I could be in any harm, would he?  I hoped not.  As long as he kept me in check, though, I think I would be okay.

Something about this stranger had a certain charm, one that seemed to draw me in even if he wasn’t giving me his attention, which was scarcely the case.

I finished my meal and Rick stood up, taking the plate from me and putting it in the sink.  Since when did Rick turn into a gentleman?

Shrill ringing made me jump, and Keith apologised, took a small phone from his back pocket – it was hard for my eyes not to follow his hand when he retrieved it.  He looked at the screen, a frown appearing on his forehead.  Curiosity lit up inside me.  What would make the ever-smiling Keith frown?

He took the call and leaned against the counter, just listening without greeting the other person on the phone.  I didn’t want to trespass, but I felt like I had to.  Strangely, that feeling came from me, not my leopard.  But then I got a warning look from Rick.  He must’ve seen it on my face, and shook his head at me, eyes flashing.

Rick didn’t have anything against my leopard, but he believed in my human side as well.  He always told me that I shouldn’t give more attention to one side more than the other, because, similar to my father’s opinion, it will cause imbalance.  Meaning, I could go crazy.  My leopard would start rejecting me, and even shifters didn’t know what happened then.

I realised I’d tuned out, and the snap of his phone shutting caused me to blink stupidly.  Even if I wanted to, I hadn’t heard the conversation at all.  When I looked at Keith’s frustrated face, I wish I had.  I gave Rick a glare, and he returned it.

“I’ll show you to your room,” Keith said in a serious tone I hadn’t heard from him before.  For a moment I saw his eyes darken with anger, but it was wiped away by his dazzling smile.

He came towards me and took my hand, looking into my eyes and smiling broader when I didn’t pull away.  A faint electrical charge travelled over my arm, making my body grow hotter.  I wanted to stand there all day and stare at his perfect features.  He felt like gravity, pulling me against my own will, and I couldn’t stop it.

I found myself leaning into him, wanting to run my hands over his chest, nuzzling into his neck.  Heck, I even wanted to purr!

Rick interrupted my reverie, again, and I was starting to get annoyed.  “I’ll take her to her room.  You just go on about your business, boy,” it was obvious why he put emphasis on the last word.

Keith didn’t take the bait, but smiled, looking definitely amused, as if he was in for a private joke only he knew.  I found myself interested, curious what that joke was, but then I gave myself a mental slap.

I was attracted to him.  I finally admitted that.  I even understood it.  What female wouldn’t fall at his feet, praying for him to take her?  He didn’t exude that much power; it was equal to mine.  But his silent charisma made up for a much larger power of persuasion.

I didn’t believe in jumping into things, though.  It practically took me a year and a half to trust Rick, and I was just now starting to care about him, too.  I didn’t want to start anything with Keith right now.  Not for a long time.  Even though I wanted to, I just didn’t trust him.  You could say I was scared of relationships, because it took me a long time to accustom to them.

It wasn’t to say he wanted me, though, and I tried not to let that dampen my determination.

I gently pried my hand from his and nodded at Rick, who looked extremely relieved.  Again, I didn’t understand why he took me here when he didn’t even want the owner near me.

Keith’s smile didn’t falter at all and he stepped back, his hands lifting, as if it was no deal.  It probably wasn’t.  I was reading too much into it, and I was actually relieved at the possibility that he didn’t have an interest in me.  Though I was sure the attraction was mutual.  But, it was wrong, anyway.  We were two opposite species.

Rick led me back into the living room, and I could feel Keith’s eyes boring into my neck, or maybe lower.  I didn’t dare turn around to check, fearing getting trapped in his gaze again.

Once we were out of sight, though, I began shaking from shock.

Hey guys!  I have to say that I really enjoyed it when I wrote this chapter.  Keith will be a prominent figure in my story, right next to Dwayn - frankly, I don't know who I love more!  So tell me who you like more?  Dark and dangerous Dwayn, or seductive and playful Keith?

Comment and tell me what you think!  I'd really like some feedback, and although I have a good idea on where this plot is going, you can still share some of your ideas to make this plot unique!  I'll feel honoured to give credit and dedication for your ideas!

Love,

AuroraSwan