Shaman
My unicorn whinnied inside me. Of course he wanted to show our mate his form, but humans were scared of things that went bump in the night and while I thought our unicorns were beautiful, they weren’t exactly the ones out of princess fairy tales.
Our hair was black as night, and we had three horns, which was why we shifted in the shadows or under the cover of night only.
“Are you sure?” I asked, taking her hand in mine. “Our forms, well, they can be jarring to some.”
She bit down on her bottom lip, and I wanted to do that for her. Feel her plump lips between my teeth. Learning what made her writhe in passion. “If this is getting serious, and I think it is, then I should know all the parts of you, right? I won’t take pictures or tell anyone, I swear.”
“We trust you, Amber.” Juven placed his hand over her other one.
“We don’t think you’re going to expose us or anything.
Shifters and humans, well, they can sometimes be scared of us.
It’s one thing to imagine a unicorn in your mind, but we don’t have rainbow hair or glitter under the sun.
Some see us as evil or dark entities. We just have a different hair color. ”
“I want to see you. I have since the night I was talking to Juven and he said you were out galloping around.”
“Okay. Let’s go outside. It’s dark already.
” I was surprised how easily I gave into her.
She was my mate. I would have to get used to giving into her wishes.
It came with the territory. If she wanted to see our other forms, then she would.
If she became scared, I would shift back immediately and console her.
Once outside, Juven made a suggestion. “What if we shift one at a time in case you get frightened? Maybe it would be better that way.”
“Whatever you two are comfortable with. I know you are worried about my reaction, but I think I will be fine.”
Juven was right. “I’ll shift first. Please know that I would never hurt you. My animal could never hurt you, Amber. He would never hurt his mate.”
There. I said it. It was silly to deny myself from calling her my mate out loud. She was our mate. It was simply the truth.
“I don’t think you would hurt me. Whenever you are ready.”
I took my shirt off and then my pants. I didn’t have shoes on because we were in our house.
I stopped at the boxer shorts because we didn’t know each other that well yet.
One day we would, and I would be able to strip naked without any hesitation in front of her.
And she would in front of me. Of us. This would take some getting used to—for all of us.
Reaching inside me for the connection my animal and I shared, I gave him permission to come forward and take over our form.
We were not like other shifters in our phasing in and out, either.
We didn’t experience pain or the shifting of bones or the stretching of muscles.
Our shift happened as a snap of the fingers.
A tingling along my skin. The sound of wind chimes in my ears as the magic took hold.
I did feel the piercing of my horns through my skin, but it was far from painful—almost pleasurable.
One second, I was in charge, and the next, my unicorn was. A peaceful exchange of power. A submitting of consciousness to the entity inside us who we trusted more than ourselves.
Being a unicorn shifter was the best thing in the world.
I could still hear my mate, but it would be my animal that did most of the communication. We had never communicated with a mate like this, so it was a good experience for us both. This was the first of many times.
“Holy…” Amber’s voice caught my animal’s attention. I looked at her with fresh eyes. This beast saw her as a queen. His queen. Our queen. She had a glimmering aura around her body. “Shaman, you are such a magnificent unicorn. I…”
Juven chuckled. “Shaman, you managed to take her breath away. Wait until she sees mine.”
I snorted in his direction. No unicorn was more beautiful than another. We were all heart stopping, if I did say so myself.
“Nonsense. I bet both of you are… Can I touch you?” Amber looked from me to Juven and back to me.
Of course, I couldn’t answer her with words but instead, I walked closer to her and dipped my head in front of her body.
I was surprised she wanted to touch me but even more that she hadn’t taken off running in the woods or toward the nearest vehicle to leave.
She was here. Steady but heart beating a mile a minute.
The second her fingers touched my mane, I knew.
The clouds of my human thinking cleared.
All doubts vanished. Any hesitation removed.
Amber was our mate. The only one for us.
“You are so soft. The strands of your hair so smooth. Is it cliche to want to touch your horns?”
I huffed out another breath through my nose. She could touch me anywhere she wanted to.
“He doesn’t mind,” Juven said with a low chuckle. “Trust me.”
“What about you? Or are you going to shift one at a time? Still concerned I’ll be afraid of you?”
We’d underestimated our mate. She was strong and capable and didn’t flinch once.
“I think we’re safe, Amber.”
In seconds, Juven stood beside me. He was a little taller and leaner but mostly, we were the same. His black hair shimmered with turquoise and plum colors as the light from the moon shone down on us. Other than our families, this was the first time we’d shifted in front of someone else.
“I feel so mundane next to you two. You are both incredible.”
I moved forward and got down on one knee.
“What?” she asked.
I lay down and motioned with my head toward my back. I hoped she got the point. Otherwise, I would have to shift back, explain that I wanted her to ride on my back, and then shift back. Some of the romance might be lost.
“You want me to get on your back?” she asked. “Is that okay?”
Juven walked up behind her, nudging her lower back with his snout. “I guess that means yes.”
She climbed on me and fisted some of my mane in her hands.
Then we took our mate on a long, night run. Juven took her on his back after a while but soon, her yawns echoed through the forest.
Time to let her go again. My heart broke a little bit every time she did.