Page 7 of Shift of Heart (Shifter Lords #1)

Chapter

Five

CAELAN

“ I can’t tell you anything other than she smelled like jasmine,” I barked.

“If I knew who she was, I would find her!” I held the mystery woman’s cell phone, broken beyond repair but with a faint touch of her scent.

Oddly, there was no trace of a magical scent on the device, only the slightest hint of flowers.

Simone, my quiet, reliable Omega, studied me. “The Joy Springs gossip lines are on fire today, Caelan. You shouldn’t seem quite so eager to find her. It may attract...other things her way.”

I ran a hand through my hair and bit out a quiet curse. “You don’t understand. I should have died.” And that was a real kick in the teeth. Very few things could kill me, and those things I shouldn’t be able to come back from. What that woman had done defied both logic and magic.

I didn’t like things I couldn’t understand.

Ninety-nine percent of people would have left me to die. I deserved to die for all the things I’d done. Most of them would spit on my grave. This woman had brought me back from the brink of death, and not only that, she’d done more.

My skin looked like a newborn baby’s. Not a mark marred my skin. No aches, no pains, no tiredness. No...nothing. I felt like a goddamn teenager again.

All I could remember about her was a sweep of dark hair, glowing eyes, and staggering power. Something like her should not exist. She’d brought me back from the brink of death, and that was something I couldn’t ignore.

Simone nodded. “I do understand. Something more powerful than you stumbled upon you during the most vulnerable moment you’ve ever had and showed mercy.”

She sighed and crossed her leanly muscled arms, watching me with a look I didn’t like. “Perhaps you should accept this as the gift it is and leave it alone. This woman did not have an ulterior motive. If she did, she would have stayed with you and demanded payment.”

Simone was right, and I liked her logic even less. “Perhaps she’s biding her time, hiding out like a spider until she needs a favor,” I grumbled.

My Omega rolled her eyes, a gesture no one else would be brave enough to direct at me. “Healers are rarely terrible people, Caelan. She saw an injured man, and she healed him. You should take this as the gift it’s meant to be and leave the poor woman alone.”

“And if she shows up wanting money, or worse?”

Simone snorted. “Then you throw a fucking bank’s worth of money at her and call it a day. Few problems cannot be solved with proper monetary compensation, and she saved your miserable life. As far as I’m concerned, she did you a favor you can’t possibly repay.”

I rubbed my jaw. Did the healer know who I was? Or was Simone right? Was she just a woman who’d been in the right place at the right time? “Maybe you’re right,” I conceded.

Simone laughed. “Maybe?”

A begrudging smile tipped my lips up. “Fine. But I would still like to find her and reward her. Handsomely.”

Simone studied me for a long moment. “Liar.” She untangled her lanky form from my couch and stood. “I have a bad feeling about this. It feels like other forces are in play, and we both know how things go when you aren’t in the driver’s seat.”

My Omega touched my hand, her comforting magic pulsing against my skin. “I also think you’re worried about the wrong thing. You shouldn’t concern yourself with the healer. You should concern yourself with the people who made you need her.”

Rage pulsed in my veins. Few people ever got the drop on me.

Terrible magic was involved. Magic I needed to find and destroy.

Simone was right, but I knew I wouldn’t back down when it came to the healer.

This woman, whoever she was, I wanted to meet her, and look her in the eye. I wanted to ask her why.

There was something so familiar about that scent.

Had I smelled it before? Maybe in town? I shook my head.

Downtown Joy Springs was a nightmare for scent tracking.

Too many types of magic and creatures made it impossible to differentiate.

Plus, there were coffee shops and cafe’s.

..I was nose blind any time I walked anywhere around there.

My wolf, normally a silent, wise partner, had been unusually vocal since we’d woken up in the forest, soaked in blood and with the tantalizing scent of jasmine swirling in the air. He stalked the corners of my mind, agitated and anxious for us to hunt. Not food. Her.

But there was more to it. More I buried deep inside.

A secret between my wolf and me.

I’d find this woman if it was the last thing I ever did.

She was the first to ever see me broken and had not taken advantage of my vulnerability. Finding her had become my top priority.