Page 12 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

Jason stood looking out the large window in Griffin’s living room and watched as a brown bear lumbered through the trees. He was living in a world of strange with no way out. And yet, the longer he stayed a part of it, the less strange it became. If that made any kind of sense.

“What’s the frown for?”

Jason turned away from the window to find Bea standing in the doorway.

He didn’t want to tell her about his existential crisis.

“I was just thinking through some things. It’s been an interesting couple of weeks.

” An interesting couple of years, but again, he wasn’t going to go down that path either.

Bea pursed her lips. “I can’t imagine what it must have been like to find out you're part shifter.”

He nodded.

“And that you were adopted too. I’m sorry that you found out the way you did.” She took a step into the room. “Have you been able to speak to your parents about it?”

It seemed like everyone was interested in his relationship with his parents. “No.”

She held up her hand. “I’m sorry. That was a personal question that I didn’t have the right to ask.”

He took a breath. “It’s okay. You aren’t the only one to ask me about this lately. When I first found out, I was so shocked and angry. I couldn’t get myself to even broach the subject with them.”

“Understandable. What about now? Do you think you could speak to them about it?”

His stomach twisted. “I plan to. It might help me to figure out where I came from originally. Who my biological parents are.” Why they left him. What his animal was or could be. Which got him thinking. “Do animal species run in families?”

Bea nodded. “It’s normally based on the dominant animal. Wolves and other canines are the most dominant of our kind with felines next and then bears. Followed by the rarer species. But it doesn’t always hold true. Our mother was a lion and William and Griffin’s father was a wolf.”

“So they should have been wolves.”

“Yes. It was a bit of a hubbub when the shifter leader’s children ended up being felines. Some even questioned paternity.”

“Shit.”

“Exactly. Of course back when William and Griffin were born, there was no such thing as DNA tests. I guess their father wasn’t too happy about it either.”

“What about your father?”

“Mother got remarried to another wolf and had a daughter who turns into a tiger. Luckily, my father wasn’t an insecure narcissist. He was just happy to have me. And we really work with the packs now to make sure everyone is accepted.”

“Even me?” he asked in a flip tone.

Bea smiled. “Even you.” She looked at him for a moment and her smile dropped. “What is it?”

“I don’t see very many humans as part of your packs. I’m thinking that human-shifter marriage is frowned on?”

Bea motioned to the chairs next to the fireplace and they both took a seat. “In years past, there was a hesitance for shifters to marry humans.” She wrinkled her nose as if smelling something bad. “Some outdated notion about purity of species. But that isn’t something that Griffin tolerates.”

“I would think not since he dated Kyle.”

Bea grinned. “She definitely livened things up around here and told the old guard where they could stick it.”

Jason chuckled. “I’m sure she did.”

“Any other questions right now?” Bea asked.

“No.”

“Okay. Let’s talk about your homework that we gave you when you first came for dinner.”

“The smelling?”

“Yes. How has that been going?”

“Not easy. I try to notice what smells correspond to what I think someone is feeling, but it’s hard.

Especially with the group I hang around with.

You mentioned that I shouldn’t try with vamps, which is good since Jean Luc is like a steel trap and Talia is a bit more demonstrative, but she keeps it close to the vest as well. ”

“Vampires are a bit closed off. What about Kyle?”

Jason shrugged. “Kyle is a roller coaster of emotions, so my sniffer has a hard time keeping up. When she’s upset, she does give off a sour note.”

Bea sat forward and nodded. “That is normally what I smell when someone is upset.”

He thought about Sabrina. She kept her emotions so closed off he couldn’t track them, but that didn’t mean she didn’t have a scent.

He couldn’t accurately describe it. And when he tried to wrap words around it, like sandalwood, her aroma would tease him with floral notes or a touch of vanilla.

And it was so uniquely her. The only thing he could be sure of was that it wasn’t a perfume.

Her natural scent, and it called to him. But it was time for him to move on.

And he wouldn’t be sharing any of that with Bea.

“And then there’s Misha, who smells like snickerdoodles most of the time. I’m not sure if it’s because he’s happy or if it’s because he eats enough sweets for a pee-wee football team.”

Bea laughed. “He is a formidable eater and that’s saying something since shifters can eat a lot too. Of course, we’re more protein driven.”

Jason nodded. “Although he didn’t smell sweet the other day when he thought Callie was in labor.”

Bea frowned. “Is she okay?”

“Yeah. She’s fine. It was false labor pains. He smelled like burnt sugar on the way to the hospital. And when we got there, I thought the pounding I heard was my heartbeat, but I realized I was hearing his. It slowed down the minute he found out she was okay.”

“That’s progress with your shifter senses. I think you’re getting a handle on it.”

At least he was getting a handle on something.

“Don’t get discouraged.”

How did she know? “What does discouragement smell like?”

Bea smiled. “I can see it on your face. You have to remember that for most of us, we begin this training as a part of our childhood. Leading up to us turning on the eve of our twelfth birthday. It becomes second-nature to us. And we also learn from a young age about the fairy tales and lore of our people.”

“Like what?”

“My favorite as a child was the story of fated mates.”

Jason frowned. “Shifters and other supes call their partners mates all the time.”

“True. But I am talking about someone who is fated to be our mate. The story says that shifters recognize their other half. Our mates that become our destiny and we become stronger because of it.”

“How?”

Bea shrugged. “It wasn’t really made too clear in the stories. But I always found it romantic. That there is someone out there for me. That I had a destiny to find my mate.”

Jason shook his head. “Yet another thing to wrap my brain around.”

Bea patted his arm. “I know this is a lot. You’ve been thrown into the deep end of the shifter pool without a paddle.”

“That sounds like something Kyle would say.”

“I agree. We still hang out every once and a while. But I miss her.”

“At least there are no hard feelings between Griffin and Kyle.”

Bea’s hesitated for a moment before responding.

“No. And Kyle was good for Seamus. He was so closed off before, and when she came into his life, he was finally happy. I want him to find someone to spend his life with. I try and help him with the pack leader stuff, but I’m his younger sister.

He still looks at me like I’m a baby even though I haven’t been one for fifty years. ”

And she looked like she was in her thirties. Jason blinked. He didn’t know if he would ever get used to how much longer supernaturals lived. “Do you think that I will live a longer life?”

Bea tilted her head before answering him. “Possibly. Since you’re healing faster now, it would make sense that you would have a longer lifespan. That might be something Sabrina could run some tests on.”

Jason looked at the fire for a moment. “Sabrina took blood to do some more DNA testing.”

“Good. Hopefully you can get some answers to your past. Sabrina is a good friend.”

“Yeah, she is.” And that was all she was going to be. Hadn’t he been all grown up at the hospital with her? Been agreeable to them being coworkers and friends? He looked back at Bea, and she was still giving him a close look. He wondered if his scent had changed.

What did rejection smell like?

Bea drummed her fingers on the arms of the chair. “Have you tried talking to your animal yet?”

Jason shrugged. “Not really. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. Carry on a conversation? What am I supposed to talk about?”

“Why don’t we do it together?”

Jason sat up straighter. “Really?”

“I don’t see why not. It can’t hurt to try. But I don’t want you to get discouraged if you don’t sense anything tonight.”

His nerves jangled at the possibility. “What do I do?”

“Close your eyes and take some deep breaths.”

He complied, sucking air into his lungs and out again, not sure if this was going to help.

“Have you ever done relaxation breathing?” she asked.

He shook his head.

“Okay. Breathe in to a count of three, hold four, and then breathe out five.”

He followed her instructions, and after a few minutes his body calmed down.

“Now think about the space between your eyebrows. Concentrate on it and see if you sense anything.”

He tried for a few seconds and nothing. Before he could respond, Bea spoke again. “Now think about the space in the middle of your chest. Is there a warmth there, or a feeling like something other wants to communicate with you?”

He put his hand on the center of his chest and held it there. Waiting for something. Anything. After a few moments he dropped his hand to his lap and then opened his eyes, frustration taking hold in his chest where his animal should be.

Bea leaned over and patted his hand. “It’s okay. I wasn’t expecting your animal to talk to you on the first try.”

Jason blew out a breath.

“You have to be patient. Your animal has been hibernating for quite some time.”

He blinked. “Hibernating?”

A smirk lit her face. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Trying to lighten the mood.”

Jason smiled. “No problem. I deal with Misha’s dad jokes all the time. At least it didn’t make me roll my eyes and groan.”

She chuckled. “Well at least that’s something. The next time you come to the house, we’ll try again. Remember what Griffin said. We don’t want you trying to release your animal unless you’re here on the grounds. Once you communicate, you can then attempt to coax him out.”

“Got it.” Although he doubted that would ever happen.

She stood. “I think that’s enough for tonight. Do you want to schedule the next session?”

“Yes,” he said standing as well.

“Do you have a date in mind?”

A date. A date… She was nice and pretty and helping him. Would it be so bad to spend some more time with her outside their shifter-training sessions? He looked at her and her eyebrows rose in question. How long had he been zoned out?

“Sorry. I can meet most weeknights. Are you doing anything on Saturday night?”

She smiled. “Saturday isn’t a weeknight.”

“No. I mean. I wondered if you would like to grab something to eat Saturday night.” Could he be any more awkward?

Bea’s eyes widened. “Are you asking me out on a date, Jason Watson?”

Is that what he was doing? Was her wide-eyed look due to surprise or interest? He was choking! “Let’s just say it’s a thank you for helping me.”

“That’s fair. Should I talk to Seamus about it?”

Jason blinked. “Wait, do I have to ask permission from His Royal Highness to take you to dinner?”

Bea laughed. “No. You said it was a thank-you dinner, so I thought maybe you wanted us both to go.”

Except her eyes were dancing now, and he wasn’t going to fall for it this time. “I’ll thank Griffin some other time. So dinner on Saturday?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He nodded and they talked logistics before he grabbed his coat and headed outside. The cold wind smacked against him as he climbed into his truck. He’d just asked Bea out on a date. Okay, so he backpedaled on the date part, but he was going out with a beautiful, interesting woman.

It was time.

If he planned to move forward with finding out about his shifter side, he needed to stop being mired in the past, including his feelings for Sabrina.