Page 15 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

Sabrina sagged on the lab stool, barely keeping her head from resting on the table as she blew out a hard breath. Griffin and Bea had taken Jason with them, and now the adrenaline she had been living on drained out in a mad rush.

“Are you okay?”

She turned to find Kyle standing in the doorway of the lab.

“Afraid to come into the room? I don’t blame you.”

“You must not be good if you’re deflecting.”

Sabrina wasn’t sure who was more stubborn, Kyle or Misha. But given the fact that Misha was over two hundred years older than Kyle, year for year Kyle had him beat.

“I’m fine. I wanted to check to see how the tests are going.” Hopefully Kyle would take the hint and go.

Kyle didn’t take the hint. “I know Dalton and I got here at the tail end of things, but that was scary. What do you think it means that Jason’s animal took over his consciousness?”

“Maybe it’s as simple as his animal not knowing how to connect with him. If that’s the case, hopefully Griffin can help Jason learn how to shift.”

“And Bea,” Kyle added. “It sounded like Jason and Bea were going out on a date tonight.”

“Sounds like.” Bea and Jason had been spending a lot of time together.

Bea was smart, powerful, and kind. And she had an elegant beauty and presence that drew you to her.

Did Sabrina honestly think Jason would stay alone forever—that he wouldn’t end up with someone like Bea?

He had agreed with Sabrina that it was best to remain friends.

It made sense. Jason deserved someone special. Someone strong like him.

“Earth to Sabrina?”

Sabrina blinked and looked at Kyle.

“I lost you there for a minute. What do you think of them going out?”

Sabrina picked up a slide and placed it under the microscope. “I think that it’s good. Bea is great.” And Jason was too. And it absolved her of the guilt of letting him go. Right? But her attempt at being reasonable didn’t stop the heat that surged in her chest at the thought.

Kyle crossed her arms. “Bea is great. But that doesn’t mean they’re meant to be together.”

“According to who?”

“Whom,” Kyle said with a smirk.

Sabrina ground her teeth as the heat graduated to a burn singeing her lungs. “Did you just correct my grammar?”

“There’s your snark. At least I know you still have some fire left in you.”

Sabrina turned to the microscope. “Leave it alone, Kyle. Jason getting out there is good. And with everything he has going on right now, he doesn’t need me complicating his life, or his health.”

“I thought we already talked about this. You would never hurt him, Sabrina.”

“Not intentionally, no.” Sabrina turned back to face Kyle. “I thought about what you and Talia said. Lela also weighed in on things and sided with you both.”

Kyle nodded. “I knew I liked her.”

“Except the last thing Jason needs right now is a Succubus thrown into the mix draining him of his shifter energy. Energy that isn’t working correctly to connect him with his animal side.”

“We don’t know if this is a forever thing. It could be a hiccup.”

“And I hope that’s the case. But Jason told me he agreed that we should remain friends.

And he is moving on. Actually, calling it moving on is making this sound much more than it really was.

We were never a couple. It’s time that everyone understands that.

” Except she wasn’t sure if all these rational arguments were for Kyle’s benefit or her own.

“Fine.”

That was way too easy. “Fine?”

“Yes. I’m done with trying to get you two together,” Kyle said with a shrug.

Why did Sabrina feel like the words for now were left unspoken?

Kyle walked into the lab. “We have other more important things to worry about. We need to figure out what this mysterious liquid is and why someone is creating and distributing it. Dalton is out with Misha going over the box truck again with a fine-tooth comb. What do you need help with in here?”

Sabrina had learned that Kyle was anything but predictable. But she was right. They needed to figure out what they were up against. This wasn’t a simple smuggling ring. They could be dealing with a supernatural bioweapon. The more information she could gather from the sample, the better.

She attempted to extinguish the burn in her chest. She was glad the subject of Jason and her relationship was over with.

For now.

Jason dropped his duffel onto the chair and looked around. The bedroom had a sitting area along with a king-size bed.

“Wow. This is five-star swanky.”

Bea smiled from the doorway. “Nothing less for our guest of honor. Through that door is your bathroom, and the door on the far wall is the closet.”

“I expected something a bit sparse. Something with a cage maybe?” He cringed at his attempt at humor.

Bea frowned. “We’re going to figure this out, Jason. Seamus and I will help you. If it’s okay with you, we’re also going to talk to Dr. Henderson, who runs our clinic on the property now. See if he has any history with this.”

Jason’s immediate reaction was hell no. But did he really have the luxury of not working with a shifter doctor now?

“I know after your experience with Seamus and our previous doctor trying to test your DNA, you would be hesitant to trust someone at the clinic—”

“No. It’s okay. I just don’t want it to get out there in the pack. I already feel like a freak as it is.”

“You’re anything but a freak! I think this might be good news.”

Jason couldn’t stop his eyes from widening at her statement.

“Don’t get me wrong. I know it’s scary. But now we know that you have an animal. It just needs to be coaxed out into the open.”

“And what if it comes out and takes over like it did in the lab? I could hurt someone.”

“We’ll be prepared for it this time.”

Jason nodded since he didn’t know what else to say.

“Why don’t you take a few minutes to get settled. Millie, our housekeeper, was working on dinner for Seamus when we got called to the warehouse. I’ll go check on how things are going.”

Jason unzipped his duffel and pulled out his Dopp kit, which he placed on the bathroom counter. It didn’t take him long to hang up some shirts and put his jeans and other items in the closet, which was the size of his apartment bedroom. This was definitely not how his half lived, for damn sure.

As nice as the room was, it still closed in on him.

He opened the door and headed downstairs to find Bea.

He followed his nose to the kitchen, where Bea stood cutting up veggies for a salad next to an older woman busy pulling what looked like a meatloaf from the oven and then placing rolls in its place.

Bea smiled at him. “All settled?”

“Yeah, it didn’t take me long.”

“Millie, this is Jason. He’s going to be staying with us for a bit.”

Millie nodded. “Jason. It’s nice to meet you. If I can do anything to make your stay here more comfortable, please let me know.”

“Thanks. Nice to meet you too. Can I help with anything for dinner?”

Bea shook her head. “We just have to wait for the rolls to warm up. We should be ready to eat in ten minutes or so. Do you want to go out onto the back patio and get some fresh air?”

“Sounds good.” He went to the front hall and grabbed his coat before venturing outside onto the patio.

He sucked in a lungful of crisp air, taking in the yard and woods farther back.

Would he be able to let his animal out one day and run free?

It scared him that his animal had taken over his consciousness.

What if it kept happening? He couldn’t be a danger to the people around him.

“Hi!”

Jason flinched. He hadn’t heard anyone come near him, which didn’t say much again about his military training.

Trina stood beside him. He hadn’t seen her in a while.

She had to be going on fifteen now? Griffin had recruited the BSR team to help him keep Trina and her family safe from poachers and some evil-ass shifters, which is how Jason ended up finding out he was part shifter.

Trina had been through some serious trauma in her short life, and Kyle ended up changing her memories so that she could heal.

Jason was glad to see her safe and happy now. “Hi, Trina. How are you doing?”

“Good.”

“Did you come here to let your animal run?”

She gave him a long look. “Yes. And to check on you.”

How could she have even known he was there? Kyle had said more than once that Trina seemed to know things she shouldn’t know. Before he could ask her any questions, she continued.

“Why are you scared?”

And didn’t that just cut to the chase. He wasn’t going to bother lying. He was quickly learning that shifter senses were indeed like lie detectors. “I’m having trouble connecting with my animal.”

She nodded and looked out over the backyard. “After I was kidnapped, I couldn’t turn into my wolf. I was scared to let it out, but I couldn’t remember why since Kyle had changed my memories.”

“How did you finally change?”

“Kyle helped me. She told me to let the fear go. That my animal wanted to meet me and see the world. Don’t be afraid of your other side. I can feel your animal wants to meet you.”

Jason’s heart sped up. “You can sense my animal?”

Trina nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you know what it is?” Jason asked before holding his breath.

She tilted her head and studied him for a moment. “Nope. But I know it’s there. Give it time and don’t be afraid to welcome him when he does come out. He’s a part of you.”

“How did you get so smart?”

Trina grinned. “I was born smart, and I just keep getting better.”

Jason chucked. “That sounds like something—”

“Kyle would say,” Trina interrupted him before giggling. “Who do you think I got it from?”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. My wolf has been patient, but she wants out.”

“Do you want me to go inside?”

“No.” Trina pointed to a small wooden structure off to the side of the patio. “I’m going to change over there. You can stay. My wolf wants to meet you.”

“I’d like that too.”

Trina walked around the structure out of sight.

A couple minutes later a white snout peeked around the corner, followed by a wolf’s head.

Was she playing peekaboo with him? He smiled when the wolf jumped out from behind the building and ran one way and then back again.

After a moment of rollicking, she made her way over to Jason and sat down in front of him with a wolfy grin.

Her wolf had pristine white fur. A little lanky, but she was still a teenager. He chuckled. Teen Wolf. Misha would think that was hysterical. Now what?

“It’s nice to meet you.” Could he be any more awkward?

The wolf nodded.

“You’re beautiful.”

The wolf yipped before running around him in a circle, making him dizzy. She came to a standstill and bumped her head under Jason’s hand. He petted her softly a couple times before she yipped again and ran toward the woods.

It was surreal to believe that this was his life now.

How many things had changed since he was attacked on that dig site by what he now knew to be a demon.

What he saw as evil personified. And in that instance, it was true.

But nothing was ever that simple. And now his best friend was a Shamat demon who could eat enough for a family of five and shared Jason’s addiction to ’80s TV shows.

A demon who loved his wife and adopted sons more than anything in this world.

Who was a nervous wreck as he waited for their child to be born.

Jason had never thought of himself as a relationship kind of guy. The idea of settling down and marrying had not been on his radar in the past. But his world had flipped on its axis, and he didn’t find the idea stifling any longer.

Jason could still see Trina racing around the trees in the forest. Taking in everything around her and loving life.

Jason wanted to feel that sense of freedom.

Wanted his animal to feel it as well. Wanted to love life and find someone he could share it with.

Once again Sabrina flashed into his thoughts.

He was going to be spending more time with her while he tried to get a handle on his shifter powers.

And that wasn’t as painful as he thought it would be.

Time to look to the future, wherever that might take him.