Page 5 of Shifter and the Succubus (The Pack #1)

What was taking so long? Jason sat in the chair next to his hospital bed.

He was fully dressed and waiting for Misha to pick him up.

Hell, he could just walk out of here, but he wouldn’t hear the end of it from Misha, who was a mother hen.

And his hen-ness had ramped up since Jason had taken the bullet for him.

Thinking back, he knew it had been foolish to do what he did. Not that he wanted Misha to get shot, but a demon normally didn’t die from a bullet wound. Hindsight was twenty-twenty. But he hadn’t been thinking at the time. He’d reacted, his soldier instincts taking over.

Plus he did owe the big, overprotective demon his life.

Jason had shot him before he knew Misha was one of the good guys, after all.

When Misha tracked him down, instead of killing him, he saved his life.

And now they were friends, which Jason didn’t take lightly.

Especially since it wasn’t too long ago that he thought monsters were trying to kill humanity, the words trust and friendship had not been in his vocabulary for years.

A knock sounded at the door.

“Come on in, Misha. Don’t know why you didn’t just barrel right—”

He stopped when he saw who was standing in the doorway.

Griffin walked into the room. “It’s good to see you up.”

Jason stood and schooled his expression. “I’m being discharged today.”

“Great news.”

Jason nodded. “Yeah. I…ah…wanted to thank you and Bea for what you did.”

Griffin looked at him for a moment before responding. “You’re pack.”

Such a simple, not so simple response. He might have some extra shifter chromosomes floating around in his DNA strand, but he wasn’t pack. Not really. But he wasn’t going to argue that with the leader of the Shifter Nation, even if he didn’t trust him.

“Make sure to thank Bea for me.” There, that was much less confrontational.

“Actually I thought you could thank her yourself. I wanted to invite you to dinner.”

Jason’s head shook before he got the words out. “That’s not necessary.”

“I think we have some things to talk about,” Griffin said in his shifter-leader voice.

His stomach dropped. “Like what?”

“Your shifter abilities are kicking in, Jason. You’re going to need help to explore them.”

Jason couldn’t keep the frown off his face. “Where did you hear that, from Sabrina?”

Griffin walked over to the foot of the bed before responding. “Sabrina didn’t betray your confidence.”

“Then how—”

“You’re checking out of the hospital a couple days after you were shot in the stomach. Most humans would still be recovering and not ready to get out of bed. Yet here you stand, giving me attitude.”

Heat filled Jason’s chest as he took a step toward Griffin. “You are not my leader, and I don’t report to you.” Guess he was going to argue with the shifter leader.

Griffin blew out a breath. “I’m not ordering you to do anything. I’m trying to help you.”

Jason crossed his arms. “I might not develop any powers.”

“True. But you might. And while you don’t take orders from me, I have a responsibility to protect.

And a shifter who doesn’t know how to control his powers is a danger to himself and others.

I’m offering to work with you. I know you don’t trust me.

But you have to work with someone, Jason.

At least come to the house and we’ll discuss next steps. ”

The door opened and Misha backed into the room, pulling a wheelchair. “Oh, sorry. Didn’t know you had a visitor. How’s it going, Griffin?”

“Good, Misha. How are Callie and the boys?”

Misha beamed. Jason never thought he’d use the word beam to describe his teammate, who was a powerful demon, but when it came to his mate and sons, Misha was a marshmallow.

“They’re wonderful. The twins and I painted the nursery the other night.” He chuckled. “I had to give them both haircuts afterward since it was easier than trying to wash the paint out of their hair. Callie is due in a month.”

Griffin smacked him on the back. “I’m happy for you. I’ll let you break Jason out of here.” He turned back to Jason. “Think about what I said. You can bring Misha and any other reinforcements you want with you if it makes you feel better.”

Griffin said his goodbyes and left them alone.

“What was that about?” Misha asked.

Jason didn’t want to talk about it, but if there was one thing he knew about Misha, the male would hound him like a dog with a bone until he got the truth out of him. “Griffin wants me to come to dinner to discuss working with him to see if we can release my shifter powers.”

“I think that’s a good idea.”

Jason uncrossed his arms and tried to relax. “You do?”

“Yes. If your shifter healing powers have kicked in, that could mean you might be able to bring out your animal. Don’t you want to know if that’s a possibility?”

Jason hesitated.

Misha frowned at his non-response. “Are you still upset that you’re supernatural?”

He didn’t want to talk about this—emotions made his head hurt. “Yes…no…I don’t know.”

“Talk to me,” Misha said.

Jason sighed. Dog, bone. “I’m not upset that I’m shifter. I’m upset that I didn’t know I was shifter. My life has been a lie. My parents aren’t my parents.”

Misha nodded. “You have a right to be mad. But your parents are still your parents. I might not be the twins’ biological father, but they’re mine and I love them.”

And logically Jason understood that. His parents had raised him in a loving household. He’d grown up in a small town. It was pretty idyllic until he went into the military and found out the world had some nastiness that most people never experienced firsthand.

“I know, man. I know they love me, but I don’t understand why they lied to me about being adopted. I mean, as a child I can understand them not wanting to tell me, but as an adult? Why keep the truth from me?”

Misha narrowed his ice-blue eyes at him. “Have you asked them?”

Jason shook his head and regretted it since his head really ached now. He’d not been home to visit his parents since he found out he was adopted. He didn’t know how to handle it at first. His anger overwhelmed him, but that had been fighting with his guilt as of late.

“Well, if you want to know the truth, you need to be willing to ask the question.”

Jason knew that. Was he in a place now where he could ask the question and not let his emotions take over? Time to change the subject. “What have you found out about the smugglers?”

Misha frowned. “By the time we got back to the warehouse after you’d been shot, they’d cleared everything out.”

“That’s on me.”

Misha rolled his eyes, which was comical coming from a demon his size.

“Right. How dare you get shot and make us take you to the hospital. Don’t worry.

We’ll figure it out. We’re already attempting to track them.

We’ll get them.” Misha gestured to the wheelchair.

“Sit your butt down and let’s get out of here. ”

Jason crossed his arms again. So much for trying to calm down. “I don’t need a wheelchair.”

Misha sighed. “I’m not the one you’ll have to fight. Do you want me to get Sabrina?”

God no . He wanted to get out of there unscathed. Ah, who was he kidding. He was never unscathed when it came to Sabrina.

As if in answer to his thoughts, the female in question walked up to the door and took in the scene very quickly, first looking at the wheelchair, before turning to him and raising her eyebrows.

He sighed and sat in the chair. How was it possible that she could win an argument without uttering a word?

Misha chuckled behind him before pushing him toward the door and out into the hall.

Sabrina backed up and walked beside them to the desk, where the receptionist handed Jason a clipboard, and he signed a couple of forms and handed it back to her.

Misha pushed him outside and left him in the damn chair while he went to get the car. Sabrina walked out and stood next to him on the sidewalk. Had leaving them alone been Misha’s plan all along? He wouldn’t put it past the big lug. He was always playing matchmaker.

“You’re going to take it easy, right?” Sabrina asked.

“Yes.”

“I don’t want to see you in the ER again, okay?”

He looked up into her eyes, her gorgeous blue eyes, and nodded. “Not planning on a repeat visit, Doc.”

She blinked at his use of the word Doc. He hadn’t teased her with it in a long time. Not since she shot him down when he finally had the balls to tell her what he felt for her.

Now was not the time to drag up that history. He had enough on his plate with his parents and Griffin. “Thanks.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Jason.”

And the words rankled. “Let me guess, you’re going to tell me you were just doing your job.”

Her eyes tightened on him for a moment before her mask slipped back into place. “That’s not what I was going to say.”

Misha pulled up to the curb, and Jason stood, wanting to move things along. “See you around, Dr. Miller.”

Yep, there was that banked fire in her eyes. He was an ass for pushing her like he did, but if it was the only way to get any emotions out of her, then so be it.

Misha’s SUV had driven away more than a minute ago, but Sabrina still stood at the curb, looking out at the empty street. What was she doing? That wasn’t normally a question she asked herself. She was a demon with a purpose and had been for centuries.

But with Jason she was like a hormonal teenager.

And not in a good way. When he had called her Doc, her heart skipped a beat.

Okay, her medical training told her that probably didn’t happen, but it didn’t mean that her chest didn’t tighten at the nickname.

And then his flip goodbye soured her stomach.

She knew she’d hurt him. Rejection sucked. She thought back to that night. Jason found her after they’d finished wrapping up a case for the Bureau.

“Hey, Doc.”

“Jason. What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

“No. I was looking for you. Wondered if you might want to grab something to eat.”

Her nerves danced at the casual question. They had been friends up to this point. Something she desperately needed in her life. The idea of a man wanting to spend time with her, to get to know her instead of simply trying to bed her had been so refreshing.

They had shared a meal in the past. He helped supply her with chocolate-covered pretzels—her personal addiction besides good coffee.

They had grabbed a burger or wings when they were working a case for the Bureau, but when she looked into his eyes, felt the nervous energy he was desperately trying to mask, she knew that this was a not so casual question.

He must have read something in her face, since he continued before she could say no.

“Sabrina. Let me do this right. I want to take you out to dinner. Spend time with you. There’s something special about you. Your humor, your intelligence. You fascinate me.”

She loved—no, adored —that he hadn’t talked about her looks.

For a moment she almost said yes, but she wouldn’t—no, couldn’t —start anything with him as much as her heart wanted her to.

Her little voice argued that his energy felt human, so maybe she could be with him.

But there was a big difference between sensing him and sleeping with him.

She couldn’t risk things becoming sexual.

Sabrina would never be able to forgive herself if he did have shifter energy that she couldn’t get enough of—that she might hurt him.

“Jason. I value your friendship.” She swallowed hard as she watched his expression snap shut, his energy ebb. The little bit of hope he’d had in his eyes drained away, and knowing she did that to him made her stomach twist. “But I can’t go beyond that.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Does it matter?”

He frowned. “To me it does. Why won’t you give us a chance? Am I not good enough for you?”

Anger flared at his words. “Of course not. How could you think that?”

“Because I’m human and you’re a ridiculously powerful demon. Sure, I’ve got some sort of random shifter blood in me, but it doesn’t mean squat. I’m a mutt. I get it.”

She had trouble taking a full breath. “You don’t get anything.”

He stepped closer, and his navy-blue eyes had darkened to near black.

“Then why don’t you explain it to me?”

She needed to pick her words carefully. “I’m not in a place where I can date right now. My job is nonstop, and a relationship is not something I have time for. It’s not you—”

He held up his hand. “Don’t finish that sentence. I’ll back off. I thought I felt something between us. I guess I was wrong.”

Sabrina closed her eyes to wipe away the memory. He hadn’t been wrong. She felt more for Jason Watson than she had anyone in centuries. Her heart still wanted him. That had scared her then, and it scared her now.

Long-term relationships were not her forte. She wasn’t sure if being a Succubus had stripped her of truly forming a connection beyond sex. She wondered if it would ever be possible, but she wasn’t going to use Jason as her test case.