Page 28 of Shifters Unifying (Shifters Destiny: Willow Creek Shifters #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

emma

In his human form, Logan climbed up the tall oak, swinging himself easily into the first limb and climbing the rest of the way. He winced as the bark scratched his inner thighs. “Emma,” he warned. “There’s got to be another way in.”

In squirrel form, I scrambled past him, shaking my bushy tail in his face as I darted by. It’s the only option, according to Salali who designed and built it.

He batted at me playfully but only managed to grab empty air. “Don’t make me destroy Salali’s drey to get to you.”

I chittered at him. Half-way up the center trunk, I took the large bough to the right, darted over the surface, and through the small entrance into the round structure, leaving the tiny door open behind me.

The arboreal penthouse was half as big as my home back in Willow Creek, but it felt nearly too large for a tree house, suspended in the canopy fifty feet above the ground.

The exterior had been made of saplings and twigs woven together. The chinks had been plugged with old and new leaves, squirrel fur, and moss. Inside, the home had proper plaster walls, hardwood floors, and double hung windows. It even had a kitchen, a bathroom, and the internet.

The master bed mirrored the exterior construction and the shape of the drey, and a custom mattress with pale green sheets waited.

Though I hadn’t yet slept in it, I expected it to be like resting, cradled in the arms of the forest and rocked to unconsciousness by the swaying of tree in the cool breezes.

Shifting from squirrel form to my human form, I dropped onto the cushy recliner to one side of the living area and clutched the arms as the whole structure shifted side to side.

“Don’t think I’m ever going to get used to that,” I muttered.

Then I cupped my hands around my mouth. “It’s big enough in here for both of us, just have to get in. ”

Fuck. His voice echoed in my head. His shiny black nose and muzzle showed in the small opening, huffing at the air. This is the only way in?

Only way.

What do I earn for getting inside?

Me. In a tree.

A low, longing whine filtered through the leaves. Deal.

Then his sharp, canine teeth clamped around the doorframe in the branch wall and pulled. The sound of splintering branches reminded me too much of snapping bones, so I turned away from his attack of the wall to think about something better.

When Logan and I had sex, we’d probably rattle the whole damn deciduous. I scrunched my nose. It would be as good as a billboard, letting everyone know what was happening up the trunk. I cringed and laughed at the same time.

Within a minute, the gap had been widened enough for Logan to squeeze through. He loped across the floor, sat back on his haunches directly in front of me, and shifted once more. After this shift, the injuries from his fight with Marcus were mostly gone.

He crossed his legs, remained on the floor, and pulled a long splinter from between his teeth and tossed it aside. “That was unpleasant.”

“I think the only thing I’ve ever seen you devour so ferociously is…”

His gaze narrowed. “Is what?”

“Well, me.” Maybe I was using sex and humor to soften his mood.

His mouth stretched in a feral smile, and his gaze scraped over my skin. “Is that so?”

I stood, turned slowly, bent forward, and shook my ass, nearly in his face. “Do you ever wonder if nudist colonies are descendants of shifters?”

When I faced him again, his gaze had narrowed, and his eyes had turned stormy. “What?”

“Weren’t you listening?”

He growled. “Didn’t hear a fucking word you said. Can’t be putting your ass in my face and expect me to retain anything.”

“I asked if you ever wondered if nudist colonies are the descendants of shifters. You know, because—”

“Modesty has no place among shifters,” he finished. “Interesting thought. Maybe Dr. Wise knows. Speaking of Dr. Wise, what were you two chatting about while I ‘worked things out’ with Marcus?”

It wasn’t something I wanted to discuss yet, so I didn’t answer. Instead, I asked, “Thirsty?”

He hopped to his feet and caught my hand in his. “Emma, tell me.”

“She believes she’s discovered a clue.”

“A clue?”

“Drawings of a relic, complete with a poetic verse that could be taken as instructions for how to beat any threat like Acheron.”

“What’s the catch?”

“It’s not in Six-Mile. It’s somewhere else, and we have to locate it, only I think I already know where it is.”

“We’ll leave tomorrow,” he said, pulling me close and nuzzling my neck.

I shook my head and wrapped my arms around him. “No, I’m taking Marcus.”

“The fuck you are,” he whisper-yelled.

“He’s been there before. With his sister. Before he had a nephew.”

“Is that the missing one?”

I nodded, unwilling to tell him that the missing shifter might be my birth mom or that a trip to the cave might net me my birth father. It was too much to hash out right now. Instead, I said, “They found a bat pendant and relic trove a long time ago at the back of Wolf Moon Cave.”

“Then all three of us will go.” He smoothed his hands over my sides and crushed me to him. “You want me to come along, don’t you?”

“No, we need to take as few as possible, try to sneak out under cover of night or something. Clandestine. Hush-hush. Mask our scents with deer piss. Like hunters do.”

He took a step back and glowered. “I don’t like it.”

“But it’s what I’m going to do.” Please don’t make me pull rank. Mentally, I begged him to understand.

“Pull rank, huh?” He echoed my thoughts aloud, cocked his head to the side, and studied me. “You’re different now. More confident. More… bossy. I might like it.”

“Maybe I’m beginning to believe I’m the multimorph. Or at least act like I am. It’s funny how acting like it helps make me believe it. Feelings be damned.” I closed the distance between us and pressed a kiss to his chest. “For now, I just want to be your mate.”

His mouth turned up in a wolfish smile. “Let’s see how much sway this place has.” He slapped my hands down on my ass and lifted me up to his eye level. His eyebrow quirked. “Now, tell me, have you ever had sex in a tree?”

Laughter erupted from me then. “Seems like you’re always asking me that.”

“What of it? Maybe I like to know what I can count as your firsts.”

“Backseat, kitchen, tree… You can pretty much assume I haven’t had sex in any of those places.

Until I met you, my vet practice and making it successful was the only thing I cared about.

” A pang of regret cut through my chest, and I bit back a gasp.

It’d been ages since I’d thought about my business.

“Do you miss it?”

“I do. It meant the world to me, and I’d spent a lot of time focused on that.

My dad, my parents, really, sacrificed to get me through vet school.

Eventually, I have to decide what I’m going to do with it.

There’s not another vet who could take it over, and as much as I love Shannon, she can’t run the place with the vet always gallivanting all over the Louisiana countryside. ”

“Do you want to go back?”

Chewing my bottom lip didn’t help me ponder any faster.

Finally, I said, “It doesn’t seem as important as saving all the shifters and shifter kind, maybe even saving the human world from Acheron, but in a perfect world, yes, I’d like to practice again.

Matter of fact, I’d like to get my motorcycle out of the garage and go for a ride. ”

“What color is it?”

“Bright red.”

“Not multicolor?”

I giggled. “Well, a custom paint job was in the one-year plan. At least until you threw every plan I ever had off the rails.”

He traced my ear with his mouth. “That wasn’t my doing.”

“Yeah, but shifting could have been something I kept to myself, and then you came along and shook your naked ass at me while I was camping. Took me away from my mother, my home.” Mom… Shit, I needed to catch up with her.

He pulled back, feigning hurt. But his eyes practically glowed with mirth. “I saved you from dying after that big cat attack, and you asked me to, if you’ll recall.” He growled. “You screamed my name, and basically, it’s the only thing I’ve wanted to make you do ever since.”

I snuggled into him, recalling the beginning.

“I still remember when I strolled into the Rainbow Vet’s front door before the attack. You were so pissed at me. Everything about you was angry, your expression, your scent. Acrid, waspish. Dangerous.”

“Well, you were the one who let Sully-Boy out of Sheila’s house. You nearly broke Callie’s ten-year-old heart.”

His tongue flicked my earlobe. “That cat is a menace. He hated everyone and everything but Callie.”

My arms linked behind his neck. “But that’s not really why I was so pissed.”

“Why were you pissed?” he whispered.

“I didn’t know Sheila was your cousin, and I thought you two were together, and I’d been fantasizing about you for days.”

He froze. “Is that why you tried to seduce me in the parking lot at Vixen’s?”

“That and I’d had a few drinks. I think Sheila wanted us to get together, and you were the right kind of catnip for what ailed me. At least before my brain showed up and talked me out of fucking you in the front seat of your work truck.”

“Sheila did promise ‘the Emma’ would knock me on my ass and leave me begging for more.” He dragged his tongue down the side of my neck and down my sternum, kneeling before me before he kissed my belly button. “She wasn’t wrong.”

“And I knew you’d be trouble,” I murmured. “I just wasn’t prepared for how much.” I caught arm, pulled him back to his feet, and led him to the low bed. He followed, willingly.

I took a seat on the edge of the mattress and pulled him close, his dick already standing tall. Spreading my legs, I wrapped my fingers around his engorged shaft and brought him closer, scooting as far forward as I could.

“Hey, that’s not a handle,” he murmured.