Glancing at Mateo and Ares, I could do the same as I shuffled and filtered through his memories before stopping on one in particular that made me chuckle. When he first met me at the storage sheds, I could even hear what he thought.
“That’s the Beta’s daughter? Pretty scrawny for a she-wolf, damn she has nice tits, though.”
I watch as he steps closer and shakes my father’s hand before catching my scent. He found it odd, making me wonder if I smelt like that because I smelt like them, like Mateo and Ezra rolled into one. I shake the memory away.
Ares ducks his head when I repeat Mateo’s thoughts. “Stay out of my head, Kat,” Mateo objects, making me laugh.
“Your perverted thoughts are safe with me,” I assure him.
“You can feel both of us?” Ezra asks, making me stare back at him.
“Yes, Maddox didn’t recognize the patroller, Ezra. He was overwhelmed by my emotions that he didn’t pick up his scent, thought he was trespassing, he didn’t do it on purpose, so let him out. He would not intentionally harm his pack members, he isn’t your father’s wolf,” I explain.
Ezra sighs, but still doesn’t let him out, having not forgiven him. “Soon, Maddox,” I assure him.
“Can you speak to him when he is locked away?” Ezra asks, a little baffled.
“Yes, and feel him, even pull on him as if he is my own,” I tell him, trying to find the right words to explain the weird link to him accurately.
“Can you do it in human form?” He asks.
“I think so,” I tell him, but that leaves another dilemma, how the heck do I change back? I knew I could shift again now that I had done it, but I had no idea how to do it in reverse. Oh, great, how long would I be stuck like this? “How do I shift back?” I ask, looking down at my furry legs and tail.
“I can probably command you. Now that you have shifted, and we know you can,” Ezra offers.
Ares speaks, his voice flitting through my head. “You can feel me, right? So feel what I do,” he says before licking my cheek. He shifts back slowly, and I know he is making it painful by shifting so slow for Mateo as he shows me.
Kind of like extracting and retracting claws only with body parts, like tensing a muscle, except it is snapping and rearranging the bones. I try it, my shoulders pop, the sensation is sickening, making me hesitate.
“Keep going, just don’t think about it, think of your human form,” Ares instructs, Mateo’s eyes are pitch black, showing Ares still has control even in this form.
I focus on trying to remember what it feels like to be human before everything snaps at once, skin replaces fur, fingernails instead of claws, hands instead of paws, everything adjusting, and next thing I know, I am straddling Ezra’s legs.
Mateo smiles, and Ares recedes, yet I could still feel him and Maddox like I suspected in this form.
I am trying to catch my breath, shifting back so quickly, took its toll on me, yet I felt oddly calm and centered, whole. Better than I had in weeks.
“I guess we should call Andrei,” I confess before sighing, I just wanted to go to bed.
“Or we could wait till tomorrow, there is no rush babe, your father is safer with Andrei. At least we know where he is,” Mateo points out, and I nod. I am worried about seeing my father, and I feel sick, knowing he just tossed his son away like he meant nothing to him. I felt guilty, knowing I got our father’s attention while he was forgotten and abandoned.
“Come on, let’s go inside,” Ezra offers, and I stand up, allowing him to completely forget we were outside and the two of us are butt-naked.
Ezra
Once again, I woke early and in a sweat, nightmares of Maddox ripping the patroller apart torment me, how powerless I was to pull him back from the insanity. Sitting upright, I toss the blanket off before ducking into the bathroom and wetting my face and neck, trying to slow my racing heart and cool down.
Sneaking back out into the bedroom, I spy Kat and Mateo, both still asleep in an entanglement of limbs. I shake my head at them, for three days, I felt them. I was a little jealous at how easily things came to them, Mateo never having to worry about Ares ripping her apart. Never having to hold himself back with her, because he had full control and sharing a bond like no other with his wolf. Whereas, I couldn’t trust Maddox not to hurt them, though I know it was never his intention. I grab a shirt, pulling it on before heading downstairs to my office.
Striding in, I retrieve my phone where I left it on charge the night prior and quickly text Andrei letting him know Kat shifted. Despite the early hour, his reply was instant, but not the response I thought I would receive.
Andrei: Is my sister ok?
Me: Yes, asleep, but perfectly fine.
Andrei: Ok, good, I may come over tomorrow, so she can get used to her new abilities.
Me: New abilities?
Andrei: Yes, she should be able to see into everyone’s past now, she won’t be able to help it. She will become curious. Also, her senses should be heightened more than ours, and you may want to tell everyone to steer clear, she could go into heat again. If you notice any other odd things, let me know. Not much is said about Gemini wolves, given she is the second to exist. Be good to write it down for future reference.
Me: I will let you know how she does tonight.
I send back before placing my phone on the desk. I sit down, going over pack finances and checking what bills need to be settled. It isn’t long before I hear footsteps signaling one of them was up, and by the overtired feeling through the bond, I knew it was Mateo. He has barely been sleeping, worried about Kat sleepwalking or going off the deep end, so he has made sure to keep himself busy at night until he was certain she wasn’t going to wake.
My office door creaks open, and Mateo sticks his head in. “Coffee?” He asks, and I sit back in my chair before nodding. He closes the door, but I can feel he is upset about something.
I shake the feeling off, intending to ask him about it when he returns. I finish the small pile of papers, writing down the receipt numbers on each form before looking around for the rest. Usually, there is twice that size of a pile for one day, and I had been gone for three, so that couldn’t be all of it. Getting up, I walk over the bookshelf to see if Marge had dropped any letters in the gray basket of odds and ends. No mail there either.
A few minutes later, Mateo walks in, handing me a mug of coffee. “Thanks,” I tell him. I stop my search for the mail as Mateo goes to walk back out. “Wait, stay, I want to talk to you,” I request, sipping my coffee before walking around my desk and opening drawers.