him tear that guy to shreds.
It even helped explain the dreams she’d been having, as if anything could.
Mik glanced at AJ and shrugged. AJ grinned, and suddenly he was taking off his shirt. Jazzy’s mouth hung open. The guy really was gorgeous, and he wasn’t stopping at his shirt. Before anyone could say a word, he’d kicked off his sandals and slipped out of his jeans.
Okay, so AJ went commando. Jazzy heard Logan’s quick in-take of breath behind her and wondered if he was reacting to the guy’s package or just circumstances in general. Beth moaned, but it was a sound of fear, not desire. Jazzy grabbed Beth’s hand and hung on tight, but she didn’t take her eyes off AJ.
“What the…?” Matt’s voice clipped off when AJ turned and smiled at all of them, and disappeared.
Just like that.
“Fuck.” Logan grabbed Jazzy’s other hand. Beth fainted and almost pulled Jazzy down with her. Deacon and Matt stood perfectly still. Tala quickly knelt beside Beth.
Jazzy slowly released Beth’s limp fingers. Her heart was pounding in her throat. She heard a weird buzzing in her ears and wondered if she was going to throw up or join Beth on the floor. She glanced down at Beth, who was awake now and blinking owlishly, then back at Nicky. Anywhere but at the big wolf sitting calmly on the floor in front of them.
Right where AJ had been. Then suddenly AJ was standing up and slipping his jeans on over his long legs. “It’s easier to show someone than to try and explain,” he said, as if he’d done nothing special at all.
Beth sat up and shook her head like she was trying to clear it, but she didn’t get off the ground. Jazzy reached over and took her hand again. She really wanted Beth to know she understood how she felt.
“You just turned into a fucking wolf.” Logan’s voice actually shook. Jazzy jerked her head around to see if he looked as scared as he sounded.
Yep. His face was white as chalk.
“So did your friend. And I want to thank you, Nicky.” Tala smiled at Nicky as she stood up. “You got me out of a really ugly situation. I couldn’t shift without giving our species away, but I doubt either one of those punks actually saw you shift. I imagine the police report will come out that there’s a wild wolf on the loose or a vicious dog or something like that, so we’ll have to be really careful about running in the park, but because of you, I’m safe and our secret is safe.”
“Nicky, do you think you could do it again? Can you shift now?” Mik gazed steadily at him.
Nicky shook his head. “I don’t know how it happened. I’ve been having these weird dreams, you know—running in the woods, chasing rabbits and stuff—so I was joking about being a wolf.” He held his hands out in a helpless gesture. “Just now, when AJ shifted, I tried to do it, too. Nothing happened.”
Mik nodded. “Probably the adrenaline rush. When you saw that punk grab Tala, it kicked in and instinct took over. It’s happened before. To Tala, for instance.”
“We don’t need to go there,” she said. “But don’t worry, Nicky. Once you start taking the pills we’ve got with the nutrients you need to shift, it’s going to be a snap.”
“I hope so. I want to do it again.” He grinned sheepishly. “But this time, without ripping some dude’s throat out.”
“There is that.” AJ finished buttoning his shirt. “One thing we all have to learn is to control our animal instincts. There are times when it would feel so good to just tear into some jerk. You can’t do it.” He laughed and winked at Nicky. “At least not every time.”
“You guys are fucking nuts. He killed a dude and no one cares!” Logan took an aggressive step forward.
What the hell was he thinking? Jazzy reached out to stop him, but Tala wrapped her fingers around his arm and gently halted his forward movement.
Jazzy buzzed with a frisson of awareness that felt suspiciously like jealousy.
“Hey, bro…” AJ raised his arms up and stretched, but it was obvious he was doing a little alpha male display for Logan’s benefit. “It’s cool. We don’t treat death lightly. Honest, we really don’t, but we do value our packmates a lot higher than some scumbag out to do us harm. As far as me shifting without warning, well, I’m sorry if I shook anyone up, but it’s easier to show something like that than try and explain it. I know I about shit the first time I saw Ulrich Mason shift. Without warning, I might add.”
Mik, the big guy, laughed. “You and me both. I think it’s like a Chanku rite of passage. Scare the crap out of the newbies. Here…” He pulled a couple of chairs away from the walls. “Sit. We’ll explain.”
Tala dropped Logan’s arm. If Jazzy’d had hackles, they would have very slowly gone down. She couldn’t believe how territorial she felt over him. Logan sat on the edge of the bed beside Nicky. He looked so confused, Jazzy almost felt sorry for him. Tala moved closer to Mik, but she remained standing. As tiny as she was, she barely came to Mik’s shoulder, even with him sitting. “It was the memorial garden,” she said. “The grasses. They’re what drew you to that spot, what helped Nicky shift. You’ve been nibbling on the stems, haven’t you?”
Jazzy glanced at Beth and they both nodded. They all loved the taste of the sweet grass.
“I thought so. We—all of you and all of us—share a genetic identity, one that doesn’t manifest itself without certain nutrients. Those nutrients are in the grasses you’ve been eating. You were probably attracted to the garden by your body’s needs for the chemicals in the grass. Your instincts, latent though they are before your first shift, led you to the foods your body needs. They activated a small gland at the base of your brain near the hypothalamus. That’s what controls your nature and gives you the ability to shift. You’ll also be able to read each other’s thoughts.”
“That’s a bunch of crap.” Logan shook his head. “Nutrients in grasses changing our brains? People turning into animals? Mind reading? It’s impossible. It’s some kind of group hypnosis. I’m not falling for it. I think you people are fucking nuts.” He stood up and towered over Tala. AJ and Mik immediately rose to their feet. Logan blinked rapidly and took a quick step back. His legs clipped the edge of the mattress and he sat down whether he’d planned to or not.
Jazzy figured he might be rethinking his stupid moves. He was probably trying to figure out how to get out of this one alive.
Tala just laughed. “No need for a pissing contest, boys. It is what it is. If you want to put a name to your new reality, we are all Chanku. Shapeshifters with a common genetic background that appears to have evolved somewhere in Tibet, on the Himalayan steppe. Hence, the Tibetan grasses giving all of you a kick start.”
She turned and grabbed the door handle, then flashed a smile right at Jazzy. “I know it seems weird now, but trust me. You are going to love your new life. It’s an adjustment, finding out you’re not really human, but if I can do it, so can you.”
She winked, and Jazzy immediately felt herself relax. Not really human? Chanku. She liked the sound of that. There was a name for what they were. What she was.
She’d never fit in with regular people before, but this…
“I’ll see if I can round up some
