away from the headboard and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked back over his shoulder at her. “That’s where it gets tricky. In most situations, I wouldn’t be able to tell you any of this until I was absolutely sure of your heritage, but since we know both Baylor and Tala—uh, Mary Ellen—are Chanku, we know you must be as well, and that leaves me free to be a lot more open with you than I normally might. Anyway, the gene is passed through females, so even though your mother never shifted, she had all the components of the Chanku species, as do all her children. You can pass it on; Bay can’t.”
“Wait a minute.” Lisa frowned and grabbed Tinker’s forearm. She scooted around to sit next to him, aware of a powerful need to anchor herself and at the same time to touch him. Immediately she felt the strength in him, the tension under his skin. He practically vibrated. “You’re telling me that both my brother and sister are shapeshifters? That they can turn into something else besides what they are? Like I’m supposed to believe that?” She shook her head in disbelief. “If you say my mother was Chanku, why didn’t she shift? And what’s she supposed to have shifted into?”
Tinker covered her hand with his. His palm felt warm. Steady. Unbelievable, when her world felt like it was tilting off its axis. “There are certain grasses growing on the steppes that add nutrients to the Chanku diet, nutrients we need to help a tiny little gland unique to the species develop. Without those nutrients, the person goes through life as a normal human.”
He chuckled quietly, as if he laughed at some private joke. “I will admit, most of us, before we found out who and what we are, were pretty screwed up. With the nutrients, everything changed. We’re immune to disease. Chanku don’t get cancer or any sexually transmitted diseases. Not even head colds. Senses become more acute, an already active libido goes into overdrive, a female gains total reproductive control and is consciously able to release an egg for fertilization—or not. It’s entirely up to her. Among the Chanku, it’s definitely a woman’s world. Anyway, the human becomes fully Chanku. Embraces his or her heritage, the part that has always felt like a missing piece to a convoluted puzzle.”
Lisa realized she’d forgotten to breathe. She’d spent her life searching, yet never knowing what she looked for. Was it a part of herself, unfulfilled and incomplete? Was Tinker explaining why she’d always suspected something very important had been missing in her life? Why, then, had her search brought her here, to this lonely outpost in northern Colorado? To a wolf sanctuary run by an eccentric, reclusive millionaire, where her only duties were finding food for the wolves, cleaning their pens, feeding them, observing their behavior?
Tinker stared intently at her, watching her as if he knew she was working through what he’d said and finding her own answers. She gazed into his amber eyes and realized how much they looked like her own. How they reminded her of something else, something wild and free.
Suddenly it all came together. Every question she’d ever had, every dream, every wish. It all finally made perfect sense. As unbelievable as what Tinker McClintock was telling her, Lisa understood exactly who and what she was. Who she could become.
She twisted around and straddled his thighs, gripping both his arms with more strength than she realized she had. “We’re wolves, aren’t we? We shift and become wolves. It has to be. I’ve dreamed of running through the woods at night, running with wolves beside me. Last night, for the first time ever, when I sat in the compound, I knew we were communicating, that somehow the wolves recognized a kindred spirit in me. That’s it, isn’t it? That’s who I am? What we are?”
She was crying. She could hardly see Tinker through her tears, but she knew he smiled, felt it in the way his arms came around her, the way he held her against his chest and rubbed her back.
“I thought I was crazy sometimes. Thought I must be losing my mind. When I finally started to get my life together, I gave up a perfectly good job to come here because I had to be with the wolves. The need wouldn’t go away. Wouldn’t let me rest.” She raised her head and wiped her streaming eyes with her wrist. “How? How do you do it? How can I? Tell me!”
He lifted her off his lap as if she weighed nothing, set her back on the edge of the bed, and stepped away. She watched him, her fist jammed in her mouth, blinking back tears and sniffing. She watched his face, saw his smile, realized he’d wavered, twisted, and was suddenly gone.
Lisa bit back a scream as she looked down into the amber eyes of the most beautiful wolf she’d ever seen. Without thinking, she slipped to the floor in front of him, threw her arms around his neck, and buried her fingers in the coarse black fur covering his back. Buried her face in his throat and cried again.
He made a soft woof and licked the side of her neck. Lisa rubbed her face in his thick fur and suddenly broke into a fit of giggles. “Oh crap.” She sat back on her heels and held her hands over her face. “I’m wiping my snotty nose in your fur. That’s about the tackiest thing I think I’ve ever done, and believe me, I’ve done tacky!”
The wolf shook his head, and his long tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. Lisa was almost certain he was laughing at her. She scooted back across the floor and sat and stared at him. He was beautiful. Huge, with glistening black fur that shimmered with gold highlights when he moved. His paws were big and broad, the nails tipped in black. He leaned close and licked her neck again, then backed away, shimmered, and shifted.
Once again, Tinker stood in front of her. He held out a hand and pulled Lisa to her feet. “I was afraid I’d frighten you.”
“Never. My God, you’re beautiful when you do that!”
“What? And chopped liver when I don’t?” He laughed, a big booming sound that seemed to destroy whatever tension might have remained in the room.
“I want to do that. I want to be a wolf. How? What do I need to do?” She’d figure out the details later, figure out why she wasn’t afraid, why this all seemed so logical, something that was obviously impossible and couldn’t have actually happened right here in her bedroom.
Tinker pulled Lisa down on his lap as he sat back on the edge of the bed. She felt his cock pressing into her thigh, but he wasn’t as big now. Not soft either, but at least not huge. She liked the way it felt, nestled there against her.
“I’ve got the supplements in my car,” he said. “Take one capsule a day and you could have the ability to shift within the week. For Tia Mason, it only took about three or four days. Shannon Murphy did it in three, but that was damned fast. I don’t know how long it took your sister.”
“Who’s Tia? And Shannon…who is she?”
“Other members of the pack. Both of them are Chanku.” Tinker cupped her face in his hands. When he spoke, there was no sign of laughter in his voice. Nothing but raw emotion and a need so rich it made Lisa tremble.
“There is so much I want to tell you, so many things you need to know. Right now, though…now, I need to make love to you again. I have to feel your body taking mine deep inside, feel your heart beating next to mine. I realize you don’t know me, that you don’t have the same emotions about this, but I feel as if I’ve waited for you my entire life.”
Lisa touched the side of his face, ran her fingers over his closely cropped hair, then leaned close and kissed him. “I do understand, though. I feel the same way about you. It’s scary, really. Very scary stuff, but I can’t wait to know you better. To understand myself better. How long can you stay? Stay with me, Tinker. The bed’s almost big enough.”
She laughed, looked at the queen-size bed that wasn’t nearly enough room for a man his size, then glanced back at Tinker. The look on his face went straight
