There were tales of shifters who’d accidentally gotten caught in a partial shift forever. That didn’t stop some from attempting to master the partial shift. Mack had never bothered to even try. He wished he had, even though his parents had always warned of the dangers and disapproved of the concept.
Half man, half bear. A monster.
He had to fix this. He couldn’t live like this.
He closed his eyes and drew up the energy. It flowed through him as it should, like it had in the car when he’d tried. But he couldn’t bring his hands back to their human form. He couldn’t breathe. He didn’t want to be stuck like this. He’d seen the fear in Jude’s eyes. There was no way he could explain this to the people of Mercy. There would be no place for him in this town. He’d have to become a hermit.
He didn’t want to be a hermit. He wanted to live his life.
Carefully, he tugged down his jeans. The denim ripped as it caught on a claw, and he cursed. It had been bad enough asking Jude for help with the shirt. He should’ve shredded it and been done with it. With his jeans down, he didn’t even bother untying his shoelaces. He severed them with a claw and kicked his boots off, so he could finish stripping.
His heart beat quickened as he drew up the shifting energy again. It rolled up his spine in a wave of heat. Instead of trying to change his hands, he changed himself. The shift washed over him with a groaning of bones and a prickling of fur, and he hoped he wouldn’t get stuck as a bear.
When he looked up, a bear stared back at him in the mirror. He hadn’t shifted in the bathroom since he was a teen trying out his new ability. He turned a little to admire himself. He was bigger than he’d been back then. He growled, and the sound filled the bathroom and echoed off the walls. His mouth dropped open in what passed for a smile.
He was stalling. Afraid that he wouldn’t be able to shift back, or when he did his hands would remain paws. He huffed out a couple of breaths and wished he was outside so he could go for a run. Any excuse to not shift again. He’d always hated shifting between forms rapidly. It was tiring and painful. Until the aufhockers were gone, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to go camping anyway. He sighed, a sound that was too human for a bear. Tonight wasn’t a good night to be out and about. He’d never forget those odd glowing eyes or the smell.
With a final scratch and shake, he prepared to shift back to human. He closed his eyes.
Bones and tendons and muscles realigned with a grinding and popping that sounded as bad as it felt. His skin burned and itched from the two quick shifts, but when he carefully curled his fingers, they were fingers. He stared at his hands, and relief swept through him. He closed his eyes and ran his fingers through his hair. He wasn’t even tempted to try a partial shift again.
Mack padded downstairs. He’d put on track pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt. And while he felt better now that he was all human again, the tension lingered. He was in new and dangerous territory with Jude, yet his heart gave a little leap when he saw the back of the witch’s head.
Jude was on the sofa staring at his laptop. Mack couldn’t see what he was reading. Hopefully it was something about how to kill aufhockers—which still sounded like a swear word to him. Mack drew in a breath. He shouldn’t be happy to see Jude. It was because of the witch, and the bond, that he’d gotten stuck with paws.
The bond let magic flow between them, increasing and changing their abilities. What he’d read hadn’t gone into detail, maybe because it depended on the pairing. Mack had no doubt that the bond had caused the partial shift. And while he knew they planned on getting rid of it once the beasts were dealt with, letting it strengthen would also be a mistake because then it would be harder to break. The more the magic, and lust, flowed between them, the harder it would be when this ended.
There could be no repeat of what had happened in his workshop no matter how tempting.
Jude glanced over his shoulder and smiled. Wariness tightened the corners of his eyes.
Before Jude could speak, Mack held up his hands. “All human again.”
The smile widened, and it would’ve been too easy to take a few steps and lean over the back of the sofa and kiss him. That was the bond tugging on the desire that was simmering in his belly and wanting him to act.
He took a step forward, wanting to feel Jude’s lips on his, to taste the magic again. His fingers curled, and he looked away. He needed to keep his distance instead of reveling in the lust. Jude hadn’t been totally honest about the Coven, so what else could he have lied about? Or omitted?
With determined steps, Mack sat in the armchair to the left of Jude instead of next to him on the sofa. He didn’t glance at Jude because he knew there would be a hurt in his green eyes.
“I’ve been reading up on aufhockers,” Jude said. “They can be killed, but because they can change size, they are hard to hold. And they have strong jaws, claws and so on.”
“What’s ‘and so on’?
