Sharp Change_BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance Read online

  “Are you all right?” He spoke softly and caressed her cheek with a warm hand while his eyes took in her probably still green face.

  “Yes, I…I’ve never done anything like that before. It was too much. All that blood, and something inside of me wanted to keeping going, to shred the man apart.” She was filled with alarm at the thought.

  He pulled her into his arms and held her for a moment. His warmth helped alleviate some of the panic inside her. He bent down and kissed her lightly.

  “Come on. We need to get out of here before any others show up.” He pulled her down the hallway and back to his car.

  “I need to talk to my boss. We can’t just leave the bodies there,” she said.

  “I’ve got that covered,” he said. “Don’t worry about it. Let’s just get you out of here.”

  In the car, he buckled her in.

  “Where are we going?” She leaned back on the headrest and closed her eyes, tuning out what had taken place a few moments before. She was too tired to dissect anything else for the night.

  “To my house. It’s a little farther down from River and Julia, but they’ll be coming over in the morning to catch up.” He pulled out his phone and thumbed his keys.

  She felt like she’d run a marathon and needed a week’s worth of sleep.

  Sophia wondered who he was talking to on the phone. “I need a cleaning crew at the lab pronto. Multiple bodies. Mostly hyenas. One human.” After a pause, he said, “Yes, I said hyenas.”

  She drifted, and the motion of the vehicle lulled her to sleep. The rest of Chase’s conversation was lost on her.

  Her stomach was burning and she was starving, but she refused to leave the soothing bliss she found in her dreamlike state. Soon she was lifted, and she curled into the heat of the man holding her.

  Strong hands undressed and lowered her into a warm pool of water, washing her and almost pulling her awake, but it was too hard to open her eyes.

  Afterward, she was placed on a big, soft bed. She snuggled into the pillow and blanket, and Chase’s scent surrounded her. She sighed in contentment and allowed sleep to take over.

  “Sophia.” Chase’s voice was low but firm. “Hmm?” She sounded more asleep than awake. “Wake up, love. You need to eat.” He kissed her ear, licking the shell, and she moaned.

  She blinked her eyes open, and he smiled at her sleepy look.

  “What? What’s wrong?” She sat up and peered around the room.

  “You need to eat. Here, munch on this and I’ll bring you some other stuff after.” He helped fix pillows behind her back and set a tray on her lap. He brought her steak, chicken, and a bunch of side dishes. She gave him a sleepy look as she assessed the amount of food on her plate.

  “I’ll bring more in a moment, but you need to eat that first.” He knew she’d eat that and more.

  “Are you crazy? I couldn’t possibly eat all this. I’ll turn into a cow,” she grumbled but grabbed the fork and knife and cut into the steak.

  She chewed through the entire tray full of food, and when he brought a second tray with fruit, chocolate cake, and warm bread, she dove through that as well.

  After he took the tray away from her, he sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her with critical eyes. “How are you feeling?” He could see she had a hard time keeping her eyes open once her stomach was full.

  “Sleepy…so tired.” She yawned and leaned back, closing her eyes once again.

  Chase watched as Sophia slept. He needed to figure out how to help her cope with her new situation. At least she’d eaten enough to not have to bother her for a while.

  He stepped into his kitchen and glanced from Julia to River, who both looked troubled.

  “So? Do we know why she’s so tired?” River asked.

  “Chase, she’s been sleeping for over twelve hours. This can’t be normal. Even I don’t sleep that long and I’m pregnant.” She toyed with her teacup as she spoke.

  Chase didn’t want to divulge his mate’s business to anyone but saw the need to add some insight into Sophia’s situation. He’d already called in the pack doctor and asked enough questions to have a clear understanding of what was happening to her. She’d told him to call her if necessary, but he’d put that off unless things changed for the worse.

  “Sophia has been through a lot. I think her body is finally shutting down and taking the rest it needs to handle the stress she’s been through.”

  “Did she get hurt yesterday?” Julia’s eyes flashed.

  “Not physically. I think she was shocked at how bloodthirsty the animals she has can be. It will take her time to come to terms with it.” He sat on a chair and ran a hand through his hair.

  “I’m going to talk to our guys to find out who in that lab has hyena connections.” Chase turned to look at Julia. “I’m going to ask you to stay here and watch her until we come back. I don’t want her to go more than a few hours without eating.”

  “Of course, go and don’t worry about her. I’ll take care of sleeping beauty.” She turned to her husband, gave him a stern look, and then glanced back to Chase. “Be careful, both of you. I don’t want to have to explain to my sister why someone got hurt and make her feel like it’s her fault. So bring your asses back here in one piece.”

  Sitting off to one corner at The Back Door with a couple of beers in front of them, Chase and River watched two of their pack members come toward their booth.

  Being an hour past lunchtime, the bar was settling down from the throng of hungry patrons.

  Riel and Seff slid into the booth across from River and Chase. Both were enforcers, but Seff tended to be a bit more strict and military, while Riel was a fun- loving guy who always got his job done.

  Seff glanced from River to Chase and leaned forward on the table. “You needed to see us?”

  “Yeah, first off, thanks for handling the clean-up at the lab. It got messy quickly,” Chase said. “Did you get the vials and papers on the table before you left?”

  The men looked at each other. Seff said, “There was nothing on any of the tables or counters. It was spotless, except for the blood and guts slung around.”

  “Oh no.” Chase dropped his head into his hands. Someone had taken her work. The one thing they were trying to prevent happened anyway. One good thing about them getting the data was they would leave Sophia alone now. They didn’t need her. That made his wolf almost giddy with relief.

  Now, he just needed to find out who “they” were.

  “Don’t worry about it. Instead, I need you to get some information for me. I want to know who’s in charge of the research facility, in front and behind the scenes. Shifter, human, witch, demon, everyone. I need this yesterday.”

  Riel’s brows lifted at the request while Seff looked like he had been expecting it.

  “Any particular reason?” the younger wolf queried.

  River jumped in to answer. “Yes, my sister-in-law is the head researcher and top geneticist. Way too smart for her own good since she figured out how to suppress the shifting gene in our DNA.”

  Seff had a look of stunned disbelief.

  “Why the hell would she do that? Is she crazy?” Riel burst out unthinking.

  “My mate,” Chase stated, “was trying to do something nice by giving Julia the choice of changing back.”

  Seff stared at his leader, unwavering. “There’s something else, though, isn’t there?”

  “Yes. In the process of separating the DNA strands she…had an accident. Sophia is now a dual shifter. She has two different female animals inside.”

  With their collective indrawn breaths, he knew they were taken aback.

  Seff seemed to recover first from his shock. “Two different breeds? And are they both alphas?”

  “Yes. Apparently, the pure cat and wolf strands bonded with her DNA so seamlessly, it’s like she was born a pure-blood shifter. Both animals seem to be getting along. I’m not sure how long that’s going to last, though.”

  His fear
was that the stress on her body by her new physiology would kill her. The animals inside her were powerful and drained a lot of energy.

  “So you’ve mated this woman?” Seff asked.

  “Yes, her name is Dr. Sophia Reese. You’ll both get an e-mail with her file so you can acquaint yourselves with her information.” He ran a hand over the back of his neck and thought of Sophia’s exhausted form. She was pale and had already lost weight.

  “Don’t worry, Chase, we’ll find out what’s going on at the lab right away.” Seff grasped his forearm.

  “That’s all we have for now. I’m sure someone in that lab knows something and I want to know what’s going on.” He growled and fisted his hands on the table.

  All three men nodded.

  River cleared his throat and caught their attention. “Sophia is presently with Julia at Chase’s. Chase and I will be taking turns with the women, while we dig around to find out more about these hyenas and hopefully find out who’s behind them. Call either of us as soon as you know anything.”

  Chase’s cell phone went off. He saw Julia’s name and accepted the call immediately. “Julia?”

  “She’s awake. She’s saying she’s feeling better, but she looks pale, Chase. I fed her again. It seems that hunger is the only thing that wakes her. She’s fighting off sleep until she sees you.” Julia’s panic came through the phone line.

  “I’m on my way.” Chase shut the call off and dropped the phone in his shirt pocket. He looked at the guys, wished them luck on their search, and reminded them this was their priority.

  “One last thing, Chase,” Seff said, holding him from leaving. “In the lab last night, there was a smell of a shifter we’ve never come across before.”

  “What?” Chase asked. How could that be?

  “Yeah,” Riel added, “We have no idea what type of shifter had been there.”

  Chase gave them a worried nod and hurried toward the bar’s front door. Someone new was in his town and he needed to find out who and what they wanted.

  “Where is Chase?” Sophia frowned, trying to clear her mind from the wave of exhaustion calling her back to sleep. She wondered what the hell was wrong with her body.

  “He went to see what he could find out about the research lab and try to figure out who could be behind the attempt on your work. He’ll be back really soon, baby girl. Are you still hungry?” Julia sat by the bed holding her hand.

  Sophia smiled at her sister’s use of the childhood pet name for her and shook her head at the question. “Yes, but I need a shower. I need to get rid of this sleep before it overwhelms me again. Give me a few minutes, and then we can have some coffee or something.” She felt marginally better standing. She stretched tired muscles and headed to the shower for a nice, cool soak.

  After the shower, she was less sleepy and finally felt she could function without dropping into an exhausted heap. She dressed in shorts and a tank top that she found lying on the bed, along with new underwear.

  She made her way to the kitchen and finally took in the house that belonged to her mate.

  Glancing around, she realized the house fit with him, and it really was Chase’s space. It was clean, open, and uncluttered. The furniture was for comfort, not show. She fell in love with it.

  And who was sitting on the sofa with her back Sophia? She breathed in a new scent as the person on the couch did the same. The woman turned with a smile. Tryx!

  “OMG, girl,” the baker extraordinaire said to Sophia, “you’ve changed so much already!” She rushed around the furniture and gave Sophia a hug. “How are you feeling?”

  Sophia shrugged. “Other than being tired, I’m okay.”

  Julia walked up behind her, a tray with mugs in her hands. “Just you wait and see what your new cousin brought with her.”

  Sophia followed the two into the living room and to the sofa. The grandest sight she’d seen in a long time greeted her, on the coffee table.

  A large spread of delicatessens covered the glass top. Sweet breads, donuts, cream cake, sliced meats, rolls, did she mention donuts? There was also a huge variety of cheeses. Yum.

  Sophia sat in front of the table and dug in. “Sorry if I’m being rude,” she said, “but since this shifter thing, I’ve been constantly starving. It’s like my body can’t catch up with the energy it needs.”

  Tryx glanced at Julia. “That’s to be expected,” Tryx replied. “Your body is still adjusting to the changes. Until your metabolism finds its balance, you’ll probably be craving food.”

  “No shit to that,” Julia said. “I never ate half as much as she has. She could give River and Chase a run for their money when it comes to cleaning out the fridge.” The girls laughed.

  Tryx grabbed a piece of sliced roast beef. “I thought this smorgasbord might make a good snack for everyone.”

  “I fully agree,” Sophia agreed. Everyone was quiet, ignoring the elephant—well, wolves—in the room.

  Finally, Tryx said, “Sophia, you know there’s a lot of great things about being a shifter. Shifting itself isn’t the only thing.”

  “She’s right,” Julia continued, “you can smell who’s around you without looking. Oh, and your glasses. You don’t have them on.”

  “I didn’t even realize I wasn’t wearing them until after showering. It’s better than Lasik. And free,” Sophia added. “So, I’ll admit it isn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

  “And,” Tryx threw in, “you know when you’ve met your true mate by smell. No questioning, no dating needed. You’re already perfect for each other.”

  Sophia asked, “Concerning mates, Tryx, why haven’t you taken a mate?” She rationalized that if Tryx had someone to help her in the bakery, the woman wouldn’t have to work so hard.

  Tryx blushed and looked down. “I’m holding out, hoping to find my true.”

  “Wait,” Sophia questioned, “what happens if you don’t meet him? I mean, how do you find one person in seven billion? You’ve been alone all these years?”

  Tryx snorted. “All these years? How old do you think I am, lady?” Sophia’s eyes widened. Did she just insult her new friend?

  “Sorry,” she said. “I—”

  “You’re fine, missy. I’m just giving you a hard time,” Tryx replied. “Lighten up, girl.” She snatched up a piece of cheese. “To answer your question, I haven’t been alone all this time. For several years, I was with a human male.

  “The man, Ernest, was an angel. He’d do anything for me. I loved him even though he wasn’t my true mate. We enjoyed each other’s company and he made me laugh. He was the next best thing to a true mate.”

  “What happened to him?” Julia asked.

  Sophia threw a grape at her sister. “Julia, you don’t ask people questions like that. You’re being nosy.”

  Tryx laughed. “No, it’s fine. It happened a long time ago. You’re right to wonder how old I am. Shifters age differently than humans. Ernest died in his sixties from heart disease. That was about twenty years ago.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Tryx,” Sophia said. “Are you looking for someone else?”

  The baker shook her head. “No. It hurt so much when I lost Ernest that I didn’t want to go through it again. Plus, no one in Black Meadows does it for me.”

  “No hot and bothered from anyone?” Sophia asked? She couldn’t believe she was asking such personal questions. Normally, she barely talked to anyone. She liked this type of interaction. Too bad she discovered that so late in life.

  Tryx laughed. “No. No hot and bothered. Barely a ‘warm and interested.’ Who knows what will happen in the future. Maybe I’m not destined to meet him. You two are really lucky and the whole town is thrilled. You will make us stronger by controlling the men. Of course, the men don’t know that, but the women do.” She gave Sophia a wink.

  Sophia gave the women a quizzical expression. “You both know these animals in my body are new for me, right?” Both ladies nodded. “Besides the general shifter stuff I alr
eady know from Julia, what else should I be aware of?”

  Julia and Tryx shared a look.

  Tryx turned to her. “I’m not sure what you mean?”

  “You know, biological stuff that’s embarrassing to talk about.” Sophia rolled her eyes. The “old” her would never, ever bring up a topic like this, but the “new” her had no problem with it.

  “Have you shifted into one of your animals yet?” Tryx asked.

  Sophia gasped at the thought. At the lab, she so wanted to shift to help Chase. Since then, she hadn’t even thought about it.

  “Let’s do it!” she said jumping to her feet, food forgotten.

  Julia slowly stood. “I don’t know about this, Tryx. I didn’t do so well with my first shift. Maybe we should wait for Chase.”

  Tryx put a hand on Julia’s shoulder. “You shouldn’t have shifted so soon, Julia. Your body wasn’t ready yet. Why your wolf pushed so hard, I’m not sure.” The woman took a scared looking Julia into a hug. “Plus, you weren’t prepared for what would happen. Sophia is more than ready to do this.”

  Sophia nodded in agreement. She was so ready. Julia stepped out of Tryx’s embrace.

  “You’re right. Sophia is ready. Chase keeps saying her conversion was like she was born a shifter.”

  Sophia hugged her sister. “I love you, little sis. You know that.” There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her sibling. Hell, she’d given up the past six months of her life to find a way to stop exactly what she was getting ready to do. Ironic.

  Julia sniffed. “Yes, I know. Now stop making me cry and let’s get this done. Damn hormones.” Julia laid a hand on her tiny baby bump.

  Sophia snorted at that comment. She knew damn well hormones weren’t the underlying factor. Can you say Drama Queen?

  “Okay, I need to undress, right?” Sophia asked.

  “If you don’t want to ruin your clothes, sure,” Tryx replied.

  Julia pulled a blanket off the sofa. “Lie on the floor and cover up.”

  In seconds, a naked Sophia lay on her back, too excited to stay still. “Now what? How do I start it?”