Liam laughed and shook his head, delighting in every little morsel they fed him about the shifter world. He’d spent his life feeling abnormal and now he felt normal for the first time even though shifting into a very large black cat was about as far from normal as he was likely to get. He couldn’t believe that he’d been in the dark about shifters for so long, but that he was now taking it all in his stride. He’d figured he would wrestle with what he was and spend sleepless nights thinking about it and worrying, but he felt surprisingly calm about it all. Like it all came naturally to him, it all finally made sense.
He had Eve to thank for that. She made learning about all this stuff fun and interesting. He still couldn’t believe that she was his mate—thatwould take him even longer to wrap his head around than discovering he’d been a panther shifter for his entire life without realizing it. It just seemed too good to be true that she could be his. Forever. He still wasn’t sure if he could trust in it and some part of him kept waiting for her to tell him it was a joke and then give him the punchline.
But as far as Eve seemed to be concerned, they were a done deal. He’d mentioned that to Hawk earlier in the day and he’d told Liam that was just how it worked in the shifter world. Most shifters waited their entire lives to meet their mates and when they found them, they held on with everything they had. He said that there would never be anyone else for Liam or Eve now and while the suddenness of that should have sent Liam running for the hills, it had the opposite effect. It calmed something deep within him. Every time he looked at his mate, he was filled with an overwhelming sense of peace. Everything about her felt right, as if she was indeed the perfect fit for him or as she’d said some shifters believed, the other half of his soul.
“Your turn,” Hawk said, and both he and Eve watched Liam expectantly.
Liam heaved a sigh. “Okay, I’ll try,” he agreed.
“That sounded very convincing,” Eve said.
Liam huffed a laugh.
Okay, panther, don’t fail me now in front of these more experienced shifters, will you?Liam asked in his mind.
His inner animal was surprisingly quiet. Typical. His whole life, all Liam had wanted was for the voice in his mind to be quiet and now that he actuallywantedit to talk to him, he couldn’t get a peep out of it. What were the odds?
He focused on his eyes, figuring that between the eyes and the teeth, they would be the easier option.
Okay, shift,Liam said in his mind.
Nothing happened.
He closed his eyes and tried harder, really focusing on what he wanted to happen. Then he opened his eyes and looked between Hawk and Eve.
“Well?” he asked. “Have they changed?”
Hawk let out a throaty chuckle. “If they had, you’d know about it,” he said, leaving Liam to wonder how exactly he was supposed to know.
He heaved another sigh and rubbed at his temples. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“Eve?” Hawk said. “You want to talk him through it while I make a coffee?”
She nodded as Hawk got to his feet. “Anyone want a refill?” he asked, pointing to their cups.
“No, I’m good, thanks,” Liam said with a shake of his head.
“Me too,” Eve said. “If I drink anymore, I won’t sleep a wink all night.”
After Hawk had left the room, Eve moved a little closer to Liam on the sofa then took hold of his hand. She was surprisingly tactile and hadn’t stopped touching him all day long. As it had every other time, her touch sent a thrill of delight through him, and he couldn’t get enough of it.
“How are you getting your hand to shift?” she asked him. “The first time you asked your panther to do it. Have you been doing that every time?”
Liam shook his head. “No, actually, I didn’t need to. After I’d done it once, I kind of knew what to expect—what to do, and it was just natural, although keeping it shifted is a little more challenging.”
“Well, it’s exactly the same principle with your eyes and teeth. It’s something that should be instinctual. I mean, I know that’s easy for me to say after I’ve been doing it for my whole life, but don’t overthink it. The trick is to imagine that you’re reaching down inside of yourself and pulling the shifter parts out.”
Liam eyed her dubiously. He couldn’t imagine that it would be that easy, but what the hell. He’d give it a go. There was literally not a thing on this earth he wouldn’t do for her—even if this was going to make him look like an idiot. He closed his eyes again and did as Eve had said, imagining that he was reaching inside himself, taking hold of the animal inside him, and wrenching it up to the surface, specifically focusing on his eyes.
He opened his eyes again, blinked a couple of times, and it was as if the world was a different place to the one that he had just left behind.
“Holy crap,” he breathed, looking around the room in wonder before his gaze came to rest on Eve.
It was like he was seeing her for the very first time. He’d thought she was beautiful before, but now, seeing her through his panther’s eyes, she was simply breathtaking. She grinned at him, and it was like the sun had just appeared from behind a cloud.
“How do I look?” she asked.
Liam shook his head. “Like a mirage.”
