I wince, remembering Grayson's reaction to the shifting report he asked me to write up after we left the kitchen this morning. His knuckles went white around the pages, green eyes narrowed to slits the further he read. I actually thought it was a good idea when he suggested I write everything I could remember in chronological order, but when he got to the part about the wolves who caught us at that truck stop diner—the truck crashing, the chase through the woods and my subsequent, unwelcomed arousal that drove the other wolves into a frenzy—his jaw clenched so tight, I could hear his teeth grinding. Thescent of his rage filled the air between us, but I nudged his arm, forcing him to read on.
There were other times I partial-shifted, too. And I hadn't noticed the pattern, but we did better when we were under pressure.
Which makes me even more nervous about whatever he has planned here.
"So, your wolves are going to attack me?"
"Yes."
"Are you joking?" Given his deadpan look, he's not joking. "Grayson, I don't think—"
"Why didn't you shift when Andrea and Stance attacked you?"
"Umm…" I try to think back, and though it was barely a week ago, it feels like it was ages. "They were already there. It was too late."
"It wasn't too late. You didn't trust her."
"She doesn't trust me!"
It goes both ways,Beep snaps.
"Well, Beep, you're the one always telling me I don't trust you, but when Andrea was kicking the shit out of us, you told me no!"
Grayson, shocked that I'm talking to her out loud, staggers back a step.
No, I told you to shift. Before she dragged you to the cage, before things got too bad, I told you to partial shift like we did with the man on the cliff. And then I told you to just shift. And you wouldn't. And then itwastoo late. You were too beaten, you lost all our energy. You are the one who wouldn't shift. You didn't trust me.
"Because we couldn't, Beep!"
Why couldn't we?
"Be-because… because we never can. We can never shift that fast."
When we are in trouble, as our mate has observed, we can shift. You should have trusted me. I could have done it. It may not be seconds, but you are always putting me down, denying my abilities, making fun of us like we are useless. Not me,we.You still haven't accepted this as your fate. You are a shifter, Mona.
Is she right?
Have I been denying this part of me, even still? I thought I'd accepted my fate.
In the hospital, you said we are a freak. You think we are wrong. I am a part of you, Mona. I always have been. I'm sorry I wasn't there when your father was feeding you poison. But—
"What?"
The medicine Mona.
"He gave me medicine because I was sick. You weren't there!"
She goes quiet. Grayson, too. I'm afraid to look at his expression, to see judgment in his eyes. Another red flag that something's wrong with me.
"Mona," Grayson starts. "Maybe we should—"
"Nope. Let's do this. Let's see how in sync we are." Beep is still pissed off, but it's only fueling her fire.
For the first time since I met him, the typically overbearing alpha seems hesitant. "Mona—"
"Come on, Grayson. You wanted to put me through this. You got all these wolves ready to watch this humiliating fucking spectacle. Come on, don't hold back now."
He groans, wiping his hand over his face. That's more like it. An irritated Grayson. That's what I need right now.
