Silence filled the room as Logan sat in shock. Speechless at Oracle’s pronouncement, he didn’t know what to think or feel or do.Shapeshifting? What the fuck? Does she mean…like a bear? A leopard? An eagle? A dragon? Unfuckingbeleiveable! I can become any shifter? Really? Oh my gods! Oh, no, what will my mate think? Or my brothers? Oh shit, Jackson will freak out!
Kieran watched Logan’s face, waiting for him to say something, but when nothing was forthcoming, he quickly glanced at Oracle before grabbing his mate’s arm and shaking it. “Macushla,are you all right?” Still not getting an answer, Kieran climbed into Logan’s lap again. Placing his hands on his mate’s face, he forced Logan to look at him. “Macushla, talk to me, please! I love you! Everything will be all right!”
Hearing the distress in Kieran’s voice, Logan focused on the vivid blue eyes filled with worry staring at him. Finding his voice, Logan grasped Kieran’s hands andsaid, “Babe, it’s okay, I’m stunned…really fucking stunned…that’s all. I don’t understand what it means…I mean…does it mean I can turn into a ghost bear? A dragon? What? Shapeshifting! Do you know how many different shifters are out there? What does it mean? Oh, my gods!”
“One step at a time,macushla,one step at a time! Do you want me to ask Oracle about your gift?”
Logan gave his mate a grateful nod as he was unable to put a coherent thought together in his head.
Turning in Logan’s lap to face Oracle, Kieran asked, “Okay, I guess the first question is why this gift?”
“It is simple. You will probably have to touch every different kind of shifter at one time or another, so the gods and the Fates were concerned with Logan’s nature as a wolf to tolerate his Fated Mate doing so. They also foresaw Logan’s need to be with you during those times to protect you, as his wolf requires. In addition, some species of shifters will not accept a wolf shifter into their midst, so Logan’s gift allows him to always accompany you no matter what kind of shifter you are interacting with. For instance, ghost bears are very secretive and avoid contact with other shifters. Logan can shapeshift into a ghost bear and provide you with acceptance by other ghost bears while still protecting you.”
“That makes sense, rightmacushla?” Kieran asked, looking at Logan and, after receiving a nod, he asked his next question. “What shifters can Logan change into?”
“All of them,” answered Oracle, “as you will be interacting with everyone in the shifter world.”
Nodding, Kieran asked his next question, “Will Logan still be Logan inside when he shapeshifts?”
“Yes, the only thing that will change will be his form. Of course, he will also have the traits of the new form he is in. For example, as a dragon he will be able to breathe fire.”
“But what if Kieran is attacked by more than one shifter…say dragons? How will I protect him? Even as a dragon, I can’t fight three at once. If I understand you correctly, it will only be me and my mate going into places where he might not be wanted or welcomed. What good will that be if I can’t call on my pack for support?” asked Logan.
Kieran was relieved when Logan asked that. He understood how his mate felt because he felt the same way—gobsmacked. This was a gift from the gods that had never been given before, at least as far as he knew from the books he’d read when growing up with his Shaman. He wanted to ask if he was correct but decided not to bring it up at this time. His mate had to get used to the idea first.
“Good point, Logan,” answered Oracle. “The gods and the Fates also considered this possibility both from your need to protect and their need to keep their promise to Kieran’s mother about the safety of her son. So, their solution is this…whatever form you shapeshift into, you will be the strongest one in that species. So, using your example, if three dragons attack, you will have the power and strength to defeat them all. The gods and Fates are very committed to restoring balance in the shifter world and Kieran is their instrument to make this happen.”
“Why me? Why not Jackson?”
Oracle chuckled, “Why not?” Then getting serious, she continued, “Logan, the gift you have been given is unique, just as you are unique. During your life, you have been subjected to the worst kind of hatred there is…from aparent…the one person put on earth who should unconditionally love their child. How did you react?”
“Not well, I’m afraid,” Logan said, his cheeks turning pink as he remembered the wall he’d built inside himself.
“The Fates disagree. Instead of blaming anyone for your father’s hate, you absorbed it, kept it inside and refused to allow it to betray the values you held dear…loyalty to your family and the love you had for your mother and siblings. That was extremely difficult and weaker men would have taken an easier route…but not you.” Oracle held up her hand and counted off, “First, in order to avoid causing pain to your mother, Jackson and the family, you never told anyone you were disowned by your father. Second, when your family was killed, you gave your support and your absolute loyalty to Jackson when he was trying to build a pack from scratch, even when it put you at odds with the rest of your brothers.
“Third, when Jackson found out he was pregnant, you again supported him, though you could have challenged him for leadership of the pack. Fourth, you slowly stepped aside to allow Steel to fulfill the role of the Second in the Blackwood Pack without any fuss about him being out of line. And fifth, you have totally accepted Kieran without feeling he somehow diminishes who you are. You have repeatedly demonstrated to the gods and the Fates that you are exactly the person they can entrust Kieran to and that qualifies you for this unique gift. Enjoy it, as you and Kieran can also have a lot of fun with it.”
By the end of Oracle’s speech, Logan’s face was red with embarrassment at her recitation about his extraordinary behavior when all he saw was his failure to deal with his pain. He was still trying to see it from her point of view when he felt his mate turn to him and place his hand onLogan’s chest, over his heart. Then, Kieran began to speak.
“When I was growing up, I used to lie in bed at night, staring up at the stars and moon through my window, hoping someday someone would want me…just me…and would love me no matter what. Through those long years, I kept wondering if there would ever be a man like that…if there evercouldbe a man like that…who wouldn’t be threatened by who I am, but see me as just a man wanting to be loved by another man. And during the long, dark days at Arald’s, when I believed the gods and the Fates had forsaken me, I still held that hope in my heart.
“And then I met you. From the very first moment I saw you, I was smitten. Dare I hope you were my Fated Mate? Did I just leave hell and arrive in heaven? Was it going to be that easy? Then you claimed me and my failure to be truthful to you drove me to leave. But did that stop you? A man who suffered so painfully long it made my time with Arald seem like a walk in the park. No, it didn’t. You found me, and then revealed all your pain and suffering because you loved me…just me. The one thing I wanted my entire life. Logan, do you know how special that makes you? No, I don’t think so because that is so you. Everything Oracle said about you is true and now you need to hear me say it. I consider myself the luckiest shifter that ever walked the face of this earth because you became my Fated Mate.”
Chapter 32
Listening to Kieran’s heartfelt words did more for Logan than anything Oracle said, for it was his mate that mattered most to him. Framing Kieran’s beautiful face, Logan said, “I love you…just you…and for the rest of our lives together, I want you with me…always close to me when I go to bed at night and when I get up in the morning, because you gave me my life back…the one taken from me through no fault of my own, but by undeserved and unwarranted hatred by my father. I feel, really feel, for the first time since my childhood…love…and the beauty it brings to the world. Before you came into my life, I was blind…blind to the beauty the gods had given us…whether it was nature, or people, or in my soul. But you, my precious mate, tore the blindfold off and now I can see again!
“I love everything about you and I need you like a thirsty man needs water, but my thirst for you will never be quenched. So, thank you for everything and I am so fucking proud to be chosen to be your Fated Mate. But I will have to disagree with you on one point…I’m the one who’s the luckiest man to ever walk on the face of this earth because I have you, now and forever more.”
Logan softly kissed his pink-loving twink…a kiss filled with endless love and devotion…a kiss to claim what belonged to him…a kiss conveying the truth of Logan’s words. Bound together by love, the rest of the world fell away and a beam of sunlight descended from the heavens, enveloping them in a golden glow. How long they sat there, neither knew, but both were reluctant to part until they heard Oracle clearing her throat. Logan slowly left Kieran’s pink, plump lips, but not before giving the lower one a love bite. With his eyes still locked on hismate’s, Logan’s raspy, emotion-filled voiced asked Oracle, “Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
“I thought you might want to know how to change into different shifters.”
Kieran grinned at Logan, “Macushla,that might be helpful but make sure you know how to change back also. I’m rather partial to you this way.”
“So, am I,” Logan laughed. Turning to Oracle, he asked, “So how do I do it?”
Smiling, Oracle said, “You simply say the type of shifter you want to change into and then, to change back, you think ‘me’. Do you want to try while I am still here?”
