“So the Blood Moon is the reason I finally shifted? How often does it come around?” I demanded, not completely sold on the “moon made me do it” defense.
“About every two to three years,” Ace slowly revealed, trying to draw me back into the warm circle of his arms.
Not in the mood to be held, I scooted out of his reach and got to my feet. “If the Blood Moon comes around every two or three years, why didn’t I change on the first, second, or third time it’s been around since I went through puberty? What was so special about this Blood Moon that made the difference?”
Sighing heavily, Ace stood and dusted his bare rear-end free of grass. That would have normally made me laugh, but right now I wasn’t in the mood to find the humor in his action.
“After I found out what you were, I was curious about why you hadn’t shifted already. I went to a witch and asked what would trigger the change,” he confessed.
I was flabbergasted, though I really shouldn’t be at this point. A witch? This supernatural rabbit hole was much deeper than I’d ever realized. “What did she tell you?”
“After some digging, we learned that the Blood Moon, mixed with a bite and my knot, would probably need to occur for you to fully change into a ware.”
It took several heartbeats for me to completely comprehend what he’d just told me. What he’d just confessed to.
“What!” I exploded.
Ace reached out for me but dropped his hands to his sides when I angrily shoved him away. “It was only a matter of time before you changed, Cat. At best, I merely accelerated the process.”
“You can’t know that for sure!” I accused, incensed that he’d done this behind my back.
Folding his arms across his chest, Ace stubbornly tilted his chin upward. “You’re my mate, Cat. It was always meant to be. Blood Moon or not.”
“And you just decided it was okay to take away my free will and force my change because you’re my mate?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Are you telling me, if you hadn’t done all that stuff under the Blood Moon, I could have remained human?”
Ace looked appalled at the idea. “I’m not sure, but I wasn’t willing to risk it.”
“Youweren’t willing to risk it! What about what I was willing to risk? What I wanted, Ace? Did you ever think about that?” My voice had taken on a shrill quality as I peppered him with questions.
His eyes searched mine with the precision of a life-long apex predator. “You’re telling me that you would have believed me if I said, Cat, you’re a ware-shifter. Just come to my place and I’ll prove it to you. I seem to recall that when Kane dropped that particular truth bomb on you, you most certainly did not believe him. Then, in a fit of rage, you blockedmynumber and refused to talk tome. What the hell could I have done to make you believe I was a ware?”
He might have a point, but I wasn’t in a place where I could accept that kind of logic at the moment. “It was my choice, Ace. Not yours. Mine!” My voice broke on that last word.
Puffing out a large breath, Ace ran his long fingers through his mussed hair. “I’m not sure what can be done about that now, Cat. I did what I thought was best. I’m sorry if you don’t agree with it.”
I believed him, but it was a bitter pill to swallow. It wasn’t every day that a girl learned she was a ware-shifter and that her quasi-boyfriend is probably the reason why. That he made the choice for her to change, regardless of what she wanted.
“I want to go home,” I whispered quietly, needing a hot minute to wrap my head around this world-altering revelation.
“Your home is with me,” Ace volleyed, his face a complicated mask of pain and anger.
“I need time to process this,” I argued, though I shouldn’t have to. “What we did last night. This morning. It’s a lot, Ace. It’s a lot.”
His nostrils flared, but he couldn’t deny my words. In the end, he relented and drove me home. When he dropped me off at my apartment, he said, “You get one day to be alone. Then I’m coming back for you.”
Knotting his fingers in my hair, Ace laid a kiss filled with so much pain and passion on my lips, I nearly faltered and gave in to my base animal instinct to ask him to stay. Luckily, I remained strong enough to pull back. I needed time to think, and sex would only cloud my judgement.
“One day,” he reminded me, before he allowed me to exit the SUV.
Running up the stairs to my apartment, I hurried inside for a shower and a good long cry.
Since my scent had changed to that of a “mated-ware”, Ace was convinced Kane would leave me alone now. Just to be certain, Ringo was already in my apartment, watching over everything for me.
When I unlocked the door and stepped inside, he was eating a large lunch that was spread out in front of him like a feast. Not bothering to ask how he’d gotten in without my key, I went directly to my bathroom without making any eye contact with the young prospect. For his part, he didn’t pester me. He simply greeted my entry with a head nod when I walked through the kitchen and didn’t push for any details about my first night as a ware.
It was hard, realizing that all of these people around me who I’d started to see as friends, had been living a double life. Not that I knew most of them well, but I hadn’t realized how little I’d really known them at all. It was a lot to accept and a bit of a blow to my ego. They knew this about me before I did. The entire time, they knew what I was and what Ace was going to do. A hot, bitter surge of embarrassment swamped through me.
Jumping directly into the shower, I scrubbed myself from head to toe and then did it a couple of more times for good measure. Dark mud, like a mirror to my thoughts, swirled around and then down the drain. When I was done, I lotioned my entire body and slipped into a clean pair of sweatpants and a faded concert t-shirt.
