Page 31 of Remington’s Mate

He was rewarded with a laugh. He didn’t know when he’d decided making her laugh was a prize to be won as many times as possible, but suddenly it seemed to be.

She said, “Well, since we’re getting personal, you already know what can happen when somebody’s Turned. Look at Brandon’s dad.”

Remy shrugged. “Xander’s all right,” he said. “Most days.”

“Yeah, and the other days they have to lock his panther in the shed until his homicidal rage goes away.”

“They hardly ever have to do that anymore,” Remy said. “Besides, he was Turned against his will without even knowing about shifters, and he’s a panther besides. Half the panthers who were born shifters are psycho, let alone the Turned ones. It’s different for you. You have shifter blood, and wolves are some of the most stable shifters. That ought to make it easier.”

Jaeda toyed with her own potato remnants. “Usually it would be,” she said. “But it seems I’m a total anomaly. Brock Reilly and Tristan Barnes could both sense something in me—a kind of energy that seems to have the potential to shift. But there’s no animal there.”

“Wow,” Remy said. Without thinking, he murmured, “I wonder where it is?”

Jaeda frowned. “It’s not anywhere. It doesn’t exist. But if someone tried to Turn me, then they would be putting the energy—the spirit—of another animal on top of whatever I have now. The healers seemed to think it was a bad idea.”

Yeah. Two animals. Not the best plan. “Can’t argue with that,” Remy said.

His owl said, I wish you’d thought of that before you invited the furball in here with us.

Fuck you, featherhead, his leopard snarled.

Shut up, both of you.

But they’d given him an idea. “Maybe your animal is just lost,” Remy said.

Jaeda looked at him like he was high. Hell, he was a little drunk, but he was still making sense. Probably.

“How could it be lost?” she demanded. “Hell, where would it be lost?”

Suddenly, Remy remembered that no one could know he was traveling to the spirit world. Hell, no one outside the crew could know he had two animals. If Jaeda’s father found out, as an Enforcer he would be honor bound to rat Remy out to the Shifter Council, who would probably incarcerate him when they found out how unstable he was.

He shrugged. “The spirit world? Isn’t that where shifter animals go when they’re not manifesting?”

Jaeda furrowed her brow. “The ones with magic, maybe. Dragons, I think, and ki-rin. Maybe white wolves? I’m not any of those things, and I doubt very much there’s a wolf wandering the spirit world howling my name.”

She took the last swallow of her drink and held out her glass for more. “Face it, I’m a blob shifter.”

“Oh my god, that would be awesome,” Remy said—again without thinking. “You could roll around absorbing your enemies and turning them into slimy goo inside you.”

Her eyes went wide. “Yes!” she said. “I was just telling my mother that last week! Finally, someone who gets me.”

Remy couldn’t believe it. “You’ve seen that movie? I think I’m in love. If only you understood about Kirk.”

“You’re the one who needs to be Turned, my friend. Into someone who appreciates Picard.” Jaeda finished off her baked potato. “The only problem with being a blob is, what if they get out the fire extinguishers? I’m dead.”

“Nah, the extinguishers only put it in stasis, remember? They airlifted it to the North Pole to keep it dormant. But with global warming, you should be on target for world domination. Hell, there’s a true mate waiting for you in the Arctic, and everything.”

“Double blobs,” she said. “That’s so romantic.”

“We need to watch that movie,” he said, suddenly wanting her to stay longer. Wanting to make her laugh again. “I have it on my streaming service.”

“It’s getting late,” she said doubtfully, but she looked tempted.

Remy did his best puppy eyes. “Come onnnnn,” he coaxed. “No one will ever watch it with me. Not even Colt. They can’t stand it when I recite the dialogue.”

Jaeda tilted her head, studying him for a moment, and then she kicked off her shoes and got back on the bed, bouncing to make herself comfortable. “Okay,” she said. “But don’t try anything. I still have my knives.”

Remy gathered up the room service dishes and put them outside the door, then joined her on the bed with his laptop and the whiskey bottle. “FYI, I have no knives. I’m totally defenseless, in case you’re interested.”