Chapter 17

“I STILL DON’T understand why she never shifted before now,” Karl said in exasperation.

It was Sunday afternoon and although the bar was normally closed on Sundays, Travis had opened it and invited all their friends over to celebrate Phoenix’s first shift.

“Especially after she had a shot of The Beast Within,” Pete said. “It’s never failed to pull the beast from any shifter I’ve ever known.”

Travis grinned. “You want to enlighten them, darlin’?”

Phoenix had spent the entire morning researching koalas, trying to understand her animal side better. “Did you guys know that koalas in the wild sleep anywhere from 18 to 22 hours a day?”

“Wow. Really?” Glory asked.

Phoenix nodded. “Yep. And when I had that shot, well… the koala within decided it was time to take a nap. Right. Then. I barely made it upstairs in time. I’ve never been so tired in my entire life. And I love to nap.”

“She really does,” Travis said.

“Travis once mentioned to me that he thought my animal might be napping. I think he was right. I think she was napping all this time and never really came fully awake until she met Travis and his bear. Until she met all of you.”

“So is she sleeping now?” Max asked.

Phoenix thought a minute, then nodded. “I think so. She’s not awake very often. And when she is awake–” She stopped, not wanting to share the fact that her koala didn’t really care about socializing with friends. All the koala wanted to do was curl into Travis. Whether he was in bear form or human form didn’t really matter. Her koala simply loved their man-bear, just like Phoenix did.

“When she’s awake what?” Pete asked.

“She’s all mine,” Travis said, tipping Phoenix’s chin up and kissing her breathless.