El came downstairs after taking up Brogan’s clean laundry. Not even one day as his mate and already waiting on him hand and foot. Shaking her head, she smiled. She wasn’t really waiting on him but helping Rowan out. After they’d cleared away the breakfast dishes Rowan had started in on the dirty clothes.
El had never seen a mountain of laundry before. The pile started on the floor and stood higher than her waist. Load after load went from washer to dryer. The process took half the morning but there was finally nothing left to wash. Just pile after pile of folded clothes to be put away.
Rowan was upstairs still and El decided to get a start on dinner. She could throw a pot of spaghetti sauce on to simmer and then they’d just have to put the pasta in to boil when they were ready to eat. It also freed up the rest of the day for her and Rowan to talk. Brogan hadn’t been much help with learning to shift. His less than helpful instructions were “Just think about your inner coyote and it’ll happen.”
How was she supposed to think of her inner coyote when she’d never had one? He’d promised to help her later but she wanted to try before he got home. If she could manage the change with Rowan’s help she could surprise him when he got here and maybe they could go for a run in the woods. The idea of running wild in the forest with Brogan at her side sent a shiver down her spine and warmth through her chest.
Another question she wanted to ask Rowan was whether or not they mated in coyote form. El wasn’t sure she was ready for that if they did, but she needed to know everything about living as a shapeshifter. Brogan had said her cycle would be different too. Did that mean pregnancy would also be different?
Oh God. Would she give birth to a pup? Or worse! A litter of puppies?
Shuddering at the mental image, she searched the pantry for ingredients. Her great grandmother’s sauce recipe had been passed down through the females of her family, like a rite of passage.
Rowan burst through the door. “Hey, what are you doing?”
“Making spaghetti sauce for dinner.”
“Grandma’s sauce?” Rowan licked her lips.
“Yep.”
“Oh God.” She dropped on a stool at the island counter. “I haven’t indulged in that particular brand of heaven since I left Australia.”
“I promise to make enough for you to freeze some for another night.” El laughed. Every time she made enough for more than one meal, Rowan managed to empty the saucepan, even going as far as trying to lick the bottom of the pot.
“You won’t have to. Now that you’re mated with Brogan you can make it fresh for me whenever I want it.” Rowan sat with a smug look on her face.
“I should teach you to make it yourself,” El said, knowing it would never happen. They’d shared a house for nearly three years and she hadn’t managed it.
“That would spoil the ‘handed-down-through-the-family’ feel to it.”
Rowan was right. It wouldn’t be the same without a Crawford woman stirring the pot.
“Can I ask you something, El?”
“Sure.”
“Did Brogan turn you?”
Her gaze jerked up to meet Rowan’s. “Why?”
“Well, there’s a change in your scent that you might not be aware of.”
“What sort of change?”
“Um, I’m not sure I should be the one telling you this. Just answer my question. Did Brogan turn you?”
“Yes.”
“Did he explain what happens when a female human is turned?”
“About the increased sex drive when I’m in heat?”
“No. Well, yes, there is that, but there’s something else I’m sure my brother conveniently forgot to tell you.” Rowan chewed her lip.
“What? We talked last night about a lot of things so maybe he did tell me.”
“When a female human is turned during mating, the hormones and chemicals released into her system by the act of joining and by the bite increase the chances of getting pregnant.”
“Oh, that’s okay. We talked about an unplanned pregnancy. It’s not the right time of the month for me, Rowan so I’m not worried about it. And truthfully if it happened I wouldn’t be upset.”
“Maybe I didn’t say that right. El, the chance of you getting pregnant is very high. As I said the hormones released push your system, kind of prodding it so that you are ready to conceive,” Rowan explained.
“Okay.” El wasn’t worried about getting pregnant. It was extremely unlikely, she was at the very beginning of her cycle and she’d always been as regular as clockwork.
“El?”
Rowan waited until she looked up.
“What?”
“You’re pregnant.”
El burst out laughing. She couldn’t be pregnant. Well, she could but it wasn’t likely and even if she was, a doctor couldn’t tell yet. God, an egg wouldn’t have even made it to her uterus yet.
When Rowan didn’t laugh and there was no hint of a smile on her lips, El sobered. “But…”
“What Brogan forgot to mention, and I’ve botched up completely explaining, is the act of turning a human female forces her system into overdrive and stimulates her ovaries making them produce eggs. I’ve never known any woman who hasn’t conceived when being turned.”
Rowan got up, came around the island and wrapped her arm around El’s shoulders.
“Last night your scent was different but I put it down to mating with Brogan. This morning when you came down for breakfast I thought I could smell the change again. After spending all morning together I know what I smell, you’re definitely pregnant.”
“Pregnant?” El’s hand covered her lower stomach. Surely she would know if she’d conceived a child? Wouldn’t she feel it?
“I didn’t tell you when you first got here because we’ve kept it just between Quinn, me and Brogan but I’m two months pregnant. I haven’t been to town in all that time because the minute I step out on one of those streets the whole shifter community will know. We want to wait until after the wedding to tell people.”
El absorbed what Rowan said. Inside both of them grew new life. Their children would be almost the same age. They could grow up together. Cousins. A little numb from what she’d learned, she still couldn’t stop the thrill that started to grow inside her heart.
She’d grow up an only child of only children and her parents had been older so El had lost them both early. Both had died within weeks of each other when El was twenty.
The idea of being part of a family again. Of her child having a cousin to play with on a daily basis sent a surge of pleasure through her. She’d be experiencing all the joys of having her first child with her best friend. It was mindboggling.
“I should say congratulations,” El uttered.
A child.
Brogan’s child.
“El, you’re looking a bit pale, maybe we should sit down for a minute.” Rowan’s concern touched a soft spot in El and tears sprang to her eyes.
She reached her arms around her best friend, pulling her close for a hug. Rowan hugged her back and they stood in the bright kitchen and cried. Not sad tears but happy, emotional tears.
When they stopped, they both dried their eyes and finished putting the ingredients for the sauce together in silence, each lost in thought. After mulling over everything, El was more determined to learn how to shift before Brogan got home. She wanted to surprise him with both the ability to change and her pregnancy.
He probably already knew she was pregnant but she wanted to tell him. And then she wanted to show him.
“Teach me to shift.”
“What?”
“I haven’t changed yet and Brogan wasn’t very helpful when I asked him how to do it. I want to be able to shift before he comes home. I want to surprise him and I’m sure he already knows he got me pregnant.”
Rowan smiled. “Oh, yeah, he’d know.”
“So will you help me?”
“Of course. Let’s get this all cleared away and we can get started.”
Together they put the last of the ingredients into the pan and put it on to simmer. They cleared away the garbage and stacked the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. When the last counter was wiped and the kitchen was filled with the smell of tomato and spices, they made their way into the lounge room to discuss the fine art of shifting.
“Brogan said he thinks about his inner coyote and he shifts but I’ve never had a coyote so how can I think of it?”
“Until I came home last year, I hadn’t shifted since before I left. I couldn’t remember what my coyote looked like so I just pictured Quinn and Brogan. It might be harder for you. I’ve only ever been with one turned human for their first time and that was over ten years ago. But Gordie grew up in the pack so that wouldn’t really help anyway.”
Rowan walked over to the fireplace, picked up a couple of photo frames and made her way back to El.
“Here, if we put these pictures of Brogan in front of you they might help. Sit on the floor next to the coffee table, that way you won’t have to drop down as you change.”
“Should I take my clothes off?” El asked.
“Oh yeah, sorry. Do you want me to close the curtains?”
“Would you mind?” El wasn’t concerned with Rowan seeing her naked but didn’t want to give anyone else coming around a free show.
Going to each of the windows, Rowan pulled the curtains closed. Returning to El, she began removing her clothes.
“Why are you taking your clothes off?”
“I thought you might be more comfortable if we did it together. It might help you to shift if I’m doing it too,” Rowan said.
“Thank you,” El choked out. Her eyes stung with the emotions bubbling inside her. “Sorry, I’m turning into an emotional wreck.”
Laughing, Rowan said, “Get used to it. I cry at the drop of a leaf these days. Everything I’ve read about being pregnant says it’s normal and part of the joy of carrying a new life.”
“I can’t believe the things I’ve done since getting here. There’s been a whole load of firsts for me in the last few days,” El sniffled.
“You don’t regret coming, do you?”
They were both naked now.
“No. I don’t regret anything, least of all coming to see you.”
Rowan sat on the floor and El followed. Sitting next to each other with the photos of Brogan in coyote form in front of them, El looked at the beautiful animal and tried to picture herself as one. Her muscles stretched, pulled and her skin tightened but nothing else happened. She closed her eyes and concentrated.
She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and bit into the soft flesh. The sharp sting sucked the breath from her lungs as she gasped in pain.
“What? Are you all right?” Rowan asked.
Rowan gasped when El opened her mouth to answer.
“Your teeth have changed and I think you’ve bitten your lip,” she said. Reaching over with a tissue she’d grabbed from the table, Rowan dabbed gently on the wound.
El ran her tongue over canine teeth, the long sharp fangs strange to touch. A wicked grin split her mouth.
“I did it! I changed!”
“Not quite.” Rowan chuckled.
“Well sure, but it’s a start. Don’t take my victory from me.” She pouted.
“Okay, let’s try again. Did you feel anything else changing?”
“Yes, my muscles and skin pulled tight first and then my teeth changed.”
“Your eyes have changed color too. They’re not as light. The blue has gone a couple of shades darker.”
“Really? I want to see them, but I want to try again first.”
She closed her eyes, thought about the changes she’d managed so far and the next thing she knew she was looking at things from a different angle. The smell of the room filled her nose and made her sneeze. She sniffed the air. A bark next to her had her turning to Rowan.
Damn!
They’d done it. Rowan’s coyote form wasn’t as big as Brogan’s and her coloring not as light, she had white mixed in with dark gray. Looking down at her paws, El tried to decide if she liked the color of her coat.
Rowan’s ears twitched and she looked toward the door. El titled her head, tried to hear what had drawn her friend’s attention. It took less than a second for Rowan to shift back to human.
“Change back, El,” she commanded as she dragged her clothes on. “Quick, change back. Get dressed.”
Panic seized her. She sat frozen in coyote form as Rowan pulled the last of her clothes on and ran from the room. Shattering glass and timber echoed through the house and El stood on two legs in human form without knowing how she’d done it. Scrabbling into her clothes she heard Rowan scream and footsteps pounded down the hall.
She’d just gotten her sweater on when a man dressed in black burst into the room and charged toward her. The scream caught in her throat as he tackled her to the floor. She kicked out, tried to free herself from his grasp but he pinned her to the ground with his weight. He outweighed her by at least a hundred pounds.
His forearm pressed into her throat, cutting off her air. Clawing at his arm with her hands, she couldn’t get a hold of the slick, skin-like black clothing. Her heart pounded in her ears, her lungs burned with the need for air and stars exploded across her vision. The last thing El heard before everything went black was his malicious laughter.