He frowned. “You know what I’m talking about. The scent of an unmated Juvie tends to get males all riled up—especially Betas who don’t have the strength to control themselves.”
“No, I mean what are all those weird words you’re using and what do they mean?” Sadie gestured with one hand, sending bubbles flying. “Everywhere I go people are calling me ‘Juvie’ like it’s some kind of curse word. And people keep saying ‘Alpha’ and ‘Beta’ like it’s supposed to mean something. Is there some kind of secret cult here in Cougarville? Because I feel like everyone is speaking a foreign language and I’m the only one who doesn’t understand!”
Instead of answering, Mathis just looked at her for a long moment.
“Sadie,” he said in a low voice, at last. “Tell me you’re kidding.”
“Kidding about what?” Sadie was getting more and more frustrated. “Kidding about the fact that I don’t know what all those words mean? Or kidding about the part where men half my age are fighting over me for no discernible reason?”
“Of course they’re fighting over you,” he growled. “You’re Rejuvenating and you’re fucking gorgeous! Your scent alone is enough to drive any male within sniffing distance of you crazy—add that to your face and that body . . .” He gestured at her submerged form under the bubbles. “It’s a fuckin’ lethal combination.”
“What does that mean though—Rejuvenating?” Sadie asked, determined to get to the truth despite the way his compliments made her feel hot and cold all over.
“You don’t even know . . . ?” Mathis got up and started pacing the bathroom floor. “You don’t even know what it means? What’s happening to you?” he demanded, staring down at her with apparent disbelief.
“For the last time, no,” Sadie nearly shouted. “So could you please, please just tell me?”
“God, I don’t even know where to begin.” He sank back down on the side of the tub and ran a hand distractedly through his hair. “I’ve never met anyone with the Gene who didn’t know what they were. It’s gonna be like explaining the birds and the bees to a kid.”
“All right,” Sadie said, trying to hold on to her temper. “Explain it to me like I’m a six-year-old. Assume I don’t know anything—anything at all. Because I don’t.”
“Well . . .” He looked at her warily. “I’ll tell you, but you’ll probably think it’s crazy. Most outsiders do.”
“Try me,” Sadie said evenly. “At this point after all the weird things I’ve seen in Cougarville, I’m willing to believe in almost anything.”
“Even if it’s supernatural?” Mathis asked. “Paranormal?”
“What? Is Cougarville a town full of witches and warlocks and vampires or something?” she demanded.
He snorted laughter again. “Hardly. Witches don’t usually like to mingle with Shifters. And as for vampires, well . . .” He frowned. “They’re pretty scary sons of bitches, even for a big guy like me.”
“What?” Sadie could feel her eyes getting wide. “You’re telling me there really are such things as vampires and witches?”
“And Shifters,” he said evenly. “You’re gonna have to get used to the idea that the world is a much bigger and stranger place than you ever knew before, Sadie.”
“All right . . . okay.” Sadie took a deep breath and nodded. She could deal with this, she told herself. She had to deal with this. “‘Shifter’—that’s another word I don’t understand. What is a ‘Shifter’?” she asked, trying to get a handle on the terminology he was throwing at her.
Mathis looked at her directly. “A Shifter is a person—usually male but there are some females too—who is able to change his or her form to that of their spirit animal during the full moon. Of course, Alphas can change anytime,” he added. “But Betas—the nondominant members of our community—can usually only let their animal out when the moon is full.”
He stopped then, probably because Sadie was staring at him in disbelief.
“You . . . you expect me to believe that people can really change into animals?” she demanded at last. “Mathis, that’s . . . that’s the plot of a movie, not reality.”
“See? I told you that you’d think it was crazy.” He frowned. “It’s true though—Cougarville is a community of Shifters and you’re one too—or you will be, once you get mated.”
“I didn’t come here to get married or mated or whatever!” Sadie protested. “I just wanted to start a new life away from my cheating ex-husband and his new girlfriend. I only came to Cougarville because my mom left me the cabin in her will.”
“Mmm-hmm. Then your mother was a Shifter too—a Juvie with the Gene. She must have been.”
“A what with the what?” Sadie shook her head.
“A Rejuvenated female with the Shifter Gene,” Mathis explained patiently. “Look, this is how it works: in Shifter males, the Gene manifests itself right away. Once they turn seventeen or eighteen and reach full sexual maturity, they’re able to Shift during the full moon. But with females, it takes time. The Gene doesn’t kick in until they’re in the middle of their life. You know—late thirties to early fifties. And even then it won’t become active if they have a mate or a husband. Really any male that claims them and who they regularly have sex with.”
“What . . .” Sadie cleared her throat. “What happens if they don’t have a husband, and this, uh, Gene kicks in?”
Mathis shrugged. “You’ve probably seen for yourself. The clock rolls back—usually about twenty to thirty years, depending on the age they are when the Rejuvenation starts. I mean, look at you—you told Fiona you’re forty but you look more like twenty to me.”
“The way I look doesn’t change the age I am,” Sadie protested. “I’ve already had my youth. I mean, not that I’m complaining about looking and feeling younger but this is just weird.”
“That’s part of the appeal of a Juvie,” Mathis said earnestly. “She’s got the body and fertility of a younger female with all the wisdom and experience of a more mature one. That and the fact that only Juvies can pass on the Shifter Gene to their offspring.”
“What? What a minute—that can’t be right,” Sadie protested. “I have two kids—twins, already off to college. So it can’t be true a, uh, Juvie can only have children after they go through this . . . this Rejuvenation process.”
“I never said females with the Shifter Gene couldn’t have kids before it activated,” Mathis protested. “They can have as many as they want—but none of them will have the Gene themselves. Only after a female goes through Rejuvenation can she pass on the Gene. It’s one reason Juvie females are so rare and valuable—every Shifter male wants to pass the power of his spirit animal to his offspring but it’s impossible unless he mates with a Juvie.”
“I . . . I don’t know.” Sadie shook her head. “This is too weird for me, Mathis.”
“Look,” he said patiently. “You want to know why everyone was looking at you in the Piggly Wiggly? It’s because everyone in there could smell your scent—the fragrance of an unmated Juvie is about the most tantalizing, sensual, sexual thing in the whole damn world.”
“You’re kidding,” Sadie said blankly. But then she remembered the checker’s words—something about “flaunting” herself—and began to wonder. She looked up at Mathis—his dark face was serious. “Oh. You’re not kidding, are you?”
“Hell no, sweetheart. You want to know why the males were staring at you? They want you. And the females? They hate you for flaunting what you are—what most of them will never be. Juvies are rare—damn rare. You might as well have been walking around the store naked, showing your ass to everyone, and handing out coupons for free blow jobs with that scent of yours on display!”
“What? That’s terrible! I didn’t know,” Sadie exclaimed. “I mean, how could I know? My mother never told me anything about this weird Gene thing. She never said a word about any of this before she died.”
“She didn’t leave you a letter or any kind of clue?” Mathis asked, frownin
g.
“Well . . . I found this box of old photo albums last night,” Sadie said slowly. “But everything in it was off—all the photos were from twenty years earlier than they should have been. And I found a birth certificate that said my mom was born in 1936 which is impossible since I know she was born in 1956.”
“You sure about that, sweetheart?” Mathis raised an eyebrow at her. “Chances are, your mom had the Gene. She might have had a whole other life before she Rejuvenated and had you. That’s not uncommon with Juvie females.”
Sadie thought of the wedding album she’d found that showed her mother marrying a man who was most definitely not her father.
“I suppose you could be right . . .” she began. Then she shook her head, rubbing her temples. Her headache—which had dissipated when Mathis held her and touched her—was beginning to come back in full force. “No—all of this is just too crazy. I can’t believe it. Can’t accept that nearly everyone in Cougarville can turn themselves into an animal at the full moon. Not only that but I’m supposed to be one of them! I mean, I’ve never turned into any kind of an animal.”
“And you won’t—until your Gene is fully activated and you take your true form,” Mathis pointed out. “Look, I don’t know everything about Juvies—you guys are really rare. If you want to know more, ask Fiona. She’s kind of an expert in the area.”
“She wasn’t very helpful about answering questions before,” Sadie said, frowning. “And I feel weird going to her and asking what kind of animal I’ll turn into on the next full moon or whatever.”
Mathis gave her a sympathetic look. “Yeah, it’s really hard to swallow, isn’t it? Of course, if you’re having trouble wrapping your head around it, I can offer you hard proof.”
Sadie frowned at him. “How’s that?”
He shrugged. “I can Shift for you and let you see me in my other form. What do you think of that?”
“What? Right here? In the bathroom?” Sadie looked up at him, alarmed.
He laughed, genuine amusement in the deep, rumbling sound.
“Hell, no! My animal form wouldn’t fit in here.”
“What . . . what do you turn in to?” Sadie managed to ask. “A wolf or a grizzly bear or what?”
“A Buck,” he said. “An Irish Elk if you wanna get technical. Remember I told you my father was from Ireland?”
“So . . . a kind of deer?” Sadie felt a rush of relief. Images of soft, gentle creatures with big brown eyes and little fluffy white tails filled her head. She’d always loved deer—they were so beautiful. So graceful. “It seems like a deer would fit in here,” she remarked, looking around the roomy bathroom again appraisingly.
Mathis shrugged.
“A regular deer might. Not an Irish Elk. It’s an animal from the Middle Pleistocene epoch. You know—the Stone Age? Prehistoric times?” he clarified, clearly seeing Sadie’s look of confusion. “They’ve been extinct for about seven thousand years. Well . . .” He snorted. “Except here in Cougarville, anyway.”
“So . . . you turn into an extinct deer?” Sadie was still having a hard time swallowing this. “But . . . why?”
He sighed. “Has to do with the legend of how the Gene was created in the first place—way back in the Stone Age. You ever watch any documentaries or read anything about cave paintings?”
“Well, sure, I guess. I read an article about this cave in France that had some of the earliest known art made by humans . . .”
“Sure.” He nodded. “The Lascaux Caves. Anyway, the legend runs that back in the dawn of man, Lady Moon—she’s sort of the Shifter goddess—dedicated a special cave. When a warrior who was brave and true entered the cave on a full-moon night and painted the shape of his spirit animal on the wall, he would merge with that animal and gain its strength and courage and be able to take its form when Lady Moon was at her fullest.”
“Wow . . .” Sadie stared at him. “And . . . do you believe all that?”
“About there being a goddess who started all this? No.” He shook his head. “But it does seem likely that the Shifter Gene somehow evolved during that time period, since the animal forms that Shifters take are from that era.”
“So . . . what kind of animals do you mean?” Sadie asked. “Like mammoths and cave lions and woolly rhinos?”
Mathis looked pleased. “You know your Stone Age animals.”
Sadie shrugged. “I read the Clan of the Cave Bear series in college.”
In fact the Cave Bear series, which follows Ayla, a woman living during Stone Age times and her struggle for survival, had been some of her favorite books—only Sadie had never dreamed she’d be living in one of them! Or something close enough to make her very uncomfortable, anyway.
“Weren’t all the animals way bigger back then?” she asked, frowning. “I mean, wasn’t there a giant sloth that was like ten feet tall or something?”
“Never heard of any sloth Shifters,” Mathis remarked. “But we do have Foxes and Cougars in town—a whole hell of a lot of Cougars.” He frowned.
“I guess that must be why the town is named Cougarville,” Sadie mused. Well, that and the fact that older women regenerated into younger ones and apparently got their pick of the hot young guys in town.
The thought made her blush, especially since she’d just been telling herself she hadn’t moved here to turn into a cougar. But it also explained why almost every man she’d met had shown such intense interest in her. She thought of Liam Keller’s lazy catlike eyes and wondered if he was a Shifter too and if so, what kind.
A Cougar, she thought. He must be. But what would a Stone Age Cougar look like? From what she remembered from The Clan of the Cave Bear, almost every mammal living during that era had been much larger and fiercer than their modern-day counterparts. It made her even more curious to see what kind of deer Mathis turned into.
“Look, you’ve been in there a long time and your bath must be, uh . . .” Mathis cleared his throat. “Must be getting cold.”
“Hmm?” His voice brought her out of her musings and Sadie looked down at the tub. She quickly realized that while it had gotten a little cooler, that wasn’t the main problem. As they had been talking the mountain of foamy bubbles she’d had at the beginning of her soak had begun to dissipate. She’d been in the tub for so long that the bubbles were almost gone, clearly revealing her naked body beneath the water’s surface. “Oh!” She tried to cover her breasts and sex with her arms. “I’m . . . I didn’t realize.”
“It’s okay.” Mathis got a towel and held it out, his eyes considerately averted. “I just don’t want you to get chilled again. Plus if I’m going to Shift for you, we need to eat supper first.”
“Oh?” Sadie pulled the plug and got out quickly, allowing him to drape the towel over her shoulders. His fingers ran over the nape of her neck, making her shiver as her nipples grew hard. At the same time, she felt her headache ease for some reason. “Why is that?” she asked when she felt securely covered.
“Because it takes a lot of strength and it hurts like hell,” he said frankly. “For males, anyway. I’ve heard female Shifters have a much easier time but it’s always hell on us males.”
“Oh—well you don’t have to do it just for my benefit,” Sadie protested. “I don’t want you to hurt yourself for me.”
His nostrils flared and she had the feeling he was scenting her, breathing in the fragrance of her skin and enjoying it very much. As if to confirm her idea, she could see a large, hard bulge pressing against the material of his navy blue pajama bottoms.
“Believe me,” he said grimly. “I won’t just be Shifting for your benefit. It’ll help me too.”
Sadie frowned, trying to ignore the growing bulge in his trousers. “Why? Because the moon is almost full?”
“No, because . . .” He trailed off, shaking his head. “Never mind. Let’s eat—what do you say?”
Twelve
“This is delicious. You’re such a good cook!” Sadie took another mouthful and moaned ha
ppily.
Mathis chuckled. The more he got to know Sadie, the more he liked her—especially now that he understood she’d had no idea of the havoc she’d been causing both in his life and the lives of pretty much everybody in town from the moment she settled in Cougarville.
And it was nice that she liked his cooking too.
“It’s just shepherd’s pie,” he objected.
“Homemade shepherd’s pie with buttery mashed potatoes and homegrown peas and carrots and some kind of amazing gravy like nothing I’ve ever tasted before . . .” She took another bite. “Mmmm . . .”
“I told you it was one of my specialties.” Mathis grinned and tried to push away the guilt he felt from liking her so much. How could he help enjoying her company when she was so warm and funny and sweet and caring? Not to mention how tempting she smelled . . . and looked.
At the moment, Sadie was wearing one of his old T-shirts as a kind of short dress, since her clothes were wet and he had nothing else that would fit her. Mathis was trying not to stare at her but it was hard—her nipples were tight little points poking out against the thin cotton and the hem of the shirt only came down to the tops of her thighs so her long, luscious legs were bare. Her long brown hair was damp and her eyes, fringed with thick dark lashes, looked enormous.
In a word, she was fucking gorgeous. Being so close to her with her ripe, enticing scent surrounding him and her beautiful body on display was playing hell with his rut, which had come back full force. In fact, he was beginning to think he’d better Shift now rather than later, although he had wanted to wait until after dessert.
Tonight he had a homemade apple pie he’d baked earlier that day as well as some hand-churned vanilla bean ice cream. He wanted badly to see Sadie’s reaction to the decadent treat but more and more he was feeling a hunger for her that had nothing to do with food.
“Well, I’m glad you like it,” he said, rising and placing his empty plate in the sink to wash later. “But it seems like the storm has finally let up so now’s as good a time as ever to Shift.”