Samantha shrugged. “Maybe something in the water, some mineral or chemical, or a mixture of several substances working together. Probably the same thing that’s making all of you think you can turn into animals when the moon gets full.”
Sadie sighed. “Sammie, everything I told you is true. I saw Mathis change with my own eyes.”
“Into a huge prehistoric deer, right?” Samantha said flatly. She looked at Keller. “And what do you turn into? A hamster? A guinea pig? A giant asshole? Oh, no wait—you’re already that.”
“My animal form is that of a Cougar from the Paleolithic era,” Keller said coolly. “If you’re lucky, you’ll get to see it tonight before your sister and I leave for our bonding.”
“I’m not going to bond with you,” Sadie repeated stubbornly. “I meant what I said, Keller—I would rather die than be trapped in another loveless relationship.”
He looked at her sharply through the bars of her cage.
“You might get your wish. You do realize that, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Sadie said quietly. “I do. And I’m not speaking lightly—there’s only one man I want in this town and it’s not you, Keller.”
He frowned. “You’ve formed quite an attachment to Blackwell, have you? You do realize that even if I let you go to him right now he couldn’t help you? Oh, he might be able to breed you but the two of you wouldn’t be able to form a life-bond. You’d become one of the Unformed—is that what you want?”
“Unformed?” Samantha frowned. “What the hell is that?”
“When a female Shifter is mated, she’ll take on the animal form of her mate. An Unformed is a female Shifter with no animal form,” Keller said crisply. “She will feel the urge to change on the night of the full moon but she will have no form to change into. Either she will turn into a helpless, shapeless mass—easy prey for any predators that may be roaming the forest—or, if she has great strength of will, she will retain her human form. Staying human when Lady Moon is calling you, however, is extremely painful and can lead to death.”
“So an Unformed is a woman who fails to become an animal during the full moon—in other words a normal person.” Samantha shook her head. “My God, this shared delusion is incredible. Do you see what you’ve done? You even have some elaborate explanation for what happens when someone doesn’t turn into an animal. Which must happen, oh, I don’t know—all the time, maybe?”
“Unformed Shifters are mercifully rare.” Keller’s deep, silky voice was cold. “An Unformed female feels the pull of her breeding cycle and the mating urges brought on by Lady Moon as acutely as any normal Shifter. Yet, she is unable to do anything about them. She cannot Shift to ease her agony and she has no bonded mate to alleviate her urges, which means she must bear excruciating pain for the rest of her existence.” He shook his head. “It is not a fate I would wish on any female, especially not one as lovely as your sister.”
Sadie felt herself go cold at his words. Fiona and Mathis had both said something about the Unformed but she hadn’t realized how serious the situation could be. Still, she didn’t want to take the safe and easy way out. Didn’t want to give in to Keller’s demands—or the demands of her own body—just to satisfy some mindless craving.
“Leave me alone,” she told Keller. “If you’re not going to let us out of this cage, the least you can do is leave me alone and let me think.”
“As you wish.” He nodded courteously and turned his back to speak to one of his men.
“Sadie . . .” Samantha took her hand and squeezed it. “Honey, don’t let him get to you. I swear we’re going to get out of here and when we do, I’ll get you the best help. We’ll get you someplace safe and get you detoxed so we can get whatever is poisoning you out of your system.”
Sadie sighed and raked a hand through her hair. Her head was pounding again, her temples throbbing with the now-familiar ache. Though she knew all she had to do to ease it was reach through the bars and touch Keller, she didn’t do it. She told herself she’d rather have the pain than give the big bastard the satisfaction of asking for his help. Plus, who knew if he might count it as another “gift” she had to pay back?
“Sammie,” she said, rubbing her temples. “I told you, I’m not poisoned or hypnotized or anything like that. God, I wish I had that box of pictures I found at the cabin! I know if you saw all the evidence Mom left behind, you’d believe me.”
“But we’re twins, Sadie. Fraternal, it’s true, but we had the same parents, the same genetic makeup. If all this is happening to you, then doesn’t it stand to reason it should be happening to me too?” Samantha demanded, spreading her hands. “But look at me—I’m still forty. And I’m not turning into any kind of animal during the full moon. I’m telling you, hon—there is no ‘Shifter Gene.’ It’s just something in the water or the air here that’s super good for your body and really bad for your mind and your sense of reality.”
“That would be a really reasonable explanation if I hadn’t seen Mathis Shift last night,” Sadie said. “I’m sorry, Sammie, I know it’s hard for you to swallow. You’re a surgeon and a scientist—I get it. But you just have to believe me—I’m not crazy or deluded.”
Samantha shook her head. “I just don’t see how—”
And then a full-throated male roar came from the entrance of the bar, cutting her off.
“All right, Keller, where is she?”
Twenty
The deep, angry voice from the direction of the bar’s front door made both women jump.
Sadie looked up, heart pounding, to see Mathis striding into the Den. His black hair was wild, his forest-green eyes were blazing with rage, and he somehow looked twice as big as usual—which was pretty damn huge. Actually, he looked terrifying.
She saw some of the other Shifter males step hastily away to give him space and she didn’t blame them. If she hadn’t known that Mathis was there for her, she would have been terrified too.
Keller, however, didn’t seem in the least perturbed. He stepped up to Mathis so that they were eye-to-eye and gave the other man his coolest stare.
“If you’re referring to my future mate, Sadie Becker, she’s in a safe place which is none of your business, Buck.”
“I’m making it my business, Cat,” Mathis growled. “So you better fucking let her go if you don’t want me to skin you alive and hang your hide from the rafters of this damn shithole you call a bar!”
“Mathis—in here! We’re in here,” Sadie called to him from the cage.
He walked around Keller and came striding to the back of the Den where she was pressed anxiously against the bars.
“You okay, sweetheart?” He looked Sadie up and down with obvious concern, as though checking for injuries. “Did he hurt you? Because I swear if he so much as fucking touched you—”
“I’m not a monster, Blackwell,” Keller said sharply, coming up behind him. “I don’t wish to hurt her—just bond her to me—something we both know you cannot do.”
For a moment Sadie thought Mathis would explode and tear into the other man then and there. Instead he closed his eyes tightly for a moment and took a deep breath. Finally he looked at her again, his green eyes filled with frustration.
“He’s right, sweetheart,” he said heavily. “I can’t bond you to me.” He turned to Keller. “But I can damn well make sure Sadie winds up with the male she wants.”
“The male she has chosen is me,” Keller insisted. “I have offered her three gifts—two of food and one of goods—and she accepted all three.”
“Come to that, I gave her three gifts—two of food and one of shelter—which she also accepted.” Mathis glared at the other man. “Take a whiff of her, Keller—you’ll smell me all over her. She’s not for you.”
“Did he just tell the other guy to ‘smell you’ to prove you’re his?” Sadie heard her twin mutter behind her. “God, this town just gets weirder and weirder.”
“Now then, now then . . .” The light female voice somehow cu
t through the angry muttering of the assembled Shifters. Sadie saw them parting and then Fiona appeared, no longer wearing her white lab coat. Her flowing peacock-blue gown and abundant chunky jewelry made her look more than ever like some gypsy queen who had somehow wandered into town.
“Fiona.” Keller gave her a brief bow of respect. “You’re always welcome in my Den.”
“Thank you.” She nodded regally back. “But why do you have the newest member of our town locked up, Liam?”
“Sadie is under my protection—as I was just telling Blackwell here. I have given her three gifts and she accepted them all. The third being a gift of food, which happened just at lunchtime today.” He looked at Mathis coolly. “As that is the most recent accepted gift, I claim her as my mate.”
“I see.” Fiona looked thoughtful. “And what does Mathis have to say about this?”
“That he’s got no right to claim her! I have also given her three gifts and I know for a fact she’s being held here against her will,” Mathis growled.
“I am holding her for her own protection,” Keller said silkily. “Her scent was putting Sadie in danger—I had to lock her up for her own good.”
“I helped her cover her scent for that exact reason,” Mathis snapped. “So there was no reason to lock her up.”
“Excuse me,” Sadie said through the bars of the cage. “Do I get a say in all this?”
“Most certainly, my dear.” Fiona turned her luminous dark eyes on Sadie. “Do you admit that you have accepted three gifts from each of these males?”
“Well, yes, but—”
“What does my sister accepting gifts have to do with us being locked up?” Samantha demanded. She looked at Fiona. “Are you some kind of judge or arbitrator or something? Because I can tell you right now, we are being held in here against our will. Also, I was tricked into accepting lunch, which I assume this asshole here,” she nodded at Keller, “is talking about when he says Sadie accepted food from him.”
“Liam Keller, is this true?” Fiona asked, frowning. “It was not even Sadie who accepted your third gift?”
“A mere technicality. Her sister acted as a proxy.” Keller frowned stubbornly. “You seem to be missing a vital point here, Fiona—even if I let Sadie go to Blackwell, he cannot form a life-bond with her.”
“That may be true,” Mathis growled. “But it doesn’t mean you’re her only other option. Sadie has a right to choose for herself.”
Keller’s pale green eyes went icy. “You only say that because you know she’ll choose you. You’ll turn her into one of the Unformed and waste her Juvie potential, you selfish bastard!”
“Who are you calling a selfish bastard, Cat?” Mathis snarled. “You only want her because she’s a Juvie. You don’t give a good goddamn about Sadie’s feelings at all! You just want to breed her to carry on your line.”
“And you want her for something different?” Keller drawled. “Please, do enlighten us, Blackwell.”
“I want her because I fucking love her!” Mathis roared.
Sadie caught her breath. Could it really be true? She knew that she and Mathis had only known each other a very short time. And yet . . . she couldn’t help feeling they were somehow meant to be together. She’d been strangely drawn to him from the very first and now it seemed that he was drawn to her too. Her heart began pounding like a drum.
“Well . . .” Fiona looked at both men, who were still eye-to-eye, glaring daggers at each other. “That’s a very strong statement, Mathis,” she said to him. Looking at Keller she asked, “Can you honestly say the same, Liam? Do you also love Sadie Becker?”
“No.” Keller shook his head coolly. “I have no love to give any female. But I would treat Sadie well and provide amply for her and for my child when she bears it. I refuse to renounce my claim on her.”
“For the last time, asshole, my sister is not going to have your baby,” Samantha said angrily. “What is wrong with you people?”
“Peace, dear,” Fiona reproved her gently. “I know you’re angry on your sister’s behalf but we have a difficult decision to make here.” She turned to Mathis. “As you and Liam have both given Sadie three gifts, you both have a claim on her. I’m inclined to rule in your favor but you must answer me one thing: Will you take Sadie as your mate and bond her to you this full-moon night?”
“He can’t!” Keller exclaimed. “He’s already been bonded once!”
“Mathis . . .” Fiona was looking at the big Shifter, ignoring Keller’s outburst. “I have told you that I believe you have a chance to make another bond. Will you accept the will of Lady Moon and trust her in this? Will you bond Sadie to yourself this night?”
He sighed and looked at Sadie who was watching with a drumming heart. If Fiona somehow thought it was possible for Mathis to form a life-bond with her then maybe it was! If he would just agree to try . . .
But Mathis was shaking his head.
“I’m sorry, Fiona,” he said in a low voice. “You know I want to, but—”
“You said you loved me!” The words broke from Sadie’s lips before she could stop them. “You said you loved me, Mathis! Why won’t you at least try?”
“Because I do love you, sweetheart.” His dark green eyes were filled with agony and regret. “Too much to risk your whole future. Keller’s right—I can’t risk trying to bond you.” He looked back at Fiona. “But I still refuse to renounce my claim.”
“What?” Keller demanded. “You can’t do that. You have to renounce if you don’t want to bond and mate her yourself.”
“No.” Mathis glared at him. “I can still act as her champion. I can still make sure she gets to choose who her mate is—and it damn sure isn’t going to be you, Keller!”
Keller arched an eyebrow. “Are you challenging me?” he asked in a low, purring voice.
“You’re damn right I’m challenging you,” Mathis growled. “Here and now I challenge you for the right to Sadie Becker.”
Fiona sighed. “Neither candidate will renounce his claim and a challenge has been asked and answered. Clear some room!”
“Not in the middle of my bar!” Keller protested. “The property damage alone—”
“Yes, in the middle of the bar,” Fiona said firmly. “It’s a full moon tonight, and tempers are high. Indoors the two of you have a much better chance of staying human. If even a beam of moonlight touches you, this challenge could turn deadly.”
“It’s already deadly,” Mathis snarled. “I’m going to kill this son of a bitch!”
“Just try it,” Keller purred in a low, dangerous voice. “You know what your problem is? You’re too much of a fool to know when you’re already beaten, Blackwe—”
Before Keller could finish his taunt, Mathis had already thrown the first punch.
It caught Keller a glancing blow on the chin but the other man was quick—Cat-quick, Sadie thought—and he managed to jerk back before the punch really connected.
“Clear some room!” Fiona shouted again. There was a hasty scraping of chairs as the bar patrons—which by now seemed to include most of the adult population of Cougarville—started pushing the tall bar stools and tables out of the way.
Sadie bit her lip. Keller and Mathis were still squaring off with Keller looking for an opening to return the other man’s blow and it was all happening right in front of the locked cage. As they circled each other, Sadie watched in fear, her heart pounding, her palms cold and clammy where she gripped the iron bars. Mathis, she thought as the two men glared daggers, snarls rising in their throats. Oh, Mathis—please be careful!
“My God, do you realize how bizarre this is?” Samantha murmured in her ear. “You have two extremely hot, much younger men fighting over you, Sadie! I mean, one of them is a total asshole but still—did they name this town right or what?”
“Be quiet,” Sadie begged her sister, her eyes on the action where Keller had just thrown a punch that landed squarely in Mathis’s ribs. “I need to see this—need to make sure he?
??s going to be okay!”
“Hey . . .” Samantha looked at her with wonder in her dark blue eyes. “You really care about him, don’t you? I mean, you’ve only known the guy for what—a few days?”
“I know it sounds crazy,” Sadie said desperately. “But I can’t help what I feel, okay? It’s like we have this . . . this connection. I can’t explain it—I just know we should be together.”
“Oh my God.” Samantha rolled her eyes. “Please shoot me if I ever start talking like that about some man.”
Sadie shot her a glare but said nothing—her throat was too tight for words.
“All right,” Samantha said, relenting. “All right, Sadie—I’m just worried about you. I’ve never seen you fall so hard and fast before. I just can’t help wondering if it has something to do with the whole mass delusion you and everyone else in this town seems to be suffering from.”
“For the last time, it’s not a delusion!” Sadie loved her sister but sometimes Samantha’s skeptical side could really get on her nerves. Samantha never believed in anything unless irrefutable proof was shoved right in her face. It was probably a big reason she’d never been married—love was just another thing she didn’t believe in.
The punches were flying hard and fast now and it was impossible to say which man was winning. Keller was bleeding from a split lip, a thin trickle of blood running from one corner of his sensuous mouth. Mathis had a cut eyebrow and kept shaking his head to keep the blood from dripping in his eye. Both men were breathing hard but it was clear they were almost completely evenly matched.
Sadie was just thinking that the fight might go on for hours when a gun went off and changed everything.
Twenty-one
“Oh my God!” Sadie gasped as the shot echoed in the packed bar.
At first she was certain that Mathis had been shot. He stood stock still and then jerked strangely, a wild look in his eyes. A wild familiar look, she suddenly realized.
Looking at him more closely, she saw that the dim bar was suddenly brighter. In fact, there was a silvery beam of illumination coming down from above and Mathis was standing right in the middle of it.