Chapter 13

Rubbing a hand over her face, she looked down at the coffee in her cup. “I need some time with that information before I can take in any more.” Her heart jerked in her chest. “Is there anything I need to know about it? Like need to know?”

Gage picked up his cup and took a drink. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed it. When he set the cup down, he looked uncomfortable. “Males can sense it.”

“Sense it?” She jerked in her chair. “You mean they can smell I’m coming into …” she grimaced, “into heat or whatever it’s called?” Shaking her head, she looked at him. “So, they know that I’m going to want to…” She couldn’t even say it out loud to him.

He nodded but didn’t offer anything further.

“Jake, Blair, they all know…” she couldn’t even say it.

“Yeah.” He gave her a sympathetic look. “Kel, we’re used to it. None of us are kids; this is something that’s normal for us.”

Fanning her face with her hand, she knew her cheeks would be bright red. “Well, it’s not normal for me.” She covered her face with both hands and leaned on the table. “God, can I just hide in my room until it goes away?” Jerking upright again she sent him a panicked look. “It does go away doesn’t it?”

He grinned. “Yes. The first time is going to be the worst, and then it will only be a few times a year. It varies, maybe lasts a week at a time.”

“Oh good.” She felt her face flush again. “I’ve never really been into …” she waved her hand around. “Stuff like that.”

Gage looked down at his hands and seemed to be studying them instead of looking at her. “Everyone is different.”

Unable to sit a second longer, she paced over to the window and looked out into the yard. “Is it still okay if I come to the shop? I mean, I was going to hang out there for a bit until I find my groove here again.”

“You’re always welcome there, honey, that will never change.”

“Okay.” She nodded and took a deep breath. “I think that’s enough talk about that part for now.” Turning, she leaned back against the counter and gripped it lightly to keep her steady. Her knees were a little shaky. “Can I ask about Noah?”

Gage gave her a puzzled look. “What about Noah?”

“Gary said they’d finally persuaded him to shift. Why did they have to persuade him? Does it have something to do with him needing to come here to heal?”

Blowing out a breath, he got up and picked up his cup. With slow steps, he came over to the sink and placed the cup in it. “You don’t forget a word anyone says, do you?”

She smirked and shook her head. “I didn’t hear a thing at the time, but it all came back to me in pieces this morning.”

“There’s so much I want to tell you, but it’s like trying to teach you an entirely different language in a day.” He tucked his hands into his pockets and looked down at her. “There’s an organization, a criminal one, that seems to have a penchant for keeping shifters from any clan, in servitude.”

Her heart thudded heavy in her chest as she waited for him to finish.

“Noah was forced to stay there for fifteen years. We don’t know the full extent of what he went through, but we do know he wasn’t allowed to shift…”

“Wouldn’t that be hard to do? I mean, if it’s a natural thing.”

He nodded. “Yeah, and just how he managed it, I’m not even sure. We can control it but there are times you just have to shift or it becomes painful.”

“So, he shifted last night and then freaked out.”

“Pretty much.”

Inhaling deeply, she looked up at him. His eyes were filled with pain and compassion. “I’m glad he’s here now.” Reaching out, she placed a hand on his chest near his heart. “You’ll help him get through it.” She left her hand there, feeling calm that she hadn’t experienced in a long time from touching him. It was, she realized, the first time she’d ever just touched him for no reason. She wasn’t sure what it meant, but in the chaotic emotions swirling through her, she’d take it for now.

Gage closed one of his hands over hers and smiled down at her. “You amaze me,” he said in a whisper, “the way you’re handling all of this.” He squeezed her hand. “Thank you for what you did last night for Noah.”

“I think, in hindsight, I probably should have run the other way.”

He grinned. “But you didn’t.” Stopping, his look changed. Releasing her hand, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “I better take this.” He answered it with a deep tone and then held it against his chest and looked at her. “Make sure you eat. That’s a necessity now, regular food intake.”

She nodded.

“Come to the shop whenever you’re ready.”

With that he turned, scooped up the folder and went out the door. Staring at the door for several minutes, she shook her head and turned around to look out the window. “Well, as homecomings go, this one had been quite special.”

As she made eggs, she realized there were still so many questions she didn’t have answers for. Then again, if the answers were anything like turning into a needy wanton cat woman, she wasn’t sure if she wanted the answers at all. There was just so much information; she couldn’t process it all at once.

She wasn’t just a regular girl. She was a shifter, a tiger. It was just too much to take in. What was she supposed to do now? In any other crisis moment, she had always called Beth, but knowing that she had kept all of this from her, it just didn’t feel right. She needed some time to deal with that, too. The people she held in the highest regard in her world had done everything possible to make her live a lie for her entire life. Her parents, Gage’s parents even Cooper. Cooper who had been like her favorite uncle since as far back as she could remember. He’d been the one to come to her and tell her when her parents had been killed. He’d been the one that held her while she fell apart, and he’d been the one that had brought her here.

The only one who cared enough to end the lie was Gage, and he’d only done it because apparently things were happening now and he didn’t have a choice. She sighed as she finished the last bite. She couldn’t be mad at him, though, if it weren’t for him she’d still think she was losing her mind.

Placing the plate in the sink, she turned back and looked at the door. She needed to do something to take her mind off all of this. It wasn’t going to go away, but that didn’t mean she had to sit here and mope all day. The idea of the guys at the shop being able to smell that she was going through some sort of animal thing made her cheeks flush, but it was also something she wasn’t going to be able to avoid… according to Gage.