Page 84 of Out of Peril

“I am not. We’re generally in perfect sync, though sometimes I do overreact influenced by her aggressive nature.”

“Like kidnapping your mate?” he guessed.

She blushed and muttered, “Something like that.”

“So can I?” Kelsey asked again, excitedly.

“Not in here. We should go outside.”

We all followed her to the driveway. I could sense she was nervous and looked to me for help.

“It's okay,” I assured her.

It had to be, because I didn't relish trying to take down an Alpha and his very powerful mate if it wasn't.

I knew she had no reason to trust Kyle, but I did, and much to my relief, she trusted me.

Lindsey turned her back to them, knowing I was there to watch out for her. She stripped out of her clothes and quickly shifted.

The two of them stood there in surprise.

“I sat in on the mission debrief and heard what they said, but I don't think that quite prepares you for seeing it yourself,” Kyle said.

Kelsey watched her with open curiosity.

“Lindsey are you in control of the beast?”

Her large wolf head nodded.

“Can you show me how you carried Walker when you flew away with him?”

I groaned as her claws painlessly clamped down around my shoulders. She didn't fly off though, instead she ran around the house and then back.

“I thought they said you could actually fly with those wings.”

“Kelsey,” I yelled as Lindsey launched into the air and circled the house several times before landing again. It wasn't a big circle and made me a little dizzy as my feet hit the floor.

“Did you use your powers to get her to do that?” Kyle asked his mate.

“Nope. That was all her.”

“Amazing. Thank you for the demonstration, Lindsey. Your, uh, beast is quite remarkable.”

She nodded her head and shifted back to her skin. I covered her and they gave her the courtesy of averting their eyes as she dressed.

“Were you always able to shift so easily with your beast?” Kelsey asked.

“No. At some point in the experimentation process I shifted and was stuck. I couldn't get out and the beast was in control. Just like when a shifter shifts for the first time, some can regain control and shift back immediately, while others could take hours, days, maybe even weeks to figure it out. So think worst case scenario on steroids. But I figured it out eventually.”

“I’d love to hear more about this. Could we maybe have lunch one day this week? The four of us even,” Kelsey suggested.

“Um, okay. Sure.”

“Can we have until then to decide what's best for us and let you know then?” I asked.

“Yeah, that'll be okay,” Kyle said. “But in the meantime, lay low and don't share the happy news outside your team, okay?”

I hated the idea of hiding the fact we'd mated. It made me feel like I should be ashamed of it or something, but I knew that was just an emotional reaction. He was trying to get us out of the Challenges and protect my mate. For that, I would do it.