Page 53 of Fated Despite the Moon

"I don't shift as fast as you do and pain isn’t really my thing."

He looked over at her again then back at the road. "You've seen me shift?"

A chill raced down her legs. "Oh. Yeah. That morning you came back from Griffin's. I just happened to be up and looked out the window... I didn't see anything. Well, I mean I saw you shift but I didn't see... your..."

"Nakedness?"

She laughed. "I wasn't quite sure how to say that. Anyway, I just saw it only took you seconds, really. Me? It takes minutes, sometimes more."

"Probably because you don't do it enough. You fear the pain instead of letting it work for you. Like the Bitten. It can take them up to a half an hour to shift at the full moon. But if you learn how to not fight the pain, but embrace it and make it work for you, it goes faster."

Curiosity bubbled inside her. "How fast can you shift?"

"I've done it instantly before, in times of extreme emotional stress."

"My dad used to be able to do that."

"It comes from years of shifting weekly. We can work on that after the baby is born."

She wasn't sure she wanted to, but she nodded anyway. Memories of running with her dad and brother down the beach in the dark flooded her. Waves crashing on the sand. The smell of seaweed and salt. She'd hated the shift, but loved the runs. They were the only time she'd ever felt truly free.

Caleb smiled and another memory surfaced.Her dad smiling at her as he drove. She reached over and hugged him tight, kissing his cheek.

"Are you okay? You look like you might be car sick."

Makayla swallowed hard. Rolling down her window she let the wind whip her face, clearing away the painful memories. She fought back the fear and guilt that crept up on her so fast she hadn’t even had time to prepare herself. It’d been over a week since she’d had an attack.

"How much farther?"

"About ten minutes. You gonna make it?"

She nodded. "I'll be fine."

They pulled up,and Caleb helped unload everything while Makayla took their blankets, set them on the ground and spread them out. Over fifty people had already overtaken the lake. They ranged from old to very young. She recognized some of them from town, others she'd never seen before. Caleb walked to his parents and hugged them then shook hands with several other people before joining her on the blanket.

"I remember this lake. That peak up there is where you and your brother dared me to jump off."

"We didn't think you'd do it."

"Yeah, well you didn't know me back then."

A grin spread across his face. "And now I do, so I will not be daring you to do anything of the sort anytime soon."

Makayla lay back. The sun fell down on her and made her close her eyes and smile. Being there reminded her of the beach, fun and relaxing, but the smells were completely different.

Suddenly her shoes slipped off her feet, and she looked down.

"You can't truly relax unless you take your shoes off." Caleb began to rub her feet with his powerful fingers.

Her head fell back, and she moaned. "Oh my gosh, that feels amazing. After being on my feet all day baking yesterday, I feel like I've tied ten-pound weights to my ankles."

"You should rest more."

She laughed. "Then the rest of me will blow up to the size of the cabin. You'll have to roll me out the front door to get me to Doc's."

He looked at her quizzically for a moment. "Your weight means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

"Well, yeah, I mean, I don't want to turn into a stretched out baby machine."

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