Page 97 of The Healer

Her face paled. “What?” she squeaked and slithered down the cupboard door, hitting the floor with her ass. Sobbing, she buried her face in her hands.

Darkness twisted his soul, and he sat to tug her onto his lap. She didn’t resist when he wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t cry, Lona-love. It hurts me when you’re sad.”

“Sad?” she hiccupped, then wiped her cheeks. She wiggled until she faced him, spread her thighs on either side of his, and rose to cup his cheeks. “I love you too.” Her smile was tremulous.

He jerked, banging the back of his head against the cupboard. “You do?” Grinning like a fool, he crushed his mouth across hers, unable to smother the joy barreling up his chest. Breaking the kiss, he tightened his hold, needing her softness against every inch of him. “About damn time.”

“Yeah, yeah, stubborn, remember.”

“Hello? Oh, there you two are.” Sans hobbled into the house and assumed a bar stool, helping himself to the salmon and an unfinished coffee. “Noah said you wanted to see me.”

“It’s like one big family?” she whispered in Rhys’s neck, the brush of her lips across his skin sparking shivers.

“Massive family.” He rose to his feet, taking her with him. “There’s more.”

“More?” She arched to meet his gaze.

“Your cravings, Lona.”

“What about them?” Her eyes widened, she gaped, then beamed. “It’s linked to Dane’s blood? I knew it.” She punched her fist in her palm.

“Sans, this is Amos’s granddaughter, Ilona.”

The older man slapped his thigh. “Well, I never.”

“The few shifter doctors we have form a community.” Rhys led her to the stool and lifted her onto it, sliding the small plate of salmon across to her. “Lona’s grandmother is human, Sans. Is it possible for Lona to transition?”

“Well,” he smacked his lips after a sip of Jase’s coffee, “she has the shifter genes from Amos. It would have to take a dose of alpha blood as a catalyst.”

“And vampire saliva?” She stoked her scar, now but a silvery line.

“And my blood?”

“Are you saying she has had two alpha blood coursing through her veins?” Sans shook his head. “Sorry, my dear, at the next full moon, you will shift. The first time is more painful the older you are.”

Rhys growled and wrapped his arm across her collarbone to hold her against his chest. “Anyway to ease it?”

“More of your blood will help strengthen the connection. You mentioned cravings, give into them. You’ll feel a pressure in your chest, as if something wants out, then your skin will ripple like shifting sand dunes.”

“What?” Fear darkened the green of her eyes. “Do you know what I will shift into?”

“Amos is bear, as is Dane and Rhys. Odds are, so are you. It’s hard to know for sure though. Like a melting pot. Look at George, a polymorph in a wolf pack.” Draining the mug, Sans thumped it down. “If that’s what you needed me for?”

“There’s more. Ilona, ask away.”

She clasped Rhys’s arm pinning her to him. “I’m reeling. Do you mind if I gather my thoughts then find you, doctor to doctor?”

Sans grinned. “Followed Amos’s footsteps, did you? Well, I’ll be hog swaddled. Sure. Rhys’s got my number.”

She reached across the counter to pat his arm. “I’ll treat you to apple pie.”

“I’ll hold you to that.” Sans grinned, slid off the stool, and scampered out.

“Want to talk about it?” Rhys pressed a kiss to her temple.

“No, let me mull it over. Right now, I need to focus on something mundane. Let’s go couch shopping.”

He stared into her shimmering eyes and stole a kiss. “Leather, you say?”

---