Page 93 of Confusing Hearts

With the dismissal, Kyle quickly shifted back. I turned away again. Would I ever stop feeling so self-conscious with that? Chase nipped at my shoulder and motioned his head towards the woods. I looked back at Mary.

“Go on, we’ll meet you back at the house,” she said, picking up our clothes as they all headed for the vehicles.

Chase started jogging for the woods and I followed. When we hit the trees with a low-lying branch, I leapt onto it. Chase stopped and looked up at me. I chirped at him to follow. He shook his head. I chirped again. He sighed—I could see it in his entire body—but he jumped, landing easily, albeit not very gracefully, next to me. I wasn’t sure he could actually do it, and yet there he was; a wolf in a tree.

The height must have made him dizzy and uncomfortable, because he waivered and started to fall to the ground. I was relieved to see him land on all fours. The look he shot back up at me was comical. I silently jumped down and licked him before taking off into the woods. We ran and played. I had no idea where we were, but Chase carefully led us through and before I knew it we were exiting the forest just behind his parents’ house.

I looked around and started to panic at the thought of walking naked through the house with everyone there. Chase headed towards the back deck, then shifted into his human form. He must have sensed my unease, because he picked up the stack of clothes neatly piled on the top step and grinned down at me.

I let the familiar shiver and warmth roll through me until I was able to stand on two feet again. I knew Chase was watching but standing naked before my mate was a thrilling sensation with absolutely no discomfort.

“Mom must have noticed you aren’t completely comfortable with nudity around others,” he commented.

My head dropped like it was something to be ashamed of. “My kind’s just a little more modest about it,” I admitted.

“Princess, it’s perfectly fine. Kelsey struggled with it a lot at first, too. She was raised in the human world, so it was a foreign concept to her. She had only shifted privately and never even suspected others like her existed, let alone that she lived among an entire pack of wolf shifters.”

I didn’t know how that was even possible, but I believed him. I quickly dressed, and we headed into the house.

“Why was Kelsey raised in the human world?” I asked, curious now that he’d brought it up.

He hesitated for only a moment. “Did you know that some shifters can have extra powers?”

“Like the witches?” I asked. My dad had two at his disposal as well as a seer. He used them to help protect us.

“You know about the witches?”

“Yes, Daddy keeps two of them close by. He even had houses built on the edge of our property to both protect and ensure exclusivity to them for years. He has a seer, too.”

“A seer?” he asked.

“Yes, you know the power to see into the future? She makes predictions. She’s always told me that what she sees isn’t necessarily clear and because of free will, visions can change. Only prophecies are bound to absolute truth. I’ve heard talk of a rumor that Daddy keeps her around because she once made a prophecy on the panthers. Tessa says it’s why he’s always been so adamant about keeping the panthers pure. I don’t know if I really believe it all, but that’s what I heard.”

He nodded like that made sense. “Kelsey’s a witch,” he said. “It’s why she was raised in the human world. Wolves fear the witches but are especially terrified of females with Alpha powers. Kelsey was born an Alpha, but she was also a triplet. Her sisters each had their own power. It became a problem, and at the age of four the girls were sentenced to death. Her parents couldn’t save them all, but they were able to escape with her and keep her in hiding until she was about twelve. I guess the past caught up with them then. They killed her parents, but she got away and lived in the human world all alone until she came here. When her sisters died, she inherited all their gifts as well. She’s one super badass witch,” he said, proudly.

To say I was stunned would be putting it mildly. My dad protected our witches, but they were always kept at a distance. I think they secretly terrified him. Yet Kelsey wasn’t treated any different than anyone else I’d met in San Marco, aside from maybe a slight reverence for being the Alpha’s mate.

“Wow, that’s an incredible story,” I said, still trying to take it all in.

He shrugged. “To us, she’s just Kelsey, though I definitely wouldn’t want to piss her off.”

We walked hand-in-hand, into the house and headed for the dining room. Everyone was there waiting.

“Finally,” Liam complained. “We’re starving waiting on your two.”

Chase and I quickly took the last two empty seats. Mary said a blessing, and everyone dug in. It was a little intimidating seeing the size of plates piled high with food. Everyone was talking over top of each other. It was like some sort of organized chaos. I had never experienced a meal like it before. I waited quietly as large plates were passed around. If it happened to pass by me, I’d take a little, but there was no way I was jumping into the middle of those wolves and their food.

I think Chase noticed I was feeling overwhelmed. He started loading food onto my plate as he filled his own, until I finally had to tell him to stop.

Elise was sitting on my other side. I felt like I’d gotten to know the other ladies well, but Elise had been quieter, distracted, during our girls’ day and hadn’t opened up like Lily, Maddie, and Kelsey. It made it a little more awkward having her so close.

“So, Jenna,” Elise started. “What are you majoring in?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure anymore. My father gave me two options, science or business. I picked science, but I don’t really know what I want to do.”

“Yes, she does,” Chase said. “She just isn’t ready to admit it.”

I looked at him in confusion. “And what is that?”

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