Page 5 of Blood, Shadow & Claw

I opened my mouth to ask the men, but instead of words,an enormousroar erupted from somewhere deep inside of me. My eyes again locked on Ajax's blue ones, anda voice demanded, "Mate!"

Holy fucking peanut butter cups!

"Stand down, Mazie,"Ajax demanded, only his lips didn't move.

I stared at him helplessly as the voice inside my mind kept demanding, "Mine, mate!"

I don't know if he could sense the desperation pouring out of me or if it was just what one did when faced with a woman who had turned into a scary beast. But Ajax's eyes glowed momentarily, and the command came through loudly and clearly. "Shift!"

It was like someone had let the water out of my monster bathtub. Slowly, everything began to reverse itself until each bone had broken and reformed, each coarse hair had softened or receded, and my back straightened until it was just me, Mazie Green.

A very naked me.

I knew there would be a point where I would raise hell over being naked in front of two men whom I'd never met before. But thankfully, my good ole anxiety took care of business for me, and I did what every damsel does in the heat of pressure.

I blacked out.

2

AJAX

Life had been particularly shitty lately, and I knew it was crass to be obscenely wealthy and whine about my problems. But stick with me for just a moment. Being the Alpha of the Umbra shifters wasn't a piece of cake. Besides the hundreds of acres of wildlife preservation, we ensured our lands were preserved and our animals didn't fear poaching or starvation. And it wasn't just the shapeshifters that we worried about. The umbras were a big fucking deal around these parts.

Imagine my alarm when we learned of a pedestrian-vehicle swept up in the spring flood waters. I had nearly lost my beta Maverick when a large log popped up and ripped off the car door just after we had pried it open. It's a miracle that we all made it out of there. We only get a few pedestrians this far north.

The canyons and hiking trails are all further south, where engaging with the wildlife is safer. I had been two seconds away from laying into the woman when our eyes met, and I got the shock of my life.

Mate. My umbra rarely spoke to me anymore. We were often of the same mind and purpose. But this was an instance where heshocked the hell out of me. How could this woman, this human woman, be my mate?

Sure, I was attracted to her. A man would have to be dead not to notice the gentle curves, her full breasts, and that mane of wild curls that she hid behind. Rarely had I seen such a beauty, and then it happened: She began to shift.

I've never seen an umbra manifest itself in an adult. Most umbra’s shift before they can walk. Sometimes, we have a late bloomer, and it takes until puberty, but I can count the number of those cases on one hand.

How did this woman find us and survive the first shift? That had to have hurt like hell. It was no wonder that she blacked out. Her body wouldn't have the experience or the muscle memory that someone in our pack would have. It was unfathomable.

"What are you going to do with her?" Kyle asked.

I was thankful he arrived as quickly as he could. Kyle was an umbra physician who treated umbra’s, werewolves, and Lycans. We lived in relative harmony with the other Umbral packs.

"She’s an umbra," I said stiffly. She deserves a place here, just like the rest of the pack."

"Yes,"he agreed hesitantly. "But we've never had a human join the packs before."

"I'm well aware of that,"I snapped. I softened my tone at his flinch,"She will have a choice. Some have lived separately from the packs, although it isn't common."

I could see that Kyle wanted to say more.

"Out with it, Healer. You know as well as I do that it will poke at you until you say it."

"I just can't help but wonder where she came from,"Kyle voiced the words that I, too, had been pondering over.

"There will be time for interrogation later,"I said, clarifying that this wasn't much time. "For now, it's apparent that she's frightened and has no idea what is happening to her. I only wish more females could help with her transition."

"You couldn't have known that she would turn up the one weekend our females were away on a lady's trip."

I sighed loudly. "Or it would be the same weekend that we'd get seventeen inches of rainfall in twenty-four hours, closing the roads and washing out the internet."

"We could always radio,"Kyle suggested half-heartedly.

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