Page 15 of Return of the Nine

He chuckled, his fangs flashing.

“The second option is to share blood. That will pause the effects for a few days and allow us to get to know each other.”

“Option B.”

He laughed. “Remove the knife from the stone. Females don’t have the fangs so we have built in the assistance to make things easier.”

“Seriously? I have to take a knife to you?”

He held out his hand. “Wrist to wrist.”

She tugged the knife out of the stone and wondered if it would make her queen of the ancient land of England. With a giggle, she held the knife awkwardly and raised it toward him. “What now?”

He pressed the knife against his wrist and wrapped his hand around hers, pulling it sharply until his blood welled.

She gasped and jerked her hand back but his grip was tight. He raised her wrist to his lips, the blood trailing down the blade still in her fist. She winced at the flare of pain as he bit into her, but the moment he broke her skin he released her wrist and moved it to press against his own open wound.

Her mind opened wide as his blood seeped into her arm and hers moved into his. Her hand maintained the grip on the dagger as she took all of his knowledge into her including his emotions and the personal details of his life.

Ziggy’s breath came out of her on a moan, and her knees buckled. She took them both to the ground and she collapsed under the burn of pain mixed with the knowledge of a lifetime that was not hers.

She leaned forward and he mimicked her, their foreheads leaning together, their breath mingling as they completed the bonding that he needed to still the fire in his veins.

In less than one day she had gone from being Ziggy, to being Signy Alora Rothaway Vaddos, and it was quite the alteration.

Chapter Eight

“Why don’t you use your last names?”

He raised his head slowly and focussed on her. Rothaway’s eyes were no longer crimson. “They are clan names and we only use them for formal occasions and documents. How do you know about the other name?”

She winced.Busted.“Your knowledge came to me in your blood.”

Rothaway looked at where their wrists were still pressed together. “I did not receive that effect.”

She blinked. “Do you think it could have something to do with my potential?”

“What precisely did you gain?”

She touched his knee with her free hand. “You have a scar here from when you were ten, climbed a tree and got attacked by another shifter in a feline form.”

Her eyes widened as she realised that he actually could change his shape. “You can really shift your form?”

He raised one eyebrow. “You would like a demonstration now?”

She blinked. The bonding was a sacred moment on the mother ship. They were in a bonding grove and Lyneer was acting as their guardian, keeping others away while they were vulnerable. “I suppose not.”

Rothaway laughed and lifted her bleeding wrist to his lips, licking the wounds closed. He did the same to his own wrist a moment later and then helped her to her feet.

She still had the dagger in her hand. “What do I do with this?”

He smiled, “Place it back in the stone.”

Shrugging she walked back to the rock and slid the dagger home. It immediately sank into the edifice and disappeared. “Where did it go?”

“It is being filed for proof of our bonding. My blood and your DNA on the handle is proof of our union.”

She smirked. “Or that I stabbed you and left you for dead.”

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