Page 83 of Healed
“You sure did,” Charlie said.
“Want to come watch a movie with me?”
“What are you watching?”
“Captain America.”
“Yes. Yes, I do,” Carson said, walking right past Bane and grinning up at Daisy as he walked past her and scooted himself up on the sofa.
Bane laughed. “We have a movie to watch. We’ll see y’all in a little while,” Bane said, dismissing both of them.
Daisy glanced toward Charlie but barely made eye contact. “Let’s go outside so we won’t disturb their movie,” she said.
Charlie followed her outside and down the porch stairs to the yard.
When she heard his footfalls on the grass behind her, she turned toward him, her arms crossed over her chest, practically hugging herself.
Charlie immediately noticed her body language and rushed to reassure her. “No matter what you have to tell me, it’s not going to change how I see you.”
“I wish that was true. But it’s pretty big.”
“I meant every word I said to your brother at Havoc’s house. Go ahead. Tell me, you’ll see that I still feel the same.”
Daisy didn’t even smile, she simply looked at him, the emotion in his eyes before she dashed all his hopes, and then had to have Tempest erase his memory of everything she was about to tell him, and of him caring about her, and implant one that made him believe he wasn’t interested at all. “Before I tell you everything, I want to thank you for helping me start finding myself. For believing in me when I couldn’t, and for bringing Carson to my art classes. You both have made such a difference in my life.”
“Daisy, I’m not going anywhere.”
She smiled this time, and nodded as she looked down at the grass in the darkness. She didn’t look up when she next spoke. “I’m a Bear shifter. So is my father, my brother. In fact, most of my family are shifters of one species or another. My mother is human, as are several others who have been taken in, or aremates.” Daisy paused to give him a chance to say something, but he didn’t say a word. She raised her gaze hesitantly to his face, and found him just standing before her with a confused look on his face.
“I’ve seen that before. You think I’m crazy.”
“No. No, I’m just trying to put together all the pieces. You mean a shifter like a werewolf? Like in books and movies and all?”
Daisy nodded. “Yes in that we can shift from our human selves into our animal selves, but no in the way that we are not all rabid, wild creatures just waiting to feast upon some unwitting human. We are the same people when in animal form as we are in human form. We say female and male rather than woman and man, because woman and man is indicative of humans. As I said, we do have some humans in our clan, but most of us are not human ourselves, or at least not fully human. We call Brandt Alpha because Brandt is our leader. Kaid was our leader before he passed the authority down to Brandt, but basically, a male is born with certain tendencies that will make him Alpha or not. It’s not something you just decide to do. Kaid was born Alpha, and so was Brandt. There are others that could have been Alpha, but for the most part, it’s a lot of responsibility and most don’t want to be bothered.”
Again, she paused to give him a chance to react, but he gave no reaction; he just remained focused intently on her.
“We use the word mates because it’s so much more committed than a marriage ever could be. Mates are monogamous, for the most part. Some are assholes, but for the most part they’re monogamous. Mates is a soul-deep connection that is all but impossible to ignore. Some have tried and after years have been successful. Others have tried and have had their entire lives ruined. One of my cousins is fighting exactly that right now.”
“Is that the Remi y’all spoke of at Havoc’s?”
“It is. He’s the kindest of all of us. I hope he figures it all out.”
“Part of the humiliation and embarrassment about what happened to me with my professor is that I’m a shifter. I can scent lies. I can scent deceit. I should have known that he was manipulating me, but I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I never doubted him. Partially because I tried to detect any untruths on his part, and I found none. I’m a healer. I can heal illnesses, I can heal heartbreak. I’m empathetic. I should have known. I don’t know how I was so easily misled.”
“Because you trusted. You wanted deeply to be loved and accepted and you made yourself believe it.”
Daisy shook her head. “Have you heard anything I’ve said? I’ve made this huge revelation and you’re worried about explaining away my past mistakes.”
“Because I don’t want you to blame yourself for someone else’s bad behavior. And yes, I’ve heard you. I’m not exactly sure how I feel about what you’ve said. I’m not totally sure I believe it, but I believe something very out of the ordinary is going on here.”
“You don’t believe that I’m a Bear shifter.”
“I believe you believe it, and I’m not yet sure what I believe. But I don’t doubt you’re a healer. I’m not the least bit surprised by that.”
Daisy sighed, locked eyes with him and shifted into her Bear. A huge Black Bear with the softest fur and the most kind eyes.
Charlie’s eyes grew wide, then he squatted down in front of her. “Holy shit,” he murmured, looking into her eyes. “You’re amazing.”
