Shifters of Grrr 1 (6 page)

"Oh right, yes. Healing up alright? Is everything okay?"
 

It had been weeks and he stopped hoping she'd call by the third day, believing that she threw away the aftercare sheet without a second glance like most of his clients.

"Yes, it looks great. Thank you again for it. No, I was calling to see if you wanted to get together, perhaps?"

He could hear the waiver in her voice. She didn't ask out people often and this wasn't meant as a casual thing by the sound of it.

Tread lightly
, he thought.

"Sounds good. I'm at the shop every day this week, though."

"Well, I could meet you after your last client Friday if you'd like. I'll bring some food and wine. Deal?"

He really couldn't say no to that. "Deal. I'll text you when I'm nearly done Friday, then."

He spent the rest of the day analyzing the brief conversation.

Chapter Five: The Bar in the Back

While the week flew by for Emily, it slowed to a painful crawl for Holden. He tried to play it cool and wait for her to appear Friday but found himself holding the phone nearly dialing her number.
 

What is it about this girl that makes me so crazy?
He wondered. She'd been on his mind ever since she came in for the tattoo. She seemed so weak and fragile to him yet she radiated a strength he'd never known. Whatever it was, he had to know more about her.

He texted her roughly a half hour from when his last client would be done telling her he was nearly finished. She didn't reply back which made that 30 minutes turn into 45 with how often he would check his phone to see if there was a message. With a happy client walking out the door, he stood by the window and looked out into the night. He saw her then, propped beside a small red compact car. She looked tired; worn. He had the door open to go to her, when she ambled up to the archway.

"Hey sorry I'm a little late." She apologized.

"No, no, it ran later than I thought and he just left. You're right on time." He smiled at her. Every fiber of his being wanted to keep her safe and happy. His bear wanted to wrap up in her warmth. The two dwelled inside Holden with but a single goal; to make Emily theirs.

He helped her inside and hung her coat. Clicking the door latch and securing the 'Closed' sign, they retreated to the back room.

Originally designed to house supplies, the back room had become a make-shift lounge where there was a mini-fridge, tables, sofas, and random books scattered about. It was where he went for some downtime between clients.

Today it was a date spot. He'd thrown a plaid blanket down and even had some flowers nearby.

Emily took his hand as he sat on one edge of the blanket and started to unpack the food she brought.

"I hope you like Chinese," she said to him, "I got a little bit of everything because I didn't know what you liked."

It was a feast and a far cry from his leftover pizza he normally had after work.
 

"You know you could totally renovate this area and have a bar in the back of your shop." Walls of reclaimed heart of pine stared back at her as she said this, while she was thinking of ways to make wine glass lighting fixtures.

Holden didn't want to talk shop. He always talked shop with his friends. No, today he wanted solely to know more about the lush beauty that was sitting cross-legged on the floor along side him.

"So, Emily, tell me more about you." He asked after snagging the last of the dumplings.

"Well not much to tell, really. I spend a vulgar amount of time online with my friends. I work as a freelance copywriter so I don't have a typical 9 to 5. I love animals and trains. I'm really sort of boring if you must know," she laughed.

"Oh you're far from boring. You've got a lionheart tattoo to prove it, too."
 

He smiled at her and when she smiled back at him, looking deep into his eyes, he leaned over to kiss her. Soft lips pressed against his with a hint of strawberries. His light kissed turned hungry, as he sucked her bottom lip in. His hands went up to her neck and slide under her hair, holding her to him.

"I don't know what you do to me Emily, but I know I want it to keep happening." He murmured in her ear as a husky growl-like sound came from deep inside him.

She stopped thinking of wine glass fixtures and heart of pine bars and focused on the sweet tingle that was rapidly going through her body. Her legs became jelly as she gave thanks to already being on the floor and having little space to fall. Casually, she slid over to him and walked on all fours over him, laying him out on his back.
 

Never having been the aggressor, Emily was fast taking charge of knocking 'one night stand' off her list as her fingers flew to undo his shirt. Fabric pulled from out of his pants as he had tucked it in as her hands went to undo his pants.

He picked her up off him, pulled her crop top over her head, and buried his face in her breasts. Licking and sucking each tender nipple, he alternated between light and hard nibbles. The sounds Emily made were getting louder and his cock strained against his zipper.
 
He wanted her, all of her, and he wanted it in the worst way.

Her breath quickened and his bear could feel her excitement. Holden breathed in the intoxicating scent of Emily and he was already sliding his hand down her body, finding the sweet, wet folds. His fingertips circled her hard nub as he played with her clit and his finger slipped inside her. Her gasp was music in his ears and his bear was ready to claim her.

It was only then that he thought of his vow. If he gave in so easily what would he learn? This was no way to begin a search for true love. His bear was angry and raged inside, forcing itself to the surface. Holden panicked as his claws started to form and bits of fur began to break through where there was once skin.

"I can't do this, Emily, I'm so sorry." He said as he ran from the room. He couldn't let her see him like this and there was no way he could stop it from happening, he was too far gone as it was.

He stopped in the storage area, panting for air and waited for his bear to calm. He could still smell her making his cock twitch harder. He was locked in a battle inside his own body, full of lust and logic. Two opposing sides desperately wanting out.

Chapter Six: Fallout

By the time he was calm enough to believe that his bear was not going to shift to the surface, Emily was gone. He tried texting her to tell her he was sorry but had no words on how to explain what must have been baffling behavior.
 

Holden was mortified. What kind of man just runs out on a date in the middle of when most men would be begging to stay?
 

He walked home in silence, hoping that somehow she'd find a way to forgive him and they could work it out. He gave serious consideration on telling her the truth about why he left.

Emily woke the next day with more questions than she had answers. She wasn't able to mark 'one night stand' off her list, but more quizzical was why he bolted from the middle of it.
I don't think I've ever seen a man move away from me as quick as he did. Was I that bad?

She looked down at her phone and saw a text and a missed call from Holden. The text simply apologized and told her he'd explain it all in due time while the call went to voice mail without a message left. She could hear him sigh before hanging up.

She made the promise to herself to text him back later, after she was done shopping for the day, but for now she was still too full of anxiety over why he suddenly stopped wanting her to worry about it. She needed to check a few more things off the list while she still had time.

She went online and tried to get a few friends to go along with her, as she'd been more tired than usual lately.
 
While they all had plans and tried to get her to postpone the event until later, Emily was determined to go without them.

Through mini-skirts, tunics, and strappy tank tops, Emily was sliding on clothes that were nothing like what hung in her closet. She was finding fabrics that clung to every curve and accentuated every soft ripple of her body. Emily looked at herself in the mirror, taking in all the changes that she had already done, and smiled. She rounded up her bags and hit the nearest salon for an impromptu haircut.

"Are you sure?" the stylist asked again for the third time as she ran her hand through the long, blonde locks.

"Yes, completely. Cut it all off."
 

Strand after strand of hair fell and formed a mounting pile by the chair as her shoulder length hair was reduced to a cute, easy pixie cut. It made her face pop and she had never felt freer. There had been so many changes, but this time when the stylist put that mirror in her hand she was happier than she had ever been. She truly felt lionhearted.

It was when she got up from the chair and went to leave the salon that Emily looked up at the ceiling and promptly passed out.

Chapter Seven: Room 109

Machines buzzed, tubes came and went from her body, and Emily was still unconscious when the emergency personnel went through her phone to look for someone to contact. Not seeing any I.C.E. or emergency contact, they hit redial and hoped for the best.
 

"Please don't let it be Chinese takeout service," the technician whispered.

"Hello Emily?" Holden breathlessly answered, knowing she had called earlier but hung up before he reached the phone.

"Sir, this is a medical technician at Mercy University Hospital. We've got an Emily Heart here and can't locate any emergency contact for her. You were the last one she called. Could you come down, that is if you're friends or family of Emily?"

"I'll be right there." Holden was already pulling on pants and locking up the apartment as he bolted out the door.

He made record time as he busted through the glass doors at the entry to the hospital. He rambled up to the counter and asked for her room.

A tired, overworked desk clerk typed the name into the computer and said "Room 109" without a bother of looking up at him.

Down the hall, to the left, he walked peering at the small signs that led him to the room. He stood outside it, not knowing whether to knock or walk in. He chose the latter.

"Emily?" he asked into the darkness of the room.

He could then see her there, lying helpless in the bed. He looked around, but nothing offered him clues to why she was there.
 

Carefully and quietly, he walked back out and asked a nurse that was passing by as to her condition.

"Family?"
 

"No, I'm a friend and..." Holden began, trying to explain.

"Sorry, we can't divulge patient information outside of the family." She said as she grabbed her charts and kept walking.

Holden's blood pressure started to rise and he paced up and down the hall, keeping the growl of his bear to a minimum. He was seething at what was occurring. They could call him to come down there, but not tell him what was happening? This would not do.

He walked down to the nurse's station and casually asked the first one he saw there the same question.

"Family?" he was asked again. This time he was ready.

"Yes." He lied.

The nurse explained that Emily's blood tests were showing dangerously low levels of red blood cells and double the normal white cell counts. She was anemic, in the middle of a raging infection, and it was taking its toll on her prognosis.

"Which is?" Holden asked the nurse.

"Same as it was, Sir, she's got about six months. Probably less now. I'm sorry." She offered, placing her hand on his shoulder as she went back to her station.

Holden didn't know what to think or feel. There laid his mate, the one he was supposed to be with, unconscious and with precious few months left to live.

The vow is damned.

Chapter Eight: Coming Home

The faint hiss of the machines was the first sound she heard upon waking, the second was Holden's voice. Emily raised up on the pillows and asked how long she'd been there.

"A few days." He answered as he snaked his hand through the bed rails to hold her hand.

"How did you know I was here?" she asked him; confused and a bit disoriented.

"They called the last person on your call list which was me. I came as soon as they called."

"So you've been here three days?" She couldn't believe that was true. She hadn't even spoken to him since that night in the tattoo shop, nor gave him chance to explain.

"Yes, I wanted to be here when you woke up. Why didn't you tell me, Emily?"

Why? How do I tell you that? 'Hello, I'm dying, would love a hook-up, ok thanks bye'.

"Why haven't you told me why you bolted from me like you were on fire?" she asked, turning the tables.

"You've not let me." He whispered; his head down.

"Ok, so, tell me."

Holden tried to explain how he used to be; how the endless hookups had grown tiring and that he was swearing off sex in the hopes of kindling a real relationship. He spoke of true loves and fated mates.