Nate stood aside as ‘Roy’ went around him to run back towards the ship. Nate took a moment to switch back to his human form and tugged on his pants and shirt. Then he noticed a lovely woman struggling to climb out of the back of a boat onto the dock. She seemed very shaky, so he moved to help her.


    “Thank you,” she said with a slight moan.


    “No problem. I’m Nate Walker,” he said, enthralled by her beauty and her scent. She was a Subus!


    “Cam Vimor. Help me, please,” she said gesturing to the end of the dock. They saw Sigrid and Marisa with their hands on the side of the ship pushing outwards to maintain a wider gap between the dock and the ship. Roy reached down and pulled a man from the water. Heid him out on the dock and Nate gasped at the wound on his shoulder. Blood spurted, and Nate cried out again when the red furred beast moved his mouth to the wound. Was he biting him?


    “Calm yourself. Roy is healing him, sealing the wound,” Cam exined.


    Roy pulled back and turned his face to Cam in confusion, his toothy maw coated in Henry’s blood. His eyes rolled back, and he slumped sideways, but Sigrid caught him before he fell off the dock. His body rippled, and arge, red-bearded and very unconscious human remained.


    “Dammit! I forgot about the blood!” Cam cursed. Sigrid gave her a worried look, but Cam just shook her head and gestured for the men rushing down the dock to hurry. Two immediately leapt up and pulled themselves over the railing to search the yacht. The other two went to Cam after looking at Roy’s bloody face and Henry’s shoulder. “Get Roy to his truck. Take him back to his ce. He needs to sleep this off.”


    One of the men hoisted Roy over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry and followed his partner back up the dock.


    “Is Henry still bleeding?” Sigrid asked bending down to inspect his shoulder. She sighed in relief as Roy had done his job before passing out. The closed wound was red and angry looking.


    Nate finally got a good look at the man lying on the dock. “Oh shit! It’s him!”


    Sigrid nced sharply at him. “You know Henry?”


    Nate blinked at her. “Huh? No! I mean, I met him once in a drug store. He- he seemed like a nice enough guy but I never got his name before all hell broke loose and he left.”


    A seal surged out of the water andnded on the dock. She shook herself, shedding the water, then stood up, bing Siobhan. Dry once more, Siobhan had nasty bruising around her neck. She smiled at him then looked to Cam.


    “I managed to get the guard out of the water. He’s alive, but I can’t find the bitch who tried to strangle me.” She lifted her chin and Marisa winced at the sight of the bruises.


    “We’re going to need a containment team on this site,” Sigrid sighed.


    “Luckily Mr. Duncan called for one on his way over here,” a voice called out from behind them.


    The group turned and stared in surprise at Mahati walking towards them. Thewyer nced down at the dead woman on the dock and grimaced.


    “Who was that?” she said, looking a little ill.


    “Marquise Oletha Thanemark,” Cam said.


    “The artist?” Mahati eximed in surprise and received a nod from Cam. “What happened to Mr. Duncan-” she stared in shock at the wound on Henry’s shoulder. “Wait! Did he bite Mr. Gable?”


    Siobhan stepped forward and disyed her bruised neck. “No, the bitch who did this to me, bit Henry. He lost a lot of blood. Roy helped him.” She nced at Marisa, not knowing how much to say.


    “I don’t think we should be staying here ying twenty questions. The police will arrive soon,” Cam suggested.


    “That’s why I’m here. I’m to brief the cleanup team while you run away, so in twenty words or less please,” Mahati insisted as she stared into Cam’s exhausted eyes.


    “Oletha was kidnapping Nate Walker here.” She gestured to the man still wearing the shackles. “He wasing to see us this morning but didn’t show. We came to convince her to let him go. She wasn’t willing to listen to reason.”


    Mahati nodded. “What about the blond woman up on the grass?”


    “Jo!” Nate gasped and moved to go to her. Mahati raised her hand to block him.


    “Who is she?” Mahati asked.


    “Jo Hart. She’s my best friend! She’s not like us, she’s human,” Nate blurted.


    Mahati jolted back, staring at him wide-eyed. She caught the wince on the other faces present then the sudden contrite look on Nate’s. “What’s going on here?” she growled, suddenly furious.


    Cam sighed. She was just too tired toe up with something convincing. She held Mahati’s eyes. “We believe Nate is the same as Henry. We can discuss this more thoroughlyter.”


    Eyes ring with anger Mahati nodded. “We most definitely will.” She looked to Nate. “Learn what not to say, or you’ll soon discover how much danger your loose tongue will create.” Mahati huffed in frustration as she looked him over. “Yourbest friendhas been drugged unconscious. The clean-up crew will take her back to her home. My advice, stay away from her.” She aimed a final re at the others. “Everyone leave now.” Then she headed back up the dock.


    Cam saw Nate was looking a little lost and sighed. “Nate, if you don’t mind, you’lle home with me tonight?” He nodded.


    “I’ll take Henry to my ce to heal,” Sigrid said.


    Cam looked to Marisa and Siobhan. “Catch a ride back with the Security team?” They nodded then everyone moved.


    They passed the iing clean-up crew. Cam wondered what the cover story was going to be then pushed that from her mind as Nate helped her back to her car. She watched Sigrid carefully ce Henry in the back seat of one of the security team’s SUV’s as Marisa and Siobhan climbed in the back of another. The big vehicles all left the way they’de in. Back over the grass to the road. Cam sedately drove back to the exit and handed her ticket to one of the clean-up crew who was inside the booth with an unconscious guard, likely erasing all video recordings. Cam nodded, and the gate went up.


    They pulled out onto the road and headed back to Manhattan. She felt weary and hungry.


    “You’ll find a key that should work on those cuffs in the glovebox,” she suggested. Nate grinned and found the small set of keys on a ring. He quickly released the cuffs from his wrists and ankles.


    She knew Nate had Wild Magic flowing through him, so she hoped he was up for a little feeding. She looked over at him and saw his hunger clearly in his eyes. They shared a smile.


    Roy jolted upright with a gasp and looked around at familiar surroundings in confusion. He was on his bed- but he wore his default emergency mor. There was dried blood on his face. Whose blood?


    “What the hell?” he muttered to himself.


    “Hey! You awake in there?” a voice called through his bedroom door. He recognized it as Rick Santos, one of his crew. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and walked to the door to open it. Rick and Billy Cooper were sitting on his couch watching TV with their feet up on his coffee table. Billy was tossing and catching his football.


    Roy raised an eyebrow. “Comfortable?”


    They grinned back at him.


    “You feeling better, boss man?” Billy asked.


    Roy touched the dried blood on his chin and realized he felt great! “Yeah, I’m good. What happened?”


    The two men stopped grinning and nced at each other. “You don’t remember?” Rick asked.


    Roy frowned. “I remember arriving at the marina and helping Siobhan Whn to her feet. She mentioned a female attacked her. I smelled Werepanther on her then we ran for the dock. I- uh, someone was in the water? Then I woke up here. What am I missing?”


    The two men shared looks and stood.


    Roy’s hackles rose as he scented the change. They were instinctively reacting to a perceived mental weakness. Their pack leader had to be of sound mind to remain leader. Tworge werewolves were suddenly standing in his living room, and Roy shifted a split secondter. The two challengers instantly froze as their eyes went wide with surprise. Then both whimpered their submission and exposed their throats.


    Snorting his eptance, he nodded to them. Everyone switched back to Human form.


    “We’ll see you at the officeter, Mr. Duncan,” Billy said with a subdued voice.


    He nodded suspiciously and watched the two leave with nods back to him. Roy locked up behind them and made his way back to the washroom. He needed a shower.


    Facing the mirror, he frowned and dropped his mor. He instantly snarled at the vicious looking beast baring his fangs back at him in the mirror. Then he froze as he realized the unfamiliar face was his, just different.


    He was bigger than before! Bigger muscles! Longer, sharper ws and teeth! His eyes were a littlerger too!


    SHIT! As he looked more carefully, he realized how incredibly sharp his vision had be. When he concentrated, he could detect the smallest details and movement.


    What the FUCK!


    He switched back to Human and went back into the bedroom to grab his cell. He dialed Sigrid.


    After four rings she sleepily answered. “Roy? You know what time it is?” she grumbled.


    “What happenedst night?” he barked.


    There was a pause. “Are you ok?”


    It was his turn to pause as he thought about that. “Yes, but I’m… different.”


    “Better or worse?” she asked.


    He had to admit he felt pretty damn good. “Better, but how!”


    Sigrid was silent, and he listened intently. He could hear the gentle slide of silk against her skin.


    SHIT! The sensitivity of his hearing had increased!


    “Henry.”


    Roy reeled back in dismay. “I had sex with Henry?!?” he hissed.


    Sigrid snorted then burst intoughter. When she got control again, she answered. “No! Of course not! His shoulder was injured, badly! There was blood. You helped him as you can.” She left it at that.


    “Oh.” Of course. He suddenly felt stupid.


    “Roy, can we talk about this in the morning?”


    “Sure. Sorry for calling so early.”


    They hung up, and Roy sat on the edge of the bed, thinking.


    Downsides. There were always downsides.


    Hmmm…


    He couldn’t think of them at the moment.


    -=-


    Henry woke feeling like someone had beat on him with hammers. His jaw was stiff, and the right side of his face swollen. He could barely open his right eye. He must have moaned as Meixiu’s concerned face appeared above him.


    “Are you awake Henry?”


    He tried to nod but painnced through his shoulder and he hissed instead.


    “I will get Sigrid,” the petite woman said.Content property of N?velDra/ma.Org.


    Henry struggled against the pain for a short time then the blonde beauty was looking in his eyes. She gave him a little water through a straw.


    “How bad is the pain?” she asked.


    “What is agoodpain?” he managed to whisper. She smiled in sympathy with a twinkle in her eyes.


    “You need to disable your mor. You’ll heal faster in your true form. You’re in a safe ce. You can rest in that form as well,” Sigrid exined.


    Henry triggered the change, and the pain dimmed just a little, but any relief felt like an improvement! “Better!”


    Sigrid smiled then she frowned. “Why didn’t you stay in the car?”


    He cast his mind back and recalled seeing someone who looked like Sandy but wasn’t. “Thought I saw Sandy in danger. Wasn’t her. Then that woman was choking Siobhan. She hit me. Hard. Then she was going after Cam and Marisa. I couldn’t… I didn’t know what to do so I grabbed her after I switch back to this and…” His memories fragmented from that point. He knew he was panicking and in terrible pain, but he didn’t want to admit that in front of the Valkyrie.