The Tracker's Secret: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 2) by Ingrid Seymour (the gingerbread man read aloud .txt) 📗

He huffed when I didn’t say anything, then encouraged me to move closer with a “come here” gesture. I took two steps in his direction and stopped. He beckoned me again and again, until I stood three steps away from him, too close for comfort.

“How many times have you shifted?” he asked, going straight to the point.

“Once,” I answered curtly. If he wasn’t going to be friendly, I didn’t see why I had to be.

He narrowed his eyes. “Damien said he should have applied his spell a couple of weeks ago, which means your wolf has had ample time to make an appearance more than once. This either means that you’re strong or that she’s weak. I vote for the latter.”

Damn! He was good. He’d just insulted me even though he’d called me strong. Whatever, I had no time for this man’s dick ways. I was here to get answers and learn to control this constant desire to burst into fur.

I asked my first question. “Why do you talk about the wolf as if it’s separate from me? I thought they were one and the same.”

“Yes and no,” he answered without elaborating.

Gee! So very helpful.

“Have you had any urges to shift?”

“All the time.”

He raised his eyebrows. “So you’re fighting them?”

“Yes. I’m afraid to lose control. I don’t remember what happened when I shifted.”

He paused, considering for a moment.

“Is that common? Not remembering, I mean.”

“Not common, but it can happen when... the wolf is powerful. Though, I doubt that is the case with you. There’s no telling what Damien’s years of spells have done to you. Your wolf was repressed for a very long time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s broken beyond repair.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, panicked.

“Never mind. There is no point in speculating. Let’s just find out.” He crossed his arms and kicked a foot out, striking a careless pose. “Go ahead and shift.”

“Um, what?”

“Shift. Turn into a wolf. You’re a werewolf, right?”

I blinked slowly. “I thought you were going to teach me how not to shift.”

“How not to shift?” Eric snorted with exaggerated amusement. “Let me make this clear. Without Damien’s spells, not shifting is not an option anymore. If he hadn’t tampered with you, shifting would have been part of your life since the moment you were born. If you want to learn to control the wolf, you have to shift. You have to let her... be.”

I shook my head. “I can’t. My life is not that of a werewolf. I don’t understand what I’m supposed to do anymore, who I’m supposed to be.”

“I’m sorry, but this is not a therapy session. So you either do what I say, when I say it, or we call it a day.”

I wanted to argue, but the hardness in Eric’s blue eyes told me there would be no point. He felt no sympathy for me, none whatsoever. All he wanted was to clear his score with Damien, and I was just the pesky inconvenience that would allow him to do that.

Despite all of that, I had no reason to doubt what he was saying. He didn’t strike me like the kind of man who would lie. On the contrary, he seemed to like telling the truth, especially when it hurt.

I wrung my hands together, digging my fingernails into my palms. Eric watched me with the same irritated expression he’d worn since I’d met him, but he waited patiently until I took a deep breath and spoke.

“Okay, how do I shift?”

“You know how,” he said.

“No, I don’t.”

“C’mon, you’ve been fighting it all along. I can see it. Just stop, and the wolf will thank you.”

I nodded, relaxed my fingers, and let my hands hang limply at my sides. I closed my eyes and rolled my shoulders.

It’s okay. It’s okay. You can let go.

I waited for a long minute. Nothing happened.

I opened my eyes and peeked at Eric. His mouth was twisted in a sneer, and he was tapping a finger against his jaw, looking disgusted.

“I’m waiting,” he spat.

I tried again, closing my eyes.

There’s nothing to be afraid of. It’s the most natural thing for a werewolf to shift, so just do it. You need to—

A deafening roar filled the room, so loud and strong that I felt its rumble in my chest. My eyes sprang open, and I found a monster standing in front of me, his mouth wide open, his long canines gleaming with saliva as he bellowed in my face.

A wave of energy surged from deep in my gut and washed all over me, causing every inch of my body to come alive like never before. The feeling of release and freedom was unlike anything I’d ever felt, and this time, I didn’t try to fight it. I simply welcomed it, invited it, and rejoiced as it spread through my every atom, shaping me into something I should have always been. As the animal took over, I felt exalted and relieved, then it all changed in an instant, and I was pushed aside and tossed down a cliff from which I plummeted into oblivion.

Chapter 17

I WAS SHIVERING. MY teeth clicking together like flamenco castanets. I hugged my naked arms and curled tighter into a ball. It did no good. I was still cold as hell. There was a tiny blanket on me and I clutched it closer, tight to my chest, but then my legs got uncovered, so it was hopeless.

I continued to shiver for a while longer until my brain realized that if I wanted to get warm I had to see why the hell my blanket had shrunk. Slowly, I opened my eyes and blinked at a door jamb and the textured carpet on the floor. I was lying on my side, the carpet’s fibers scratching my cheek.

When did Rosalina change her carpet?

This one was Berber, for sure, and neither one of us had enough money to afford that.

I rolled