Page 21 of Shaped to Be Yours
“I have a sneaky suspicion that this has something to do with what I’ll be studying.” I lifted the tape for Jason to see. “I better call that new team of mine, huh?”
“Now,” Jason growled, returning to his half-turned state, which made the whole thing scarier, because his human face looked spooked as hell. “This is the same spot where I was attacked.”
Chapter 5
JASON
Ihad that dream again. I was having it almost every night now, or any time I napped during the day, like on the train.
Glowing eyes in the dark.
In the trees.
Teeth.
Pain.
So much pain.
And… something else now. Something that didn’t make the creature look as much like a wolf anymore. But before I could tell what Iwasseeing, I woke up.
I really wished I’d snuck into Ricky’s room last night. Waking up alone sucked after a nightmare, especially when, last time,having Ricky’s head fall on my shoulder had been really nice. And comforting.
Kissing Ricky while not letting myself worry about fangs or the coming storm had been nice and comforting too. Even nicking his stomach hadn’t been too bad, because when I’d gotten down on my knees to lick it like some primal instinct had taken over, I’d been able to smell how turned on he was. I’d been able to see it, the bulge growing beneath his jeans. I would have pulled them down and swallowed him whole if we hadn’t heard that scream.
Now, I reached beneath my covers to palm what was apparently just as normal as any other morning wood despite what I’d dreamt. Sometimes, I woke up half turned. That’s how I knew I could look that way. I was partially turned this morning too. Maybe it was better I hadn’t woken up beside Ricky. I couldn’t be sure if I didn’t fully transform while I slept.
I willed my claws away and slid my hand beneath the waistband of my shorts. Thinking about the good parts of being in the woods with Ricky was better than thinking about the bad. Than any of the bad. Than being a monster who had to practice control or worry I’d slice up my boyfriend. Than hearing someone scream, who’d then vanished in a flash of light, leaving only a scrap of their shirt behind. Than it having happened in a spot already blocked off by the very scientists Ricky would be working with, in the same woods where my dad disappeared.
And in the same spot where I’d become a monster.
Glowing eyes in the dark.
In the trees.
Teeth.
Pain.
So much pain.
I couldn’t keep those images away when I closed my eyes, so I had to snap them open again. My morning wood was swiftly dwindling. Maybe if I just laid there for a while—
“Jason!” my mother called from upstairs. “Are you up yet, sweetheart?”
Not anymore.
“I’m fine! Awake, I mean!” I pulled my hand out of my underwear. “I’ll be up in a few minutes!”
Glancing at my phone charging on the nightstand, I realized how much later it was than I’d thought. Ricky would have already left for his internship. Good thing I’d already snuck that extra note into his shoulder bag while we were unpacking yesterday.
Another twenty-five repetitions of:
I WILL NOT BE A DICK
If only I could follow through.
The scientists had cancelled taking Ricky out for coffee. When he called them back yesterday, they’d still been cryptic and quiet about whatever it was he’d be studying, but the jig was up concerning where they’d be studying it. Ricky was to not return to that spot in the woods without them—same for me—and they’d said they’d send a guard to watch the cordoned off area, not having done so before because they’d underestimated both the danger and people’s interest in going near it.
