Fading (Shifter Rescue) by Sean Michael Read Free Book Online

shift.
    Jag appeared suddenly in front of him. “Cather? What are you doing out here? We’ve been calling you. Sorry, Pirou. He’s never even shifted before, and it never occurred to me he would get out.”
    Jag touched his shoulder, hand so warm, gentle but firm. Cather hid behind his hair, desperate for the cat to come to him. Please. Please . He just needed to go.
    Jag stepped up and wrapped around him, hugging him. “Easy, Cather. Easy. I’m not here to hurt you. No one is.”
    “I’m going to let you have Hill. You’re both mates. I’m just going to go.” His voice felt rough in his throat.
    “Mates? What…” The other man sounded surprised.
    Jag shook his head. Cather could feel it because Jag hadn’t let go of him yet. “No, that’s not how this works, and you know it. You’re a part of it.”
    “Perhaps you should discuss this in your rooms where it’s warmer,” the other man suggested.
    “He’s right, Cather. Do you need me to carry you?” Jag asked.
    “I wish to leave.” Why couldn’t he shift? What was wrong with him?
    “You don’t have anywhere to go, Cather. And you belong with Hill. And with me.” Jag pulled back and just like that lifted him up, carrying him down the hall.
    I found him. Jag sent the words and Hill’s relief was palpable through their bond.
    “I wish to leave.” He squeezed his eyes closed, his heart broken.
    “I can’t let that happen. You and Hill belong together.” Jag kept walking.
    “I wish to leave !” He tried screaming the word.
    Jag sighed but didn’t stop, didn’t put him down. “When you’re healed and you have a place to go, a job to support yourself. When you’re well and you’ve spoken to me and to Hill about it, if you still feel the same way, you can go.”
    Cather. Cather. Cather . Hill’s relief was gone, his calls frantic in a different way now.
    Cather began to keen, caught between fury at his body’s betrayal and pure exhaustion. It had taken all he had to leave, all his strength and power, and it had been for nothing. Jag called back to him, the sound full of hope, full of care. And when they turned the corner, Hill’s plaintive whines joined in.
    “Thank you, brother. We’ll be fine. I promise,” Jag said to the other man, who must have followed them.
    Jag and the other man rubbed cheeks, then Jag brought Cather back into the bedroom, laying him down on the bed. Hill immediately jumped up and yowled at him, wrapping around him, fur soft and warm.
    Cather refused to open his eyes. “I can’t change.”
    Hill yowled softly again, but it was Jag who answered him, hands warm and gentle on his skin. “You mean you can’t shift back into your kitty-self?”
    He nodded, panic beginning to steal into him now.
    “Okay. It’s okay. You’re all right. It was so long since you shifted, I’m sure your body is just tired. Exhausted, in fact.” Jag petted him gently. “You need to eat and sleep and heal, and then everything will be fine. You’ll see.”
    Hill lost his fur and wrapped around him. “You left me. You can’t. You swore not to.”
    “You have a new mate,” Cather insisted.
    “I’m for both of you, Cather. Not just Hill. He needs you and so do I,” Jag told him. “Look at me.”
    “No.”
    “Look at me, kit. Right now.”
    Jag had a master’s voice and it cut right through him. His eyes flew open and he looked up at Jag.
    The warm, dark eyes smiled at him, filling with pleasure at his obedience. “Very good, Cather. I’m right here and so is Hill. We aren’t going anywhere, and neither are you.”
    He searched Jag’s face, looking for a response to his eyes, to the odd cat-like slit. There was no shock, no horror, only acceptance. Beautiful . The word pushed into his head.
    Freak . He knew he was. Knew it.
    Jag shook his head and leaned in, pressing their lips together. Cather gasped, the connection unexpected and totally overwhelming. The kiss went on and on, Jag breathing into him. His body began to