Matt: Tales of the Were (Redstone Clan Book 5) by Bianca D'Arc Read Free Book Online Page B

been involved in Christy’s divorce from a hateful, violent man, but beyond knowledge of Christy’s first marriage and its dissolution, Morgan didn’t know all that much. She had just assumed Sebastian had discovered Christy was his One after turning her to save her life, but she didn’t know the particulars. What the women were implying seemed a bit of a stretch. She hated to ask, but she was a cat and she was naturally curious…
    “What did he do?” Morgan whispered, asking despite her best intentions not to pry.
    It was Lissa who answered. “Sebastian arranged for Christy’s first meal to be shifter blood. Matt’s, to be precise. He held off consummating their relationship until he was certain Christy would be strong enough to face her past and never be frightened of a man again.” Morgan must have frowned because Lissa went on. “A vampire’s first meal is the most important of his or her existence. Kelly and I were converted more or less in the usual way, where our mate’s blood was the first we ever tasted. Our mates are ancient and powerful, so we get a measure of their strength. And being mates, we also have a psychic connection that helps us learn things directly from their minds, at times. It’s pretty awesome.” Lissa smiled and sent a wink across the room to her husband, who smiled back at her.
    “But Christy had been through a lot. Sebastian arranged for her to have Matt’s magical blood a few times before he tested their attraction to find out if she truly was his One,” Kelly picked up the story. “Shifter blood is like supercharged or something, according to Marc. It gives us some of the traits of the shifter and some of their strength, for a time. It’s potent stuff. And having it for her first meal, Christy got some of Matt’s cougar agility and stamina on a much longer term basis—possibly permanently. When she shifts, she can become a cat.”
    “A housecat,” Christy quipped with good natured humor. “That was the first form I chose. The guys laughed at me.” The other ladies chuckled with her.
    For Morgan’s part, she was too appalled at the ideas that were running through her head to speak. She knew enough about vampires to know that they usually fucked when they fed. So, if Matt had allowed Christy to bite him, he had probably been inside her, at the time. From all accounts—multiple times.
    The mangy alley cat.
    “Lissa and I might take decades, or even centuries, to build up the kind of power and control necessary to shapeshift,” Kelly went on, apparently oblivious to Morgan’s inner turmoil. “But, by biting a shifter, Christy got that skill early. She also moves like a cat and can leap to heights that are kind of awesome.”
    Christy blushed, even as she smiled and ducked her head.
    Morgan had always liked Christy. Knowing what she did about her past and having dealt with her asshole of an ex-husband during the divorce, Morgan had developed a soft spot for the woman. She had felt like they had things in common.
    But learning that, in all likelihood, Christy had slept with Matt—more than once—all feelings of comradeship were fading. Jealousy was springing up, making Morgan’s inner cat want to yowl and claw. Down, kitty.
    Appalled by both her reaction and the implications of Matt’s hound dog ways, she avoided his eye for the rest of the night. It was just safer that way.
    But she couldn’t avoid him on the walk back to their cars, an hour later. After the plans had been picked apart and approved by the Brotherhood and the conversation had turned casual, Matt and Morgan finally took their leave. The vampires might be awake all night, but even shifters needed a little sleep before facing the new day.
    And so, they found themselves walking back up to the office in the dark. The night closing around them in a way that made Morgan want to sprint away from the confusing man at her side. Her attraction to him hadn’t faded, even after learning what she had tonight.