19

I n Roman's arms, I have never felt so safe and secure. Which is weird because I always felt safe with my parents. Just his presence surrounding me, his large hands rubbing my back, and the overwhelming smell of cherries and leather—I can't explain the calmness that's settled within me. This should be weird. I just met this man. I've never even had a boyfriend, and here I am in the middle of the night, in a famous hockey player's arms. Yeah, this isn't weird at all, but somehow it feels right. Like all my panic attacks and anxiety can't get through this wall of a man.

I'm only allowed a moment of calm, apparently, though.

My body starts to burn. "Roman, something's wrong, more wrong, BIG WRONG!" I try not to scream.

My skin feels like it's on fire. Not the snuggly kind, like you're lying in front of an actual fire. No. I feel like my whole body was thrown into a bonfire and sprinkled with some kind of fuel.

I lose the battle with not screaming and crumble into a heap on the ground. Roman is instantly kneeling right next to me, pushing my hair out of my face, asking what's wrong as Benny makes his way over to us.

"M-my skin feels like it's on fire. I c-can't catch my breath." I barely get out.

Roman's eyes are wild with panic, and I think that scares me even more.

Just as I'm about to try to reach for him, the fire is replaced by trembling, and it feels like— that doesn't make any sense—I've finally lost my mind.

I swear, my body just growled. Not my stomach. My body. What the hell?

" Help me. There's something inside of me. My body it . . ." I trail off, unable to finish the sentence. I'll be committed. This isn't happening. I knew his showing up was too good to be true. I was dreaming, and now I'm having a nightmare. Whatever this is, it can't be real.

Both of Roman's knees crash to the ground, getting as close to me as he can without touching me completely, like he's worried he'll hurt me. He tenderly wraps my trembling hands in his. "Leera, no matter how crazy it sounds, talk to me. What's going on?"

The concern in his eyes seems to rip away any sense of self-preservation I had left.

"I swear something in my body just . . . growled. I know it's crazy. I don't know what's happening. What's wrong with me? I'm pretty sure I'm having a nightmare, but this feels so real."

The men share a worried and confused look, but it almost looks like Roman is trying not to smile, like he's had some kind of "ah-ha" moment.

"Why would you smile like that? Oh my god, did you do this?! Did you drug me?!"

"No. Of course not. I would never do anything to harm you in any way. Ever," he says frantically. "Hey, look at me. I promise we'll find out what's going on, and you'll be okay."

I try to nod, but the fire returns with vengeance. Before I can stop it, a wail escapes me, and Roman has me scooped up into his arms, and he's jogging away from the school.

He wouldn't drug me, right? But is he kidnapping me now? "Please make it stop." I cry through the pain.

He nuzzles the top of my head with his nose, yes, nuzzles, as he whispers kind words that everything will be okay. I look over to Benny and he looks torn between worry and excitement. These men are so weird. I feel like my body is on fire, I might have been drugged, but for some totally crazy reason, I trust them to take care of me.

"We're going to take you home with us and have our hea-doctor come check on you, Leera. Is that okay? You don't have to do anything you don't want to do, but I want to take care of you."

All I can do is nod when he looks at me like that as we approach a giant black SUV. Benny runs ahead of us and opens the door. I expect Roman to set me down in the seat, but instead, he ducks my head and scoots into the seat, still cradling my little body in his so that I'm sitting in his lap and resting my head on his chest.

I wish I wasn't in so much pain so I could enjoy this moment.

Benny slams the door, runs all the way around, and jumps into the driver's seat. He throws the car in gear, and before I have time to think, we're flying down the road.

My body continues to alternate between feeling like I was thrown into a burning building, being electrocuted, and dropped in the arctic tundra. Whatever's happening can't be good. I sound like an idiot whimpering and wailing in this god of a man's arms, but my body is out of my control at this point.

We pull up to what has to be the largest townhouse in the area, built on top of a personal parking garage. Roman doesn't wait for Benny to open the door for us. Instead, he flies out of the SUV before it's even been put in park. He enters a number on the pin pad of the elevator, and we're quickly ascending.

We're met by the rest of the starting Predators' line-up. I wasn't exactly expecting an audience for the weirdest, most painful moment of my life.

"Doc is ten minutes away," one of the twins says with an ornery look on his face.

The scary-looking one that's the goalie shoves him out of the way and says, "I got a room ready for her."

Roman rushes down the hallway, never taking his eyes off mine.

He enters one of the rooms and tries to gently lay me on the bed, but I find myself latching onto him. "Please don't leave me," I whimper, knotting my hands in his shirt.

"I wasn't going to leave you, Little Miracle; I was going to sit right next to you, but if this is what you want, then this is what you get," he says with a small smile.

He's called me that twice now. Why am I a miracle?

I'm not able to think any more about it when a sweet little old lady comes in. "Hi dearie, I'm Matilda, you can call me Tilly if you like. The healer is coming in now, but you just holler if you need anything," she says as she scurries away.

"Healer?" I question. I would say more if I could, but my body isn't exactly listening to my instructions at the moment. Roman just grunts in response as another older woman comes in; this one isn't as cute as Miss Tilly, though.

"Well, hello there . . ." the woman says with a raised eyebrow as she looks at Roman. "Jeanine, this is Leera," he says as they just stare at each other for a moment.

"Well, let's see what we can do about the strange feelings you're having," the woman, Jeanine, says. "Roman, can you set her down so I can take a look at her?"

"Only if she wants to," he turns his eyes on me, "is that okay? I promise, I'll be right here. She's here to help."

I whimper and nod. He so carefully lowers me onto the softest bed I've ever laid on. Another thing I wish I could enjoy right now. The doctor begins feeling my body in different places before breaking out her stethoscope.

Her evaluation seems to take forever, but no one speaks. The only sounds in the rooms are my grunts and whimpers, and I think Roman might have growled. I don't even know anymore. My body has also calmed a bit since I laid down. I still don't feel great, but I don't feel like I'm burning alive.

"Well, honey, it looks like you're going to be just fine," she says, like everything is right as rain.

"Excuse me? H-how is this fine? What was that?" I screech, not even being able to enjoy that I'm feeling a little better every minute because this lady is obviously crazy.

Roman and Jeanine seem to share a silent conversation as she turns and leaves the room.

"Where is she going?!" I begin to panic again before he closes the door. "Wh-what are you doing?"

"Leera, we need to talk, and it's going to sound crazy, but I beg you to just hear me out," he says hesitantly, retaking his seat next to the bed and gathering my hands in his again as he continues to talk, "Has anything happened to you recently? Something out of the ordinary? Where did you grow up? How much family do you have?"

Not sure what else to do, I give him my entire life story, up until he knocked on my door.

He just stares at me for a minute and says, "Uh. Okay. We'll figure the rest out later, but there's no easy way for me to tell you this, and you're probably not going to believe me," he says calmly.

"Umm, okay, whatever it is, please just tell me."

"It looks like you might not be human," he says low and even.

I laugh so hard that I choke on my spit, which causes my whole body to hurt again. When I've finally finished coughing, he's just looking at me. "Wait, you think you're serious?" I ask with a nervous laugh.

His only response is a clipped nod.

"You say that like not being a human is even an option?!" I ask as the door opens and his teammates re-enter the room.

The last man to walk in the room is named Andrei, I think. Our eyes meet, his eyes go wide, and there's some kind of weird energy between us. It's not like the feelings I get with Roman, but there's some there.

Is this really happening? Could I be more than just an awkward orphan girl?

I'm lost in my thoughts when I hear Benny's voice say, "Hey Leera, I know this is a lot, but we're all here for you. We'll always be here for you from now on. Roman has some crazy stuff to tell you, and we hope you'll keep an open mind and trust us." He's so calm and kind that I just nod.

"I feel a little weird, but for some reason I do trust you. All of you. This is so weird. I know I shouldn't; I really do," I say as I make eye contact with each of them. "All logic and stranger danger are pretty well out the window at this point . . . so okay . . . I'm listening," I finish quietly.

The smile that lights up Roman's face is worth it; no matter how weird this is, it makes me smile a little too.

"Okay, how would you like us to discuss this? With all of us, or just me?" Roman asks.

"I think I'm okay with all of you unless anyone has other things to do; I don't want to keep anyone from their own stuff just because of me."

"Nah, we're good right here," the twins say at the same time. They look much too excited about all of this.

"Okayyy . . . can you please just tell me what's going on?" I ask looking around the room before my eyes lock onto Roman's.

The air gets a little thick with tension as I can see him physically working himself up to whatever it is he needs to tell me.

"Okay, I think it's easiest to start with giving you the knowledge that almost all creatures you've read about in books, or seen in movies, are real."

I wait for the punch line, but it never comes. They're all still super serious. Not one smile was cracked. Maybe this really is just some crazy realistic dream, but I promised to listen, so whatever.

"Ha, I'll just have to take your word for that one."

Roman just nods before he continues, "For example, pretty much all professional athletes in the world aren't entirely human."

My eyes widen in realization of what he's just said and when I look around the room this time, it's a little more hesitant, and I lose my grasp on the nervous laugh I was trying to hold in. The twins are smiling even wider than usual, so instead of speaking I just nod.

"Hockey is primarily played by werewolves and other men with werewolf blood."

My eyes somehow widen even further. I'm either sitting in a room full of crazy people, or a room full of werewolves. You've definitely lost your mind, Leera.

A small laugh escapes me, and I offer another small nod for him to continue, I mean what the hell am I supposed to say to that?

"A lot of the folklore is based on the truth. How much do you know about werewolves?"

"Um, I mean, silver bullets; you shift under a full moon; alphas are the boss. Oh! I love Twilight. I was always Team Jacob." I nearly facepalm myself the second I say that. That sounded way less stupid in my head.

They all sigh, grumble, and scoff at once. Roman is rubbing his forehead, the twins are snickering, and Slate looks disgusted, causing a nervous giggle to escape me.

"The silver is true. It's one of the very few things that can kill us. The full moon is only partially true, our first transformation is under a full moon. The werewolf hierarchy is true, I am the Alpha of our pack, but like that horrid movie," he continues as though it pains him to agree with it, so I press my lips together to keep from smiling.

He chuckles at whatever my expression reveals, and I can feel the sound throughout my entire body. That was weird, but also felt amazing. . .

"Anyways, we can change into our wolf form any time we want. We don't imprint ," he says the word with contempt, and I lose the war with holding in a less nervous giggle. "We have something far more important. Most supernatural creatures do. For us, the Moon Goddess bestows every wolf a fated mate. It's the other half of our soul. The person you can't live without. Most wolves are mated to other wolves, but a mate can be any other living soul," he says this with a sadness, longing and vulnerability I don't understand.

"I was given my mate a long time ago," he begins, and just when I think he won't say more, he continues, "She was . . . taken from me, but that's a story for another day. I was always taught that you are only given one mate." He slowly lifts his head to stare straight at me, "Until I met you."

Again, all the air is pulled from the room and my hand instinctively rests on my heart as I stare at this man, trying to absorb what he's telling me.

"Leera, that day at the arena, when we were supposed to do the first interview . . . the reason I reacted that way, was from shock. I thought someone had spelled or cursed me. That feeling you felt, or at least some of why you feel this way, is our mate bond. Our souls are woven together. We were made to live our lives together," he must misunderstand my small gasp as fear when he lifts his hands in surrender and quickly adds, "that doesn't mean you have to have anything to do with me. You can reject the bond, though painful, and you don't ever have to see me again," he quickly adds. Even the thought of rejecting him feels like a fracture to the very core of my being, though I still cannot speak, I'm waiting for him to finish.

"I had never heard of anyone getting a second chance with their mate, but after speaking with our elders, it is possible, just very rare. I was in shock, and I can admit I was terrified, especially with you being a human. But after tonight, I don't know how it's possible, but the healer was able to sense a wolf within you. I don't know how you've lived your whole life without knowing about her."

"Her?" I ask before the thought was even able to cross my mind.

"Mmhmm," he nods, "Your wolf. Your wolf will be a female, like ours are males."

"Oh, right, that makes sense," I reply a little embarrassed at my lack of common sense.

"None of that. You never have to be embarrassed around any of us. We'll answer all your questions and support you in any way you need."

All the men nod, seemingly happy I haven't bolted from the room yet. Andrei comes back and seems to have pulled himself together but the strange look he gives me tells me something is still bothering him. Miss Tilly is right on his heels with a tray of snacks and teacups.

"I wasn't sure what you liked, so I brought a little bit of everything. You'll need to keep your energy up," she says sweetly as she slaps Benny's hand away from my smorgasbord of snacks making me smile.

"Thank you, so much. This looks amazing," I say, taking in all the treats when Roman reclaims my attention.

"What questions do you have? For me. For us. Ask anything you want."

Swallowing my snack and washing it down with a yummy citrusy tea, I nod.

"Um, okay so . . . I'm your soulmate, er mate?"

Nod.

"Our souls were made for each other?"

Nod.

"I'm not a human?"

Shake.

"I have a . . . I'm a werewolf?"

Nod.

"How?"

"We'll have to figure that out together, but rest assured we will."

"So that growling feeling? Why did I feel like I was dying?" I ask cautiously.

"Your wolf seems to have been locked inside of you for a very long time. She wants to come out. Our first shift is unfortunately unpleasant, and usually on a full moon as I mentioned before. Some have their first shift as early as four years old, and the latest I've seen was thirteen. The later that first shift is, the more uncomfortable it is. Because she's been trapped for so long, she tried to force the shift unnaturally. She's also probably overwhelmed between wanting to be released and my presence," he explains.

I just continue to nod and nibble on my snacks, sharing them with Benny and the twins. If everything wasn't weird enough, can you picture the most gorgeous men you've ever seen, who are also werewolves, sipping out of teacups and having snacks? I'm literally having a tea party with a bunch of hockey playing werewolves, until a thought crosses my mind, "So um, I don't want to mess with my wolf right now, that hurt really bad but um . . ." I trail off.

"He meant it darlin', ask us anything," Benny presses.

Looking only at Roman, I gather my courage to ask, "Can I-can I see your wolf? For two reasons really. One, I need some confirmation that this is happening, even if it's a dream. Two, if this is really happening, I really want to see him."

The way Roman's face lights up, tells me everything I need to know before he springs from his chair, "Okay, but let's go up to the roof, do you feel up to it? This is a small room and might be a little cramped for my wolf."

Full of excitement, even if this is crazy, I hop out of bed a little too quickly on my wobbly legs. Roman notices and scoops me up into a cradle again. Lightning shoots through my skin everywhere we touch, which is currently pretty much everywhere. If it's really always like this, I may never want to walk on my own again.

"I got you little one," he says as he nuzzles the top of my head before dropping a tiny kiss to my forehead. I melt even further into his arms when I realize that the nuzzling makes a lot more sense now. This is crazy. But . . .I kind of love it. I hope I'm not dreaming after all.

Roman and I finally burst through the door to their rooftop oasis, and he gently sets me down. I was expecting your everyday drab and dark rooftop, but I guess I should remember to expect more from these men. There's a large fire pit surrounded by comfy-looking outdoor couches in the far corner. There's a small greenhouse to my left that looks to be full of all kinds of plant life. And in the corner opposite the fire pit is a giant hot tub.

While I've been taking in my surroundings, Roman has moved to the center of the roof and peeled off his shirt.

My eyes take in all of the man before me and for whatever reason, it all makes perfect sense. I knew a man like this couldn't possibly be human. He looks like a god standing before me with the stars twinkling above us. He smirks like he can read my thoughts, and I'm just thankful not to be drooling. He lets me finish looking over the ridges of all his muscles before he breaks the spell I was under.

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" he asks with that perfectly gravelly voice.

Another small nod, returned by one of his own.

In barely a moment, his body stretches, elongates, snaps, crunches, sprouts fur, and grows to an unexpected size. The size is another thing Twilight got surprisingly correct; I wonder if a real werewolf was part of the movie production. Or maybe they used real werewolves even, and made up the CGI stuff?

The large cream-colored wolf before me is the most beautiful creature I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot. I've been all over the world looking at the most amazing creatures on the entire planet, and none of them even come close. His mismatched, green and blue eyes stand out even more brightly against his fluffy cream fur.

He approaches me slowly, with his head lowered a bit, since my body doesn't seem to want to move. I keep telling myself this isn't happening. There's just no way this is happening, right?! But I can see it with my own eyes. I can feel it in my soul.

As soon as he's within reach, I regain control of my body, and lift my hand to his snout that sits right at eye level with me. His whole body melts under my touch. The tingling feeling of us touching still happening while he's a freaking wolf. His fur is nothing like I expected. I expected thick, coarse hair, more similar to a wild wolf. I have never been happier to be wrong. It's soft and fluffy and warm as I run my hand up and along the top of his head and in between his ears. Bringing my other arm around, I hug him, and it feels like everything in the world is just right.

Mate, a voice in my mind says, startling me backwards, causing a small whine to escape the magnificent creature in front of me. He nudges my hand with his nose, seeming to ask for an explanation.

"Uh, there was a voice in my mind . . . it . . .er she . . . said mate."

While I feel like a crazy person, Roman is excited enough his tail is wagging, and his front paws are doing that tappy-dance that dogs do when they're happy. This causes a chain reaction of giggles from me, nuzzles from him, and then more giggles.

We're interrupted by the door swinging open and an irritated Benny coming through and staring directly at Roman, having another silent conversation. Don't legends say they can speak to each other telepathically? I'll have to ask about that.

Benny comes forward with a pair of pants and Roman snatches them from him before I've fully processed that he's human again. Holy shit. I think I just saw his dick. I can feel my cheeks turning red, so I turn around as quickly as I can while he dresses. Liquid fire is spreading throughout my body. Is this a werewolf thing or a really turned-on thing?

"Leera, do you trust me?" he asks, his voice suddenly very serious and . . . worried? Just like that, it feels like someone dumped a bucket of ice water over my head.

I nod, but my worry must be all over my face when he sighs.

"Someone is here and I'm begging you to ignore her, and anything that comes out of her mouth."

My eyes narrow and I can only nod again but the worry has settled in the bottom of my stomach. It doesn't help that Benny won't even look at me.