Chapter Fourteen

“Ness.” Doc looked up at him in surprise. “Honestly, are you psychic or something? I was genuinely just about to call you. Come in, you and your new friend.”

By mutual agreement, Ness and Cyrus decided Doc’s office had to be the first place they visited once the plane touched down in Arrowtown later that day. Lunch had been a sexually charged affair with innuendo dripping like sauce in everything said. It seemed the Vine brothers’ comments as they were escorted from Cyrus’s casino had triggered something primal in the shark who had a strong need to “Claim” his mate with a capital C.

Orgasms grabbed in the back of the plane – Ness was just thankful he had a separate bedroom, otherwise the staff would’ve had a free show – hadn’t done enough, and Ness didn’t even bother stopping by his house, but drove them straight into town. Evening was falling over the shifter town, but Ness knew Doc would be available.

“My new friend is Cyrus Marinus, he’s my mate, Blade’s father, and Ethan’s grandfather as luck would have it.” Ness led Cyrus into Doc’s office, making sure to close the door. “Have a seat, Cy. Doc, what were you getting in touch with me for? Did something weird show up in my blood work?”

“Nothing more than I expected – a surge of hormones which we’d already discussed, but no.” Doc perched himself on his stool. “I wanted to ask a favor and borrow your plane for a day or so. I know it’s a big ask…”

“You can use it,” Ness broke in quickly. “Cyrus and I had planned to be here for at least the weekend and possibly longer, so whatever you need. Did you and Joe have to take a trip?”

“Not us.” Doc sighed. “I’m sure I’m not speaking out of turn if I mention Rocky has been having some issues lately.”

“Rocky’s the sheriff here,” Ness explained to Cyrus. “A wolf shifter with a love of sweet things.”

“Yes, well that love of sweet things has escalated into a full scale obsession. Cam caught him breaking into Fergus’s bakery the other night, well after it was closed. I don’t need to tell you if this news becomes public then Rocky will be out of a job. Mal was in tears. He and Cam had to bodily drag Rocky in here, and he was kicking and fighting the whole way. I had to sedate him. All Rocky could go on about was a display cake Fergus had left on his counter.”

“That’s not natural behavior for any wolf shifter,” Cyrus observed quietly.

“Exactly.” Doc nodded. “The only thing I can think of is that something’s interfering or skewing Rocky’s natural wolf instincts somehow. Unfortunately the only two magic users we have in town, Seth and Kee, they can’t pick up anything unusual about Rocky, but then neither of them have known Rocky for that long, compared to Mal or Ra for example. Mal swears there’s nothing about Rocky’s recent behavior that’s normal, and Ra agrees, but no one can think why he’s behaving the way he is now. They all agree that he’s getting worse, and I have to agree.”

“How is having access to my plane going to help? Did you need my pilot to go and pick up a specialist of some kind?” Ness asked. He knew and liked Rocky and Mal. When they turned up in Arrowtown, along with Ra, Simon, Liam, and Lucian, a few years before, the whole town benefited from it.

Ra was now the town mayor – elected with an almost one hundred percent majority. The same applied to Rocky who was voted in as sheriff. Simon had become the town’s legal expert and Liam and Lucian were both mated and settled in town as well, with Liam working as a deputy sheriff, and Lucian owning a bookshop in town.

“I’ve reached out to one of my colleagues in New York,” Doc explained. “He specializes in magical curses on shifters.”

“You think this wolf of yours is cursed?” Cyrus sounded intrigued. “I have heard of such things happening in the old country, but it’s very rare.”

“Rare enough for me to think that’s what happened in this case,” Doc nodded. “So if it was possible for Rocky and Mal to use your plane? Rocky will have to be sedated, but even then there’s no way I can guarantee the safety of any passengers on a regular flight if some kid is eating a bag of candy or something. Simon and Darwin will go as back up, and Seth’s offered to keep an eye on Simon and Darwin’s twins in the meantime.”

“Of course, Doc, whatever they need.” Ness nodded. “I’ll contact my pilot now.”

“I have an apartment in New York that’s currently vacant,” Cyrus offered. “It comes with a car and a driver if that’ll be of any assistance.”

“Being a gangster’s certainly paid off for you, Cyrus?” But Doc was grinning. “Yes, I’ve heard about you, but we don’t judge here. It’s how you treat the people that counts in this town, not what you might do outside this town’s borders. And that would be appreciated, thank you.”

“Let me send off a few texts and thanks for letting me know.” Cyrus winked at Doc as he pulled out his phone. In a remarkably short time, Simon, Darwin, and Mal were on their way with an unconscious Rocky to the airport.

“Honestly, you’ve been a godsend, Ness, and you, too, Cyrus.” Doc slumped his back against the wall. “Fingers crossed the issue with Rocky and Mal will be resolved, and life can go back to normal. But now that’s all done, what are you doing here, Ness? I was sure that after our last conversation, meeting your mate would solve the problems you’d been having.”

“It has…to a point.” Ness looked at Cyrus who just smirked at him. “Somehow we managed to claim each other without having penetrative sex, which I didn’t think could happen and wasn’t strictly intentional, but it just happened.”

“It doesn’t happen like that as a rule.” Doc peered at Ness. “Can you show me your mating scar?”

Ness pulled back the collar of his t-shirt and Doc’s eyes widened before he nodded, and Ness let his collar go. “Have you got one, too, Cyrus?”

Cyrus’s movements were almost lazy and definitely sensuous. Ness felt his blood heat as his mate showed off his mating scar.

“You’re definitely claimed, then. I’d say that’s because of you, Ness. Yet another wonderful anomaly of your species. I do wish we knew more about your kind. But all right. You haven’t had penetrative sex and that’s because…?”

“We didn’t want to get pregnant. Neither one of us is furry. I know you’d probably suggest condoms and we did think about that, but there’s something going on inside of me, and… You’re going to think I’m totally loopy.” Ness sighed.

“Don’t go saying that about yourself,” Cyrus said, sitting up and reaching for Ness’s hand. “The thing is, Doc, I can understand my need to fuck my mate until he can’t stand. Perfectly normal. But we’re both businessmen, we both travel extensively, and we both agreed that we weren’t ready to think about having children yet. We’ve only been together a few days.

“What my Ness is trying to explain is that we’re concerned that simply using condoms still won’t be enough for him. He’s starting to physically ache, even directly after orgasm. My shark’s of the opinion that Ness’s beastie, who is the most beautiful creature in existence, is preparing to breed. In which case, how effective are condoms going to be?”

“If your animal sides are already decided, then it’s unlikely a condom is going to work at all.” Doc thought for a moment, swiveling himself from side to side on his stool. “An animal’s instinct, above all others, is about survival of the species and your species, Ness, is well below the scientific extinction level. Would it be so bad if you did have a child?”

“I don’t mind other people’s kids. I’ve really not considered having one of my own, but I’m not against the idea. There’s so much to consider.” Ness could feel himself slowly unraveling. “If I got pregnant, what would our little one shift into? I’m a freshwater shifter and Cyrus is a salt water. We can’t even swim together in the same water in our shifted forms. What happens if we put our little one in the water and it’s the wrong type? Would they die, get sick? What would happen?

“And then…and then…how long would I even be pregnant for? You can bet, if I ask anyone in my family how long they were pregnant for… I can’t even remember the last time any one of them had a baby it was so long ago. Sharks are pregnant for a year – for all I know, I could be pregnant for ten years or ten days. No one knows. No one in my lot will ever say anything and our whole species could end up dying out simply because people like my mother can’t be bothered to have one uncomfortable conversation. It’s ridiculous, I tell you. The whole situation is ridiculous. All I want is to have regular sex with my mate the way any other shifter does with their mate, and I…I…”

“Breathe, mate. Just breathe.” Cyrus was standing in front of him, holding Ness’s head in both hands. His dark eyes looked almost black, and Ness could feel the shark’s concern. “Breathe with me, slowly in…slowly out…that’s it. One more time. Slowly in…slowly out… It’ll be all right, darlin’. No matter what happens it will be all right.”

“How can it be all right when what I feel about you is like Rocky feels about sweets? I feel so bad at suggesting for a second you don’t satisfy me, because you do in every way, and yet my beastie is getting pushier and pushier. The ache in me is growing more each day, and I don’t know what to do. A lot of this stuff wouldn’t feel so scary if I just had more details. I need more details, more facts, more…”

“Right now you need to breathe.”

Ness did his best to relax, letting his animal side come forward enough to tune into their bond, far more effectively than Ness himself had been able to do.

So when Doc asked quietly, “What are you feeling right now, Ness?”

“Disconnected.” The word just fell out of Ness’s mouth. “I’m so sorry,” he added because Cyrus didn’t deserve to hear that from him. “This can’t all be just because you’ve not stuck your dick up my ass. Doc, please. What’s wrong with me?”