Page 82 of Wild Fires

He just dropped the mate-bomb in front of an entire gymnasium full of accelerated hearing shifters. I could already hear the whispers beginning.

“Your mate?”

“I did not stutter,” he said with a fierceness of authority I'd never experienced from him before.

Dean Davenport came running to our side.

“Um, perhaps we should take this to another room. You're causing a scene, Ryan.”

“I don't give a shit as long as Gracie survives this.”

Well shit. Any speculation on who he was talking about was clearly just confirmed.

I pecked at his chest trying to get him to shut the hell up.

Dean laughed. “I think she agrees with me.”

But Ryan just carefully stroked my feathered head.

“Come on. I have a few examination rooms for privacy down the hall. I'm afraid the power has gone out here and throughout much of the town, but we brought in a few candles to help light the way.”

I squawked. What were they thinking? Was he trying to burn the high school down too?

“Relax, Gracie. We're taking extra precautions.”

He was too. The candle in question sat in an oversized pickle jar. Unless it was knocked over and the candle popped out of the top or the glass shattered, they were as safe as possible.

The glass was so large that I was fairly certain I could fit into it in this form. An idea started to formulate, but first I had to get away from Ryan, and he wasn't going to make that easy.

I tried to make a sound and it came out wheezier than I expected. My lungs burned. I shivered.

“Do something!” he demanded.

“Well, let the poor girl go so I can take a listen.”

Reluctantly, he eased up on me and when he did, I used it to my advantage and flew right into the pickle jar. My wings were heavy, and it wasn't easy, but if I could just catch fire, everything would be okay.

Doc lunged for me as Ryan cursed and tried to get me out, but the candle was just enough to light the tips of my wings.

I knew he was going to be pissed.

I didn't want to look at him and see that disappointment.

But as the flame lit up around me, I dared a look. What I saw there was fear, not anger.

When this was over, Ryan and I were going to have to sit down and have a long talk about things.

Gia had encouraged me to pursue him, and while I wanted to, I was also worried that things weren't going to go all that well. But his actions today had given me hope. I just needed to make him see that this was a part of me. It wasn’t scary or something to be feared. This was just me being as real and vulnerable as I possibly could.

The flash of light was brilliant, and soon everything was in peaceful darkness where nothing seemed to exist. It didn't seem to last as long as usual before Ryan’s voice pierced through it.

“Gracie. Please, come back to me. I'm sorry.”

A spot of light appeared and grew quickly as I was reborn again. I already felt stronger and could breathe easier. I knew I’d been right to resurrect again. It made me whole, just as I knew it would.

I flew out of the jar and over to my mate to perch on his shoulder.

“I've heard of our little phoenix, but I'll confess, I've never seen anything like it before. She already looks better. Let me see her and take a listen now.”