Page 19 of Eat. Prey. Love.
That’s when fangs flash and something like an explosion of heat hits me like a ton of bricks. Pain flares, and growls echo off thewalls of the little alcove, then sparkles fill my eyes and my limbs start to go limp.
Uh-oh.
Bad Mamajama
The light is fuckingbright when I open my eyes. It takes me a minute to realize I’m fully shifted and curled around a body, and I growl in frustration. Lifting a big paw, I rub it over my face in irritation and suddenly, everything comes back.
Holy fuck…we mated.
I look down, blinking big yellow eyes as I note my beloved bunny isnota tiny little rabbit as I would have expected from the full mating shift. She’s tucked in a small ball, but Dolly is covered in the soft white fur of her bunny in a humanoid form.It’s almost like she’s only half-shifted, but from the big feet, cottontail, long ears and tiny pink nose… I know that’s not true.
Since I’m not one of the three kings, I can’t speak when I like this, so I push through the tiger until I’m a naked dude again. My hand reaches out to stroke her angora fur, chuckling when it comes back coated with some sort of sparkle. “What the actualhell, Baby Girl? What are you and how do we keep you safe?”
Her soft groan gets my attention and my eyes slide up to her face, trying not to preen at the fang marks gracing her neck. They’ll heal slightly… enough to leave perfectly shaped scars to tell everyone who she belongs to. I watch as she stretches her limbs, slowly figuring out that she’s not shaped like her normal self. Red eyes pop open to look at me with a shocked expression and I shrug.
“Fitz, what the fuck did we do?” I arch a brow at her and her bunny nose scrunches up even more adorably than her normal nose, delighting me. She huffs, rolling her eyes to the sky then back at me. “Imeantwhy am I not a tiny flop-eared bunny in full shift instead of… this?”
“Hell if I know, Baby Girl.” I think back for a second, furrowing my brow as it occurs to me this might have been predictable. “You know, Felix said you never fully shifted once in class the first year. He thought it was because you were afraid to become a small bunny that gave them a target. You always fight in the Games half-shifted. Have you ever done the full monte besides the one time after the prom?”
She frowns, her fangs chewing on her lower lip as she thinks. My dick perks up, liking her cute faces and sharp teeth. In fact, Captain One-Eye pretty much loves her and Chessie no matter how their bodies are shaped at any given moment, so I’m not surprised. A light smack on my chest brings me out of my head and I look at her. “What?”
“Did you just call your dick Captain One-Eye?” She’s trying not to laugh, but I shrug. I have zero shame when it comes to my equipment. “Wait… how did I hear that?”
My face lights up in excitement as it comes to me. “Holy shit! We’ve got the ‘ooh-wee-ooh’ spooky shit going on. You canhearmy thoughts like I can Felix if I want or the Flying Fruitcakes can! I thought it was only you could talk tous.”
Dolly’s eyes widen and she scrunches her face again as if concentrating hard. Suddenly, there’s a loud shout of ‘hello’ in my brain and I burst out laughing. My new mate gives me a look that could gut a trout, but I can’t stop snickering at her overcompensation.
“Baby Girl, you don’t have to clench and shout. You can… just think in a normal voice. At least, I do with Felix,” I finally manage to say when the laughter fades.
‘Don’t make fun of me,” she pouts. “I don’t know how the hell this shit works. Not that it’s surprising, because I don’t know howanythingabout me works or where it came from. I’m a fucking mystery even to other shifters and mythicals.”
I snort, pulling her into my arms and breathing in the scent of her hair. “Who cares? I mean, I know you want to know and that’s cool. But honestly none of us would care if you were descended from a damn Swamp Monster. I’d learn to love being slimy.”
Her expression softens and the bunny attributes melt from her face and body until she’s normal naked Dolly again. “People donotgive you enough credit, Fitz Khan.”
Laughing, I wink at her. “Why would I need credit? I’m an heir to the throne of Death Island. I’m set for life.”
“Ex-heir, to be fair,” she teases. “Just like I’m theex-heir to the Drew shit.”
Only if her dickhead mother and father did all the complex paperwork after she emerged and only if they made sure to have her sign it. Since she was an adult, they would have needed thatand now that she brings it up, if they didn’t, there’s a new layer of danger added to her plate. Her mother killing off the idiot croc means everything frombothsides of her family and her parents assets could pass to her.
That’s absolutely fucking terrible news and I refuse to mention it until I talk to Smarty Salamander.
“We should probably go inside and clean up.” I smile down at her, kissing her lips softly before I continue. “We have to share the news, plus getting all the grass off our asses before your friends arrive might be a good plan.”
Her eyes widen as she looks around. “Damnit, Fitz! We’re also in the middle of the damn courtyard and anyone on Earth could see.”
I shrug, but her face turns bright red. “Don’t worry. If I find out someone saw us, I’ll pluck their eyes out and make you new jars.”
“Ooh. I haven’t gotten any surprise gifts from you in a while,” she says as she stands up. Her hand comes out and she tugs me to my feet with a surprising ease.
“People keep dying before I can enact my vengeance.” My grumble makes her giggle. “It's not satisfying when they’re dead.”
“You are a crazy bastard, Fitz… but you’remycrazy bastard,” Dolly says as she steps close to me and looks into my eyes. “I love every single bit of it… and you.”
This might just be thebestmotherfucking dayever,and I didn’t even have to kill someone.
Every eyein the room is on us as we walk in—probably because I’m starkers and thanks to her necklace, Baby Girl is clothed again.