Free Changing Hearts by Marilu Mann Page B

It came almost as a relief to talk about what had happened. For whatever reason, these women made him feel safe. He paused. Safe? When was the last time he’d had that particular feeling?
    “They’ll hunt you down?” Joie turned to face him now, the pan and eggs forgotten for the moment. “That’s barbaric.”
    “That’s Pack justice, baby. We’re not like you.” Slade didn’t keep the heat from his voice. She needed to get that particular thought through her pretty head. The Pack would come and if he didn’t get out of there… Joie finished the thought for him.
    “Have you put us in danger?” She stood there with her hands on her hips, the morning sun causing her hair to glow and her eyes catching fire, actually standing up to him! Slade couldn’t believe she had the guts.
    “No. They’d never think to look for me among humans. Even if they do find me, they won’t hurt you. And I’ll do what I can to protect you.”
    Whoa! Where the hell did that come from? Slade couldn’t believe he’d just offered to protect two human females. He ran a hand through his hair, watching as Joie tracked the movement. Damn me, I still want her.
    “You do what you need to do, boy. You’ll stay here until it’s not safe for you to stay.” Kay thumped her coffee cup on the table. “You gonna fix them eggs, cher ?”
    Joie shook herself slightly then turned to the stove. Slade stood perfectly still for a long moment, just watching the two women, then moved slowly into the kitchen. Sitting down across from the old woman, he picked up the coffee cup.
    He stared into the dark liquid as if seeking answers. This couldn’t be happening. They couldn’t just be accepting what he was, what he told them. When nothing else came of his soul-searching he stood up, setting the cup down hard and pushing abruptly away from the table. Slade left the kitchen and stalked to the end of the porch.
    Pacing aimlessly, feeling more like a caged wolf than ever, he heard the two women talking, smelled the food as they prepared it and heard them sit down to eat.
    He didn’t move back toward the kitchen, just sat down with his back against the roof support and stared out at the bayou. He couldn’t go back in there yet, couldn’t believe they weren’t going to chase him out, shoot him, something.
    Fish jumped just beyond the banks and he heard a turtle plopping off a log into the water. They knew the truth about him and they’d both simply accepted it as a fact. That had not been his experience with other humans. What makes them so fucking special?
    He heard the door open, smelled Joie before she reached him. Slade looked up as she approached. She held a plate in one hand and a glass in the other. She stopped in front of him then held the plate out to him.
    Slade took it without speaking. Eggs, sausage, biscuits. He ate like a starving man, finishing the entire plateful of food in a matter of minutes. Joie didn’t speak either, simply sank into the swing and watched him. He saw her from the corner of his eye. He could see the way she stared at his tattoos, felt her eyes trace a path over his shoulders and arms.
    Slade put his plate on the porch next to him then met her eyes. Joie looked away for a moment then took a deep breath.
    “What’s it like?”
    “What?”
    “Being able to become something else? It must be amazing.”
    “I don’t know. It’s just what it is, what I am.” He couldn’t look at her. Her voice held too much compassion, too much curiosity.
    “When did you first find out that you could become something else?”
    “Two days after my fourteenth birthday.”
    “What happened?” She set the swing moving with a glide of her bare foot. Slade stared at her foot for a moment, studying the fine bones, the pale skin, then spoke tonelessly.
    “My uncle was beating the shit out of me, as usual, and I shifted. I nearly tore his arm off before my aunt threw a pot of water on me.”
    Joie sucked in a sharp breath and he heard