MATT
Oh shit.That teen shifter changed into a bear so fast I wasn’t sure anyone had seen it happen. Certainly not the security guards. at least not yet anyway. There was no way I was about to just sit back and let things unfold, that wasn’t me. I leapt up from my seat and crossed the hall to position myself between the teen bear and everyone else. His shifts and temperament as puberty raced through him were going to be out of control. This was a very delicate situation.
“Hey, it’s okay,” I said calmly to the boy, but loud enough to be heard over the panicked din surrounding us. “It’s fine, we don’t need to do this here.”
The bear turned his head, darting his gaze over to the beautiful woman I’d been smiling at only seconds before all of this happened, letting me know without words that he was trying to protect someone he loved. His mother, I imagined. As he turned, I noticed human skin peeking through. Not fully shifting was common in puberty. I also knew that while he could understand me, it was better for me to partly shift so he could sense my intentions. He needed to know that I was there for him, on his side, and that the last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. So while everyone else backed away, I stepped closer to the boy. I gave in to my instincts, I became part bear.
Don’t worry, I reassured the boy with my energy.Don’t get all caught up in your feelings. The best thing to do right now is shift back.
There was so much terror in this young boy, it broke my heart. It was terrifying when shifting wasn’t something that could be controlled. All of us had that. I wouldn’t know how I would have survived it without my father showing me the way. I didn’t know this boy’s situation, but I could sense that he hadn’t had any real guidance. My heart bled for the poor boy. I knew I would do anything I could for him.
Slowly but surely, he let his walls down for me, let his vulnerability shine free. He stepped closer to me while shifting back into his human form. Thank goodness. I could almost sense the collective sigh of relief flowing through the arena. But no one was more relieved than the young boy as he fell into my arms. I held him close to me, reassuring him over and over again that everything was fine.
“Is he going to be okay?” My ears pricked up at the whisper that burst through the crowd. There was so much love in those words, I knew they had to come from his mother. The woman on the floor.
I glanced up and met her eyes. Her stunning, inviting, hazel eyes. “He will be. What’s his name?”
“Sol,” she replied. “This is his first shift like this.”
“Okay, no worries. I think we should maybe try to move away from the crowd a bit. I’m Matt, by the way.” I pointed back toward the Capricorn banner to silently let her know I was one of the participants. Even though she already knew that. I felt a bit off kilter around this woman and I didn’t know why.
“I’m Maeve.” She was still clearly very shaken up, and everyone staring and whispering around us wasn’t helping things. Seeing Sol trembling in my arms wasn’t helping either. “I didn’t expect that.”
“What happened?” I asked. “Did something spark the shift, or did it just happen?”
“Oh, something sparked it alright.” Maeve’s eyes flashed.
I could get all the details later, no need to inflame the situation more. I pushed Sol to arm’s length and stared at him, studying all of his features to check that he was okay. He wasn’t, but he was getting there. I could help him.
“Sol, don’t you worry. It gets easier, okay? You will learn to control it and use it to your advantage. We haveallbeen where you are now. I promise you.”
I shot him a stellar smile, and got a bit of a weak one in return. It was a start, and I would take it. At least he wasn’t on the edge anymore, starting to come back to me a bit.
“Hey, Matt, how’s the kid?”
I twisted around to see a couple of other competitors bursting through the crowd and walking toward us. TJ, the pilot from the Cancer Clan who was only without his flashy suit and aviators when he was competing, and Kai, the cowboy from the Scorpio Clan. This was one of the things that I loved about the Astro Games—it brought people together. Yes, there was a competition, but friendships could form between the clans. Friendships that didn’t necessarily make any sense and might not have formed otherwise. I wasn’t supposed to be here at the Astro Games—I came third place in the Capricorn rankings—but the second place player got sick. I was kind of a wild card. I didn’t care about winning, but I did care about this sort of stuff. It was awesome.
“He’s good.” I shot them both a smile. “Doing much better now.”
That didn’t stop them from coming over and sitting with Sol. I thought about trying to move everyone away from the crowds to stop anything else from happening, but it seemed like whatever was going on had deescalated, so I guess I didn’t need to worry too much. TJ and Kai were fawning over Sol, making him feel so much better. The compliments and doting were sweet, hopefully making him forget that he’d just been through something that unnecessarily embarrassed him.
“I bet this is nice for him, isn’t it?” I commented warmly to Maeve. “He’s getting to meet a bunch of participants without having to wait in line…”
I turned around but didn’t see Maeve there. Panic bolted through my chest as I tried to locate her. I wasn’t a worrier, but since I already knew there was something weird going on here, it had me on edge.
“Maeve?” She was toe to toe with a giant man who towered over her. Her cheeks were bright red as rage spilled out of his mouth. “Maeve, what are you doing?”
“Don’t youevertreat me like that again,” she yelled without an ounce of fear in her voice. “Don’t you ever touch me like that. Anddon’tmake my son worried about me.”
She was fearless when protecting her own. Sexy as hell. So sexy my chest got a little tight. I was a little tempted to stand back to see what sort of damage she could do.
Almost as if I manifested that, the big asshole raised his hand to slap Maeve. Before I could even react, she caught his arm and twisted it until the hulk was on his knees, tears welling in his eyes, and he was begging Maeve for forgiveness. She was something else!
“Wow,” TJ whispered beside me. I didn’t even know he was there. “Look at her.”
“Damn,” Kai agreed. “Now that is a woman who can handle herself.”
Maeve yanked the man closer toward her. He howled in pain as she tugged him along without a care in the damn world. “You will also apologize to my son. Do you hear me?”