EIGHTEEN
It feltlike I’d only been out a second when my eyes opened again, but the unfamiliar feeling was gone, luckily.
Dax was growling against my back, his arms vices around my body. We were in the same position still—it had to be a good sign that I hadn’t mentally imploded or anything, right?
“How are you feeling?” the witch dude asked, eyeing me with interest from where he stood in the middle of the room.
“Not great,” I rasped.
He chuckled, and Dax snarled at him. I wondered if he was struggling not to shift—Davy was usually the more volatile of the two of them.
“Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?” the witch asked.
I made a face. “Neither.”
He chuckled again. “Bad it is. There’s no cure for what made your wolf fight so hard to merge with you. Your shifts will always be more painful than the average werewolf’s, and your wolf will always be a bit weaker and slower than the others. She probably won’t try to shift as frequently as them, either. Connecting with your pack won’t come as naturally to you, on top of that.”
Dammit.
My heart sank a little. Or a lot. I didn’t really want to think about it.
“And the good?” Dax snarled.
“You have a tiny bit of witch magic in your veins,” the witch guy said, still focused on me despite my mate’s snarling. “Not enough to do anything with it, but enough to make the wolf have to fight hard to take control. I’m sure your mate’s wolf tried to claim you the first time he saw you, but that drop of magic worked as a barrier of sorts to prevent him from beginning his hunt there and then. Do you know what triggered the hunt, when it finally began?” he asked.
I blinked, having a hard time processing what he was saying.
“She ran into me,” Dax said gruffly. “We touched for the first time.”
Oh.
I hadn’t realized that, but now that he’d said it, it seemed pretty obvious.
The witch guy nodded, his expression growing more intrigued. “That would do it.”
“What else will the magic do to her?” Dax asked, his voice still low and gravelly.
“Nothing of importance. She’ll be more fertile than most werewolves—I’m sure you know how fast witches reproduce. She’ll heal a bit slower—we’re not made to shift back and forth as easily as you, but we still heal much, much faster than humans. If you stumble across any witches, put her in front of you, and their magic will be rendered useless.” He shrugged. “There’s a chance that the werewolfism curse will be affected in other ways, too, but I can’t predict those. Your alphas know how to contact me if anything comes up, but I don’t expect any major differences.”
“Thank you.” Dax’s arms remained locked around my waist. “That’s good to hear.”
The witch dude nodded, his attention moving back to me. “I’d like to run magical tests on some of your blood, if it’s alright with you.”
I swallowed, but nodded.
“Perfect. We’ll be going, then.” The main alpha stood smoothly, his hand sliding into his mate’s. Their fingers knitted together, and I relaxed a bit at the evidence of the intimacy they shared.
They were close, too. Like most mates.
Something about that knowledge made me feel slightly better about their intrusion.
Dax lifted me into his arms, and carried me to the door as he followed the men and woman there. After they left, he locked the door behind them.
“Do you want to talk?” he asked me gently, holding me against him.
“No,” I whispered back. “I don’t know what to say.”
“How about we take that nap the alpha recommended, then?” he murmured.