Page 135 of Pretty Little Prey
Hope rose, only to dwindle. “Why can’t she shift back?”
“Shift for us, Moonbeam?” Kobe purred to her.
Luna’s lamb head tilted.
All of them held their breath.
But nothing happened.
Chapter 53
The seer pursed her lips at the little lamb. “She must have undergone so much pain that it broke her mind. Like the way humans go catatonic when they see a basilisk shifter in snake form. She would have reverted to animal form to protect her brain.”
“But she’s safe now—”
“Doesn’t matter. Some shifters go catatonic, shift into animal form, and can never shift back.”
The men froze at Hag’s words.
“But she will heal eventually,” Daxton assured everyone like he needed to say it aloud to believe it himself. “Even as a prey, she is a shifter and she can heal and—”
“Men.” The seer snorted. “It’s not just physical injuries. It’s called psychological damage. Pure pain, abandonment, and fear for her life made her this way. All of which you have experienced at some point in your lives.”
All of the men winced, taking on that guilt and regret like arrowheads to each eye.
“How do we get her back?” Bastille whispered, staring down at the little lamb who watched him with blank eyes.
Hag’s irises flashed with light again. “Give her the opposite of pain and fear. Show her she can trust you implicitly. Give her reasons to shift back to human form.”
“But she hates us,” Nikolai reminded everyone. “How are we going to get her to trust us?”
“Romcom movie night at Daxton’s castle,” Hag squealed with excitement, not matching the mood of the room at all. “I’ll get the popcorn and you’ll take notes during the grand gestures parts.”
“Will you go home with us, little lamb?” Daxton asked her so softly, his voice might have been confused with silk.
“We’re going to protect you,” Bastille promised in just as gentle a tone.
“Feed you,” Kobe added.
The men inched closer to Luna, stretching out their hands for her to sniff and lessen her fear.
Hag grinned her crazy smile in the background. “In this week’s episode ofSheep Whisperer…”
“But she loves my grilled cheese,” Kobe growled at Sly when the fox shifter turned off the stove and stole his spatula. The werewolf had already made thirteen grilled cheeses; they piled up on a single plate.
“Yeah, in human form.” Sly threw the cheese packets back in the refrigerator. “Sheep don’t eat cheese. They eat plants and shit.”
“My mate does not eat shit,” Daxton grated from the kitchen table of the cabin.
“I didn’t mean actual shit. I meant—” Sly stopped himself, rolling his eyes and groaning. “Whatever.”
“I’ve never known an herbivore shifter,” Bastille said. “Do we just get her grass from outside?”
Nikolai looked up from his phone where he sat beside Daxton at the table. “Google says lambs eat ‘ground foods and tender forage.’”
Sly cursed, “What the fuck is tender forage?”
Nikolai clarified, “Forage that’s been tenderized.”
