The Royal Jagger

Chapter Two

Boarding the bus was not nearly as difficult as Marissa imagined. The Agents were excessive in number at the moment to keep the traveling paranormals from attempting to escape instead of boarding their transports, but since Marissa’s concern was not boarding the bus herself, but rather getting Raife safely away along with her, she cared little for their activities except where her aunt, still in dog form, was concerned.

Because she had claimed her as a servant of her household, Gwen had no difficulties either, and soon they got aboard the werewolf bus and found a place to sit. Gwen sat quietly beside her new puppy, pleased to know her illusion was so good that Raife was not scanned along with everyone else. Marissa was seated by her side on one of the bus benches. Behind them somewhere were her two uncles and their servant, Penz. 

The bus had about eight passengers, mostly werewolves, other than the aforementioned magician. They were about to depart when the door opened again, admitting one more passenger. Marissa’s eyes were somehow stuck as she watched the man get on board.

“Peter Shane,” he said in a deep voice. Then he stepped past the two women and took the seat that faced their own, but just slightly further down the long bench than the two woman were on theirs, so that he and Marissa’s knees were almost touching.

Peter Shane had the appearance of a man in his late twenties. He seemed to be of Native American descent, even spoke with a slight accent, if she went by the polite “excuse me” he’d said as he passed. He was tall, dark, and incredibly handsome. Marissa could not possibly fail to notice that, either.

But what made her the most curious was, of course, why would a human male be traveling on a bus full of relocating werewolves? There had to be more to the story, and after containing herself for about an hour, Marissa could not hold her tongue any longer.

“Excuse me, sir, but I just have to know,” she began, and then blushed under the intensity of his sudden scrutiny.

“Go on,” he told her with a smirk. “I promise you I won’t bite unless you want me to.”

“Um, well, you’re clearly not a Jagger,” she said softly, looking at her hands for a moment before looking him over again. “And you don’t seem to be a Mooneyes either. I heard you call yourself Peter Shane, but you didn’t follow it with a designation. Why is that?”

Peter’s smirk became a huge smile as he laughed at this. “Ah, yes, my classification,” he chuckled. “Well, you see, they haven’t managed to classify me at all. Since I can become any creature I wish they allowed me to choose my own designation, which I’ve decided will be among your people. I find the werewolves far less dangerous than the vampires, less self-important than the godlike beings, and although I know a bit of magic I clearly wouldn’t do well trying to fit in with the magicians either.”

“Are you telling me you’re a shifter?” Marissa asked excitedly. “I have heard of your kind, but I always thought that was just a fairytale.”

“That isn’t so,” he said, bending forward so their faces were closer together. “Granted, shifters are very rare, but they are also very real. And I am even more rare, since most shifters can change only to one or two creatures, whereas I am capable of many more. I need only to touch something once, and then I can shift into it forever afterwards whenever I wish.”

“How interesting,” said Marissa as she looked at his dark brown eyes more closely. “Is it true that your eyes never change when the rest of your body shifts?”

“Who told you that?”

“My nanny, of course,” she giggled. Peter had just moved slightly, and their foreheads bumped together.

“Your nanny was making that part up,” he told her as he closed the gap so that they briefly rubbed noses. Marissa bit her bottom lip, suppressing a shiver of heady reaction to the touch.

“Really?” she asked in a flirty tone. “Too bad, since they look rather nice.”

“I can see we will have to spend some more time together so I can correct your perceptions of me,” said Peter in an equally flirty tone.

“Marissa, child, who is that man you’re talking to?” Darius inquired sternly. “You must take care around strangers, especially those who are not even Jaggers.”

“For goodness sake, uncle, I am not a child anymore,” Marissa complained as she sat up again. “What do you think he’s going to do to me in a bus full of wolves anyway?”

“She does have a point, Darius,” said Eric with a chuckle.

“You are not helping, brother,” said Darius sternly. “Now that we’ve taken her from the Yosemite Facility, it’s up to us to be her guardians in our brother’s stead. We cannot be lax in our duties.”

Peter straightened up in his seat, but not before whispering in her ear, “We can talk more about this later.”

Marissa cast him a little smile and nodded. Darius glared at him off and on for the rest of the ride.

*****

When they reached the Black Hills Facility, Darius and Eric were quick to send Marissa with Penz and Gwen to their caves and away from the stranger she’d been talking to. Darius took the first opportunity to approach the man as they entered the mingling area to await their processing.

“She is a princess, you know,” he said to Peter. “I recommend you remember that. She is meant to marry a Jagger, not some common shifter like you. You must remember your role in our society, Mr. Peter Shane. You do understand the hierarchy involved here, I trust?”

“We were just talking,” Peter excused himself, hiding his smirk.

“If that was just talking then why isn’t your nose plastered to mine?” Darius pointed out. “After all, we also are ‘just talking’.”

“Um, I may be a shifter, able to take on any form I desire, including a female, but I prefer to remain male and never willingly choose male partners—just so we’re clear on that,” Peter replied.

“You know very well that was not an invitation,” Darius told him hotly. “Just stay away from Marissa. End of discussion.”