Hope Awakened by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 3

The helicopter slowly descended. Hope couldn’t take her eyes off the creatures flying all around them. Half eagle and half lion. Griffin shifters – or Feral, as they liked to call themselves – were huge in their animal form. Their hindquarters were furry and muscular. They had long tails, with dark fur on the tip. Their top half was that of a majestic eagle, complete with wide, feathered wings and sharp beaks.

The helicopter touched down on the grass with a bump. Tall towers littered the open field. They looked to be two or three stories high and were bigger than they had looked from up in the air.

One man stood waiting about a hundred yards away. He was huge, with wide shoulders and thick biceps. The guy was wearing a pair of jeans and nothing else. Hope didn’t think he even wore shoes. She strained her eyes to see. Nope, no shoes. Strange. Then again, she had been briefed that nudity was normal and should be expected.

A movement to her right drew her attention. Hope watched in shock as one of the creatures, who had just landed, reduced in size, seeming to collapse in on itself. Limbs shortened. Feathers sucked back into skin. Within seconds, a man stood in the place of the beast that had descended.

A naked man.

This was normal. She’d been briefed on the species and what to expect. Just the basics. Mainly the differences between their two species. Shifting. Naked guys. Seeing it in the flesh was a whole different matter to a briefing, however.

She turned back to the man wearing jeans. He had moved much closer. The rotors of the helicopter had stopped turning, and the noise had died down. “Thanks so much for getting me here safely, Peter,” she said to the pilot, who was flicking switches. She removed her headset, hanging it back on the designated hook.

“Sure thing, Dr. Bristol,” the pilot said, turning back towards her and giving her the thumbs up. “Good luck. You’re going to need it.”

Really? Why did he think that? Instead of asking, she grabbed her bags.

“Let me help you,” a gruff-sounding voice said from outside the chopper.

Hope looked out of the open door…and there he was. His eyes were a startling golden color. The Ferals’ strange eye color had formed part of her briefing, but she still hadn’t been prepared for this. They were mesmerizing…along with the rest of him. For a few seconds, all she could do was stare. He had broad shoulders and gleaming dark hair that was probably a little too long to be considered fashionable by human standards. It suited him. As did the five o’clock shadow he had going on.

Wait a minute!

Was she checking him out? No! Maybe… So what if she was? If there were hot guys to look at, she was looking, dammit. Especially if they were naked a lot of the time. It was the main reason she had taken this assignment. No, it wasn’t. Hope had run away from her problems. She was quite happy to admit that. Thing was, Hope could look all she wanted, but she wouldn’t touch. She planned on giving the whole ‘rebound relationship’ thing a skip. Instead, she was going to focus on herself. Finding herself and learning about herself as a single woman. That meant no men. No shifters, either. She didn’t need someone to tell her what to do and what not to do and then to lie and cheat behind her back. No thanks! In fact, she might never want to be with a man again.

“Are you okay?” The gorgeous guy gave her a questioning look.

Shit!

“Um…yes! Um…I’m…um…fine.” She managed to lock eyes with him again. She stared into his golden orbs. They were beautiful.

“Do you want me to turn around so that you can get a better look?” His eyes were narrowed on her.

“Turn around?” she repeated, sounding like an idiot.

“I take it you’ve never seen one of my kind before.” He was completely deadpan.

She couldn’t gauge whether he was teasing her or calling her out on all the gawking. “Sorry…no…that’s fine, no turning around necessary, and no, I’ve never seen a Feral before. Is that how I say it?”

“Yes.” He lifted his brows. “Your bag?” He looked pointedly at the baggage at her feet.

“It’s heavy,” she warned.

“I’m a Feral. Were you not told that we have superior strength to you humans? We are superior in many ways.”

“Lucky you,” she grumbled. “Here it is.” She shoved her bag at him. It would be her bad luck to meet a grouchy asshole as her first Feral person.

The big guy was as strong as he looked because he caught her big-ass bag, putting it on the floor next to him like it weighed nothing. “That one too?” he said, glancing at the much smaller medical bag at her feet.

She gave the other bag to him as well. Hope watched as he put that down as well. Then he lifted both his arms up. “Your turn.” He looked bored. “Come on, Doctor. I swear I won’t drop you.”

It was quite far down since she was so short. She wasn’t that tall. Her hesitation was justified, even though he looked like he could carry five of her without a problem.

“Put your hands on my shoulders,” he instructed. “I won’t bite.”

“I know you won’t bite.”

“I won’t drop you either.” He deadpanned. “Grab ahold of me, you will be fine.” He sighed, like this was the hardest job he had been given. Like she was the biggest bother.

Hope put her hands on his shoulders. His very wide, naked shoulders. “Okay,” Hope stammered, doing as he said. His skin was warm and smooth.

He reached up and took her hips in his large hands.

She had to work hard not to yelp when he took her out of the helicopter, setting her on her feet.

Hope just stood there like an idiot, her hands still on his broad shoulders. Her eyes on his face. Wow! She’d never met anyone quite like him before.

“You can let me go now, Doctor. Unless you really do want me to turn around so that you can get a better look. It might be better to get it out of the way so that we can move on.” He definitely seemed irritated this time. There was no humor evident.

“Oh! I’m sorry. I guess it’s all going to take some getting used to, that’s all.” Hope took back her arms, letting them hang at her sides. “It’s just…I’ve never met a Feral. Although, we haven’t actually officially met, have we? My name is Hope…I’m Doctor Hope Bristol. You can call me Hope, though.”

“My name is Reece. I will call you Dr. Bristol. I am here because the king requested that I welcome you. I have just been appointed as the head of the royal guard. My duty is to protect the queen and the soon-to-be hatched young.”

“Hatched?” She shook her head. “I’m still trying to wrap my head around all of this. I was briefed yesterday. Everything was quite vague about this assignment up until then. I’m happy to be here and it’s nice to meet you.”

He frowned heavily. “Wrap your head around? Why would you want to wrap your head around—? What do you need to wrap your head—?”

“It’s a human saying. I need to get used to being here. I can’t wait to find out more about your kind,” Hope said brightly, hoping to get a smile out of the serious Feral.

“I do not know much about humans.” He frowned. “I am going to shift now, so that I can transport you to your accommodation. Are you afraid of heights?”

“No.” She shook her head.

“Good.”

It all happened so quickly. There was no time to do anything. No time to look away or prepare. Her mouth fell open when Reece unsnapped the top button of his jeans and pulled them down. Her eyes were immediately drawn to his…to his penis, which was long and thick and slanted slightly to the left. He was a big man in all respects. His thighs were thick and powerful. His abs…were very much there, all eight of them. His penis looked… No, it couldn’t be! It looked like he had a semi. Reece took a few steps toward her and it swayed. There was nothing in the briefing about this. Perhaps it was perfectly normal for a Feral. There was no saying.

“Have you seen your fill?” Reece’s rough-as-nails voice broke into her mushy, hazy brain.

Her cheeks instantly heated. “I’m…I’m sorry.” She was still looking at his cock. What was wrong with her? “Yes!” she practically yelled. “I…wasn’t expecting you to get naked quite so soon or quite so quickly.” She looked into his eyes, which were steely.

“I thought you said you were briefed.”

She swallowed thickly. “I was. They even gave me a booklet.”

“You should study the booklet, Dr. Bristol.” Again, she had no idea what he was thinking. Was he angry? He looked angry. She was messing this up. Five minutes on Feral soil and she was ruining things.

“You need to get used to naked people…naked males. If it’s something you can’t handle, then this assignment won’t work. I can advise my king to find another human healer.”

She swallowed again. “I can handle it. I’ve seen you naked now.” She shrugged. “No big deal. Doctors see naked people all the time” Not like you! Not like him! Not like this. Her heart was hammering in her chest. Her hands felt clammy. She’d get used to it soon enough. It wasn’t a big deal. The fact that up until today, she had only ever seen one man naked. At least, living and breathing. Cadavers didn’t count. Holy mackerel, her mind was all over the place. “All good,” she added when he didn’t say anything. She even shrugged.

His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her. “Are you sure, Dr. Bristol?”

“Absolutely.”

“Fine.” He took a few steps away from her and she had to fight to maintain eye contact. All she wanted to do was to gawk at him some more, which was strange since she wasn’t normally like this. Good-looking guys had never made her uncomfortable or made her want to stare. Then again, he was spectacular, and he wasn’t human. Not even close. That was the biggest point of interest; how animal-like he was, even in his human form. She was allowed to react the first time meeting a Feral up close. After this, she’d maintain decorum. It wouldn’t be long before seeing sexy naked guys would be an everyday occurrence.

Her mouth fell open all over again when he started to shift. When the most gorgeous golden feathers sprouted from his skin. When claws and scales took the place of arms, and fur began to sprout from powerful legs. Wings emerged from his back. They were wide and impressive, just like the rest of him. A griffin shifter, up close and in the flesh. Wow! He made a screeching noise as soon as he was fully changed. It was loud and terrifying. Goosebumps rose on her arms. She watched, transfixed, as he gripped her bags and his jeans in one taloned claw.

The second claw came at her. “Um…I don’t know about—” Before she could say anything more, he had her in his grip and was taking to the sky. She screamed in both exhilaration and fear. Probably both in equal measures. The fear soon dissipated as they sped across the sky. His huge wings barely seemed to flap. It felt amazing as the wind rushed past her, whipping her hair about her face. This was hands-down, one of the most remarkable things to ever have happened to her. A laugh was ripped from her. She couldn’t help it. It was like all the pent-up anger and frustration eased a smidgen for the first time in months. She felt something lighten inside her. Hope felt that she’d made the right decision to come here. If nothing else, she’d have lots to look at. She stared up at the great griffin as he flapped his wings.