Simon had wanted her to take a few days off, just until after her change occurred. He’d been worried that what had happened to Emma would happen to her as well. Emma had also insisted on going to work and wound up changing in one of Max’s examination rooms. Luckily for the Pride it had been after closing and no patients were in his practice at the time.
But she didn’t feel the same itchy sensations Emma had warned her about during their shopping trip. No fur had sprouted on her arms. Claws hadn’t appeared. True, her vision had changed in the car Sunday night, but so far that was the only sign of the change she’d experienced. She’d promised both Emma and Simon that if she felt any of the symptoms Emma had mentioned she would immediately call Emma to cover the store and she would go to Simon’s house to wait for him.
In the meantime, she needed clothes, makeup and something to hold back her mane of hair.
She stepped into her tiny kitchenette and felt her heart melt. There on her counter was an eight-piece box of Godiva truffles with a note attached: Think of me while you enjoy your treat.
She had to swallow the lump in her throat as she picked up the note. Damn, Emma, you go, girl. The only way Simon could have known about her near obsession with Godiva truffles was if Emma told him.
She popped one of the delicate confections into her mouth and moaned. That is so good. She picked up the box with a greedy grin. And nobody is getting any of this but me. If Emma knew Simon had picked her up a box of Godiva chocolate anything, she’d try and wheedle a piece out of her, but no way was Becky sharing. Just call me the Godiva Grinch. She snickered and put the box in her bedroom closet for safekeeping while she was at work.
Of course, she brought it back down and popped another piece in her mouth before forcing herself to put the box back. She changed clothes quickly, ran a brush through her hair and decided not to bother with makeup today. She was already running late, and her hands were shaking. She was feeling a little off. Everything around her was starting to swirl. “Damn. Should have eaten more than the chocolates.” If Emma or Simon discovered that she’d gone to the doc about the dizzy spells she’d never hear the end of it, especially if they found out they occurred more frequently when she’d forgotten to eat. Sort of like this morning, when she’d dashed out of Simon’s house. She’d planned on stopping at a fast food place for breakfast, but the accident on Twelfth had slowed everything to a crawl and she hadn’t had the time. The last thing she needed was the two of them hovering over her while she waited for the test results to come in. It wasn’t like she even knew for sure what was wrong, and until she did? She wasn’t saying anything.
The dizzy spell was getting worse. Better have a quick bite before I head downstairs. She weaved her way into the kitchen and grabbed an apple off the counter.
A pair of bright green eyes peeked out of the apple and blinked up at her sleepily.
Becky screamed.
Simon was so proud of his mate he could burst. Last night she’d acted like a true Beta, helping make decisions that would ultimately affect the entire Pride. He didn’t think she even realized she’d done it, it seemed so natural. And the fact that Emma and Becky already worked well together could only benefit the Pride as a whole, and Simon and Max’s interactions as well.
He shrugged into his blue T-shirt and grabbed his wallet off the dresser. He shoved it and his cell phone in his pocket and stepped into his great room. He had a lot of work to do today and was eager to get to it.
He was putting on his sneakers when his cell phone rang. He put on his Bluetooth headset and answered.
It was Max. “I’ve contacted Sheri. It seems you were right. Her problem hasn’t gone completely away.”
“Shit.” Simon finished tying his sneakers.
“Yeah. Parker found her again.”
Simon stood with a sigh and grabbed his car keys. “So when does she arrive?”
Max snorted. “You know me so well.”
He shrugged into his coat and headed out the door. “Dude. To quote Becky, ‘Ew’. You make it sound like we’re fucking married or something.” Simon locked his door, grinning as Max made kissy noises over the phone. In the background he could hear Emma giggling. “Sorry, I’m just not into cocktail wieners.”
“Asshole.” Max laughed.
Simon climbed into his Ram and started it up, eager to get to his studio. “So?”
“She’s already here.”
“Cool.”
“I want you and Becky to take her to dinner. Emma and I would do it, but we’ve got a meeting with the caterer after work.”
“You popped the question?”
“Are you kidding me? She left post-it notes all over my office. What her favorite color is, what type of wedding ring she wants, even a build-your-own-engagement-ring URL with a detailed description of what to buy. She put a catering menu up as the backdrop on the computer, and wedding dress pictures as the screensaver. It was sheer self defense.”
Simon put his head down on his steering wheel and howled in laughter. He could see the Little General Post-it bombing Max’s office.
“And that was what she did at work! ”
Simon couldn’t breathe, he was laughing so hard.
“Go ahead, laugh. You should have heard Adrian when he got a look at it.” Simon could practically hear Max roll his eyes. “She forgot Adrian and I share an office. I’ve never seen a grown man run so fast in my life.” Max snickered. “I can’t wait until he finds his mate.”
“That should be fun.” Simon wiped away the laugh tears. “Oh, man, I can’t wait for that.”
“Neither can Emma.”
“I’ll talk to Becky and make sure she’s up for dinner tonight. We’ll hold the formal intro Sunday?”
“My place; I’ll send out the e-mails, let the Pride know. Oh, and bring Becky over to our place for dinner Friday so I can formally acknowledge her, too. She should have changed by then.”
“Got it. Bye, Max.”
Simon pulled out of his driveway. He pushed the number for Wallflowers and listened to the phone ring.
“Hello?”
“Becky?” He frowned. Something in her tone of voice seemed off.
“It’s smiling at me.”
“What’s smiling at you, baby?” He stopped at a red light and listened to her panting.
“The apple.”
“What?”
“I think it’s mad because I wanted to eat it.”
Her whisper was full of shaky fear. “Becky, where are you?”
“Behind the counter in the store.”
“Where’s the, um, apple?”
“In my kitchen. I can hear it hopping around up there.”
He was starting to get seriously worried. He sped through the intersection as soon as the light turned.
“I’m on my way, baby.”
“Okay. Simon?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Tell it I’m sorry and I promise not to eat it if it will go away. Okay?”
The thread of tears in her voice scared him to death. His Becky hadn’t cried when the bitch-cat’s claws had been imbedded in her stomach, but now she was crying over an apple? Something was seriously wrong here. “Hang on, baby, I’m almost there.”
“Okay, Simon. Okay.”
“Keep talking to me, sweetheart.” Silence greeted him. “Becky?”
Nothing. Not a sound, not even a whisper.