Simon & Rose by V.A. Dold Page A

younger version of you.”
    “Thank you, but this isn’t my normal appearance.” Instantly, a younger Sharon smiled at him.
    “Damn. I didn’t think I could get any luckier. You’re breathtaking.”
    “I take it you like the real me.”
    “Like doesn’t come close. I’m floored.”
    Sharon blushed a pretty shade of pink. “I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. Thank you.”
    He’d been listening closely, but for the life of him, he wasn’t grasping how shifter aging affected him. “So, what does all that have to do with my leg?”
    “You’re over twenty-five. When a human is claimed and that person is older than their mid twenties, he or she goes through a regression to the state of health and physical appearance they enjoyed when they were twenty-five. You, will regress to a physical state where you haven’t lost your leg.”
    “Are you telling me I’ll get my leg back!”
    “Yes. That’s precisely what I’m telling you. Although, we’ll need to speak with Emma Le Beau, Simon’s mother, before we do the claiming. I’m concerned about the pain you will experience as your leg is regenerated. I’m not sure a human has ever been claimed who has experienced such an injury. I would like to see if there’s a painkiller we can give you to help you through the ordeal.”
    “A painkiller would be welcome, but I’ll go through it regardless of the level of pain if I can get my leg back.”
    “Before you rush to a decision, I have more to explain.”
    “Okay, what else do I need to know?”
    She took a sip from her cup and tipped her head. “Let’s see, what haven’t I covered? Oh, yes. I was about to explain mates. I want to be perfectly clear, a mate is not a girlfriend or a wife, although many couples celebrate their mating with a human wedding as well. A mate is an individual designed and created to be the one true partner for a shifter. That destined mate could come from the shifter community, but more often than not, a true mate is a human. Mates are perfectly matched to complete each other. Two people who are idyllic life partners and lovers to such a degree, it’s almost impossible to describe. It may be hard to believe, but finding and accepting a mate is guaranteed happiness.
    “But more than that, mates each carry one half of a soul and when the ritual is completed that soul binds back together. The shared soul and mated bond creates a solid relationship like you’ve never imagined. You’re my mate, Mark. You hold the other half of my soul and I yours.”
    “It sounds like this mate thing would make dating and falling in love a heck of a lot easier than anything I’ve experienced that’s for sure.”
    “It is easier. This isn’t anything like dating. Mates are destined and drawn to each other. They skip right over the dating part. And as such, there’s an immediate attraction between the two people, which you already know. Being destined and sharing two halves of a soul creates a situation where the couple wants and needs to be together. And I have to tell you, it’s absolutely normal for mates to fall in love at first site and complete the ritual within days of meeting. That level of intensity and passionate need can be frightening for a human. Instant love and commitment isn’t normal for you.”
    “Hot damn! So you’re telling me, I get the girl of my dreams without trying? And if I do whatever the ritual entails, I get a woman who is mind blowingly perfect for me, and my leg back?”
    Sharon made the mistake of taking a sip of coffee as he reacted to what she’d told him. Coffee spewed across the space and soaked his chest. “Oh my Goddess, I’m so sorry!” she cried as she tried to dry his chest with her napkin.
    Catching her hands, he chuckled at her embarrassment and hopeless attempt to clean his T-shirt. “Darlin’, I don’t think that’s going to do a bit of good. Don’t worry your pretty head. No harm, no foul.”

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