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Tess took a deep breath before focusing her eyes on me again. "What's your name? I've just been calling you my bottle, but now that you can speak, you can finally tell me your name."
"Hadrian."
Tess stared at me, her eyes wide with disbelief as she clutched me still stuck in bottle form. The dimly lit room seemed to grow darker as her face shifted from shock to frustration. Her chest heaved, and my heart ached at the sight of her distress. Her voice was a whisper, barely audible over the crackling of the fireplace. "An eternity has passed from the moment you stepped into my shop and yet not one word escaped your lips. I saw your eyes, wide with fear, darting to me as you begged for help. Why did you come here? What drove you to break into my world like that?"
"Wait—" I tried to explain myself, but Tess cut me off before I could respond.
"Enough!" she snapped, her voice laced with anger and confusion. She looked down at me, as if trying to make sense of the situation. Her thoughts were racing. I could see it in the furrow of her brow and the nervous twitch of her fingers. "I... I can't do this right now. I need to put you down and figure this out."
I watched with bated breath as Tess carefully placed me on the mantle, her hands trembling slightly as she tried to steady herself. Her fingers brushed against my glass, making my insides shiver with an electric thrill. Despite how I'd been trapped for the last year, we'd been close for so long. The mating bond wasn't formed, yet I'd started picking up her emotions through it. I sensed her confusion and frustration growing, and it tore at me that I was the cause. She'd been drinking, and the intoxicating effect of the wine only seemed to amplify her emotions when she touched my glass.
"Get a grip, Tess," she muttered under her breath, her eyes flitting around the room as if searching for answers in the shadows.
I knew I had to do something, anything to help her understand what was happening. "Please," I whispered, my voice barely audible as it echoed within the glass confines of the bottle. "Let me help you understand."
Tess shook her head, her eyes filled with a mix of awe and fear. "No, I... I just need some time." She took a step back, her breathing shallow and unsteady. "I'll deal with all of... this tomorrow. Maybe. Or I'll check myself into somewhere with those fashionable socks and padded walls."
As she turned away, the weight of her words settled heavily on me. I couldn't blame her for her reaction, but I couldn't bear the thought of her suffering alone. Time was running out. I didn't know how much longer I'd be safe from the shifter council. Honestly, I was surprised they hadn't found me yet. Tess was unknowingly caught in the crossfire. My Tsigo, the one soul that had been next to mine during the great creation, was slipping through my fingers. I couldn't lose her.
"Please," I whispered again, desperation clawing at my throat. The thought of being alone, trapped in this godforsaken bottle was too much to bear.
But Tess didn't hear me, lost in her own tumultuous thoughts as she left the room and retreated to the sanctuary of her bedroom. I remained trapped within the bottle, my heart aching with the knowledge that I had only created more chaos and confusion for the woman I loved.
With newfound determination, I focused all my energy on my bottle. I'd tried to move before, but that was before I'd been able to talk. Previously, when I'd been shifted into a champagne bottle, I still had full control of my... uh, body. But now, I needed to break free and console Tess. She deserved an explanation, and I was the only one who could give it to her.
Slowly, painstakingly, I managed to make the bottle wobble back and forth on the mantle. My movements were small, almost imperceptible, but they gradually brought me closer to the edge. I couldn't help but feel a spark of hope. Perhaps this would be enough to shatter the spell and restore me to human form.
"Come on," I whispered, urging myself forward. "Just a little more."
As the bottle teetered dangerously close to the rim, I silently prayed that freedom was finally within reach. All I wanted was to wrap Tess in my arms, to soothe away her fears and doubts with the warmth of my embrace.
But as she moved between the bathroom and bedroom, she glanced back at me one last time, her eyes widening in shock as she saw me teetering on the edge of the mantle. Panic flashed over her face as she sprinted to me, desperate to save me from shattering into a thousand pieces. "Hadrian!" she cried, reaching out with trembling hands. Tess's foot caught on the edge of a rug, and she stumbled, falling to the floor with a gasp. She seemed uninjured from what I could see as I fell to the floor.
My bottle hit the tile hearth, pain ricocheting through me as the glass exploded outward. I'd learned from past accidents that breaking the bottle hurt like hell, but didn't kill me. I supposed it was part of the curse... to leave me to suffer with no way out. As the council's spell finally broke, I felt my form shifting, my body expanding and growing. It was an odd sensation, like being squeezed through a tiny opening and emerging whole on the other side. My vision blurred for a moment before finally clearing, and I found myself standing before Tess in my human form once more. Pain sliced through my feet as I stood on glass shards that slowly disappeared.
"Please be okay," Tess muttered, as she stared at the scattered shards of glass that littered the floor. "Wh-what… Hadrian?" Her voice trembled as she looked up, her gaze first fixating on my feet, then slowly traveling up my body. I could feel her taking in every inch of me, making note of red fabric that covered my legs, the white fuzzy material that lined my red jacket, and the iconic floppy hat that perched on my head. Despite the shock and confusion swirling within her, there was no denying the heat that sparked in her eyes as they met mine.
"Sorry, Tess," I murmured, reaching out a hand to help her up. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"Scare me?" She took my hand hesitantly, allowing me to pull her to her feet. "You… You just… You were a bottle and now… How…?"
"Believe me, it's a long story." My voice was low and husky, filled with the emotion of finally being free and reunited with Tess. "But I promise, I'll explain everything."
"You better! I thought I was losing my mind." Tess agreed, still trying to process what had just happened. As she stood there, her body trembling and her eyes wide, I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming need to protect her, to show her that no matter how strange and unexpected our connection might be, we belonged together.
Leaning closer, I whispered against her lips, the heat between us growing more intense as our breaths mingled. "Anything for you, mate."
Chapter Three
The moment I uttered the word 'mate' to Tess, her eyes widened as confusion crept across her face. Her pulse quickened, and I sensed the fear and curiosity that swirled within her.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'mate'?" Tess's curiosity shone in her eyes as she looked at me. Heat radiated from her body, reaching to me through the mating bond, teasing me with what I couldn't yet have.
I wasn't quite sure how to explain the concept to her without scaring her. Though she hadn't run yet, and I'd changed from a man to a bottle of champagne and back. The shifter council didn't allow shifters to reveal their existence to humans. It was too late for that now. Oh, well. Somehow, I didn't think I would have refrained from revealing my nature had I met her in a different way.
"Ever since you... appeared in my shop, I've been searching for answers." Her cheeks flushed with a rosy hue. "I thought maybe you were some sort of shifter, but nothing I found mentioned anything about turning into inanimate objects."
Her words stirred something deep inside me. I wanted to claim her, but first, I needed to explain. Marking and mating her would have permanent consequences that I couldn't thrust on her without her understanding the full implication of our situation. "You're right, I am a shifter, but not like the ones you've read about. We're nothing like you've seen on tv or read in books... not really."
