Like goddamn toffee.
I whipped around, forgetting that I’d wanted the cool night breeze to air out my old home, and yanked down the window. I couldn’t torment myself like this. Remembering our past, when we were so in love and there was nothing to tear us apart, was too cruel.
I need to stop thinking about him.I sipped my tea and rolled my eyes. A girl could dream, right?
Chapter Two
“Be careful,Lila! You don’t want to get a sand burn,” I called to the tiny girl, who had slipped off her black garbage bag and rolled twenty feet down the dune.
It was going to be a chore getting the sand out of her red curls, but I found it difficult to care. As long as she was uninjured, it didn’t matter. She was having so much fun, just like the rest of the children. I let out a happy sigh as I watched them dart around and laugh.
Kids needed to run and be wild, and shifter children even more so. They had too much energy to be inside, or even in the orphanage yard all day. The primal part of them begged to be free.
Proving my belief, Elijah, a preteen mountain lion-shifter, burst into his animal aspect and released a monstrous yowl before loping up the hill. I grinned as I watched him weave around the children sliding down the hill on makeshift sleds.
He reminded me of another free-spirited boy. One who had chased me up and down these hills, shot arrows into the night with me, and laid beside me on these very sands to watch the stars twinkle.
I shook my head, surprised by the thought.Why is Robin popping into my mind so much lately?
The screech of an eagle cut through my musings, and my gaze shot to the sky. A bald eagle soared above in a perfect figure-eight shape. Recognizing the shifter and the signal to return to the orphanage, I threw him a wave. The eagle let out another screech and soared away.
“All right, kids! It’s time to go home. Dinner will be ready in an hour, and you all have a lot of cleaning up to do.”
Lila wrinkled her dirt-caked nose. Her typical reaction to a shower made me chuckle. “Especially you, little coyote. What do you say everyone shifts, and we’ll race back!”
Transforming our return home into a game made it more palatable. The children squealed and shifted into their animal aspects. A zoo of small mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, black bears, one hawk, and even a raccoon appeared in front of me.
“Thank you,” I said, shocked that everyone had listened so quickly. Then again, they all loved a physical competition—most shifters did. And we had been out here for hours. They were probably starving. I nodded to the larger of the two black bears. “Jazzy, let Robbie ride on your back, will you? You two are a team.”
Jazzy nodded, and a moment later, a skinny raccoon hopped onto her back. I scanned the crowd, making sure everyone else looked capable of keeping up. When I was positive they could, I grinned.
“Let the race begin!” I shifted into my fox aspect and dashed toward the orphanage with the children.
Once the kids were in their rooms and cleaning up for dinner, I handed my supervisor duties over to Linda, an orphanage employee, and made my way to the kitchen. I hadn’t played as hard as the children, but the run back to the orphanage, a three-mile journey in the sand, had still revved up my shifter metabolism. I needed a snack before my meeting with Ada.
The sounds of pots and pans banging met my ears, and my stomach clenched in anticipation. Turning the corner, the doorway to the kitchen came into sight and a myriad of scents intensified. Someone was making something chocolatey . . .
Brownies?!
My stomach rumbled when I recognized the delectable aroma. I picked up the pace. Brownies were my favorite, and once the kids caught wind of them, they’d go alarmingly fast.I was at the kitchen door, my hand inches from the handle, when it flew open from the other side. A broad back appeared as a guy waved goodbye to the kitchen staff.
Although I couldn’t see the man’s face, it was plain by his clothes that he didn’t belong in a place like the orphanage. His jeans easily cost a quarter of what I made in two weeks. His shirt looked tailored, and his shoes were crafted of rich, gleaming brown leather. I’d seen high-rolling gamblers wear the brand. They were imported and foolishly pricey.
Who the heck is this guy?
“Thanks for the brownie, Lorna!”
At the sound of his voice, deep and familiar, the hairs on the back of my neck rose.No! How is he—?
All my thoughts ceased as Robin turned to face me. My hand flew to the arrow pendant I wore, fingers rubbing against the metal for strength.
His azure eyes widened for a moment before his gaze flitted down to the necklace. My cheeks warmed, but he wasn’t so awkward. By the time he pulled his attention back upward and our stares met, a charming grin lit up his face. “Fancy seeing you here, Mar! You look great!”
I didn’t answer; actually, Icouldn’t. But it didn’t really matter, Robin loved to talk, and he kept right on doing it.
“Smelled the brownies too, I take it?”
“I—I . . . Wha—” I stopped and shook my head.
