“Then what’s the problem?” Hugh asked.
“He thinks we’re monsters.”
Hugh’s eyebrows rose. “Monsters?”
Boone drew in a breath. “I believe his words were ‘evil, vile creatures. He shouted that at me just about the time he told me if I ever came near him again, he’d report me to the council for sexual assault.”
Kye gasped. “I’ll have to take all of my stuff back.”
“No, no.”God, I so didn’t want this. “Kye, just because Jackie doesn’t like me, doesn’t mean he doesn’t like you or—”
“You said he called shifters evil, vile creatures?” Hugh asked.
Crap.
Boone nodded.
“I can’t have Kye around someone like that, Boone.”
Boone’s shoulders slumped. This was coming around to bite him in the ass in more ways than one. “If everyone takes their stuff somewhere else, Jackie will go out of business. He’ll have to sell the shop and move somewhere else.”
“Maybe that’s not a bad idea,” Neumus said. “If he hates us so much, why would he want to stay? Our pride is growing every single day.”
Boone couldn’t argue with that, even if he wanted to. The pride was growing now that Hugh was in charge. People wanted to be where they felt safe, and Hugh was strong enough to keep them all from danger.
“This is my mate we’re talking about, Hugh.” Boone had no idea why he felt the way he did, considering what Jackie had shouted at him, but he couldn’t just watch the man walk away.
“Okay, look.” Hugh pulled his hand over his face. “We’ll go in and talk to him tomorrow. I need to find out how much he knows anyway. The council will want to know.”
Boone winced. “Do we really need to tell the council?”
Hugh just stared at Boone.
Boone rubbed his arms. He was starting to feel as if his skin were going to peel right off. He knew it was the mating heat all shifters went through after they had mated. There just wasn’t anything he could do about it, not now that his mate had rejected him.
“Maybe we can wait a couple of days?” Boone asked hopefully.
“Did you claim him?”
Boone nodded.
“You also might want to call in sick for the next few days. You’re going to be no good for anyone while you go through the mating heat.”
That’s what Boone was afraid of. But if he was feeling it this bad already, what was Jackie going through? “Do humans feel the mating heat?”
“I would assume so,” Hugh replied, “but I’m actually not positive. I’ve not heard of any shifter-human matings.”
Neumus frowned as if a sudden thought had come to him. “Are you sure Jackie is human?”
Boone nodded. “I couldn’t smell him because of my nose, but I tasted him when I”—Boone swallowed hard at the bittersweet memories—“when I claimed him.”
“And he tasted like human?”
“He tasted like mate.”
