Keeland gasped. “By the same people who want to wipe out your family?”
Dom nodded.
“What are the police doing about this?”
“We haven’t reported this to the police. We can’t.”
Keeland stood suddenly. “Why the hell not?”
“That’s kind of what I need to talk to you about.” And he really had no idea how to do it.
“I’m listening.”
Shit.
Dom pushed his hand through his hair. He'd done it so many times, his hair was a mess, but then so was he. There was so much he wanted to share with Keeland, and he was terrified all of it would send the man running in the opposite direction. Keeland would either be frightened or think Dom was nuttier than a bedbug.
Dom wasn’t so sure that wasn’t true.
“Dom?”
Dom glanced up. “Yeah?”
“Just tell me.”
“I’m a shifter.” Dom blinked in surprise, not expecting the words to come out of his mouth. He’d been thinking them. He’d just not had any intention of saying them. “Shit.” He shoved his hand through his hair again, tugging at the ends. “There’s just no easy way to say that.”
“What exactly do you mean byshifter?”
Dom drew in a shaky breath. “I can shift into a wild animal.”
“A…wild animal?”
Dom nodded, not sure what else to say. He could tell from the cautious light igniting in Keeland’s eyes that this conversation wasn’t going as well as he had hoped. He just didn’t know how else to tell Keeland what he was.
The smile that crossed Keeland’s face didn’t reach his eyes. He stood and took a step toward the door. “So, that’s great. I’d like to see it sometime, but I really need to get going now. If I don’t get back to the clinic, things could get crazy.”
“You closed the clinic for the day, remember?”
“Yeah.” Keeland took another step toward the door. “But I really should get back.”
Dom sat there and watched as Keeland edged back, moving farther and farther away. The man was making a run for it. Dom could see it in Keeland’s eyes. Pure panic.
And he was helpless to stop him.
Oh sure, he could force Keeland to stay, to listen as Dom tried to explain that he was harmless—to Keeland, at least—but he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t force Keeland to stay when he so desperately wanted to leave.
No matter how much his heart was breaking.
“Drive safe, okay?”
Keeland’s brow furrowed and his head cocked to one side. It was almost as if he hadn’t thought Dom would let him leave. “I’ll be fine.”
Dom pressed his lips together and nodded. “Thanks for listening, Keeland.”
Keeland’s frown deepened. “Yeah, no problem.”
Dom sat there and watched as Keeland turned and walked out. He didn’t try and stop him. He didn’t even say anything as the door quietly closed behind the man he was almost positive was his mate. What could he say? Keeland thought he was nuts. It was doubtful the man would believe a word that came out of Dom’s mouth.
