Despite my guilt over almost harming another shifter, there was something about this man that intrigued me. In that sense, I didn't regret meeting him—just the way that it happened.
I held out my hand. "Weston. Osprey shifter."
The man gingerly took my hand. I noticed his clean, well-manicured nails as he rested a masculine yet dainty hand on mine. "Nishiki. Koi shifter."
"A koi," I said, nodding with this new knowledge. "My mistake. I thought you were an unusual-looking carp."
Nishiki let out a laugh. "I don't know if I've ever been called unusual-looking before."
I got the sense that he wasn't offended, just amused. If I had said something like that to another alpha, I had no doubt that they would've taken it the wrong way.
I decided I couldn't stave off my curiosity any longer. "Sorry to ask this so bluntly, Nishiki, but what are you?"
"I am..." Nishiki wrung the water out of his hair. "Soaking wet."
I smiled.
"But, um, if you're asking what's my status or whatever, I'm an alpha." He said it almost hesitantly, like he was waiting for me to make a disparaging remark about it.
As if reading my thoughts, he sighed. "I know I probably don't seem like one. It's just… It's a long story, okay?"
"You seem like one just fine to me," I said. “And I don't mind hearing the long story, either."
Nishiki paused playing with his hair and regarded me for a moment. Something flickered behind his eyes, then a slow, almost shy smile spread over his lips. "Why don't we get out of the pond first? Even though I'm a fish, I don't like having pond scum touching me."
We hauled ourselves out of the water. Even in human form, it didn't take me long to dry off, especially since I had a lot less hair than Nishiki. He was still wringing water out of it and wiping the aforementioned pond scum off his legs. Nudity was a common fact of life for shifters, especially wild ones like myself, so it was no novelty to me, but I couldn't help but follow the trail of light golden hair up Nishiki's calves and over his abdomen.
He noticed me looking at him and blushed. "What?"
"You have a nice body," I said honestly.
Nishiki stared at me before letting out a laugh, shaking his head.
"Did I say something to upset you?" I asked.
"No. It's just that… for some reason, it sounds a lot less creepy when you say it. Compared to other people, I mean. And it's weird because I barely know you."
He looked away, twirling a strand of hair. "But this is like, normal, right? For shifters to be naked?"
"Yes." I paused, taking in the meaning of his question. "Are you not familiar with it?"
"Um... no," he mumbled. He frowned as if caught between feeling guilty and defensive. "Anyway, I told you it was a long story."
"I'm not in a hurry."
Nishiki didn't say anything for a while, then suddenly gasped, his face drawn up in horror. "Wait. Oh, God. I have no idea where I am!" He moaned. "How am I ever gonna get back to Nero?"
I tried not to feel a flicker of jealousy at the mention of some other man. There were more important things to focus on right now. "It's okay, calm down. We'll figure it out."
"Do you know where we are?" he asked.
I scanned the surroundings. I wasn't used to seeing things at ground level like this, but if I shifted and soared above the trees I could've gained a better perspective. I refrained from doing that at the moment though because Nishiki looked so upset. I got the feeling he didn't want to be left alone.
“Not well," I admitted. "But we can figure it out."
Nishiki whimpered and kneeled down as if trying to make himself smaller. "I'm so dumb. I never should've gone off on my own…"
I put my hand on his shoulder. "I don't know what happened, but it's all right. You're not dumb. I'll get you back. I promise."
