A tiger,she realized.A winged tiger.
She’d had no idea that kind of shifter even existed. As she watched in awe, the tiger folded its wings. Its huge shape shimmered, stretching up into the shape of a man.
If anything, he was even more intimidating in this form. Power draped his bulky frame like a shadow. His short, sleek hair was as black as his stripes in animal form. There was something of the tiger in his blunt, impassive features, too.
Oddly, he was wearing a suit, though it wasn’t as well-cut as Conleth’s. Paige suspected there was more than muscle hidden under that boxy black jacket. Despite the warmth of the day, black leather gloves covered his powerful hands. When he turned his head to survey the area, Paige saw the wire of an earpiece running down one side of his neck.
“Are we being visited by the Men in Black?” she murmured to Conleth.
“Not exactly,” he muttered back. “Though you’re closer than you might think. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”
Zephyr had already gone to greet their visitor. A little warily, Paige followed Conleth over as well.
“Special Agent Shan,” Zephyr said, holding out a hand. “It’s been a while.”
Agent Shan made no move to accept the handshake. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, or even where he was looking. Mirrored sunglasses covered his eyes, showing Paige nothing but her own reflection.
After a moment, Zephyr turned the spurned handshake into a gesture of introduction, motioning at Paige. “You already know Conleth, of course. And this is?—”
“Paige Brown.” Shan’s voice was a deep bass rumble. “I have read her file.”
Paige blinked. “I have a file?”
The special agent’s head turned very slightly in her direction. “We keep track of notable individuals.”
Paige felt her bear stir, ready to face down a threat. Conleth must have sensed her animal’s agitation too, because he sent a pulse of reassurance down the mate bond.
“Agent Shan works for the Federal Bureau of Shifter Affairs,” he said to her. “They’re a secret government organization responsible for maintaining the secrecy of shifterkind, and addressing significant threats to our safety.”
“I didn’t realize you were still a field agent,” Zephyr said to the agent. “Last I heard, you’d been promoted.”
“Circumstances change,” Shan said, somewhat shortly. “I have been reassigned to this region, given my previous experience with threats here.”
Zephyr’s eyebrows rose. “If this is about old history, I can assure you that particular threat is in no danger of reappearing. My mate disposed of it quite thoroughly.”
“That is not the purpose of this visit,” Shan replied. “The local sheriff has requested Shifter Affairs review some unsolved casesin this area. It seems that since learning of our existence, he is convinced a number of incidents may be due to shifter activity.”
“And Shifter Affairs sent you to investigate?” Conleth said. “Seems rather like hunting rats with a full artillery battery.”
Shan’s impassive expression didn’t flicker, yet Paige had the distinct impression the special agent was in whole-hearted agreement. “Given the sensitive nature of this camp, Shifter Affairs treats any reports of incidents in the vicinity with utmost gravity.”
Paige rifled through her memories of recent conversations over her mom’s dinner table. “I know the sheriff has been investigating some odd reports. People getting spooked by weird lights in the woods, or someone breaking into houses but only stealing a few pieces of clothing. That kind of thing. But I thought they sounded more like pranks than anything serious.”
Shan’s head dipped in a fractional nod. “That is my hypothesis as well. Could campers be responsible?”
“I don’t see how,” Zephyr said. “Our campers might prank each other or their counselors, but I don’t think any of them would do something that would threaten the secrecy of the camp. Besides which, we maintain very strict curfew rules, and have counselors patrolling the boundaries in their shift form at night. It would be difficult for campers to sneak all the way to town.”
Shan made a noncommittal sound deep in his throat. “I will need to review your security?—”
“Conleth! Zephyr!” Leonie called. She bustled over, head buried in her clipboard. “I need to talk to you both at once.”
“Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait.” Conleth pointedly pushed Leonie’s clipboard down, directing her attention to their visitor. “Little busy at the moment.”
“But,” Leonie started—and then noticed Shan. Her eyes widened. “Oh. Sorry.”
“No, stay,” Zephyr said, as Leonie turned to go again. “You should be part of this, too. Shan, this is Leonie MacCormick, our head counselor. Though I suspect you knew that. Leonie, this is Special Agent Shan, from Shifter Affairs. He wants to ask us some questions.”
Leonie frowned, looking Shan up and down. “What kind of questions?”
