Bowen cocked his head to the side and asked, “Like a cheetah?”
That wasnotthe question I was expecting. “Cheetah?”
“Yeah, the guy at the pickleball court, he’s a cheetah.”
A growl rolled through me as the flash of pheromones he was giving off while talking to Bowen hit me, and I couldn’t stop the snarl that fell from my lips. “I thought he smelled catty.”
The man across from me let out a loud laugh. “Not a fan of cats, then?”
“Generally speaking, they’re fine, I guess. Cats tend not to like me, mostly. Not all cats, since my best friend happens to be a griffin. But it’s not that. I didn’t like the way he was trying to take what’s…” I stopped myself before saying the word, a growl rumbling low in my chest at the thought. Fuck! I had no right to feel so possessive of this man I barely knew. Even the memory of seeing the guy talking with Bowen made my wolf want to tear free again.
Bowen’s brows arched up and his eyes lit with interest. “Finish your thought, Rudy. If you don’t want to say it out loud, you can let your wolf do the talking, and it will stay a secret between us.”
“Mine!” The word came out with a bite before I could try to hold it back. I scrubbed a hand over my face, feeling my cheeks flush hot, and mumbled, “Shit, sorry.”
“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” When I looked up to meet Bowen’s gaze, I was surprised to see him grinningwidely.
“You don’t?”
“Nope. It’s kind of nice, actually. I’ve met a lot of animals, and they can be very protective of me.So… it’s a little familiar, and a little bit not, considering you’renotan animal.”
I felt my own lips stretch into a smile at the simple acceptance in the statement. Perhaps I wouldn’t push or scare him away with my wolf-ness. That I could be me, whichever part of me that presented itself, and he wouldn’t run.Gods, please don’t let him run. I already knew it would devastate me if he did. A feeling I didn’t understand, but it was there all the same.
Bowen
The man across from me was scruffy, in clothes too big, but handsome in a wild sort of way. When he smiled, though, I could see some of the fear and worry fall off him, anddamn, he was gorgeous. Especially when his eyes flared with the wolf behind them. And hearing him call me his, well, I wasn’t being entirely forthcoming about the way that made me feel. It wasn’t a lie. I meant that I understood the protectiveness from my non-human friends, but with him…fuck, I wanted to hear it again.
“You can really talk to animals, like actually understand them?” Rudy asked.
“Yup. It’s not something I go around telling people usually. The times I have, it never ended well.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. Sometimes it’s easier and safer to keep the secret.”
Rudy had locked himself away to hide his wolf side. The thought of him in that room alone, his wolfpanicking and enraged, and not being able to let someone in… it made my heart ache. I shook my head. “No. Not easier. Safer, yes, that’s probably true. But not being able to be your full self isnevereasier.”
His gaze met mine, and I could feel the weight of how deeply he felt what I said.Mysecret kept me from any real kind of relationship. Mostly, I’d been fine with that, finding people to be rather tedious, but it didn’t mean I never got lonely. Never wished for a romantic or sexual partner, or to have someone to come home to. Animals filled the need for comfort and companionship, but not in the same way that a person would.
For Rudy, I imagined it was much the same. He had friends who knew about him and cared for him, but it didn’t stop him from letting fear drive him into a cold, hollow room.
Rudy blinked hard and cleared his throat. “How did that all start? The animal thing?”
“I don’t really know. As far back as I can remember.” I played with the cuff on my wrist out of habit. My eyes caught on the pewter knot design. A wolf. The sight of it sent a spark of electricity through me. I’d worn it every day since it had been given to me, but sitting across from a man who could turn into a wolf, it made me see it with new eyes. Why was it a wolf? Did that mean anything?
“Are you a witch? Zee thinks you might be.”
“A witch?No, I don’t think so. Though whatever it is, I think I might have inherited it. Nobody ever said for sure, and I was young when he died, but I think my great-grandfather might have been like me.” I traced a finger over the knots I’d memorized on my bracelet. “Who’s Zee?”
“Oh, Zephyr, he’s the griffin I mentioned. He’s the head chef.”
The chef! The chef was Rudy’s best friend? “And why does he think I might be a witch?”
Rudy’s cheeks flushed again in that way I found refreshingly endearing. He was a man who couldn’t hide his emotions, and I rather liked that after having dealt with so many people who never said what they were thinking.
His blue eyes slid to the other side of the couch, bringing fresh flames to his cheeks. It had me looking at the couch as if I could see what he saw. “Because… I’ve been a little out of sorts lately.”
“Andhowdoes that equal me being a witch?”
Rudy scruffed his hand through his hair, making it messier and somehow sexier. “Well, it started when you got here, and he thinks you’ve done something to me.”
