Page 51 of Beasts of Mine

“Right,” Luca admitted, a small, sheepish smile appearing before he looked back at us.

I laughed quietly despite myself. It faded when I thought about the part that couldn't be fixed by repairing a generator.

“She'd also have to know what we are,” I told my packmates, looking toward the thick vegetation surrounding the spring. “And keep it quiet.”

Tavian's humor disappeared. Human society knew Alphas, Betas, and Omegas. Blockers, suppressants, heats, scent control, pack relationships, and designation-specific medicine were ordinary parts of their lives.

Shifters weren't.

Neither was most old magic.

Humans had spent generations cataloguing forests and naming everything they found while never realizing how much had deliberately stayed out of sight. Our people were able to continue living the way we did because each community protected that secrecy.

Evie complicated it even further. She was a photographer. Her career depended on noticing what other people missed and bringing back proof. Eventually, if this went anywhere, we would have to tell her that the greatest discovery of her career was something she could never publish.

Tavian rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.

“We tell her before anything gets serious,” Tavian said, his voice losing the last of its teasing as he looked between Luca and me. “Not tomorrow. Obviously. But before we're asking anything big from her. She can't figure out whether our life works with hers if she doesn't know what our life is.”

“Agreed,” Luca told Tavian, nodding once while the water continued running quietly over the stones beside him.

I agreed too.

That conversation would come. For now, Evie still believed I was a leopard named Cat. Tomorrow she would meet two more.

I looked toward Tavian. He caught the look immediately.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Tavian asked, narrowing his eyes as suspicion entered his face.

“I'm reconsidering tomorrow,” I told Tavian, folding my arms.

“You can't reconsider tomorrow,” Tavian protested, pushing away from the rock. “You already told me.”

“I can absolutely reconsider tomorrow,” I told Tavian, watching his expression become increasingly offended. Luca reached for the remainder of his clothing.

“I'd behave if I were you,” Luca told Tavian, fastening his shirt while amusement returned to his eyes. “Otherwise you'll spend the afternoon hiding far enough away that even you can't smell her.”

Tavian stared at him.

“You wouldn't,” Tavian told Luca, then turned quickly toward me when Luca only smiled. “He wouldn't.”

“I would,” I told Tavian, keeping my face perfectly serious. Tavian looked between us before apparently deciding there was enough possibility of truth to make caution worthwhile.

“Fine,” Tavian told us, raising both hands. “I'll behave.”

Luca and I said nothing.

Tavian's eyes narrowed.

“I can behave,” Tavian insisted, lowering his hands as he looked between us.

“Tomorrow,” I told Tavian, turning toward the path leading back to the temple, “you can prove it.”

Tavian muttered something behind me that I chose not to hear. Luca fell into step at my side while Tavian followed several paces behind, unusually quiet for nearly half a minute. Then his voice came through the trees.

“Cat,” Tavian called after me, laughter already breaking through the word as he apparently decided his promise to behave didn't begin until tomorrow.

I kept walking.