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His warm golden eyes widen and his lips soften under his mustache and beard, tilting at the corner.
“And Thorny Grey-Owl.” The owl shifter pushes past us both, entering the surf shop. “Excellent. Now that we’ve all met, let’s discuss the next steps in your mating ritual.”
Keenan follows Thorny in, a warning in his voice as he says, “Thorny. Drop it.”
I close the door. “Mating ritual?” I glance at Keenan who gives me a wink and a smile. Not just a smile, but a slow sexy one that sets flight to the butterflies in my stomach. I’ve never been into beards, but this guy… he might change my mind.
I jump as Thorny slams his briefcase on top of the counter, rattling the lineup of Hula dancer’s Pinky’s got glued across the top of her cash register. “The King sent me with your official mating paperwork including a pre-nuptial agreement and a settlement offer to the bride’s family for their loss.”
“Their loss?” I ask alarmed. “What loss?”
“Thorny!” Keenan snarls and I take a quick step away from him.
“What is my family supposed to be losing?” Then I remember that this is a simple case of mistaken identity, and I am in fact no one’s mate, no matter how sexy the potential groom-to-be is. “I don’t have much family, but it doesn’t matter, I’m not marring anyone.”
“Mating, dear, not marrying,” Thorny clarifies. “Unless you wish to be married as well, like his Royal Highness, Rush Wolven-North, and his bride Magdalene Rage Witch. A ceremony can be arranged at your convenience and in the place of your choosing, though of course, it will have to be both human and shifter friendly.”
“I… what?” I can’t seem to wrap my head around this situation. I feel like I’ve been unwillingly strapped into an amusement park ride and the carnies are refusing to let me off.
“You’ve met a Rage Witch?” Pinky’s curious voice filters down to us as she sleepily descends the stairs in her Pikachu onesie. “Those are like, really rare, aren’t they?”
“Indeed,” Thorny says, sticking his hand out. “Thorny Gray-Owl at your service, ma’am.”
“Pinky Dragonshore,” she says on a yawn, pumping his hand up and down. “What’re you guys doing in my shop?”
Keenan sniffs the air, a low rumbling growl starting in his throat, his Adam’s apple vibrating as he tenses. Gooseflesh ripples up my arms and I glance around trying to pinpoint what’s setting him off.
“Whoa, down boy,” Pinky says testily. “I like these pajamas.”
“There’s an unknown shifter here,” he snarls, shifting from human to wolf so fast if I’d blinked, I’d have missed it.
As his proportions morph and stretch, I’m thrust backwards into Thorny, who says, “Shit,” before shifting into an owl and flying toward the stairs, clearly intent on getting upstairs in the quickest way possible.
Keenan leaps in front of me, shoving me backwards into the shop door and covering me with his furry body as he bares his teeth at Pinky and lets out a hair-raising growl.
“Damn it,” Pinky mutters. “Fine, let’s play, wolf.”
POOF.
In an instant, Pinky’s pajamas fly apart as she shifts from her human form to her dragon form. A window smashes and a display case crashes into a wall as her giant pink body, long neck and massive head fill the tiny shop.
Keenan’s body is pressed into mine where I’m shoved against the door. I can barely breathe as Pinky roars her annoyance, lowering her head to stare at us. Well, not at me, but at Keenan who’s trying his best to look fierce while the end of Pinky’s fluffy magenta tail waves in his face.
I reach around and twist the doorknob behind me, tumbling outside as it opens. I’m not hurt though as Keenan does a majestic flip out the door and somehow manages to land underneath me as we sprawl in the sand.
Pinky’s giant face blinks at us from the doorway and a second later she shifts to her human form, snatching up a beach towel from a rack and wrapping it around herself.
Pointing at Keenan, she snaps, “You owe me 60 bucks. I loved those pajamas!” She sniffs her disgust. “Vanessa, the couch is yours, but you need to get rid of the mongrel first.” She slams the door.
I glare at the white wolf who picks himself up off the ground and shakes, sending sand in every direction. “You are a very bad dog,” I say sharply, hands on my hips. “Now turn human so we can deal with this mating nonsense.”
Chapter 4
The Call of the Wild
KEENAN
I flinch when Vanessa calls me a dog, but I deserve her ire. I decide to give her what she wants, though I’d rather stay in wolf form so I don’t have to explain my idiocy to her.
