“Because you were so torn up about Remy.”
Great. My problems with the guy I liked were so significant that Jackson decided to alter my world view. Gods, I must have been such a pain lately and so self-centered.
“That doesn’t compute.” I rested my head on the wheel because as a human, I was a tiny cog in the wheel of life, but learning I’d been sharing the world with shifters was life-altering. I’d always look at people and wonder if they were going to sprout fur.
“Remy is a shifter too.”
Oh shit. I’d fallen for a guy who did have a significant other, but instead of it being another guy, it was a four-legged beast.
“Do your wolves have a club or something?”
“I’ve never met the guy, but his scent gave him away.” Jackson turned to face me. “And he’s not a wolf.”
I banged my head on the wheel, thinking the pain might bring me back to reality. Whatever this was, whatever Jackson was telling me, was fantasy.
“He’s a koala.”
That one word took me back to Remy talking about gum leaves. Holy shit, the animal inside him needed to eat gum leaves.
“Koalas are so cute and cuddly. They’re not scary like wolves.”
“Wait till you meet tigers and bears.” Jackson chuckled, but the laughter died when he took one look at my face.
“He said he only likes them on the tree, not on a plate.” I pictured me waking up at his house and sticking my head outside and waving to my husband who was in a tree munching his breakfast.
“He’s unlucky in that he can’t find his food in the woods as I can.”
I had to confront Remy. We couldn’t go on with him pretending he was human. I turned the car around and sped back to town. Jackson talked about shifters and the different animals and how he only told me because Remy was my one and only. He didn’t know that. Heck, I didn’t either, and how did I make a life with a koala shifter?
“You need to have the talk.”
I nodded and drove off. It was five minutes from Jackson’s to Remy’s, but if he wasn’t in the house, I might have to climb the trees in his back yard.
14
REMY
I was beyond excited about our trip to the cabin, but equally terrified it was going to go terribly wrong. I kept telling myself it would be fine. We cared about each other. He was understanding and kind and would forgive me for not telling him right away. But a part of me worried I was lying to myself, that when it came down to it, he was going to get scared and run away.
It was time, though. I’d already waited far too long. Part of my plan for the weekend included making sure he had the car keys so if he wanted to leave, he could. I could find my own way home, but I refused to make him feel trapped. Ideally, we’d be at his place, where he felt safest, but he didn’t exactly live in a shifter-filled neighborhood. Neither did I.
I considered having him meet me there, but he got so excited about the trip and stopping for snacks along the way that I couldn’t find it in myself to bring it up.
This was all going to work itself out. At least, that was what I had to hold on to, because any other result was unacceptable to me.
I was double and triple-checking everything on my list for the weekend when I heard a car pull into the driveway. I wasn’t expecting anyone until I met up with Hari in a few hours and figured it was a delivery I’d forgotten about. I went to the window and was shocked to see it was Hari. Wasn’t he working?
He climbed out of the car and came racing to my door, like something was wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong. My stomach dropped. I didn’t know the matter, but it couldn’t be good.
I opened the door, and he rushed in, looking me up and down over and over again, not saying a word for the longest time.
“You care about me, right?” he finally asked.
“More than anything,” I said.Where was this coming from?
“And you’ll never hurt me, right? I mean, maybe hurt my feelings by accident, but not like… hurt me, hurt me, right?”
“Are you asking if I would hit you?” What had I done to make him fear that? Or maybe it wasn’t me and a friend of his was in a bad situation. Either way, all I wanted to do was soothe him and let him know that everything was going to be fine and that he was always safe with me.
