“Five minutes.”I open the door fully.
He steps in and a haze of something outdoorsy follows him.Pine forests and earth.It’s heady and somehow reassuring.
“Nice place,” he says, looking around and his nose twitching as if he’s taking in scents.
“Start talking.”I stay near the door and fold my arms.
He leans his butt on my table and curls his fingers around the edges of it.“I’ll answer your questions, that’s probably easier.”
I tuck my hair behind my ears, likely a hideous mess.“How did you find me?”
“Your scent.It’s quite unique.”
I frown.“What?”
“I’m answering your questions.Next.”He tips his head and studies me.
“Who is the guy you were with?”
“That’s Branson Tucker.”
“Your boyfriend?”
“Not exactly.”
“I saw you kissing.”I clench my jaw and remember the erotic sight of them doing more than kissing.They were all over each other, touching each other, pressing up close.It was hot as hell and I’d thought—hoped—I was going to witness them fucking.
“We have history,” he says and points to a photograph of my only cousin abseiling when he first moved to New Zealand ten years ago.I hadn’t seen him since.“That your boyfriend?”
“No, a cousin.”
“No man in your life then?”
“I thought I was asking the questions.”
He inclines his head.“Do continue.”
“I know you’re a shifter.”
“And what do you know about shifters?”
“People who can become animals.But ...they’re not real.Shifters.”I rub my eyes.They’re a little gritty.“I don’t...”
“You don’t have to understand everything you see, just believe it.”He pushes away from the table.“Shifters are part of the world.Not many humans know that, you should feel privileged.”
“How did my video disappear?”
“Ah, so you did capture us.”He chuckles and comes closer still.
I stare up into his eyes, and then at his lips as he speaks.
“A century or so ago our elders sourced a spell to make sure we were never filmed or photographed.It’s for the best.Our image just can’t be harnessed by technology.Or if it is, it quickly disappears.”
“But how?”
“I go back to my point about not understanding everything, just believing it.”
His dark stubble is peppered with gray, and I lick my dry lips and clear my throat.There’s something magnetic about him, I can’t stop looking at the sharp angles of his face and the flash in his eyes.“So...”I manage.“When you’re not human, you are a ...dog?”
