Page 31 of Maneater

“Wait.” Panic rises in me. “You’re not going to be like the Hulk or something. Like, forget who you are and start ripping everything—and everyone—to shreds?”

Rex's head jerks back as if I’ve slapped him. “No! Of course not. I’ll only ever protect you. That’s what I was doing when the mountain lion attacked you.”

Regardless of his reassurances, I cross my arms and give him a wide berth. “Okay, just checking.”

Rex pauses, pressing his lips together and rubbing his forehead before meeting my eyes again. “I’ll never hurt you, Darien. I promise.”

I open my mouth to respond, but the words are stolen as the muscles in Rex’s body begin to morph. Expanding, ballooning, his bulk increasing with such force I’m sure his skin will peel off like a banana.

Instead, fur sprouts across his torso and limbs, claws curling where fingernails used to be. Then the part that stood out so vividly in my mind—his horns. The moment they extend all the way out from his skull, I’m done.

But instead of running, I collapse.

Chapter Ten

Rex

I’ve made an awful mistake. Why did I think confessing to Darien was a good idea?

My heart thunders and my stomach twists as I cradle him in my arms. This is why revealing ourselves to humans is so frowned upon. He’ll probably have nightmares for the rest of his life and never want to go into the woods again—his favorite thing to do. And it’ll be all my fault.

If I really cared about him, I should’ve resisted the selfish urge to come clean. Making this all about me was wrong. So what if I’m painfully lonely and think I’m falling in love with Darien? I had no right to ruin things for him.

My breath catches as he stirs, his eyes fluttering. I’m not prepared for his reaction, but at least I had enough sense to shift back.

“Darien? How are you feeling?” He gazes up at me with wide eyes as if trying to work out whether I’m real or not. “Please forgive me. I never should’ve done this to you.” My eyes burn. “I’ll understand if you tell the rangers or authorities, go to the press. I can leave and find somewhere deep in the wilderness to hide. It’s what I deserve for being so thoughtless and selfish.”

Darien furrows his brow, and he pushes himself up. I loosen my hold, but even though he climbs off my lap, he sits down cross-legged next to me.

“Wow.” He’s staring holes through me, yet he doesn’t seem afraid anymore. “It’s fucking real. You’re a cryptid. An honest-to-God legendary creature.”

I cringe. “Please don’t call me a creature. It hurts my feelings.”

His jaw slackens. “Oh damn, sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude.”

To say I’m perplexed by his response is mild. Maybe he doesn’t hate me after all.

“No, please don’t apologize.” This is super uncomfortable. I’ve never given one second of thought to what I’d do if a human ever discovered my true identity. “Again, my actions were selfish. I was thinking with my heart and not my head.”

Darien tilts his head. “Yeah, so, along with the thousands of questions I have about the Howler situation, I’m confused by the whole selfish thing. Why was it selfish? I’m the one who’s been pestering you about whether they’re real. And I don’t get what you mean about your heart leading you.” He pinches his eyebrows together. “What are you trying to say?”

“Err…” My thoughts drift to WWBD, as in ‘what would Boone do’, but maybe it’s time I put my big cryptid pants on and deal with this quandary myself. “So… I wasn’t kidding when I said I feel a connection to you. I don’t have anyone I can enjoy my surroundings with, anyone who feels the same deep link with nature as me. I have my animal friends, but not having anyone I can talk to without having to hide who I am has been awful.”

It’s not until I say it out loud that the truth hits me so hard. “I’m so lonely.” I give a small shrug. “I thought maybe you were feeling something similar because you don’t have any friends or family here.”

Darien bites his lip, his eyes glimmering. “What about the healer guy or those other Howlers that haven’t left the Ozarks? You never hang out with them?”

I let out a grunt. “Edgel barely leaves his cave and never-ending stream of reality shows anymore, and I don’t really vibe with the others. We don’t have a lot in common.”

Darien snorts. “Am I an ass for assuming that being a Howler is all the commonality you need?”

I smirk. “We don’t have a hive mind.”

Darien nods. “Yup. I’m being an ass.” He rubs his chin. “So you literally have no friends at all, no one to talk to ever?”

“No, I have friends. I chat with the guys on the Monster Network quite a bit.” I smile with a bit of pride. “I'm the US Network Secretary, so I have a lot of interaction with them.”

Darien’s eyebrows shoot up. “Monster Network. Monster? What the actual fuck.”