Page 106 of Beasts of Mine

“I’d finally know peace.” I told Tavian with a sweet smile that made him laugh and face forward again. The conversation stayed with me after we started moving. This wasn’t courtship—not yet. I hadn’t agreed to anything, and none of them had acted as though interest automatically gave them some claim on me. But for the first time, I knew the food, the company, the constant presence, and the attention weren’t entirely one-sided anymore.

Malek had liked me when I was still calling him Cat and fussing over his bandages. Tavian had apparently decided stealing my lens cloth counted as flirting. Luca had quietly memorized where I kept everything and noticed just as much about me as I noticed about the forest.

They were interested in me.

That should have been much simpler to deal with than shapeshifting leopards and hidden magic.

It wasn’t.

A few minutes later, Tavian drifted closer while I stepped around a slick stretch of exposed roots. His shoulder nearly brushed mine before the warmth of his body registered beside me, followed by the citrus-and-spice edge of his scent.

I turned my head.

Tavian leaned toward my braid.

“Are you smelling my hair?” I asked Tavian slowly as I stopped in the middle of the trail and found his face less than a foot away.

“Yes.” Tavian admitted after taking one last deliberate breath, straightening without even attempting to look embarrassed.

“You could at least pretend you weren’t.” I suggested to Tavian while pulling my braid over the opposite shoulder.

“Why?” Tavian frowned slightly, his genuine confusion somehow making the behavior worse. “It smells good.”

“Tavian.” Luca warned him gently from my other side, although the amusement around his eyes ruined most of the reprimand.

“What?” Tavian defended himself to Luca with one hand spread between us. “She asked.”

“I asked if you were doing it. I did not ask for commentary.” I corrected Tavian as I resumed walking and kept my braid safely on the opposite shoulder.

“Still smells good.” Tavian informed me from several steps behind, completely unapologetic. I ignored him, mostly because the glands beneath my jaw had reacted the second he leaned close and Tavian absolutely did not need to know how much.

Several minutes later, the trail widened enough for Malek to move past me. He shifted one of the bags to his opposite shoulder as he went, and the side of his jaw brushed once along the strap crossing my chest.

I stopped.

The contact had lasted barely a second, but cedar strengthened immediately around me. Malek took another step before realizing I wasn’t following and turned back.

“Did you just scent-mark my camera bag?” I asked Malek as I lifted the strap between two fingers and stared at him.

“No.” Malek denied it after glancing toward the strap with an impressively neutral expression.

“You rubbed your jaw on it.” I reminded Malek, keeping my eyes fixed on him.

“I adjusted the strap.” Malek claimed as he shifted the bags on his shoulders.

“With your face.” I pointed out to Malek.

“It was twisted.” Malek defended himself, his expression staying perfectly straight.

“It was not.” I told Malek, narrowing my eyes. Malek held my stare without answering.

“Cat.” I warned him, putting enough emphasis into the nickname that Tavian immediately burst out laughing behind me.

“Fine.” Malek conceded as the corner of his mouth finally betrayed him, turning back toward the trail as though admitting guilt ended the discussion. I watched him walk away for several seconds before looking at Luca.

“What exactly did he just do?” I asked Luca, motioning toward Malek’s back and then the strap that now smelled noticeably more like cedar.

“Mostly put his scent on something you carry.” Luca explained as he stepped beside me, faint amusement still warming his face. “Shifters do that with people we’re comfortable with. Clothes, blankets, belongings.”