Page 115 of Beasts of Mine

“I need to go.” I adjusted the strap across my chest and glanced toward the station route before turning back to them.

“I know.” Malek stood a few feet away, his posture relaxed even though his attention had already moved once toward the trail I would be taking.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I told all three of them, realizing only after the words were out how naturally I had assumed there would be a tomorrow.

Tavian’s smile appeared first.

“We’ll be here.” Tavian leaned one shoulder against the nearest tree, clearly pleased by what I had said.

“Not at the station.” I pointed at Tavian before that smile could develop into an idea.

“I know where the line is.” Tavian lifted his hands briefly, laughter still sitting in his eyes.

“Make your check-in.” Luca glanced toward the radio clipped at my hip, his reminder carrying the familiarity of someone who had watched me follow the same routine for days.

“I will.” I promised Luca before looking toward Malek. He didn’t tell me to be careful. He didn’t offer to follow me or make another attempt at carrying my bag. He simply watched me for a moment and nodded.

“Tomorrow, Evie.” Malek spoke quietly, the certainty in his voice settling warmly somewhere beneath my ribs.

“Tomorrow.” I answered Malek before turning toward the station. I made it several yards before realizing I was smiling. Knowing they were interested in me should have made the afternoon awkward. I should have spent the entire time wondering whether Tavian standing too close meant something, whether Malek watching me meant something, or whether Luca remembering exactly how I worked meant something.

Maybe some of it did.

But they had also let me do my job. They listened when I needed quiet, moved when I needed space, helped when I asked, and otherwise behaved like the same three impossible creatures I had already gotten used to having around. Nobody pressed me for an answer about what happened next.

More importantly, they hadn’t treated photography like something they had to tolerate to get my attention. They had worked around it, asked questions, and seemed genuinely interested in understanding a part of my life that existed long before any of them entered it.

I liked that, probably more than was convenient.

The distant hum of the generator reached me before the station appeared between the trees. I checked my watch, still comfortably short of six, and reached for the radio clipped at my hip.

I said I would be back.

And I would be.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

EVIE

By the next morning, I had discovered there was one major downside to being told three leopard shifters were interested in me: sleep became considerably harder when my brain had three attractive men to think about.

I had gone to bed at a reasonable hour. I’d checked my batteries, set out what I needed for the morning, taken my blockers, and even managed not to stare at the ceiling for the first twenty minutes. Then my mind started replaying yesterday, and strangely enough, the fact that Malek, Tavian, and Luca could turn into leopards wasn’t what kept me awake. Somehow that had already been pushed fairly far down the list of impossible things I was dealing with.

What stayed with me was what happened after they told me they were interested. Nothing dramatic had followed. They hadn’t spent the rest of the afternoon hovering around me waiting for an answer or trying to turn every interaction into something romantic. They had let me work. When I needed space, they gave it to me. When I stopped to photograph something, they stopped too. They asked questions because they were genuinely curious about what I was doing, not because they were waiting for me to put the camera away and pay attention to them instead.

I liked that more than was probably convenient.

Their confession followed me back to the station anyway, lingering through dinner, through checking my equipment, and eventually into bed. They were interested in me. All three of them. They hadn’t asked me to make a decision yesterday, and I was glad they hadn’t. It gave me time to decide what I actually wanted instead of reacting while three Alphas stood in front of me waiting for an answer.

By breakfast, I still didn’t have every answer, but I did know I wanted to see them again, and for the moment, that was enough to get me moving.

I ate, checked the weather information posted near the station office, and packed enough water and food to stay out most of the day if the wildlife cooperated. My radio went onto my belt beside the small medical pouch I always carried, and I checked my blockers and emergency heat medication before adding another charged battery and two empty memory cards to my camera bag.

Mara was already at the main table when I approached, one knee tucked beneath her chair while she worked through a notebook with a mug of coffee cooling beside her. The overhead fan pushed loose strands from her messy bun without doing much for the heat.

“Different route today?” Mara asked as she reached for the field log, glancing at the camera hanging against my hip before uncapping her pen.

“Eastern fork first, then northeast toward one of the smaller streams feeding into the main creek.” I rested one hand against the edge of the table while Mara wrote, mentally checking my gear one last time. “I’ve noticed quite a bit of bird traffic toward that side whenever I’m near the fork, but I haven’t spent much time there yet.”