Page 93 of Beasts of Mine

“So that’s where it came from.” Luca glanced briefly toward the trees before returning his attention to me.

“Yep.” I lowered my hand into my lap. “One minute I was listening to normal rainforest noise. The next, every animal around me had something to say.”

“I wondered how a human ended up having conversations with half the forest.” Tavian rubbed his thumb along his jaw, amusement creeping back into his expression.

“You could have asked.” I gave Tavian a look as a heavy drop of water struck one of the broad leaves behind him and rolled toward the ground.

“You were already talking to us.” Tavian lifted one shoulder. “I figured whatever caused it was working in our favor.”

“Very considerate of you.” I rested my forearms against my thighs again. “Some animals communicate more clearly than others. Birds and mammals usually give me actual words. Insects are more like impressions, but I still understand what they mean.”

Luca glanced toward the trees surrounding the ruins.

“A spirit giving that kind of gift to a human is unusual.” Luca’s expression had gone thoughtful as he absently brushed a bit of moss from the stone beside him. “I’ve heard stories about nature spirits helping people, but nothing quite like that.”

“So even the supernatural people think this is strange.” I leaned back slightly against the stone, strangely comforted by that.

“We think Tavian is strange too.” Malek delivered the observation without changing his expression.

Tavian turned toward him.

“That was unnecessary.” Tavian pressed one hand to his chest, looking genuinely offended for all of two seconds. I laughed before I could stop myself.

“Actually, that helped.” I looked toward Malek as the corner of his mouth moved. The conversation should have made things feel less strange. Instead, now that my brain had stopped shouting leopard men long enough to pay attention to anything else, I became much more aware of the three scents filling the damp courtyard.

Malek’s was the easiest to recognize. Cedar, rain-dark earth, and a faint trace of smoke. I’d known that scent for days. It had clung to his fur while I changed his bandages and filled the cramped shelter beneath the roots during the storm.

Standing in front of him now, though, there was something beneath those familiar notes that I hadn’t known how to interpret when he’d been a leopard.

Alpha.

I’d been around enough Alphas in my life to recognize the designation immediately. What caught me off guard was the difference beneath it. Malek still smelled unmistakably Alpha, but there was a richer, wilder edge threaded through his scent that I’d never noticed around human Alphas.

My attention moved to Tavian.

Sun-warmed wood, crushed citrus leaves, spice.

Alpha.

Then Luca. Sandalwood, fresh herbs, and something warmer underneath.

Alpha.

Three of them.

“Well, that explains something else.” I breathed in carefully, trying to separate what was familiar from what wasn’t.

“Explains what?” Tavian’s eyebrows lifted, though the twitch at the corner of his mouth suggested he already suspected.

“You’re all Alphas.” I looked between the three men. “I can smell it now.”

“You couldn’t before?” Luca asked me, genuine curiosity replacing the last of his amusement.

“I could smell each of you before.” I glanced toward Malek. “I just didn’t smell Alpha and think secondary designation while you were leopards.”

“That makes sense.” Luca shifted his weight against the damp stone. “Our scent doesn’t disappear when we shift, but humans usually have a harder time recognizing designation when we’re in animal form.”

“Apparently my brain filed cedar and wet earth under unusually good-smelling leopard.” I gave Malek a quick once-over before realizing what I’d said.