Page 65 of Monster. Me.

"What the fuck are you doing! He’s unconscious, you idiots!" Reed’s voice snaps behind us.

That brings me back to my senses. I break the kiss, forcing myself away from those powerful and hot arms.

"Is your other form a predator?" I mutter

"Yes," he answers quietly.

That kind of attack speed points to his nature. I have pretty good speed myself, so it makes me start wondering what kind of shifter Fenn Drax is. But I'm somehow afraid to dig into that topic. Talking about shifters just doesn’t come easily to me, even if my curiosity keeps growing.

"Step away!" Reed growls, thrashing furiously, trying to squeeze past Fenn to reach Wilhelm, but he doesn’t even flinch, his purple eyes fixed on me.

I guess Fenn’s secret will have to wait a little longer. I'm not ready to ask him directly, anyway.

"I have to go… take care, Fenn," I say quickly and turn around, throwing him a loaded, intense look.

As I walk away, I hear Reed trying to revive Wilhelm. He doesn’t look permanently damaged, and that’s fine. I don’t want anything added to Fenn’s sentence because of this.

Fenn Drax calmly lies back on the bed, but his eyes follow me as I leave, glowing in the dim corridor like a predator watching its appetizing quarry. I know that look. It’s part of my nature too.

◆◆◆

The next day, during the break between pheromone exposure sessions, I head to Rainbow Spring.

The drive feels dreamlike. My mind is somewhere else entirely.

The only thing I can think about is turning into a cat, slipping into a ventilation shaft, and then…

Throwing myself at Fenn? Yeah, this is already insane, but I'm thinking about him all the time.

All. The. Time!

I thought I had already given up on the idea that what’s between us could be some kind of magical Pull. After all, we can’t be fated mates. He’s a purple alpha, hello. And I’m not a rose omega, that much is clear.

So why does absolutely everything keep drawing me toward him in exactly the way they describe it between True Mates?

I keep running scenarios through my head over and over, until they're practically spinning around in there.

Fenn Drax. Who is he to me?

I’m drawn to the need he carries, the longing, and our shared nature.

We bear the inability to belong among humans, the sense of being different, rejected, the loneliness, the secret, the struggle of living as something other than what the world expects.

What if I got to know him better? What if we became close?

Lovers, partners, but how?

It sounds ridiculous, but I can't stop wondering.

Could we share moments like that: just sitting on the porch of a small house surrounded by flowers, holding hands while the evening settles around us? A serenity that I crave, yet that seems so far away, unreal, like a fairy tale.

I almost laugh at myself, but I let the fantasy continue.

What if we left all this insanity behind and traded it for a quiet family life somewhere far away from everyone else? Had kids, be happy.

Okay, now that’s too much.

I finally chuckle. Can anyone believe in such an idyllic life in our situation and still call themselves sane?