Page 120 of Shifter Situations

My heart had been a clumsy bitch, and here I was…

Happy.

Despite the monstrous amount of bullshit that had or was happening, I was fucking happy.

Which only meant one thing.

Something was going to go horribly wrong soon.

That was the cycle of my life.

Hyde and Ripley stepped out of the Void a few feet away from us, and I didn’t have any more time to be consumed in my own thoughts.

Hyland Drake started bitching immediately.

“I swear, Lo, these assholes need to learn what space means. Ripley couldn’t even close the door to change clothes without one of those idiots standing on the other side.”

She snorted at herself. “Like neither of us knows how to climb out a window. Dolyn is a moron.”

Ripley pulled her hair over her shoulder, running her fingers through the ends.

“As it turns out, there’s no space in Stars. The idea of a safe place to stay is more than I’ve had in a long time, but I won’t be guarded like I’m china in a bull’s pen. I’m not delicate. I won’t break.”

“So Dolyn is being Dolyn, then? Over-protective, no sense of a personal bubble…” I massaged my temples as Hyde stomped around the yard.

“Yes and yes,” Ripley replied.

“The one guy, Tiago, is really talkative, and Ozlo is intensely quiet. He stared at me like he was trying to find the best way to tear me apart. When I asked him what his problem was, he walked off without a word, but then he was in every room I went in.”

“Ozlo is just weird,” Hyde admitted. “But he grows on you. Eventually, he’ll start talking, if Dolyn and the genie ever shut up. My brother has a few friends who are quiet like that and several who are just dicks. Wait until you meet Soren.”

“No thanks,” Ripley muttered. “The other guy that was with them was enough of a dick for me to steer clear. I was serious when I said I’d gut him for you.”

“Wait,” Jack broke his silence, holding his hands up. “Who was a dick to you?”

“My mate,” Hyde growled. “That’s why I’m freaking out. Arwen walked into the house—like he does every time he comes over—and decided to inform me that I was his.”

“The cute necromancer that was with Dolyn earlier? That Arwen?”

I put my hand over my mouth to cover my smile. Not that it was funny... But she was so worked up, I couldn’t understand why she didn’t do the Hyde thing and tell him to sit down and shut up.

“Yes,” she grumbled, rolling her eyes. “The very hot necromancer who told me a few weeks ago that he wasn’t into dating demons, much less one that was a decade younger than him.

“He didn’t care that I wasn’t interested in more than looking. Apparently, just checking him out while he trained with my brother was enough for him to let me know that he wasn’t fucking me.”

From the tree line, I heard a male yell, “That’s not what I said.”

Ripley shifted with no warning, snarling in the direction of his voice. Her panther form was as large as my wolf, all sinewy muscle, coiled to attack. She was a dire-breed.

“Yes, it fucking was,” Hyde shouted. “Stop stalking us.”

“Holy shit,” Jack whispered. “This is better than daytime television.”

I mentally called to my guys, “Can you come outside for a moment? I think I’m going to need some assistance.”

23

York