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“Hello! My Uncle Jeb was killed in a car accident because of a shifter.”
Emberly blinked a few times with a frown. “I remember his funeral, but what did a shifter have to do with it?”
“A damn wolf shifter chased a deer across the road, and Jeb swerved to avoid hitting them and died of complications at the hospital from the wreck. The shifter was never held accountable. Everyone said it was an accident, that the wolf couldn’t control himself during a chase. I tell you something right now...” Chloe’s voice rose again, tinged with anger. “If you’re dating a shifter, not only are you not in the wedding but we’re not friends anymore.”
Emberly scoffed. “First of all, I found a great guy last night and you should be happy for me. It shouldn’t matter that he’s a shifter.”
“Oh, it absolutely does. I’m not kidding, if you don’t drop him immediately, we’re done.”
Diesel could see that Emberly’s hands were shaking, and he supported the phone she held.
“It doesn’t make sense to hold the actions of one shifter against all of them. I’m really surprised at you, Chloe. I thought you were a better person than that.”
“Screw you, Emberly. Don’t bother showing up today. If you’re going to cavort with shifters, then I don’t want you around, anyway.”
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” she said, but her last words were cut off as Chloe ended the call. She stared at the phone screen, her lips pursed.
“Oh, sweetness,” he said, pressing his lips to her temple and breathing out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
She put the phone on the bed and turned into him. He held her close, wishing he could say something that would make it all better. But he’d learned a long time ago that some humans just flat-out didn’t like shifters and there was nothing that could be done to change their minds.
“I can’t believe she’s so closed-minded.”
“Some people think there’s something wrong with shifters, like we’re more animal than human and can’t be trusted. It’s unfair that she treated you like that.”
“Well,” she said, leaning back and blinking rapidly a few times to dispel the tears in her eyes, “while Chloe and I were good friends, she wasn’t my best friend by any stretch. We’re what my mom calls ‘hold-over high school friends.’ The kind of people you hang around with because you knew them in school and they still happen to be in the same town. I’m disappointed, but I think I’m actually more upset that she thinks badly about you without even meeting you more than not being in the wedding or still being friends with her.”
He chuckled. “She’s losing out by cutting you out of her life. But people like that only see what they want to see. In her mind, all shifters are bad simply because one wolf made a bad decision.”
“Have you ever chased a deer across a road?” she asked, leaning back and looking at him.
“We don’t leave the territory when we hunt, so no. Our territory is really big, so there’s no need to venture where humans are. If I had to guess, the wolf was probably young. When we first start shifting, it can be hard to control the animal instincts, so he might have just given chase without thinking about where he was. I’m sure he was sorry, but it wasn’t his fault. No different than a natural wolf scaring a deer into jumping out into the road and causing an accident.”
She sighed deeply. “I guess we don’t have plans for the night.”
“We can still go out,” he said. “I haven’t taken you on a proper first date.”
“To be fair, we only just met.” She smiled, her eyes clearing of sadness and glittering with happiness.
He’d never thought that his mate might lose friends because of him, but there were lions who would disown a family member for mating with a human, so the hate went both ways. He was thankful his mom wouldn’t care that Emberly was human and he could still stay in the pride, but he’d have been willing to walk away for her in a heartbeat. He didn’t begrudge the human her preconceived notions about shifters, but he was sorry for the pain his mate was going through.
“I have an idea,” he said.
“A naked one?” she asked, her eyes darkening.
“Now I do,” he said with a laugh. “But actually, I was thinking there’s a theater near the pride that has a pretty decent dinner menu – nothing fancy, but it’s good food. We could catch a movie and dinner, and I could take you to my place for the night.”
“I’m allowed in the territory, right?” she asked, crawling up the bed and giving his hand a tug so he could join her.
“Absolutely.”
“Good. Then I’d like to go to dinner and a movie and stay at your place. But first, I want to explore your naked idea.”
Chapter Eight
Diesel knocked twice on his mother’s front door before opening it and calling out, “Mom?”
“Family room, honey,” his mom called back.
