Page 36 of Purrfectly Outfoxed

‘She deserves the truth.’

‘You don’t know how she’ll react?—’

‘She’s LONELY, Jasper. She just told us. And we’ve been lying to her this whole time, eating her food, living in her house?—’

‘Don’t fucking do it.’

But I’m already making the decision. Already feeling the shift start to ripple through me.

I change.

And Jasper bolts. Coward.

My skin prickles as the shift completes, leaving me crouched there in human form, bare as the day I was born, heart hammering while I glare at the empty spot where Jasper just vanished like the spineless fox he is. Fury surges through me—how dare he abandon me in this moment, leaving me to face Bea alone?

Bea gasps, scrambling back against the door. “Whiskers?”

“Hi, Bea,” I say, my voice small. “I’m... I’m sorry.”

For a moment, she just stares. Then her eyes widen, and then a tentative smile breaks through the shock, like she’s piecing together a puzzle she always suspected was there. “It’s really you? My Whiskers?”

I nod, my throat tight, but before I can find the words to explain, Jasper reappears, back in human form, jeans slung low on his hips like he just threw them on in a rush. He’s carrying my robe, and without a word, he steps forward and drapes it gently over my shoulders, his fingers lingering just a second too long as he pulls the fabric closed around me.

“I thought you bolted,” I say as I pull the robe closed and stand.

“Never. Foxes mate for life, remember?”His amber eyes flick to Bea before returning to mine. ‘I was just protecting poor Bea from another eyeful of my junk. Women have been known to faint at the sight of it, I hear.’

I roll my eyes and cinch the tie at my waist. “Thank you,” I say out loud before we both turn our attention back to Bea.

She’s sitting now, and she peers at me, then at Jasper, then back at me. Her mouth opens and closes a few times. Then she lets out a breathless laugh that borders on hysterical. “Oh, my stars. Sox too? You’re... you’re both... people? Shifters? Like in those romance novels I read?”

“Yeah, something like that,” I say, crouching beside her again. “Bea, I’m so sorry—we never meant for you to find out this way. Or, well, at all. It’s... complicated.”

Jasper kneels down beside us, keeping a respectful distance, his posture all easy charm now that the initial panic has ebbed. “Mrs. Hargrove—Bea—I’m Jasper. And she’s Tabitha. We’ve been... guests in your home, more or less. Not exactly the way we planned to introduce ourselves.”

She blinks at him. “Oh, are you talking about the sex? That’s nothing, dear. You should have seen the things Harold and I used to get up to before we both got old and boring. For a pair of animals, you two seem pretty tame.”

I blink at her. Jasper blinks at her. We both stare.

“I’m sorry,” I finally manage. “Did you just... are you saying you’re OK with this?”

“Well, I’m certainly not thrilled you’ve been lying to me,” Bea says, brushing off her skirt as she struggles to stand. Jasper immediately offers his hand and she takes it, letting him help her up. “But I suppose I understand why you did. It’s not exactly something you lead with, is it? ‘Hello, I’m a magical cat-person, may I live in your spare room?’”

“Technically, I lived in your laundry room,” Jasper offers with a grin.

“For all of a week.” Bea gives him a look that’s pure grandmotherly exasperation. “And you destroyed my living room your first night.”

“That was Tabitha,” he says quickly, pointing at me. “She framed me.”

“JASPER!”

“What? We’re doing honesty now, right?”

Bea’s lips twitch. “You framed him?”

I flush. “He ate my chicken. And your turkey leg.”

“My turkey leg?” She gasps. “IknewI didn’t eat that.”