Page 11

11

THORN

We hadn’t spent the night together because I had a scheduled call with a colleague and Wilder had a family commitment. Why did I think he had no living family? Again, it was an assumption I’d made, something I’d been doing a lot of and getting it wrong.

I couldn’t sleep after the call, going over what had happened from the moment I kissed him to when we fell into his bed and him entering me. My hole ached from his cock pounding me, the good kind of ache. I examined my body, expecting it to be different, but there was nothing unusual.

But I was different. It had only been a few days since we met, and yesterday I was in lust with Wilder, but now, I was moving closer to being in love with him.

What? That wasn’t part of the plan. But neither was inheriting a rundown lodge and working to bring it back to its former glory.

I gave up on sleep before dawn, and after showering, headed to the diner. Saul was just opening the doors when I arrived.

He studied my face. “I’m going to take a guess that this is a three-coffee morning.”

“You’re right.”

I pondered whether to take pastries for me and Wilder. Was that what one did after an intense fucking session? But Saul solved my predicament by saying the freshly baked muffins were Wilder’s favorite.

Of course the whole town was aware Wilder and I were working together, but Saul's smirk suggested he suspected there was more. Oh gods, what if everyone was on the town message board Noah talked about, gossiping about whether Wilder and I had slept together?

Yikes and double yikes!

As I stuffed bacon and eggs in my mouth, I spied Wilder’s truck driving past, and I froze. Why, I didn’t know. Last night had surpassed my expectations, but perhaps he considered it a one-night stand. Part of me wanted him to stop, come in, and take me in his arms so Saul could telegraph what happened to the rest of the town’s residents.

But I also hoped he’d keep on driving because when we next met, he might say that last night was a mistake.

I dawdled in the diner, draining my coffee cup and checking messages until I had no reason to stay. Driving to the lodge, my belly twisted and turned, and I grimaced at the pain.

I would survive if Wilder didn’t return my feelings, because I’d broken up with guys before. But this was different, and my heart would take ages to be put back together.

When I got out of the car, a hammering in the farthest cabin told me where Wilder was. Each step took me closer to my destiny, and I glanced back at the car, thinking I could run and never come back. Maybe not knowing was better than knowing.

But I plodded on, and he stopped what he was doing when I appeared in the doorway. My poor belly was curled in a knot and a bow, but Wilder’s smile eased the cramping, and I returned his grin.

“Hi,” I said softly.

“I missed you last night.”

Oh. Wow! He went there with no prodding or outburst from me. I fell into his arms and we hugged. I wanted to stay like that, listening to his heart thudding.

“We need to take a break.”

“Okay.” I hadn’t started, but if we were going to kiss and cuddle and perhaps fondle as well, I’d be up for that. My dick was already stiffening.

“We need to go into the house.”

Oh, he did want to fuck. Okay. Early-morning delight was on the menu.

Wilder took my hand and led me into the house. We removed our boots, and he washed his hands before removing one of the scrapbooks from a shelf in the living room.

That was different. He wanted to scrapbook or maybe just reminisce. I was a little disappointed, but this was the getting-to-know-him part of our… relationship? I couldn’t call it that because what we had might end when I left town.

Wilder paused on the page with pics of cougars and people, Uncle being one of them.

“This is why the town and the body of water in the middle is known as Cougar Lake.”

A history lesson. Unexpected. “Okay.”

He tapped a finger on one of the cougars. “This is one of my family members.”

Definitely different.

“The townspeople felt a special connection to the cougars.” I was hoping he’d continue because I didn’t know what else to say. I hoped he wasn’t going to tell me the wild animals were pets that were kept in captivity.

“My grandmother, actually.”

This was getting weird, and I calculated how quickly I could get out the door and to my car.

But Wilder paced over the threadbare carpet, hands behind his back.

“The cougars who settled in this area were not wild animals. They were like me.”

If I thought he’d clarify, I was disappointed.

“Humans aren’t the only two-legged mammals to walk the earth.”

My mind scrambled, trying to think of other mammals with two legs.

“There are people who appear to be human, but inside them, they have an animal.”

I didn’t understand the purpose of this conversation. Perhaps Wilder had been smoking something. He didn’t smell of alcohol. Or maybe it was the air. It was thinner up the mountain than in town.

“I am one of those people, and we’re called shifters.”

“Shifters,” I repeated, because when someone is telling you a fantastical story, you either leave, protest, let them speak, or repeat what they said.

“The animal inside me is a cougar. My family and the original settlers in this area were all cougar shifters.”

He kneeled in front of me, his dark eyes searching mine. There was an easy way to prove if he was under an illusion.

“Show me.”

“That’s it? You don’t have any questions?”

“I have a heap, but first I want to see your cougar.”

He jerked his head toward the window. “In the woods.”

I made a face. “Ummm, there’s no one around. How about I stay here and you do your thing in the garden.” It was so overgrown, no hikers with binoculars or mountain climbers could see.

“Smart. If I were in your position, I wouldn’t go into the forest with a guy who said he had a wild beast inside him. I admire your self-preservation skills.”

And I was closer to the car if I stayed put. My heart was so heavy, thinking he was telling me a tall tale and there was no future for a relationship.

“Don’t go anywhere.”

He raced outside and stripped off his clothes. I peered at his enormous semi-hard cock. This was worth it just to catch another glimpse.

“Don’t look away.”

I leaned on the wall, fingering my car keys, when fur rippled over Wilder’s arms and face. A tail curled and flapped from his behind, and he fell on all fours as his face morphed into a… a… cougar!

Oh shit. I placed a hand on my chest, willing my heart to slow down. Now was not the day for a heart attack, not that there was any perfect time for that.

“You’re a… wild animal.”

But he didn’t speak. I guessed this kind of cougar wasn’t a talking one like in the movies.

The animal padded toward me, and I picked up the scrapbook and studied the photo of Uncle with the cougars. This was why he and the others weren’t scared, and the image hadn't been manipulated.

I gingerly put my hand out the window and placed it on the cougar’s head. If I was wrong, I’d lose my arm and possibly my life. But the beast purred as I patted him, and he rubbed his head on my arm.

But it was his eyes that drew me in. They were the ones from my dream. This was destiny.

The wild animal transformed and a naked Wilder appeared. Grabbing his clothes, he leaped in through the window.

“I was so scared you’d doubt me and either call the hospital saying I needed to be admitted or you’d run.”

I couldn’t lie. “I considered both, and I’m sorry.” While I had jumped to a judgment, it wasn’t really a failing this time. Who would believe that humans were not alone on earth and there were other people who roamed among us that appeared to be the same but were so different?

“It’s a lot to take in. Uncle knew of your existence, I take it.”

Wilder explained that he’d stumbled on one of his cousins shifting, and as most people in the town were shifters, they’d accepted that Alexei was a part of their clan.

Alexei. Was Uncle’s fake identity tied up with the shifters?

“But you said there were few cougars in the area.”

Wilder nodded. “That’s true. Most of my extended family have left the area, but most of the townspeople are shifters, just not cougars.”

“We have to repopulate the cougars.”

He snorted. “Are you saying we should do that single-handedly?”