Flying Fur (3 page)

“No, if she didn’t want to be in a relationship with me, to be faithful, then I wasn’t going to fight to keep someone who wanted to go.”

She sat back and thought about it. “It was probably for the best. Did she know what you were?”

He grimaced. “If she didn’t know, she certainly suspected. She caught me naked in the yard a few times. I always worked to distract her, but there was something in her eyes.”

The thought of him distracting his ex did quite a number on her self-esteem and she hadn’t even met the woman. Her beast wasn’t happy with the thought that her mate had other sex partners. She wanted to walk away, wanted to run, but that wasn’t why she was here. She was here to find someone, and it wasn’t like she was completely snow white herself.

Misty knew that elves frequently used humans for their scouting. She would bet her hind feet that his ex-girlfriend had turned him in. It took a familiar scent to lay a trap that caught a shifter.

“You think she is the one that set the trap.”

Misty blinked and smiled weakly. “Sorry. It is an occupational hazard. Spend a few months working for the guild and you see everything in predator and prey behaviours.”

He nodded and they finished their coffee.

When they were sitting in silence, Samuel said, “Shall we go to the Crossed Star?”

She nodded. She needed a distraction quickly before she began to fixate on how to trap his ex and make her pay for siding with an elf.

The bar was hopping and there was just enough space on the dance floor for Misty and Samuel to awkwardly come together and move slowly to the music.

Misty closed her eyes and her inner beast hummed happily. It had been a long search, but she had found her mate. Misty’s jealous human side just had to get over the idea of Samuel with a human girlfriend who may have risked his life for her revenge.

Despite what he had said, no woman wanted to be told that simply parting ways was fine when they decided they wanted to test out a new sex partner. Females were intensely territorial and humans were no different. His girlfriend had wanted to keep him and the other male on the side.

“What is bothering you, Misty?”

“If she returned to you today, would you go back to her?” Misty looked up at him with a serious expression.

“No. We were done the moment she told me that she wanted to flit about. I wasn’t looking for a part-time mate. I want someone who can be there for me and whom I can stand by. I want you.” His words were simple and his amber gaze was sombre.

She swallowed. “Why?”

The music swirled around them and the word hung in the air between them.

He smiled. “Because, from the moment we touched, I have not been able to think of anyone other than you. You are tiny, but you are fierce. I can respect that and your ability to keep us calm and get us all out was something that I greatly admire.”

“What are you?”

He grinned. “I will have to show you, and for that, you will need to buy me lunch tomorrow.”

Her inner beast shrieked at her in frustration. It wanted its mate and it wanted it tonight.

The music wound down and she pulled her hands away from Samuel. “If that is when we shall meet again, I will see you tomorrow for lunch.”

He seemed surprised. “You are blowing me off just like that?”

Misty shrugged. “If my beast can’t have what she wants, proximity is just going to make her more irritable. She and I are going to get some brisk evening air. I wish you a pleasant night and I will see you tomorrow morning.”

With a quick move, she turned and dodged his hands as she made a run for the door. What had started as a romantic evening had gone devastatingly wrong. She needed the woods, the silence and the wind underneath her. She needed it more than she had ever needed anything in her life.

She checked once to make sure that she wasn’t followed before she went deep into the woods and stripped. Her human form pulled her up into the branches of her favourite tree, and she shifted into her beast and continued scampering up the tree with her paws and claws.

High up in the branches, she stopped and closed her eyes, listening to the wind before she could feel it. When the first contact ruffled her fur, her small face smiled as much as she was able.

She gathered herself and jumped from her tree, launching herself into the air and slowly spiralling down toward the ground. The small burst of freedom helped her calm down. When she touched the leaves and earth, she turned and scampered up another tree to do it all over again.

Misty could feel someone watching her, but the Crossroads was a safe place. She had nothing to fear, and she was going to enjoy the night until she had worked through her emotional issues. It was going to take a while.

* * * *

Samuel watched her from the shadows. He was relieved that his beast didn’t see her as prey. It was watching its mate, and she was gracefully circling the clearing before she returned to the trees.

The moment he had been honest with her about his previous relationship, she had shut down. Their evening had gone cold, and it had taken all his concentration to bring it back to a warm flicker. When he mentioned not showing her his beast until the next day, she had shut down again. He was handling this all wrong.

He settled on the thick branch he was resting on, and he simply watched her climb, fly and climb again.

The medics had spoken of her in glowing terms, the councillor had admitted that his attachment went beyond hero fixation and the guild had eventually told him where she had gone. As far as her own people were concerned, he had their blessing, but communication between the normal world and the Crossroads had become spotty. She would not have gotten the notice that if she agreed, she had her clan’s blessing.

Since fate had gone to all the effort of dropping his mate on his head, he wasn’t going to let anything within his control block their union. Starting with honesty was where he wanted to be when he was with Misty, and he had to admit that her suspicion that Laura was behind his abduction was probably not wrong.

He had caught Laura’s scent a moment before everything went black, but it was faint. He had put it out of his mind until today, and now, he understood that Misty was fixating on it.

Sam huffed lightly and blanked his mind to watch Misty climb and float downward. He had never seen a sugar glider in person before. He thought they were just cute pets. When he looked at his mate, he understood the attraction; she was adorable. Her strength of will was a defiance to her tiny body.

He watched her until she had had enough, and when she turned human and got dressed, his interest swerved from indulgent admiration to complete fascination. Her body was tight, lithe and had a surprising strength that was visible to his feline eyes.

The tumble of dark brown hair reached the middle of her back, her moves were graceful and elegant, and her limbs were tinged with soft gold.

Sam felt his muscles tense, and he wanted nothing more than to run up to her and rub his head along her limbs, licking his way from neck to knees and everywhere in between.

Misty carried her shoes and walked out of the forest with a slow sway to her hips.

Shuddering for control, Samuel returned to his clothing and shifted back to human. His erection didn’t easily go into his jeans, but when he eased the zipper closed, he was pretty sure it would hold until he returned to the Open Heart.

His shirt was probably inside out, but he simply dressed for human standards and headed back to the bed and breakfast at a reasonable distance from Misty.

Her interest in him was unmistakable, but she was having to work through some things. He could give her time now that he was here to defend her from any others who tried to move on her.

He entered and listened to the two female voices in the front room for a moment before continuing upstairs. If she wanted to talk about him with their host, he would get out of her way.

* * * *

“Will you send the report?”

Teebie nodded. “I will send it as soon as I get it written out. Are you sure?”

“No, that is why I need seers and hunters to work on this to find out if it is the source of all the disappearing shifters. If they are dating gullible or fey-touched humans, it would explain why they are simply vanishing.”

Teebie sighed and kept scribbling on the notepad. “It would. Damn, I am missing so much by playing around here.”

“You are an excellent host and this is the best place for you.”

In the last few weeks, Misty had learned about Teebie’s trouble fitting in and her overabundance of magical energy. The Crossroads really was the best place for her. She could use her magic and not run around in glamour all the time. Hiding behind magic was not the best option.

“Thank you. I agree and I am grateful that my aunt made that call. I have had more fun here in the last year than in the decades preceding it.”

Teebie continued with her writing until she finished copying down Misty’s suppositions. There was no fact in the document, just a lot of guessing. The facts were being left to others.

Once Teebie finished, she held the paper up and blew across it. The scribbles reformed into clearly readable type, and a moment later, the document disappeared.

“There. It is filed. Now, you have to wait to see what will come of your theory.”

Misty sighed. That had been the source of her tension. She was no longer in a position to act on her guesses and it had been frustrating her. She exhaled again. “Who knew that a few months would turn me into an adrenaline junkie?”

“It happens. Some take up the mantle and wear it as fabric; others turn it into armour and charge into battle. You are the second type; you can’t stop being a warrior.”

Misty leaned back. “I work for a candy shop.”

“That may be, but you were born to do what you have been doing.” Teebie smiled. “Now that you have figured out what was crawling up your backside, you can go to bed. You have been up as long as I have and I am wiped out.”

Misty laughed. “Fine. I will see you in the morning. Thanks for sending that report. It is a load off.”

“Not a problem. Now, go to bed, and in the morning, come down for a nice breakfast with your mate.”

Misty blushed and muttered, “He isn’t my mate.”

“Not yet, but that is your fault. You two hum on the same frequency, and I only ever see that sympathetic vibration in mated pairs. You two need to start knocking boots so you can start your knew life.”

“What a lovely image. Boots?”

Teebie shrugged. “What do I know about shifters in bed? I am just a djinn.”

Misty hugged her and headed for the stairs. “Good night, lady djinn.”

With her friend chuckling, Misty went up to her room and stripped off before crawling between the sheets. She felt better after her chat with Teebie, and tomorrow was another day with Samuel.

Her week was definitely looking up.

Breakfast at the Open Heart was the time when everyone gathered around their host and gorged on muffins, bacon, coffee and tea, eggs or pancakes, depending on preferences.

Samuel was seated at the table with his hair rumpled but the rest of him looking delightfully perky. “I saved you a seat.”

She smiled and took a seat next to him, the other eight newcomers at the table grinned and breakfast began.

Misty winked at her host as Teebie worked her way down the table, refilling coffee. The table had expanded from the tiny bistro table that they had shared the previous morning. It was the magic of the breakfast room; it had gotten bigger as well.

Small talk about the Crossroads and why everyone had come took up the better part of an hour. When the folks who had made tentative connections the night before got up, they were eager to pursue those that they had met the night before. Some had actual dates and others were simply leaping into the hope that they could spur their connection into turning into something valuable.

Teebie handed out a few picnic baskets and waved her clients off for the day.

Misty and Samuel sat side by side, already knowing that they had met their match. Misty smiled. “What do you want to do today?”

His eyes grew sleepy again. He cleared his throat. “I don’t think I should answer that, but yesterday, you were curious about my beast?”

She smiled. “Yes; yes, I am.”

“Shall we go to that meadow that you showed me yesterday?”

Teebie whistled low and slow in a
yoohoo
singsong. She had a picnic basket in her hand and was swinging it gently.

Misty snorted. “I am guessing that we shall.”

Samuel got to his feet and took the basket with one hand, holding the other out to Misty.

The moment she slid her fingers against his, her beast flapped excitedly. Its mate was here and it was delighted to have actual physical contact.

Sighing, she rubbed her hip against his leg as they walked out into the mid-morning light.

“You seem better this morning.” Samuel smiled.

“I worked something out with Teebie last night. I promise to give you my full attention from now on.”

He grinned. “Good. The idea of your eyes focused on me is rather interesting.”

She chuckled and steered him through the streets.

“It is a little strange to finally be in this situation. You tend to focus on the goal so much that when it arrives, you are caught off guard.”

He squeezed her hand. “I know exactly what you mean.”

She gave him a quick glance, and his features were arranged into a calm and accepting expression. It wasn’t exactly arousing, but she did feel something inside her settle happily.

Three other couples, who were frolicking in their beast forms, occupied the shifter’s meadow.

“Come on, I know a few places that no one goes.” Misty smiled and pulled him into the woods and down a nearly imperceptible path. They walked on for ten minutes until they appeared in a glade that contained an adult-sized playground, a cascading brook and a wide, clear pool.