he wasn’t expecting it. He hit the ground. I finished the procedure. The patient called the cops. One expulsion later…”
“And you were an EMT while your twin went on to be a heart surgeon.”
“Yup.” I flexed my paws, looking down at my razor-sharp claws. “Now, I’m in this world, you know? Here, doing that is everyone’s first instinct. I never thought of myself as violent. I wanted to heal and help people. To save them. Looking back…I guess I was kind of violent. I was willing to get physical with anyone who stopped me doing what I needed to do for someone and…that just carried over to this life.”
“And in this life, you aren’t going to get arrested,” he pointed out. “Well...never mind. You still got arrested, didn’t you?” He laid his big wolf head down, staring at me with eyes that seemed to capture everything an iceberg was—cool ice-blue with a hidden depth to them like something was beneath the surface.
“Yup!” I probably sounded much too cheery in his head. “Doesn’t matter. I did what I went out to do that day. Now, this. I was called out for not cleaning up my shit, and it had repercussions on others I never considered, so here I am. Trying to do better. Trying to help, no matter what the hell happens.”
“You’re a good person, Jacky. Don’t ever let someone make you feel guilty for that.” Heath slid off the couch and trotted over to me. Plopping down in front of me, our noses nearly touched. It was the closest I had been to the man in several months. “Without you, who knows what would have happened to the people you’ve helped.”
“Thanks.”
We sat quietly, and I felt comfortable with his proximity. He knew what to say and when to say it. He’d said he wanted to get to know me, and I was opening up for him, just like I promised. It didn’t feel as bad as I thought it would. Instead, it was nice to talk to someone who was willing to listen and understand. It was something I had been sorely lacking in my life for a very long time. The last person who tried to understand me was…Shane. I blinked as the realization came. Hasan tried his best, but he had expectations, whether he admitted them or not. My siblings were more blatant that they didn’t understand me and wanted me to be more like them.
Heath was like Shane. He just wanted me to be me around him.
We were lulled into a peaceful moment, staring at each other in our animal forms, neither of us sleeping. There was no challenge in his gaze nor any in mine—just friends keeping each other company, letting words sit between us.
Then I heard another branch snap. Baring his teeth, Heath showed he heard it as well. I lifted my head and looked around the house, but there was nothing inside with us, of course.
Another branch. Then a bush getting ruffled. The particular creak of a tree branch bending.
“Could be animals,” Heath said, trying to explain away the noise. I could tell he didn’t believe his own words.
“Then where are the bird calls? The insects? No…all of those left long ago because something else is here.” I stood up slowly, the floor creaking.
A giggle echoed outside, and my fur stood up on end.
“Another kitty comes to play,” someone hissed.
There was a scratch at the front door. Heath snarled at it.
“A wolf, too,” a more masculine voice growled. “Let’s not forget the wolf.”
“Come out and fight us like we know you want,” the first voice said. I heard the thumping of something climbing over the house. “Or we can come in.”
I jumped as something scratched over the glass of a window.
“They’re playing with us,” Heath told me, backing away from the front door blocked by the couch. I felt his hip touch mine. “I know we haven’t fought together much, but do you remember Dallas?”
“Yup. I won’t bite you, promise.”
“Thanks.”
I huffed. I could understand his worry. Werecats weren’t exactly experts at working with others in a fight. There was a chance I could accidentally take a chunk out of him if I was worked up and fighting for my life.
“Scaredy cat,” someone taunted. “These are our woods now. You shouldn’t have come.”
I wished I could talk back to them, but part of me was glad I couldn’t. I didn’t know if that would be playing right into their hands or not. Maybe they wanted