in his silent apartment. Dian’s name flashed up on the screen. Swiping to answer it, Kee said, “Hello, mate, it’s Keenak, no last name. My friends call me Kee.”
“Keenak.” The deep rumble of his mate’s voice sent shivers down Kee’s spine. “I am Obsidian of the River Clan. My friends call me Dian. And… er… I’m about to shift. I can’t help it. I can talk…” There was a groan, and the sound of like rocks scraping together, then a loud bang and clattering, as though someone had dropped the phone.
Kee held his breath, but then an even deeper version of the first sexy voice said, “Are you still there?”
“Yes.” Kee patted his chest and cleared his throat. “Yes. Did you drop the phone?”
“He put it on the table. The table broke.” The sigh was heartfelt. “Our form is not graceful.”
“Your voice is very deep and powerful,” Kee said, wishing he could hug the big hulk. He sounded so sad. “Can I ask? Why… why is it so important for me to speak to you first, when you are so worried about how other people react to your second form?”
“The human is the second form.” The voice wasn’t reproving, but Kee’s cheeks heated. “Back in the mists of time, we were first, the human side evolved after.”
“I wasn’t being disrespectful,” Kee managed not to stammer. “I didn’t know.”
“It was difficult, back then, when mate bonds were formed with paranormals and humans alike. Most could not look upon us without feeling fear, and our history tells us many bonds were lost before they started because of this.”
Kee thought that kinda made his point, but then he had a thought. “The bonds that were made… I assume they weren’t true mate bonds. Were your people free to shift at will when they were bonded, or…”
“Suppressed.” The word came across the phone as a growl. “So many times, our original form was suppressed so as not to upset partners and spouses. It was ridiculous, as though hiding what we were made any difference. The number of my kind who were lost, who hid what they were until the pressure got too much, and then if they did shift in private, were scared of being found out, because those situations were never pretty. In some cases, they were terminal.”
Kicking off his sneakers, Kee put his feet up on the couch, settling in. His empty stomach could wait. “Is that why a mate must accept your original form first, so you can shift without fear?”
“It is for the best in the long run.” Dian sounded very firm about that.
“That must be also difficult for your kind though, given it is more likely our human sides would meet first, rather than our shifted selves. I doubt we’d ever come across each other if I were running around in my fur in a forest somewhere.”
“You might, but then you’d be terrified of me.”
Kee’s eyes narrowed even though Dian couldn’t see him – I don’t think he can. “You’re making a lot of assumptions about me, did you know that? My fox is not a scaredy cat and he’d smell you – scent you – we’d know you were ours regardless of what you looked like. Humans don’t have that advantage, I understand that. But I’m a shifter… well, half. But if you make a habit of going around telling everyone that you’re scary then you are setting up people to believe that before they even see you.”
“I’ve been screamed at often during my life.”
Dian’s voice was still gravel, it still made Kee feel hot, but Kee couldn’t feel any other emotion. It was as though Dian truly believed what he was saying – his beliefs set in stone and he wasn’t prepared to change his mind.
“I am sorry for your experiences,” Kee said quietly. “I truly am, because I can’t imagine how that might feel, knowing you were frightening someone just with how you looked. When people see my fox form, they usually coo and go ‘aww’ like they want to wear me like a scarf and while I don’t like that, it’s not horrible, like I am sure your experiences are. But don’t you see, mate? You’re not giving me a chance. You condemned me to being a frightened screamer without knowing anything about me at all. Instead of us sitting on my couch together, or sharing a meal, we’re talking over the phone because you don’t want to be seen by me, but then you