I consider this. “It would be very fair to consider her my tutor. One of many.”
Her eyes narrow again, making my hearts sink. “Where are you from? And you better have a good answer,” she declares with challenge and suspicion.
I gulp. And when her eyes fly right to the substantial amount of thyroid cartilage that surrounds my larynx, I realize she’s watching my throat bob in nervous agitation. Against my will, I also nervously clear my throat. “I’m from a suburb outside of Chicago.” Very, very far outside of Chicago.
She points her cell phone at me. “Okay. Something about you is off. But I’m trusting you to be harmless—”
“I am,” I assure her, my gibbous shoulders (unnaturally gibbous; they have a humped appearance on account of my wings being tightly bundled along my back) dropping with my relieved breath. “I would never harm a female.”
She looks me up and down again. “Riiight. I’m leaving, and you’re not going to follow me this time and you sure as hell better not chase me down another block.”
At this, I feel quite ashamed. “I didn’t mean to frighten you. I vow that it was absolutely not my intention. I thought we were both hurrying from a threat,” I try to explain.
She studies me again, but it’s only the most cursory of searching looks. She takes up her cell phone to tap things at it, finger stabbing forcefully, and I receive the strong impression that this female would be a formidable opponent should she be moved to acts of self-defense. “I forgive you. Now, you’ve managed to keep me here long enough that I can’t stop in and chat with my friend,” she flings her arm out, indicating a section of shops and stores, one of which has a brightly colored bobbin and needle rendering suspended on a hook over a cheerily-decorated doorway, “so I’ll have to catch up with her later. As for you: goodbye.”
“Farewell,” I manage with a gamely smile.
With a shake of her head, she turns enough that her back is only half-towards me, perhaps not entirely trusting me enough not to keep me in her sights. “You’ve got a cluelessly charming vibe going on, I’ll give you that.”
“This is not the first time I’ve been complimented in such a fashion,” I murmur.
But to this, she says nothing, because she’s moved far enough away not to respond.
Sighing, I glance around, wondering where in this place I can meet the female who will want to be my lifemate.
If I’m meant to have one. My human friends tell me I will feel a spark. Some recognition. Some signal that my soul recognizes its mate.
I’ve never felt that spark. For a long time, I looked into every pair of new eyes wondering if this was the person for me. Perhaps I don’t have a match. I’m of the mind that my soul has developed a weary acceptance that it's actually meant to go its lifespan alone.
I shake myself, shake my thoughts and even my wings where they lie hidden against my back, and I take in my surroundings. Inadvertently, because I was following the female dashing ahead of me, I’ve ended up in a part of town I did not study on the map I was provided with. I look for street signs, but the names aren’t familiar.
Swallowing, I glance to the shops that the woman indicated, seeing the decorated doorway of the bobbin shop.
Resetting my shoulders to look confident, I stride to the white strips painted on the transportation tarmac, using them to access the other side of the street when walking lights indicate it’s safe for me to travel them.
And then I’m at the door of the bobbin shop, a curious—but welcome—feeling of excitement building me.
An internal voice suddenly announces, Your mate is close.
My eyes shoot wide and my wings instinctively snap open—but the cloak I’m wearing binds them too tightly to expand.
And with an inhale, my hearts start to hum. Hope, long dead, flaps to life in my chest. Because there’s a faint, faint scent, one I’ve never chanced upon before in my lifespan—but I recognize it with every fiber of my being.
My mate is here.
THE THANKS PAGE
Thank you to Ronika Williams and Janet Seavey for LAUGHING. And for your kind encouragement. And for dropping everything to beta read. Kitty Smart, you too!! YOU ROCK!!!
To Connie Perez, who prefers her heroes on the dominant side.
To Marissa Olesen, for Kodiak pancakes, dangerous cookies, and a book I absolutely geeked out over. ♥ THANK YOU!
To Brandy Roseth, for being the kind of cheerleader an author prays for. Thank You.
To Marian Cuenca, for your utterly kind words, encouragement, and teaching me new phrases!
To Andrew Thompson and his lovely wife for sharing that they enjoyed The Pet Project. You made my year!
To Kit Mogle, who has always wanted to see her name in print and not on a Wanted Poster when it happened. I’m still laughing! THANK YOU! XD XD XD!
To Jennifer Funk for asking for paperbacks! And to Davette Dow-Spencer who was hoping to buy Beth’s Stable for Christmas—I love you! I had to go with a non-Amazon distributor in order to get these into print (same with The Werewolf Nanny), but they’ve been approved and should be linked on the Amazon page within the next few weeks! YOU GUYS, thank you for asking!! <3 <3
To Nancy Van Winkle Palmer, whose kind words in her reviews leave me moved and grateful. Thank you for promoting my stories!
To April Harding, who shoves aside bad movies and ignores her (cyber) llama herd and curls up with border collies to get her reading time in.
To Dawn Poole, for your insights and your fabulous sense of humor!
To Susan Clarke, for sharing the neatest (and more often than not, the downright funniest) factoids and memes.
To Courtney Green, who has been cheering me on from the beginning, and who recommends my stories to so, so, so many readers who have never heard of me before. <3
HUGS to Katherine Symons (“I loved this, but I kept being distracted by Finn, lol. Gimme his book! (Please).”), DeAnn Holt Gurley (for dropping everything and racing to Amazon to grab my latest story--I love you!), Ronda Hartin Boyle (“I am mid way through, and just love this book!!!”), Amanda Heroman (who I’m calling as a witness if I ever get dragged in for doing searches on body-dissolving acids and blood spatter XD), Callie Deming (who traded sleep for werewolves), Deborah Marble (“Love, love, LOVE it! Another home run”), Debbie Hullinger (“Great story!!! read it so fast I'm rereading it just to make sure I didn't miss something…”), Sammie Jo (“I just can't quit it! And the laughs! My face and hidden abs are happily sore”) <3, Renee Mai (“Finn's book when?!?!”) <3, Lori Baker Swenson (who loves Irish Wolfhounds! <3) (and P.S., I’m in love with your hair), Pam Chilton Meadows (that Maned Wolf roar-bark, Hellooo, Hudson, rawr! =D), Nienna Weeper (“I adore Lucan, and I can't wait for Finn!”), April Blounts (for her Maned Wolf love), Lori Sophia Ann (“Absolutely LOVING. IT.” and “I loved that church was mentioned as a routine part of a character's life and in a positive light.”--This was the coolest feedback!), Kelly Davis (who’s down for future MFM :D), Randi Canter (your comment about the ending of Lucan’s book--Thank You!! <3), Miranda Rodriguez, Stacey Leigh (“Totally HOOKED! ...Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!”), Yongda Martin (Nice guys with Dad Jokes! <3), Nicole Brockington (“I'm not normally a huge shifter fan, but... I loved everything about it.”), Tina Fiore, Serena Buffaloe (who enjoyed the coffee mugs! I did too XD <3), Jenn Freeman (who wants her own Maned Wolf now), Heather McMillen (who shared that Okami--‘wolf’ in Japanese--also means ‘great deity’ and ‘landlady.’ Which really makes you wonder what their landladies are like. ;D), Kaila Howard (“Imma need more from this universe.” HUGS TO YOU!!!), Katherine Heasley (“I LOVE that you linked to emmymadeinjapan's geoduck video! She is "so stinkin' cute" as she would say.” And it is so worth sharing again! XD She’s a riot!