I looked at the woman I had known my entire life—the woman who was like a mother to me and had raised me—and said, “I’m more confused about how you’re okay with this than I am that a grown man just literally turned into a cat right before my damn eyes.”
Holden and his friend stood behind her. I looked up at the love of my life and saw nothing but love and compassion swimming in those silvery-gray eyes. I couldn’t decide if I wanted to beat his ass or run into his arms for comfort.
“Listen,” Nora started. “We’d never planned to tell you. It just was something that would have never come up. But your cousins are shifters. So am I.”
“Wha—what?” I said. “Are you joking? Seems like I would have noticed if you—”
She shook her head and squeezed my hand. “No, we never showed you that side. We’re really supposed to keep it a secret, unless we’re around other shifters.” She looked up at Holden. “I just can’t believe it didn’t dawn on me that you were one.”
“I keep my scent masked pretty well,” he replied, glancing at Nora but then putting his gaze back on me.
She chuckled. “Same here.”
“Why didn’t you just show this to me months ago?” I asked, looking at Holden.
He scoffed. “Seriously? When have I had the chance? I tried to tell you the night of my accident. You took off and put me on ignore the whole time. I couldn’t get a moment alone with you. I resorted to this because you had to know. Even if you’re freaked out and want nothing to do with me, at least you know I’m not a liar, nor am I crazy. I’m just… not human.” He looked at Nora. “Neither are your aunt and cousins, apparently.”
I was so confused I wanted to cry. People I’d known my whole life weren’t human. The man I loved wasn’t either. Did that change how I felt about any of them? No. It really didn’t. I had so many questions—ironically most of them were medical-related about this “condition”—but I knew I could ask later. Right now, I just needed to get my head on straight.
“I don’t know what to say. I need some time.” I stood up and looked at all of them. “You understand, don’t you?”
I had to get out of there. I turned around, went to the breakroom, grabbed my purse out of my locker, and slung it over my shoulder.
“Take as much time as you need, honey,” Nora said, looking at me sympathetically.
I glanced at Holden. He smiled that panty-dropping grin at me and my knees almost buckled. I didn’t know what to say to him, so I just kept walking. He grabbed my arm on my way to the door and peered down at me, his jaw ticking. “I still love you, Emory. I will always love you. Even if you can’t accept this, know that I will never find another queen for my life. You’re my soulmate, and I will never stop loving you.”
Barely nodding, I rushed to unlock the door, sprinted outside, and as soon as I got into the driver’s seat in my car, I burst into deep, heaving sobs.
I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t know where to go, though. I needed to be alone and have some time to think. So I eventually drove to the movie theater, bought a ticket for a movie I’d already seen, and sat in the back row. As expected, the theater was mostly empty, save for about half a dozen or so other people. Tuesday afternoons weren’t a very popular time to go to the movies, it seemed.
I curled up into a ball in the leather reclining seat and closed my eyes. I had purposely left my cell phone in the car because I didn’t want to be interrupted. I didn’t want to be tempted to call or text Holden or my aunt. I needed some time to think and be alone. I tuned out the stupid movie, which was mostly just car chases and action with very little plot, and closed my eyes.
I was having a hard time deciphering what I was feeling. The strongest emotion ruling my heart at the moment was betrayal. I couldn’t believe my aunt had kept such a huge secret from me. I couldn’t believe the twins I grew up with like siblings turned into cats at will! That they were shifters. Fucking shifters!
Were all shifters cats? Could they turn into other animals? Did they need a full moon, like werewolves? Did werewolves exist? If shifters existed, did other things, too? Like zombies and vampires and ghosts? I laughed to myself and put my forehead on my knees, still curled in the fetal position in the theater chair. I wasn’t going to get any of those answers sitting here by myself. Yet, this was right where I wanted to be. Where I needed to be at the moment.
I wondered if it hurt when Holden shifted. Did his bones break? He hadn’t seemed to be in any pain when he’d shifted, but of course if he was born that way, he would be used to it by now.
If Aunt Nora was a shifter, and her kids were too, wouldn’t that make her husband one also? My uncle—my mom’s brother? Oh, my God! Had my mother been a shifter? Dang it! These questions were making me crazy. I blew out another breath and told myself to calm down.
Whenever I was worked up and upset, I would concentrate on Holden’s face—which was forever burned into my brain—and it would always calm me. His beautiful eyes and dark eyelashes. His nice, full lips and scruffy cheeks. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him clean-shaven. I began to even out my breathing and think about all the times we’d spent together. How he had been nothing but normal and perfect. He’d
