Abram’s eyelids popped open as a strong smell forced him awake. He grimaced as his eyes focused on Davis dangling a washcloth over his face. Abram swiped the small square of fabric from his cousin’s hands before sitting up. “Dude, what the hell?”
“Recognize the smell?” Davis nudged him and Abram scooted over enough for him to sit down.
“It’s definitely familiar.”
“That scent is from the concentrated pheromones released when a shifter transforms. Humans can’t smell it, but even shifters with a weak olfactory sense can.”
Abram scowled. “Is there a reason you’re telling me this?”
“You pulled a gun on Mittens.” Davis snatched the cloth and tossed it on Abram’s head.
Abram grabbed the washrag and held it to his nose, sniffing. His eyes widened and he jerked the cloth away. “Where’d you get this?”
Davis smirked. “Probably better if you don’t know.”
“Gross!” Abram tossed the terrycloth square on the floor while Davis chuckled.
“I’ll talk to her again later and explain about you not knowing all the ins and outs of shifter culture. Afterward, I think with a little groveling on your part, she’ll forgive you. I also suggest cookies.”
Abram felt as if a boa constrictor had wrapped around his heart and was squeezing his life out. He tapped his fingers against his scalp as he considered what had been said. “She actually took the gun thing pretty well.” He glanced at Davis. “Cookies, you say?”
Davis smiled. “After Melly insulted Scarlett, I managed to wrangle an invitation inside her abode with a tin of fresh-baked cookies and an apology for my sister's big mouth.”
Abram rubbed the stubble on his chin. “Hmm…do you know what type she likes?”
“I do, and I’ll tell you but first I need you to start from the beginning. If I’m going to help you smooth things over, I’m gonna need to know every stupid thing you did or said.”
Abram’s face burned hot with embarrassment. He didn’t like to kiss and tell and he hated talking about his failures. He reclined on his back and then lifted and smacked his head against his pillow several times. “Things were going really well. She kissed me. I told her I liked her. Yadda, yadda, yadda—some hooking up type stuff happened and then we fell asleep in each other’s arms. I woke up and she was gone. I looked for her and found a cougar.”
“Okay, let me stop you right there.” Davis tapped his palm against the tips of the fingers on his other hand, giving the timeout sign. “Never, ever, ever call Mittens a cougar. She says her mom’s a cougar and she’s still a cub. Call her a mountain lion or a puma but never a cougar.”
Abram nodded. “Got it. So then she shifted back into herself, and I was a little shocked.”
“Shocked?”
“I haven’t seen anyone do that since I was a kid. It seemed obscene.”
Davis’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “Please tell me you didn’t say that to Mittens.”
Abram sat up again and shrugged. “Not in so many words but shifting is something that should be done alone…like in private.”
Davis shook his head adamantly. “No, it’s a communal, family activity. We do it in secluded areas on account of the danger to us if the wrong humans were to learn of our existence, not because it’s dirty. Shifting is natural, pure even.”
“Maybe for you, but I wasn’t raised that way. I couldn’t tell a soul. I wouldn’t have thought of shifting in front of anyone any more than I would’ve pulled out a porno mag and whack off in the middle of a crowd.”
Davis’s jaw tensed to biting posture as his brow created a vertical furrow. “Do not compare our sacred gift to self-pleasure.”
“I’m sorry. That’s how it was for me.” His eyebrows drooped as he pursed his lips.
Davis’s expression softened and he patted Abram’s shoulder before offering a reassuring smile. “I can’t imagine how lonely it must have been for you, but now everything is going to change.”
Abram lifted an eyebrow. “How’s that?”
“We’ll gather up some of the family. Practice—get you accustomed to the experience. Once you learn to accept yourself as a shifter, your whole world will open up.”
Abram’s top lip curled as he scrunched his nose. “I don’t want to see Gram naked.” Davis lightly smacked him on the back of the neck. “Hey.” Abram flinched.
“You’re lucky I didn’t punch you for saying that. Gram can’t shift anymore. I guess you don’t know, but when you get to a certain age, you can lose the ability. It’s sad. Anyway, since you’re a novice, we’ll start off with just some of your male cousins.”
Abram opened his mouth and pretended to gag. “Not making it sound any more attractive.”
Davis sighed. “Do you want to win Mittens over or not?”
Abram nodded. “I do, but why do you care so much?”
Davis laughed. “Man, if you grew up here, you wouldn’t even have to ask. We’re family, and blood means everything. Plus, Gram will be devastated if you leave again. On the other hand, if you get settled down with a local girl and stay, she’ll be happy as hell. Setting you up with Maddie was her idea in the first place.”
Abram’s jaw dropped. “My grandmother picked out the love of my life?”
Davis sighed. “Join the club. It’s best not to think about it too much.”
Chapter Six
Maddie sat in bed wearing the same stained tee-shirt she’d been in for the last two days. Blankly, she stared at her computer screen. She’d already read the same email twice but couldn’t concentrate.
Her sister Harley had come over to cheer her up, but mostly she had badgered the hell out of her. “Get up!”
