“Not that I know of.”
Dominic leaned forward. “The only thing we want is to live our lives. It’s already hard enough to be a shifter. No one here would make their life harder by attacking people. We all love this town. We love that most people here don’t mind seeing same-sex couples, and that they don’t really care about us living together in this house. I know a lot of the people here think of us as eccentric rich people, and I don’t mind. Better than thinking of us as monsters when we’ve done nothing to earn that.”
His gaze slid to Flynn and Flynn bristled. “I never said you were monsters.”
“You were probably thinking it, anyway.”
“I wasn’t.”
Grand broke their conversation again. “We’re not accusing anyone. We just want to know more about your... group.”
“My pride.”
Grand nodded. “Your pride.”
“Like I said, we just want to live our lives. We’ve been living here for years and we never gave anyone problems.”
“You still turn into animals, though.”
“So? I don’t see how it’s a problem, unless one of my people attacks humans, and they don’t. They never have. In fact, we’ve been attacked by humans who know about us, and the only thing we did was defend ourselves.”
Grand looked surprised. “You were attacked?”
“Almost constantly. There was a man who kidnapped shifters and experimented on them. Some died, some stayed maimed for life. Some became something they weren’t born as. We took care of the man responsible for this, and before you ask, no, we didn’t kill him. We have our own government and our own jail and hospital. He’s spending time in jail, and he wasn’t hurt.”
Grand tapped her fingers on her knee. “What about the explosion that was reported a few weeks ago?”
“We’re having problems with a group of hunters. Human hunters. They think we’re monsters and they want to kill us. They’ve managed to destroy several smaller groups, killing everyone, including children.” Dominic leaned forward, and his eyes were blazing. Kay was glad he wasn’t on the receiving side of that glare. “We lost a lot more people to humans than humans have lost to us, yet I don’t think all humans are monsters. You should give us the same courtesy.”
Grand raised her hands. “No one is here to accuse you, but you understand we had to come when we saw the video. Things make so much sense now. We just wanted to be sure.”
“And I understand that, but I don’t appreciate accusations in my home.”
“No one accused you of anything. I agree that my colleague’s tone was a bit out of line, but we’re not accusing you of anything. We have no clue what we’re dealing with. Give us a bit of leeway.”
Someone had to diffuse the tension. Everyone was defensive, and for good reasons, but the last thing they needed was to be at each other’s throat. Someone had to intervene, and Kay was starting to think he was the only one who could do it. He knew what it was like to discover about shifters and to dislike them, even though he’d mostly changed his mind. The more people Dominic and the other shifters had in their corner, the better it would be for everyone. Kay hadn’t lived in Whitedell for long, but he didn’t want to see the town torn apart.
“It will take you a bit to get used to it,” Kay began. Not that he’d seen anyone shift yet, but he could imagine what it’d be like, and he didn’t want Grand and Flynn to freak out. “But really, they’re not that different from you and me. Sure, they can become animals, and it’s impressive, but that’s all. They’re still the same even when they’re in their animal form. They don’t hurt anyone.”
Flynn and Grand looked at him. He was still holding Noem’s hand, and Grand’s gaze went there. “So if your boyfriend isn’t a shifter, what is he? Human?”
Kay looked at Dominic, because he didn’t want to say something he shouldn’t, but Dominic nodded at him. He took it as a good ahead. “Noem’s a Nix. It’s a kind of fae.”
Grand blinked. “Like Tinkerbell?”
Noem groaned. “Why does everyone think of Tinkerbell when we talk about fae? Do I look like Tinkerbell to you?”
“I didn’t mean to offend you.”
Noem shook his head. “I’m not offended, don’t worry. Yes, I’m a kind of fae, but I don’t fly. I do shimmer, though, which is what I guess you’d call teleportation. I can also heal with my hands, but not everything. The worse the wound is, the harder it is for me, and it will take longer and several healing sessions.”
Grand blinked. “You mean you can heal?”
“That’s what I just said, yes.”
“How?”
Noem shrugged. He was trying to look like he didn’t care, but Kay knew he did. They weren’t mated yet, but it didn’t take a bond between them for him to know that.
“I put my hand over the wound and knit it back together. It’s hard to explain, but it works. That’s one of the reasons I’m a nurse. I’m good at healing, and I want to help people.” Noem was making Flynn and Grand see just how human he was. Whatever Dominic had been thinking, Noem was a good choice. He was on the small side, wasn’t threatening, and he was a nurse. He helped people. Not even Flynn could say anything against that.
“What else?” Grand seemed curious rather than scared or worried, and Kay hoped that was a good thing.
Noem hesitated, then reached for his hat. He tugged it down and put it in his lap, then looked back at Grand.
The pointed ears were impossible to ignore, and Kay’s fingers twitched with the need to touch them. He’d never known he had an ear kink, but then Noem’s ears weren’t exactly human looking.
“Your ears,” Grand said.
Noem blushed a bit. “Yeah, well. There’s no hiding I’m not human, not with short hair.” He reached up and tugged on the longer strand of hair that fell on his forehead, and Kay wondered if maybe he was used to longer hair. He could almost see it, and long blond hair would look so good spread on a pillow. Not that Kay didn’t like Noem’s short hair. Noem looked good, no matter how his hair was cut.
Grand looked at Kay, and he knew he’d have to have a conversation with her soon. She was reacting better than he’d expected, certainly better than he had. He had a good feeling about it, and he’d do whatever he had to do to make sure she and Flynn didn’t create more problems. They would already have more than enough of those soon.
Chapter Six
The past week had been frantic for everyone in the pride, and Noem was exhausted.
It didn’t matter that he was only a nurse—once the people in Whitedell had realized the mansion wasn’t full of eccentric rich people but of shifters, the pride members’ lives had changed. They couldn’t go into town anymore, not without having to face both people who hated them on principle and people who had hundreds of questions for them.
Noem had avoided stepping out of the house except to go to the hospital to work. Things were tense there, because they were all waiting for the consequences of what that shifter had done. No one knew anything yet, even though Dominic and the rest of the council were working like crazy to make sure everyone would be fine. Noem had no idea what that implied, but there had been a steady stream of people coming and going ever since the video had gone viral.
He was glad he wasn’t anyone important and that he didn’t have to make decisions. He’d probably screw up and get everyone killed or something like that.
Noem trudged to the kitchen. He’d shimmered into his room, showered, and put on pajamas. He was ready for food and sleep, in that order. Hopefully someone had gotten breakfast ready, because he didn’t think he’d have the energy to do more than drink a glass of milk if no one had. Night shifts did that to him.
They were a necessity, though. There weren’t many patients in the mansion’s infirmary, not usually. The infirmary was always ready to welcome wounded, of course, but it wasn’t like Noem and Jared could spend the days doing nothing in the meantime. Jared didn’t work in
the hospital anymore, but he was helping other doctors set up infirmaries in various shifter groups. He took them on a tour and explained how things worked so they could set up things on their own. There was only one hospital dedicated to shifters and their mates, and as far as Noem knew, it was going to stay that way for a while. He couldn’t imagine humans would be enthusiastic about having shifters sharing their hospital rooms.
So only the emergencies and seriously ill went to the shifter hospital. There were more than enough Nix working there, both nurses and doctors, and Noem enjoyed it most of the time. It was better than sitting at home waiting for something to happen.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” someone said from behind the counter.
Noem blinked, and it took him a few seconds to realize it had been Emery speaking. They’d mostly avoided each other since the day Noem had punched him, and it hadn’t been hard.
Noem was surprised to see Kay was there too, although that had probably more to do with the fact that Troy and Aaron were sitting next to him than with Emery’s presence.
Noem narrowed his eyes at Emery. “Are you going to be an asshole again?”
Emery raised his hands. “No need to punch me.” He touched a spot on his face. “I learned my lesson.”
“That, and the fact that I threatened to withhold sex if you tried to provoke Kay again,” Troy drawled.
Kay grimaced as he tickled Aaron’s stomach. “No talking about sex. I don’t want to think of you in any kind of sex situation.” He shuddered. “It’s like imagining my parents having sex.”
“You know, I don’t get that,” Troy said as he fed Aaron a piece of bacon. “I get that we’re best friends and everything, but it’s not like we grew up together.”
“No, but we lived together for years. It’s too close to being brothers for me to be comfortable imagining... that.”
Aaron gnawed on his bacon, his tiny fangs shining when he opened his mouth wide. The fact that he ate both formula and meat was kind of weird, but then Aaron was a mix no one had ever seen before. Human, harpy, shifter and vampire. God only knew what the kid would become once he grew up. It was a scary thought, but right now, Aaron looked like an angel, even with his leathery wings.
Noem looked away. He was relieved there was more bacon cooking. Emery was obviously on breakfast duty, so Noem went to slump onto the stool next to Kay. He pressed their shoulders together in welcome, smiling at Aaron, and Kay leaned closer to kiss him lightly on the lips.
Noem was still surprised every time Kay did something like that. He made it look so natural, as if he hadn’t hated everything shifter just the week before. It was hard to believe sometimes. Not that Noem doubted Kay’s feelings—he’d spent more time in the mansion than at his own apartment. The room he’d slept in that first night had become his room by now, and everyone in the pride knew it. Sometimes Noem wondered why Kay didn’t just move in, but he wasn’t going to ask. Kay needed time, even though he was quickly getting used to everything.
“Still nothing?” Noem asked.
Kay shook his head. “I called Grand, but the captain still hasn’t told them anything. Well, he did tell them that they had orders to protect or arrest shifters just as if they were normal citizens—his words, not mine—but that’s all.”
It was hard to live with the fear that they might become hunted from one day to the next. At least the hunters were being calm right now, because Noem wasn’t sure most people would be ready to deal with them on top of everything. He didn’t kid himself that it would last, though. Bradley was stubborn, and while Noem didn’t know exactly what had happened to him to make him hate shifters so much that he felt the need to hunt them, he knew it wouldn’t be something easily solved.
“When are you going back to work?” Noem asked. Kay had been off work ever since what Noem thought of as the big reveal, and he’d spent most of his time in the mansion. Noem loved having him close, and he loved spending his free time with him.
“No idea. Captain Connery told both me and Laura to stay home for now. It looks like no one knows how to deal with human mates, and they want to be sure they don’t do something wrong, or whatever.”
Kay had seemed prickly and assholish in the beginning, but he really wasn’t. Now that he’d gotten used to being around shifters, he was more relaxed, and he treated almost everyone as if they were normal. It was a big step for Kay, and Noem was glad it was happening so fast. It gave him hope that maybe they could go further than cuddling while watching movies and having heavy making out sessions. Not that he didn’t enjoy those, but he was getting blue balls. His own hand didn’t make the cut anymore, not when he knew Kay was on the other side of the wall. Noem yearned for more, for contact, for skin, and he couldn’t help but wonder if Kay was feeling the same need to be as close as possible.
They should probably talk about it, but Noem could never find the right moment. He treasured the small periods of peace they were able to enjoy together, and the last thing he wanted to do was to disrupt them.
Emery placed a plate full of eggs and divine-smelling bacon in front of Noem and Noem groaned. “I’m sorry I punched you. I love you,” he told Emery.
Kay jabbed his elbow into Noem’s ribs. “Hey. I should be the only one to hear that.”
Noem blinked. He wasn’t sure what Kay meant, but he could feel himself blushing. Kay leaned closer and kissed Noem’s cheek. “When you’ll be in love, of course. Wouldn’t want to push you.”
Noem was too tired to make sense of Kay’s words or to think of the right answer, so he just nodded and attacked his bacon.
“Are you going to bed once you’re done?” Kay asked.
Noem nodded, swallowed, patted his lips with his napkin, and answered, “Yes. I’m beat.”
“Do you really have to take the night shifts? Actually, I’m still not sure why you work in the hospital.”
Noem shrugged. “I like it, but Dominic already told me I need to stay here after these few shifts. We can’t know when the hunters are going to attack, so... ”
“He wants you close, just in case.”
“Yeah. What about you?” Kay might not be going back to work just yet, but he didn’t have to stay in the mansion.
“I don’t know yet. I want to stick close, just in case.”
“And your boss is okay with that? Okay with you being openly supportive of us?”
Kay shrugged and bounced Aaron on his knee. “I think he’s wary of me and Laura, since we have ties to shifters.”
“Oh?”
“He doesn’t know how we’ll react if he has to ask us to arrest you guys or something. Well, that’s not true. He knows exactly how we’ll react, and I’m sure he doesn’t like it. It’s probably easier for him to keep us on vacation, but I don’t think it can last much longer.”
“Then you’ll go back.”
“Maybe. Not if it means not being able to be with you or to live here.”
Noem nibbled on his lower lip. He’d never wanted to make Kay choose between him and his job. He would have lost that the week before, but now, he wasn’t sure. He hoped they’d never have to find out.
* * * *
Once Troy was done eating, Kay handed him Aaron back. The kitchen was busier now, people walking in and out, snagging bacon as they went. Few of them actually sat down to eat, and Kay was glad. He still wasn’t used to living with so many people. He still wasn’t used to living in the mansion, but he knew that was exactly what he was doing.
He hadn’t been back to his apartment in almost a week, and that was only to grab clothes and make sure everything was locked. He hadn’t been there since then, and he was surprised to realize he didn’t care.
He and Troy had lived together before Troy had been kidnapped. Kay had lived on his own since then, but he didn’t particularly enjoy it. He didn’t like coming home to silence, and living in the mansion certainly wasn’t quiet.
Noem looked like he was about to fall a
sleep in his plate, so Kay bumped shoulders with him. Noem jerked and blinked, looking around as if he didn’t remember where he was.
“Time to go to bed,” Kay said. He kissed Aaron’s forehead and got up. Maneuvering Noem off the stool and out of the kitchen was easy. They climbed the stairs slowly enough that he didn’t stumble on his own feet, and Kay walked him all the way to his bed.
Noem buried himself under the duvet, but when Kay moved away, Noem grabbed his hand. “You want to stay?” he asked, looking more asleep than awake.
“I just got up.”
Noem let his hand fall. “Of course you did. I want to cuddle, though. And have sex. I want to have sex, but you don’t seem to want it, so I was thinking that maybe you don’t like me. My body. Whatever. Anyway, I think you don’t want to have sex with me. That shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. I mean, I know what you think of me. Of shifters. You probably don’t want to stick your dick into a shifter. Not that I’m a shifter, but still.”
Kay stared. Noem was never this chatty. Actually, he was a quiet kind of guy, and he would never blurt out his feelings like that. He had to be dead tired if he was.
Kay took Noem’s hand again and squeezed. “Of course I want to have sex with you.”
Noem opened an eye. “Doesn’t look like it.”
“What do you want me to do? Jump you?”
“Kinda. I mean, it’s not like you didn’t have the opportunity.”
“Why didn’t you jump me?” And why were they having this conversation right now? Noem needed to sleep, and Kay felt guilty about hearing stuff Noem probably didn’t want him to know.
“I thought you’d push me away. You know, the Nix thing. I can’t do anything to change what I am.”
“You don’t have to.”
“No?”
“No. I like you just the way you are.”
Noem pulled on Kay’s hand with a strength that surprised Kay. It was enough to make him tumble down, and he landed almost on top of Noem. Even though he hadn’t, Noem pushed away the duvet and wrapped his arms and legs around him, holding him close and blindly searching for Kay’s lips with his own
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