We developed a pattern. I’d give my leopard three months of what I referred to as roaming time. He’d take the lead, telling me to switch from a highway to a back road or vice versa. If he hadn’t found our forever home, a town or region in that time, I took control and we’d rent a place of my choosing. As renting required a commitment, I insisted we stay a minimum of six months. He agreed as long as we shifted frequently.The few shifter friends I’d made on my travels came up with suggestions as to why my beast was anxious. Their reasoning ranged from him wanting to be with his own kind, to returning to the place where I’d first heard him during puberty, and even him searching for our mate.My leopard’s answer to the first was a resounding no. Snow leopards didn’t grow up in packs or prides, much like their wild cousins. We’d met another snow leopard at college but apart from having the same beast and being students, we had nothing in common.He first revealed himself at my folks’ home

I thought of spiders, mold, and goose poop in an attempt to shift and not have a hard-on. I mostly succeeded, my semi at least not super obvious. That was what I told myself.“What did you find?” I queried.He handed it to me. “It’s a penny.”I could see that. But what was special about it? “It’s shiny,” I noted.“And it was facedown, which means by giving it to you, we both have good luck.”“I don’t get it.” What did finding a random coin on our perimeter run have to do with luck?“It’s a human thing,” he explained. “If you find a penny and you don’t pick it up, it’s automatically bad luck.”“Okay.” It made no sense, but a lot of what humans did made no sense to me.“And if it’s faceup, then the finder keeps it and gets good luck.”I just watched him for a second, still not getting it but also not sure it was important that I did. “And this was tails up so you gave it to me?”“Exactly. You’re welcome. Now we both get good luck.” He winked and took his fur again, which was good, becau

“Alicia.”“Yes, Alpha.”“Were you planning on staying and playing with Oberon?”“Ummm.” I looked around to find Grant had disappeared, Alpha was on his feet, and Dante was at the door.“We were up late putting the finishing touches to a tourist cabin last night, Alpha. And Bert, the rooster, woke us all up very early this morning.” That was Dante, saving my ass and making excuses for my lack of focus. My mind wandered to us painting the walls yesterday and arguing about the color. I said it was eggshell and Dante insisted it was plain white.“That damned rooster tried to waylay me yesterday and Brian had to save me.” Alpha gritted his teeth. Dante and I shared a glance, and I stifled a laugh. Bert was one of the few creatures who could get the better of our Alpha.Dante took my arm and we left Alpha’s home. Grant was sprinting away in the direction of the library. “How about we do a perimeter run?”“Why?”My bear was suddenly awake and shaking his head at my response.Dante shrugged a

I set my bag on the floor and walked in. “I know I said I would be here longer, but I need to leave today.”“I was suspecting as much when you had to go out for your walk.” She gave me a knowing look. But how could she? Mrs. Tyler was human. At least, she scented that way.“You caught that.” I didn’t want to tell her anything that could give me away in case I was assuming too much.“Yeah, my Harry used to get like that when he was still alive.” She pulled down the front of her shirt to reveal her mating mark, faded and old and not in the typical location, and very much not in a place I was comfortable looking. “Squirrel.” She let her shirt go.“He hadn’t meant to do that… best thing that ever happened to me but not intentional at the time. He… it’s a long story, but his family was not approving of me, and for a long time, I thought he was just a tame squirrel. You know, the kind that come up to humans to beg for food at the parks.” She shook her head. “I’d been so oblivious… but regar

DanteThe omega rushed inside as if he was being chased. A human had run from my beast once when I shifted in the forest, a little too close to a farm. And Clarissa had the same expression, with his mouth set in a hard line, the eyes wide with fear, and the scurrying legs reminding me of the cartoons humans had grown up with which Alpha and Kit introduced us to.Not that the pair were human, but they’d lived and worked with them, and those animated figures were always dashing off in a cloud of dust. But Alpha and his friend called it a cultural touch point, something that resonated with humans and reminded them of their childhood. That was becoming increasingly relevant for us as we were interacting with humans.We would always be a bear den, but to market our services and provide excellent customer assistance, we needed an insight into how humans lived their lives.Enough!Okay sorry. My bear wasn’t interested in silly cartoons where anvils dropped on characters’ heads.I did my own