“I met my mate.” I stand, pacing across the room.
“Fuck,” he says. I hear a door shut. “When?”
“About two hours ago,” I say, looking at my watch.
“Where?”
“At the fights.”
“How?”
“Her brother fought, and he got hurt,” I explain.
“Not the best circumstances,” he mutters.
“No shit,” I snap.
“Where is she now?”
“In my bathroom,” I grit out. “I can smell her all around me.” I tip my head back. “My beast wants out badly. I don’t know if I can hold him back.”
“Shit. You have to,” he says.
“I fucking know,” I hiss.
“She’s human?”
“Yes. Her brother’s friend is a coyote shifter. She knows we exist but not much else.” I walk to the doorway and back to the couch.
“How did you get her to stay with you?”
“You don’t want to know.” I sit. “Hunter is annoyed, but the result is her with me.”
“You didn’t call Micah,” he whispers.
“I didn’t want this news to spread through the whole fucking group. He would tell Sally, and it would be over. This is hard enough; I don’t want interference.” Tomorrow, I would have the whole crew at my door.
“True,” he mumbles. “They are best friends. He can’t seem to keep anything from her.”
“Did you know Sally was coming?” I ask.
“No,” he chuckles.
“She works for you.”
“That doesn’t mean shit. She asked for a few days off to recharge. I didn’t ask what that meant,” he says and sighs. “You’ve had an eventful night.”
“Understatement,” I grumble.
“Are you going to tell her?”
“I have to. She knows something is off. I think she’s surprised at herself for being here. Her brother is sleeping.”
“Tell her the truth.”
“Yeah,” I scoff, laughing abruptly. “Tell her I’m a snake shifter. I’m going to turn her into one, and she can never leave me.”
“Maybe phrase it differently,” he says lightly.