Page 7 of Targeted By Fate

He had scars… scars that shifters shouldn’t have. The wounds must have been really severe to leave any faint traces at all. How hard had his life been? Was this life, always his, or was it what he had chosen for himself? All I knew about lives of crime I’d learned from really crappy movies. I doubted they were close to the authority on the subject.

He’d tell me… hopefully. That was if I could wake up and ask him, pull myself out of this body… but I couldn’t. It would have to wait.

I must’ve moved too much, because he woke up. His mouth curled into a smile. His eyes were so sweet, so caring. There was a softness to him—one I hadn’t seen last night.

“You’re awake,” he said, reaching down to pet me.

I wasn’t one to like being petted. It just felt… yucky. But with him, I enjoyed all of it and never wanted it to end.

“Do you think today, maybe, you could shift back? And we could talk? I promise you, I won’t hurt you. I kind of need you to—because right now I’m second-guessing myself. Worried that maybe you aren’t a shifter after all, and you’re just a cat that I found in the wild via the Cat Distribution System… and I’ve lost my mind.”

I rubbed my chin against his shoulder, trying to comfort him.

“You’re not… are you?”

I shook my head, trying to mimic what my human head would do. He sat up.

“I gotta hit the bathroom for a minute, but then I can get you something to eat and figure out… everything else.”

He was already in the bathroom when I realized what he meant by “everything else”—for me to use the bathroom. Because in this form, I wasn’t using the toilet. But also, I didn’t want a cat box. How humiliating that would be.

He came out and sat on the bed.

“I want to feed you… but I think we need to get you to a doctor first. I should’ve thought of that sooner.”

I felt myself retract.

“A shifter doctor. Not a vet, silly cat.”

I hardly felt silly. Vet or not, I didn’t like the idea of someone poking around my feline body. But if he needed me not to eat before he figured things out, I trusted him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Why is this so difficult? We’re supposed to find our mate, fall into each other’s arms, and live happily ever after. That’s how it’s supposed to work, right?”

He closed his eyes. “Yeah… that’s not how it works. It’s not how it worked for my brother. It’s not how it worked for my parents. It’s only how it works in fairy tales.”

I let out a mew of understanding. At least that was my attempt.

“How about we go now? Then we’ll figure everything out from there.”

I padded over to him, rubbed my chin against his leg, and went to the door.

“You wanna go outside?”

I let out a little meow.

“Are you running away?”

I shook my head again, the best I could. Thankfully, he seemed to understand.

“You need privacy outside?”

Another meow. Thank gods he threw on some clothes and carried me to the elevator and then straight outside so I could take care of things, because there would be nothing as embarrassing as having my mate see my beast using the bathroom.

“I’ll come right back for you. Okay? I need to check us out.”

I attempted to nod and then took off to the fancy bushes that were part of the landscaping to take care of business. Like he asked, I went back to the huge glass doors and waited. Not for long, though. He had our stuff in his hands.

“Let’s go.” He started toward the car, which the valet had already brought around, then turned back and looked at me. “Did you want me to carry you?”

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