That other shifter—it was Joel. The man who’d caught her attention at the diner...and who had saved her from those jerks on the street.
That must have been why he was so weirdly compelling. He was a snow leopard. Like her.
She’d never met another snow leopard shifter before.
And maybe that was why she hadn’t felt afraid when he was chasing her. It was strange: it had almost been like a race, or a game. When she’d run away, she’d felt more of a sense of exhilaration than anything else. She’d almost wanted him to catch her.
She’d stopped and looked back at him without fear. And that, as much as anything, had been what made her run again. It had felt like her survival instincts had stopped working.
And now, part of her was screaming, Maybe this is it. Maybe this is a place I can stay. Maybe these people will welcome me in, and I won’t be alone anymore.
Sure. After chasing her through the night like that. That seemed likely. Even if Nina had felt like it was a game, he probably just wanted to tell her to get out of his territory. Whatever sympathy he’d felt when he thought she was just a random human woman must have disappeared when he realized she was an interloper, a feral shifter on his land.
She was going to have to leave town. Again.
Nina left for work still blinking back furious tears. She couldn’t skip town yet—or she could, but she wanted to at least pick up her first paycheck, which she’d get this afternoon. Once she had that, she could leave. The money would help get her started in a new town.
The thought of picking up again and leaving...of shifting and running all day, curling up somewhere hidden every night, hunting for her food and hoping no one discovered her...it made her want to sit down on the floor of the diner and sob.
But moving from town to town was much, much easier as a snow leopard. Nina didn’t own a car. Even a bus ticket would cut into her available money by too much, as usual. If she shifted and lived outside for several days, running alongside a highway until she came to a promising place to find a job, she didn’t have to pay for transportation or a place to sleep. Or even food.
Nina felt exhausted just thinking about it. The cold and the damp, wasting hours hunting rabbits or birds, only to fetch up in some other hostile little town where she’d desperately search for a crappy job, only to start the cycle all over again when it didn’t work out.
She didn’t want to. But what else was she going to do? This was her life.
With a sudden rush of tension, she remembered the letter she’d sent to her mom last night. It was all a lie now, wasn’t it?
She wondered if the mailman had picked up the mail from that box yet. Maybe she could somehow fish the letter out? But as she passed it on her way to the diner, she read the posted note: pickup was at 9 AM. It was almost noon now, just about time for her shift to start. Her last shift.
She didn’t want to leave. She didn’t want to never see stylish Alethia again, never have a sarcastic exchange with Ethel again, never run around the very edges of beautiful Glacier National Park again.
But she couldn’t just wait to get chased away. If there was anything worse than purposefully leaving town, it was being run out by a pack of angry shifters. That was something to make her chest ache and her eyes burn as she plodded off to the next town.
Glacier was supposed to be her last stop. The point where she gave up looking for other shifters, stopped trying to find a family, and just accepted that she was alone. She’d wanted to be alone somewhere beautiful, and she’d thought she’d achieved that. She didn’t want to give it up.
Nina let out her breath in a sigh as she went to clock in and put on her apron. She was just going to have to be strong, steel herself, and leave. She’d done it so many times before, she could do it again.
She picked up her tray and started out...and stopped short. Joel was waiting for her in a booth.
He was sitting down, but he still had that sense of kinetic energy about him, like at any moment he might spring into motion. Nina felt caught up in the sight of him, his wild dark hair, the hint of stubble at his jaw, his broad, muscular shoulders...
She snapped herself out of it and stepped out into the dining area. She still had a job to do, and no matter what he wanted, she was going to do it.
When he saw her, he stood up immediately and came over. “You,” he said in that deep voice. “It was you last night.”
“I—don’t know what you’re talking about.” Nina’s voice wavered, though, giving her away. She’d never been a good liar. And something about Joel’s voice, those bright silver eyes, something—it just disarmed her.
“I know it was,” he insisted. “I saw your eyes. It was you.”
Nina scrubbed her hands through her short hair. “Fine. It was me. But you don’t have to worry about me, okay? No need to—to protect me after my shift’s over anymore, or follow me into the woods. I’m leaving town today.”
Now he looked taken aback. Why? That had to have been what he’d wanted to tell her last night. Get out of my territory. That’s what all shifters wanted when they saw a stranger.
But he didn’t say that. Or anything like it. Instead, he took a step closer—Nina could swear she felt his body heat—and said, “You don’t have to leave.”
Nina didn’t know what to say to that. That wasn’t how this was supposed to go.
“Do you have a pack?” she asked, suddenly thinking of a reason he might not object to her hanging around. “Or is it just you?”