Page 51 of Entering a New World

I tried not to watch him too obviously as he practically inhaled the donut he’d grabbed. It was gone in two bites, Nix’s stomach letting out a loud growl.

How long had it been since he’d eaten?

Part of me wanted to ask and offer my help, even though I really didn’t know how. I mean, now that I had my wallet back, I could at least offer to buy him some new clothes or a warm coat, but I highly doubted he’d agree to that.

“Soo… I offered to let you unload… what’s going on with your two lives?”

I let out a breath and grabbed a pastry for myself, then cleared my throat, relieved to focus on something else for a moment. Not that it’d make me forget about Nix’s situation.

“It’s just that I have a hard time connecting life here, in a small town, with my old life in the city, ” I explained, then stopped. This was certainly an issue, but it definitely wasn’t the only one I was facing.

No, the thing was, after finding Rhett, learning about shifters and everything else that was going on in the real world, my life in Vancouver felt unreal. Maybe a bit like a piece of clothing I used to love, but that just didn’t fit me any longer.

Oh, how I wished I could talk to Nix—or someone, anyone, really—about it. But I still had no idea if Nix was a shifter or knew about shifters, and there was no good way to ask.

“Yeah, I get that. My life here is pretty different from before, too,” he mumbled, grabbing yet another donut.

“What was your life like?” I asked.

Nix flinched, his whole body tensing up. Putting the donut down in front of him, he balled his hands into fists, the pale skin stretching over his knuckles. He lowered his head so far I couldn’t see his face at all, just a curtain of silvery hair.

Silence stretched between us. Static sizzled in the air, raising goosebumps on my arm.

I’d screwed up. Clearly, I wouldn’t get an answer, but more importantly, I’d somehow managed to hurt him. I didn’t need to be a shifter to know that. No super-nose needed, nor the ability to hear his heartbeat.

I’d triggered something in him.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he raised his head and looked me straight in the eyes. A shiver ran down my spine upon taking in the look on his face. The pure and utter agony displayed. The fear.

“It was… different,” he whispered, his eyes shining with what I thought were tears. “So very different.”

In this case, I was sure that, by the way he said it, different was a synonym for worse.

Rubbing my chest, I tried coming up with a way to change the topic to something safer.

My phone—the one Rhett had gotten me, not my old one—buzzed inside of my jeans, and my heart jolted. I hadn’t seen him for the last two days because there was something going on with the barrier. I didn’t understand exactly what the problem was, but I did get that the barrier was Rhett’s responsibility, so it acting up was his problem.

Still, not seeing him every day sucked. It hurt as if a part of me was missing. Literally. Rhett might as well have ripped off my arm.

So, I quickly pulled my phone out of my pocket and read the message.

Rhett: I wanted to surprise you at the Inn, but Mave said you’re out. Want to meet up?

Smiling, I glanced at Nix, then typed out my answer.

Levi: I’m at Herb’s with a friend. You can join us.

“Who are you texting?” Nix asked, raising his brows until they disappeared beneath his hair. “You just got all smiley and dopey.”

“My m…” Shaking my head, I grinned at Nix. “I guess he’s my boyfriend.” For humans. Or, like, people whose status was unknown to me.

“You guess? Shouldn’t you know?” Nix asked, picking the donut back up and taking a big bite out of it.

Well, I guess that was one way to change the topic.

“It’s still new, but we’re getting serious.”

Was that the right way one could describe meeting their fated mate? We hadn’t known each other long, but it already felt like I’d been missing him my whole life. Like I’d been missing a part of me without even knowing it. My life had been fine, good even, but looking back at it now, there appeared to be a Rhett-shaped hole.

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