Page 68 of Siren in the Rain

“Ha! You and Cal could probably write a kickass song about that.”

Shae taps his chin as if considering this, and I grin.

“Anyway, when I couldn’t get hired at any of the businesses in town, I tried setting up my own. I had a portable massage table and I drove to whoever was willing to hire me for my massage services, and while I did manage to get some steady clients from the Otherkind community, it just wasn’t enough to make ends meet. Not in the hellishly expensive landscape of SoCal.”

“I’m sorry, Griff,” Shae murmurs. “Did you ever think of moving somewhere else?”

“A few times,” I admit. “But you know how much I love the ocean.” I shake my head. “I couldn’t bear the idea of being far away from it. So, I scraped together whatever part-time jobs I could get to supplement my massage income, but it wasn’t much. My pack got tired of supporting me, but I didn’t make enough money to support myself and give back to the pack the way that we’re expected to. I also had no interest in trying to distinguish myself in any of the kinds of careers the pack valued—not that I would have been able to complete the level of schooling required for that anyway. But to them, it just proved even more that I was a failure. When I turned twenty-one, I was given an ultimatum—if I wanted to stay in the pack, I’d have to do as they said and basically be under their control for the rest of my life, or I could leave the pack and find a way to survive on my own.” I grin. “You know what I decided to do.”

Shae studies me quietly for several long moments. “Do you still keep in contact with them?”

I shift awkwardly. “A bit. Things are different now that I’m not part of the pack. Talking with my parents or brothers always feels like I’m going in circles. All they want to know about is whether I’ve gotten a ‘real’ job that they consider worthwhile. Then they lecture me about all my shortcomings.”

Shae winces. “Not fun.”

“Nope.”

Although I do recognize that I need to tell them about Shae eventually. However, I’d prefer to wait until we figure out what we’re going to do about our mate bond. I don’t think I could bear to hear them call me a failure about this as well. Shae means too much to me.

“So, how did you end up with Dallas and the others?” Shae asks.

“A friend of mine worked at a shelter for Otherkind over in Pasadena. One day, they called me over to try and help with someone who’d been rescued but was nonverbal. I’d helped out a few times in the past on a volunteer basis.”

“Let me guess. Dallas and the others were there?”

“Yep. They’d rescued several runaways who were living together under a bridge and had been attacked by some humans. They were pretty banged up but made it out okay, but one of them was a tiny guy who appeared to be catatonic. I was able to get a decent read off him and could tell he’d run away from a bad home situation. When he and the others had been attacked, it reminded him of the abuse he’d faced back home and he’d had a serious PTSD episode. Thankfully, my calming pheromones eventually helped bring him back, and we were able to get him the psychiatric care he needed.”

Shae takes hold of my hand and squeezes it, sending a delicious zing of awareness throughout my body that raises goose bumps on my skin. “Your abilities are amazing. I’m sure your skills were critical to helping that guy.”

“Well, they were also what made Dallas recruit me to the team. At that time, it was just him, Cal, and Harper. Ruby joined us several months later. But Dallas saw value in my abilities, which were never appreciated by my pack. It felt good to be able to put them to more productive use in rescuing people.”

“Your old pack was full of a bunch of idiots.” Shae grins. “Their loss was MEOW Squad’s gain.”

I beam. “True, but I think I gained the most out of it. I finally found a place where I belong and a family that loves me and will always have my back.”

Shae covers his face with his hands. “Gah! You’re too fucking pure for this world.” He peeks through his fingers at me. “I know I can be a grumpy, sarcastic sonofabitch, but honestly, your abilities have helped me a lot since I escaped. Being with you calms me and silences the darker voices in my mind. I can sleep at night without being hounded by horrifying nightmares because you’re right there with me.” He moves his hands and gazes into my eyes, his own suddenly radiating seriousness. “Thank you.”

Warmth spreads through my chest and my heart flutters with happiness.

For several moments, we just watch one another.

I could do this all night, I think dreamily.

“I want to kiss you,” Shae declares all of a sudden, a determined set to his mouth.

My heart goes from fluttering to nearly exploding out of my chest.

The gold coin in my pocket warms, and I have to fight the urge to see what it says now.

“Really?” My tail starts thumping hopefully. “I’m not dreaming, right?”

“No. But I want to be in charge. Can you keep your hands and other body parts to yourself?”

He could tie me up in hardcore shibari and I wouldn’t mind. Shae wants to kiss me! Hell to the yeah! I’ll take whatever he’s willing to give me.

I nod eagerly. “Anything you want.”

“Good Wolf Boy,” he drawls, a glint of growing confidence in his eyes.

---