Page 14 of Delivered to My Humans

More than laughing, my animal was now involved. If I was in front of them and in my cat form, she would be exposing her belly to them and purring her little ass off. She reached out from that bond I could feel but could never explain and told me to talk to them.

Go to them. Let them be our mates.

But they were human, and I wasn’t sure they got the full scope of shifter mates. Once I attached to them and knew they were my mates, there was no going back. No breakups, cheating, or divorces like humans. I hated to admit it, but other than what humans did to my mother, there was another aspect to them that made me trepidatious about being mated to them. They changed partners and wives and husbands more than some people changed jobs and underwear.

Humans didn’t understand the meaning of a mate. Of someone who, shifters believed, was created to be with you until death did you part. Or longer. I believed the goddess would allow us to be with our mate or mates through the ages both in life and afterlife. If my cat were to bond with these males and have them leave us or abuse us, it would be like a slow death for my animal and so, me.

But I was tired of fear running my life.

And these three men, Idris, Lachlan, and Hale, well, they made me want to take the chance.

My latest message from them was from Lachlan, the one who had messaged me first. He asked if we could speak over the phone.

I bit down on my lip—hard. Speaking to them and hearing their voices would make this feel real.

Okay,I replied and sent them my phone number. My stomach rolled. Goddess, I hadn’t been this nervous on my first date at thirteen.

When my phone rang, under ten minutes later, I screamed so loudly my neighbor banged on the wall a few times. “Hello,” I answered in a raspy tone, since my soul had temporarily detached from my body in those moments.

“Are you okay?” a bass, warm blanket of a voice spoke, making my body break out in shivers.

“I’m okay, but I don’t know who I’m talking to.”

A chorus of masculine chuckles filled the air.

“I’m Idris.”

“I’m Hale.” A smooth operator, that one. Something about his tone made me feel like he left wakes of swooning women behind him. I was one of them now.

“And I’m Lachlan.” Another heartbreaker of a voice.

My core tightened, and my thighs rubbed together. These humans were sexy as hell and handsome and their voices matched.

I was in big trouble.

“Hello, everyone,” I answered.

“Your voice is beautiful, just like you.” Hale. The sweet talker.

“Thank you. You guys aren’t too bad yourselves.”

“Sorry we took so long to call you. We live in separate cabins, and Hale is still at work so we started a three-way call.” Idris had no business using the word three-way with that purring voice.

If I didn’t know better, I would think he was some kind of cat shifter.

“Poor Hale,” I said. “It’s late for you to be working. I’m not sure about the time difference though. It’s ten at night here.”

“It’s eleven here, Audrey,” Hale responded, and I heard him doing something in the background.

“You have patients who stay overnight?”

I already knew that Idris and Lachlan were vets and Hale was a vet tech but didn’t know they kept animals overnight. “Yeah. Tonight is a bit off our routine. Usually, we have another tech for nights, but he called in sick, so I’m here.”

“Are you always so chipper? Even at night?” I asked but then regretted it. Was that too personal too soon? I was awkward at this but at the same time had no desire to end the call. My cat craved any scrap of knowledge about them she could get.

“He is,” Idris and Lachlan both said at the same time, but it was Lachlan who continued speaking. “What about you, Audrey? We know us. We want to get to know you better.”

“Something not on the profile?” I asked. It had been so extensive.

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