Page 2 of Confusing Hearts

“Dude, you know her?”

“Chase, my man, you are aware that jaguars and black panthers are basically the same species, right?”

“Why would I know that?”

Matt laughed. “Well, we are. Ayanna and hersisters”—he emphasized with air quotes—“are all black panthers—a bunch of elitist snobs. They even frown at fraternizing with my kind, even though the only difference is the color of our coats. Trust me, I did you a favor. Let’s go grab a drink and find something better to distract you with tonight.”

Much of the remainder of the night passed in a blur, and my next fully coherent memory was waking up naked in bed and thankful I was alone. It wasn’t like me to get that wasted, and I didn’t like it. It made my wolf uncomfortable when I drank, and I could feel my skin crawling with the sensation I knew as the sign that I needed to shift.

I threw on an old pair of shorts and used the bathroom before grabbing a cold bottle of water from the fridge and heading for the woods. One of the things I loved about the ARC was the massive one hundred and eighty-seven acre forest surrounding the college. It was the perfect getaway, and since everyone on campus was a shifter, I didn’t even have to hide when I needed time in my fur.

Once inside the cover of the trees, I started to discard my shorts.

“Chase Westin,” a sexy voice purred behind me, and I nearly tripped in surprise. Turning, I saw a girl that I didn’t recognize at all.

“Um, hi. Have we met?”

“Chase, you rocked my world last night. I’m Anita, remember?”

Shit!I wracked my brain for any memory of the previous evening.

She started laughing. “I’m just messing with you. You were pretty wasted last night, though. I really am Anita. You and some of your friends partied at my house last night?”

“Oh, you’re a panther?”

“You say that with disgust. I suppose my sisters’ reputations have preceded us. I really shouldn’t be surprised.”

There was something different about the girl and I liked her immensely.

“And, you’re not like your sisters?” I asked.

“Oh God, no! I’m not a pampered princess, or think I’m the greatest thing ever to walk this earth. I actually love the interspecies policy here at Archibald Reynolds. My sisters are just a bunch of snobs and our king strongly encourages keeping our line pure, if you know what I mean.”

“And you don’t? By the way, we call it the ARC. Archibald Reynolds College. A-R-C—kind of a pun from the, well, the ark.” I shook my head. It sounded stupid trying to explain it, but she laughed.

“I like that. And no, I don’t. Well, I’m not against finding my true mate, of course. I just think it’s okay to friend other shifters. I don’t see the issue there. How about you?”

I shrugged. “Never much thought of it. I assumed I’d find my one true mate someday and settle down. In the meantime, I wasn’t going to stress it. My brother went to school here, so I was exposed to all sorts of shifters before coming here. My nephew is half tiger. I guess I just didn’t think it was really that big of a deal anymore.”

“You have a half-breed nephew?”

“It’s a long story, and not really mine to tell.”

“I didn’t even know that was truly possible.”

“Why not?”

“Well, what is he going to be when he grows up?”

“Not real sure. We have a theory that God only gives us one animal spirit, so I guess he has a fifty-fifty chance of getting either a tiger or a wolf.”

“Wolf?” she shrieked. “I thought you were a jaguar. You were hanging out with Matt Williams last night.”

“Yeah, he’s my brother. My fraternity brother.”

“Matt’s in a fraternity with a, a dog?” She must have seen the look of surprise on my face because she immediately began backstepping and talking really fast. “I didn’t mean that like it sounded. I’m just surprised. Until yesterday I had never even met a shifter that wasn’t a black panther, or the occasional jaguar, and we were discouraged from even talking to the jags. So yeah, other species are kind of new to me. I guess I just assumed Matt hung out with other cats.”

I snorted. “Nah, Matt was insistent he was going to be a D.O.G. Trust me, he took a lot of shit when we were pledges, but now, he’s just one of the brothers.” I smiled enough to flash my dimples. Unlike the ice queen Ayanna, Anita reacted to them.

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