Page 28 of Wrong Number, Right Lion

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but instead, gave one single nod. I toed off my socks and shoes, dropping the rest of my clothes on the ground in a puddle.

“Remember that I am safe, no matter what you see.”

He didn’t respond, his eyes fixated on me.

Our.

Mate.

Fix.

As if I hadn’t been actively working on doing that.

Before I could second-guess myself—or was it fifty-thirding myself—I took my fur. My paws landed on the ground with a thud, Arlo taking a step back.

This was not good. This was very not good.

My first instinct was to shift back, but my beast made it known he was going to fight me on that. If Arlo thought my lion wasscary, I couldn’t imagine what he’d think while watching my beast and me in a power struggle.

I conceded to my cat under the condition he allow me to take over. In an attempt to make my massive predatory self look more like a house cat, I laid straight down. The very last thing I wanted was to make this worse, and having him worry that I was about to pounce and turn him into dinner would do that.

“This can’t be real. This can’t be real,” he kept muttering over and over again, his eyes squeezed tightly closed.

I didn’t move, instead watching him as he attempted to process what he was seeing or currently not seeing as the case might be.

When he opened them again, I was still lying there, watching him, forcing myself to look as passive as I could. He took the sight in for maybe a second and then snapped them closed again.

“It can’t be real. It can’t be real.”

This time, I shifted back, wanting nothing more than to comfort him, reassure him, somehow fix this. In my happy dreams, he would’ve come over to me and snuggled in close, telling me how beautiful I was. This was very much not that.

I pulled on my boxer briefs and jeans, figuring that standing here naked wasn’t going to make things go any better.

“Arlo?”

He opened his eyes, looking behind me as if to make sure the lion wasn’t still there. “You... you were just a lion, right? I wasn’t imagining that?”

“Yes. I was.” He didn’t say more, so I continued. “I’m a shifter.”

“No. That can’t be. That’s not real. That’s only in books.” His words sped out, blending together.

“No, it can be. I promise. I know this is a lot to take in.”

“How… how… Why am I freaked out but not fearing you’ll kill me?” That was at least promising.

“Because you sense I could never harm you. You’re my mate.”

“Whoa.” Three steps back. All thatpromisingI just felt fell away. “You’re telling me that because I had sex with you, now you, like, own me or something?”

I wasn’t sure I could’ve made a bigger mess of this if I tried. I needed one of those watches that turned back time so I could have a redo, one that wouldn’t scare my sweet mate like this.

“No! No, I’m saying this all wrong.” I took a deep breath in an attempt to center myself. “I’m saying that attraction you have for me? That connection? That’s nature’s—rather Fate’s—way of showing us that we’re meant for each other. And the sex was… sex. And it was great. But that’s not mating. There’s more to mating.”

I started babbling, throwing every single fact I thought might help ease Arlo into this at him. Words were pouring out of me, and I wasn’t sure I made even the tiniest bit of sense. But he wasn’t running, and I was calling that a win… for now.

Then, when all my words were depleted, he took one step back.

“Please don’t go.” My voice cracked, my emotions raw.

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