Page 3 of As The Shifter World Turns

“Why? We usually have them on a Friday.”

“It’s a welcome to the house get together for Archer,” Daire explained. “Ryder, don’t you have to be at the gym?”

“Yeah.”

“I heard your buddy stomping out of your life. Lucky you never mated. He’s a dirtbag,” Micah addressed Ryder as they went down the stairs with me in the rear. Ryder didn’t reply, though he white-knuckled the handrail. As we approached the front door, a tall, gangly omega barreled out of 1A, almost knocking me over.

“Sorry, sorry.” His hair flopped over one eye, and I noted the adorable sprinkling of freckles on his nose and cheeks. A fellow wolf. His scent announced it.

“Ivor, Archer. Archer, Ivor.” Daire introduced us with a wave of his hand. “We live together. As roommates,” he clarified.

“Why aren’t you at college, Daire?” Ivor asked as he grabbed his sneakers from the porch and hopped on one foot and then the other putting them on. “Didn’t you have an early class?”

“I do. I did. Don’t worry about the bus. I’ll give you a ride.”

“You’re a star.” Ivor gave his roommate a megawatt smile, and to me he said, “Daire has the coolest sports car ever.”

“Nice.” I unlocked my bike as a voice shouted, “Hello. You must be Archer.” My eyes flicked up to the second floor, where a man was grinning and waving. ‘I’m Neil. Welcome to Sunshine Manor.”

“Thank you,” I replied, instantly warming to him.

“Barbecue tonight, Neil. Be there.”

Neil’s smile faded. “I might have to… you know… work.” He stumbled over the words.

Daire had informed me when he gave me the tour that Neil was human, and before I protested that it went against shifter lore to tell humans shifters existed, he explained they’d gone to school together and he’d spilled the deets one night when they’d had too many beers. “Neil’s cool,” he’d said.

“That’s my ride,” Micah noted as a car pulled up, and he pushed past me, his shoulder brushing against mine. Part of me was pleased he and his intoxicating scent were leaving, and I blinked, hoping to rid myself of the aroma that was prickling over my skin and making my head spin.

But his head jerked around and his smoldering gaze locked on mine, sending goosebumps spiking over my body. I dug my nails into my palms and clamped my teeth on my lower lip while planting my feet on the floor as his fragrance battered me. My wolf was clamoring to take his fur, begging me to let him get close to Micah and scent his beast.

But the thread of longing or loathing that stretched between the alpha and me severed and snapped, and Micah strode toward his ride.

Perhaps it wasn’t too late to cancel my lease and look for another place.

2

THE NEW GUY

Micah

Daire might’ve said this barbecue was to celebrate the new guy, and sure, that was a nice excuse. But tonight was all about Ryder. Ryder was going to be a mess for a long time if history was any indication, and this was his preemptive strike against that.

What Daire didn’t realize or maybe didn’t want to see was that Ryder was going to do what he was going to do. The man was all about things being perfect, and when they weren’t, he couldn’t handle it. That’s why I would eat off of his floor and why he wouldn’t hire anyone at work to help him—they might mess up.

That was why he kept that dirtbag around as long as he did. Kicking Kellan’s ass to the curb when he decided to stick his dick in anything that was willing was the equivalent of him admitting he was wrong about the man. Forgiving him and “working it out” was more about Ryder not having failed than any true love. If his stag had seen Kellan as theirs, they’d have marked that sorry shit’s ass long ago.

Good freaking riddance, I say. No one needs someone that doesn’t put you first.

The last place I wanted to go was this stupid shindig, but part of the reason I chose to live in this environment was so that I didn’t hole up in my place. It wasn’t good for unicorns to be alone all of the time, even if my human side preferred it, and setting up empty houses to make them easier to sell isn’t really people-filled, much less shifter-filled.

I dug in my drawer and found my favorite tank topwith “Ask me about my unicorn” scrolled across the chest, and a unicorn that was only present when you flipped it up and over your head. It was meant to be a drunk party novelty. They came in all kinds of animals.

But I didn’t like it for any of that. I liked it because it let other shifters know what I was without the awkward guessing game. I got grumpy and impatient with that game years ago. Unlike wolves who scented wolves and bears who scented bears, my beast scented off. Not human and not quite shifter, either.

This shirt would avoid me needing to havethatconversation with the new guy, especially after what he walked into upon arrival. Being new sucked, and from the way he kept avoiding eye contact with people, he was second guessing his decision to move here.

Maybe this would help him stay. There was something about him that said he belonged here. Or maybe I just liked the view. He wasn’t the typical hottie, the kind that spends their lives in the gym and more money on products to look good without looking like they tried. He had a different kind of appeal, with cheekbones of the gods and his eyes—I was so immediately drawn to them at first I thought the light was reflecting unusually, one looking more green and the other hazel, closer to brown, but no. That was his natural state and I was mesmerized. Sure, some predators have their beasts shining through from time to time, but this… just wow.

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