Page 72 of As The Shifter World Turns

“Oh, honey.” Archer wrapped his arms around me and I began to sob. “Tell us what happened.”

It took a few minutes for me to calm down enough, but when I did, I told them everything including locking myself in the bathroom and not having the energy to climb out of the tub.

“We have the cure,” Archer teased after letting me dump all my emotional baggage on them.

“We brought Thai.” Ivor grabbed the bags. “Why don’t we eat our woes away.”

“You have woes?” I hiccuped and it sounded more like hoes which had me giggling. These guys were good for me.

“Of course. Everyone does.” He set the food on the coffee table.

He was right. Maybe the woes looked different or affected them differently, but we all had them.

“You know the dumbest part?” I asked.

“Tell us.” Archer gave my shoulder a squeeze.

“I didn’t even really like him. Not really. I was using him as a way to not think about the person I am attracted to.” The same person I ran away from.

“Martin?” And Archer got it on one.

“Really? How’d you know?” The realization had only just hit me right this minute.

Ivor handed me a fresh roll, “I think the only person who didn’t see it was Martin and you… but you see it now.”

“Being attracted to someone… No, I don’t want to talk about that. Let’s eat all of this food as we watch a zombie marathon.”

I flicked on the television and found the cheesiest zombie movie. We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore and somewhere between the fluorescent green ice cream in movie three and my favorite part where the guy is just a head, I fell asleep.

27

IN THE DOGHOUSE

Archer

It’d always been my dream to work with animals, particularly dogs. But I’d put that on hold when my dad got sick and I went for a job that made money, so I could help support my parents.

But with Micah meeting my emotional needs—there was still the bigwhat ifhanging over our head regarding mating—but we fitted together perfectly like puzzle pieces and for now that was enough. Maybe it would be forever.

My wolf demanding to mate Micah last week had scared me. Sure, we could do the whole biting thing, but with unicorns only able to mate with unicorns, it’d never be a complete bond. Gods, we’d been over this so many times.

I’d been able to rein my beast in—that time.

The new agreement with my boss that he wouldn’t bug me over the weekend or late at night opened up so many opportunities. One of them was getting to sleep in and Micah and I were able to shift more regularly, but now that my Saturdays and Sundays were free of work, I contacted an animal shelter and asked to volunteer.

While they were desperate for people to help them, being accepted wasn't easy. There were pages of forms to fill out, I had to have a face to face interview, and I needed referees. Micah joked that he’d give me one which read, “Archer has an uncanny ability to see into an animal’s mind, particularly canines. His insight almost makes me think he is one.”

He thought that was hilarious because I’d sussed out that the people whoran the shelter were humans. But I eventually jumped through all the hoops, and was accepted.

That Saturday morning I was up at dawn, and Micah grumbled I was more excited to meet homeless animals than be with him. “Come on. Who doesn’t love dogs?” He peeked out from the bed covers and raised his hand. I pulled them off him, exposing his naked body and his hard cock. “Are you serious?”

“They’re adorable to look at and I don’t hate them but they’re not fans of unicorns. And it’s the barking and the licking.” He made a face. “So much saliva.” He shuddered.

I covered him up again because his cock was distracting and there was no time for that this morning. “You’re forgetting unconditional love.”

“Don’t I get that from you?” he grinned. I tossed a pillow at him, grabbed my lunch and phone and blew him a kiss.

“Shower at Daire’s when you get back. I don’t want a doggy smell in the apartment.”

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