Page 20 of As The Shifter World Turns

“Cool. I’m ready whenever you are.”

And off to shift we went. Neither of us said anything during the car ride. And really, that was for the best. I’d have whined about how shitty Daire’s genes were and he’d be talking about his new place, a place where I wouldn’t bump into him regularly and where he would be living with Ivor and Neil.

Which was pretty sucky of Ivor given how much Daire helped him, but also I had a feeling Daire was going to have the choice of casa de la Dad or get cut off. So maybe it was his way of making Daire feel less horrible.

“It’s a nice night,” Archer said and closed the car door. “Thanks. My wolf needs this. Is your unicorn a butt like that too?”

“You don’t know much about unicorns, do you?” He shook his head. “We don’t have a beast like you. Sometimes I wish I did so I could have someone to talk to, but that’s not how we are.” I didn’t get into how I had a make-believe beast as a child or how I still sometimes thought of my other self as that to keep the loneliness away.

His face was blank, not giving me a hint of how he was adjusting to the news. “How else are unicorns different?” He didn’t look weirded out like others had when I told them, but then again, he already had a guy and roommates and… I needed to cut it out.

“We can only mate unicorns. Other than that—same-o, same-o.” The mating thing sucked. It wasn’t like I ran into tons of unicorns. That whole too many fish in the sea saying might be true about fish shifters, but not unicorns.

“I guess all shifters have some bullshit that goes along with them.” He ripped his shirt up and over his head. “My pack alpha had my mate picked out for me at birth. I’m not even shitting you.”

He unbuttoned his pants. “Thank goodness she told him to pound salt via mating his son behind his back.”

And down went the zipper.

Don’t look. Don’t look. Avoid his crotch.

I was looking. Why did he have to be so hot?

“That was fun,” and down his pants dropped, and what was he wearing?Not underwear, his thick cock hanging there. It wasn’t even hard and it still put most men to shame.

He stepped out of his pants. “Are you coming?”

If he kept that up, I sure would be. My mind raced back through my dream the other night. I’d never admit how many times I whacked one off to that memory. And if he didn’t shift and take his fur soon, I’d be adding one more to it as soon as I could get my ass home.

“Yeah. Go ahead without me. See if I can get you.” I hadn’t thought through how much his wolf would rise to that challenge, and he was off like a shot as I fumbled with my clothes and took off after him.

I didn’t have the nose of the wolf, but I had speed and I had sight. Not sight where I could read a road sign from the top of the mountain, but I could see where his wolf had been, like he left a trail… one no one else but me could detect.

Not that it was a me skill. All unicorns had it. It was one of the many things in our tool box that kept us safe. Heck, I could look like a horse if I worked at it really hard and I was ashamed to admit there were times I did that just to have a place to run, and a farm was nearby. Younger Micah had no shame.

I followed his trail running fast and hard, the teal path getting darker as I got closer. It was obvious by the way Archer ran that he had no idea how skilled unicorns were. He was going in a straight path without once trying to set some false leads. I was going to need to teach him a few things, starting with never underestimate your predator. Not that he was in that position often. Wolves were pretty much the top of the food chain in most settings.

But he was an omega, and a hot as hell omega, and that drew a certain kind of attention, not all of it from well-intentioned people. He needed to be safer, starting with false trails or at least some circling around a tree here or there.

It wasn’t long until even I, with my shit unicorn smell, could scent him, and I pushed even harder and joined him in a small clearing. Unlike with another wolf, there was no wrestling fun for him, he just submitted, then shifted. There was too much room for injury between my horn and his teeth.

“Color me impressed.” He looked me up and down, his eyes settling on my horn. “Does that thing have like, tracking powers?”

I shifted a few feet from him.

“No tracking powers in my horn.” I chuckled. “Why didn’t you try to outmaneuver me?”

He looked to the ground. Crap. I hadn’t meant to embarrass him.

“I thought you… you're sort of like a horse, and horses are prey, not predators.” I could see his point.

“Next time you won’t be so lax.”

“Next time? I’d like that.” He kicked the dirt in front of him. “I like to play. It’s a wolf thing, but without packmates… I don’t know. This was fun.”

“Night’s not over.” His head snapped up at my words. “Your turn.”

I jumped, shifting mid-air, and contrary to the advice he gave me, I ran a straight line to the car at top speed, arriving only moments before he did.

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