Page 50 of As The Shifter World Turns

I tensed, goosebumps breaking out over my skin, thinking they were gossiping about me. But I’d never shared details about Micah and mewith anyone at the office.

For once I was grateful our boss was too cheap to buy a new coffee machine. The current one was so slow it gave me the opportunity to overhear their conversation.

“That’ll go nowhere fast,” Amanda noted as she removed her food from the microwave and Jake put his in. “Zack isn’t a unicorn so nothing will come of it except heartbreak.”

“Not true,” Jake said. “I’ve heard of unicorns mating with non-unicorns.”

The goosebumps that covered my body became more peaked as ice-cold blood surged through my veins.

“No,” his friend scoffed. “That’s a rumor or a myth. Put out by scumbags to entice someone into their bed and pretend they can have a long-term relationship.”

“Listen,” Jake told her as he got his food. “One of the kids I went to school with had a unicorn neighbor who was mated to a guy who wasn’t one. He told me.”

“Oh yeah? So, if he said it, it must be true? You’re gullible. I’d need to see that to believe it.” The pair brushed past me, their attention now on the food rather than more gossip.

If my boss thought I was distracted earlier, he wouldn’t be pleased while I sat at my desk all afternoon pondering whether Micah had lied to me about not being able to mate. Was he a scumbag, one who used the legend of not mating to keep me at arm’s length? Or was it, as Amanda suggested, a made up story?

I spilled the coffee as I exited the break room and bumped my head as I attempted to clean it up. But the universe was on my side for once, and my boss was called to a meeting outside the office and wouldn’t return for the rest of the day. He could still text though. And he did, but with him not being present, I had my computer open searching for unicorn mating habits.

But I was more confused when I finished than beforehand. The sites and blogs were full of guesswork and rumor and based on the comments, they were run by non-unicorns. Seemed that everything unicorn was behind a paywall.

“Typical unicorns wanting to be different,” I fumed as I gathered my things and headed home. But riding a bike through traffic when your mind was elsewhere wasn’t the smartest idea and I almost collided with a car. Gave myself a nasty scare so I concentrated on getting home safely and not thinking about unicorns, especially one unicorn in particular.

Micah wasn’t home when I arrived which gave me time to plan how I was going to broach the subject. By the time he knocked on my door, I was showered, had eaten a snack, and was calm and collected.

But the moment I saw his smiling face and him leaning on the doorway reminding me of a model advertising clothing, I stomped on my good intentions and blurted out, “You lied.”

That wiped the grin off his face.

I stormed into the living room, while a voice in the back of myhead—not my wolf—told me I was being immature. Micah was at my heels as I flounced onto the sofa and crossed my legs.

“About what?” He slumped onto the couch next to me.

“Unicorns not being able to mate with anyone other than a unicorn.”

“No. I didn’t,” he insisted.

“A guy in the office said someone he knew… or met… or heard of…” By this time, it struck me how ridiculous I sounded and Micah would have every right to be annoyed with me. I was having a temper tantrum about something I knew nothing about. But my frustration at not being the right person for Micah bubbled over. “They can mate.”

He rubbed his brow.

“And why is everything about unicorns so secretive? I couldn’t find anything of substance in my research.” That was my “So there” moment. Poking out my tongue would have wrapped up and put a bow on my tantrum, but I resisted.

“You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

His words sent me down a dark tunnel while staring at potential loss. “Probably not.” I folded my arms to protect myself from the bad news.

“It’s true.”

“I knew it.” I wagged my finger at him and my eyes filled with angry tears.

“Stop it,” he hissed.

That flash of annoyance stilled the tears and I fiddled with the hem of my shirt while avoiding his gaze.

“Are you going to let me finish?” he asked. I nodded. “Some unicorns have defied the laws of the universe and had relationships with other shifters.” He took my hand. “But the bond is imperfect, they are not mates in the truest sense, and there are no children. Much as we have discussed many times.”

I let out a deep breath. And another. “You made out that it had never happened.”

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