Page 12 of Chomp's Challenge

“So, she doesn’t realize that she’s talking to Callie, who can now shift because of our mating,” he muses.

My head hits the table. At the rate I’m screwing all of this up, I’ll be a grouchy old gator exiled to the river permanently. I’ll become a cautionary tale to younger shifters about how to best handle telling your mate that you have the ability to shift into an animal, especially if your mate happens to be a human.

“Oh, fuck, what do I do?” I groan into the tabletop.

“For starters, quit your damn bellyaching and start acting like the apex predator you are, for fuck’s sake!” Kodiak yells. “I’ve already sent a text to Callie to let her know how you fucked everything up. Luckily for you, my mate likes Ariel, so she’s going to try and undo what you’ve done.”

A flicker of hope burns in my chest as I lift my head. “Really? Do you think it’s possible?”

“My mate managed to convince me to play Santa Claus every year for the kids at the refuge, what do you think?” he snarls.

I hide my grin because I know most of what he agrees to is because he’s so damn happy he’s going to be a father, he’d agree to fly to the moon and paint it if Callie wanted him to. “I think it’s more than possible,” I whisper, afraid to hope too much in case Callie’s powers of persuasion go on vacation or something.

She’s our mate, my gator grumbles. Even if she leaves, we will follow her and protect her. Change her mind.

Okay, he makes a good point. We can follow her to make sure she’s safe.

It’s not stalking if we’re mates. Right?

“You got a weird look on your face,” Kodiak observes. “Don’t do anything else stupid.”

I ignore him, chewing on another piece of steak. I barely notice as I swallow because my thoughts are centered on Ariel. Callie took her for a walk and they’re too far for me to hear their conversation. Should I follow?

Yes! My gator shouts. Go!

I rise to my feet and drop the utensils, striding toward the door. I think I’m slick and gonna pull it off until I see Spike. He’s got his arms folded across his chest and wears a scowl. He’s practically standing in the doorway to block me.

“Not happening.”

The fuck?

“My mate needs me,” I attempt to argue as my gator considers whether or not he can take down a dragon.

Smoke blows from Spike’s nose. “Not yet. Give Callie a chance to talk to her first.”

I turn an accusing eye on Kodiak. “You’re an asshole.” He told our pres, so I had to stay put. The bastard.

The bear looks gleeful. “I know you too well, Chomp.”

I flip him off in response.

Spike shoves his way inside and I take a few steps backward. He’s the only one my gator will concede to and that’s only because of his position as president.

“This is an attempt to help you, Chomp. Get your head outta your ass.”

Uh-huh. “She’s freaked out about the gator. I tried to show her,” I begin to explain.

Kodiak starts laughing. I shoot him a glare.

“She wasn’t ready,” Spike announces like I don’t already know that. “Be patient.”

“She rejected me,” I say with a snarl. My gator is so pissed but he’s also hurt. We both are. This feels worse than when I left my original congregation all those years ago, and that nearly destroyed me.

Kodiak shakes his head. “She didn’t reject you.”

“How the hell do you know?” I thunder at him. “You weren’t here.”

Spike pinches the bridge of his nose like we’re all irritating him. “None of you fuckers have any patience at all. It’s a fucking miracle that any of our businesses have repeat customers.”

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