Page 46 of Shaped to Be Yours

“Ricky found him. He should think of one.”

“Me? Well, would Mickey be too obvious? After Minnie? And I’m Ricky.”

“He’s not a tuxedo,” Jason argued.

“And cats aren’t rats, but you still named your old cat after one,” I teased.

A knock at the front door interrupted our discussion, and while Sandy went to answer it, I got a few pets in with Mickey.

Whitmore had arrived, right on time. Jason had messaged him immediately after lunch but had asked for him to wait to come over until after Sandy would be home.

Before they joined us in the living room with the cat, Jason said to me, “I’m not going to tell Mom about the werecat thing. Not until we know more. But I’ll tell her everything else, everything I can, and I’ll tell Whitmore the rest. Okay?”

“Whatever you want. I’m sorry I wasn’t upfront about wanting you to do the testing, but I’m glad you are. I promise I will not let them turn this intoSpecies. Or an alien autopsy. Or anything like that. They’d have to get through me first.”

Jason smiled, and it was as genuine a smile from him as I’d gotten today.

He told everything he’d intended to both Whitmore and Sandy, and then asked Sandy to leave us alone for a while. She did. Mickey stayed in the living room with us. The cat definitely seemed to like Whitmore, who petted the cat liberally, much to Jason’s chagrin.

“There’s more,” Jason said, “but I don’t want you telling my mom anything until I have a handle on things. Maybe if the snake thing tomorrow works or if we finally get answers.”

“Snake thing?” Whitmore questioned.

“So…” Jason sighed. “Turns out I am definitely not a werewolf.”

Chapter 10

JASON

Glowing eyes in the dark.

In the trees.

Teeth.

Pain.

So much pain.

Only… it wasn’t from a bite.

It was the light. It kept expanding, and it was too bright to look at. I’d fallen to my knees because of it. Maybe? Had I? When I looked down, I was on bare feet, but they looked so tiny. I was tiny. I was too small, too confused to understand why this hurt so much. How could light hurt, like it was trying to suck me toward it?

Toward the glowing eyes in the dark.

In the trees.

No. In the center of the light. Its arms were outstretched, like it was reaching for me, reaching and clawing out of the light to snatch me up. Then, from whatever it held in the abyss beneath all that awful light, I heard a voice.

“Jason! I love—”

All the air rushed out of me, and I gasped awake. I was shivering, in a cold sweat, with my claws and fangs extended. Who knew which version I was now, unless I wanted to check my eyes in the mirror.

And who knew what those scientists might suggest today when their opener had been:snake bite. I hadn’t exactly scoffed at it, but I wasn’t looking forward to it.

Ricky was snuggled against me, and even though I had my arms around him, it didn’t look like my claws had torn through his T-shirt.

Mickey the cat was snuggled with us too, asleep right between our feet.

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