Page 12 of Sear
She scented that he was a cat shifter of some kind. And he smelled really, really good.
Ellie and Maggie noticed, too. The three of them exchanged looks.
“Born and raised in Bearpaw Ridge,” Ellie said proudly. “All of us.”
“Awesome,” the stranger said. “My name’s Lucas Winter, and I’m visiting from Boise. Do you mind if I pull up a chair? I’ll buy you a round of drinks if you cue me into the best places to hunt around here. I was lucky enough to score a tag this year for a bull elk, and I really don’t want to go home empty-handed.”
From experience, Malia knew that the state held a drawing for a limited number of the hunting tags for elk.
“Sure,” Ellie said with a wide smile before Malia could protest. “Nice to meet you, Lucas! I’m Ellie Swanson, and I’m drinking Bearpaw Brewery Scotch Ale. So is my cousin Malia here.”
Maggie made a welcoming gesture. “Have a seat, Lucas. I’m Maggie Swanson, and I’m not doing beer right now, though if you wanted to buy me a ginger ale, I wouldn’t say no.”
With a loud scrape across the club’s tile floor, Lucas snagged a chair from the next table over and seated himself.
He turned to Malia, and she fought the urge to squirm under his regard. “Malia, huh?” he asked. “That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you,” she managed. “I’m named after my grandmother.”Wow, that was lame.
He nodded, then waved to catch Zoey’s attention. With Kymberlie manning the bar, Zoey was working the club floor this afternoon.
They placed their orders, with Lucas ordering a Scotch ale for himself as well.
Then he opened his day pack, pulled out a tablet, and brought up a map of the area. Ellie and Maggie both leaned in and began pointing out places to try.
Malia sat back quietly and let the other two do all the talking. She was intensely aware of Lucas’s presence sitting so close to her. It made her feel oddly tipsy, as if his spicy, musky scent were intoxicating.
As he nodded at her cousins’ suggestions and busily added pins to the map, his gaze returned to Malia again and again. Every time their eyes met, she felt something spark inside her.
It was…disquieting.
He isn’t my type, she reminded herself.Besides, he’s an out-of-towner.
She became aware that Lucas was asking her cousins a lot of questions that weren’t directly related to hunting, but which seemed to flow naturally from the pointers they were offering him. He seemed more interested in hearing about the area’s bear population than its elk, which was kind of weird.
Unless he’s worried about accidentally trespassing on the Swanson clan’s territory?she thought. Lucas was a shifter. He’d probably sensed that Maggie and Ellie were bear shifters.
As if reading her thoughts, his next question was about that.
“Ladies, if you don’t mind me asking…you’re all related?” His gaze returned to Malia. His voice dropped so that the neighboring tables couldn’t overhear. “I’m just curious, since, uh, Malia, you’re a wolf shifter, while these two lovely ladies,” he gestured at Ellie and Maggie, “appear to be of the bear persuasion.”
Ellie dimpled at the word “lovely,” but he didn’t seem to notice.
“Yes, we’re all cousins,” Malia said. “My dad’s a bear shifter.”
His golden brows went up in surprise. Cross-lineage matings were no longer taboo, but they weren’t exactly common, either.
“What about you?” Malia asked. It was usually considered rude to directly ask a shifter about their lineage, but he’d opened that door first. “I can smell that you’re not a sabertooth, but maybe a cougar? Or lynx?”
“Cougar,” he said easily. “From one of the clans in the Boise area.” He chuckled. “Sabertooth, huh? That’s a rare lineage, all right. Is it true that there’s a colony in these parts?”
“There is,” Malia confirmed. Because sabertooths had a bad reputation among shifters as being aggressive and nasty, she felt compelled to add, “And they’re all really nice people.”
“I’m sure they are,” Lucas nodded, gathered up his tablet, and rose smoothly to his feet. “I’ve intruded on your get-together long enough. Ladies, it was great meeting you, and thank you for the all the tips. I do appreciate them.” He smiled down at Malia. “Maybe I’ll see you around town this week.”
“Good luck with your hunt,” she said, feeling strangely breathless.
He winked at her and turned to go.
