Page 20 of All for the Beast

“Oh?”

V shook his head, forcing his hands into his pockets.

“Most shifters around here do, but some have come to resent it. Mostly because of its potential for volatility, putting off tourists, all that fun stuff.”

They arrived at the inn, which appeared empty and silent. Katy stood on the stone steps, reaching his height for the first time.

She smiled at him, her chest heaving.

“Well, I once heard a phrase from a monk about the ocean,” she said, her voice sounding sweet like honey. “Something like, ‘we don’t get mad at the ocean for being angry because that is its nature.’”

He couldn’t wait much longer to pull her into his arms and plant the best kiss of her life upon the gorgeous woman. He managed to resist, holding himself in place like a statue.

“That is poignant,” he said.

She placed a hand on his shoulder and brushed something off it. For a second, he thought she was going to leap into his arms.

“Thank you for today,” she said. “I’m really enjoying learning about this magical place.”

They said their goodbyes without touching, and Katy went inside the inn. V remained there with his hands in his pockets, swiveled around to the ocean, and whispered with aching desperation.

“Tell me how you do it,” he said.

NINE

KATY

Gathering information wasn’t anything new to Katy. As a cruise line manager, it was often her job to gain information about the various countries and cities the liner would be traveling to. This was often because visitors and tourists wanted an authentic experience that spread from land to sea and on the vessel they were traveling on.

These tasks were usually completed on her own, traveling through the city to gain information about the culture and elements that would be respectful and appropriate to share with a curious public. She found the education and exploration aspect of it all thrilling, a gentle reminder that there were places in the world beyond North America.

But on Nova Aurora, she literally knew nothing. Beyond what Gerri informed her about in the hovercar while driving to the inn, what she knew only had to do with the fact that the people on the planet were shifters. They were very tall and were a blend of beastly and beautiful aesthetics that Katy could barely comprehend. She was on her own beyond what she could see and feel.

Katy was used to exploring new horizons. Most of her twenties had been spent in an assortment of countries. She was rarely afraid to try anything new. But she was literally on a whole other planet where the customs of humans were sometimes seen as odd, confusing, and, worst of all, lacking in their learned civility.

Katy was thankful then that Vharlk helped her with all that.

He had shown her the ocean and told her the verbal history of it, why it was the shade of pink that sometimes looked iridescent under the glow of the double suns. He explained the power of the two suns and the ancient story of them being distant brothers who had a spat and were cast into the sky by their father for eternity to sort it out.

He showed the grains of sand in his massive palms, the different shades of yellow that changed when they were wet, and what each grain could be used for on his planet. He drove her away from the seaside and showed her the forest where trees glimmered with hues of lilac and amethyst. He pointed out the mountains, which were also yellow, a sweet butterscotch wash under the rising suns as they drove to their destination for the day.

Katy was utterly invigorated, and it wasn’t because she felt like she had fallen into an artist’s dream. Every time she met up with V, she felt herself growing closer to him. They were mostly having formal interactions, but in between them, there was banter about his life, her life, and various laughs. She found herself snorting uncontrollably often, a sign that she was incredibly comfortable about the alien shifter she had recently met.

And through it all, he wasn’t making any romantic moves. Sure, the lunch atThe Vergethe other day appeared like an amorous gesture, but he didn’t push it. A part of Katy liked that he was respecting her boundaries, while the other part craved him, imagining him literally sweeping her off her feet and taking her to be ravaged.

When these naughty, incredibly unprofessional thoughts crossed her mind, she diverted back to what she knew and could control, anything and everything having to do with her work.

“So I’m guessing there aren’t only wolf shifters on this planet?”

V was driving, and although he could have easily had someone drive for them or, hell, summon a self-driving vehicle, he said he enjoyed being in the driver’s seat.

He shook his head solemnly.

“There are many kinds,” he paused, waiting for Katy to take out her notebook. “But it's mostly wolf and dragon shifters. My father is the king of the seawolf shifters. Then there’s the Northern Forest, which is a mixed bag. Dragos is a dragon-shifter area that bears the Ice Mountain. There are more wolf shifters in those mountains.”

Katy was scribbling frantically, her heart beating rapidly with excitement.

“Is there a difference between your wolf shifter kind and the Ice Mountain wolves?”

---