Matt might be the same species as the creep that came after me, but there was nothing creepy about the big Aussie. He was tall, with rugged features perfectly arranged on a body that matched. And his eyes—a hazel gravitating to green—resonated with me.
As though they were familiar.
But I would have remembered if I’d seen this guy before. No way you forgot someone who looked like that. And with that sexy Aussie accent on top of it...
But hewasa werewolf. And I didn’t have a difficult time believing it, either. The animal resided just beneath his skin, not visible, but it showed in every move—fluid and graceful, yet powerful and controlled.
Like a predator.
He even smelled like one. Not unpleasant, but the open window drifted his scent to me—musky, with a hint of earth and something spicy I couldn’t identify. But it sent my heart pounding. Surely he could hear it? Maybe not with the air blasting through the vehicle. It was the only thing keeping me from breaking out in a sweat, too.
His thigh was like rock against mine, the heat of it burning through my jeans, and striking straight to my core. I took a deep breath, pressed my knees together, and tried suppressing my lustful thoughts.
I was not entirely successful.
It occurred to me that three of the people in this vehicle spent part of their time as animals. And who knows what Cara was. The calming power of that smile alone implied things. Witch? Who knew?
If I stopped to think about it, my head spun.
And only last night, I’d killed a man with my mind. Not a man. Awerewolf.
Dire, I reminded myself. If I was going to be working with these guys, I had to get it right. But there was no doubt that my world was no longer what I’d thought it was. Not that I really had any idea, considering I couldn’t remember my past.
Had I known I wasn’t human before the accident? Was who and what I was lost to me from that moment onward?
I sat in a car filled with shapeshifters, and something within meacceptedthat. And perhaps, that gave me an answer.
I rubbed my temple with shaking fingers, accidentally bumping Kitani with my elbow. I needed to clear my head and tackle a few more mundane issues. There were those who would wonder where in the world I’d gone. I dug out my phone—trying, and not succeeding, to avoid shoving harder up against Matt. After thinking for a bit, I began to push buttons. Employer, landlord... I told them I would be away for at least three weeks. By then, I’d know where I was at.
I hoped.
The trip seemed to last for hours, but it was more like forty minutes when we entered Winnipeg. It was a pretty city, but I had no memory of growing up here. I had pictures of my mother, father, and brother—they could have been complete strangers to me.
The boulevard trees arched their aged branches over many of the streets. With Cody’s broad shoulders hanging into the small space between him and Cara, and Matt looming to my left, I soon lost track of where we were going. It seemed we were doing a lot of weaving down side roads. But eventually, Cara pulled the Jeep over and parked.
Cody vaulted out the passenger door like a rocket, and Matt wasn’t far behind, both pacing tiny circles with odd, stiff-legged stances. Kitani gave me an unreadable look as she slid away from me. I unhooked Trix’s travel harness and tightened my ponytail before the two of us inched our way out.
Cara stretched and smiled at me as though everyone else was behaving normally. And considering I really didn’t know these people, maybe they were.
We parked outside a well-kept older house surrounded by a tall wooden fence. I kept a firm hold on Trix’s leash. The last thing I wanted was for her to get loose in an unfamiliar place. Or maybe clutching her leash was the one bit of familiar left to me.
Matt opened the tailgate and withdrew his bag. “These yours?” he asked, grabbing the other two as well.
I knew how heavy they were, and he hefted them like they were nothing at all. I grabbed one from him, but he held onto the larger one.
“It’s okay. She’ll be right,” he shrugged. “No point in havin’ gnarly muscles if you aren’t goin’ to use ’em.”
I interpreted it based more on his easy grin than an understanding of Aussie slang, and briefly considered contesting him for the luggage—but juggling an excited dog and one haversack was likely my capacity for the moment.
Trix bounced on her leash. She seemed to have totally accepted being surrounded by shifters and whatever in the world Cara was. Dogs were nothing if not adaptable.
Me, not so much.
I turned to survey the house. Cara gestured to us as she headed for the garden gate. “I would invite you in for tea, but we need to get to the academy and get you settled in.”
“Do they even know I’m coming?” I asked as I followed Kitani and Cody. Matt seemed content to bring up the rear.
Cara flashed me a grin. “Nope. The academy’s headmaster will have a fit. But I live to drive him crazy.”
