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whimpered when he drew alongside her.
The cat brushed her legs and nuzzled under her dress. She shoved the material down
and just caught herself from popping his nose. The beast looked up at her and then sat
down. All of a sudden, all her fears drained away. She dropped to her knees before it.
You don t want to hurt me at all, do you? She reached a tentative hand toward it.
The animal brushed its head into her palm, and she began to stroke him, scratch behind
his ears, and then kissed his nose. I can t believe I m treating you like my mother s cat
familiar. I must be crazy. I m not a cat person, but I like you better than Sil. No, that s not
short for Sylvester. Mom named the thing Silvia if you can believe it as if we don t
have enough S names in our household.
She stopped speaking, realizing she sounded like an idiot. The panther had no clue
what she was talking about, and there was still no guarantee that it wouldn t turn on her.
But she couldn t detect a threat. Besides that, now that she was less afraid, all the
defensive spells that had fled her mind when the cat first appeared came flooding back.
She d string him up by his toes with barely a word if he turned violent.
So what are you doing around here, darling? Did you escape the circus? Does Jon
know about you? She moved closer to peer into the animal s eyes. Did you eat Jon?
She laughed at that absurdity. She stood up. Never mind. Come on. You can help me
find him.
To her surprise, the animal walked at her side. When Serenity was about to make a
right turn through the trees, the cat crossed her path and nudged her to the left. She gave
into it, knowing she d never win with the direction they chose. Within five minutes, the
trees thinned, and Jon s house came into view.
Wow, you led me home. You re amazing, boy.
Home. The word echoed in her mind, almost like someone had spoken it with joy,
thrilled that she had called Jon s house her home.
What should I do? Where s Jon? He wouldn t have left me by the lake to come back
home alone. And I can t just go inside and wait for him. Something could have happened.
Maybe I should go look for him.
She spun to head back into the trees, but the panther blocked her path.
Move, boy. I have to find him.
The panther looked her dead in the eyes and spoke to her mind. It s fine, Serenity.
Go inside and wait.
She blinked. He couldn t have& She didn t hear& Serenity came from a long line of
witches, a bloodline kept pure to preserve the level of power they possessed. That line
had never been broken until her mother fell for a regular human man and had been
disowned because of it. Still, with that history, Serenity had seen a lot of strange things
some she could conjure herself but she d never met a panther such as this. It was as
if& as if& he was human.
She remembered the night before when it rained and she d seen the panther then.
She d heard Jon s voice tell her to go back in the house. Not come back as he pretended
to be in the house. The voice had said go back or started to. This time as well, the voice
in her head had sounded like her lover.
J-Jon? she asked.
There was no answer in her mind, and the animal didn t move. Serenity moved to go
around it, but again, it blocked her path. She backed away and turned to go inside the
house. When she was at the door with her hand on the knob, he called to her.
Serenity.
She gasped. Too afraid to face him, she froze in place, unable move forward or go
back. The rustle of grass met her ears, and then she felt him near, his breath on her hair.
Don t be afraid. I won t hurt you. I wanted you to know. Probably should have chosen a
better way to break it to you.
I don t understand. She shivered, and he reached around her to open the door and
conduct her inside. When she was seated at the kitchen table staring at her fingers, Jon
moved about the room preparing tea to warm her. From somewhere, she found the
courage to speak again. So you re not human at all.
No.
You re a shape shifter?
Yes, that s one of the terms I ve heard. metamorph, mesomorph, changeling, were
Were-?
Were-cat, he explained.
When he set her tea in front of her, Serenity was so rattled, she took a huge sip of the
brew and burned her tongue. Without thinking, she muttered a spell to relax the nerves in
her mouth just enough for healing to begin without suffering.
There, Jon exclaimed. What did you just do? I ve come clean about myself,
Serenity, but you re keeping secrets. I m very observant, as cats tend to be, and I ve
noticed you do that sometimes, mutter something.
She wasn t sure she was ready to reveal her secret. Women in her family were sworn
to secrecy about their existence. They were not like the average witch, the ones portrayed
in movies or in books. None of her clan had ever been involved in the Salem witch hunts
and things of that nature throughout history. That s how elite they were, how protective
of their presence in the world.
Then again, she, her mother, and her sisters had been disowned with no support ever
to come from their family again. Was this how it was for Jon, or was he the only one of
his kind? She dared peek up at him, finding that he watched her with interest and
concern. He must be worried about her accepting him for what he was. At the moment,
she wasn t sure whether she believed it and what it meant for their relationship.
Since he wasn t an ordinary human, he wasn t off limits, but mixing shifter and
witch? How odd would that be? An ache began in her temple, and she tried to rub it away
with her fingertips. The tension increased. Jon stood up to come around to her side of the
table. He laid gentle hands on her shoulders and began to massage.
You don t have to say anything. I will wait until you re ready, he told her.
Longing to be held in his arms, to pretend that none of these issues existed, she laid
her head against his abs and closed her eyes. I m not sure. Everything inside me tells me
to trust you, to take a chance, but I have to think of my sisters and even my mother who
drives me crazy with her antics. We are all we have.
I understand that. He leaned over and kissed her. She gave into the pleasure for a
while before pulling away.
I have no real proof that you are what you say. For all I know, it could have been a
trick. We don t know each other that well. She looked up at him in time to see hurt pass
through those dark eyes, but it disappeared quickly. Still naked, he moved from behind
her and stood to her side.
Watch, Serenity.
She dared to keep her focus on him and almost lost her breath and dropped her tea
cup when he began to transform. Black straight hairs grew out of his skin at all points.
His bones cracked and popped to reshape into that of the panther. This wasn t a trick or
magic. She could sense magic, and this is why she d never sensed it from him, why she
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