The restaurant Tory had agreed to meet Pierce at was cozy, with soft, muted lighting and simple, elegant décor. Their table was near the back, giving them a fair amount of privacy. Their orders already taken, with a glass of white wine in front of Tory and a glass of bourbon in front of Pierce, they sat opposite each other, a candle flickering on the table between them.

Despite the romantic atmosphere, Tory couldn’t stop wondering who the woman was she had seen outside, and why she had seemed so pissed at Pierce. As if reading her mind, he broached the subject before she could.

“That was Bonnie, the woman you saw,” he explained. “We dated for a few months a while back, but it didn’t work out.”

Tory had to admit, her curiosity was piqued. There seemed to be a lot more to the story than that, and even though bringing up exes on a first date was a no-no, she couldn’t help it.

“May I ask why?”

Pierce thought about it for a moment, his dark eyes fixing on something in the distance.

“She wanted more than I could give her,” he finally said. “I didn’t want to waste her time.”

“So she was looking for something serious and you weren’t,” Tory commented.

He looked at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Perhaps she shouldn’t have pushed the subject, relationships were a private, personal matter after all, but Tory was desperate to get a read on Pierce.

Their kiss had unlocked something in her, and the more time she spent with him, the more she couldn’t get him out of her mind. And that was dangerous. She didn’t want to pursue something only to be cast aside. Again.

“It’s a little more complicated than that,” Pierce replied, hesitating for a moment before continuing on. “You’re aware Black Oak is known as a shifter town?”

“Well, I know there was supposed to be a bear clan around here somewhere,” she nodded.

“That… might be a little bit of an understatement,” he said. “We do have a clan here, quite a large one, actually. But shifters come here from all over the country, either looking to be close to their own kind or just wanting a fresh start in a place free of prejudice.”

Tory listened, fascinated. This was all news to her. Her knowledge of shifters was rather limited, mostly because she never had that close of a connection to anyone from that world. There were articles written about them here and there, but since shifters tended to keep to themselves, you could never be sure if the authors of those articles had a legitimate source, or were just making stuff up.

In any case, shifters usually didn’t like to draw attention to themselves, which was probably why Tory hadn’t been aware of how big of a part of the population shifters actually made up here in Black Oak.

But why was Pierce telling her all this? Unless…

“As you’re probably already figuring out, I’m a shifter,” Pierce said, making Tory’s eyes widen.

“I was… putting two and two together,” she replied.

“And the thing with shifters is, our love life is a little different,” Pierce explained, studying her reactions. “You’ve probably heard we believe in soul mates.”

Tory nodded, keeping her expression neutral. That was pretty much common knowledge. She didn’t know how it actually worked, or how shifters went about finding their mates, but she knew it was very important to them.

It was something she hadn’t put that much thought into, really. The whole concept was a little too rom-com for her. Having only one person out there in the whole world that you are meant to be with? That sounded more scary than romantic. What if you never found your mate? Was your life just incomplete?

“Well, I knew Bonnie wasn’t mine,” Pierce shrugged.

Tory leaned forward, curling her fingers around the stem of her wine glass.

“But how did you know?” she asked.

“I can’t really explain it. I just knew,” he replied. “And I’ve been around people who have already found their mates. They have described this overwhelming pull toward that person, and the sense of certainty. I never got that with Bonnie.”

Tory mulled that over. She couldn’t really grasp what it must be like to just know if a person was right for you or not. In that sense, shifters were at an advantage. Mere humans were left to wing it, looking for red flags or common interests, going on date after date, attempting to gauge if the stranger you’re sharing a meal with is someone you’d also want to share a future with.

“Wow,” she muttered under her breath. “I mean, I don’t really know what to say. Did you explain that to Bonnie?”

“I did,” he replied. “But I’m not sure she really got it. She seemed to think we needed more time together, that things might change for me. I told her they would not. She didn’t take it well.”

“That has to be hard to come to grips with,” Tory said. “The fact that some higher power has decided you two just aren’t meant to be.”

“It is what it is,” Pierce just shrugged, and she had to laugh.

“That’s a bit blasé, don’t you think?” she asked.

“I can’t change how I feel, and I can’t change how Bonnie feels. I was true to myself, and I don’t want to apologize for that. Bonnie has to find her own path, and learn to accept there’s no bad guy here. It just wasn’t meant to be,” he replied.

Tory fell silent for a moment. This was a more serious Pierce than she was used to, and she appreciated him laying it all out there. She didn’t doubt his honesty, and what he said made a lot of sense.

Hasn’t everyone tried fooling themselves into thinking a relationship was right when it was clearly wrong? She knew she definitely had. But all it did was drag on something that was never going to last.

“I get it,” she replied, taking a sip of her wine.

The cool liquid coated her tongue, fresh and crisp. She couldn’t help but notice the way Pierce watched her lips on the rim of the glass, seemingly mesmerized.

“Anyway, I didn’t ask you out to talk about my ex,” he said. “I want to know about you.”

Tory tensed for a moment. Talking about herself had never been something she enjoyed, but with her recent failures, she found it even more challenging. But after all Pierce had just told her, it was only fair she open up, too.

There was a level of comfort between her and Pierce that made it easier, as little sense as that made. Something about him put her at ease and made her stomach do flips at the same time. A part of her still resisted, though. She didn’t want him to think of her as damaged goods.

Should I tell him the truth?