Something magical, or otherworldly, was definitely going on. Whatever happened, Becca couldn’t deny that aspect of it. The air around Nick and Jackson seemed to shimmer with an unearthly white-blue light, and their bodies were hazy beyond it. It was impossible, and yet, it was happening right here, before her very eyes.

Seconds later, a wolf and a mountain lion stood before her. She reached over and squeezed Summer’s hand. “Is that—are they—real?”

“Yeah,” Summer said.

The mountain lion was large. Gorgeous, with his tawny coat and Jackson’s bright blue eyes. He padded forward and nudged his forehead against Summer’s hip. Summer laughed and ran her fingers through his fur.

The wolf, though—he took Becca’s breath away. His gray, black, and light brown coat gleamed, and his ears rose straight up from his head in a friendly, approachable way.

“Nick?” she asked.

The wolf cocked his head. Brown eyes, just like Nick’s, stared back at her. Then, with his tongue lolling out, he trotted over. He came to stand next to her, but not too close, as if waiting for her to bridge the gap between them.

Becca wasn’t sure what to do. Should she...touch him? Summer had touched the mountain lion or Jackson or whatever the hell he was. Should Becca pet this wolf or Nick or whatever the hell he was?

“It’s okay,” Summer said. “It’s Nick, and he wants to be close to you.”

Becca reached out and touched his ear. Silky smooth. She moved her hand to the back of his head, and he leaned closer to her. She wrapped her fingers in the ruff of fur at his neck. Coarse and thick.

“It’s just like petting a dog,” Becca whispered.

Summer burst out laughing. “One time last winter, I was cold so I asked Jackson to shift into his lion and curl up at my feet. He pouted for days.”

The mountain lion at Summer’s side gave her a feline glare.

In front of Becca, the wolf shimmered, and a second later, Nick stood before her, completely naked. Becca sneaked a glance over at Summer, to see if she was at all weirded out by the nudity, but Summer had focused on the mountain lion, who was shimmering and turning back into Jackson.

“This was what I couldn’t tell you before,” Nick said, reaching out to touch Becca’s cheek. “Then, when I tried...”

“I wouldn’t take your calls,” Becca finished. “I’m sorry. Summer told me everything, and this makes sense now.”

“Can we still be together?” Nick whispered.

Summer and Jackson, hand in hand, took a few steps away, probably to give Becca and Nick privacy.

The thought of not being with Nick was a miserable one. She’d endured it for the past two days and it had been awful. So he could shift into a wolf—so what? This was supposed to be sexy now, right, what with all those teen movies showing well-muscled young men turning into wolves and vampires and stuff? Becca stared up into his brown eyes, which seemed to swirl with affection and desire for her.

“I seem to remember giving Summer some advice, back in October,” Becca said. “She asked if something different would be reason to not be with someone. I told her that if that different thing didn’t stop her from loving him, then she should go for it. Well.” Becca took a deep breath. “I’m gonna go for it.”

He leaned forward and kissed her, his lips soft and commanding on her mouth. He stepped back suddenly, and Becca looked down at his hardening cock.

“Think you wanna go for it right now?” he asked, a teasing note in his voice.

She smacked his shoulder. “How about you come over for dinner tonight so we can talk all this out. Even though I’m willing to date you, it doesn’t mean my mind isn’t completely blown right now.”

Because honestly, she’d just seen two men transform into animals.

“That makes sense to me,” Nick said.

Becca said her goodbyes to Summer and Jackson, then drove home. The sunlight coming through her windshield seemed brighter, and the pine trees seemed to glow. There was nothing standing between her and Nick anymore. No dishonesty, no lies.

She chuckled. She really had hit an animal that night. She hadn’t seen a dog—she’d seen a wolf.

*

WHEN THE DOORBELL RANG at six o’clock on the dot, Becca felt a wave of sorrow pulse through her. Nick had gone back to ringing her doorbell instead of letting himself in. She should have accepted his calls and read his texts. She should have allowed him to explain.

She rushed to the door and opened it for him. He stood holding a bag full of food. “Hey, beautiful.”

“Hey.”

“I love it when you smile big like that,” he said. “It shows off your dimples.”

“Thanks.” She smiled bigger, on purpose, and he laughed. Pointing to the bag, she asked, “What’d you bring us?”

“I slayed a deer and made it into barbecue for us.”

“What?”

“Kidding,” he said, turning the bag around to show her the outside. Emmi’s BBQ.

Becca rolled her eyes. “Come on in.”

While they ate in the living room, Nick explained how shapeshifting worked, and who became “shifters,” as he called them. “A little bit of magic, a little bit of genetics,” he told her.

Like that made any sense at all.

He explained that shifters, even if they shifted into solitary animals like mountain lions, still lived in groups because humans were social. Big cats lived in prides, wolves lived in packs, and bears lived in clans. Some groups were mixtures of animals, though.

“Back up a sec,” Becca said. “So, if Jackson’s a mountain lion, and all this stuff is genetic, does that mean Hayley and Will are lions, too?”

“Yeah,” Jackson said. “And Marius is a shifter too—he’s a grizzly.”

He was patient while he explained everything. As the barbecue disappeared from the coffee table in front of them, they scooted closer and closer on the couch. When they were finished, though, Becca jumped up to put everything away. Nick got up to help her. They rinsed the dishes together, and Becca splashed Nick with the water. He rolled up a hand towel and snapped it at her.

“I don’t think so,” she said, grabbing the spray nozzle from the faucet and pointing it at him.

Laughing, he captured her in a hug. He tried to wrest the nozzle from her grip, but ended up soaking them both.

“I missed you,” he said, finally getting the nozzle away from her.

The entire front of his t-shirt was soaked, and it clung to his pecs and abs.

“I missed you, too.” She was breathless, and not just from laughing so hard. Being this close to him, hell, just being in the same room with him, filled her with desire.

He traced the sopping wet curves of her breasts with his eyes before raising his gaze to her mouth. When he kissed her, she knew that this was their moment, when nothing would ever come between them again. No weird misunderstandings, no needless arguments. She didn’t know how she knew; she just knew it. Maybe, like with shapeshifters, love had a little bit to do with magic.

*

WHEN SHE CAREFULLY extracted herself from Nick’s arms to make a quick run for the bathroom, her legs were already sore from their hours of lovemaking—the kind of sore that made her smile. She crawled back into bed just as a text from Summer lit up her phone on the nightstand. Curious, Becca picked it up. Now that you’ve met the right guy...too soon to start thinking about getting married again?

Becca grinned and typed back, Yes, it’s too soon!

But as she snuggled against Nick’s firm chest, she began to wonder. The idea of ever being married again had been completely unpalatable before. Now, though, it wasn’t such a distasteful concept. Nick was a good guy—a great guy. Maybe she hadn’t seen the possibility before, because she hadn’t met the right man. No one had made her heart beat so wildly. No one had been able to make her swoon. No one had been able to make her fall in love.