Elijah hadn’t shifted in weeks. The last time had been when he had saved Valentina’s life, not that she had been particularly grateful. He pushed the thought aside. Whenever she crossed his mind, his cat became agitated, pacing and snarling within him, urging him to go to her. Hell, he couldn’t shift, couldn’t even think about his panther without thinking about her at the same time. It was as if she was ingrained in who he was now, and wasn’t that just a bitch.

The pale green of his panther’s eyes stared back at him in the bathroom mirror as he massaged some antibacterial goop into his face. He had stupidly decided to try to track down the doctor himself, and while he didn’t get any closer to the man who had turned him into a shifter, he did meet a lovely silver blade that had been coated with wolfsbane. It had left a beautiful gash on his face, going from temple to the edge of his mouth like some kind of creepy lopsided smile.

The whole thing was still an angry red color, as though it was a couple months old instead of a couple days. He knew if he had shifted, it probably would have healed faster, but just the thought of it sent a stab of pain through his heart, and without Liam there to help with whatever medical know-how he used on shifters to speed the healing, he was left using human methods. Fortunately for him, it had given an excuse at work as to why he’d been absent for so long. A mugging gone wrong on the way to the pharmacy, that was what he told everyone. The doctor’s note that Liam had faxed over had at least bought him some time, but now, he had to be back at work full time, and it was almost impossible to track down any leads at night.

He had kept the guard’s pager after everything that had happened. It had never gone off, but he couldn’t bring himself to get rid of it. Something about it made him keep it. Maybe it was simply that it reminded him of everything that had happened? That it was all real and not just some fever dream in his head? He didn’t have an answer either way, just a lump of metal, plastic, and wires that he hoped one day would lead him to the man responsible for everything.

Elijah took a deep breath and focused on his human side, banishing his panther to the back of his mind, at least until after work. When he opened his eyes again, the green was gone, and his dark-brown human eyes were back where they belonged.

Work dragged; it had ever since he had gone back. The excitement and curiosity he used to feel for his job had vanished, along with his naive perception that humans were the only intelligent beings on earth. Of course, there were some intelligent animals, but he had never expected shifters and mages and whatever else was out there. Now that he knew about the supernatural world, the normal everyday stuff had lost its shine, and he was just plodding through one day to the next.

He needed to find something more, to find his own pack, but he doubted there were any shifters out there who would follow an alpha who knew next to nothing about their world. The jaguar had mentioned a High Clan and that they had their own judicial system, but what did that mean to him? He didn’t know how to be a part of it, whether he was breaking any laws, or even how to find out what the laws were.

Valentina was supposed to help him with all that. The thought of her wrapped a cloak of sadness around him, sending chills straight to his heart. He had never expected to become so attached so quickly. Maybe it was the sex? She had been amazing in bed, and he craved her hands on his skin again more than he craved his next meal, but he knew it was more than that. He wanted to see her sassy walk, hear the sharply intelligent thoughts in her head, laugh with her. He just wanted to love her, dammit.

His coworkers had taken him out for drinks once since he’d been back, and not only could he not bring himself to actually drink anything, but none of the women at the bar even remotely appealed to him. Not the curvaceous blondes or the petite brunettes. All he wanted, all he thought about for the whole night, was Valentina. He even thought he caught her perfume, her scent, on the air, but when he took a deeper breath, he noticed the differences. It was similar, but it wasn’t her.

The first couple days after he’d left, he had been pissed off at the world, not wanting anything to do with shifters at all, but now, he had mellowed. His anger had faded, much like the scar on his face, and all he could think about was trying to get her back. Something had gone wrong between them, and they were both quick to anger, which was the problem. Instead of sitting down and working it out, there were challenges and demands thrown around, which was the opposite of what the situation needed.

What he needed was something that would get her attention, something she couldn’t ignore as easily as she would probably want to, something that would show that he knew her and cared for her. The only thing that popped into his mind was the animal shelter, Wardens of the Heart.

Without thinking, he picked up his phone and did a quick search for them. The first thing that popped up was their phone number and e-mail address, so he called. It wasn’t as if Valentina would answer the phone, but he might be able to talk Liana or Kinsley into helping him out.

It rang a few times, and a voice he didn’t recognize answered.

“Can I speak to Liana or Kinsley, please?”

“Uh, sure thing. One moment,” the woman said.

Some tinny hold music began playing, and he had to hold the phone away from his ear slightly because it was so grating on his newly sensitive hearing. A few moments later, a familiar voice came on. “This is Kinsley.”

“Kinsley, it’s Elijah. Please don’t hang up.”

“You have exactly two minutes, and then I’m putting the phone down.”

“Fair enough. Look, I want to apologize to Valentina, to make things right between us again. She won’t talk to me, and I was wondering if you had any ideas on how to win her back?”

“You want her back? Why did you leave in the first place, then?”

“She asked me to, and yes, I want her back. She’s all I can think about.” He took a deep breath and admitted something that he hadn’t had the courage to fully think yet, let alone speak. “I feel empty without her. It was like for the first time, I found someone who fit me, who seemed to be as interested in me as I was in them, someone who made my heart race, who made me feel things I had never felt before. The universe was right for just a little while, and now it’s all wrong again. God, that sounds pathetic.”

“No, it doesn’t. Quite frankly, I want this to be resolved just as much as you do.”

“Then tell me how to make it better.”

She was quiet for a while, and he could practically see the redhead tapping her hands on the desk. “Let me think about it and I’ll call you back later tonight.”

Elijah gave her his number, and they said their goodbyes. He didn’t want to wait, but he didn’t have any other choice, either. The only idea he’d had was to crash an event the shelter was hosting, but that not only made him look like a stalker but could go so very wrong that he decided against it. Plus, according to the calendar on the shelter’s website, the next event they were having wasn’t for a few months, and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t think he could wait that long.

When his phone rang a few hours later, his heart jumped in his chest.

“Hello?”

“Elijah, it’s Liana and Kinsley. You’re on speaker, sweetie.”

“Ladies, it’s good to hear from you. So, do you have any ideas about how to patch things up with Valentina?”

“I was thinking a sea of flowers. Just cover each and every surface in her office with them,” Liana said.

It didn’t feel right. While he was sure Valentina would like flowers, he wasn’t sure about the sea of roses. Something told him she’d think it was a waste of money.

“Or,” Kinsley chimed in, “we could help you surprise her with dinner. You can wine and dine your way back into her heart. Nothing says love like a homecooked meal.”

“That might work except that I’m a shit cook.”

“Oh.”

“What about a surprise weekend getaway?” Liana asked, her voice lifting with excitement.

“She won’t talk to me. I don’t think jumping into a vacation is a good idea.” Elijah chuckled. Something had been swirling in his mind, though, an idea that might or might not be too much. “What about a donation to the shelter? A big one? I could get one of those big cardboard checks and sign it or something.”

“Ohhhh.” Kinsley sighed. “That’s a good idea.”

“Valentina usually comes out personally to thank people who make large donations,” Liana added.

“How big of a donation are we talking here?”

“Anything over a thousand, I think.”

“Okay, so I bring in the check and what? Just talk to her? In front of everyone?”

“Yeah, ultimate declaration of your feelings is confessing them in front of strangers,” Liana said.

“I think you’ve been watching too many movies.” Kinsley chuckled.

“Says the girl who reads romance novels as if they are her own personal crack,” Liana shot back.

“Ladies,” Elijah interrupted before it got out of hand. “I think I would prefer to talk to Valentina in private. After all, there are things we need to say to each other that aren’t appropriate for the general public.”

“The man makes a good point.” Liana chuckled. “It’s not as if you can just chat about shifters in the middle of the shelter.”

“When do you think I should bring it in?”

“Personally, I would prefer as soon as possible,” Kinsley said quietly. It left him with the impression that she wanted Valentina’s attention to be captured by something else.

“Come in on Monday. It’ll probably take you a couple days to get that big cardboard check printed or whatever it is they do. Do you even know where to find one?” Liana added.

“I’ll figure it out, don’t you worry.”

“Man, I can’t wait to see her face. You know they will take a photo with the two of you for the quarterly newsletter? Oh, it’s going to be epic.” The glee in the blonde’s voice was a little worrying, but he was just glad they both thought it was a good idea. Now, he just had to find a giant check.