Valentina watched the panther as it stretched and stepped forward. He was magnificent. A large black cat with sleek fur and pale green eyes ringed with gold. When he turned, she could see that though his coat was dark, it wasn’t jet black. The rosettes of a leopard showed through in direct light. He sniffed at the air, and she felt a tingle run down her spine as he scented her.

How communicative was his cat being? Could he tell that she had been scared a moment ago by the description of his memories? Or was the cat keeping that to itself for the moment? Either way, she would prefer him to be back in his human form. The destruction an animal could cause in their medical room wasn’t something she wanted to deal with. Plus, she knew it would piss off Liam, and he was touchy enough as it was without an angry panther ransacking his domain.

“Elijah? Can you become human again so we can keep talking?”

The green-gold eyes looked up at her with a haughty expression, one that she had learned long ago was something only alphas did.

“I can force you to shift if you won’t do it yourself, but I would prefer not to.” She spoke slowly and firmly so that the cat understood as much as the man.

It didn’t have the desired effect. Instead of shifting back, the panther let loose an almighty roar, which brought her own jaguar to the front, pressing against her skin. She could practically feel the fur growing on her arms, but when she looked down, they were just as human as ever.

Calling her jaguar’s voice forth, she put all her alpha energy into her words as she growled, “Shift back.”

In a flash, Elijah was standing before her again and, thankfully, had retained his clothing. “What the hell was that?” he growled at her.

“You shifted into a panther, well, technically a black jaguar, but that’s just me nitpicking.”

“So, I’m the same as you?”

“Similar, but not the same,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. The idea of them being the same animal excited her for some reason, and it wasn’t a feeling she particularly wanted to acknowledge.

He smirked at her as though he could sense her mood.

“Listen,” she began, and paused, running a hand through her hair. She so did not want to have this conversation. It was going to be information overload. Plus, it felt weird telling a stranger one of their deepest secrets that was kept hidden from almost all other supernatural beings. She veered away from her original thought at the last second. “Why don’t I give you a tour of the house? I think you should stay here for a couple days until you get your head on straight, and that way we can also work on finding out who did this to you.”

“I’d like the tour, but staying a couple days isn’t going to happen. I don’t know how long I’ve been away from work as it is.”

“We can cover that. Liam will write you a doctor’s note, or I can call with a family emergency, but you really shouldn’t be out in public until you know you can control your shift. What if you go panther in the middle of a meeting?” She stood and placed her hands on her hips.

He thought for a little while, gazing into the empty bowl as though he could will more lasagna to appear.

“We can get you a refill, if you want,” she said, nodding at the bowl.

Before he could reply, Liam came in, his eyes widening as his animal evidently relayed the scents in the room to his human side. “How’s everyone doing in here?”

“We’re good. I’m about to take Elijah on a tour of the property. He’s thinking about staying a couple days, just until we get this figured out. Aren’t you?” She stared Elijah down, willing him to comply with her request.

“Yeah, just until I get my head straight,” he said almost begrudgingly.

Liam’s surprise was evident in his raised brows and slightly open mouth. He tugged Valentina’s arm so he could whisper in her ear. “Are you sure this is a good idea? He’s a complete stranger.”

“It’ll be fine.”

“I hope so, because Asher just told me some Reapers came into the bar.”

Valentina’s heart thudded in her chest. “Well, that sure as hell didn’t take long.”

“Apparently, there were reports of a wild animal on the loose, so they’ve come to investigate.”

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

She calmed her racing heart and took a deep breath before turning to Elijah. “There’s something you need to know. I was hoping to talk to you about this later, but now is the time, evidently.” She tugged on her sweater, pulling the material down so it covered her hips. “There are people in the world who hunt shifters. We call most of them Reapers. If they find a shifter, they kill them. Doesn’t matter if it’s a man, woman, or child. To them, we are abominations. The ones who aren’t Reapers are Traders. Traders deal in shifter parts on the black market. The reason I’m telling you this now isn’t to scare you, but because we have had reports that a couple Reapers are in the area, which means that Traders aren’t too far behind, being the vultures they are. That means we need to hunker down, no shifting off the property unless absolutely necessary, as in life or death. So your decision to stay here is really for the best.”

Elijah was quiet for a moment while she and Liam just stared at him.

When he didn’t respond, she turned to Liam and said, “Why don’t we have a family dinner tomorrow tonight? Get introductions out of the way.”

Liam nodded. “I’ll let everyone know.”

“So how about that tour?” she asked as she awkwardly patted Elijah on the shoulder, trying to ignore the jolt of awareness and recognition that went through her at the touch.

He gasped and looked up at her, the green-gold eyes of his panther boring into her. “Some more food would be appreciated.”

Valentina laughed, feeling her own eyes respond to his, and said, “We’ll make the kitchen the first stop.”

“Do you have a bedroom for me?”

Something about the way he said it, and especially with the panther being front and center, made her body ache for him. The implication of his tone and the question raised heated her blood and had her own cat purring and rubbing against her skin. She would allow herself to feel the attraction to this alpha, but she’d need to get him out of Woodhaven before she did something they would both regret. “We have a number of spare bedrooms you can choose from.” Her voice sounded breathy to her own ears, and she wanted to curse, especially when she heard Liam chuckle behind her. “Let’s get you some food,” she said as she turned toward the door, shooting the doctor a deadly glare. His chuckle died on his lips.