Elijah woke up to light bursting through the curtains of the bedroom he’d slept in the night before. It took a split second to remember where he was. Woodhaven and Valentina filled his mind. Her sly smile and knowing eyes captivated him. She was beautiful and clearly loved her estate. Then he remembered how big the place was. Woodhaven was more than a mansion, it was an estate, and a beautiful one at that. Valentina had given him the code to the doors so he could get in and out if he chose to, but warned him that if he left the property, the Reapers were bound to catch his trail.

In what turned out to be almost two weeks, when he finally found out what the date and time was, his entire world had turned upside down.

He could transform into an animal.

If he hadn’t actually done it, then he still wouldn’t believe it. It wouldn’t have mattered that Valentina had changed into her jaguar right in front of him.

Not only could he now change into a panther, but apparently, these Reapers were hunting him, and to top it off, he still couldn’t get Valentina’s reaction to his memories out of his head. By the time she had fed him again and taken him on a tour of the estate, he could barely keep his eyes open. It was all just a little too much.

He rose and dressed in the same clothes she’d given him yesterday. It wasn’t like he had any other options. After visiting the bathroom, he made his way back to the kitchen, though he made a few wrong turns along the way.

Women’s voices drifted through the open space, and he walked through to the lounge area, which looked more like a sunroom to him. The entire outer wall was windows, and there were plants all over the place. He found Valentina sitting with another woman on the couch by the door. They were a study in opposites—Valentina’s dark, almost ebony hair and dark amber eyes contrasted severely with the other woman’s blonde hair and pale blue eyes. That being said, both sets of eyes were currently fixed on him, and the blonde was wearing a defiant expression, as though she expected him to challenge her somehow.

“Morning,” he said, making polite eye contact with them.

“Elijah, this is Liana. Liana, Elijah.”

“It is lovely to meet you,” Liana purred, her pale eyes giving him an appreciative onceover. The defiance he’d felt a moment before was suddenly gone.

“Let’s get you some breakfast,” Valentina said as she stood and moved toward him.

In a whirlwind of activity, both women were up and about, getting a variety of foods out of the fridge and setting up what looked like a buffet more than anything else. Once the food was out, along with a large stack of plates, he was told to help himself as the women loaded up their own plates.

“So, I was thinking . . .” Valentina began as they ate, and something had his stomach tightening. “Today, we should go to the bar you were having drinks at, see if we can get any information out of the employees. Maybe even a security tape. That way, we can see exactly what happened.”

“If you can’t, let me know,” another woman said, walking into the kitchen from the hallway. “I can always have Anthony hack in, see what he can see.” The woman spoke over her shoulder to them as she worked her way down the line of food before meeting them at the table. “You must be Elijah. I’m Kinsley.” She stuck her hand out, and he shook it, surprised by her vice-like grip.

“Isn’t he a hottie?” Liana said in a mock whisper to Kinsley, earning an unhappy glare from Valentina.

“Indeed,” Kinsley agreed.

Breakfast continued along the same lines, the women chatting and acting as though he couldn’t really hear them. Liana shot him a few flirtatious glances, and though she was definitely his type, he had no reaction whatsoever, but when he caught Valentina watching him from the corner of his eye, the panther inside him growled in pleasure. There was something about her he craved. The dark sensuality that seemed to call to him, even though she had been nothing but friendly and professional, for the most part.

“So, what do you do?” Kinsley asked.

“I’m a project manager for a company that does digital strategy implementation. Basically, I help companies build their online presence, whether it’s a website, apps, or integration. We help with everything from building brand loyalty to increasing efficiency to just working on the back end of a website so that it functions in a way the client wants.”

“That’s awesome. Do you work with big companies, or are you more boutique?” Kinsley asked.

“We go for the big dogs. I can’t name names since they all have us sign an NDA, but you’d recognize them.” Elijah was proud of his job and his team, who were probably wondering where the hell he was right now. He pushed that thought aside, determined to focus on controlling himself and this new animal half of him so he could get back to his life. “What do you guys do?” he asked, shoving a large bite of bagel into his mouth.

“We work at an animal shelter, among other things,” Liana said helpfully. “Valentina’s the shelter director.”

He looked over at the woman he was trying not to find so captivating, and saw her professionalism in a new light.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of it, Wardens of the Heart?” She smiled, and there was almost a shy quality to it.

His sweatpants suddenly didn’t fit as well, and he was grateful for the large table they were all sitting around. “Yeah, you have a building up in Evansville, right?”

Valentina nodded, still with that small smile. She clearly loved what she did.

“So, you all work together?” he asked.

“Yeah, we all do shifts there since we’re part of the pack, but most of us have other jobs too. Except for our alpha over here.” Kinsley grinned. “She’s all shelter all the time.”

His opinion of the jaguar shifter changed again. To do a job like that, she had to have a big heart, but she also had to protect it, and to not have another job or outlet? He couldn’t imagine what that was like.

“Elijah, I’d like to head into the city fairly soon, if you’re up for that. We can stop by your place and get you some clothes and other basics you need for your stay. You can leave a message for your work or girlfriend or whatever, and let them know you’re out of commission for a few days.”

“Sounds good.” He didn’t respond to the comment about having a girlfriend, preferring to let Valentina wonder and squirm. The thought raced straight to his cock, and his brain swam with images of her squirming under him as he sheathed himself inside her.

The alpha got up and left without another word, leaving him with the other women, who were both staring at him as though he were a steak and they were starving.

“So, you’re hot for our alpha, huh?” Liana said, stabbing her eggs with her fork.

“What?”

“Shifters have talents, some stronger than others depending on the person. We’re strong, fast, have better hearing and vision than humans, and most shifters can scent emotion if they concentrate. You’re just drowning in lust over there, aren’t you?”

“No,” he said, sounding defensive to his own ears.

“Right. Also, we are pretty good at telling when you’re lying, with the enhanced hearing and all.”

“I’m not . . .” He sighed. “Fine, I find your alpha attractive, but it doesn’t mean anything.”

“You better keep that shit under control, buster, or she will stomp on you. Valentina doesn’t tolerate fools, or horny shifters just looking to get laid. She puts Midnight first and foremost in almost everything she does. She won’t lose her head over a boy, so if you pursue her, you better mean it,” Kinsley added.

“Point taken,” he conceded, surprised by the redhead’s statement.

A little while later, he and Valentina were cruising along a country road in a mid-sized black SUV, the fields blurring by their window.

“I found you just ahead on the left,” she said, gesturing to the cluster of trees and bushes they were approaching as she slowed down. “You were unconscious and naked. No visible wounds and completely nonresponsive. Do you remember ending up here?”

“No, everything past being trapped in a cage with that panther is a mystery.”

“And he bit you, right?”

“Bit, clawed, practically destroyed? Yeah, all of the above.” When Elijah thought about it, he could still feel the animal’s teeth sinking into his side, its claws raking over his flesh, leaving his skin in tattered, bloody ribbons in their wake.

She was quiet for a while after that, and he could sense her trying to put puzzle pieces together. The trouble was, unless she wasn’t telling him everything, neither of them had all the pieces to this particular puzzle.