Chapter Four

 

 

“What about you? You don’t look like a Wilson.” He smiled.

“My parents met in the Himalayas; my mom was already pregnant with my brother by a mate that had abandoned her. My dad made sure that she was taken care of, and he helped her emigrate to his home. My brother was born, my parents went to the Crossroads, and got their union authorized by both sets of shifter societies involved. I arrived shortly afterward.” She smiled.

“You didn’t mention what your parents are.”

She sighed. “My mother is a red panda.”

Hiro nodded. “That makes sense.”

“My father is a sasquatch.”

Hiro froze in time for a moment and then slowly blinked back to attention. “Sasquatch?”

“Yup. Wild man of the woods, seven to eight feet tall depending on the seasons and part of a large community that walks the woods. He opened a coffee shop, and I work there. We serve coffee and rescue hikers on a regular basis.”

“Wow. What is your beast?”

She grinned. “Red panda, but I can use the strength of the sasquatch when I need to. It is accessible in my human form, so I am never really left undefended.”

“So that suitor found out.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t stand for being grabbed. It is my least favourite physical contact.”

“Ah.”

“So, what is your occupation?” She guessed that his father was some kind of engineer.

“I am an architect with a minor in civil engineering. My father always told me that architects can design a way to the moon, but if they didn’t know where to put the ladder, they would be stuck. So, it is not only my job to design buildings, but also to make sure that all aspects of them work.”

“That is neat. So, are you here to find a mate?” She tried not to sound coy.

“No.”

It was like a splash of water on her face. “What?”

He smiled. “I am a contractor working for the Crossroads. There are hot springs around here that I would love to turn into a bathhouse. A destination for those who want to socialize. Once it is built, Dira can move it closer to the main population.”

“How would that work? The stones and the water are in the soil.”

He chuckled. “She is the dragon who made the Crossroads. She can shift the very fabric of the ground under our feet to make things more convenient.”

That was a lot of power. Scarlet looked at the lightly steaming water next to her. “Do you mind if I take a dip? I just woke up.”

He waved his hand toward the water. “Be my guest. Let me know if it is a good soaking temperature.”

Scarlet cleared her throat. “If you are building an onsen, would you care to join me?”

“Well, we don’t have showers here.” He frowned.

She snorted. “I am aware, but I think that shedding fur for skin should count as some kind of cleansing.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

Scarlet grabbed her hair and wrangled it into a top knot. It amused her to see Hiro doing the same. “Have you always had long hair?”

“No. I started growing it during university. It certainly helps with my dating options. Human women seem drawn to it.”

Scarlet twisted her lips as she lowered herself into the pool. “Not just humans.”

He flashed her a grin and gestured to her hair. “That is an impressive statement as well.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I was named for it.”

He laughed and eased into the water. She watched the rigid abs of his belly distort as they disappeared beneath the water, and her gaze trailed upward as he lowered himself into the pool.

“Seriously. I was apparently rather gold and crimson at birth. My hair was a shock of red that still looks ridiculous in photos. It fluffs up and gets out of control in a stiff wind.”

He chuckled and moved through the pool. He paused. “I found some large stones here. They make passable natural seats.”

She drifted over and found that he was right. The level of the stone meant that her neck was almost completely underwater, but as long as there wasn’t a wave, she was safe.

Hiro settled next to her, and his shoulders were out of the water. “It is a good natural setup.”

“Are you looking for something else?”

“Of course, I am looking for the perfect starting point.”

“But you will settle for okay.”

He chuckled. “Definitely. So, do you have a middle name?”

She sighed, “Ling-lin. In theory, it means spiritual being from the woods. I think it translates into I got picked on at school.”

“Scarlet Ling-lin Wilson? It is a lovely name.”

“Thank you, do you have a middle name?”

He grinned. “Liam. Hiro Liam McCreary. A lyrical name of Japan and North Irish ancestry. It is funny that both of our middle names begin with L.”

She smiled and leaned back, trying to find the wall. She found an outcropping and used it as a balance point.

“So, you appear familiar with the use of an onsen.” Hiro sighed and shifted to lean back against the edge of the pool.

“There is a hot spring near my home. They have theme weekends for the locals. My mom helps organize it. She is all about embracing other cultures, so I have been to winter steams and whipped with branches before diving into the snow, and I have gotten to bathe carefully and with floating cups of tea in the onsen, sometimes weeks apart.”

“That sounds both perversely fun and very hard core.” He chuckled.

“It is. Do you travel often?”

“Sure. I do it all the time. It is my seventh time here at the Crossroads. I design some of the new buildings and give them to Dira; she helps the Crossroads bring them to life.”

“So, you are here on behalf of your guild.”

“Yes, subcontracted to the Crossroads.” He sighed, his face showed the sheen of sweat. “It is a lucrative job, and I get to travel to all the developing lands for just this kind of thing.”

“It is still expanding?”

Hiro nodded, “Our world is changing. Finding partners within a single species is no longer as feasible. Blending the magic will make for stronger shifters down the line. Keeping one type of beast in a bubble isn’t the way forward.”

“What about the fey being added to the mix?”

He quirked his lips. “The fey are fading. Joining with the shifters is the only way that they are going to be able to retain a level of magic that will allow them to survive. I have met a few fey internationally, and they are all in the same state of decay. Their bloodlines are so tangled on top of each other, no magic can come in to create new generations. I am only surprised that they waited this long.”

She nodded. “Yeah, I can see that.”

“And yet, you didn’t want to mate with one? I have heard they are exceptionally lovely.”

“I don’t doubt that, but there is enough weird magic in me already.”

His shoulders shook. “I know you are being serious, but if you were flirting, it would be quite the line.”

She played her sentence back in her head and fought the urge to submerge. “Yeah, it would be. Didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know.”

Scarlet glanced at the sun and noted the reddening aura. “I think I should get out of here before I get all pruney. The sun is setting, and I am in search of a more favourable site for my debates.”

“More favourable than this one?”

She wrinkled her nose. “I need more mountain, less hill, to be comfortable. I am trying to work things out.”

He nodded wisely. “I saw you interviewing your meal.”

She blushed and hoped it was covered by the warmth from the water. “Yes, well. My beast drove me here, but the human in me doesn’t know what I am supposed to be doing.”

“Don’t you socialize as a human?”

She gave him a calm glance. “I could, but I don’t. My strength is a little too intense for most humans, so I don’t play with them. They break.”

“Have you broken any?”

“One of the girls on my volleyball team in high school. She was a ball hog, and I put everything into getting there first. When my arms went up, she crossed hers over them, and I snapped her limbs. I can still hear the sound.” She shivered.

“You have power from both parents?”

“I try not to use the sasquatch effects. I wanted nothing more than to follow that side of the family, but I am stuck as a small red puff ball.” She sighed once again and shifted to move through the water. “Time to dry off, I think.”

“You don’t like your beast?”

She didn’t need to look behind her to see that he was following her to the edge. The rush of water as he stood started waves that battered against her shoulders was unmistakable.

She left the water, the cool breezes dried the warm damp from her skin.

Hiro stretched, his thick hair unravelled in a silky wave down his spine.

Scarlet tried not to look, but there wasn’t an inch of him that wasn’t encased in lean muscle. She had been raised with shifters that were built like steroid-scarfing lumberjacks, and none of them got her attention like this.

She blinked and stared for a moment. “Where is your bracelet?”

He grinned. “I don’t wear one. I am not here as a guest, so I am not tagged as they are.”

“Oh.”

“Well, if you are interested in finding something along the lines of foothills, we should get going.”

“Wait, we?”

He smiled. “I am scouting a perfect location, just as you are. Let’s find it, and then, you can make your decisions regarding how you are going about beginning your steps into courtship.”

Scarlet cocked her head, “If you have work to do, why are you hanging around with me?”

“We are in search of the same thing, inner peace. I am accomplishing my goals by joining you in yours.” He smiled. “Two successes for the price of conversation.”

Scarlet turned to her clothing, and she got dressed with only a little bit of tugging of dry fabric on damp skin.

“I have my clothing a little further back. Follow me, and we can get underway as soon as my boots are on.”

She grinned at the thought of the elegant man in hiking boots, but she didn’t think too hard as the sight of him walking away was breathtaking. His hair nearly covered his butt. Nearly.

She finished lacing her shoes. “That is gonna haunt me.”

If she wasn’t mistaken, she heard a laugh coming from the woods.