Chapter 3
Carter
I finished my barbecue steak sub and watched the building Katya had gone into for her next class. She hadn’t seen me follow her. I was starting to feel a little creepy but pushed aside the feelings because she needed me. There were no other jaguar shifters in the area, but if any did come, she was unprepared for them. Without my help, they would snatch her up and she’d never be able to get away from them.
There was probably another half hour before her class was over. I tossed my wrapper into the garbage and decided to use the time to explore the building and maybe find her classroom.
I still couldn’t believe that after all this time of sensing another jaguar in the area, I’d finally found her. Clearly, she wasn’t excited about me, but that was only because I hadn’t had a chance to show her I was different from all the others.
A group of girls walked by and waved at me, giggling. I waved back, even though I didn’t know any of them, and then I headed into the building.
It was just a normal building. I didn’t know what I was expecting. Huge signs pointing the way to her class? Right.
I sniffed the air. Her scent lingered, mixed with everyone else’s. It seemed to head toward the stairs, however it was difficult to tell, given that it was faint and mixed with others. I probably shouldn’t have waited so long to come inside.
Following nothing other than a hunch, I headed up the stairs.
And there she was.
I skidded to a stop. Katya stood in the hallway talking to a blonde girl. They were both in cheer uniforms. That gave me pause. She’d entered the building in a dress, and now she wore that? It seemed odd that they would have practice in this building and not the gym.
Not that it mattered. Now I had the chance to get off on a better foot with her. See if I could find out her story—what brought her to the area away from her shifter family. Leaders didn’t give up any of their family members without bloodshed. That was how I’d gotten my freedom. I shuddered at the thought.
I took a deep breath and considered my wording carefully as I approached Katya and her friend.
The friend noticed me first. She flipped her blonde hair and waved, smiling widely. “Hey, there. Are you new around here?”
I smiled back. “I am, if by ‘here’ you mean the building.”
The blonde stuck her hand out. “I’m Brenna.”
“Nice to meet you, Brenna.” I continued smiling but kept my attention on Katya.
“Oh, definitely.” Brenna gave me a once-over. “I hope to see you around. Are you going to the party on Friday?”
I glanced over at her. She slid her finger around her phone’s screen, not seeming to pay us any attention. “I haven’t heard about it yet.”
Brenna’s face lit up even brighter. “Oh? Give me your number, and I’ll text you all the details.”
“Sure.” I recited the numbers, and she put them into her phone. “Got it. I’ll send the deets to you soon. Very nice to meet you.” She held my gaze a few moments longer than necessary and turned to Katya. “See you at practice later.”
She glanced up from her phone. “Yeah, definitely. See ya.”
Brenna left, keeping her gaze on me until she disappeared around a corner.
I cleared my throat and tried to think of something to say that would help me get onto Katya’s good side. “So, are you going to the party on Friday?”
She finally put her phone away. “You want me to?”
The directness of her question surprised me. “Well, I’ll go if you’re there.”
“Really?” She put her phone away and grinned. “If I go?”
I nodded. Something was different about her, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe it was just the cheer outfit. She hadn’t struck me as the cheerleading type before. That had to be it.
“Yeah. Why does that seem strange?”
Katya gave me the once-over and then nodded slowly. “Well, of course I’ll be there. The whole squad will be there. And most of the football team.”
“Are you going with anyone?”
She shook her head no. “I’ll keep an eye out for you, though.”
“Great.” I relaxed, glad to have finally gotten on her good side. “I’ll look for you, too.”
She pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “Perfect. What did you say your name is?”
“Carter.” I extended my arm.
“I’m—”
Three more cheerleaders ran down the hall, laughing. One of them grabbed her arm and pulled her away.
“I’ll see you at the party!” I called.
She waved, already immersed in conversation with her teammates.
I waved back, then headed outside. It was a nice day, and I didn’t feel like heading home, so I sat at the base of a tree and soaked in the sun’s rays.
The day had gone better than I’d expected. I certainly hadn’t anticipated Katya opening up to me so quickly. The suddenness was a little jarring, but maybe seeing her friend’s approval of me had helped warm her up.
My cousin Rachel texted me. The timing of it concerned me. I’d just met a local jaguar, and now someone from my dad’s family reached out right away?
It made me think maybe I hadn’t cut my ties as permanently as I’d thought. Or maybe it was just a coincidence. Sometimes Rachel called just to see if I was okay. We’d been pretty close growing up.
That had to be it. I was being unnecessarily jumpy. They weren’t watching me, and they weren’t watching Katya. Of course they didn’t care about her. She wasn’t even part of the family group.
Except that they’d be more than happy to take in a lone female jaguar. Anger ran through me. They’d force her away from her life, marry her off to a cruel man, and never let her go.
I sat up straight, more determined than ever to keep Katya safe. Even if she didn’t want anything to do with me, I’d find a way to protect her from them and every other jaguar shifter out there. Luckily, she was talking to me.
Rachel filled me in on our family and I texted back, my mind on Katya. I was always careful to keep details of my life secret, even from those I trusted. It wouldn’t take much for my father to force it out of them if he ever decided he wanted me back in the family.
After Rachel ended the conversation, I read through it several times trying to find anything between the lines warning me about them knowing about Katya.
Nothing stood out.
I breathed a sigh of relief, stuck my phone back into my pocket, closed my eyes, and leaned against the tree.
When I opened my eyes, I felt rested.
Crap! I’d fallen asleep. Grumbling, I rose and checked to make sure my phone and wallet were still safely in my pants. They were.
It was now into the afternoon. I’d slept about two hours, which meant I’d probably lost any chance of running into Katya again. She could be at the gym, at the hotel, in the library, or in class. There was no way to tell now.
I headed for Toby’s office, stopping in the bathroom first. On the way to the urinal, my reflection in the mirror caught my attention. Someone had stuck a daisy behind my ear while I slept.
And I’d walked halfway across campus like that, nodding hellos to more than a couple dozen people.
I pulled out the flower, but realized it could’ve been worse. Someone could’ve drawn on my face with markers. That would’ve been more embarrassing than a flower. People had probably just thought a girl had stuck it there.
Maybe one had. Could it have been Katya?
I stuck the daisy back behind my ear, took care of business, and headed for Toby’s office. As I stepped off the elevator at his floor, Katya appeared from the staircase.
That wasn’t the weird part. Now she was wearing a volleyball uniform.
She scrunched up her face. “Are you following me?”
“No, I just wanted to talk with To—I, uh, mean Professor Foley.” It was so weird referring to him as that.
“Well, you’ll have to wait your turn. I have an appointment with him to discuss the upcoming exam.”
“Go right ahead.” I gestured down the hallway toward his office.
She nodded and walked ahead of me.
I wasn’t sure what confused me more. The change in her outfit or her attitude. It was as though we hadn’t had the pleasant conversation after Brenna left.
“See you Friday,” I said as she knocked on Toby’s door.
She turned to me, throwing me a quizzical look. “Friday?”
“Yeah, Friday.”
Katya opened her mouth to respond, but Toby’s door opened and he waved her in.
He arched a brow at me. “What’s up, Carter?”
“Nothing important. I’ll talk to you at home.”
Katya glanced back and forth between us, her brows together. She appeared as baffled by me as I was by her. I probably shouldn’t have mentioned anything about living with Toby. If she didn’t know he was married, who knew what she would have thought now?