Page 35 of Wedding the Werepanther

Dewdrop lets out a piercing whistle and dives, landing on my banana and smooshing it into paste, which he licks off his toes. “This tastes amazing! And it’s so fun! I’ve never had moving fruit before.”

Shadow reappears carrying two pizza boxes. “What’s this about moving fruit?”

“My magic animated a piece of banana.” I frown down at the rest of the pale-yellow flesh. “I didn’t mean to. My magic just surged, and I couldn’t control it.” I really don’t like being unable to control my powers.

“Do it again! More moving fruit!”

“Maybe later, okay?” I chop up the rest of the banana and add it to his bowl, which also has strawberries, blueberries, and some cubed honeydew melon.

We eat at the kitchen island, and I open my pizza box to find my favorite toppings: sausage and mushroom. My heart gives a little jump at this further proof that Shadow once again knows what I like best. I don’t say anything about it this time, but his pleased grin says he knows he chose well.

Dewdrop tears into his fruit with messy abandon, declaring he loveseverything.

“Do you have a favorite?” I ask. “I want to get an idea of what you like.”

“New things.” He hops over to rest his front paws on my arm. “Allthe things.”

“What’s the saying?” Shadow’s eyes glitter with amusement. “I think you’ve created a monster.”

“After eating apricots for your whole life, I bet you’d freak out over a banana, too,” I counter.

“I would.” He tips his head toward the dragonet. “In a lot of ways, my life in Faerie was a lot like Dewdrop’s. Stuck in my panther form, I ate nothing but raw meat.” At my shocked look, he holds up a hand. “I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong. But once I could shift into a man and try all the different foods on Earth…” He spreads his hands wide. “It was life-changing.”

My heart gives an uneven skip. Shadow always acts so confident I never realized how strange Earth must be for him. He’s not only adapting to a new culture, new foods, and technology, but also to having a whole new type of body. I’ve played shapeshifters in various video games, where it’s always been a cool way to give my avatar different powers. To actually live as one, though? I haven’t given it much thought.

Shadow takes another bite of his barbeque bacon cheddar pizza, and his lashes flutter as he gives this tiny growl of yum. It’s quick and could be interpreted as part of his whole joie de vivre schtick, but it’s not. It’s an unguarded moment of delight and discovery, one that’s vulnerable and real.

Underneath all the games and his cocky surface, there’s a man trying to figure out his place in the world, exactly like I struggled with for so long.

It makes him feel a helluva lot more approachable.

Which is the flipping opposite of what I need if I’m gonna keep my distance.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Shadow

The next day, I run several messages to Faerie while the door dries between applications of sealant. So it’s evening by the time I finish brushing the last coat of sealant onto the door and straighten. Pride fills me as I look at the wood, gleaming a rich brown under the golden sunlight. “I did that.”

This project’s been good for me. I hold up my hands and flex each finger, enjoying the increased dexterity woodworking has given me.

I also can’t forget my other purpose. Spinning, I find Kayla watching me from her office window, giving me one last chance to put all my newfound thirst-trap knowledge to good use. Already shirtless, because of course I am, I make sure I’m perfectly framed by the window, then tip my head back and pour water all over my chest. I groan as the cool liquid hits my heated skin, and her excited inhale makes it clear she heard.

Leaving the door to dry, I amble back into the kitchen and grab another cold water from the refrigerator. It’s amazing how humans created technology to live in a world without magic. If you can’t buy a long-term cooling crystal bespelled by an ice dragon, you build a box that does the same thing.

A cupboard door bangs behind me, and I spin to find words already written on the kitchen parchment.“You have to help me.”

“What do you need?”

“Wedding things from the attic,”Victoria writes.“Kayla won’t do it.”

“Kayla’s working on her game.” The trip to Faerie did exactly what I hoped. She’s been writing nonstop all day. The witch also expects tomorrow’s wedding ceremony to be as horrible as the date Victoria arranged, so I can’t blame her for not wanting to help.

A feeling of sulkiness surrounds me. Next thing you know, the house will start slamming doors, which will interrupt Kayla. The only thing that should interrupt my wife is me, shirtless. Now that I’ve completed my project, I’ll have to find new thirst-trap opportunities.

“Don’t worry.” I pull a T-shirt over my head and climb the stairs. “I’ll help.”

Piles of old furniture and trunks fill the cavernous attic, surrounding the column of the brick chimney rising through the center of the room. The various gables of the roof create an interesting ceiling full of sloping angles of girdered wood. Evening sun slants through the windows, and a string of bare bulbs dangles over the middle of the room, casting additional light.