Chapter Two
Weirdest High School Reunion Ever
Jackpot!
He swooped out of the sky toward the creature, wings tucked at his sides. The creature turned and tried to get away. It was a snow leopard, alright. The snow leopard shifter he’d been after for weeks.
At long last, he’d found it.
He hit the ground in a flash, the earth trembling with the impact. Flecks of snow sprayed in all directions. The bag hanging from his neck shook and slammed against his scales. He unfurled his wings and let out a roar that echoed across the mountain. His prize lay in the snow before him, having been knocked out from the impact of his landing. Tough day for him.
Or was it a her? Hadn’t Grim Jim mentioned earlier that it was a female shifter?
Tough day for her , he corrected himself. Good for me.
The leopard staggered to her feet, not taking those bluish eyes off him for a second. He could see the fear in those eyes.
Good.
His live catches tended to show fear. Fear meant there was less likely to be resistance. This should be easy.
He’d almost given up a week ago after searching this side of the mountain and finding nothing. Heck, he’d considered taking the risk and fleeing to Caprichor. The Ice Melter would never find him there. He’d learned about the place a few months ago and visited it once. That village was too well hidden, both from the eyes and the minds of other inhabitants of Frost Mountain.
After this, he wouldn’t have to flee. After this, he would be free to live as he pleased. At least now he didn’t have to worry about facing Jim’s wrath.
You do not mess with Jim, and that was that.
It was Jim who’d sent him on this mission after receiving word from other Collectors about the snow leopard’s presence on the mountain weeks ago. Find her and bring her to me alive. Those were his orders.
He took a step toward the snow leopard, and she backed away with a whimper. Despite his relief, guilt clutched at his heart. This wasn’t right. This was an innocent shifter, someone who probably had no idea what kind of things happened around these parts. Whatever Jim had in store for her was no more pleasant than being attacked and captured by a dragon.
This was why he’d decided to part ways with the Collectors.
He’d been with them since he’d arrived on Frost Mountain. They’d found him and given him a new life, a new purpose after what had happened to him: Falling into that lake and losing everything—his old life, his family, his dream of a college scholarship…
And her.
Grim Jim wouldn’t let him go unless he paid back the favor he owed him. But it was this sort of thing that made him want to leave the Collectors in the first place.
He stepped closer, and the leopard’s eyes grew even wider. Then she began to shift. The sound of bones expanding and reshaping themselves filled his ears. The spotted white coat slowly receded into pale flesh. In seconds, a woman stood staring, wide-eyed, back at him.
His heart nearly stopped. A single thought floated to the front of his mind.
Red?
***
The way Damon McLaurent saw it, luck was only a matter of perspective. Sometimes, stuff happened that made you the happiest guy in the world. And sometimes, the same stuff meant you were knee-deep in a pile of crap.
Right now, staring down at the woman before him, he was both the happiest guy in the world and knee-deep in crap.
It was her. It was Julia Reel.
She’d definitely changed in the 16 years since he’d last seen her. Her red hair was longer than he remembered, her face a little less round, but there was no mistaking those blue eyes. The last time he’d gazed into them, he’d been awestruck. Even then, she’d been a breathtaking sight. He could see that time had been more than kind to her. He tucked in his wings, gazing silently at her.
And then his gaze dropped from her face. She must have lost her clothes when she shifted, he realized. She stood stark naked before him, shivering violently in the cold. For a moment, Damon could do nothing but stare. She was a bit taller, her red curls falling past narrow shoulders and settling just above her perky breasts. Her nipples stood to attention in the cold, and as she shuddered…
He let his gaze travel even lower, taking in the curves of her hips. A sprinkle of red hair traveled from her tiny navel toward the apex of her rather luscious thighs, and—
“P-please,” she whimpered, “don’t kill me.”
When he returned his gaze to those wide eyes, Damon could have sworn he felt his heart shatter.
He backed away from her, the red dragon scales fading into flesh as he did. Soon, he, too, stood naked before her, completely human, the brown leather bag slung over his shoulder. Thinking quickly, he pulled out a pair of trousers and slipped them on, then handed her some clothing as well.
Now fully clothed, she continued to stare at him.
Eternities could have passed between them, and he could care less. His heart thudded frantically in his chest, and he couldn’t seem to find his voice. Julia was staring at him as though she’d seen a ghost. If only she knew just how similarly he felt.
Finally, she spoke. “Damon?” she asked.
Damon found his voice. “Red,” he replied.
Her voice quivered. “You… you’re…”
He had barely enough time to nod before she rushed at him, throwing her arms around his neck. Damon thought he heard a sob as he wrapped his arms around her, cradling her head to his chest. He wondered if she could hear his heart thundering in his ribcage. He stood there, unable to believe this was really happening.
Julia pulled away then, blinking rapidly at him. “I… I thought I’d never see you again. When the ice broke, I—”
He managed to crack a grin. “This is one hell of a high school reunion, isn’t it?”
She didn’t laugh. It wasn’t hard to guess the thoughts going through her mind. He could remember the details of that afternoon just as well. Sometimes, when he closed his eyes, he could hear the ice cracking seconds before it split open under him. He could see the air bubbles escaping his mouth as he tried to claw his way back to the surface from the murky depths of the lake.
When he broke through the ice again, she was gone, along with the rest of his world.
It had all been his fault. If he’d never asked Julia to cross the lake with him, he wouldn’t have ended up here.
But he’d been hoping to spend more time with her, even if it meant taking a detour as he walked her home. To be honest, he’d never imagined she would ever want to be with a guy like him. Girls like her always thought guys like him were dimwitted jerks, but he’d always found her fascinating.
He never missed a chance to read whatever she’d written in her newsletter. He’d spent time perusing her articles and poetry at home or in the locker room if it was empty, all in hopes of getting to know her better.
That day in January, he’d decided to stop hesitating and ask her to the Valentine’s Day Dance. And then it happened.
Damon never got to that dance.
He’d thought he would never see her again. But here she was now, standing before him, those beautiful blue eyes tugging once again on his heartstrings.
“Red…” he muttered.
“You… you look different,” she said, glancing at him from head to toe.
“In a good way, I hope.” He grinned. “You’ve changed a lot, too, Red. What’s with the accent?”
“I was in England for a while.” She was still staring at him like he’d come from outer space. “So… you’re a shifter?”
He nodded. He’d never mentioned that fact to her, never even thought to out of fear of scaring her off. But now…
“So are you,” he replied.
A snow leopard shifter, to be exact. Grim Jim’s new prize, which
changed everything.
This is bad, he thought. Really, really bad.
He’d just bumped into the one woman who’d claimed his heart after nearly two decades. That made him the happiest guy in the world. But it also meant he was about to be waist-deep in crap because she was in more danger than she could imagine.