Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Isaac
Mom and Dad are pissed off.
They’re also royalty, so they know how to keep from making it obvious. Right now, they appear perturbed to have something this big sprung on them. Katrina has no idea, of course, just how damned livid they are.
She doesn’t know about Delilah Van Patton, the woman my parents sent to the United States a year and a half ago. Delilah is the woman they intended me to marry. They can’t talk about it right now. It’s not just the awkwardness. It’s that I introduced them as my mother and father rather than as king and queen. That tells them right there that Katrina is unaware of our nature.
Our panther nature.
No, it’s not like the movie. We don’t turn into panthers when we have sex and remain panthers until we kill someone. We’re panther shifters, and even though shifters have come out to the world, panthers remain the most secretive of all the shifters. Most panthers would very much prefer that no human ever really knows about our existence.
“Really?” Katrina’s voice shows a lot of surprise, and I feel foolish for having been lost in thought and missed the context.
“Really,” My mother says cooly.
“Well, I disagree completely,” Katrina says. My heart sinks. A confrontation. “I don’t know how you could travel along the Stadtbahn and see the buildings or to look at the Church on Steinhof and think anyone but Otto Wagner deserves that title. But, of course, I’m looking at it from the perspective of an American architect so I suppose maybe if I’d grown up there, I might think differently.”
She waits, and then Dad chuckles. “You do know Austrian architecture.” My mom begrudgingly nods.
Katrina says innocently, “Was that a test? To see if…” She sighs and says, “Oh! I’m sorry. I was bragging, wasn’t I? It seemed like I was just being a big talker. Do you use that phrase?”
Damn, she’s good. “Angeber,” I say to my parents. “That’s close. Blowhard. Show-off. But I don’t think you were doing that at all. You just love buildings.”
She smiles and says, “And I’m afraid I’ll have to leave in a moment.” To my parents, she says, “I get paid to love buildings, too. I have to go to work. I’m very happy to meet you, and I hope I’ll get to spend some time with you while you’re in town.”
“You won’t be at the dinner tonight?” my mother asks.
“I’m afraid Katrina has to work late tonight. We’ll have a quiet dinner with her tomorrow.” I stand up and put my hand on the small of Katrina’s back to guide her toward the door. I have to say that even that small contact feels damned incredible to me. “I’m going to walk her out.”
A few seconds later, we’re between my house and hers, and she says, “I don’t have any frame of reference for this.”
“I know. It’s just crazy for me to ask.”
“Oh no. Not the fake engagement I understand that completely. I just don’t have any frame of reference for how much you owe me for doing it.”
“You and me both. Well, whenever you figure it out, let me know and I’ll do it.”
“Why don’t we start with you telling me why the hell we’re doing this in the first place.”
“That’s a long discussion.”
“Are they staying at your place?”
“No. Hotel.”
“Okay, well, I’ll stay up tonight and when you’re done with them, you come by here and tell me what the hell is happening.”
“You’re the best,” I say.
I start to turn away, but Katrina stops me. “Hey, you might want to kiss me goodbye, right? To make it look real, you know, for any observers that might be observing.”
She smiles at me and I see just how beautiful she really is, and I’m not just saying that because she’s currently saving my ass from a very hot parental fire. No. I see how that smile lights up her eyes and the soft blush she has going on right now and, well, that goodbye kiss sounds very nice.
“Okay then, have a great day at work, honey,” I pull her to me and kiss her.
And we linger a bit longer than we probably need to, but I enjoy every second of it.
She pulls away and that smile is still there. “See you tonight, darling.”
I laugh and watch as she walks over to her house and closes the door.
My smile drops away. Now, I have to deal with the other half of this equation.
I walk in and instantly my parents begin firing questions at me.
“With this diversion, you aren’t going to be very available to Delilah. How are you going to deal with that?”
“Mother, she is more than a diversion, she is my fiancé.”
“How long has this woman even been in your life?”
“Long enough for me to know she’s the one I want, Father.”
They both click their tongues at me and sigh. They look at each other and then, my mother leans over to me.
“Are you sure she knows nothing about your nature?”
“Nothing yet, Mother.”
She sits back and I can see she’s even more displeased.
“What are you going to tell Delilah?”
I think about that one and almost blurt out that I don’t need to tell Delilah anything because we both want nothing to do with this arranged marriage.
We are nothing more than childhood friends. My parents have orchestrated quite an attempt, but I’ve had separate conversations with Delilah and we are very clear about a marriage. We don’t want it.
I look at my mother. “I’ll have that conversation very soon. Delilah, I’m sure, will be understanding.”
She most definitely will be. In fact, though this whole thing with Katrina pretending to be my fiancé was spur of the moment, I’m sure Delilah will applaud my ingenuity.
My Mother shakes her head and waves her hand at me as if dismissing me.
The conversation stalls and we simply head to dinner.
The rest of the night nothing more is said about Katrina. My parents, I know, are showing great restraint about the situation because they are both going to be working together on a plan to fix things so I can be with Delilah.
But it isn’t going to happen. There’s nothing wrong with Delilah and she sees nothing wrong in me. Perhaps if our parents hadn’t decided we would marry, we might have fallen in love and decided on it by ourselves. Instead, they entrenched the relationship as it is. Katrina is going to be my one and only until they leave me alone about it.
So, we talk about the weather and home and work and some human politics in Austria and Europe, and then, dinner is finished and they head back to the hotel. I wave as they drive away and then, I get into my car and blast death metal until my car is shaking.
Yeah, a panther who likes death metal. Don’t ask me to explain it to you.
When I get back home, I see that Katrina is already back from work. It feels like everything has happened so quickly, but I realize that between the initial grill session and the dinner, the day is gone.
I park and climb out of my car. I look around and try to pull thoughts together. What am I going to tell Katrina? How much do I need to share about who and what I am?
I shake my head. No use avoiding more questions. I walk over and knock on the door.
She answers and all my answers and explanations melt away. All my thoughts just die.
She’s stunning.
She’s wearing a short flowing blue dress that falls about her body like a cloud. Her hair is down and soft on her shoulders.
And her smile is just as beautiful as ever.
She steps forward. “Welcome home, honey.”
And then, she takes both my hands in hers and pulls me into her house. As she does, she slides up to me and kisses me.
This is not the sweet goodbye kiss of earlier in the day. This is hard and full of need.
My thoughts completely abandon me.