Chapter 1
Jake’s favorite bar was only open for an hour after he finished his shift, long enough for him to have a couple of drinks before going home to sleep and doing it all again the next day.
He ordered and sat, staring at his… It had been long enough since the collapse that he’d become accustomed to having something that more closely resembled paws instead of hands.
He couldn’t quite remember what it was like to have hands, proper hands, human-style hands. He’d only been shifting for a couple of months before the collapse, not long enough to miss it. All he’d known for the last ten years was this partially-shifted form.
He drank his beer from a stein, which was much easier for him to hold than a glass. Most of his fellow orderlies left for home after one beer, leaving only a few other werewolves, one satyr, and a couple of elves. Everyone else was human.
Some were humans from Tariko, but the only way to tell was if they didn’t freak out at the sight of mythos. Or at least that had been the way to tell at first. Now most Earth-born humans grudgingly accepted their presence. But there were still pockets of trouble.
And still fusses were made when anyone discovered that a human was dating a mytho.
At twenty-five, Jake should be thinking about what he was going to do with his life and what kind of breeding pair he wanted to be part of. He could date another werewolf and settle down and have little furry children, but if he wanted that, he would have done it already.
He’d mucked around with a few werewolf guys, but he didn’t want that either.
In truth, he didn’t know what he wanted.
It was harder to date outside of his kind because of the way he looked. He wasn’t pretty like an elf. And, well, mythos remembered what werewolves had looked like before the collapse, which meant they weren’t into the way they looked now.
He stared at his black claws against the glass of the stein. The rough pads on his fingers, and the thick, dark hair on the back of his hand. He’d watched enough human horror movies to know he belonged in their nightmares.
Which only left other werewolves, and he was pretty sure he’d dated or slept with everyone he was interested in already.
A man walked up to the bar, stood next to him, and ordered another drink. His gaze drifted over Jake. Jake braced for a comment of some kind. That kind of lingering look didn’t bode well.
“I’ve seen you here a few times,” the man said.
It was hard to tell how old he was in the dimly lit bar, but he seemed over thirty, with dark hair and shoulders that were broad enough to suggest he considered working out as a serious hobby.
“Is that a problem?” Jake asked, hoping to bite off any trouble before it happened.
“Nope. Only that I noticed you’re sitting here alone.”
“The others just left.” It probably wasn’t a good thing that he was alone.
“I know. I waited.”
Jake turned on the stool to look at the man. It definitely wasn’t a good thing someone had noticed the way he often stayed for an extra drink and left alone. Next time, he’d leave with the others.
The man lifted a hand as if sensing the change in Jake’s attitude. “I’m not looking for trouble.”
No, but he was looking for something. Jake inhaled, taking in the man’s scent but not finding anger or aggression. Only… nervousness.
The man’s beer arrived, and he remained standing next to Jake like they were friends.
Weird.
Jake sipped his beer. Ears and nose on alert.
“What do you do?” the man asked.
“I work at the hospital. You?” he asked because it was polite, even though this was the strangest conversation he’d ever had with a human.
“Firefighter. I’ve seen a lot of strange shit since the collapse.”
“Same, though, we’re coming from very different backgrounds.” He took a rather large gulp of beer, hoping to finish it fast to get out of there.
The man smiled, and the corners of his eyes crinkled. “I don’t doubt that, but I’d like to find out more.”
It was then the light scent of lust hit Jake in the face.
Jake almost choked on his beer. He coughed and thumped his chest. “I’m sorry. Are you hitting on me?”
“That depends… is it working or would you like me to fuck off?”
“I want to know why.” He checked his hands to make sure he hadn’t shifted back to his more human appearance, but he still had paws.
“I’ve noticed you, and I wanted to talk to you.”
Jake narrowed his eyes. “You can see me, right?”
“Yep. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I like a furry guy.”
“Are you one of those mytho chasers who wants to collect the full set?” He’d heard of them, humans who wanted to sleep with every kind. He was pretty sure they weren’t dumb enough to try sleeping with a mermaid, but all the humanoid kinds were fair game.
“No.” The man stared at his beer and his cheeks darkened. “I’m only interested in werewolves, but you’re the first I’ve been brave enough to talk to. I've overheard you talking to your friends, and you always sounded nice…”
The scent of lust grew stronger.
And Jake would be lying if he said it wasn’t enticing.
“You want to sleep with me?” Had he passed out at the bar and was in the middle of a very weird dream? If he was, he didn’t want to wake up. He wanted to see where this went.
The man drew in a breath. “Yep… I know it’s possible. I’m in a forum.”
Jake finished his beer, not sure he wanted to know what kind of forum but unable to resist. “What do you mean?”
“It’s for people who date mythos.”
“Date or fuck? They’re a little different.”
“Both. I only found it because I realized I’m into werewolves.” His words were so soft that if Jake hadn’t been a werewolf, he wouldn’t have heard them.
“And how do you know that if you’ve never spoken to one?”
“There’s a couple at the gym I go to. They always smell so good. Look so good.”
“But you never spoke to them?”
“They seem like the kind of guys who’d punch me in the face if I spoke to them. I’ve made that mistake with humans, so I try to avoid it as much as possible.”
“Most mythos won’t punch you for asking them out.” Most mythos didn’t care who someone was sleeping with the way humans did. Being asked out was flattering…
He couldn’t deny he was enjoying the attention and the scent of lust on the man’s skin.
“So do you want to come back to my place?” the man asked, still looking as though he expected to be punched for being so bold.
Jake let him hang for a moment and took a sip of his beer. “Do you want to tell me your name first?”
The man stuck out his hand. “Adam.”
“Jake. And no, I’d much rather you came to mine.” It would be safer for both of them, and if this was some kind of weird set up, he wouldn’t get jumped.
But the scent of Adam’s lust couldn’t be faked. It coiled around Jake, and he wasn’t about to turn down sex, no matter how strange the request.
Adam smiled again. “Really?”
Jake leaned in to see if he’d flinch. “I can smell how much you want me.” And that wasn’t what he was used to smelling on humans.
“You don’t think I’m weird?”
He should be asking Adam the same thing, but he’d already confessed to finding werewolves attractive.
“Oh, I do, but you seem to know what you want and jumped over numerous human morality barriers to speak to me, so why would I say no? And I like the way you smell.” Which wasn’t a lie.
Adam smelled delicious. He hadn’t doused himself in sprays and aftershaves.
He’d done his research. Jake slid off the stool and took half a step closer before giving Adam an obvious sniff. “Are you already hard?”
“I am now.”
Jake laughed. “Are you finishing your beer or are we going?”
“I don’t care about the beer, that was just so I could get close enough to talk to you.” Adam wiped his palms on his jeans. He was aroused and nervous and intriguing.
“Is that your usual approach with guys?”
“It depends on where I am.”
There was no way Jake would ever hit on a human, male or female. It was too risky. “So you stalked me for a few weeks and decided tonight it was worth a shot?”
“It’s not stalking if we’re in the same bar…”
Jake laughed, or at least it was what his laugh sounded like now. A low, husky sound that never left his throat. He should be glad he could talk at all. If the werewolves had lost that ability in the collapse, they’d have been in a much worse situation.
“Come on.” Jake led the way out of the bar. “It’s only a short walk to my place.”
Two more stops on the bus and he’d have been home.
Crossing the road, they were officially in mytho central, also known as Creature Hollow.
The streets around the suburb were usually safe, but not always.
However, few humans ventured into Creature Hollow unless they had business or friends.
Even the cops tried to avoid it, which was fine, as every mytho would rather deal with the Knight, anyway.
If they needed help with human issues, they had the werewolf liaison officer, Carly Arche.
“So what do you do when you aren’t working, aside from stalking werewolves?”
“It wasn’t like that.” Adam shook his head. “I tried to avoid your kind at first because I was worried what it said about me.”
“You know before the collapse, I looked mostly human.”
“Mostly?”
“I still had yellow eyes and sharp teeth.” He could barely remember what he’d looked like. Not that it mattered. “When I’m not working, I play basketball. Run. Hang out with my pack… my family. The usual. You?”
“Work out.” He grimaced, then sighed. “I enjoy doing puzzles. I’m working on a five thousand piece one at the moment. I put on a podcast or a documentary and chill out. Otherwise, I’m helping Mum take care of Dad.”
“He’s not well?”
Adam shook his head. “Dementia. Half the time he thinks I'm his brother. He died in the collapse… Sorry. You lost people, too.”
Everyone had lost people, and not just in the collapse, but in the aftermath. But he didn’t think that not talking about it made it better. “Yeah. Buildings pushing through, people falling out of the sky… There were a lot of ways to die that day.”