Chapter Two #2
“But you only have me. You need friends outside of me, maybe a boyfriend, too. So? Who is it? Do I know him?” Kael glanced toward the forest. “You were looking at the forest, right?”
“That’s because there’s a shifter in town,” Nymon whispered.
“You can’t tell anyone. I don’t even know for sure if they’re a shifter, but this wolf was behind my house yesterday, and when I went to talk to them, they stayed there and listened.
I’m almost a hundred percent sure they’re a shifter, and I need to go after them. ”
Kael’s expression changed while Nymon talked. He didn’t quite look horrified, but he did look worried. “What are you talking about? There can’t be a shifter here.”
“There can, and there is.”
“You just said you’re not sure it’s a shifter.”
“Have you seen many wolves in the area?”
“Well, no, but it’s possible there’s some. How would a shifter have found the town?”
“I don’t know, but if I go after them, I could ask.”
Kael grabbed Nymon’s arm. “You can’t go after them. If it’s a wolf, you could get hurt, and if it’s a shifter, well, you could get hurt even worse.”
Nymon scowled. “Why do you think a shifter would be dangerous?”
“Because whoever it is isn’t supposed to be here. Shifters aren’t allowed in town.”
“The world isn’t allowed in town,” Nymon snapped before sucking in a breath.
“Sorry. I don’t want to be angry at you, but I don’t understand why you’re not at least curious.
Don’t you want to talk to this person and find out why they’re here?
Maybe ask them questions about the world outside of Starhaven? ”
“I know everything I need to know about the world outside of Starhaven. That’s what TV and Internet are for.”
Kael didn’t understand. Nymon didn’t blame him, but he also didn’t want his best friend to stop him from doing this. “I’ll probably never have a chance like this again in my life,” he told Kael. “I want to talk to this person.”
“You don’t know if they want to talk to you. You said that you saw them yesterday. Why didn’t they shift? They could have if it was only you there, but instead, they left, right?”
“Yeah,” Nymon grumbled. “They left.”
“So maybe they don’t want to talk to you. They had an opportunity to do so, but they didn’t.”
“They don’t know if they can trust me.”
“You don’t know if you can trust them. Considering they’re in Starhaven, where they shouldn’t be, I don’t know if you should.”
“Technically, they’re not forbidden to be here. There’s no law that says people can’t come in. It’s just that most people don’t know about the town and can’t cross through the shield because of the magic it’s made of.”
Kael shook his head. “I’d say I can’t believe you’re saying that, but I can. This is dangerous, Nymon. I know you’re fascinated by shifters and all of that, but they could attack you. You don’t even know if this wolf is actually a shifter. What if it’s an animal and it attacks you?”
“If it’s really a wolf, it would’ve attacked me yesterday when I was alone.”
“Or maybe the wolf wasn’t hungry. Maybe it’s stalking its prey, and that prey is you. Please. You can’t be serious about going after a wolf.”
Nymon glanced toward the forest. He couldn’t see the wolf anymore, so it was probably too late, but he wanted to try anyway. If the wolf was a shifter and they were out there, Nymon wanted to know why. He wanted to know how they’d gotten into town and why they were here.
He realized that it didn’t look good. Why would anyone sneak into town?
Maybe they were curious, like Nymon. Nymon wasn’t sure what he’d do if he was allowed to leave Starhaven and see what the world was like out there.
Would he spy on people from the bushes, too?
Maybe initially, just to see what was going on and make sure that the people who lived there weren’t awful.
He took a step away from Kael. “I promise I’ll be careful.”
“Please don’t do this,” Kael said again, but Nymon had made his decision.
“I’ll see you later, all right?”
“At least let me come with you,” Kael begged.
As much as Nymon wanted to say yes, he felt like he couldn’t.
Kael would slow him down. He didn’t want Nymon to find the shifter, and he’d do everything he could to ensure that he didn’t.
He wasn’t a bad friend, far from it. He would do it because he was worried about Nymon and didn’t want anything to happen to him.
But for some reason, Nymon trusted the shifter. He’d only talked to them once, and they hadn’t talked back, but there was something that was pulling him to go after them. That something was telling him that even if he did, he’d be safe. The shifter wouldn’t hurt him.
Nymon didn’t know why he felt this so strongly, but he wouldn’t find out until he spoke to the shifter, and he wouldn’t get an opportunity to do that if he continued wasting time.
“I’ll call you as soon as I can,” he promised before turning around and darting away.
He didn’t want to give Kael the opportunity to stop him.
“Nymon!” Kael called out after him, but Nymon didn’t stop or slow down. He rushed in between the trees, feeling his best friend watching him but never looking back.
* * * *
“I’M SORRY, CAN YOU repeat that?” Gregory asked.
Tex wished he didn’t have to. “You heard me right the first time,” he told Gregory. “I caught my mate’s scent.”
“Demons don’t have mates.”
Tex groaned. “It doesn’t mean they’re not someone’s mate. Humans don’t have mates, either.”
“You’re right. I apologize.”
“Look, I just wanted you to know what’s happening. I’m not planning on doing anything right now. I’ll focus on my job, and that’s that.”
“Will you be able to do that?”
Gregory sounded skeptical, which wasn’t a surprise.
It was understandable. Tex didn’t know if he’d be able to focus and ignore Nymon.
He’d try, but his mind was running ahead.
What would happen once the job was over?
He wouldn’t be able to leave without Nymon.
His wolf wouldn’t allow him to. He also couldn’t stay, though.
He wasn’t a demon, and he’d never heard of someone who wasn’t a demon living with them.
Of course, people might make an exception, but what would be the odds that he would be the exception?
Starhaven was as hidden as every other demon town.
Even though he’d never met the people in charge of the town, Tex was ready to bet they were like other demons and wanted to keep strangers out of their home.
Tex was a stranger. He might have a mate here, but that didn’t make him a demon.
Besides, he wasn’t sure he’d want to stay even if he was given the opportunity.
He didn’t want to end up stuck in this place, unable to leave it to see his friends.
He liked where he lived now, and he liked his job.
He didn’t want to leave either of them, but would it be fair to ask Nymon to leave this town when it was the only place he’d ever known?
“You’re already distracted,” Gregory pointed out.
Tex blinked. “Did you say something?”
“I did. Look, I can send someone else.”
“You can, but I’m not leaving.”
“I was afraid you’d say that.”
“You knew I would say that. I haven’t even talked to him yet. I can’t leave without doing that. I don’t know if he’ll want me or if he’ll reject me, but I have to try.”
“Do you have to try now?”
“I don’t know what to tell you, Gregory. I’m going to attempt to focus on the job because it’s important to keep my mate safe, too, but if the opportunity arises, I won’t stay away from him. I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”
Gregory sighed. “All right. I won’t ask you to return, and I won’t send anyone else, not for now.
You know how to do your job, and I trust that you can, even while distracted.
If you need help in any way, though, please call me.
I know you don’t want me to send the assassins, but I could send someone else.
I don’t want anything to happen to you because you can’t focus.
You also have to remember that you’re not there in an official capacity.
If the demons find you, I won’t be able to help you. I’ll try, but I can’t make promises.”
That was another thing to consider, but the fear of getting caught wasn’t going to stop Tex.
As soon as he could, he’d take the opportunity to talk to his mate, and hopefully, they could find a way to make this work.
For now, though, Tex’s main priority would be to protect Nymon, and he’d do that by doing his job. “I can do this,” he promised.
“I sure hope so. Call me when you have news.”
Gregory hung up. For a moment, Tex just stood there, breathing in and out and wondering what the fuck he was going to do. It was an easy question to answer.
He put his phone away, stretched his human body, and shifted back.
He desperately wanted to go back to see his mate, but instead, he put more distance between them and walked around town until he found another spot to spy on people.
It was another busy street lined with shops, and there was no sign of Nymon, but of course, Tex’s thoughts were never far from him.
What was his mate doing? Who had he been talking to earlier? Had that man been a friend? Tex wanted to know that and so many more things, but he couldn’t ask. He would, soon. For now, though, he sat in more bushes and watched people walking around.
He’d moved close enough that he could hear some of their conversations. Initially, it wasn’t anything interesting, and he thought things would continue that way. Surely people wouldn’t be stupid enough to mention their illegal activities in a place full of people.
He was wrong. Apparently, some people were stupid enough. Actually, Tex suspected that they felt free to talk about this in public because one, they didn’t think anyone would hear them, and two, they didn’t think anyone would care if they did.