I got up and slowly walked toward my little friend. “Hey, Bunny. I missed you.” I held out my hand and he hopped over, tickling my finger with his nose as soon as he could reach me. “Don’t scare me like that again.” I scooped him up and snuggled him close. “I promise to buy you a real bed soon, none of that cardboard box stuff. I just didn’t think you’d want one of those outside hutches. I know I should let you go, but I can’t… It’s like you're my best friend. I know that’s weird, but there it is.”
He nuzzled in close and licked my chin before hopping out of my arms. Once he was back on the floor, he became Jase again.
“I’m still here. I always was.” He sat down beside me.
“I wanted to be able to say good-bye.” I felt silly pouting, but I couldn’t help it.
“You don’t have to say good-bye. Not yet, anyway. I’m Bunny.” He crossed his fingers over his heart and held them there. “Promise.”
“Fine, if you’re Bunny, how did you come to be mine?” I swerved slightly so I could look at him as he spoke.
“That’s a loaded question. How about I just tell you how I got here. Does that work?”
“Sure.”
“I was driving to my stupid new job and pulled over to stretch my legs.”
I already knew this part, but I was captivated. I couldn’t wait to find out what my imagination came up with for the rest of the story.
He held my gaze as if making sure I was paying attention. “So, I decided to hop around, being a rabbit shifter and all.”
Hold up. What was that last part? “You’re telling me your parents are bunnies?”
“No, it’s recessive.” He held up his hand to stop me. “But let me get to the part about the fox. I was attacked because I wasn’t paying attention to my surroundings. But then these huge-ass dogs came out of nowhere and scared the fox away, and their human—Xander—scooped me up and brought me here.”
“If you’re a shifter, why didn’t you shift and heal your wounds?” I’d read that someplace, I think. Not that I needed to be arguing with a dream.
“I was too weak. A real rabbit would’ve died.”
I’d wondered more than once why he hadn’t. “Yeah, that part makes sense.”
“Well, today I was well enough to try shifting, but you came home and found me naked before I could shift back.”
“But Bunny was here then,” I countered, setting my hand on his thigh cause I really wanted to.
“No, you mumbled to me like I was, but it was actually just a pile of towels.” He leaned in close. “How can I prove to you I’m real? That this is all real?”
“I’m not sure you can.”
Before I could say anything else, he kissed me and took away every doubt I had about whether I was awake or dreaming.
12
Jase
The second my lips touched his, I could feel the pull between us. It was like a magnet to iron. As soon as the distance between us was closed, my whole body connected to his, and I couldn’t tear myself away. I only leaned into the kiss as a brief distraction to prove to Auggie that I wasn’t some kind of figment of his nocturnal imagination. I figured a quick peck might be enough of a shock to get him focused on reality so I could explain what was going on. But as soon as we merged, there was no way I could explain anything at all.
All reason and thoughts and logic left my mind, and the only word I could conjure through the haze of lust was… Mate.
My mate.
My tongue gently swept across the seam of his soft lips, and he instinctively opened for me, inviting me to taste his sweetness and seeking me out in return. The moan that escaped from deep in my chest wasn’t intentional. My whole body was acting on primal needs that were inherent to who I was. The animal within me, no matter how docile it seemed in normal situations, was wailing and thrashing and begging me to give him what he wanted.
And he wanted Auggie.
Almost as much as I did.
We both pulled back for air at the same time as Auggie’s eyes were just starting to focus. “I don’t understand.”
I smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. “I’m not entirely sure I do either.”
“So, I’m not crazy?” He said the words slowly as if trying to convince himself it was okay to ask such a thing. “Or am I?”
My grin grew wider as I pulled him against my chest. “Maybe a little, but not about this.”
“So you’re...a bunny?” His head was resting on my shoulder, and he didn’t pull away.
I wondered if he was as afraid of the answer as I was of giving it. “Yeah.”
He chest inflated on an inhale but didn’t constrict for several long seconds.
“Are you okay with that?”
Auggie finally blew out a slow breath and pulled back to look me in the eyes. “I don’t care as much about the bunny thing as that other thing I just felt.” His eyes darted down to my chest then he looked up at me again. “What was that?”
Playing games wasn’t really my style, but I couldn’t tell him the truth. I was 99% sure I knew what was happening between us, but I was afraid that if I laid too much on Auggie at once, he might hate me. Or worse, he would send me away.
If I was right about the mate link between us, I wouldn’t survive being turned away. “I’m not sure.”
He narrowed his eyes as if he didn’t fully believe me, but he had other questions for me. “Well, what about your injury?” He stepped back so he could get a good look at me. When his gaze landed below my belt, his eyes got big and his breath hitched. “You look amazing.”
Humility wasn’t one of my personality traits so I smirked and subtly flexed my abs. “Thanks. I work out.”
The joke was sorta meant to ease some of the tension in the room but it mostly just distracted August from appreciating my body. “I mean, you’re not hurt as a man. What about your bunny? Is he still hurting?”
“Nope.” I started picking up our discarded clothes, and we quietly got dressed as I worked out some kind of explanation that wasn’t a lie but that wouldn’t lead him to asking any more questions I wasn’t ready to answer. “We’re both 100% strong and healthy, thanks to you.”
“Oh, okay.” His brows furrowed and he seemed to be contemplating so many things at once.
The confused expression on Auggie’s face was too adorable for me to ignore so I leaned forward and kissed him again. “I mean it, Auggie. Thank you.”
“Auggie?” His lips curled up in a shy smile. “I like it.”
“Me too.” I reached for his hand and waited for him to grab mine. “Any chance we can make a sandwich while we talk? I’m starving.”
* * *
I took a huge bite of the BLT Auggie made for me then took a full minute to slowly chew and appreciate how delicious meat could be. Eating raw veggies for days made me miss the savory bounty of happiness that only bacon could provide. As soon as I washed down the bite with a gulp of beer, I was able to process all that Auggie had told me. “So you think Doc knows what’s going on between us?”
“Well, I’m not sure about that.” Auggie shrugged, and his cheeks looked slightly flushed. “But I think he does know you’re a shifter, and he specifically asked me to bring you by to see him, so...I think we should go.”
I took another bite and kept my gaze locked on Auggie’s. He was so pretty. Just looking at him made me starving for more than just food. I wanted him so damn bad.
But it wasn’t the time to think that way. I didn’t know if this Doc character was a threat or not. “How do you know it’s not a trap?”
“Trap for what?” He popped a carrot in his mouth and chewed loudly. Apparently, he wasn’t sick of rabbit food. “Did you do something illegal?”
“Well, no.” I didn’t really have a good reason for not visiting this Doc guy other than the fact that he was a stranger and I had an inherent distrust in strangers. If I were one of the apex shifters, I wouldn’t fear anyone or anything. But as a bunny, I was vulnerable in my animal fo
rm and needed to be careful who I trusted with my secret. “But I don’t like to go around advertising that I turn into a two-pound bunny in my spare time.”
Auggie reached across the table and rested his hand on mine. “We can trust Doc. My grams said he was good people, and she knew people. Please.”
I couldn’t say no to Auggie, no matter how much I wanted to. Besides, I needed to figure out how to get my car and clothes back. “Yeah, okay. We can head out in the morning. ”
13
August
I woke up to the purring of Lux at my door, which was odd to say the least. He rarely came inside, and when he did, it was to find Grams, not me.
“I’m coming, silly cat.” I sat up, stretching my arms with a big yawn. I picked up my phone and saw it was ten thirty. No wonder he was at my door. Breakfast time had come and gone.
“Shit.” I popped out of bed and threw some clothes on. I’d considered just getting up after Jase and I had our talk, figuring a few hours of sleep wouldn’t be worth it. But then as I lay in bed, my mind started racing with all that had happened, and one hour of sleep became many until I slept through my alarm.
But who could blame me?
I still couldn’t wrap my head around that kiss—how it completely owned me. Which was ridiculous given the man had turned into my freaking pet before my eyes. By any logic on this planet, that should’ve been the confusing part, but somehow, it wasn’t.
Little bits of things Grams had told me started to fall into place as I tried to sleep. This town is different. Treat the animals the way you would want to be treated because you never know. When she said silly things like that, I didn’t question what she meant. But now I couldn’t help wondering just how much she had known all along.
I opened the door, and if anyone had witnessed the action, they’d have thought Lux loved me more than anything. “You’re not fooling me, little one.” I reached down and picked him up. “I know you’re only being sweet for the food.”
“I already fed him.” Jase stood in the doorway with a cup of coffee in his hands. He held the cup out for me.
“What time did you get up?” I grabbed the cup and looked at Lux apologetically, setting her down in favor of the liquid energy.
“I couldn’t sleep. I had a lot on my mind.” Lux ran straight to Jase and bumped his leg with his head. “I guess he’s mad about the coffee.”
“I’m not.” I took a long sip, and it was perfect. “Is this how you take yours?”
“Naw, I’m a black-no-sugar kind of guy, but I saw you make it every morning, so…” He shrugged and glanced at me. “I thought I could help you feed the animals, and then we could go see Doc.”
“Or I could arrange a house call.”
His smile was agreement enough, so we went to work while we waited for Doc to come visit. We’d barely finished as he drove up the dirt drive.
“This is Doc. I won’t say anything about bunnying out, but I think you can trust him.” I gave Jase’s shoulder a squeeze and walked to where Doc was parking his car.
“Hey, Doc. Thanks for coming. My friend is over there.” I pointed to Jase as he walked toward us, still holding the hay fork.
“I knew it.” Doc beamed with obvious recognition in his eyes. “I knew I scented shifter on you the other day.” He leaned in as Jase approached. “And you were going to buy the man a hutch.” He shook his head and chuckled at the idea.
“I didn’t know he was a man then.” How could I have known?
Jase looked Doc up and down then gave a nod. “Otter.”
“Bunny.” Doc nodded with a small smile. Great. I was witnessing some kind of supernatural pissing match.
“Human,” I chimed in, trying to be funny but falling horribly short of that goal if the two wide-eyed stares were any indication. “Jase is the one with the abandoned car.” I cleared my throat to change the vibe and get them to stop staring at me.
“Were you trapped in rabbit form?” Doc asked, looking at Jase from head to toe. “Or were you here for your mate?”
“Mate?” Sure, we kissed, but we hadn’t had sex. Did we look like people who’d had sex? And why would it matter if we did? We were both freaking adults.
“Let me rephrase… Why did you abandon your car?”
We decided to take the conversation inside with a cup of tea...the way Grams would’ve done. Turned out, Doc even had a favorite cup in the pantry. Jase told his story and I told mine while Doc listened attentively, asking clarifying questions where he thought they were needed.
“You’re in a pickle.” Doc crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. “Sheriff Martin is kind of an asshat, and he’s gonna want to know where you’ve been. I don’t see you being able to just deal with Ron on this one—him, I trust.” And so did Lux, so that worked for me.
“Can you help with that? Write a note maybe?” Asking for a doctor’s note felt weird, but I couldn’t think of anything else.
“I can go with you, and we can work this out.” He took a sip of his tea and relaxed even more. Apparently, he meant at some time in the future.
“Is your clan here?” Jase added milk and sugar to his tea, making it the exact opposite of his coffee.
Doc grabbed the tin of cookies that lived on the table and opened them up. They weren’t homemade like the days of my grams, but I couldn’t bring myself to ever let it go empty.
“No. There are a lot of shifters in this town, but no clans. We’re mostly a town of rogues, but not completely.”
I had no idea what he meant by that, but I just nodded along as if I did. “Are Xander and his dad shifters?”
“Nope, Clarence is just an animal, not a shifter.” Clarence, so that was his name. I reached in my memories to recall if Grams had mentioned him but came up blank.
“I worry about Xander.” A lot.
“I do too, and believe me...I’m working on it. It just takes time.”
“If we were in a pack or a clan, things would be much easier.” Jase sighed heavily.
I cocked my head, unsure what he meant. “How so?”
“We’d kill him,” they both stated matter-of-factly.
It sounded like I had a lot to learn about shifters.
14
Jase
I had never had good luck with otters, but Doc was pretty cool. It was clear he cared about Auggie and wanted the best for him...which seemed to translate into him wanting the best for me. And it was nice. I hadn’t had a lot of strong male role models in my life, and it felt good to know someone truly had my back.
The feeling wasn’t quite so warm and fuzzy when Sheriff Martin came by the next day. I could see why Doc didn’t trust him. There was just something about him that oozed slimy. I had no doubt he was one of those guys who became a sheriff for the power.
He probably had a tiny dick.
He immediately railed into me like I was a serial killer. No matter how many times I said I got lost in the woods and couldn’t remember much about what had happened, he glared at me and scribbled notes that made me worry for Auggie’s safety. I knew I could handle whatever shit this backwoods asshole tried to throw at me, but when he noticed the electrical tape holding a light fixture together as he passed the mudroom, made a comment about not being sure if the old house was up to code.
Auggie tried to keep his cool, but the color immediately drained from his cheeks and I knew he was intimidated by the bastard.
“So, where is my car now?” I stood on the top step of the porch as the sheriff strutted back to his vehicle. “Can I ride with you to pick it up?”
He shook his head but didn’t turn back until he was standing outside the door of his cruiser. “It’s in the impound yard. They open at ten a.m. tomorrow. Take cash.”
“Cash?” I suddenly realized how screwed I actually was. “My wallet’s in my car, and I don’t know if I have a lot of cash in it. Don’t they take cards?”
The old guy smiled but it looked more like a snarl. “Cash only, kid. And the
daily rate isn’t cheap, so don’t wait much longer or it won’t be worth picking it up. We aren’t in the city—Riverview Township doesn’t do that fancy shit.”
“Fucker,” Auggie whispered from behind me.
I couldn’t hold back a smile as I watched the guy plop into his car. “Yep. He is.”
“Don’t worry about the money. We can hit the bank on the way there and I’ll pull out cash. It’s fine.”
“No.” I turned toward Auggie and reached for his hand. “I can’t let you do that. I have money. I just need to figure out how to access it without my phone or wallet.”
He waved away my objections. “You can pay me back later. It’s really okay.”
I hated being in debt to anyone, but this was a very temporary loan. As soon as I had my car and my wallet, we were going right back to the bank to replace every penny he loaned me. I’d even buy him lunch to cover the interest.
* * *
Nine hundred and thirty-eight dollars later, I’d covered all the random fees and completed the pile of paperwork necessary to get my car back, and then I followed Auggie to the bank. I wanted to immediately repay him, even though he insisted it wasn’t necessary. But it was to me. What I was feeling for Auggie wasn’t just a schoolyard crush or Stockholm Syndrome. In fact, every time he was more than twenty feet away from me, the ache in my belly confirmed what I’d been thinking for a while now.
Auggie was my mate.
And as caveman as it was for me to insist on paying my way, I just couldn’t allow him to waste even a single penny on me. I’d always been a little old-fashioned when it came to dating, which I attributed to my alpha genes. But the possessiveness I felt toward him was next level.
Everytime he furrowed his brow, I wanted to smooth it out.
Some Bunny To Love: River’s Edge Shifters #1 Page 5