More than a Cheetah (Shifty Book 6)

by Sara Summers

  “How did you end up in Glacier? I know about the university, but what part do you play in it?”

  “I’m one of the Shifty girls. My friend was the one who came up with the idea, and I’m an architect, so I got to design it. I’m going to teach at SUV starting next week.” I explained. That was one thing I didn’t mind talking about. The university was my baby.

  “You’re already an architect? How old are you?” Haiden wondered.

  “I’m twenty.” I nodded. “I had my bachelor’s degree before I finished high school, then went right to Harvard for my masters in architecture the next fall.” I felt a sense of pride again, with my accomplishments. I’d been the youngest person in the program, but I’d still been at the top of my class.

  “That’s incredible.” Haiden admired. “Congratulations.”

  “Thanks.” I smiled, showing him the first real smile he’d seen from me. “Now, how did you end up at the museum?”

  “This is going to make me sound crazy.” My mate grimaced.

  “I don’t mind crazy.” I said, which was completely true. Brooke and I, we had been called crazy for years. That had never stopped us before, and it wasn’t going to keep me from my soulmate.

  If he wanted me.

  Yeah, I wasn’t going to think about that.

  “Alright. A few months ago, I had a dream.” He admitted. “I dreamt about two cheetahs, the ones in the painting in the shifter museum.”

  I waited for him to continue, but he was busy assessing my reaction.

  “Though I couldn’t explain how, I knew that one was my mate. I was the other one, the one sitting in the sun. My mate was—you were—running through the forest around me, and though I couldn’t find you, I knew you were there. I had the dream every night for a month.” He explained.

  I nodded, urging him to keep going. His story was really interesting.

  “And then, one night, I had a dream about the museum your friend was building. I saw her and another girl putting it together, and saw them talking about where they would find paintings for it. The next night, I dreamed I was inside the museum, looking up at my painting of you as it hung in the gallery

  “When I woke up, I knew that I needed to donate the paintings, and that I needed to go to the opening day tours and gala. I didn’t know why, but I knew I needed to go. After that, I kept dreaming about us in the forest, you running while I sat in the sun.” he finished the story.

  “Wow.” I raised my eyebrows.

  “I told you it would make me sound crazy.” Haiden grimaced.

  “Nah, not crazy.” I shrugged. “Delusional, yes. Crazy, no.”

  “Hey.” He complained.

  “I was just telling it the way I saw it.” I bit back a smile. His story hadn’t sounded crazy to me, it had sounded like strange truth. Sometimes the truth decided to be strange and there was nothing we could do to change that. “So you’re missing the piece of you that’s supposed to tell you where I am all the time.” I nodded.

  “Apparently so.” Haiden agreed. “I thought it would turn on when our coties changed, but still, there’s nothing.”

  “Huh. Well, there are worse problems to have. At least you can shift without being in pain. I know shifters who can’t, and they all agree that it’s the worst.” I folded my arms, cocking my head to the side.

  By “shifters”, I had really meant “Brooke”. She was the one shifter I knew who couldn’t actually shift whenever they wanted, and that was because it caused her so much pain to be in lion form.

  “What if I told you I couldn’t?” Haiden asked.

  “Then I’d grab my coat and walk back to Glacier if I had to, because that would be a lie. I saw your painting, I know that the world looks the same to you when you’re a cheetah as it does to me when I am.” I smirked, and he shook his head at me.

  “Nice to know that you’re loyal.”

  “To my friends, I am. You haven’t earned that title yet.” I stood up, my bare feet hating the feel of the cold tile underneath them.

  “I will.” Haiden said, sounding sure of himself.

  “Good luck.” I picked up my to-go soup container and took it over to the microwave. “It won’t be as easy as you think.” I tossed the words over my shoulder.

  “I’m up for a challenge.” Haiden shrugged.

  I couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, falling in love with Haiden Day wouldn’t be as bad as I thought. As long as he didn’t try to probe into my past, it might actually work out between us.

  “What were your aunt and uncle like, when you were living with them?” he asked. “Did they treat you like a daughter?

  Okay…

  Well, maybe not. If he was going to ask questions like that, we were already a sinking ship. I just hoped I could escape with my life intact—and my heart.

  Chapter 4

  “I don’t want to talk about my aunt and uncle.” I turned looked upward so I could watch the microwave rather than look at Haiden.

  “Okay.” He didn’t seem to mind.

  The microwave beeped and I pulled my soup out, sitting down on the table with my food. Haiden stuck his own soup in the microwave, then handed me a spoon.

  “Were you serious about moving to Glacier?” I asked. I didn’t want to start a conversation that could potentially turn to topics I didn’t want to talk about, but I had to know. If he was expecting me to leave the job that I hadn’t yet started, I’d…

  Well, I didn’t know what I’d do, but I’d have to do something. I couldn’t leave my job at the university, or Brooke. She was the closest thing I had to family.

  “Yeah, I actually own an apartment building there. When the university was announced, I knew it was going to be the shifter place. Since I paint shifters, that’s a good place for me to be.” He shrugged, grabbing his soup and sitting next to me on the table.

  “So you have an apartment there?”

  “Kind of.” Haiden nodded. “It’s a five-story building, and the top floor is mine.” He admitted. “I thought that when I met you and when we have kids, we could live there. It’s not a house, but it’s big enough…”

  “That sounds awesome.” I nodded. He had been planning for me? Okay, that was sweet. Really sweet.

  “Is your best friend going to stay there? Her name’s Brooke, right?” Haiden checked.

  “Yeah, Brooke loves Glacier.” I replied. “She’s more excited about the university than anyone else, including Sav, who came up with the whole thing.”

  “Huh. And she’s kind of rebellious?” he asked.

  I had to grin. That was one way to describe it, though most people would call me the rebellious one out of the two of us.

  “In her own way.” I knew exactly what he was talking about, when he said rebellious. Brooke had worn a dress with a low-ish back to the museum opening, and the dress had shown off the cotie on her shoulder blades. In lion packs (some shifters called them prides), no one but your soulmate was supposed to see your cotie.

  If her mate had seen her in that dress, flashing her mate marks to the world, he would’ve been furious.

  Which she probably would’ve enjoyed seeing, surprisingly enough.

  “You two are close?” Haiden wondered.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “We’re pretty much sisters. Both of our parents died when shifters came out, you know how everyone was scared of predator shifters… and we became best friends.”

  “Okay.” Haiden spooned a bite of soup into his mouth. “So, what do you want to do tonight? We could go dancing, or ice skating if you want.”

  I grimaced at the offer. Should I tell him that I liked staying in, nerding out over movies and TV shows? Should I bring up the fact that I was into ice cream a heck of a lot more than ice skating? Or that I’d rather be reading myths and legends about King Arthur and Merlin than going out anywhere?

  That would make me sound nerdy; Haiden was hot and famous, how could he like nerdy.

  “Sure. I’m okay with whatever.” I
forced a smile.

  “Dancing it is.” Haiden nodded. “I know a place that teaches country dancing, that should be fun.”

  Agh, country dancing? Like, to country music?

  I would’ve rather sat alone in a dark room for ten hours.

  “Great.” I stood up. “Where’s the bathroom?” I needed to get away from him, if just for a few minutes.

  “Through the door on the right.” Haiden pointed in the direction of the art studio, and I hurried toward the bathroom.

  I didn’t really need to go, so I picked up my phone to text Brooke.

  Me: HELP

  Brooke: Is he too hot to handle?

  Me: HE WANTS TO TAKE ME DANCING YOU KNOW I HATE DANCING

  Brooke: Tell him you’d rather do something else, he’ll understand. He’s your soulmate.

  Me: Tell him what? That I’d rather read a book in my room?

  Brooke: Technically, it’s his room too

  Me: I hate you

  Brooke: Love you too. Go back to your sexy man

  Me: I CAN’T GO DANCING

  Brooke: THEN TELL HIM THAT

  Me: I DON’T WANT HIM TO HATE ME

  Brooke: HE JUST WANTS TO GET TO KNOW YOU

  Brooke: Tell him you’d rather stay in and do anything else. He won’t be offended, he’s your perfect match.

  Me: I don’t want him to hate me, remember? If he finds out that I’m a nerd, he won’t want me

  Brooke: You’re the most adorable nerd on the planet. Who knows, maybe he’s a nerd too and you’ll have nerd babies that I can watch Doctor Who with. I’ll be the cool aunt who buys them their own sonic screwdrivers

  Me: He’s got millions of dollars, he’s not a nerd

  Brooke: That just means he owns every single season.

  Me: …

  Me: I hate you

  Brooke: Go talk to him. He’s Haiden Day, for crying out loud!

  “Jazz, is everything okay?” Haiden knocked on the door. I looked at the time… Shoot, I’d been in there for almost ten minutes.

  “Fine.” I called back, flushing the toilet. I turned on the sink, then frantically texted back,

  Me: IF I DIE IT’S YOUR FAULT

  She responded just as I turned off the sink.

  Brooke: He’s going to love you, J. Just let him see who you really are.

  I stuffed the phone in my pocket and stepped out of the bathroom. Let him see who I really was? Yeah, like that would ever happen. I couldn’t let him in, I couldn’t let him know how I felt or what I had been through. He wouldn’t understand, he couldn’t understand.

  “This is random, but are you an introvert?” Haiden asked as I sat back down next to him on the table, grabbing my soup once again. I’d only taken a few bites of it; I really wasn’t hungry.

  The events of the day had killed my appetite.

  “Yeah.” I put soup in my mouth just so I wouldn’t have to say anything for a few extra seconds.

  “You don’t want to go dancing, do you?”

  I hesitated. Would he be offended if I said no? Would he be sad? What if he wished I was someone else? Should I tell him the truth, or pretend that I wanted to go dancing? Or just run away as fast as I could? He wouldn’t be able to find me, right?

  “Um,” I spooned more soup in, panicking on the inside.

  “I don’t mind either way. I just want you to be comfortable.” Haiden offered.

  What if he was lying?

  Oh frick, there were too many what-ifs.

  “I’d rather not go dancing, but if you want to then I’m happy to go.” I worded my response very carefully, so I wouldn’t let him down if he’d been dying to meet his soulmate just to take her dancing or whisk her away into a big pumpkin carriage or whatever.

  “Great, then let’s stay in.” he decided. “How do you feel about Harry Potter? We could watch the first movie today, then see how many we could get through tomorrow.” He suggested.

  How did I feel about Harry Potter?

  HOW did I feel about Harry Potter?

  The same way any fangirl felt about Harry Potter, that’s how I felt. As in, I loved it a whole fricking ton.

  “That sounds awesome.” I nodded. If Haiden was up for a Harry Potter marathon, he was a man after my own heart. That was a lot of hours of movies.

  “Great.” We walked over to the couch together, and Haiden turned on the TV. He owned the movies on some streaming app, so he just clicked on the first one.

  “Do you want popcorn?” he checked.

  “Um, yes.” I nodded. I always wanted popcorn, like, literally always. It was my fangirl food, the one that always accompanied me while I obsessed over things.

  He stuck some popcorn in the microwave as the movie started, and came to sit next to me when the popcorn was done. He’d dumped the bag of buttery popcorn into a red plastic bowl, just like any other Joe Schmo would do. Never mind the money in his bank account, or the paintings sitting in his house that would be worth millions of dollars when he finished them—he still ate popcorn out of a red plastic bowl.

  Suddenly, I didn’t feel so different from him.

  When the movie began, Harry was being treated badly by his aunt and uncle. I knew the story well enough (having read the books fourteen times each), but still, every time I watched the movies, my heart hurt.

  Seeing the way they treated him, the way they abused him… it reminded me of my own time living with my aunt and uncle.

  I had to look away so Haiden wouldn’t see my eyes tear up.

  They yelled at Harry, and my mind automatically flashed back to a moment with my aunt.

  “You’ll never amount to anything!” She yelled, throwing a red cup still half-filled with beer at my face. It splashed all over me, not hurting anything but my heart. “You’re a stupid animal, and you don’t deserve any of this, not even the clothes you’re wearing right now!” she lunged forward, and I crouched down to get away from her.

  She grabbed the hem of my t-shirt and ripped it over my head, yanking one of my earrings out with it. I felt my ear start to bleed as I huddled against the back of the couch, wearing just a camisole. It and my hair were both soaked in awful-smelling beer.

  “Get out of my house!” She screamed, grabbing for a glass plate on the countertop.

  I sprinted out the door, tears streaming down my face as I went.

  I slept that night huddled against a bush, shivering too much to really fall asleep. Her words echoed in my mind—Stupid animal.

  Stupid animal.

  I couldn’t stop the sobs that shook me to my very core.

  “Jazz, did you hear me?” Haiden checked.

  I shook my head, turning my attention to him. Dang it, I’d zoned out, trapped in just one of the horrific memories that I’d spent years trying to forget.

  “No, sorry. I was dozing off.” I gave him the first excuse that came to my mind, though I could feel myself sweating again. The memories always made me sweat, they scared me.

  “I asked if you wanted more popcorn.” Haiden clarified.

  “Oh, no thanks.” I turned my eyes back to the movie screen, cursing myself for letting the memories get to me yet again. I tried so hard to stay in control, all of the time. Still, I could never quite get control over them.

  “Okay.” Haiden said. I didn’t look at him, focusing on the screen. I was watching Harry Potter, and that was it. Nothing else. I wouldn’t let anything else distract me.

  And so we watched the rest of the movie in silence, my mind firmly planted on the storyline that I knew and the themes I’d discovered over my years of loving that world. I was in control, not my past.

  Or at least, that’s what I tried to convince myself.

  If I was honest, I was still running from everything I’d been through. I’d run all the way to Harvard, but I still hadn’t escaped my aunt’s words.

  Stupid animal.

  No matter how many times I tried to get away from them, they wouldn’t leave me alone.

  Chapter
5

  When the movie was over, I was ready to just take a shower and go to sleep. Haiden and I had never done a night-time routine before, so that was weird for the first night.

  “You don’t have anything else planned, do you?” I checked.

  “I was thinking about painting, but if you want we can do something else.” He shrugged. I almost sighed in relief.

  “No, you go ahead and paint. I’m just going to take a shower.” I hurried to say. Haiden nodded, turning off the TV as I headed to the bathroom.

  The shower was just as modern as everything else in the apartment, nice but not overly-nice. It had two different showerheads, one at the top and one in the normal place. That was cool.

  As I stood in the shower, letting the hot water steam away my worries, my mind went back to the last few hours I had spent with Haiden. I wanted to understand who he was, despite not wanting to let him understand me. I wanted to find someone to love me for who I was as much as the next girl, but I was terrified.

  What if he didn’t like me when he saw who I was? What if he didn’t want me? What if the Creator had made a mistake?

  I mean, the Creator wasn’t supposed to make mistakes. I knew that for everyone else, He couldn’t. But what about me? Was I good enough to have a soulmate who was perfect for me?

  What if I wasn’t?

  I liked how Haiden had realized that I was an introvert. There was that, and that was cool. He didn’t want to take me dancing if I didn’t want to go, so there was another thing in his favor. He also hadn’t demanded we talk a lot. Since it was our first few hours of being with each other, I hadn’t wanted to talk much, and he didn’t mind that.

  Maybe he was right for me.

  But was I right for him? How could I be right for him? Architect and nerd extraordinaire Jazz Daniels with the creative and inspired Haiden Day? What were the odds of a guy like that ever falling for a girl like me?

  Just thinking about it made me queasy.

  “Hey, Jazz?” Haiden knocked on the door. I shut off the water so I could hear him.

  “Yeah?” I called back.

  “I’m leaving some clothes outside the door for you to sleep in. We’ll go shopping tomorrow.” He said.