When I look at him, I can’t breathe

Initial panic conquered, Gavin, while not resigned to his fate—yet—could now take a mental step back and analyze his situation.

Less situation, more like dilemma, as he contemplated what role the woman who sat across from him would play in his life. Not just a woman, his mate.

My mate.

Even just thinking it made him want to run for the woods. Or get really, really drunk.

Before anyone came to the conclusion he was blowing things out of proportion, perhaps a few facts would help. When it came to his kind, in other words, Lycanthropes—men who became werewolves if the wolf virus took a fancy to them after a bite—it was said that there was only one woman destined to share their secret and heart.

One woman. One lover.

Forever.

One.

Ha.

Until now, Gavin had scoffed at the very idea. He’d spent the last ten-plus years as a werewolf, tasting the delights of the nubile fairer sex. Indulging in erotic pastimes—bad, bad wolf.

Sex with whomever he fancied was part of his lifestyle. In his world, he couldn’t imagine why anyone would give up variety for monogamy.

It was Broderick who first tried to dispel that notion over way too many tequila shots.

“Once you meet the one”—and yes, Broderick used some ominous finger quotes—“you’re fucked.”

Leaning back in his chair, Gavin grinned as he eyed the scantily clad gyrating bodies on the dance floor. “Fucked? I like the sound of that.”

His feline buddy made a rude noise. “Not that kind of fucked, you idiot. I mean screwed, as in hand in your man card, harness your balls, and prepare to dedicate over half your closet and bathroom counter space. Once you meet the woman destined to be your mate, you’re a goner.”

“You’re drunk and full of shit,” was Gavin’s reply.

“Drunk, yes. But as to the shit part? Sorry, dude, I wish. The mating thing? It’s totally real. Think of it as just another weird quirk of our kind.”

“Weirder than swapping human skin for fur?”

“Okay, maybe not weirder, but definitely part of our package deal.”

“Just fucking great. Yet another aspect to our curse.”

At times, when he let alcohol render him nostalgic, Gavin missed his previous ignorance about the shapeshifting world. A world fraught with pain—because no matter what the movies showed, morphing into a different shape and growing fangs and fur freaking hurt. A world where secrecy was paramount, lest you wanted to push up daisies in an unmarked grave. A secretive life where even his own family could never know of the society that lived among them, viewing humans as little more than ignorant sheep.

Okay, that was more the vampire view, but there was no denying Lycanthropes and other specially enhanced beings saw regular humans as beneath them.

“Can you really still say you think it’s a curse? I’ve seen the exhilaration in your eyes after a successful hunt. I know you use your keen senses to help you find clues other lawyers could never hope to find. Or are you going to still deny that what you’ve become has made you better? Stronger?”

“Fine. It does have some benefits.” A grudging admission. “But I refuse to believe that this virus, which changed us, also predisposes us to settle down with one woman. I mean, there are billions of people inhabiting this planet. No way can we expect some intangible force to decide there’s only one.” Although, when he viewed it like that, it seemed he didn’t have much to worry about. The chances of him running into this so-called one and only were slim to none.

“On the surface, I agree with you. It seems beyond far-fetched, but I’ve seen it too many times to ignore. Guys, like you and me, happily playing the field until one day we turn a corner, and boom, we run into her. I don’t know how it works. Call it magic or dumb fucking luck. When it’s time, you’ll meet her and once you do…”

Gavin couldn’t help but draw an imaginary knife across his throat and choke.

His buddy rolled his eyes. “It’s not a fate worse than death. More like a relief because even if your urge to play the field disappears, at least the one you’re fated to be with is not only allowed to know your secret, but somehow, the same magic that draws you together enables her to handle it.”

Capable of handling the fact that their boyfriends turned furry at least once a month and liked to chase things and bay at the moon? Or, in Broderick’s case, yowl.

Impossible to believe such a crazy thing as a fated girlfriend or, as the old-timers called it, fated mate.

Gavin had pretty much forgotten about that drunken conversation, until he saw the woman.

The world had stopped. Something in him shifted.

Initially he tried to deny it, even as he chased her down and prevented her from escaping him. But one smell … One touch … 

That was all it took for the jaws of monogamy to slam shut around him. Hear that? It was the pitiful whine of a man who knew his life was about to change.

Exaggeration? He wished. Case in point, he already noted a huge change in his behavior. He deliberately took Megan to a restaurant where he knew the waitresses wore low-cut blouses and slim, hip-hugging skirts that showed an indecent amount of leg. Usually Gavin would have admired the wares. Not tonight.

Tonight he could focus on only one person. A cute person. But still. Was he not even allowed to ogle and leer anymore?

And another thing, no one had warned him she might argue with him every chance she got.

Shouldn’t she be simpering at me or batting her eyelashes? Nope. Not his woman. Megan, who claimed innocence in the face of damning evidence, scowled at him.

“I thought the purpose of this dinner was to talk about my case.”

“I lied. We don’t need to talk. I know all I need to know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I needed food, and you definitely needed food.”

“I wasn’t hungry.”

“Says the liar whose stomach was growling louder than my neighbor’s long-haired rat and who has since consumed not only a large salad, but a steak, a baked potato, and a gigantic slice of cheesecake.”

“It’s rude to pick at your meal. I don’t get what my eating has to do with anything. I thought we came here to talk about my case and to see if you’d take me on.”

Oh, he’d take her all right, he hoped sooner rather than later. This proximity to her was a special form of torture. “I already told you I’ll handle your case. As to asking you more questions, what’s the point until I have any pertinent ones? You’ve already admitted you didn’t do it, so there’s not much you can currently add to the situation. I will need to comb through the evidence and dismantle it to discover the true culprit.”

“So you believe me?”

“Would I be here risking my life against your deadly killer skills if I didn’t?”

Her lips twitched as she fought not to smile. “You are deranged.”

“Thinking outside the box is not a bad thing in my line of work. Sometimes looking at things from a different perspective is what it takes to spot the thread that unravels a web of lies.”

She rolled her eyes. “Do you always speak so melodramatically? I mean really. We’re not in a courtroom, and you don’t have anyone to impress.”

On the contrary, there was a lady he intended to impress, but unlike with the previous women of his acquaintance, his cultured veneer didn’t seem to appeal.

Determined to regain control of the situation and throw her off balance for once, he tossed out, “Why are you single?”

“Who says I am?”

“Says the good-looking lawyer you’re having an intimate dinner with.”

“First off, conceited much? Second, how do you know I don’t have a boyfriend waiting for me at home?”

“Me, conceited? No. Merely confident enough to accept myself as I am. Also confident enough to state there is no significant other, else you would have called him at one point since our departure from the office. But not only have you not called or texted anyone; you haven’t received any either.”

“I can see someone is a control freak when it comes to dating. Not all women are required to report their every move to a guy.”

“Is there a reason you feel a need to argue with everything I say?”

“You’re a lawyer. Isn’t arguing, like, your thing?”

“In the courtroom. Outside of it, I prefer more relaxed conversation.”

“So sorry. Perhaps I should start nodding my head and just agreeing with everything you say. Ooh, and asking you to tell me about yourself.”

He couldn’t help a wide grin at her sarcasm. “That would be a good start. How else will we connect unless we get to know the intimate details?”

“Connect? You talk as if we’re dating. We’re not. I just met you a few hours ago. You’re my lawyer, or maybe not. I’m really beginning to rethink this whole idea.”

“Ah yes, because you’d rather take your chances with your public defender, who has advised you to what? Oh, that’s right, plead guilty.”

She glared at him. “He might have advised it, but it doesn’t mean I would have.”

“Whereupon, I, on the other hand, will have you proclaim loudly your innocence.”

Innocent when it came to the crime, but by the time the case was over he’d work on licking the innocence from every inch of her skin. If he could last that long.

Ethics said he should wait until he’d absolved her before making his move.

Hormones and the ridiculous pull he felt toward her mocked his oath to the legal bar.

I will have you, and before the next full moon.