What had happened to her in the last hour was still rather blurry. She couldn’t wrap her mind around the fact that Ivy had attacked her out of jealousy, or that Ivy turned into a werewolf. Or that the man she was dating was not completely human. She hadn’t been hallucinating when she saw a tiger in her bed.
After the doctor finished treating her, Quinn began telling her the truth about himself, and his family, about the underground world where things that bumped in the night weren’t just products of fevered imaginations. It totally blew her mind.
Curious. How was it possible a man could become both human and animal? Could it be that the anomaly in human evolution existed all along? Or were mutants like in X-Men?
“So shifters really exist,” she repeated
“Yes.”
“Tiger shifters and werewolves. What about vampires? Do they exist as well?”
“I believe so.”
“Sparkly vampires or the Dracula-kind of vampires?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never met one.”
“How about elves? Do they exist too? Do they look like Lord of the Ring-type kind of elves or are they funny looking, like the ones that bake cookies in a tree? You know, like that commercial.”
Quinn came to her and held her hand. “Vanessa. Focus. We’re having an important discussion here.”
“I’m sorry. This is so freaking amazing. I had no idea cryptids existed.”
“You don’t seem upset that I’m not entirely human. I imagined the worst.”
“Upset? No.” Vanessa waved him off. “You should know me better. I think you’re very cool. What are you, Bengal? I imagine from the stripes. You fur patterns are very vivid.”
“Yes.”
“Aren’t Bengals from India? I thought you have Latino blood in you.”
“My paternal grandfather came from Assam. My mother’s family came from Chernogolovka, Siberia.”
“Ah. No wonder. Your brothers are shifters too?”
“Yes”
“What about your mother?”
“My mom came from of pure-blooded shifter family.”
“And your dad?”
“Same.”
“How about your extended family? Any of them married to a human?”
“Some. I have a half-blooded niece and a few first cousins.”
“Can they transform?”
“Transmutation genes in mixed blood don’t start until they hit puberty. But for full-blooded shifters, it triggers immediately. Weretiger babies are quite the handful. One second you cradle an infant and the next you are trying to wrangle a willful cub.”
“Oooh, that is so cute. Do you have any infant relatives we could visit?”
Quinn looked relaxed for the first time since he saved her. He seemed relieved. “No relatives, but I know a shifter couple that just had a baby.”
“Can we visit?”
“Once you get better. Not in the condition you’re in now. You’re pretty banged up.”
“This?” Vanessa snorted. “No big deal. Just some scratches. Can werewolf scratches turn you into one?”
“That’s just a myth. Werewolves bite.”
“That’s a relief. I still can’t believe Ivy is a werewolf. No wonder she’s a bitch.” She winked. “No pun intended.”
Quinn seized her and kissed her deeply. “You made me worry. I can’t take my eyes off you for one second without you getting in trouble. I’m sorry I failed to protect you. It’s my fault. I should have known better. Ivy was raised as an alpha female—an alpha female is aggressive and won’t hesitate to eliminate her competition. I didn’t think she’d go to those extremes.”
“Quinn, it’s not your fault. She’s got a loose screw. You can’t reason with that kind of person. What’s going to happen to her?”
From the four wolves that had attacked, Ivy was the only one spared. Her companions were brutally killed by John and Trent. The brothers took this incident seriously. Vanessa was glad she wasn’t mauled to death, but she wished nobody had to die.
When she came to after fainting, she’d already been strapped into a stretcher and trundled into a waiting ambulance. There were a lot people on the property. Cops, firefighters, paramedics, wildlife park rangers. And for some reason, dogs. Big, gray, scary-looking dogs. Wolves? Ugh, she couldn’t distinguish between dogs and wolves. They ain’t Chihuahuas.