Lynx Northern Shifters 3

“What are you going to be when I wake up tomorrow?”
Trey looked up from the rug.
“Human?”
He gave an unwolflike nod.
Jonah swallowed. He could handle it. “Okay. I’ll try not to be so alarmed this time.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but he didn’t hit quite the right note.
Then Trey did something odd. He rose and leaned against the cot. Jonah wasn’t entirely sure of the message, but he imagined he was supposed to feel reassured.
His arm seemed to move of its own volition. Craig and he used to wrestle a lot when they were young; his mother had been affectionate. Still, Jonah had never touched a shifter. Tentatively he gave the top of Trey’s head one awkward pat.
“Well. Good night, then.”
Trey circled around and settled down on the rug again. It took Jonah longer than he liked to fall asleep, and he couldn’t figure out if he was dreading or looking forward to tomorrow morning.

Chapter Five
    Jonah woke with a start, sucking in air. Something was different. He blinked awake, taking in the sight of the strange man before him.
“Take it easy.” Mere feet away, Trey crouched down, arranging wood for the morning fire.
Jonah tried to wrap his mind around there being a person in his home after three years on his own.
“Remember me?”
“Yes,” Jonah snapped before he recognized Trey wasn’t entirely serious. There was a wry quirk to his lips. “I mean,” he added sheepishly, “of course.”
Which sounded stupider and Jonah’s face heated. It felt crowded in here, even if Trey was trying to give him space. After Jonah’s performance yesterday, maybe Trey was worried that standing up would set him off.
“Relax,” said Trey, lighting a match. “You’ve been on your own for a long time. It must be odd for you to have company, and uninvited company at that.”
“What, are you a mind reader?”
“No psychic powers for me. But, and this isn’t a bad thing”—the paper caught fire—“you wear your emotions on your face.”
“I have to piss. Is that obvious too?”
“Only if you start hopping from foot to foot.”
Jonah grabbed his warm clothes and headed outside. By the time he was back in, the fire was heating up the place. It was rather nice, not having to make fire in the frigid cold.
He looked down at Trey.
“You need better clothing if you ever go outside,” Jonah observed.
Trey had on Jonah’s inside clothes—long johns, socks, sweater, all a bit too tight and short. They revealed a powerful body. Those arms and shoulders were big and muscled, which made Jonah nervous. He’d already been tackled by Trey once. Granted, Jonah didn’t plan on throwing wood at Trey again.
He glanced up. “I thought I’d stay in today.”
Jonah shrugged. He didn’t care. Much. “Do what you want.”
“I’m tired from all the shifting, to be honest.” This admission was a bit of a relief for Jonah to hear, given that Trey appeared to be so strong and all-round capable. A shapeshifter who lived in the real world with a job, who could track down other shifters like himself.
“I don’t think I could do it. You went from wolf to human to wolf yesterday. And back to human this morning.”
“I have good control. I need that for my work.”
Jonah didn’t know if he had good control or not, had nothing to gauge it by. He’d never thought about it much.
“I’m also starving.”
With that Jonah pulled out the food, getting some meat this time, and they spent the next hour cooking, eating and cleaning up. Once they were both sated—Jonah’s extra hunger seemed to have come from the surprise appearance of a werewolf yesterday—he sat on his cot and stared at Trey. He found he wanted to say something into the silence.
Jonah pitched his voice low to hide his uncertainty. “I still don’t know why you’re here, not really.”
He kept asking this question, but if he could get a bead on Trey’s motivation, he’d be better able to cope with what was coming next. Right now, everything seemed utterly unpredictable.
Lounging on the rug, Trey gazed at him through heavy eyelids. It had a weird effect on him. Jonah knew Trey looked like that because he was very full and very tired from yesterday’s shifts, but his regard made Jonah feel strange, edgy.
“I’m here because you interest me.”
The words felt like a compliment and embarrassed him. “So if I was dull, you’d be gone.”
Trey’s mouth kicked up, not really a smile, but amusement there. “Jonah.”
He shivered a little, having