Mine for Eternity [Council Enforcers] (Siren Publishing Classic)

“It’s not like anyone would beli—” She paused when her statement made her remember the woman in the park. Things were suddenly starting to make sense. “Mitch, what happened to the woman’s body in the park? Who moved it, and how did they get the area clean so fast?”
    Mitch grimaced. “We have shifters working as human police to be lookouts. When you called the police and told them what you saw, certain things you said caused your report to get flagged as potentially being shifter related. A containment unit was sent out to check the scene. If it hadn’t been shifter related, they wouldn’t have touched it and let the human police handle it when they arrived. In your case, it was a rogue attack so the scene was cleaned and the body removed. I’m sorry it made you feel like you had gone crazy, but it’s just one of the ways we keep our secret.”
    “Believe it or not, I understand. If the police had actually seen what I had reported, it wouldn’t have been a secret for long. Reporters would have been all over the place, and conspiracy theories would have started flying.”
    Mitch just stared, and Tessa began to get self-conscious. When the silence got too much for her, she asked, “What, did I say something wrong?”
    “No, nothing is wrong.” Mitch smiled. “It’s just that, after everything you’ve been through, you’re taking everything I just told you surprisingly well. I guess I’m just waiting for it all to sink in and for you to go grab Nico and run out of here screaming.”
    Tessa laughed. “I won’t run. You actually have no idea what a relief it is to hear all of this. It means I’m not crazy. I thought last night was a relief just to have you listen to me and not think I was psycho, but to know you actually believed me is something else.”
    It was the truth. What she had seen that night actually made sense now that Mitch had filled in the blanks for her. He had opened her eyes to more possibilities than she had ever considered possible.
    “Okay, I’m sure there’s a lot more information you haven’t told me, but enough serious stuff for right now,” Tessa told Mitch as she pushed her plate away and stood. She held out her hand, and he eagerly took it.
    “Where are we going?” Mitch asked.
    “Well, Nico got to see your lion. I figured it was only fair that I got to as well. The day I broke in and earlier don’t count. I want to be able to see you close-up and pet you.”
    “Baby, I’m not sure I can handle that.”
    “Why? What’s wrong?” Tessa was confused. Why had it been okay for Nico to touch him, but not her?
    Mitch sighed. “Nothing’s wrong. I just don’t want to scare you off.”
    “Don’t worry. I won’t run screaming again.” Tessa had a feeling there was more to his hesitation, but she ignored it and pulled him into the living room. She figured he would tell her what was bothering him when he was ready.
    Tessa returned to the couch she had been lying on earlier and sat. She waited patiently for Mitch to finish whatever argument he had going on in his head. When he suddenly pulled his T-shirt off, she gulped and almost choked herself. Mitch only smirked and continued. He slid his hands along his waistband of his shorts a couple times, and her eyes tracked every movement. She had a feeling he was playing with her as he slowly slid his shorts down his thighs. Tessa felt like she was watching a sexy striptease and reached up to make sure she didn’t have drool running down her chin.
    Unfortunately, Mitch bent over, blocking his cock before she could get a good view of it. Her disappointment was quickly forgotten when, in a blink of an eye, Mitch was gone and a huge lion was standing in his place. Tessa wasn’t sure what she expected the change to be like, but she certainly hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly and easily.
    “Mitch?” She hesitated before standing and taking a step toward him. The lion nodded its head and then lay down on the floor. She took it to mean that it was still Mitch in there. Slowly, she finished walking toward him chanting nice kitty over and over again in her head. When she got close, Tessa reached her hand out and ran it through the golden fur around his head.
    “Wow, it’s so much softer than I expected.”
    Mitch just purred and closed his eyes. Tessa wanted to laugh. If someone had told her three weeks ago she was going to end up running for her life right into the arms of a man that could transform into a