Page 5 of Reeling for His Omega

Then remembered it was glass, and hit a little softer. I wanted to get their attention, but it would solve nothing if I broke the door and had to somehow try to pay for it. At first, nobody came, but I fully believed they were there and wasn’t about to give up.

Finally, a man appeared in a doorway off the lobby. He was tall and lean and broad shouldered. As he came closer, I observed his hair styled in an undercut and a neat scruff on his jaw. His eyes were a golden brown that could have been extremely sensual except that they snapped with annoyance.

He crossed the lobby in a few hurried steps and peered through the grimy glass door. “Yes? Can I help you?”

“Can you open up so I can speak with you?” Even if he was annoyed to be interrupted at whatever he was doing, he could at least be courteous enough not to shout through the closed door.

Lips pressed together, he turned the key and opened the door. “All right.”

“I own the popcorn cart, and you can see I set up shop right outside here. If you are going to reopen the theaters, I thought maybe you’d be interested in a collab. I make elevated flavors and I think—”

“I’m sorry, but I have already arranged suppliers for all my refreshments, so I won’t be able to help you. For now, I won’t object to your presence, but I am sure you understand I can’t have a rival popcorn vendor right outside once we open.”

“I was here first,” I blurted out. “You can’t just tell me what to do.”

“No, but I can go to city hall and complain. I think you should know they are very excited about this project and will most likely understand my concerns.”

“Right.”

He closed the door and locked it again while I returned to my cart. The collab suggestion had just come to me out of nowhere, but he had shut it down even quicker. I couldn’t blame him for feeling that way, but he could have been a little nicer when telling me to get lost.

My tiger was twitching his tail and rumbling. He was probably even more insulted.

Chapter Five

Eryx

The people of Oliver Creek gave the kind of directions you would expect for a town this size. Take a right at the Hawaiian food truck. A left at the park with the metal statue in the middle. Over the railroad tracks. If you got to Ingram’s farm, you’d gone too far.

For the record, I went too far, returned to the park with the metal statue, and tried again.

Made a note for the future.

I got out of my car, sandwich and chips from the food truck in hand, and sat on the hood. Eating before shifting was a good idea. Ever since I was a pup, I got nauseous after a shift if I hadn’t eaten enough beforehand. The healer told my mother it was some kind of blood sugar issue even though he’d never seen it in a shifter.

So since then, I had to eat first and then more afterward.

The first bite of the roast beef-and-Swiss sandwich made me groan out loud. Perfectly seasoned beef. Thin-sliced. Sharp Swiss cheese melted on top. Fresh red onion and the exact amount of honey mustard to complement the whole thing. Plus, freshly fried Maui onion chips with a hint of oniony sweetness.

It was the one take-out meal for the week I allowed myself in order to stay on budget.

I ate and looked out over the small patch of forest where I’d been told the shifters of Oliver Creek went to get a run in. The person said to expect all different kinds of shifters from wolves to bears and more animals in between.

He wasn’t wrong. I could smell the mix of animals in the air. As a wolf shifter, I could pick up on the different species and I had to admit, there were some I knew were shifters, but didn’t know what kind.

Wasn’t any of my business, truly.

I finished up my drink, about to take off my clothes before shifting when something in the distance caught my attention. Orange and black. Movement. I tracked the animal with my wolf’s vision and gasped.

A tiger shifter.

Not what I expected at all, even after being told there were multiple kinds of shifters here.

But a tiger?

My wolf rose to the surface in that place of my consciousness that we shared. Run with the tiger. We like the tiger.

We did?