“Kingdom of Fur? Remind me who they are again.”

  “Big bears. Very scary.” The little lizard stood up and raised himself on his tiptoes and lifted his arms to the sky. He gave what Katy assumed must be a growl, but it sounded much more like a strangled squeak.

  Katy had to stifle a laugh. “This is fascinating.” She leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees. “Go on, please.”

  Otto sat back down. “Kingdom of Wings trade their exotic feathers, make quills. They able to be spies, and make maps of the land because of their up view.”

  Katy frowned. “Up view?” Then it dawned on her. Kingdom of Wings—birds. Duh, Katy. “So they made maps for the different kingdoms.”

  Otto nodded. “Last is Kingdom of Chaos, of course. Chaos always last.”

  “Oooo,” Katy said mysteriously. “They sound interesting.”

  Otto made a non-committal sound. “They trouble.”

  “Hence the name Chaos,” Katy pointed out.

  “Kingdom of Chaos are half beast. They stuck in animal, or half animal, half human, or only human. But have the senses of the beast. Mostly, they mercenaries.”

  “So they’re outcasts?” Katy didn’t like the idea of what sounded like a troubled kingdom. Was it their fault that they couldn’t fully change? Probably not.

  “To some, yes,” Otto admitted. “But they some kingdoms that not care.”

  Katy soaked this all in, trying to piece together the political dynamics. “So your kingdom had materials the others wanted. Did you trade at all or just fight them for it?”

  “We try trade long ago. But others get greedy.” Otto’s expressive eyes grew dark with remembered pain. “Take what not theirs. War start.”

  “That really sucks,” Katy offered sympathetically. “People can be pretty awful when resources and power are involved.” She worried her bottom lip. “But still… It must have been hard leaving your home realm forever.”

  Otto shrugged listlessly. “Damaria dying land. Polluted by hate. Maybe fresh start best.” He managed a small, hopeful smile. “New beginning.”

  Katy reached over and gave his clawed hand a gentle squeeze. “I’m really glad you shared your story with me, Otto. And that we’re friends at the beginning of this new story.”

  The little lizard ducked his head bashfully. Then his expression turned somber. “In old world, I have mate once, too.”

  Katy straightened in surprise. She hadn’t realized he’d lost someone. “What happened to her?” she asked softly.

  Pain flickered in Otto’s yellow eyes. “War. She try help injured, get caught in fight between lions and cobra. Gone before I get to her.”

  “Oh, Otto, I’m so sorry.” Katy’s heart ached for him. She couldn’t imagine the agony of losing Gage that way. Back the hell up, Katy Dire. She mentally growled at herself. What the heck are you talking about? There is no you and Gage and therefore, losing him isn’t a thing. Holy lizard scales, what is wrong with me? Otto shifted, drawing her attention back.

  He gave a listless shrug. “Long time ago now.” But his mournful eyes said the loss still lingered.

  Impulsively, Katy held out her arms. After a brief hesitation, Otto leaned over and let her wrap him in a hug. She embraced him tightly, offering what comfort she could for old wounds that time alone couldn’t fully mend.

  “It’s awful what hate and greed did to your people,” she murmured as she released him. “But here, you have a chance for something better.” She pulled back further to meet his gaze. “We both do. So let’s make the most of this life we have now.”

  Otto nodded, dashing away a stray tear. “Yes. New start.” He managed a tremulous smile.

  “Would you mind telling me more? About how you all came into our realm?” She didn’t want to cause any more pain, but she also wanted to understand everything she could about the Damarians.

  “Yes,” he said simply and then continued to talk in his odd way.

  She’d heard bits and pieces of this same story Otto was telling from Lola, Callon, and Roan. But now she was getting the entire director’s cut, with a slight language barrier. Deciphering some of the stuff Otto said was seriously difficult, but the story was fascinating.

  “So you’re telling me your entire species came through a portal in China in the 1500s?”

  “I bite you.” Otto growled.

  The little lizard had taken to saying that any time she asked a question too many times. But good grief, there were just some things that were hard to grasp. The 1500s! When he said he was old, he wasn’t kidding.

  “How do you age? I mean, you do age? Right?”

  “We die.” His answers were all just as clear as that. Mud.

  “Okay, so…” Katy leaned forward, resting her arms on her thighs. “The ten kingdoms had been at war because of the blood diamonds, but they were destroying the actual realm itself.”

  Otto huffed. “No bloody diamonds in realm.”

  She waved him off. “I’m using that as a place holder for all the commodities and resources they were actually fighting over. Not to mention the words ‘blood diamonds’ just sound cool. That’s beside the point. The point is they were destroying your actual realm, not just each other.”

  “If I yes, you stop?”

  “I’m just getting clarification. It’s called communication, Otto. It’s what people do in a relationship.”

  “Stupid,” Otto grumbled as he gently kicked the phone across the carpet.

  Katy smiled at him. Despite what he said, she could tell he was enjoying sharing his story from the way his face lit up as he spoke. And he missed his home. He yawned and rubbed his big, yellow eyes. She picked up the phone and realized it was midnight. “Dang, I’ve kept you talking forever.” Then she looked at the screen and saw there were almost fifty missed texts. All from Gage. Ooops. Then, like a dumb ass, Katy realized she had a freaking phone! She could have been in contact with Lola and Maddie this whole time.

  She opened the phone keypad. She had Lola’s number memorized. They’d each made it a priority to have at least one of their numbers memorized in case they’d ever lost their phones. But then she hesitated. Azure was a bad dude. She’d already learned enough of that in Otto’s story. Azure had been terribly cruel to his enemies during the war. Now, he was abducting innocent females, but there was still more going on. Katy could feel it. And she thought Otto was the key to figuring out what that more was. In her gut, Katy thought she might be able to help somehow. Yes, she knew she was just a pizza waitress from New York City, but heroes came from the unlikeliest of places, didn’t they? So don’t count me out just yet.

  “So, um, you know that dire wolf dude,” she said, slowly.

  “Hmm.” Otto sighed and curled up on his side on the thick rug.

  “He sent like fifty texts.”

  Otto’s eyes snapped open, the bright yellow startling against the dark carpet. “You text.”

  “Me?” She frowned. “Why me?” The last time she’d texted, she’d tried teasing him a bit. He’d ignored her. Katy had a one-time rejection rule. And in her mind, the lack of response to a gentle teasing was rejection. Shut up. It made sense in her mind.

  Otto muttered something, but Katy only caught the tail end of the word and it sounded like “late.” To be fair, it was late. So maybe she shouldn’t bother with responding. She started to put the phone down, but just as she did, it vibrated again. Her face scrunched up as she looked at the screen. It was another text from Gage. Did he want to talk to Otto? Were they to her?

  “Good grief, Kat,” she muttered, pushing to her feet and marching to the bed. If the lizard wanted to sleep on the floor, he could have at it. “Why would he want to text you?” She went back to her questions about Gage. He obviously had Otto’s number for a reason. Yes, he’d asked Katy’s last name, but maybe it was to tell the Alpha of the Kingdom of Fangs. After all, she was supposed to be in their kingdom. If he wasn’t actually working with the KOV, then he was probably going to attempt some sort of coup to rescue her, which she did not want. “Well, crap. Now I have to text him.”

  She touched the screen and opened up the texts. All the messages said the same thing, but they were written in a language she didn’t recognize.

  She looked at Otto, who’d rolled onto his back and now had one hand flopped over his face. She didn’t want to wake him. But surely a person wouldn’t send this many texts if it wasn’t important, right?

  The phone vibrated, and another text came through. This one she could read.

  Gage: Katy Dire, give the damn phone to Otto. Now.

  Katy frowned. Then her eyes darted around the room. Were there cameras in this room? Surely not. They wouldn’t violate privacy in such a way. Would they? No. He was just making an educated guess that if Otto hadn’t answered then perhaps it was because Katy had the phone. To be sure, she lifted her hand and flipped the bird, spinning in a circle around the room, then looked at the phone. Gage didn’t seem like the type to not comment on such a ridiculous behavior.

  When she got nothing back, she walked over to Otto and knelt down. “Hey, Ot.” She nudged him gently. “I’m sorry to wake you, Bud. Umm, but Grouchy Pants Gage, GPG for future reference, is telling me to give you the phone.”

  Otto blinked sleepily and groped for the phone. He turned the screen toward him, and his half-opened eyes scanned over it. Then they opened fully, and he quickly sat up. His clawed fingers tapped quickly across the screen. And then he dropped the phone and wiped a hand down his face as he sighed. “Bulls dodging.”

  “Dodged a bullet?” Katy offered.

  Ot nodded.

  She picked up the phone. She couldn’t read Otto’s response. It was in the same strange language. “What is that language?”

  “Damarian,” Otto offered. “Phones have setting just for us. Made by tech company us.”

  “What tech company?”

  “Callidus.”

  “Kingdom of Venom owns Callidus?” Katy asked, her eyes wide. It was the largest tech company in the world.

  Otto nodded. “We evolved. Still deal heavy metals some. But tech comes easy to us.”

  She supposed it made sense. They’d been around for hundreds of years. They’d had time to learn everything. The phone vibrated again. She started to hand it to Otto, but saw her name.

  Gage: Katy, are you all right?

  She frowned. Why did he care? He’s not with KOV, remember? But that didn’t mean he was Team Katy either.

  Otto’s phone: I’m being held prisoner by a Supernatural Narcissist. Although Otto is awesome, so I can’t really complain.

  Gage: Try not to piss the Supernatural Narcissist off, please. I’d like to get you out of there without starting a war.

  Katy sighed. So she was right. He was going to try to rescue her. She was flattered. Sort of. I mean, he was doing it because that’s what good guys did, not because she was anyone special to him. But she wasn’t gonna lie and say it wouldn’t have been nice for him to have fallen madly in love with her at first sight and wanted her that instant and had to have her blah, blah, book boyfriend blah. Damn Lola and her novels for putting those ideas in Katy’s head.

  Otto’s phone: I don’t need or want to be rescued. So don’t concern yourself with the possibility of war. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. Thanks.

  She wished she was a fly on the wall when he read that text. She had a feeling not many people told Gage to take a hike, which was essentially what she was doing. Katy set the phone on the bedside table. She was exhausted. She’d love to sit and banter back and forth with him, because he’d no doubt have some interesting things to say about her response, but she needed sleep—a lot of sleep.

  “Goodnight, Otto.” She received a grunt in return. Her footsteps were quiet as she padded over and flipped the light switch, plunging the room into darkness. The only light was the moon shining through the window, partially hidden by the heavy drapes. Katy climbed into the massive bed and didn’t feel bad for a single second that it was a hundred times more comfortable than her broken spring bed at home. Though her dad was probably worried sick. Maybe she should use the phone to contact her dad tomorrow and just give him something, like an “I went on an irresponsible road trip” story. It was a thing, right? She’d sleep on it and see how she felt about it in the morning.

  As she closed her eyes, Gage’s rough, handsome face filled her mind. When she drifted off, she could have sworn she felt his strong arms wrap around her and his large body press against her back, protecting her and keeping her warm throughout the night.

  Chapter 10

  Savor Every Moment.

  “I’m a beast. No seriously. I’m a freaking beast. It’s awesome.” ~Lola

  Lola blew out a hard breath, causing her cheeks to puff out as she stood staring at the closed door. Her hands had begun to sweat, so she tried to surreptitiously wipe them on her jeans.

  “You do realize it’s not going to jump out and bite you, right?” Callon asked from behind her.

  Yeah, but you might, she mentally countered. “I’m well aware of how a door works, Mr. Leo, but thanks for the coaching.”

  “Then why are you just staring at it?”

  Lola didn’t know how to answer that question because there were just too many things going on inside her mind. She’d just shifted into a huge-ass female lion several times, and a couple of those weren’t even intentional. She was still emotionally rolling from it, and the crazy thing was that when she started to think about it, her heart would race, and she’d get excited and then⁠—

  “You really are beautiful in your beast form.” Callon stroked a hand down her back—her very lioness-form back.

  Dammit, I did it again. Lola plopped down on her haunches and threw her head back, much like she would have done if she’d have been in her human form, something that Callon found immensely funny.

  “You’re doing the human movements again.” He walked around to stand in front of her and then knelt down so they were eye to eye. Callon took his large hand and gently stroked over her head and behind her ear. She leaned into it because, daaaaamn, it felt good. He chuckled, which snapped her out of the petting stupor. She hissed at him, then quickly swiped out a clawed paw. But Callon was fast, really fast. He jumped back, a grin stretched across his ridiculously handsome face. “I really like this feisty side of you. The animal seems to be strengthening it.”

  Bite me. Lola lifted her muzzle and bared her teeth at him. He didn’t look the least bit intimidated. Instead, he continued to stare at her, though it was from a couple feet away. She simply looked back then let out a yawn. She was tired, and it was the middle of the night. They were standing at the door that led into Callon’s suite of rooms.

  So she had freaked out. So what? What was she supposed to do? Act like she knew what it was like to be in a serious, committed—as in for life, basically married, gonna be together for a long-ass time—relationship? She hadn’t read that in the supernatural relationship handbook. Oh, wait. That’s because there wasn’t one.

  “You’re looking at me like you want to say lots of things.” Callon crossed his arms and leaned against the wall beside the door. “And I want to listen to all of the things you have to say. But until you learn to communicate in that lovely form”—he motioned to her—“you’re going to have to be in your human skin for us to chat.”

  Lola rolled her eyes. The action was really weird to do as a feline because her eyes just sort of lifted up, instead of actually rolling. To be honest, it took away a little of the effect.

  Callon pushed off the wall, turned, and opened the door. He strolled inside, leaving her out in the hall. What the ever-loving animal-king hell? Lola looked back and forth down the hall as if she were somehow doing something wrong, standing outside the prince’s room. Good grief, she was his damn mate. But it was so freaking new, like a day new. Paint took longer to dry. Okay, not really. The good stuff dried in a couple of hours. Why the hell am I thinking about paint? I need Maddie. And Katy. And to not hyperventilate and pass out in the hall. To return to her human form, she just needed to picture it. Thankfully, the clothes manifested with her, as long as she was clothed when she shifted to her animal form.

  Lola envisioned herself standing in front of a mirror. She imagined every detail, and when she opened her eyes, she was once again standing on two feet. The door where Callon had disappeared stood open, and she could see a living room beyond. Okay, she couldn’t stay out in the hall all night. And she was curious as to what his living suite looked like.

  “Lola, get your beautiful, nosy butt in here now.” Callon’s voice came from inside, making her jump.

  She huffed, shook out her hands, and then stepped inside. Lola closed the door behind her and stepped farther into the suite. She knew that it had to be luxurious considering it was basically an apartment inside of a mansion, but this was, wow.

  Lola’s eyes widened as she took in the opulent space. The living area she’d glimpsed was furnished with plush ivory couches and glossy mahogany end tables. A massive stone fireplace housed flickering flames, warming the room.

  Her feet sank into the thick, cream carpet as she advanced toward Callon. Beyond the sitting area was a sparkling kitchen with gleaming appliances and marble countertops.

  “I rarely eat here. Usually, the warriors eat together in the big dining area.”

  “Cool, right, of course.” She nodded her head as if she knew all about the dining rituals of beastwalkers.

  “But my life is different now.”

  Lola was already reversing the direction of her head motion, shaking it as she held up a hand. “Nope. Uh-uh, Buddy, I will not be that female.”

  He frowned and rested his hip against the kitchen counter. “What female?”