In fact, Chiara couldn’t believe that Jared had ever wanted to leave Mountain View. The more she saw of the shifter town, the more she fell in love.
They’d slowly made their way up a wide street—wide enough for a fully grown dragon, Jared had explained, which made sense. To both sides of the street, she could see whitewashed houses with generous gardens.
She made the acquaintance of the cheetah family, and a few houses further down, she found the family of the doctor. Three lion cubs came eagerly racing out of the garden, circling their legs at dizzying speed. Chiara turned, laughing helplessly, loving the way the tiny shifters danced curiously all around her and Jared’s parents.
A moment later, they vanished again just as quickly as they’d appeared when a teenaged lion came racing from the house, roaring in annoyance. The older lion was obviously well used to babysitting the lot, as he didn’t give them more than a curious glance before he made his way straight towards the bushes where the kids had vanished.
“I love this place,” Chiara said, shaking her head as warmth welled up inside her again.
It seemed strange now that she’d once thought of the supernatural world as a scary, dark place, where werewolves, vampires, and aliens were all out to prey on humans.
Instead, it seemed like the shifter world had the exact same problems as any other small town: excited children, annoyed babysitters, and stressed parents.
“Let’s go say hi to the Sheriff,” Jared suggested when they’d finally made it to the large town square.
There was a fountain at the center of it, where a beautiful dragon spread its wings above the steadily falling water.
All around the square, flowers grew, every garden an explosion of scent and color.
Many of the houses here were decorated in such a way that she immediately knew what sort of shifter lived there. On one wall, she could see a mural showing groundhogs. Another house was decorated with a cheetah, while next to it, a family of cat shifters lived.
The houses were all clean and every garden well cared for. Chiara wondered if they’d interrupted some sort of contest. She’d never seen quite so many flowers before.
The house directly to her left was surrounded by a low wall, with a gate that had roses growing along its wrought iron arch. The roses were in full flower, their scent almost overwhelming. From behind the low wall, she saw clumps of daylilies in bright colors.
She smiled at the man who came stepping through the small gate now. He was in his fifties, with gray hair and an imposing, still-strong body.
That had to be the sheriff Jared had mentioned. Automatically, she turned towards him with a smile, holding out her hand—and then she yanked it back with a small cry.
His eyes.
His eyes were yellow-gold. She’d seen those eyes in a hundred nightmares. They’d haunted her, ever since that night when she’d had her first run-in with the supernatural world.
Those were the eyes of a werewolf.
At her cry, the sheriff immediately straightened, one hand going to his holster as he turned, instinctively looking for an attacker.
At the same moment, Jared’s arm came around her, his worry flooding through the mate bond.
It’s all right. He’s the sheriff. Jared trusts him, she reminded herself.
Even so, her heart was still racing, remembering the terrifying encounter that had set this all off.
“Sorry,” she said breathlessly. “I didn’t want to scare you. I was just surprised, that’s all.”
Jared’s arm tightened around her. “Shit, I forgot. I should have warned you. I never told you that Sheriff Banner is a werewolf.”
“It’s all right,” she said again, taking a deep breath before she forced herself to meet the sheriff’s golden eyes. “I was just startled.”
Sheriff Banner had relaxed, apparently realizing that no fire dragon was about to attack from the sky. Very cautiously, he took a step forward.
“I take it you’ve had a run-in with some other werewolves,” he said wryly. “I’m very sorry to hear that. Wish I could say it’s all just prejudice, but it’s true—there’s quite a few of us that don’t like rules much. But whatever you’ve seen, I promise you that you’ll be safe in Mountain View. The dragon’s peace alone makes sure of that, but I like to think that I do my share as well.”
“You do more than your fair share, Sheriff,” Jared said and reached out to shake his hand. “I’m sorry, Chiara, I should have warned you.”
“It’s all right,” she said again. “Really.”
Now that she had time to look at the sheriff and saw the way he acted around Jared, she immediately felt calmer.