Page 112 of Beasts of Mine

“It’s more than that.” Luca rested one hand against the broad root beside me, thinking for a moment. “You’re patient with them.”

“You have to be.” I scrolled to the next frame. “Wildlife doesn’t care that I have a schedule.”

“You don’t chase the shot either.” Malek stayed a few feet behind me, where he had apparently decided he was less likely to accidentally clear the trail. “You wait until the animal gives you an opening.”

I looked up from the camera.

“You’ve been paying that much attention?” I asked Malek, unable to keep a little surprise from my voice.

“Yes.” Malek met my eyes without hesitation, as though the answer should have been obvious. I dropped my attention back to the camera before my face gave away how much I liked that answer.

One of the questions I had been carrying since yesterday surfaced while I checked another photograph. They had explained what they were and how shifting worked in the broad sense, but actually being around them in human form made me notice details I hadn’t thought to ask about in the ruins.

“You said yesterday that both forms are natural for you. Does it actually feel different when you’re shifted?” I lowered the camera against my chest and looked between the three men.

“In some ways.” Luca settled onto the exposed root nearby, resting his forearms loosely against his knees. “My thoughts are still mine, but the body changes what gets my attention first.”

“My sense of smell gets much stronger.” Tavian crouched near the creek and trailed his fingers through the water before flicking the droplets away.

“That explains several things.” I gave Tavian a pointed look, remembering every time his nose had gotten him into my personal space.

Tavian only smiled.

“Hearing too.” Malek leaned one shoulder against a tree, his attention flicking briefly toward a sound deeper in the forest. “We hear movement farther away. Smaller things. It’s easier to track where something is without seeing it.”

“So all those times you suddenly stared into the trees while I heard absolutely nothing, there really was something there.” I thought back to Cat going completely still beside the creek.

“Usually. Sometimes I was watching you.” Malek’s mouth moved at one corner, his gaze settling deliberately on me.

I stared at him.

“That one was less impressive.” I told Malek, though the heat creeping into my face ruined any attempt at sounding unaffected.

“It wasn’t meant to be impressive.” Malek stayed perfectly calm, which somehow made the answer worse. Tavian made a quiet noise that sounded suspiciously like he had swallowed a laugh. I redirected the conversation before he could help.

“Does shifting hurt?” I asked Luca, thinking about the transformations I had watched the day before.

“No. Not normally.” Luca rubbed a thumb over one callused palm while he considered the question. “If we’re badly injured, shifting can be uncomfortable because the injury changes with the body, but the shift itself shouldn’t hurt.”

“So injuries carry over.” I looked toward Malek’s side, remembering the healing wound I had recognized immediately after his first human transformation.

“They do.” Luca followed my attention toward Malek. “Changing shape doesn’t make the damage disappear.”

“We heal faster than humans, but not enough to ignore a bad injury.” Malek touched the side that had once been caught in the wire, his expression briefly sobering.

“Which means you really did need those bandages.” I pointed at Malek, satisfaction creeping into my voice.

“I never said I didn’t.” Malek lowered his hand, already knowing exactly where this was going.

“You complained about almost everything I did.” I reminded Malek, remembering several long afternoons beside the roots.

“I complained about the smell of the antiseptic.” Malek corrected me with maddening calm.

“You complained about resting too.” I folded my arms.

“I rested.” Malek countered, although the slight movement at the corner of his mouth gave away his amusement.

“Because I kept coming back to make sure you did.” I held his gaze until Tavian laughed somewhere to my left.