Mateo, a jaguar nagual descended from Mayan shamans, attends the Northern Nevada Con-fur-ence furry convention to hide in plain sight. Who will look twice at a long, black tail and inhuman yellow eyes when there are neon huskies and dancing dragons around? There Mateo meets Dazi, a mountain lion skin-walker who is at the con with friends from his Shoshone-Paiute reservation. They want to find out if the furries are close to stumbling across their tribe of shifters. When these two big cats rub up against each other, their cultures collide in a way neither Mateo nor Dazi could predict. But Mateo has trouble being entirely human around his alluring new companion, and Dazi puts his tribe at risk when he reveals their secrets to an outsider. Can Mateo and Dazi overcome their natural secretive and bestial instincts to find their purr-fect ending?

Beasts Like Us

“Glad we had this talk,” Mateo said with a smile.


Dazi pouted. There was clearly a form of communication the furries shared when they refused to speak like humans. Dazi could understand some of it, but he felt left out and confused enough to be annoyed. He thought about saying as much to Kesi and Kuhma in Shoshoni, until he realized the irony.


“Do you want to come with us?” Mateo asked.


Rosie shook her head. She gestured around her neck.


“I think you’d look good with a bell collar. We’re looking for a set of ears for Dazi here, but if I spot a collar vendor before you do, I’ll find you, okay?”


Chapter 33