After seven years of being on the move, Arlo Barman wants nothing more than a place to call home. But unbeknownst to him, Arlo is a caladrius healer, so staying in one place has never been an option. The compulsion to separate himself from those he's healed is all-consuming and leaves him little choice but to pack up yet again. Nash Silver is the only werewolf in his small coastal town. Living undetected in a human world is imperative for his kind, and he and his small circle of friends -- a vampire and a psychic -- have done so for decades. But Nash's anonymous existence is jeopardized when a man with an enticing scent moves into town. From the moment Nash lays eyes on the stranger, nothing is more important than being close to him. Not even guarding his secret. Arlo isn't interested in a relationship or even a date, his past has taught him nothing good comes from it, but the rather pushy local popping up everywhere he goes has his heart somersaulting. If he's heart is somersaulting or not doesn't matter, because when Nash gets injured, Arlo is the only one who can save him. Having used his powers, Arlo has to leave Nash and the cozy town he wanted to make his home, but can Nash survive being separated from his mate?

Black Bird

Real shifters lived in packs or prides. He’d met a few, though it had been many years ago, and they tended to live outside of society—off-grid kind of people, not interested in humans or their lives.


They hadn’t been hostile toward him, but they hadn’t been welcoming either. He was not one of them, they’d made that clear. They were born as shifters, he’d been born human and been turned into an in-between being that didn’t belong in either world. An abomination.


Once, and only once, had he talked to Gilbert about werewolves and regular shifters. Gil hadn’t known much either, but he’d told Nash that from what he’d gathered werewolves lived until someone killed them, like vampires. Mating hadn’t come up during the conversation.


“You answered my question with a question.”


“So, does it mean you don’t know?”


Nash ran a hand over his hair. “Yeah, it means I don’t know. I was…turned, not born this way. I met Gilbert a couple of years after and we’ve been friends since.”


Chapter 20