Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105815 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Junjie’s head snapped around so quickly Leo nearly jumped out of his skin. “You would hand a full-blooded shifter child over to the humans? Isn’t that dangerous?”
Leo put up both hands while suppressing the urge to back away. “Thought about it. Simply thought about it. But we all agreed it was a bad idea. There’s a good chance he won’t present any outward signs of being a shifter until he’s in his late teens or early twenties, but there are always some who are early bloomers. He could even partially shift as early as five or six.”
Junjie’s eyes widened and his pale-pink lips parted, forming the most lickable O. “He could partially shift?”
“It’s rare, but possible.”
The vampire put aside the flower and sticks the child had given him and pushed to his feet. He walked over to where the little boy had ambled and scooped him up, swinging his feet into the air and wringing fresh giggles out of him. Yet, when Junjie turned toward Leo, there was no mistaking the worry marring his handsome face.
“What’s wrong?” the cat shifter inquired.
“There’s so much we don’t know about him. We won’t be able to answer the questions he’s going to have later in life about his own kind or himself. We won’t be able to guide him when he’s learning to shift.”
Leo waved a hand at him. “Don’t worry about that. Instincts take over, and it happens naturally.”
Junjie was not soothed. If anything, his glare became more intense. “I don’t even know his name.”
The cat winced and lowered his eyes to the grass. “I didn’t know his parents personally. Didn’t even know anyone had given birth to a kitten in the past few years. I wasn’t there when he was discovered, but I poked around the place later. There was a backpack with the name ‘Erik’ stitched into the material. I don’t know if that was his name or maybe his father’s, but that’s all I got.”
With the child still in his arms, Junjie shifted how he was cradled so the vampire could look into his eyes. “Erik? Is your name Erik?”
A giggle rose, and he clapped his hands. But that response could as easily have been from the ride in his arms rather than Junjie’s words.
“Okay. From now on, you’ll be Erik. Erik Zhang.”
Leo sat up straighter, rising to his knees as if to keep his heart in his chest when it attempted to leap toward Junjie. “You’re going to keep him?”
“Yes. The clan discussed it, and while we are concerned about protecting him as we deal with Jiang Chong and the fae, it’s more important that he is in a loving, supportive home after losing his parents.” Junjie’s arms tightened on Erik and he pressed his cheek to the top of his head, but his eyes no longer met Leo’s. “I know what it’s like to lose a parent and to have no one in the world who wants you.”
“Jun-Jun…” Leo whispered; his heart squeezed so tight he was afraid it was about to be pulverized to dust. How could this man ever be alone? To him, it was as if he were made to be loved by all who met him.
“My father was the younger brother of the man who would be my shifu. He went out into the world to make a name for himself. Along the way, he fathered a child. I don’t know if he and my mother were ever married. He died a few years after my birth. My mother didn’t want me, so she left me with the Zhang clan, since they were my only other relatives. I was only ten when I came to live with the Zhangs. Alone, possibly a bastard, and generally unwanted. Shifu showed me what it was to be loved, what it meant to belong to a family. Erik deserves that as well.”
Leo crossed his legs in front of him, a boulder sinking into the pit of his stomach. His heart broke for young Junjie and all that he’d suffered. No question, Erik was in the right place. He would find the love and support he needed to grow up healthy and happy.
Then why did he still feel like shit? There was no way he could do all the things Erik would need. He was one man in a tiny studio apartment that he rarely ever saw. He took odd jobs here and there to pay the bills. There was no difference between him and every other cat shifter out there—he looked out for himself, and that was it.
So why did that make him feel so very low?
“We’re happy to add Erik to our clan, but we still need you.”
Leo’s head snapped up at Junjie’s words and his heart raced with new life. “Really? What could you need from me?”