I raised my empty beer for a toast. “To the best, then.” We clinked glasses, but I had a heavy feeling in my gut. It felt suspiciously like dread.

Which is when I heard the front door click open and shut, and two people talking softly.

Trick grinned. “Speak of the very devils.”

Footsteps grew closer until one of the women from the photo stepped in—tall with dark hair, followed by the shorter one, the one that had made me smile. She peeked around her friend, our eyes met, and she gave me a smaller version of her photo smile.

“Declan, that’s Van, and hiding behind her is Lou.”

“I’m not hiding.” Lou’s smile widened. “I’m just not shoving my friend out of the way. It’s called manners, Trick.”

Her gray eyes practically twinkled and I wondered, for the briefest of moments, what someone had to do to make her light up like that. I couldn’t look away, even though part of me realized I was being rude by ignoring Van. I started to smile back, because I couldn’t not return Lou’s smile, when my wolf’s whining took on a more plaintive tone.

I took in another deep breath, and a particular blend of scents hit me. People were always a blend—like Trick, who had his own natural smell, but then also the scents that accompanied working with his magic. Right now I smelled coffee, milk, something grassy, and chocolate—Vanessa, maybe? I couldn’t tell with them standing so close together. But the other person, possibly Lou, smelled heavily of animal musk. Lots of different scent signatures layered over a brighter note, something that reminded me of sunshine.

And it finally clicked in, everything my wolf had been trying to tell me. Sometimes that happened—my sense of smell was almost as good when I was in human form, but my brain wasn’t quite as fast at analyzing that information. But I’d finally caught up.

Animal mage. One of them was an animal mage. Fear shot through me. My pulse skittered, my small smile collapsing in on itself. They were still talking, but I couldn’t hear them anymore. Just…noise.

Lou stepped forward, her brow furrowed, her hand outstretched. I lurched backward, my hands tightening instinctively, my beer bottle shattering in the quiet kitchen.

Lou slowly pulled her hand back, glancing at her roommates.

I recognized the look of concern on all their faces, but couldn’t do anything about it. My back hit the wall and I realized that I’d kept backing up. I panted, unconsciously mimicking my wolf.

Trick held his hands out, his face carefully blank. “Hey, Dec. You okay?”

“Animal mage.” It took me several times to get the words past the restriction in my throat. “Away. Right now. Now.”

Trick blinked, his hands dropping.

Van scowled, but Lou—Lou looked hurt.

I didn’t care.

I couldn’t.

Not with panic clawing at my insides. “Get out!”

I closed my eyes. I heard two people leave as I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor hugging my knees. If I didn’t get control of myself, I’d change. This wasn’t a situation the wolf would make better.