"What are you doing here?" She saw Ivy had three huge dogs with her. "Are those Siberian Huskies? They're so big. And cute."
"They aren't Huskies; they're wolves."
"Right. Like wolves are going to be that tame. Anyway, what are you doing here?"
Ivy advanced. "I know you slept with Quinn. I can smell him all over you. How dare you?" Ivy accused her.
Vanessa was taken aback but quickly recovered. "I don't see how that's any of your business."
Ivy Bishop looked a mess. She didn't seem like herself this morning. Her eyes were wild and glassy. Her hair was in disarray. No makeup either. She had never seen Ivy like this. Ivy always dressed like she was going to enter a pageant. Big hair, full makeup and full-on bling. She hadn't been nicknamed The Princess for nothing.
Ivy had dark circles underneath her eyes as if she hadn't slept in a week. Vanessa wondered if she had run out of her medication. Ivy was known for being extremely moody.
And when did she fly in here anyway?
"You know I like him!" Ivy shrieked. "We're supposed to get engaged and married. You ruined that for me."
"Excuse me?" Vanessa said, bewildered. Did she just hear right? "You're supposed to be engaged to Quinn?" What is the meaning of this? What is going on?
"Yes. My uncle had arranged it for me. It's supposed to unite our families. But you had to mess things up."
"Ivy, you have to start from the beginning. You're not making any sense. Quinn had an arranged marriage? He didn't tell me anything." Anger flared inside her. Did Quinn just two-time her? Why did he seduce her if he was engaged to someone else? If he planned on marrying this woman? "I didn't even know you knew Quinn outside the office."
"Of course, I do." A look of triumph colored Ivy's face. "I've known him since I was a kid. I've loved him all my life. I did everything to make myself beautiful. The diet. The exercise. Do you think this look just happens? I even followed him to New York to be with him. How could you do this to me? You're not even pretty." Ivy shot her a dirty look. "You're fat."
"Hey! I'm Rubenesque and proud of it."
"I don't know what he sees in you."
"Great personality and brains, apparently," Vanessa scoffed. "Something you clearly don't have." She couldn't believe she was arguing with Ivy over a guy. How childish.
And how come Savannah also didn't tell her anything? Quinn's mom had taken her shopping and given her a makeover. She and Savannah had become close in the past couple days. One would think Savannah would mention it if Quinn had a prior marriage arrangement. Or perhaps Quinn's own mom didn't even know? No. Quinn wasn't that kind of man. Not after what they shared the past two nights. Vanessa knew better than to draw hasty conclusions. She needed to hear Quinn's side of the story. "We need to clear up this misunderstanding. How about we find Quinn and ask him to set the record straight?"
"It's too late. You ruined my chances. I hate you!"
"What are you-five? We're adults. We'll talk and solve our problems like adults. Enough with your tantrum. I'm not happy Quinn had an arrangement without telling me. But I'm sure he had a solid reason and I'd like to hear it."
Ivy didn't seem inclined to embracing her reasonable side. "None of this would've happened if you hadn't kissed Quinn."
"You're the one who dared me to do it. Did you forget that?"
"I didn't think you had the guts. You should've known better. I love him. No one can ever love him like I do. No one!"
"Jesus. You need to calm the hell down, girl," Vanessa snapped. Ivy came easily unhinged. She became touchy and irritated when others expressed interest in Quinn. She didn't pay her too much attention when she was in emo mode. Vanessa had better things to do, but it really irritated her now. "Look, we can argue until the cows come home, but it won't do us any good. I suggest we get out of the cold and find Quinn. I'm freezing."
"Fuck you. You're going to pay for this," Ivy snarled. She lunged and knocked her off her feet.
Vanessa yelled. This woman was crazy. What the hell was wrong with her? Ivy came at her again, attacking her head on. Vanessa shielded her face with both arms. "Ouch!" Pain exploded. What the hell, man? What is this? Vanessa watched in horror as a droplet of her blood fell onto the snow.
She had been wounded. Ivy struck at her again but Vanessa rolled aside to avoid her. She staggered to her feet, trying to flee. She couldn't believe Ivy had attacked her with a knife. This woman was crazy. She didn't even see it coming. No. It wasn't a knife. It was claws.
Claws?
Something wasn't right about Ivy. She had mutated into a freaking beast. Her face looked misshapen. Her mouth elongated into a muzzle. All her extremities were covered in fur.
Panic set in. She scrambled away. She had to get away from her. Ivy became a monster.
But the snow made it hard to flee on foot. She stumbled again as she tried to run. The snow beneath her feet gave way and Vanessa found herself sliding down the trail. She avoided a collision with a tree. Narrowly. Using the fall as leverage to put distance between her and the crazed woman, she ran in the direction of the house. She screamed as loudly as she could, calling out for Quinn.
Ivy's dogs chased her, closing the distance between them in no time. She screamed in terror. One of the dogs bit her arm and shook her violently. The other got a hold of her boot. She tried to fight back but it was a futile attempt.
When she about to give up hope, three tigers leapt at her. This time, she freaked out even more. Were there tigers in Aspen?
The biggest of the three tigers pounced and yanked off her attacker. The dog howled in pain. The tigers were totally decimating her dogs. She didn't see Ivy but a fourth dog ran away. Wolf? Were they really wolves? Nothing made sense anymore.
The tigers had saved her from the wolves' attack.
But that wasn't the most shocking part of all of it. The real surprise was when the biggest tiger suddenly transformed into the man she knew intimately in the past few days.
Quinn.
"Vanessa, you're hurt," he said in dismay.
She immediately fainted.
Chapter Five
"A shifter?"
Vanessa sat on the examination table, clutching her bandaged arm. The doctor had just finished suturing and dressing her wounds and left. Quinn was with her, fully clothed and silent. Even then, his simmering anger was still palpable.
What had happened to her in the last hour was still rather blurry. She couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that Ivy had attacked her out of jealousy, or that Ivy turned into a werewolf. Or that the man she was dating was not completely human. She hadn't been hallucinating when she saw a tiger in her bed.
After the doctor finished treating her, Quinn began telling her the truth about himself, and his family, about the underground world where things that bumped in the night weren't just products of fevered imaginations. It totally blew her mind.
Curious. How was it possible a man could become both human and animal? Could it be that the anomaly in human evolution existed all along? Or were mutants like in X-Men?
"So shifters really exist," she repeated
"Yes."
"Tiger shifters and werewolves. What about vampires? Do they exist as well?"
"I believe so."
"Sparkly vampires or the Dracula-kind of vampires?"
"I don't know. I've never met one."
"How about elves? Do they exist too? Do they look like Lord of the Ring-type kind of elves or are they funny looking, like the ones that bake cookies in a tree? You know, like that commercial."
Quinn came to her and held her hand. "Vanessa. Focus. We're having an important discussion here."
"I'm sorry. This is so freaking amazing. I had no idea cryptids existed."
"You don't seem upset that I'm not entirely human. I imagined the worst."
"Upset? No." Vanessa waved him off. "You should know me better. I think you're very cool. What are you, Bengal? I imagine from the stripes. You fur patterns are very vivid."
"Yes."
"Aren't Bengals from India? I thought you have Latino blood in you."
"My paternal grandfather came from Assam. My mother's family came from Chernogolovka, Siberia."
"Ah. No wonder. Your brothers are shifters too?"
"Yes"
"What about your mother?"
"My mom came from of pure-blooded shifter family."
"And your dad?"
"Same."
"How about your extended family? Any of them married to a human?"
"Some. I have a half-blooded niece and a few first cousins."
"Can they transform?"
"Transmutation genes in mixed blood don't start until they hit puberty. But for full-blooded shifters, it triggers immediately. Weretiger babies are quite the handful. One second you cradle an infant and the next you are trying to wrangle a willful cub."