Lynx Northern Shifters 3

the white face that made the freckles stand out in dark relief.
    Jonah’s eyelids fluttered open and Trey hoped this awakening went a little more smoothly than the first. It couldn’t get worse, he didn’t think. Then Jonah flinched. Christ. Trey did not want an unending loop of this panicked reaction, and as painful as it was for him to watch, Jonah was having a harder time living through it.
    So Trey backed up. He’d thought talking to Jonah would help matters, but words—especially his name—seemed to come as a shock, with his eyes widening every time Trey uttered it. Perhaps because he’d spent so much time alone. Trey could remember coming back from a stint in the wilderness and getting used to listening to conversation again. This time, Trey went back down on his haunches about six feet away from the bed. Looming over Jonah had already sent the lynx into attack mode once.
Rather shakily, Jonah pushed himself up to sitting.
    Don’t stand , implored Trey silently. You would have cracked your head on the floor if I hadn’t caught you two minutes ago .
The fear was still there in Jonah’s scent, but not as overwhelming. Very little color seeped back into his cheeks.
He sat back to lean against the wall and scrubbed his face. Again, he looked around the room, probably in search of Trey’s wolf, before his gaze landed on Trey.
“What…” He swallowed hard. “How’d you find me?”
Trey wasn’t sure who Jonah thought he was, and though a little reluctant to drop—again—the bomb of being Enigma, Trey thought it important to bring some understanding of the situation to Jonah.
“Do my eyes look familiar?”
Jonah frowned, in some distress. “I’m the only one.”
“Only shifter?”
Jonah’s gaze skittered away.
“You’re not. I’m a shifter. You may be the only lynx shifter. Wolves are more common.” He kept his voice matter-of-fact and though he wanted to say more, explain everything, talk about the giant-lynx report, he kept his mouth shut and waited for Jonah to ask another question. Jonah hadn’t been spoken to, perhaps for years, though Trey hoped for Jonah’s sake it hadn’t been that long. It would take him more than half an hour to get used to having a conversation that wasn’t one-sided.
“Who told you about me?” Jonah demanded.
“No one.” At the patent disbelief on Jonah’s face, Trey added, “I smelled you. Shifters have a particular scent. Perhaps you’ve noticed that about me.” Trey patted his chest, mirroring Jonah’s action of two days ago. “I’m Enigma. You’ll remember my ‘husky’ eyes. You’ll smell that I’m a wolf.”
Jonah stared and Trey watched for his face to go white again, but instead it flushed. The poor guy was easily embarrassed, but if it drew blood to his head, Trey figured it was better than not being embarrassed.
“I’m sorry I’ve startled you. That wasn’t my intention.”
Jonah looked away and back again, his expression doubtful.
“I knew it would be a surprise,” Trey amended. “But I’d hoped that meeting a fellow shifter might be something worthwhile for you. I have found it can be a relief to talk with someone where you don’t have to hide your other half, or explain it.”
“Worthwhile.” There was a kind of dullness to the word.
Trey grimaced. “I’m not explaining myself very well. But since I realized what you were, I’ve been excited about meeting you.”
“Excited.” He said the word as if it made no sense, and after a moment of examining its meaning, he gave up. “How did you find me?”
This seemed to be a big concern of the lynx and Trey’s interest sharpened. “Are you worried someone is looking for you?”
“Not now. I’ve made that impossible.” Jonah eyed him. “I thought.”
“I think you’re difficult to find. This was mostly luck.”
“Mostly?”
“There has been a report of a giant lynx. You’re quite large.”
Jonah actually rolled his eyes, which Trey took as progress. A reaction instead of the dull repetition of one of Trey’s words. “That’s hardly the most unusual thing about me. You’re as big as I am.”
Trey nodded to acknowledge both these facts. He was a big wolf.
“You’re Enigma?” Jonah blurted out.
“Trey, actually. But you called me Enigma and fed me a slab of deer meat the first night. You described me as a handsome fellow.” Here Trey offered a small grin, but Jonah didn’t react. He simply looked dumbfounded. “You don’t believe in werewolves? Despite