Cougar's Victory by Moxie North Page A

can’t be real,” she whispered. Her heart was pounding out of her chest and she had the urge to cry. Her emotions were bouncing back and forth and she really didn’t have a clue how to pin them down.
    “Please don’t eat me. I’m really sure that I would not enjoy that at all. How about I make you a deal, big kitty, I put on my clothes and walk out of here and we both forget this ever happened.”
    The cougar that had been sitting, now stood up on all fours and walked over to the doorway and laid itself across the threshold. Giving her a look that told her he didn’t accept her deal.
    “Fine,” she mumbled, then wrapped her arms around her knees. “Great, scared lady, big cat, showdown. It’s like a bad reality TV show.”
    The cat’s ears perked up a bit at that. Effie was trying to wrap her head around the possibility of this being real. Sexy millionaire Dax Hayes was a werecougar? Effie wasn’t even sure that was a real thing. What else could people turn into? Bunnies or birds? Who would want to be a bunny? Damn, she needed to get a grip. What if this was real, what if her sexy sorta boyfriend was inside the big cat lying on the floor.
    “Dax?” she whispered, feeling like a total idiot.
    The cat flicked his head up and made a huffing sound. Then he stared at her, his eyes shining bright at her.
    “Damn,” she whispered. Those eyes looked like Dax’s. But they couldn’t be, could they? She glanced up when the cat purred loudly. As she watched, the air around the cougar started to shimmer. Colors spun around it, then in a blink, Dax was sitting on the floor, very naked.
    Dax sat still watching Effie’s eyes bug out then tear up. But being Effie, she took a couple deep breaths and squared her shoulders before offering up, “You have got to be fucking kidding me.”
    It wasn’t a question. It was very much a statement. Dax didn’t blame her, he could only imagine how this must look. But honesty was what she wanted, he just hoped this wasn’t the worst she could have expected.
    “Effie, baby, tell me what you’re thinking,” he said calmly. Not spooking her was really high on his priority list right now. Also he was totally naked, which although he was confident in his body, put him at a slight disadvantage.
    “Give me just one second,” she said, holding up the index finger on her hand. She then proceeded to drop her head to her knees and start muttering. Dax couldn’t make out everything she was saying, but he heard the words, ‘twilight motherfucker and why me,’ but on the plus side she hadn’t bolted yet.
    Effie finally managed to stop swearing in her head and out loud and lifted her eyes to Dax. “What’s your middle name?”
    Not expecting that to be her first response to him being a shifter, he asked, “Why?”
    “Because when I lay into someone I find it very useful to have their middle names,” she explained calmly.
    “Montgomery,” he sighed.
    Taking a deep breath she let herself vent, “Dax Montgomery Hayes, I am a reasonable woman. I’ve seen a lot of shit in my day. In fact, I’ve lived through most of it. But how dare you get me to have all these mushy feelings for you without telling me you’re a cat! I mean really! Would I have invested all these feelings for you if I had known?
    I’m not sure, but I’d have at least been able to factor in the idea of my future partner, husband, or whatever into the equation. Does anyone else know about you? Is this some secret I’ve just been missing out on? Like jeggings? Which I’m not really missing out on, but they are comfy,” she added looking a little distracted.
    “No, Effie. You aren’t the only one who didn’t know. We have to keep our kind a secret. Can you imagine if people knew? They like to see them in movies and books, but real life isn’t so easy. Humans frighten easily and that’s no joke. We have survived this long by living quietly and not declaring who we are. We like it that way. It’s safer for our