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expression. “Will there be others looking for me?”
“I doubt it. Though I’d be careful not to run into any more humans, at least when you’re lynx. I assumed I was off on a wild-goose chase.”
“What if I’d just been a giant lynx?”
“I would have found that interesting.” Trey offered a half-smile. “But you’re more interesting.”
Jonah flushed, which wasn’t what Trey had been aiming for. He had to try not to embarrass his host.
Pulling a breath in, Jonah stood. “The deer may starve.”
Huh? “What?”
“After this kind of blizzard, with this much snow, the deer may starve.”
Undoubtedly true, but this wasn’t something Trey had given any thought to.
“So I’m going to cut down a few trees for them and they can eat. What’s left can become firewood.”
“All right.” It had been enough talking as far as Trey was concerned too. At least for now. “How many will you feed?”
“Some,” Jonah said shortly. He marched back to pull on warm gear from head to toe, then reappeared to say, rather defiantly, “I’m not stupid. I know it won’t save them all. But it’s okay to save a few.”
“Sure.” Frankly, Trey had never considered deer and their survival, except when he had to eat.
“I hate seeing them starve. It’s better to kill them than that.” He paused. “I don’t have winter gear for you to wear. Craig’s stuff is still here, but it’s too small.”
“I can shift.”
Jonah straightened. “You leaving then?”
Trey kept the smile off his face. That wasn’t anticipation, but dismay in Jonah’s expression. Yes, the lynx was restless and uncomfortable sharing his space with Trey. But he didn’t entirely want Trey to leave either. Good . “No, I’ll follow you in a bit.”
Looking down, Jonah placed hands on his hips. “I don’t usually hunt this herd.”
“Okay,” Trey said reasonably, “I won’t hunt them either then.”
“I’ve got enough food to feed us both. You don’t have to take down a deer.”
“Unless it’s starving.”
“Yeah, exactly.” Jonah raised his gaze and stared at Trey. “I still don’t know why you’re here.”
“When I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
“Did you ever meet someone called Aaron Smythe?”
“Nope.”
Jonah searched Trey’s face, as if looking for truth. His eyes were wide and green, flecks of brown. Trey knew he shouldn’t see this face as epitomizing innocence, knew that kind of thinking left him vulnerable even if it wasn’t accurate. But it was hard to resist idealizing this young, isolated man.
Trey cleared his throat, returned to the question of Aaron Smythe. “Who is he?”
“He was my mother’s boyfriend. For a couple of years.”
“Craig’s father?”
“No,” said Jonah as if that was the end of it.
And for now, Trey let it be while noting that Jonah’s mother had had at least three men in her life, and the last one had hurt Jonah. Trey intended to look up Aaron Smythe when he got back. “My coming here has nothing to do with him.”
Jonah didn’t exactly accept that, but he let it go. He tilted his head towards the door. “See you outside then.”
Trey watched him leave, the door closing behind Jonah, his footsteps echoing until they hit the snow. Well, it had been a rough start, but not terrible, all things considered. To think he’d been worried to find a vicious, feral lynx shifter that had to be destroyed. Destroying feral shifters—and it had only been a handful—was the worst thing Trey had ever had to do.
But this was a lynx shifter who went out to feed the deer so they wouldn’t starve to death. Trey had to smile to himself.
    As soon as he shut the door behind him, Jonah let out a breath of relief. It had been intense, talking like that to a stranger, telling him his family was dead. It might have been unwise. Probably Jonah should have kept it vague, but at least Trey had answered about his own family. That made it feel less dangerous somehow.
    Of course, Trey could be lying through