I felt a little awkward the next morning when I came down for breakfast and found Ren in the kitchen alone.  I might have felt better with Riven there – there was just something soothing about his company – but I did want to get to know Ren better even with that whole, uh, meltdown the night before.

He gave me smile when he spotted me fidgeting nearby.  “Good morning.  I forgot to ask you if you like anything particular for breakfast – breakfast is usually my job, Riven tends to make dinner.  We kind of share responsibility for lunch.”

“Oh, um, I’m not picky other than I don’t want to eat meat.”

“Is that because of what happened to you or just a personal choice?”  His voice was calm, not judgmental, just politely curious.

I wondered if this was his way of trying to get me to be more comfortable talking about what I’d discussed yesterday.  I actually felt better talking about it with someone – although maybe that was also because they’d believed me – so maybe I could try to keep talking about it, trying to start dealing with it rather than letting it haunt my every moment.

“Um, I guess because of what happened.  Every time I see meat it just – I guess it just makes me feel more like an actual predator?  Like they’re right about me?”

Ren turned around to give me a sharp look.  “They are not right about you.  Don’t believe the lies that man told you or the ones his fellow police officers said.  Predators can be victims, too, and prey can definitely be attackers.  I’m not disagreeing with your choice,” he added swiftly, “fairies are connected to animals strongly enough that it’s kind of hard for us to see people eating them at all, so I’m not trying to talk you into it, but…well, I don’t like the idea that it makes you feel like a monster just by seeing it.  Your ex did his best to brainwash you into thinking you were doing things wrong and responsible for keeping him happy, which is a lie.  I mean, I can’t say for sure you never did anything wrong, but it sounds like he was feeding you a bunch of lies to manipulate you into doing what he wanted.”

I nodded.  “I know, I…I realized some of that after it stopped, when he just got more straightforward with the abuse.  But for eating meat, I guess it’s kind of like I am seeing what other people see, for a moment?  I’m seeing a predator eating another creature and it just…it makes me sick,” I admitted.  “I don’t want to be like that.”

Ren gave me a compassionate look.  “You’re more than welcome to eat vegetarian or vegan if you want, but bear in mind that being a predator isn’t always about what your shifted form is.  I’d say your ex is a lot more of a predator than you are.”

I hadn’t exactly thought of it that way, so I mused over the idea while eating the omelet Ren served me.  “Where is Riven, by the way?”  I finally asked.

Ren’s face turned a little pink.  “I, uh, may have kept him up late last night.  He’s sleeping in this morning.”

Which I was fairly certain was code for Ren wore him out too much in the bed, but I wasn’t about to ask about something like that.

“Riven said you really helped him get over his fears just by being patient with him.”

Ren got that smile on his face, the tender one that usually showed up when he was looking at or talking about Riven.  “I saw this gem that was hidden, so scared by his past that he was afraid to let himself out.  I took my time to coax him out of hiding and when he did, he started to bloom.  I actually didn’t feel like I was all that patient – I mean, it’s only been a year and we’re engaged and living together, so I feel like I really got what I wanted pretty quickly – but at the end of the day, I wasn’t about to do anything that might hurt him.  I just wanted to make him happy.”

“Sounds nice.”  I hesitated.  “I was starting to believe real love isn’t real,” I confessed.  “But you two seem to really love each other.”

“Oh I very much love him, I adore him,” Ren answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.  “I get that from your background you’re probably hesitant to trust in the idea of love, but the real stuff is definitely out there.  You just have to find the right person.”

He watched me eat for a couple of minutes, then had a question of his own.  “What are you going to do about Nathan?”

I almost choked, wondering if he’d somehow discovered my crush on his friend, when it dawned on me he probably was just referring to the whole “I don’t want anything to do with prey shifters” thing.

“I…don’t know.  I liked hanging out with him before I knew he was a rabbit shifter,” I paused to take a sip of apple juice, “but I’m scared of being around prey shifters.  I’m scared that if anything happens, even if I had nothing to do with it, if I’m in the vicinity I’ll be blamed just because I’m a predator.”

“You’d hardly be considered a predator,” Ren murmured, “you’re so small.  Not even sure you could take on Nathan or his family, pretty sure they’re all bigger than you.  Oh, wait, Benji is probably about your size or even smaller when shifted, but he doesn't feel like that because he's so...energetic.  But the rest of the family is definitely bigger than you when shifted.”

I mean…that was true.  My fox species mainly ate things like insects, lizards, eggs, and small rodents.  There was no shifter of any of the things I would eat, such as a mouse shifter – it just wasn’t a thing.  I was probably one of the smallest shifter types in existence and I wasn’t exactly capable of hunting at least 99% of shifters in existence.

“Well, for what it’s worth, I’ve known Nathan since I was like, I don’t know, two days old?  His family can be nuts – 11 children is insane at times – but Nathan’s always been kind and peaceful.  He’s a gentle soul, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be stubborn when he puts his mind to something.  He’d never hurt anyone, but he will stand up for those he cares about.  If you’re thinking of trying to trust a prey shifter, he’s probably one of the best ones out there to take a risk on, plus he already likes you and wants to be your friend, so.”

“Eleven?”  I asked, completely sidetracked.  I heard what he said about Nathan but was still flabbergasted.  “I – I didn’t think most prey shifters actually have that many kids!”

“Oh they don’t usually.”  Ren looked amused.  “Nathan’s mom was an only child, though, and she wanted lots of children as a result.  Some prey shifters are more prone to twins and triplets, so…yeah.  Nathan’s the oldest, then Benji, then Sally.”  He went through the list of all 11, including a set of twins and a set of triplets.  “Nathan was practically a third parent for most of them.  I think that’s when he came to love kids so much.  The chaos in their household is a bit much for me at times but he seems to enjoy it.”

I looked down at my empty plate.  I wanted to complain about Nathan giving up his dream just to be free to be with Sorrel, but it had been Nathan’s choice and it felt bad to complain to Ren about his brother, who I’d never met but felt a little angry at anyway.

“Ren!”  Riven suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs, looking about as pissed off and dangerous as an angry kitten.

I almost laughed, but managed to hold it in.

Ren’s eyes were twinkling as he looked over at Riven.  “Yes, babe?”  He sounded so innocent.  “Is something wrong?”

“You, you – ”  Riven pointed a finger at him, apparently struggling to find the right words.  “You can’t just do that!  When I tell you to keep your hands to yourself, that is not license do use other parts of your body instead!”

He marched over, and, to my surprise, rather than saying anything more, just plopped himself down on Ren’s lap and started helping himself to the food on Ren’s plate, much to Ren’s amusement.  Then he looked up at me, smiling as if nothing had happened.  “Did you sleep well?”

I laughed.  I couldn’t help it.

“Yes, actually,” I managed to get out.  “I guess getting that all out helped.”

Riven looked somewhat pleased with himself as he nodded sagely.  “Sometimes talking about stuff is a relief.  Cathartic, I guess.  If you ever want to talk more, let me know.  Or Ren, he’s a good listener when he’s not being a brat.”

“I’m not a brat,” Ren slid his arms around Riven’s waist.  “Just kind of addicted to you.”

Riven rolled his eyes, but I noticed he smiled happily, too.

“Are you talking to your mom today?”  Riven asked.  I assumed the question was directed at Ren.  “About Miles’ situation?”

“Right.”  Ren looked over at me.  “Are you comfortable with that?  Would you be okay with me telling my mom what happened so she can pursue getting the arrest warrant taken care of?  It might involve actually letting the Retherwood officials know you’re here in order to officially resolve it,” he admitted, “and would involve some people learning your story, but my mom is discreet.  She wouldn’t discuss any more details than absolutely necessary.”

I trembled a little as I reached for my cup of tea.  “I don’t really like advertising what happened,” I admitted, “and I’m still scared people won’t believe me because of the whole prey/predator shifter thing.  But if it’s necessary to get that gone, I guess so.  I don’t want him to be able to force me to come back legally.”  I took a drink, hoping it would calm the queasiness creeping in at me.  Thankfully it did.  “Can I – can I file a restraining order or something?  To make sure he wouldn’t bother me again?”

Ren nodded.  “Mom can take care of that, I’m pretty sure.  And I’ll make sure Mom knows to be very careful about who she allows to know you’re here in the city.  Even if your ex finds out you’re here, though, and even if he found out you were staying here, he can’t hurt you in this house.  You’re safe here.”

I frowned ever so slightly.  “But…I can’t stay here forever.  What happens then?”

“We’ll figure it out.  For the time being, you can stay here as long as needed – at minimum until we take care of the warrant and a restraining order and make sure he won’t come after you.  When the time comes for you to move out, we’re not sending you off to live somewhere you wouldn’t be safe.  We’ll make sure he can’t hurt you, okay?”

I looked up at them, biting my lip in hopes it would keep the tears back.  “Thanks,” I whispered.  It felt so inadequate to explain my emotions – just the chance of not being taken back was enough to bring me relief, but here they were actually planning to help me try to get him out of my life and keep him out.

That would be beyond a dream come true.  At this point in my life, all I really wanted was to never see or talk to him again.