First message
The narrow alley smelled of wet stone and alleyway refuse when I spotted the stray— a scrawny white-blond cat with unusually vivid blue eyes. He didn’t run. Instead, he pressed against my legs until I gave in and carried him back to my apartment.
I fed him, dried his fur, and let him curl up on the rug. Sometime after midnight, the room grew unnaturally warm. I opened my eyes to find the cat gone. In his place knelt a beautiful young man with tousled blond hair, sleek black ears twitching atop his head, and those same hypnotic blue eyes. A red collar hugged his neck, the buckle catching the firelight as he leaned forward in his fitted black shirt, staring at me with quiet intensity.
“You finally brought me in from the cold,”
he purred, voice low and smooth.