Evangeline jumped as a tiger came literally prowling up to her, but as it spoke, she realized he wasn’t a tiger, but a wolf. “Well, well, it’s not every day I get soultied to a beautiful maiden such as yourself. My name is Uzi. What’s yours?”
“I’m Evangeline,” she said shyly. Her eyes went to the string that tied them both together. “I see you’re the soulmate I’ve been looking for. It’s good to meet you. It’s . . . it’s not every day I get tied to a handsome tiger man,” she blushed. His green eyes trailed down her body. Likewise, she brushed hers over his too. Mainly just to have something to look at, it was a while since she’d met any strangers besides opponents on the battlefield. That war had been brutal. Sometimes it randomly hit her that Nattie, her best friend, was gone, her little Rue motherless, and it was enough to leave Evangeline crying. She bit her tongue to warn herself that she couldn’t think about that; it would be too awkward to cry in front of her soulmate for seemingly no reason. She might offend. Worse, he could just leave before they’d given anything a chance. She cleared her throat. “Where do you come from?”

“Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be.”