With the assailant down, I’m able to get to Rita. She can’t stand in her present form, despite several efforts at getting to her feet.“I don’t know what. To do,” I admit to her. “I—I can’t. Help you. Too big!”With great effort and a lot of pain, Rita shifts back to human. It’s a slow process, and hard to watch. I have to turn my head because of the nature of the process and how coarse it really is. They’ve always changed so quickly that I never noticed the details.The details. Are. Gross. So is the wolf who is barely alive. He isn’t shifting, and his large body twitches sporadically. I wonder if he’s going to die here.After Rita has finally taken human form, I hear her ragged breathing. She sits up, gasping and trying to calm herself.Then she turns to me, and for the first time, I see real concern in her eyes. “Are you okay?”“I—yyy-yeah,” I say giving my body a glance over again. Amazed as I am at my fortune, I’m still too shocked to be grateful. “How are you? Your leg?”I kneel
I’m sore and weak, but most of the pain has subsided. “Thank you,” I say to Ryan, who is kneeling over me and bandaging my leg.“It’s a pretty nasty bite,” he replies, not meeting my eyes, “but it’ll heal.”“I know you said you didn’t know anything about these rogues, but they’re hunting us, Ryan. Especially Alex’s human.”“What do you know about her?”“Cynthia?” I’m still a little lightheaded from the loss of blood, so my speech is a little slow. “Not really anything…she’s just normal.”“I think the company she’s attracting says otherwise.”Ryan leans back on his heels. “They obviously want her. Maybe Michael, too. I don’t know. I don’t know why unorganized mutts would target your pack.”“I don’t know…” I really don’t. All I can think of right now is that I have to get back to the pack with Alex and Cynthia soon, or things will get worse.Chalk it up to my weakened state—I know I do—because I don’t usually ask for help, but Michael needs it. I can’t let him die.“Did Alex ask about h
You learn so much by watching people. Ryan, for example, is an excellent cook and looks right at home in the kitchen. Alex even helps, and I didn’t know Alex could cook.I help put out the place settings and set the food on the dining room table: chicken, bacon, biscuits and a mix of random vegetables that don’t look like they belong together. I soon figured out Ryan put that unusual ensemble together for me, the human. “I’ve heard not all humans eat meat,” he explained.Rita wanted to eat outside to get some fresh air, but Ryan pointed out that we would be discussing delicate matters and shouldn’t be outside where just anyone could get wind of the situation. Alex agreed, so we each took a seat and filled a plate.As we eat, with me being the only one to touch the vegetable mix, they discuss events as we know them. No one seems to understand why I’m a factor in the rogue upset, much less me. No one knows for sure whether this is a coordinated effort against the Ayzena pack, or if the
After dinner, I help Ryan clean up while Alex helps Rita outside to exercise her leg, which is rapidly healing.I wash the dishes while Ryan puts them away, and he uses the opportunity to ask me questions. It makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but I am a guest in his house, and it is completely understandable, even under normal circumstances, that he would want to get to know more about me.At first, he asks typical questions, like where I grew up and about my parents. I respond with minimal information, but enough to satisfy him.He quickly realizes I have a stutter, but that doesn’t put him off.“It makes you more intriguing,” he admits.The statement shocks me, and I get a little shy. I think I may even be blushing as I reply, “No…I’m not…”“You are,” he argues. “I can’t figure you out, but there is something special about you, Cynthia.”“I get that. A lot.” I reply, definitely blushing now.Ryan has gotten closer to me, physically, since we began cleaning up, and I’ve noticed t
At first, I don’t want to touch him; I don’t know what’s wrong and I don’t want to make it worse. I kneel beside him. “What’s wrong?” Ohhhh…“Ahhh…” is his only reply.His breathing becomes erratic. I sit on my knees and scoop his head into my lap, lightly touching his hair, afraid to touch him anywhere else.“Sssomeone—help!” I cry out, but my voice cracks.Alex’s eyes are closed tight and he’s taking great pains to steady his breathing. “Owww…” he moans, still grabbing his stomach.“I don’t… Don’t know what to do…”I look back at the door to the house but no one’s coming. I’m afraid no one heard me.“I’m going. To get help,” I tell him as I move to lift his head off my thighs.Alex grabs my wrists. “No,” he moans. “Just wait.”My eyes start to tear up. It breaks me to see him—my strength—this way…in this much pain. “What isss it?”“I don’t know. The pain…just…came out of nowhere.”We sit like that for moments. He is eventually able to unfurl as the pain subsides. As his breathing st
I hear Ryan pass by my door. Or rather pause outside of it. I know I’m paranoid, but I feel like I have a good reason to be. I know werewolves have a crazy sense of smell and that Ryan can probably tell where I am. Maybe even knew I was in the hall just a few seconds ago.I wait several minutes before I crack the door open. The hall is dark and empty; I don’t see any lights streaming out from under doors.I creep back to the living room, quiet as I can, and peek around the doorway.Alex is lying on the couch wide awake, staring up at the ceiling.“Hey,” I whisper.His head snaps toward the door.“Goodnight.”Alex sits up. “Come here,” he whispers back.I walk over to the couch and sit on the spot Alex vacated when he sat up.I keep my voice low so no one can hear me. “Are you okay now?”“I do feel better. I don’t know what that was about.”“I heard Ryan,” I admit. It’s time to stop ignoring the topic. “It isss Rita? Your mate?”Now, this question is two-fold because I already know it’
It felt like it took forever to fall asleep, but I don’t know that I’ve ever slept so well! I dreamed of Alex. I don’t remember much other than that, except that we weren’t here, he wasn’t a werewolf, and we were happy.I slept with him behind me all night, wrapped around me like a security blanket, and it was wonderful.Now I’m awake before him. I roll onto my back so I can admire him. He is still sound asleep, and his face is angelic. No hint of beast or temper.No hint of pain, either.A sound down the hall startles me and catches my attention. I don’t want anyone to know I slept on the couch with Alex, so I gently slip off, careful not to wake him, and with great caution and finesse soundlessly make my way back down the hall to my room.Only I know everyone probably heard me, and when I close the door, I stand on the inside for a moment, my ear against it, listening for anyone else. It would be great to have werewolf hearing, I think to myself. It really sucks that I’m the only on
Alex offers to help me clean up the kitchen while Ryan packs supplies.Rita’s leg is a lot better. She also offers to help, but Alex tells her to rest, his excuse being that he hopes we can go back to the Ayzena base in the next day or two, and that he needs her at full strength if this issue isn’t resolved.“I want to come with you,” Rita argues. “I deserve the right to kill some rogue scum.”“You’ll get your chance,” Alex assures her. “Just not today. For all we know, this will be a bust and we’ll come back empty handed.”Rita reluctantly agrees and reclines on the couch, elevating her leg.With a little privacy, I get nosey. “Doooyyou. Think. You’ll find them?”Alex keeps his hands busy and his eyes on his task. “I think we’ll find them today.”“Really?” I ask, my hands emersed in hot, sudsy water.“They were close enough to find you, which either means their base is close by or they have scouts watching the woods. My money is on a nearby base.”“Be careful,” I say, my voice cracki