The Wolf’s Whisper: The Complete Series

35. Emily

I looked around the bedroom I found myself in, the space belonging to the young girl sitting in the chair across from me. She looked like any other American girl, but as Bray’s sister, she was also a shifter-to-be.

How’d that work? Was it genetic, or more of a curse? Was shifterdom guaranteed? Or did certain physical traits skip generations? I couldn’t imagine the awkwardness of being the only human in a family of shifters. I was the only shifter in my human family, so it wasn’t unprecedented.

“Now that you’re all clean, if you want, we can go downstairs where the Blu-ray player is and watch stuff!”

I smiled at the earnest young girl. I knew she could still be a part of the deception, but her presence helped put me at ease. It made Bray seem less like a serial killer or trafficker. Not that I let my guard down all the way. I was inexperienced about the world I’d been thrust into, but I wasn’t an idiot.

“I’d love to watch your favorite movie.”

“You wanna watch mine? ”

I nodded, hoping she was into a light-hearted cartoon, giving my mind a chance to rest. The last couple of days held one thing after another, and I was experiencing severe mental fatigue.

Taking a nearly hour-long shower and changing into some old workout clothes of Bray’s helped take the edge off. Still, I felt like I needed a year or two of sleep before I’d go back to normal.

“Okay then, let’s go downstairs! It’d be nice if I had a TV in my room, but Bray says turning my sleeping space into an entertainment space will mess up my sleeping schedule as I get older. That’s why he bought me this desk and this super-cool spinning chair! I can read or play games here and be comfortable, but when it’s time to sleep, I settle into bed.”

As if to prove just how cool her chair was, she spun around several times with her arms up. It was honestly pretty cute, and not for the first time, I wondered what it would’ve been like to have siblings.

“That’s a great policy to have,” I said. “At my dorm, I sit on my bed for everything, and a lot of times, it’s hard to separate my sleeping space from my working space. Sometimes it feels impossible to wind down.”

“Whoa, really?”

Another nod. One of the nice things about enthusiastic young kids was that I didn’t have to drive the conversation all that much. Annie was more than happy to chatter away about everything.

“That’s so cool! Well, my brother is, like, suuuuper smart, so that makes sense. I think he’s the smartest big brother in the world.”

“He may be.” I wanted to see more of the house and figure out if I was a prisoner or a guest, so I offered her my hand. “Movie time?”

“Aw, yeah! Movie time!”

Annie took it and led me down the stairs. We were in the other half of a modest duplex. While it was nicely furnished, it wasn’t over the top or chock full of expensive items. That made me hope Bray was genuine, but I wouldn’t bank everything on it.

I did take a pen from Annie’s desk as we passed by. I was well aware that even the sturdiest writing implement wouldn’t be a great weapon against a werewolf, but it made me feel better, anyway.

I was a wolf now, too, so I wasn’t exactly defenseless. Still, even if I did somehow manage to control my new form enough to shift in a pinch, I doubted I could hold my own against an experienced wolf like Bray.

God, I missed Caleb. I’d taken for granted how much his presence soothed me, and the protection he provided. I was a big girl, so I just needed to wait out the week or so it took me to get control of myself, then head home, fix my phone, and try to work through things with Caleb.

I also needed to contact my parents. While it wasn’t unheard of for me to be incommunicado during the school week, my mother would worry if I didn’t send any memes or updates over an entire weekend.

Oh, well. I had time. I’d get through the movie and figure out more about Bray.

Luckily, I was right about Annie’s preference as an eleven-year-old girl. She chose an animated Barbie movie after triple-checking that I really didn’t mind, and I was able to turn my brain off between subtle, sweeping glances of the lower floor. The movie was a lovely reprieve and reminded me of the shows I used to watch when I was younger. They had more dragons and superheroes in them, but a lot of the themes were much the same.

“What’s it like to have a first shift?” Annie suddenly asked.

I blinked at her for a moment. Right, of course. She was a young, prepubescent shifter, and it seemed her brother was her sole caretaker, so naturally, she was eager to talk to another young female shifter.

Was this what having a community was about?

“It’s overwhelming, truth be told,” I said, trying to choose my words carefully. I didn’t want to scare the girl, but I didn’t want to lie to her, either. “Some part of it felt right, like something that was always meant to be, but it was like a lot of what made me Emily got pushed into a little box. I think in the future, I’m going to work on finding that balance between the two.”

The girl nodded sagely, and I saw a lot of emotional intelligence behind those young eyes of hers. “My brother says that to be a wolf is to be an eternal dichotomy.”

“Hey guys, you hungry?”

We both looked to where Bray was standing in the doorway. Goodness, he was even wearing an apron. I didn’t know if he was doing it on purpose, but it was hard to believe a shifter trafficker would be so comfortable presenting himself like this.

“Starving!” Annie declared, throwing her hands into the air. “What did you make?”

“Nothing too special. Just some grilled cheese sandwiches, veggies, and soup.”

Any food sounded good to me. I’d eaten a whole deer as a wolf, yet I was still starving, and it’d been hard not to fixate on the scents coming from the kitchen during the entire movie.

“Thank you for making the meal. You didn’t have to,” I said to Bray, more than grateful as I unfolded myself from my spot on the couch.

“I figured it was the least I could do for a guest. Besides, although my first shift was a long time ago, I remember how ravenous I was. Thought I could eat a whole cow.”

“Didn’t you say that you did eat a whole cow?” Annie asked.

“Hush now. Don’t embarrass me in front of our guest.”

It was nice to see the two tease each other. It spoke to a real relationship I figured would be pretty hard for a kid to fake.

“You mean, don’t embarrass you in front of the pretty lady,” Annie teased.

“I meant exactly what I said,” Bray replied. “Now get your butt to the kitchen before I decide to put ketchup on your sandwich.”

“Ewwww!”

She scurried off the couch and rushed towards the kitchen. I followed at a much more sedate pace, joining Annie at the small but comfortable kitchen table.

“Dig in,” Bray said, coming up behind us before heading over to the stove.

I assumed he was referring to the impressive platter of sandwiches all stacked on each other, smelling like cheese, butter, and that delicious Maillard reaction. I watched as he carefully ladled soup into two sizable bowls and brought them over to the table, setting one in front of me and in front of Annie before returning for his own. If I wasn’t a complete stranger in this situation, it would’ve felt homey. Still, I increasingly doubted this was some strange setup to soften me. Bray was going through too much trouble to be hospitable.

However, I couldn’t get rid of that warning hanging around the back of my head about him being from the Black Hawk Pack. I wished I could remember what Caleb had said about them, but my head was still far too foggy from the transformation.

“ Itadakimas! ” Annie cried, clapping her hands together. Not entirely surprising, given how many magical-girl anime posters I’d seen up in her room. Bray just shared a rueful look with me.

Then it was time to eat.

Thankfully, Annie’s gift of gab continued throughout the meal, allowing me to concentrate on chewing and swallowing, giving only the occasional answer whenever one of her questions got lobbed my way.

“You know, you’re the prettiest shifter I’ve ever seen since Natalie!” she chirped.

It was a normal enough statement, but I didn’t miss how Bray stiffened at the other side of the table. It was like I could smell his shock, my nose telling me he was giving a strong stress reaction. Was that how Caleb always seemed so in touch with my emotions?

“Who’s Natalie?” I tried to ask as calmly as possible. As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I could feel the gravity of the moment, like Bray’s tension had physical weight.

“No one,” he said tersely, and for a split second, I was seeing through a mask. Had I been right about my suspicions this entire time?

“Natalie was this super-pretty nurse Bray liked,” Annie said, undeterred. “We hung out sometimes, but then she stopped coming around. When I heard him coming in with someone, I hoped you were her. No offense.”

“None taken,” I said quickly, embarrassed by how I’d jumped to conclusions in my mind. Clearly, Natalie was either an ex-girlfriend or a fling, so of course Bray wouldn’t be keen on sharing that information with a stranger.

“But you’re prettier than her!” Annie blurted out as if she sensed the unspoken emotional ricochets of both adults. God knew I remembered being that young, and sharp enough to realize that something was happening under the surface but not quite experienced enough to figure it out. Annie was a sweetheart, and a bright one at that.

“I know you mean well,” I said softly after swallowing the large bite of cheesy sandwich I’d been devouring. “But you don’t have to compare me to her. I’m sure she was exceptionally beautiful in her own way—and I am in mine, and you are in yours! Humans and shifters come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and with plenty of amazing features.”

“You think I’m pretty?” Annie blushed as she looked down at her sandwich.

What I also remembered about that age was being acutely aware that I was bigger than the girls around me. For some reason, that meant everyone felt they had the right to bully me. It was hard being a kid then, and it had to be three times as hard now with social media and technology. Whereas I could come home and disengage from the bullies, every kid today had a portal in their pocket or on their desk connecting them to the same people who tormented them day in and day out.

This time, it was Bray who spoke. “Annie, you’re the prettiest little sister anyone could ever ask for.”

The girl scrunched her nose a little. “You have to say that! You’re my brother!”

“I’ll have you know that most brothers are not nearly as smart as me, and much meaner.”

“It’s true,” I said. “I’ve met a lot of brothers in my lifetime, and some of them are awful. Besides, as nice as it is to be pretty, there are a lot more important things about our character. Whether you’re kind. Whether you’re caring. Compassionate. Funny. All that matters so much more than what you see in the mirror.”

“That’s just what ugly people say to make themselves feel better,” Annie grumbled, kicking her feet.

Some people would have been offended at that, but all I heard was her repeating what she’d been told. “Do you think I’m ugly?” I asked.

“What?! No! I told you you’re pretty… just as pretty as Natalie!”

“Okay, then. Well, I’m the one saying that there are more important things than beauty. So, if I’m pretty, then it can’t be an ugly person saying that, can it?”

“I… I guess not.”

That was enough to change the subject, because as much as I liked helping the next generation, I didn’t want to overstep my place. I felt more assured once I glanced over to Bray and he silently mouthed “thank you” to me.

The rest of the meal went by without any more morals or parables, and I was pleasantly full after I finished my soup. But as Bray loaded our plates into the dishwasher, he spoke again.

“Just to let you know, Tayen will be here soon.”

“Tayen?” Annie froze in the middle of her sandwich.

Her response set off alarm bells in my head. I tried to casually glance at my host without looking like I was staring him down for any sign of danger.

“Why is he coming here?” Annie asked. “Are we in trouble?”

“No, of course we’re not in trouble. He’d just like to talk with our guest. It’s not every day a first-time shifter is found on the street.”

He said it pleasantly, but the alarm bells in my head just grew louder. Something about his answer was just far too aloof, and he smelled... guarded. How was that possible?

“Why would I want to speak to this Tayen?” I asked directly, figuring however Bray answered the question would tell me whether I was in trouble or not.

“Well, because he’s our head alpha. And I figure you’d want to meet him if you want to make a decision about possibly joining our pack.”

I tried to keep my tone completely level, but even I could feel my scent going crazy. Was that going to happen anytime I had an emotional reaction? I hadn’t been aware of shifters so acutely sensing the emotional state of humans, and it was more than a little unnerving.

“Why would I want to join your pack?” I asked.

Well, I knew Caleb wasn’t exactly on good terms with his own people. I didn’t know if that meant I was or wasn’t a part of his pack. I also didn’t know if I even wanted to be in the same group of people who had discriminated against him his entire life. Was it possible for us to do our own thing?

But then he’d also lied to me, and possibly stolen from me. Should I even want to be in a little pack of two with a man who was a decade older than me and practically lived his own life?

“You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but lone wolves live miserable lives, and you’d be more than welcome here with open arms,” Bray said. “You don’t have to be super involved, but if you do choose to join, having a pack can ground you. I mean, you saw how I was able to help you, and I didn’t do it alone. It was a fellow packmate who dropped off the food for you.”

He had a point. Without him, my entire first shifting experience would’ve been a lot different.

“Look, I don’t know if your pack just dropped a ball when it came to you, or if the humans who raised you were completely separate from the magical world, but no one will pressure you into anything. I just think it’s important that you have all the information, and although I’ve tried to do my best for you, I’ve only been a full shifter for about six years. I had my first shift a bit later at eighteen, right after I got out of high school.”

“You wanna talk about late?” I said. “I’m twenty-two.” Wait, no, I’d just had a birthday. “Actually, twenty-three.”

Bray let out a whistle. “You are a late bloomer. But what’s important is you made it.”

“True,” I said, feeling like Bray was just placating, even distracting me. “But I’ve had a rough time these past couple of days. So, if you wouldn’t mind, can we do the meet-and-greet later?”

I wanted a chance to talk to my parents and Caleb, and get a chance to breathe. It was also in my nature to have a million and one questions, and I’d feel a whole lot better if I got the time to write them all out.

“Ehhhh,” Bray hedged. “Tayen is already on his way, so normally, I’d give you all the time you need, but it’s mostly a done deal. But I promise you’ll like him. He just wants to make sure you’re safe.”

“I see.”

Well, that was a red flag, but I guessed I had to wait and see exactly what kind of man—and alpha—Tayen was.