Chapter 7
Julie’s body was still buzzing. She could feel the vibrations constantly humming in her bones, a secret knowledge she’d somehow unlocked upstairs with Will.
His hand touched hers as they moved through the room, stopping to chat with Brigham family members and friends.
Julie watched it all go by in a blur, the names and faces losing meaning compared to what she knew inside her soul.
“Are you okay?” Even his whisper was deep and gravelly as he leaned down to talk in her ear.
“Mmhm.” She smiled at him. “Just…you know.”
He pulled in a deep breath, and the movement brought his body a smidge closer to hers.
They’d experienced such pleasure together, yet the desire was beginning to build once again.
“Yeah, I do. Maybe I should get us a little something to eat. I’ll be back.
” With a wink and a touch on her elbow, Will headed for the long buffet table laden with food.
A cold drink was pressed into her palm. “You look like you could use this,” Carol said with a wink of her own.
“Do I?” Julie touched her hair, trying to remember if she’d brushed it back out before they’d come back downstairs.
“You know how to celebrate the season, don’t you?” Carol raised her glass and clinked it against Julie’s. “Oldest tradition in the book, and definitely one of the best ones.”
Crimson bloomed over Julie’s cheeks. “Is it that obvious?” she whispered. She realized she’d gotten a few knowing smirks or looks from the others, but she’d been too dazed until now to recognize them.
Carol laughed lightly and leaned a little closer. “Let’s just say no one needs to get you two a chemistry set for Christmas.”
“Oh my god.” Julie looked down at her drink, mostly to avoid looking at anyone else. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be, dear. There are a lot of virile men in this bunch, and there’s something irresistible about them.
Besides, you came here to have a little fun, right?
You deserve it, and you shouldn’t punish yourself for that.
” Carol pointed with her free hand toward the center of the room.
The music had been turned up, and some of the Brighams had started dancing.
“Everyone else is having fun, after all.”
“I guess that’s true,” Julie admitted. She spotted Will, still over at the table.
He was carefully piling food onto a plate, considering each thing before he added it.
Was he trying to figure out what she liked or didn’t like when they’d only known each other for a couple of days?
Well, he might not want anyone to call him sweet, but he definitely kept showing her he was.
She made a mental note to tell him that when he returned.
For the moment, Julie contented herself with watching the show.
Ross and Hart were the first ones to get started, twisting and shaking, throwing their arms in the air and smiling at each other with such love in their eyes.
The kids came next. Vivian was trying to find a way to work her ballerina skills into a more modern dance.
Elijah looked like he couldn’t decide if he was a ninja or a dancer, and he liked it either way.
A young man and his girlfriend stepped out next.
Julie was fairly certain Stacey had introduced him as Jace’s son, although the Brigham family was big enough that it was hard to keep track of everyone.
Barbara Brigham spun gracefully out into the middle of the room, and she even managed to drag the subdued Paul with her.
Julie spotted Holly’s daughter Ruby dancing near Vivian and Elijah.
She was a darling little child, just a toddler, but she charmed everyone as she clapped and shook.
It’d been quite some time since Molly was that little, but she still remembered it so clearly.
It’d gone by in the blink of an eye, and her darling little baby was a young woman.
A sharp bark brought Julie back to the present moment.
She blinked, not understanding what she saw.
Where Ruby had been a moment ago now stood what looked like a wolf cub, with fuzzy gray fur and little black tips on its ears.
No, it couldn’t be a wolf. Someone must have a puppy, one of those dogs that resembles its ancestors a bit. Maybe a light-colored husky?
The pup was getting excited, just as roused by the noise and energy of the room as the children.
It took off, running in loops around the partygoers and trying to herd them into a circle.
Julie had to laugh as it threw its little head back and howled.
It was the cutest damn thing, but then Julie noticed that no one else seemed to be enjoying the show.
The dancers were watching with horror. Stacey looked stricken.
Will had frozen with the plate of food in his hand.
Had this dog just slipped in the door or something?
“I think that’s about enough of that.” Rick, Carol’s husband, stepped forward and scooped the puppy up handily. He cradled it in his arms like a baby as he moved toward the kitchen.
Ah. Okay. So the guy had a dog that wasn’t great at parties. No big deal.
But then, before Julie’s eyes, the puppy transformed. Its ears shortened. Its little muzzle pushed back into its face. Those little paws became little hands. Rick wasn’t holding a dog of any kind. He was holding Ruby.
Julie firmly set down the glass in her hand as Will rushed up to her. “You know, I think I’ve had more than enough to drink today.”
“We should talk,” he said.
What was she seeing in his eyes? Fear? Nothing really made sense right now.
“No. That’s okay. I’m just going to lie down.
” Julie glanced at the kitchen doorway, which Rick had gone through a moment ago.
He’d already disappeared, but even if he were still standing there, it wouldn’t have proven what she’d seen.
Her legs were heavy as she dragged herself back up the stairs that she’d so lightly skipped down just a little while ago.
The music was still playing, but it sounded distant against the static in her ears.
She thought she might’ve heard Will say her name, but she just kept going.
Whatever had just happened was too much.
She shut the door to her room and went straight to the bed, collapsing on top of the covers and not bothering to get underneath them. Julie had to find a way to make the world make sense.
A few seconds later, her door opened a crack. “Julie? It’s Stacey.” When there was no response, Stacey stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. She walked softly over to the bed and laid a hand on Julie’s arm. “We need to talk.”
“I’m not sure words will make any sense right now. I don’t think anything does.” Julie squeezed her eyes shut tight and buried her face in the pillow.
“I understand, but everything is okay.” Stacey was using that extra-smooth, almost singsong voice she used when one of her kids was sick. Julie recognized it because she’d used the same voice with Molly.
“Are you here to tell me I have a drinking problem?” Julie said into the pillow.
“Or that my drinks were laced with some sort of hallucinogenic drug? Yeah. I’ve been drugged.
That would make sense. Ha! The only thing that makes sense is the very last thing I would’ve expected here.
No, actually. The last thing I would’ve expected was for a little girl to turn into a…
” She trailed off, still not completely sure of how to complete that sentence.
“A wolf cub,” Stacey filled in for her, gently stroking her back.
Hearing someone else say it made it all the more real, and Julie’s stomach quivered threateningly.
Pressing her tongue against the roof of her mouth to hold back any physical reaction to her stress, she rolled over and looked up at her friend.
“Is this some sort of terrible trick? Does your new family find it funny to pull pranks on new people? Because I’m not into that, Stacey. ”
“I know you wouldn’t be, but this isn’t anything like that.” Stacey licked her lips, and her brows scrunched together as she tried to think. “What you saw down there was real. Ruby did turn into a wolf and then back into a little girl.”
“This isn’t funny,” Julie warned. She’d always trusted Stacey, and it didn’t feel right to hear this sort of thing coming out of her mouth.
“No, it’s not funny at all,” Stacey agreed. “It’s the truth. Ruby is a shifter. The thing is, most of the people downstairs are.”
“Shit, are you going to turn into an elephant to prove it?” Julie felt angry and defiant, like a child who doesn’t understand why adults act the way they do. She’d lain down because she felt so disoriented, but it wasn’t helping. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, she sat up.
“I’m a human, just like you are. Plain and simple.
So are my kids. But there are people on this earth who look just like us on the outside, but they have a whole other side to them that comes out every now and then.
I haven’t lived it myself, so I can only explain it from what I’ve seen as I’ve been living with them. ”
“Okay, listen.” Julie launched herself off the edge of the bed and walked to the window.
Even in winter, the view was picturesque from there.
It was too pretty, and she wanted only to concentrate on the ugly truth.
She turned back to Stacey and leaned against the sill.
She could see the sincere look on her trusted friend’s face, but she couldn’t reconcile what she’d seen and what she was being told with the reality she’d understood her entire life.
“What you’re talking about is fiction. Comic book stuff.
Like Ruby got bitten by a radioactive wolf or something. ”