Chapter 2 #2
“We need to talk,” Bel said firmly, trying very hard not to feel utterly ridiculous.
It wasn’t like the wolves were going to be able to clearly articulate why they were sticking close to him.
And he wasn’t going to be able to explain why he wanted them to leave.
He just hoped they could reach some kind of understanding so they could move on.
Since stepping into the clearing, he’d gotten feelings of cautious hope and relief, but the fear had not left or eased. In fact, Bel was fairly certain that the fear they were feeling had nothing to do with him.
There was a soft rustling, and the larger of the two wolves stepped beyond the trees and into the clearing.
His fur was completely black except for the fat flakes that were spotting him and slowly melting.
He was enormous. Possibly even bigger than when Bel had seen him a couple of months ago. Maybe his winter coat had come in.
He remained on the far side of the clearing, his head down but his nearly black eyes pinned on Bel.
Seconds later, the other wolf emerged. He was smaller in height and girth, but still an impressive creature with white-and-gray fur.
The second wolf hung back, just behind the larger wolf’s shoulder, but his body pressed close.
Bel stared at them, trying to sort through the barrage of images and emotions coming off them, but not much of it was making sense.
The whole thing didn’t make sense. He’d spoken to and used wolves on several occasions in the past. They were intelligent creatures but always easy to understand. This…this was almost like chaos.
“Look,” Bel started, forcing his voice to remain hard, “I know you had an arrangement with that other vampire, but you’re free now. You don’t need to stay with me. You can seek out your own kind.” While he spoke, he sent the wolves mental images of running free with other wolves.
The black wolf looked over its shoulder at its companion before turning to Bel. Tension pulled tight in the silence, and Bel clenched his teeth to keep from speaking. He had to give them a chance to understand they were free. He had nothing to offer them.
Something sparked in the air. Bel jerked at a tingling along his flesh under the layers of clothes.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and as he tried to speak, a soft glow encased the black wolf.
Bel blinked his eyes quickly and turned his head against the growing light.
But as fast as it appeared, it disappeared again.
And where the wolf had been, now stood a man.
A tall, muscular, naked man.
Bel gasped. There was no time to even formulate a thought. The second wolf also turned into a naked man.
Sucking in several ragged breaths, Bel stumbled backward over a fallen tree log and landed hard on his ass in a pile of leaves and frozen earth.
The taller of the two men took a step toward Bel, his hand outstretched, but Bel held up his own hand to ward the man off.
He definitely wasn’t up for having him close just yet.
His brain was still trying to remember how to run his body while dealing with this new information.
“Were-were—you’re werewolves?” Bel choked out.
“Yes, and you’re a vampire,” the first man said. His brow was furrowed, and he looked more than a little confused. “I don’t understand why you’re surprised.”
“Yes, I’m a vampire, and my brother claims to know a witch, but that doesn’t mean every magical creature should exist,” Bel sputtered and waved one hand frantically in their general direction.
He wasn’t trying to push to his feet because he wasn’t sure his legs would even support him.
At least the world wasn’t going to tip him over again if he remained sitting.
“Well, werewolves are real,” the other man said with a smirk.
“Yes, I see that.” Bel’s eyes drifted over the larger of the two men.
A mobile mountain, really, rather than a man.
He stood several inches taller than Bel with shoulder-length dark-brown hair and piercing eyes that were nearly black in the dim light.
His shoulders blotted out the sky that could be seen through the trees above.
It tapered down into a flat stomach and a thick—Bel quickly closed his eyes and turned his head, but it was too late.
He could feel the heat stealing into his cheeks as he realized he’d been very closely inspecting a naked man in the woods. Two beautiful naked men.
But that wasn’t the point.
“Are you okay?” The question came from the smaller of the two men.
His voice was lighter and younger. He sounded as if he were on the verge of laughing, not that Bel could blame him.
Usually he was at least somewhat graceful and pulled together.
Maybe not as much as Rafe, but enough that he didn’t look like a dithering idiot.
“Fine. I’m fine.” The wind whipped up, rustling dead leaves on the ground, and Bel shivered, but it was enough to unclog the knot of thoughts stuck in his brain. “Cold! You must be cold!”
Bel shoved to his feet and whipped off his coat. With a slightly shaking hand, he held it out to the wolves while carefully edging across the clearing. He kept his eyes on the ground so he would not be tempted to take a closer look.
“Thank you,” the taller man said as he accepted the coat and immediately handed it over to his companion.
Bel did not want to think about why his heart quickened its pace when the smaller man buried his nose in the collar and took a long sniff.
He sighed, and Bel felt a little burst of pleasure from him before he slipped on the coat.
Bel and the younger man were roughly the same height, but the werewolf’s shoulders were wider, making it a tight fit.
His hair was more a mix of blond and light brown, while his eyes looked to be a pale hazel.
The shifter wrapped around the side of the other werewolf as if trying to share the newfound warmth.
“We didn’t mean to startle you,” the taller man said. “I’m Wyatt Campbell, and this is River Stone.”
“Beltran Varik,” Bel replied as if it were the most natural thing in the world to speak with a pair of shapeshifters in the middle of a winter forest. He crossed his arms over his chest against the fresh sting of cold that was biting through the too-thin shirt he was wearing.
“We thought it would be easier to explain why we can’t leave while in this form.” Wyatt frowned and looked down at River, whose face was pressed into Wyatt’s shoulder. “If you turn us away, we’ll be killed.”
Bel’s mouth fell open, but no words came out. It wasn’t enough that his brain had to try to deal with the sudden existence of werewolves in his world, but now two lives were supposedly dependent on him. It was too much to try to figure out in the bitter cold.
Overhead, Ozzie cawed loudly, and it sounded like belly laughs.
“Shut up, Ozzie,” Bel snapped.
Lifting his hand to his eyes, he rubbed them, partially hoping that when he lowered his hand again, he’d be looking at normal, everyday wolves. This had to be some weird dream. He’d obviously fallen asleep in his lab yet again.
But he blinked, and the men were still in front of him. Luckily the cats had wandered off when he’d lost control of them during his shock. They gave the impression that the humans weren’t worth the drama they were creating and had left to find food.
“We should take this to my house, where it’s warm,” Bel announced.
And where things in his life still made sense.