Chapter 18
My wolf trotted to the back of the motel. We were staying on a private road, but the human world left an indelible mark with all its concrete, industrialism, and stench of exhaust fumes and garbage. It didn’t bother me, but running on the untouched lands of our property had spoiled my wolf.
After we left the theater, Cleo shifted back and we picked up dinner. Although the movie snacks had filled her belly, we sat together in the motel room just the same. This place didn’t have tables, but we made it work. Krys ordered me a steak. Not any measly steak but a rib eye.
My wolf couldn’t have been happier. With a long drive ahead of us the next day, I let him go for a run.
Most Shifters didn’t have that luxury in unfamiliar places.
They blacked out and risked getting struck by a car or even shot, but I stayed awake and guided my wolf to safety when I spotted trouble.
All I had to worry about was animal control.
They were sneaky. Sometimes they pretended to have a cookie or want to give my wolf pets.
The dark woods were uninviting. It wasn’t our home, but I let him investigate and sing for a while. When the moon rose to the highest point, I guided him back to the spot where I’d left my pants and shifted.
While I padded barefoot toward our room, a door abruptly opened and a woman jumped when I walked by her.
“Evening, sugarplum. Just passing through. Stay beautiful!” I said over my shoulder.
She stared contemplatively. Breed women were less apprehensive than humans. Some were dangerous, so I always tried to rub them the right way.
I startled whistling and then stopped when I thought about Hope telling me once not to whistle at night. Something about it attracting bad spirits, and I didn’t need another one.
Darcy wanted to join my wolf on his run, but it would only agitate him. “Keep an eye on Cleo. It’s an important job,” I told her. “She’s alone in there.” Darcy enjoyed having an assignment, so she gleefully babysat Cleo.
Noticing the lights were off in my room, I quietly slid my key into the lock so I wouldn’t startle Krys awake. Though I hated the idea of sleeping in the bathroom, I’d given him my word.
When the corridor light shone into the room, I stared at the bed, trying to make sense of the shadows.
I blinked in surprise at the sight of Cleo curled up next to Krys’s wolf. I couldn’t tell which way the animal was facing, but it was definitely his wolf. When I noticed her arm draped over him, I was certain I might have a stroke.
The wolf jerked his head up, and his blue eyes glittered in the dark. A threatening growl rumbled in his throat like an engine starting up. After a single ferocious bark, he sprang to his feet and barked so loudly it vibrated against my eardrums.
“Whoa! It’s me, Virgil Nightingale, your best friend for life.”
Cleo sat up and wrapped her arms around his neck. “He won’t hurt you.”
I glowered at her. “Why are you in here? He could’ve killed you.”
“Krys saved my life in a fire. He’d never hurt me. Besides, his wolf is nicer.”
I sputtered with laughter and closed the door behind me.
Cleo turned on the lamp. By the look of her T-shirt and sleep shorts, she’d gotten out of bed to come in here. But why? Everyone knew Krys sometimes shifted in his sleep.
As if trying to upset me even more, she stroked his head, and the wolf bared his fangs at me. “We’re best buds.”
“Does Krys know that?”
“If he did, he’d never let me play with his wolf anymore.” She scratched beneath his neck. “Me and Wolfy are buddies. Should we give him a cool name?”
“Cleo, cut it out. He’ll bite.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, gripped the wolf’s head—while he was barking—and kissed his nose. The vicious creature groaned as if embarrassed and then sneezed.
Krys’s brown wolf was easy to spot in any group because of the four black stripes on his right side that resembled claw marks. There was no better way to describe it, as if the fates wanted to put a warning label on him.
Cleo rubbed her eyes. “I know why he’s always angry.” When she stroked his back, Krys sat and growled. “Something happened to him. People hurt him. He’s not growling because he wants to kill you; he’s scared you’re going to hurt him.”
“Scared of me?” I scoffed at the idea. “Krys isn’t scared of anyone.”
“Animals get angry when they’re scared. I saw it on a nature show. It’s a survival mechanism, like when a snake bites to defend himself.”
“Don’t bring up snakes. Come on.” I crooked my fingers and crossed the room to the connecting door. “Time for bed. And we don’t name our animals. They’re not pets.”
“Joy named hers.”
“That’s different. She used to have two.” I entered her dark room and waited. “Are you hungry? I have snacks in my bag.”
“No.” She made a running leap for the bed.
“Why did you go in there?”
“I heard him barking and knew he was scared because he’s not home.”
“I’ve got it from here.”
After reclining on her pillow, Cleo folded her hands across her stomach and gave me an expectant look. She wanted me to tuck her in like a little kid.
I dragged the covers up to her chin. “Good night, little snow leopard.”
She giggled quietly. “Good night, crazy wolf.”
I sauntered to the door and muttered, “Krys is threatening to end lives in there, but I’m the crazy one.”
“Uncle Virgil?”
I smiled over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“Can I watch TV? I’m not sleepy.”
“Do what you want, but don’t come in here again. We have a long drive tomorrow, and the adults need sleep.”
“I promise.” She reached for the remote and turned on the television.
I slid both connecting doors closed and then locked our side, worried she might get the bright idea to come in and snuggle with the demon wolf again.
Darcy poked her head out of the bathroom. “Is it safe?”
“He can’t even see you. Someday I’ll understand your weird ghostly behaviors, but today is not that day. I thought you were watching Cleo? Why did you let her in here?”
“Let her?” Darcy huffed as she pushed through the doorway and anchored her hands on her hips. “What was I supposed to do, tie her down with my invisible lasso?”
My lips twitched, but I refrained from smiling. “You could’ve slipped into her mind and suggested she go to sleep.”
She shrugged. “I tried, but she’s too strong-willed. That only works on weak-minded people, and that girl’s mind is far from weak. Did you see her snuggling with that rabid mutt?”
“Don’t call him a mutt.”
Krys continued growling, likely unnerved by the fact that I was talking to myself.
I pointed at the connecting doors. “Go keep an eye on her. That’s your one and only job, and you can’t do it from inside a bathroom. Make sure she doesn’t leave the room.”
“Fine, fine. But I want control of the radio stations tomorrow for one hour!” Darcy vanished through the wooden door.
I fell onto the bed and stared up at Krys’s angry wolf. “You sure are protective of that girl. How dare you growl at your favorite person.”
The wolf unexpectedly morphed into a very naked man on his knees beside me. Krys blinked and looked around. When he noticed me below him, he shot off the bed and bumped into the lamp. “What the hell are you doing in here?”
I rolled onto my side and propped my head in my hand. “News flash: Your wolf and I bonded ages ago.”
Krys stepped into a pair of tight black trunks. “What the fuck?” He swept back his hair with a nonplussed look. “Are you serious?”
“It happened after the snakebite. You don’t remember him sleeping in my room? Sometimes, when no one’s looking, he follows me around. Gives me kisses.”
“Fuck you he does. He’ll rip your face off.”
I laughed and rolled onto my back, fingers laced behind my head.
“I only agreed to sleep in the bathroom because I wasn’t sure if you were ready for the truth.
You’re dead set on that wolf hating everyone.
Is he unstable? Sure. Has he ever attacked any of us?
No.” I eased up on my elbows when he crossed around to my feet.
“In fact, when I walked in a minute ago, he was snuggling with Cleo.”
The blood drained from his face. “What?”
“Cleo’s been keeping your friendship a secret. Face it: You’re not so unlovable after all. He even tried to mount my wolf once. And I don’t mean in the dominance kind of way,” I said with a playful wink.
Krys pressed his ear to the connecting doors.
“Don’t worry, she’s down for the night. I gave her a good scolding. You’d be proud.”
He sat on the edge of the bed and cursed under his breath. “He could’ve bitten her.”
“That was my initial thought, but after seeing you two together, it’s obvious your wolf would rip the world apart for that child.”
My gaze fixed on the upholstered chair in the corner that his wolf had clearly demolished. I’d underestimated Cleo’s bravery to approach him in that frenzied state, even if they were buddies.
Krys rubbed his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Time to tell me what happened to you when you were younger that made your wolf like this.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
I sat up. “Why not?”
“Trauma drama. It doesn’t do any good to talk about bad shit and let it rule my life. I’m fine.”
“Are you? Because the chair says otherwise.”
His brow furrowed as he fixed his gaze on the window. “Did Cleo lock her front door?”
“Probably.”
Krys walked out of the room. Curious, I followed.
Standing in the outside corridor, he rapped his knuckles against her door.
Cleo opened up and poked her head out. “What?”
“Why did you answer the door?”
“Because you knocked.”
“That’s how people get snatched. Lock the door and check the windows again.”
Cleo mumbled something, closed the door, and locked it.
Krys stared at the door before knocking again.
A moment later, she opened it.
He propped his hand against the wall. “Stop opening the door.”
She gave an exasperated sigh. “Then stop knocking!”
“Don’t leave this room. If you get thirsty, knock on our connecting doors and I’ll get it for you. I don’t care if it’s the dead of night.”
She canted her head. “It is the dead of night. I’d rather drink out of the faucet.”