CHAPTER SIX

 

Simone woke with a start, looking around the room. She was alone, with sunlight streaming through the cracks in the blinds, landing on the smooth blankets covering her.

She ran her hand across her face and scrubbed, trying to sort dreams from memories, reality from fantasy. Was that mystery man real, or a figment of her horny imagination? She’d felt that weird feverish heat all through her body before he came to her, but maybe even that had been just part of a dream.

There was only one thing she was certain of; if that sex had been nothing more than a figment of her imagination, then it would be the biggest disappointment of her life. Yet she was alone now, and there was no sign around her of anything having happened. Even the bed covers were still mostly in place.

It was only as she tried to get up that her questions found some kind of answer. The delicious ache between her legs was at least a hint that the man had been more than a little real.

But with that realization came the memory that she’d never even looked at him. Never challenged him. Just let him prowl into her room and take her from behind.

She’d felt an unearthly kind of connection with that man-beast; one that pushed aside any rational thought. It was only in the light of day that her brain could get back to normal and tell her body what to do and who to fuck.

But with reasoning came thought, and with thought came regret. She realized that, from the moment he’d busted into her room, she’d assumed that man was Adam. But after all, this was Leigh’s family home. What if it had been Mr Poulsen? Celebrating his anniversary by banging his daughter’s friend?

“Oh, god…”

Even if it had been Adam’s incredible body grinding into hers last night…that still wasn’t great. Because he was every weakness she’d ever had, all rolled up into one gorgeous man. Not to mention he was cockier than a rooster farm.

Simone slowly rolled out of bed, dragging a robe on and stumbling to the kitchen. Leigh was already up and far chirpier than anyone had the right to be so early in the afternoon.

“Here you go, honey.” Leigh handed over a fresh-brewed coffee. “Wanna talk about it?”

“About what?”

“Last night, of course. You and Adam. I think we’re gonna have to replace a couple of windows.”

“Wh-what are you talking about?” The slight relief she felt knowing it really was Adam was dashed pretty hard by the knowledge that it really was Adam.

Leaning across the counter, Leigh cupped Simone’s face in her hands. “Honey, honey, honey. You’re in wolf country. Ears don’t lie, especially ours. But seriously, plain old humans two counties away would have heard you guys.”

“Oh, god.” Simone pulled out of Leigh’s grip and covered her eyes. “I wasn’t sure if it happened or not. I thought maybe I dreamed it.”

“That’s normal, Monie.”

“Not for me. When did I become such a whore?”

“Whore, schmore.”

“I mean, I just don’t do that.”

“You don’t fuck? Why ever not?”

“Fuck? Sure. Every chance I get, which these days is pretty much zero.” She took another fortifying gulp of coffee. “But this wasn’t even like sex on the first date. There was no date. There was no talking. Just…”

“Glorious, mind-scorching, sheet-ripping jiggy-jiggy?”

“Exactly. It’s embarrassing.”

“Why? I told you, wolf country. Sex is as natural as eating around here. And sometimes, it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.”

“What the hell are you talking about, Leigh? You keep bringing up wolves and talking like… I don’t know. Like you’re completely deranged.”

Leigh frowned as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “I still can’t believe you don’t know.”

“There are millions of things I don’t know, Leigh. You wanna try and narrow it down for me?”

“Wolf shifters. You’ve heard of us, right?”

Simone sipped at the blissfully hot liquid in her cup. “Is that like a moving company? The Wolf family and their fleet of trucks?”

“No, honey. Humans who become wolves.”

For a moment, Simone screwed her mouth up to the side. “You mean role playing? I had an uncle who, like, dressed up in costume to go watch Harry Potter.”

“And what a fabulous uncle he must have been. But no, not role-playing. I mean we literally become wolves.”

Simone glanced around. “Okay, where’s the camera?”

“There isn’t one.”

“We’ve been having a busy time at work. Maybe your brain snapped?”

Leigh chuckled and wrapped her hands around her cup, leaning forward on the bench. “Nope. I’m as sane as you are.”

“That isn’t exactly a glowing endorsement, you know.” Simone took a longer slug of the coffee and gave Leigh a double shot of side-eye. “So, what…you’re trying to tell me shape-shifters are real?” She couldn’t keep the grin off her face.

“Absolutely. I thought pretty much everyone knew. Especially my friends.”

“And you just, kinda, turn into wolves and go off to play with Bigfoot?” Simone chuckled at her own joke. “Oh, do you have, like, changing rooms? So you can get into your wolf suit in private?”

Leigh rolled her eyes and smiled. “Now you’re being silly.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m the one being silly. When you’re the one claiming to be a vixen.”

Leigh sucked in a quick breath and flared her eyes. “Vixens are female foxes.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“No.” Leigh stood right in front of Simone, hands on hips. “Not yeah, yeah. I’m a wolf, not a fox. What you just did…well, it’s like telling a Trekkie to use the force.”

“Calm your tits, babe. What’s wrong with foxes?”

Leigh sighed out so hard it sounded like she was deflating. “Nothing. It’s just that I’m not one.”

“I know.” She put her hands around her mouth like she had to yell. “Because you’re a human.”

Leigh remained still for a moment, one eyebrow cocked. “All right. I guess there’s only one thing for it.” She pulled her T-shirt off and started unbuttoning her jeans.

“Hey, look, I love you, Leigh, but only as a friend. You understand?”

“Pfft. I’m not getting naked, I’m just taking off all my clothes.”

“Because there’s a difference, of course. But the real question is, why?”

Leigh was down to just underwear by that stage. “You ever tried to unclip a bra without your hands?”

“I remember a time, in the dim, dark, distant past, where my bra seemed to come off magically, without my hands ever touching it.” She sighed theatrically.

With Leigh now stark naked in front of her, Simone wasn’t sure where to look. Okay, so the girl was curvy and gorgeous, but even in college Simone had never tried swinging that way.

“Are you ready, Monie?”

“Ready? For what?” Please don’t say sex please don’t say sex…

“Watch.”

Simone kept her eyes locked on Leigh’s, mainly because it was that little bit less uncomfortable than looking any lower. The comfort was short-lived, though. After a moment something freaky started going on with the girl’s body.

“Told you… it was truuue…”

As Simone watched, Leigh’s face bent out of shape, elongating in front as her ears seemed to migrate up her head. She dropped to her hands and knees and grunted, as weird popping noises and horrible cracking sounds came from all over her body. Before Simone could truly comprehend what was happening, there was a gray and ginger wolf standing in the kitchen of Leigh’s family home.

For a moment, Simone sat still, gaping at what had happened. Then wolf-Leigh nuzzled at her hand, like a pet dog might, and the spell was broken.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me. How did I not know this about you? About anyone?”

The sound of a door opening down the hallway set wolf-Leigh into alert mode. She raised her ears and turned, stalking toward where the sound came from. Leigh’s mom sounded even more tired than Simone had as she called out.

“Morning, girls.”

A moment later the sound of the shower running seemed to put wolf-Leigh at ease. With her tail still pointing at Simone, and with the same disgusting noises, she morphed back into human form, finishing up on all fours.

“Um…” Simone studied her fingernails. “Uh, Leigh?”

“Wh–what?” She panted heavily, like she’d been running.

“Well, I know you’re a wolf and all, and you guys are really keen on the moon…but, uh…”

Leigh glanced over her shoulder with a smile, then wiggled her ass. “Aw, miss Monie is all confronted.”

“Hell yes, I am. My best friend just flashed me everything she has. Oh, and did I mention she turned into a goddamn wolf?”

Leigh stood up and shrugged her clothes back on. “It’s kinda what we’re known for around here. I honestly thought you knew.”

“Well, I didn’t. Wait, does this mean Adam is a wolf, too?”

Leigh paused for thought. “He is, but…well, it’s not something he talks about. Not even with us.”

“After the party last night, I can see conversation is a long way down on his list of skills.” Of course, after his performance in her bed last night, talk barely even mattered.

The fact she was ranking mindless sex above a meaningful relationship had her feeling like she needed to add yet another point to her whore score.

“All right, so what the hell is with him, anyway?”

“It’s a long story. I can tell you some, but not everything.”

“Spill! If he can do that, what you just did, why the hell doesn’t he do it all the time? Why don’t all of you?”

Leigh screwed up her mouth as she shrugged. “Well, aside from the effort it takes, there are times it’s just better to be in human form. Job interviews, meeting people’s parents, BDSM clubs. You know.”

“What the hell?”

“It is so damn hard to get a good swing with a riding crop when you have no thumbs.” She caught Simone’s expression and held up her hands. “I’m kidding. Sorry.”

“You better be.”

Leigh shook her head with a smile and continued. “But Adam? Man, you could barely stop him shifting when he was a kid.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“It’s true. He was a wolf more often than—”

“No, I don’t believe that guy was ever a kid.”

Leigh smiled and stood up. “Come on, this kind of story needs to be served with a side of food and booze. Go get dressed.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Well, if I’m gonna spill about your bed-buddy, then I want to do it somewhere he isn’t.”

Simone felt her guts ice up. “He–he’s here?”

“Uh-huh. Two rooms up from yours. Not that it would have mattered.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m saying if he’d been on the other side of town, he still would have found you. And not even our heavy doors would have stopped him.”

 

* * * *

 

Adam waited in his room until he heard them leave. He probably should have mentioned to Simone at the party that he was staying there, too, but she’d been all too ready to shut him down in every way. There hadn’t been any reason to upset her little apple cart any more than he already had. The way he’d pissed her off, she would almost certainly have gone to a motel if she knew they’d be under the same roof.

The house had been dark when he arrived back. But when he’d come in, with his pulse still racing after finally having it out with his parents, he was determined to ignore it all and simply head to bed.

He hadn’t even made it as far as his room before the intoxicating scent of Simone had seized him by the balls.

And the fevered fuzz that had filled his head meant that in the light of day, memories were almost impossible to isolate. All he could recall for certain was that he’d gone in naked, had poured himself into that goddess, body and soul…and then awoken with her tucked against him in the most heavenly embrace.

Yet it was cowardice, pure and simple which made him leave. And do his damnedest to hide any trace he’d been there. Had he stayed, he knew he’d dive headlong into that woman, time and again, until he lost any sense of himself. There was every chance that being his fated mate would be more than her human body and mind could take.

More than anything, though, he’d felt abject terror that she would drag his wolf back from beyond the grave. All the best moments in his youth had been as a wolf, yet they were shrouded—suffocated—by that one day of hell. He knew without a doubt that Simone would fill him like nobody else could. She would complete him. But that would mean he’d have to complete himself.

To be wolf again.

He had to end it, before someone ended up hurt.

Or worse.