“What a dream!” I groaned as I came to, prompted by Jake shaking me awake on the bed.

His handsome, bearded face was hovering over me as the world came into focus. “Elise? Hey, you okay?”

“What happened? Did I just pass out or something?” I asked, glancing down his body, expecting him to be naked for some reason.

Jake, completely clothed, put a hand to my forehead. “Yeah, sort of. You don’t remember anything that happened?”

“No,” I said as I sat up, brushing his hand away from my shoulder, “all I remember is this crazy dream of you turning into a black wolf while you were in the bathroom. Something wild like that.” I shook my head, trying to dismiss the images that seemed so damn real. “But that’s crazy! That can’t happen. Like I said, crazy dream.”

He gave me an exaggerated frown. “Well…” he said, drawing out the word.

I shook my head. “Nope, that’s crazy. That’s absolutely, unbelievably crazy. Right?”

He winced and nodded. “Oh, believe me, it’s crazy. But–”

“See? I told you, it’s crazy.”

“–it’s true. I can, and I do. Me and the guys at Frost Security.”

It was like someone had taken a ceramic spark plug and shattered the window of my reality. All the shards just came tumbling down at that moment, spreading into my lap and the world outside. What was up? What was down? Wolves can become men? Men can become wolves? Was the sky still blue? Did the moon still control the tides?

What. The. Fuck?

I scrambled back across the bed, crab-crawling backwards and to the side as fast as my hands and feet would carry me away from Jake. I curled up against the headboard.

“Whoa, whoa!” he said, standing up with his hands out. “It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you. I’m exactly the same guy I’ve always been. Nothing’s changed!”

I shook my head. “Nope, this can’t be real. Nope, nope, nope.”

He jerked a thumb back over his shoulder, towards the bathroom. “Want me to go show you again? Because it’s real, Elise. It’s realer than real.”

“But it can’t be! This kind of thing doesn’t exist, Jake! You don’t exist!”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “Well, that’s news to me. I’m about as real as they come.” He held out his forearm and pinched it with his other hand. “See? Want me to cut myself, too, so you can see how fast I heal? See that I do, in fact, bleed red blood?”

“No,” I squeaked, shaking my head, “that’s fine.”

“Look,” he said as he very carefully came around the bed to my side, “I told you this was going to change your world, Elise. I told you that, didn’t I?”

“So this is my fault that you’re real?”

He shook his head, still moving at an exaggeratedly slow pace, like he was dealing with a wounded bird that might just fly away. “No. Look, I just—I wasn’t ready to tell you yet, okay? You’re the first human I’ve ever told.”

I barked a burst of laughter, a weird maniacal sound to my ears. “First? Jesus Christ, Jake!”

He gestured to a spot on the bed. “Do you mind?”

I shook my head. “Fuck no. Not till I say so!”

“Okay,” he said, nodding, hands out in front of him still, “okay, that’s cool, I understand.” He went over, grabbed two beers and sat in one of the chairs. He popped the lids off both and offered me a new one.

What had happened to my other? Oh, right. I dropped it because the guy I have the hots for turned into a fucking wolf in the fucking bathroom. I took the beer from him, tipped it back, and chugged until the carbonation and hops were too much for me, the cold swirling down into my belly as it paradoxically warmed my insides at the same time.

“Let me get this straight,” I said after draining about half the bottle, “you’re a werewolf.”

“We prefer shifters. But, I guess so, yeah.”

I took a deep breath and shook my head. I tipped the bottle back and finished the rest. The alcohol was beginning to make my head swim. In many circumstances, that might have been a bad thing, but I figured tonight I would need it to calm my nerves and relax my mind.

“Think you might wanna–”

“–drink another beer?” I interjected, finishing his sentence for him.

He gave me a blank look and got up to grab another, leaving only one remaining in the six-pack. Guess he hadn’t bet on us going through the whole thing so quickly! He twisted off the cap and passed it to me. “Feeling any better?”

“Are vampires real, too? Is magic?”

His eyes went wide and he just kind of shook his head. “What? No. Well, I don’t know. I’ve only met a few of us. I mean, my first pack in LA, then the guys at Frost.”

I frowned. I’d really been hoping magic would be real. That there was something bigger and weirder out there than just what science gave us. I mean, I guess there was, and I had proof sitting right in front of me. And more down in Enchanted Rock, from what Jake said.

“All of you are werewolves?” I asked. “The girl I met, too?”

“Lacy?” He shook his head. “Nah, Lacy’s just a human. So is her grandmother, who works at our office. Far as I know, they don’t have any shifter blood in their family. Not that they’ve mentioned, at least.”

“But your boss, the guy that showed up at that guy Kevin’s house when we found the body?”

He nodded. “Yeah. He’s the one who asked me to join. He’s the alpha of our pack, the leader.”

I wiped a hand down my face, shook my head. “You know this is just fucking crazy, right?”

“Why do you think I didn’t want to tell you? Or show you?”

“Okay,” I said. “Going back to that whole thing. You’re a werewolf.”

“Shifter.”

“Whatever. Shifter. I’ll try to remember you’re a shifter. You told me your big secret, right? So what happened on the mountain last summer?”

He sighed and ran a hand back through his hair. “Okay, you know those bikers back at Crossroads in Yellow Rose?”

I nodded.

“Those guys belong to a biker gang called the Skull and Bones. One of them was harassing one of our guys, Richard, had him holed up their with a client—Jessica, actually, the one you met at the Curious Turtle. Her friend and Lacy were there, too. We showed up and helped Richard get rid of them. As wolves.”

I’d put the bottle up to my mouth to take another drink, but now the bottle hung in my hand, the mouth of the bottle inches from my lips. I set it aside, saying, “You fought the biker gang? As wolves?”

He nodded. “Not proud of it. They didn’t really stand much of a chance once we showed up, but they were going to hurt Richard and maybe kill the girls. So we stopped it.”

“Okay. Well, that makes sense.”

He slapped a palm to his forehead. “And now that I’m telling you about that story, this makes perfect sense. Who else but Spike would have sent that text message? Here I was, worried that someone else knew about us.”

“Spike knows what you are?”

“He was there.”

We talked back and forth about Spike, about the fight that had happened. About how Spike refused to tell anyone because he was worried they’d all think he was crazy.

I laughed at the last part. “Of course he feels that way! I know, too, and I still fucking think I’m crazy!”

Jake smiled a little and took another drink of beer.

I set my beer aside and licked my lips a little. “Jake, I’m going to ask you a question, but I don’t want you to think that I consider you to be some kind of freak show. I grew up as a weirdo outsider, and I’d hate to have anyone else feel that way because of me, but…”

“But?”

“Can I see you change into it? Into the wolf?”

He cringed a little and shook his head. “It’s not pretty, Elise. It’s actually pretty grotesque. You really don’t want me to, not in front of you. I don’t ever change in front of anyone unless they’re in the pack, honestly.”

I frowned. “Well, how about in the bathroom again? Just so, like, I can see it? Promise I won’t pass out this time.”

He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Does this mean you’re okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think so. It’s just, like, an absolute shock. Like someone telling you water isn’t real or something. Or the tooth fairy is! I don’t know.”

“How about this?” he asked, setting his beer aside. “You text Spike back, tell him what you learned, and I’ll go change.”

“Change?”

He shook his head. “Yeah, you know. Change.”

“Oh!” I said. “Right!” I grabbed my phone from the bed and started to send Spike a text as Jake slipped back into the bathroom. He only shut the door part of the way this time, not completely latching it closed. I heard him undressing as I typed out the text to Spike.

I know what happened. I know what he is. Now tell me what you know about my sister.

A few minutes passed as I surfed the news, waiting for either a response or for Jake to emerge in his four-legged form. Honestly, though, the news couldn’t do much to keep my interest. Wars and famine or celebrity gossip were nothing compared to what was happening in my motel bathroom right then.

Finally, Jake nudged open the door with his nose and paw, opening it wide so he could fit his enormous bulk through the frame.

I gasped, almost dropping my beer again.

Now that I knew what to expect, I could fully take in his form. He was beautiful! Sleek black fur covered him from head to toe, with intelligent eyes looking out from his giant head. Panting with his tongue hanging over the side of his mouth, he came walking over, tail in the air like a flag.

“Want on the bed?” I asked in a high pitch voice, patting the comforter. “Huh?”

He whined, snorted at me, and lowered his tail a little.

“Sorry,” I replied, wincing a little. “You’re not a dog. You’re not even a wolf.”

He hopped up on the bed anyways, the mattress straining so loudly it almost sounded like the frame was going to break under his weight.

I nearly leaped back, the primitive part of my brain screaming at me that this was most definitely not a dog, and I needed to be careful. I fought back against it and kept myself still as a stone in one place. Not because I was worried about frightening Jake off, or anything, but because I was worried I’d offend him.

“Should I, like, pet you, or something?” This was definitely a strange experience and I didn’t know what to do.

He yawned and pushed his head forward.

I reached a tentative hand out, that lower part of my brain still shouting bloody murder as I reached out a shaky hand and burrowed it into his thick fur. I scratched him behind his ear and scratched the side of his muzzle.

He panted happily as I grinned down at him.

“Who’s a sweet boy?” I cooed.

He pulled back a little, startling me.

“What?” I asked. “What’d I do?”

He snuffled again and gave me a look, his head tilted to the side as if to say “Seriously?”

“Okay, okay,” I said, laughing, “scratching, but no dog talk. I’ll be careful, I promise.”

He flopped down next to me, this time closer, and dropped his head into my lap.

After a few more moments of scratches, though, he got up from beside me and hopped off the bed. “Where are you going?” I asked as he walked back to the bathroom. “Oh. Right.”

He went into the bathroom, shut it behind him with one paw, then stayed in there for a few minutes.

I was kind of worried I’d hurt his feelings, or offended him or something.

“Everything okay?” I asked as I heard his belt buckle jostle against the counter. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he called back after a moment. “It’s just, uh, it’s a little hard to sit still when I’m a wolf.”

“What do you mean?”

He emerged from the bathroom, running a hand through his disheveled hair. He came over and grabbed his beer, sitting back down in the chair he’d been in earlier. “Well, like, there’s more instinct involved. Like people and things smell different when I’m a wolf. And it’s, uh, distracting. Plus, I want to run and hunt, not chase a tennis ball or get scratched behind the ear.”

“No tummy rubs then?” I teased, smiling as I took another drink of beer.

He grinned. “Sorry. No tummy rubs.”

As I gave him a fake pout, my phone lit up and chimed with a new text message notification.

“That our guy?” Jake asked, his eyes narrowed.

I pulled up the message and read it out loud to Jake. “Eve stole the package from Kevin, but she didn’t take them to Casper. She gave them to me.”

I dropped the phone into my lap. “Well, at least she didn’t take the drugs.”

“Or do them.”

I grinned. I knew my little sister wasn’t that big of a fuck up. “True.”

“Only leaves us with one problem,” he said after another drink of beer. “If she doesn’t have the drugs anymore, what do we do about Trigger?”