Page 53 of Little Etheldreda Riding Hood

The word “babe” is what does it, I think. I want to scream at him. He stalks me, breaks into Darla’s trailer, and still expects me to help him?

“Babe? Babe? Have you lost your fucking mind?” I ask him. I’m yelling. I really should keep it down, but I’m at the end of my rope with this man. “You leave me for some woman you haven't even seen in four years. For months I'm the town pariah because we'd been together so long, people thought I was your Luna. And when I finally get the courage to leave town and try to start over, you had to come here and make my life here hell, too? And now you want me to help you?”

I’ve never understood the expression “seeing red,” but staring down at Morgan with all the audacity in the world, it suddenly becomes clear. I move toward him without even realizing what I’m doing. Zach grabs me by the waist and spins me away. But I’m not to be deterred.

“I want to hit him,” I complain. “I should be allowed at least one good punch.”

“Sorry, Red,” Zach says, throwing me over his shoulder like a caveman with his woman.

“Are we free to go? This one needs a nap or a snack or both.” Zach says.

The deputy chuckles. “I just need a quick statement from you both before you go. But don’t worry, sweetheart,” she says to me. “Where I’m taking him, we’ll give him all the help he needs. We even have special jumpsuits that will keep him nice and toasty. I hope your daddy has deep pockets. Judge Michaels is always grumpy on Monday mornings.”

Morgan covers his head and groans.

Epilogue

“Are you ready?” Zach asks me. It’s Sunday night and I’m laying naked in his bed. Usually it’s a work night for both of us, but Zach asked me to take the night off for some surprise he had. Though so far, it’s been a pretty normal night. He’s practically bouncing with excitement as the afternoon sun sets, but refuses to give me hints.

“You’ll see,” is all he says with a smirk. It’s almost nine when he pulls me away from the TV and demands I go lay down.

Oh, so it’s that kind of surprise.

Not that I mind. I’m enjoying every moment of this honeymoon phase that I can, but he could have just told me he wanted to take a night off to spend in bed and I would have been perfectly happy doing that. I undress and wait patiently for my surprise of his cock.

The thought makes me giggle. Soon I’m imagining Zack stepping out of the bathroom with a bow tied to the end of his cock and I cannot stop laughing.

“Red?” he calls out, sounding slightly nervous. “Are you still out there? Are you ready?”

I try desperately to stop the giggles, but all I can see in my head is his cock with a shiny red bow.

“Red?”

“Ready!” I manage to get out before another fit of giggles overtakes me.

Zach steps into the room, completely naked. Sadly, his cock is unadorned. Moonlight from the blinds shines through the window, forming lines of light across his thigh and torso. He clears his throat like he’s about to speak, but instead, he hunches down on all fours.

I sit up quickly in shock.

He’s actually shifting into his wolf in front of me.

His shape slowly changes as hair fills in the areas where all of his bare skin is normally exposed. His face elongates, a snout appears, his ears move and stretch to fit the top of his head. When it’s complete, he stretches in a downward dog pose and looks up at me with the same gorgeous Lamar eyes. His coat is the same shiny brown as his natural hair. I scoot over on the bed and pat the space next to me.

“Will you come lay next to me?”

Zach jumps up gracefully on the bed and stretches out so that our bodies touch. I run a hand over him, starting at the top of his head and smoothing down his spine, hoping he’s not offended that I’m petting him like a dog. He snuggles closer into me and puts his face close to mine.

After the mess with Morgan was settled and he dealt with the criminal charges stemming from breaking and entering Darla’s trailer, the counsel took further steps to ensure he wouldn’t bother me again.

No one has ever told me what those steps are, and I don’t ask. I just know he’s alive, out there somewhere under the close watch of the counsel.

I finished the stage with Zach’s help in time for the Wild Hare to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and then we fell back into our old routine of work and school. But through it all, I still had one nagging thought that refuses to go away–what happens on the night of the full moon? What’s going on with the single wolves? Sex in the woods? Wolf orgy? No one would tell me. You would have thought I was still back home the way everyone clammed up.

Zander came the closest, but said it’d be better if Zach showed me. Then things got busy, and I’d forgotten to even track the moon, but I guess Zach hadn’t.

Zach’s wolf sighs and leans his face close to mine, a soft whine coming from his throat.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. He moves his face closer and continues to whine. I have no idea what’s wrong–it’s not like he can tell me anything in this form. I stare into his eyes, wishing he could use his vocal cords, though would a talking dog be as cute as they are in movies or would that just be weird?

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