Page 54 of Werewolves Don't Howl
What did that mean? I blinked at him. He’d sounded almost sincere. Cold, sure. Factual, of course. But also sincere. He was a hard man who did hard things, but did that mean he should be miserable?
I smiled brightly while my heart pounded faster. “You’re trying to tell me that you don’t love my company? Too bad. You’re already my plus-one for the wedding. And I expect you to play the part of love-sick beau with enthusiasm.”
“The enthusiasm of an elf.”
“So basically no emotion whatsoever, but you will tolerate me and my siblings.”
“I will soak up the warmth, happiness and love that I’ve had to live without in my cold, lonely existence. I will try not to resent it too much.” He gave me a slight smile before he turned and headed towards the house, leaving me with my new tree, the breeze whispering around the trunk and leaves, like the echo of his voice, but he wouldn’t ever say what I heard on the wind.
I shook my head and let the wolf block out my elf. The wolf was unashamed of her obsession with Cross, but my elf wouldn’t ever forgive the monster who still hadn’t offered an apology for those months of torture. Particularly since he was the one she’d crushed on so stupidly in the first place.
I woke up the next morning with Lynx curled up next to me, in a glade next to a running stream, which was my favorite outdoor spot. It was filled with a variety of small flowers that weren’t conventionally beautiful, but smelled delicious, spicy, like Cross’s carnations.
Speaking of, Cross was leaning against a tree trunk beside me, eyes closed, seemingly asleep, but he never slept. I stared at him, studying the way the first morning rays hit his skin, bringing it to life with a luster you found in pearls, not flesh. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and all of him was a beautiful living sculpture.
I blinked and looked down at the fabric draped over me. He must have put it over me when he found me naked during the night. Rude. He should avoid me when I was naked, like a proper elf. How long had I been human? No idea. I needed one of those talismans that you could use, so your clothes shifted with you. Or I could hang around with elves like Cross who didn’t notice my nudity. No, he clearly noticed, or he wouldn’t have covered me with his shirt. He just didn’t like it. Doubly rude.
“You’re sleeping outside again,” he said without opening his eyes.
“You’re wonderfully observant. Have you ever thought of starting a career based on your amazing talents?”
He opened his eyes, and the sunlight brought the violet specks to life. “The plan is to go to your brother’s wedding today.”
“I know. That’s why I slept outside. I’m going to miss it.”
He smiled slightly. “Do you want to hear about the woman’s lab results?”
He smiled over the creepiest things.
“She has a name.”
“You’ve never used it.”
I shivered. “No. Once someone dies and then comes back to life, names seem too small to capture the horror. What were the results? I mean, if you can tell me. You tell me too much.”
“You’re bound to me. I can tell you anything. That is, anything that you can personally handle. Such a delicate triad. She was altered in more ways than undead animation.”
I leaned forward. “How so?”
He furrowed his brow in a frown. “Genetic mutation. Her brain was developed in the areas where magical ability develops. She started out human, but it looks like they were seeing how much more she could be turned into.”
I wrapped my arms around myself and exhaled a long breath. Increasing natural ability would be huge in absolutely every magical circle. “That’s Lynx’s priority? Making super werewolves?”
“Super everything. It tracks with your wolf, your magic, all of it being more than you had before you were infected.”
I grabbed his hand. “You’re telling me that I’m a test tube baby?”
He blinked at me, mouth twitching. “Of course that’s what I’m telling you. Not that an experimental drug was used on you that has completely unknown side-effects. You were the first beast they made.” His jaw tightened. “They’ve been watching you, building on your survival to push further. The beast was in Singsong City, because that’s where you were.”
There were watching me? Creepy. Goosebumps ran up my spine, but I only tsked. “Seriously? Where’s my paycheck? Test subjects should be well paid.”
He cleared his throat. “I’m nervous about going back to the city. The beast’s been playing a game for a long time, but it’s getting more twisted, sick, personal. Your safety is not optional.”
I poked him. “That’s why you trained me so hard. The beast won’t see me coming until it’s too late. You only became my protector to use me as bait.”
He gave me a seriously annoyed look. “You are under the strangest misapprehensions, Miss Era. You’ve never been bait. You never will be.”
I batted my lashes at him. “You say the sweetest things.”
