Page 39 of A Malicious Menagerie
He blinks a few times, the question taking him off guard. Then, his mouth forms a firm line, and he shrugs. “I don’t know. I just… You talked to me like Iwas a person. No one has done that since I was brought here. I didn’t want to lose it.”
“You do realize how fucked up that is, right?” I ask, mimicking his words but smiling to take away the sharpness.
He snorts. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“I’ll still talk to you like you’re a person,” I promise. “But now, I get the benefit ofyoutalking tomelike a person, too.”
His eyes are the color of warm toffee when he visibly softens at my words. “Fair enough.”
“Besides,” I continue lightly, hoping to alleviate some of the gloom that has snuck into our conversation, “I still need someone to babble incessantly to, and you—” I punctuate my point by pointing at him, “—are a captive audience.”
At first, he doesn’t react, and I wonder if I pissed him off. Before I can take it back, though, he breaks down in laughter, the sound a little like a rusty chainsaw.
“Too soon?” I ask innocently.
“Way too soon,” he agrees, grinning. “You’re something else, Anna.”
It’s my first time hearing him say my name, and it does funny things to my insides that I decide not to scrutinize too closely. “As much as I’ve enjoyed our talk, Chase,” I say, making sure to use his name, too, “I have to go. If I don’t start getting some things done, John will come find me.”
Another low grumble rolls through the space between us. “The guy’s an asshole.”
“You have no idea,” I grumble, and Chase’s eyes grow sharp.
“What does that mean?” he demands, wrapping one hand around an iron bar in a white-knuckled grip.
“Nothing,” I say, waving off his concern. “I can handle John.”
“Anna…”
“I guess you need dinner, right?” I move toward the freezer, letting him know this conversation is over.
“You would have told me what was bothering you if you still thought I was a dire wolf,” Chase growls. “By the way, you do know that dire wolves areextinct, right? And they weren’t anywhere near as big as me.”
“Nowhere near as big as your ego, I’d bet,” I mutter under my breath.
As I let the cool air from the freezer brush over my cheeks and stare at the stacks of frozen raw meat inside, something occurs to me. I glance at Chase, who’s scowling back at me. “I just realized… When given the choice, do you actually eat raw meat?”
He makes akind ofmotion with his hand. “As a wolf, sure, though I’d prefer hunting my own. As a man, though…” He sighs. “I’d kill for a cheeseburger.”
“Kill who? John and Mathis?”
Despite maintaining his human form, the look Chase gives me in that moment is entirely lupine. A shiver coasts down my spine as he grits out, “Those two I’d kill for nothing. Their deaths would be reward enough.”
“Jesus,” I mumble, rubbing my arms to chase away a chill. “The wolf came out a little bit there.”
“I told you.” This time, when Chase grins, his fangs are long and dagger-sharp. “Iamthe wolf.”
Fighting back another shudder, I decide to change the subject. “Well, unfortunately, I don’t have any cheeseburgers today. Though maybe I can manage one tomorrow. In the meantime, it’s frozen ribs for dinner.” I glance back at him. “Can you go behind the divider so I can come in?”
His shoulders tense, and his dark brows furrow. “You haven’t closed the divider in weeks.”
“That was before I knew you were a werewolf,” I remind him again.
“Anna,” he says, his voice deadly serious, “I would never hurt you.”
“You just professed to wanting to kill people,” I remind him wryly.
“People who deserve it, sure, but not you.”
