Page 17 of The Werewolf Cowboy
Chapter 6
Trapped in a brothel in the Dark Kingdom, the mysterious, frightening place she’d only heard about in wolf tales as a child. And that thing…barring her escape.
Terror engulfed Katy, making her heart race like a war drum. The Thannach wanted her flesh, wanted to make her hurt and eat her alive…
You are wolf. You are Lupine. You are strong. Don’t be a ninny.
Katy closed her eyes, and then opened them.
Amazement filled her. Despite the lights being out, a glow filled the room. It came from the Thannach’s yellow eyes. She could at least see the creature, track its movements.
But you could see more and know more if you shifted.
Lupines didn’t need the moon to shift, thank the goddess. Calling upon all her strength, she stretched out her arms and summoned her magick, not knowing if it would work in such a foul place. Bones lengthened and her clothing and her Skin body vanished, replaced with wolf. The change was slower than in her world, and more painful, but her senses exploded, as if her Lupine abilities of hearing, smell, taste and sight had amplified ten times. Interesting. She didn’t need the eerie yellow glow of the furball’s eyes to see. Her night vision had sharpened to the point where she could pick out the scratches on the thick oak door, see the dust motes on the floor across the room.
The Thannach grinned, showed rows of teeth that could shred metal. Katy bristled. She snarled at the furball, “You may have teeth, but so do I.”
Stunned, she shut her mouth. Had she just talked? What the hell? Lupines couldn’t talk in wolf form. She’d never heard of such a thing, and never heard it done in her own pack.
Katy opened her mouth again, and growled, “I have big teeth.”
Yup, it was her.Hey, I can talk! A talking wolf.
Forgetting all her terror, she licked her nose.This is interesting.
“I can talk,” she said aloud. “Whoa. Wonder what other sounds I can make.”
Katy began to sing a chorus from Monty Python’s “The Lumberjack Song.”
The sensation was so overwhelming, Katy sat on her haunches and laughed. Now she was a laughing wolf. Humor was much better than fear.
The creature blinked. And then it grinned, showing those razor-sharp teeth that didn’t look quite so deadly anymore.
Katy held out a paw. “Look, let’s be reasonable. I’m a wolf, you’re a…whatever you call it. I’m afraid, I’ll admit it, but of this cell, not you. Those men were mean to you and I believe you won’t hurt me, so I’m going to shift back into my Skin form.”
The Thannach blinked again. It moved its red slitted mouth, as if it wished to speak.
“And I promise I won’t hurt you,” Katy added.
She shifted back to Skin and conjured back her clothing, her senses immediately dulling. After scanning the room, she saw the light switch had been turned off, probably when she hit it with her back. It was very close to the door…
She ran to the switch, flipped it on as the creature advanced. Katy remained still. She didn’t know why, but something urged her to show the creature she didn’t need her wolf defenses.
Obeying the impulse, she began talking in a low, soothing voice to the Thannach. “I just want to be friends, okay? Show you I can be wolf, but this form is nicer, because talking as a wolf is a crazy, you know? Except I can probably sing better in Skin.”
When she was within striking range, Katy stooped down, petted it on the head and then stepped back. It could snap at her, kill her if it wished. But her Lupine instinct told her it would not.
The Thannach blinked and transformed into a petite woman with a heart-shaped face, delicate porcelain skin, silver blonde hair, big green eyes. Her ears were slightly pointed. She wore a forest green gown and her feet were bare.
A Fae. Staring at her, Katy didn’t know what to think.
“Please do not sing,” the Fae said in a soft, musical voice. “I do not think my ears can stand that shrieking again.”
Katy sank down to the floor, laughing again. When she stopped, the woman blinked at her and smiled.
“Thank you for breaking the curse. I was doomed to be Thannach until someone wasn’t afraid of me in that form.”
“What are you?” she asked, deeply curious.
