Page 14 of Entangled in the Woods
“You and Jack?” I didn’t know why I was suddenly interested in Kleio’s love life, but her candor was amusing and I was desperate to talk about something besides my night with Wilder.
“Yeah, Jack and I are together. Don’t go getting any ideas.” She smirked at me in a teasing manner as we walked. Toward the end of the road of tents, there was an open field full of tall grasses and wildflowers, which rolled into dense woods that looked impossible to traverse.
“Where are we?” I didn’t remember seeing this road or encampment on any of the maps Robinson had given us. If he knew that this many people were gathering this close to our cabin for some sort of event like this, I was sure he would have warned us.
Kleio stopped and turned toward me. “So, this is going to be hard to explain. You aren’t from this area and aren’t familiar with our customs.” I looked at her with confusion on my face. “You’re at Camp— Oh shit, move—quick!”
She grabbed my arm and pulled me forward as I felt the air whoosh behind me. I turned my head in time to see two enormous wolves run past us and into the field.
“We should probably stand somewhere else,” Kleio said.
The two wolves chased each other in the fields, tackling and nipping at each other playfully. My feet cemented to the ground as I stood there watching them. I had never been that close to a wolf before. Their fur had brushed against my skin as they’d run by.
“Come over here.” Kleio pulled me away from the road and sat down in the grass with her legs underneath her. I followed her, keeping my eyes on the wolves in the field. “Let’s start simply. I’m actually a little nervous,” she said with a laugh. “This is Camp. We are…” She took a minute to pick her words. “The technical term isLycans. We can shift our forms if we want to—into a wolf. Most humans call us shifters.”
I blinked at her. Wolf shifters? Like the wolves from myths?
“Am I doing okay so far? This is the first time I’ve personally given ‘the talk’ to a human before,” she said, using air quotes.
I nodded at her. I didn’t know how it could be going better or worse.
“Okay, good. I’ve heard it can be quite shocking for humans to learn about us.” Kleio looked out into the field before continuing. “We’ve had humans in our pack before. Occasionallya shifter falls in love with one and brings them around.” She tilted her head, looking up at the sky, then snapped her head back to look at me. “But you’re not in love with Wilder.”
“Definitely not,” I said.
“Then it’s just a happy mistake that you’re here. Welcome to the world of Lycans.” Kleio opened her arms in a sign of welcome, but I didn’t know how to react. I must have been staring at her mouth with my own mouth gaping open in shock.
“I know you saw my fangs. Don’t worry—we don’t bite. Hard.” Her lighthearted smile flashed her sharp canines, and she pushed me playfully on the arm. “Okay, that was a corny joke. We don’t eat humans. We enjoy the same foods as you humans do.”
I had so many questions. “Shouldn’t you be, like, in hiding or something? How do people not know about this?”
Kleio laughed. “Hiding? I think I can pull off a pretty good human.” Then she smiled at me with closed lips, hiding her teeth, but when I didn’t say anything in response, she shrugged. “Everyone around here knows who we are, and we don’t get many visitors. When we do, our good looks can distract even the most curious of humans. You were sure distracted enough last night.”
I couldn’t help myself from snorting. “Seriously?” Staring her down, I gave her the nastiest look I could muster.
“Fine, fine! I won’t bring it up again. I just always like to tease the girls that get caught in Wilder’s web.”
Great—so I was one of many. “Finding girls at bars and taking them home is a common occurrence for him?” I asked.
“Only the girls who are desperate enough to follow him home.” It was my turn to push Kleio in the arm. She held her hands up in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m really done this time.”
It hit me then that I had just slept with a shifter. Sex with Wilder hadn’t seemed any different from any other encounterI’d had. Except for my lack of enjoyment. And I definitely didn’t remember any fangs. But all the same, last night I’d shared a bed with a mythical creature. I could feel the blood drain from my face.
“I know this is probably a shock to you, but you’re safe with us here,” Kleio said. “We need to get through the next couple of days, and then you can go home and have the wonderful memory of living with wolves for the weekend.”
She laughed as I looked at her unbelievingly. Kleio seemed so normal and so human. How could it be that Lycans were a real thing? Did this mean that vampires and witches and dragons and Bigfoot were also real? Were they all just living under our noses?
“I can see your mind spiraling,” she said. “I promise we’re very normal. We just have fangs and can turn into wolves…maybe that isn’t the most normal, but other than those abilities we’re just like you!”
I had to laugh out loud at that. There wasn’t anything ordinary about these shifters. The two wolves that had almost run me over earlier were still bounding around in the grass, playing and chasing one another. Other than their size, they looked like regular wolves. There was something majestic about seeing wolves so close. Their fur looked shiny and soft, flowing through the breeze their bodies made while running.
“So, you can turn into one of those?” I gestured out to the field.
“My wolf isn’t as big as theirs, but yes, I can.” My eyes must have bugged out at her because she quickly added, “Don’t worry—I’m not going to shift! I wouldn’t scare you like that.”
Shift,yet another word to add to my Lycan vocabulary. I nodded, trying to process everything.
Kleio’s face shifted from teasing to something softer. “I know this is a lot to take in. Since you’re going to be here a couple ofnights, let me ask Everett where he wants you to sleep. You can have some time to yourself before we eat.”
