Page 69 of Mortal Shift
“Right. Guess you don’t really care about that. Shocker.” I stepped closer. This was the fastest way to get to the nearby town, and my mom. That was the only thing that matters. Clenching my jaw and steeling myself, I swung one leg over his broad shoulders, and straddled his back. He lurched up into a stand and I let out a yelp as I started to slip, and grabbed two fistfuls of his fur. His head twisted round to look at me, his lupine expression utterly unreadable, and then he started to move, slowly at first, then he leaped forward into a run. I yelped again and tried to grip his sides with my knees, but that only seemed to make me bounce more.
I’d imagined a lot of scenarios where I escaped from Darkveil, but this? Yeah, this hadn’t been in any of them. Riding a giant wolf was definitely not in my top ten ways to travel.
His muscles bunched and expanded beneath me as he ran effortlessly despite my awkward position perched on his back, and he seemed to roll his back to counter each slip I made, like he was determined not to drop me. Guess he didn’t want a pair of matching bald patches on his shoulders—because I was pretty sure I couldn’t have released my death grip on the fur there if you’d paid me.
The night air raced past us, cloaking the surrounding trees until the last moment, but Cole seemed to sense each one long before it came close, and somewhere deep inside Iknewhe wouldn’t drop me. He seemed to vow with every movement,I won’t let you fall.
And something inside me believed him. Probably just more proof that I was an idiot, but my fear ebbed away with every reaching step, until it was just the two of us, racing through the darkness of a beautiful night. And it was impossible not to see the beauty all around me, or to feel the exhilaration of the chase. For the first time, I wondered how itfeltto be wolf, to be running with the pack, delighting in the physicality of nature. And for the first time, I felt like I was missing something. Something that he was sharing with me now. I might not be able to run on four legs, but sitting astride my mate, it was almost as if I could.
He came to a halt far too soon, and it took a long moment for my eyes to notice the lights in the distance. Guess we were coming up on the town. I disentangled my fingers from his fur, and slid to the floor.
My legs almost gave out under me and Cole stepped quickly, using his body to support me as I regained my balance.
“Uh, thanks. I could get to like wolf-you.”
He snorted in what I figured was amusement, though I wasn’t sure whether it was at my expense. Then his eyes twitched to the bag on my back.
“Oh, right. Guess you can’t walk into town as a giant wolf, huh?”
I pulled the bag from my back, and the wolf in front of me shrunk down into a crouching man. A very naked crouching man.
“Gah! Give a girl some warning before you do that.”
“And miss your reactions? No chance.”
“Did I mention I prefer you as a wolf?” I asked, and thrust the bag at him. He took it with a chuckle and I turned away as he pulled his clothes back on.
“Let’s get moving,” he said, eyes fixed on the lights in front of us as he thrust the bag back to me.
“Guess I’ll just take this, then,” I said, rolling my eyes and putting the now-empty bag on my back again.
We walked in silence and it took only a couple of terse minutes to reach the town. Cole seemed to know where he was going, and I was surprised to find myself staring at a quaint inn that looked like it wouldn’t have been out of place in old town England.
A wooden sign hung below a thatched—genuinely thatched—roof, declaring it as the Wandering Willow Inn. I could hear the muted sounds of people coming from within, and through the windows I could see groups of people sitting round tables, drinking and laughing in the light of a roaring fire. It seemed…idyllic. Beautiful. And I knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I was going to go inside, and warm myself by that fire, and drink and relax and wash away my weariness from the road, and that all would be well. Perhaps I’d stay for the night—or two, or three, because really, what was the hurry? Where else could I possibly need to be but the Wandering Willow?
Cole’s fingers snapped in front of my eyes a couple of times and I blinked him into focus.
“Hey!” I protested. I didn’t want to look at him. I wanted to look at the pretty inn, and step inside and warm myself by the fire, and ask if they had a room for the night.
“Dammit, Cali.” Cole snapped his fingers in front of my eyes again. “Stop being so damn human.”
“Huh?”
“It’s enchanted. I should have known you wouldn’t be immune to its magic.”
“What do you mean, enchanted?”
“Look at it. No, not directly.” He grabbed my shoulders and turned me slightly. “From the corner of your eye. And remember: It’s. Not. Real.”
Well, that sounded like a load of gibberish to me, because that warm fire had definitely been real, and the pretty roof…and my sudden, inexplicable desire to spend several nights there despite the fact I was supposed to be rescuing my mom. Huh. That was weird. I narrowed my eyes, and then very carefully peeked from the very corner of them at the inn. The rundown, grubby inn with peeling paint and grimy windows that was about as appealing as a cold shower on a winter morning.
“Enchanted, you say? Well, that’s fun.”
“Just keep reminding yourself it’s an enchantment and you’ll be fine.” His smooth forehead wrinkled. “Probably. Just don’t go wandering off.”
“That’s reassuring,” I muttered under my breath as Cole led us to the door and pushed inside.
“Greetings, wary travelers,” a short, ruddy-faced man greeted us with a warm smile as we crossed the threshold. “Welcome to—Oh, it’s you.”
