Page 47 of Runaway Wolf
Now Caitlin put down her fork, but she laid her hand on his. “Did she make it?”
He shook his head. “She was never right. Her wolf was born from violence and wanted more chaos. Wanted to kill everyone and everything. My momma? She was always sweet and her human side couldn’t take it.”
He could tell her the horror of it all. That her wolf wanted to take him out—her only child. Because that was what the creature thought was the only barrier keeping their human side in line, and their animal wanted control. His mom wouldn’t have that. As soon as that thought crossed her mind, she took a match to a gas stove. Blew the entire cabin before her wolf could stop it.
That she’d only had the wolf for a week. That took strength, and he always admired strong women. Just like his Cait.
“And you were alone.”
“With a father that hated me. With a crew that hated me for being his. I didn’t have anything left to lose but the one thing I wanted to lose. The connection to him. I challenged him and he laughed. It was his mistake. He should have been around more to see the monster I carried inside. There were rumors, of course. But he was too arrogant to listen. It was a bloody battle. My wolf toyed with him. Strung out the death longerthan necessary. For that, most of the old-timers didn’t stay. They thought I was too unstable.”
“But this crew did?”
“Not at first. The twins did. Their dad had died earlier and mom moved on. The family were at the bottom of the pack, but that didn’t matter to someone like my mom. She’d befriended them anyway. That loyalty stuck even after her death, the entire pack really liked her. Noah and Misty moved off with their parents, but the new pack didn’t feel like home. They came back. Joaquin? He’d gone rogue for a while but when he saw the rest of us joining up, he returned.”
“And then Noah met Penny.”
“Then Noah met Penny. I probably should have been kinder, but she was human. I saw what could happen to humans.” He shrugged. “I was wrong. She’s been good for Noah. A good member of the pack.”
“I’m sorry about your mom. I would have liked to have known her.”
“You would have gotten along like two peas in a pod.” He smiled, and it was genuine. For once, he didn’t feel sorrow at his tale. He felt like he could remember his mother for the good in her life. The times the two of them shared.
Caitlin brought him that.
They finished eating and cleaned up the kitchen together, and he loved that. He would be more than happy to do it all, but he loved spending extra time with her. And sometimes, when she wasn’t in her head, he knew by the sweet smiles and the way she stood close to him that she loved it too.
When the rest of the pack started wandering in the front door, she went quiet again. He wanted so badly to know what she was thinking.
Don’t let mate pull away from us.
The wolf was right. So, when Amos and Alex started teasing her, he noticed she slipped out of her shell a bit. That was his chance. He moved close to her and took her hand in his. Didn’t let her go, not even when the front door opened and Noah and Penny came in.
One by one, they filtered outside, Penny bundled up in her big coat. The rest yelping from the cold as they stripped naked under the awning, and quickly changed.
“I’ll stay human and wait for you to change.”
Her eyes zipped up to him. “I-I still don’t know how long it’ll take.”
He lowered his forehead to hers. “Take as long as you need. There’s no rush.”
The others weren’t going anywhere, just playfully nipping and chasing each other.
“Go on!” Penny called to Caitlin. “As soon as ya’all drop your clothes, I’m going to take the piles inside so they don’t freeze. Then I’m going to relax in the tub.”
Isaac grinned at Cait. “Penny doesn’t want to strip off her human modesty while I watch.”
Caitlin gave him a quivering smile back, and then pulled off her clothes. He wrapped her up in his arms, planning to keep her as warm as he could until her wolf emerged.
She grunted and groaned, fur sprouting but melding back into her skin. Finally, her spine gave the trademark jerk and cracked, but the change still slowed for her.
He crooned softly into her ear. “It’s okay, love. Relax. I know it hurts. It’ll happen soon, and then the pain will be gone.”
And the rest of the pack, knuckleheads as they were, they whimpered in response to her suffering and slowly approached. Noah licked her blue feet, warming her toes. Joaquin laid his head over her chest, listening to her heartbeat. Misty whined and nuzzled her neck. Amos put a fat paw over her belly and Alex licked her arm.
They howled, calling to her wolf. Asking her to join, and sonofabitch if it didn’t work. Her face twisted, her body elongated, pulling away from him as she slowly began to shift. He left the others licking her, helping her onto four trembling feet, as he stepped back and stripped, tossed his own clothes onto the deck, and then leaped off the stairs, changing midway in the air.
He landed right next to his little wolf.
