Page 47 of The Mating Game
Well, mostly.
“All I’m doing is freezing to death,” I hear her grousing behind me, the chatter of her teeth clicking in the stillness. “How the hell am I supposed to pull at some invisible string?”
I yip again, pawing at the snow and bending the front half of my body as if readying to pounce. Thankfully, she gets my meaning.
“Yeah, yeah, lean into it, I got it.”
If I could, I would smile. She might be pricklier than I am sometimes.
I hear her feet shuffling in the snow, her muttered curses and deep breaths, and I don’t know if it’s her own body’s need to do so or just a stroke of luck, but after a few minutes, I hear something plop down into the snow, followed by the soft whimpering of another wolf.
And when I finally turn…I find the most stunning creature on four legs I’ve ever seen.
11
Tess
HolyTwilightknockoff,Batman.
I stumble around on four legs—repeat,four legs—letting out little sounds that only further my panic because they’re not shouts and curses; they’re howls andbarks. I stare down at my feet—or rather,paws—flexing my toes in the snow and marveling at how much warmer I feel already. I idly think,I guess fur will do that for you.
“How do you feel?”
My eyes snap up to meet those of Hunter’s wolf, and I’m stunned all over again, because I’m aware that he just made a sound that wasn’t at all human, and yet I understood it perfectly.
“This is so fucking weird.”
Jesus Christ. Apparently, not only do Iunderstandwolf, I speak it too.
Hunter trots over to me, sniffing at my ear, and I wince away self-consciously.
“What are you doing?”
“Just getting your scent,” he tells me. “It’s slightly different in this form.”
If I had a nose still and not a fur-covered snout, I would wrinkle it with distaste. “Does it smell…bad?”
Hunter makes a low sound in his chest, one that is both human and very much not human all at once. “It’s definitely not bad.”
I try to steady myself—it’s much harder to stand on four legs than you might think if you’ve never done it before—taking in my surroundings with a sort of clarity that makes me realize myeyesare better now. I can see the tiny flurries of snow as they’re unsettled by the wind. I catch sight of the leaves trembling in the breeze from my peripherals. I can even see the slight flick of Hunter’s tail as he studies me quietly.
“Well,” I warble. “How do I look?”
His eyes are still the same dark brown that’s almost black, even like this, but they seem sharper somehow, and I guess given what I just observed, that makes sense too. He snuffles at me, making another a low sound, and I understand his words so well he might as well have spoken them.
“Gorgeous.”
I don’t think wolves can actually blush, but if they could, my face would be on fire.
God. This is so fucking weird.
“What do we do now?” I ask.
He gestures with his head over his shoulder, drawing my eyes to the clearing beyond. “Let’s get you used to four legs.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
I swear, if wolves could smile, he would be grinning maniacally.
