by Chant, Zoe
Eventually, she had done what she could for now. It was nearly midnight, and she was exhausted. She’d have to call Tyler or one of the other local rangers tomorrow to see if they could take the wolf instead, and rehabilitate him. Tyler and her dad were good friends, and had worked together dealing with dead or wounded wild animals, so Tyler would know what to do.
She ran her gloved fingers through the thick fur of its neck. The wolf’s golden eyes met hers, and she almost thought those eyes looked disappointed and accusatory. No, she was clearly seeing things. “Come on, let me show you where you’re gonna sleep.”
She didn’t even need to use the catch pole this time, the wolf seemed more than happy to follow her into the hallway and towards the separate room where the overnight patients had to stay. There were several crates placed around the room, two cats in one corner, one dog in the opposite corner and a ferret who hissed angrily at anyone who came near it.
As soon as Maddy entered the room, the wolf following her, the animals went ballistic. The ferret started shrieking; the cats were hissing and yowling while the Chihuahua let out a constant stream of sharp, high-pitched barks.
Maddy looked down at the wolf, half-surprised the noises weren’t coming from him. Instead, he looked up at her as if to say ‘well, I’m not staying here.’ She didn’t blame him; she had never seen animals react like this unless they were seriously threatened. But the wolf hadn’t made any threatening moves and had kept his distance. “Okay, you can’t stay here; you’d be stressing out the others way too much.”
It would’ve been so much easier to ignore the protests from the other pets and lock the wolf up in one of the bigger dog crates, and safer, too. While this wolf had clearly been domesticated, he was still a wild animal, wounded, and didn’t know Maddy. For all she knew, he might panic in the middle of the night. “Come on, you’re with me.”
She locked the door behind her, and led the wolf down the hallway and through the door that connected her dad’s clinic to her parents’ home.
“I hope you’re house-trained,” she said, glancing down at the wolf, which had followed her into her parents’ living room. She closed the door behind her, and the wolf stayed by her side. She would’ve expected him to start sniffing around or even hop onto the couch. “Let’s see if we can find somewhere to sleep for you, hm?”
The wolf butted his head against her thigh, and then looked up at her.
“What do you want, boy?” she asked. “Food? You must be hungry.”
The wolf let out a soft whine, and rubbed his head against her leg again.
He definitely wanted food, and while that did mean a quick trip back to the clinic, fortunately her father kept plenty of dog bowls and kibble around. It probably wasn’t what the wolf was used to, and she hoped he didn’t have any dietary requirements, but she figured that anything was better than having a hungry wolf in the house.
When she put the bowl with kibble in the kitchen, right in front of the wolf, he didn’t even sniff at it. He just looked from the bowl back up to her, as if to say ‘that’s it?’.
“I don’t know what you’re used to, boy, but whatever it is, you’re not getting it from me.” She gave him a shrug. For all she knew his owner raised him on raw meat or game, and she definitely didn’t have that around. “It’s that or nothing.”
The wolf sat down in the kitchen and watched her fill a bowl of water, which he did drink from.
“Or maybe the fight made you lose your appetite, huh?” she mused, watching him drink. “Or the stress from being in a strange environment?” He didn’t look stressed, though. His body language was relaxed, with his tail was hanging down, though his ears twitched when she spoke. Still, at least he wasn’t scared or aggressive, and hadn’t taken to peeing everywhere.
Maddy left the wolf to his drinking and hopefully eating, then went into the guest bedroom to find an old blanket for him to sleep on. When she returned to the living room, he was already waiting for her, his tail wagging once by way of greeting. He was looking up at her, tongue hanging from his mouth, every inch the happy pet. It was kind of weird to see a wild animal behaving like this, and she was getting more and more curious about his owner.
“Okay, boy, you’re gonna sleep down here tonight,” she told him, walking back into the kitchen and spreading out the blanket in the corner next to the window. She patted the blanket once, and the wolf came over to sniff her hand. “Okay? You stay here. Stay.” If he really was as domesticated as he appeared to be, he had to understand that command.
She stood up, the wolf watching her, and took an experimental step back. The wolf kept standing next to the blanket, but as soon as she turned to go into the living room, she heard the tell-tale sound of claws across the kitchen tiles as he followed. “No, stay,” she told him firmly.
He whined, nudging his head against her hand.
“Stay.” She tried to sound firm, but her fingers were already running through the fur between his ears, and she knew she didn’t sound nearly as authoritative as she should. Maybe she should simply ignore him and go to bed herself. She had done everything she could for the wolf, and it was getting late.
Maddy wasn’t even surprised when the wolf followed her up the stairs and into her old bedroom. It had changed since she had left home, the posters of movie stars and animals that used to adorn the walls were all pulled down, and there were a lot more college textbooks in her bookcase than before she had left, but her queen-size bed was still the same, including the pink and purple duvet covers that were more suited to a teenage girl than an adult woman. “No,” she told him, when he sat down on the dark purple rug at the foot of her bed. “You were meant to stay in the kitchen.”
The wolf stayed where he was, tongue hanging out, clearly content to spend the night in her bedroom.
“You are a very bad dog,” she said. “I hope you know that.”
He let out a soft whine, then nudged his head against her hand until her palm was running through his fur again.
Despite herself, she had to smile. “You are a charming one, aren’t you?” She ran her fingers through his fur, leaning down to pet his back. “You know what? Fine, stay here. I don’t care.” She ran her hand over his wounds carefully, and didn’t find any blood on her fingertips. “And I guess if you do start bleeding again, at least I’ll be nearby.”
She was being ridiculous, and she knew it. She hadn’t been this softhearted with an animal since her first year in college, and she usually found it a lot easier to ignore pleading eyes or pitiful whines, but there was something about this wolf… “I bet you’ve got your owner wrapped around your paw, huh?”
The wolf stood up to move closer, leaning his body against her legs, his tail wagging when her hands ran down his back again.
“I hope you’re a quiet sleeper,” she murmured, giving him one last pat on his side before standing up. “Y’know, Mom told me it was fine if I wanted to have anyone spend the night, but I’m not sure if she’d approve of you.”
The wolf barked once, then sat down on the rug, watching her.
*
He was definitely being a bad dog, sitting here, watching his mate get clothes from her wardrobe and hang them over a chair for tomorrow morning. He should respect her privacy and go back downstairs. But the sheer thought of that made him whimper quietly.
She turned away from the framed pictures in the bookcase she’d been looking at. “Oh, don’t worry, you’d probably charm my mom into approving,” she told him, and moved over to scratch him behind his ears.
He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch; not even his wolf was embarrassed he was behaving like a beloved pet now. She was his mate, and she could pet him all night like if that was what she wanted. Mm, maybe if he rolled over on his back she’d scratch his belly… He jerked his head in confusion when she stopped touching him, and watched her leave. A few seconds later, a light went on further down the hallway. Of course, she had gone to the bathroom.
Konrad lay d
own on the rug, resting his head on his crossed paws. The room smelled like her; it was wonderful and much better than the living room, where her fragrance mingled with that of her parents. And it was definitely better than the smell of the clinic. He shuddered at the fresh memory, immensely relieved she hadn’t forced him to spend the night there, with those panicking animals.
He turned his head when she returned, and his eyes grew wide. His mate was gloriously, beautifully naked, and every inch of her was perfect. Her breasts looked soft and inviting, and like they would fit in his hands perfectly; the curve of her hips was enticing, and when she turned around to grab something from her wardrobe, he whimpered at sight of her heart-shaped ass. He was the luckiest man on the planet. He was on his feet before he could think about it, and his mate turned around, a pair of black panties in her hands, and she laughed at him.
The realization that he was stuck as a wolf the entire night hit him like a bucket of cold water. His mate was beautiful and naked and there was nothing he could do but sit there and watch.
“What is it, boy? I’m guessing you haven’t seen a lot of naked women?” she asked, then put on her clean pair of panties.
He watched her walk over to her bed, and she grabbed a pair of black shorts and a faded gray t-shirt from under the pillow. She had no idea he wasn’t a real wolf, and there was no way he could explain things to her. Not now. He tried to ignore the stab of guilt at having ogled her just then. Damn, he should’ve turned away or covered his eyes with a paw. He lay down on the rug at the foot of her bed, listening to his mate get comfortable under the sheets. He would do better in the morning, he told himself. He would explain things to her calmly and reasonably, and then he would leave and give her her space, and she would agree to date him and they could take things slow, but not too slow.
Falling asleep was hard. He rarely slept as a wolf, preferring to sleep in his bed and he usually took care to avoid transforming during the full moon. He drifted off eventually, dreaming of running through the woods with his mate, and of making love to her on the grass.
He was woken from his dreams by the stabbing pain that accompanied every transformation back into a human, made all the worse for it happening involuntarily. Just as the full moon forced him to stay a wolf if he chose to transform during it, the morning after forced him to shift back into a human. He hissed and snarled at the pain spreading through his body, at the rippling of his skin as fur was replaced by bare flesh.
Konrad cried out in pain when he felt something heavy hit the back of his head. “Hey!” he shouted, flailing with one arm to ward off whatever it was that tried to attack him.
“Get the hell out of my house, you freak!”
He was still breathing through the remnants of the pain, and it took Konrad a few seconds to realize why he was lying on a rug and why someone was yelling at him. And throwing things at him. “I can explain,” he said, curling up into a ball in case she wanted to throw more things at him.
“How did you even get in? I locked up everything! And where are your clothes?”
Those were miles away. Konrad took the risk of sitting up to look at his mate. In the morning light, sitting upright in bed with her hair tousled from sleeping, she looked as perfect as last night, and his heart skipped a beat at the sight of her. “Hi,” he said, beaming contently at her.
Her mouth dropped, she huffed with indignation and then grabbed a paperback from her nightstand to throw at him.
He ducked out of the way, cursing himself for being an idiot. “Look, like I said, I can explain.”
“Can you?” she asked, grabbing her phone. “I’m gonna call the police on you.”
“Aren’t you wondering what happened to the wolf?” he said, before she could press a single button.
Her fingers froze, hovering above her screen. Slowly, she turned to look at him again. “How do you know about the wolf?”
She probably assumed the animal had fled when he had broken in. Konrad shifted on the rug, moving his legs to keep his decency somewhat intact, and wished he had the time to explain things differently, but he couldn’t. “Because I am the wolf.” He looked at her, hoping she didn’t decide to call for a doctor instead. Please, she was his mate; she had to give him the benefit of the doubt.
She let out a nervous laugh. “You are the wolf.”
He nodded. “Please. I can prove it.”
“You can — you can prove it.” She threw the sheets aside, and got out of bed. She was still holding the phone, and he couldn’t help but notice her hand was trembling slightly. “Go on.”
He could tell she was ready to bolt if he made the wrong move. “This is going to look weird, and painful,” he warned her. It would be very painful for him; he was still feeling sore after transforming only a few minutes ago. It would hurt like hell to shift now, but it was the only way he could prove to his mate he wasn’t a creep.
He moved away from her, and closed his eyes. He focused on what it felt like to be a wolf, to feel the wind through your fur and the solid ground under your paws, to run on all fours effortlessly. His wolf was there, within reach, and he let himself flow into it.
As he had warned his mate, it did hurt like hell. His muscles were cramping up, his body wasn’t made to shift this often, and his scream turned into a howl as his vocal chords changed. It took longer than usual, he noticed, panicking slightly. Eventually, though, the worst of the pain subsided, and he inspected himself to make sure the transformation had gone fine. Finally, he turned to look up at his mate.
She hadn’t run from the room, but was pressed against the wall furthest away from him, her phone dropped on the floor a few feet away. “What the…how?” she managed, her blue eyes wide with fear. “This isn’t real, please; let this not be real.” She started muttering under her breath, not even looking at him, and Konrad couldn’t take it anymore
He padded over to her and pressed his nose against her knee. The cold, wet feeling jerked her out of her initial panic, and he jumped out of the way to avoid her flailing at him. He sat down in front of her, three feet between them, and simply looked at her. This was it, she knew he was a shifter, and he could only hope he hadn’t ruined everything.
“Right,” she said, running her hands through her blonde hair. “Right. Okay. You’re a — you’re a werewolf. Werewolves exist. Right. That is — that is a thing now.”
Konrad let out a huff, trying not to feel too impatient. He’d have to explain that while werewolf legends certainly originated with the shifters, it was a bit more complicated than that.
“What’s next?” she asked, then laughed to herself. “Vampires?” She met his eyes finally for a few brief seconds. “Are there gonna be vampires next, huh? Zombies? This is ridiculous.” She hung her head, then took a deep breath and looked back at him. “Okay, you were the wolf. I believe you. Can you, er, can you turn back now?”
He barked, and moved away from her before focusing on what it felt like to be human. He really hoped this was the last time he would have to shift today, because he wasn’t sure if he could stand the pain of doing it again. He lay on the floor on his stomach, panting as his fingers curled into the rug, not even caring what it had to look like to her. The cramp and the pain were still there, but at least he was human again.
He jerked when he felt something soft on his back, and realized his mate was trying to cover him with her bed sheets. “Thanks,” he managed, and when he moved to sit up, she was already standing by the door again. He wrapped the sheets around him, glad she had provided him with that. “Look, I — I’m not going to hurt you.” His throat hurt, making his voice raspy and more threatening than he wanted.
She eyed him and remained quiet for a moment. “I guess if you had wanted to do that, you would’ve done so while I was asleep. So why are you here?”
He let out a brief laugh. “You were the one who brought me here, remember? In the back of the truck?”
“I know that! I just — I mean —” She gestured at him. �
�Why are you here in this town? How did you get hurt? How did —” Her eyes widened. “Oh God, how are your wounds?”
He was about to reassure her that his wounds were fine, but his mate was kneeling down beside him on the rug. Having her so close all of a sudden threw him for a loop. “My wounds?” This close, her eyes were even prettier, a wonderful shade that reminded him of the sky.
“The wounds you had last night,” she insisted. “When you were — you know. They weren’t that severe, but then I didn’t know what I was dealing with.” Her eyes met his for a moment, then she looked away, glancing at the rest of him, now covered by the sheet, and then at the open door.
The fact that she was this worried about him, even though she was confused and close to panicking made him love her even more. “Hey, I’m fine,” he told her quietly, reaching out slowly to take her hand. “Do you need to see for yourself to make sure?”
She looked down at their entangled hands, then nodded. “Yes. We have a first-aid kit in the bathroom, I can go get it.”
She clearly needed a moment to herself, which was understandable. “Sure, to be on the safe side.” He released her hand, and watched her go.
*
She stood in the bathroom, clutching the edges of the sink and staring at herself in the mirror. “There is a werewolf in your bedroom.” No, saying it out loud definitely didn’t make it sound any saner. Somehow, she would’ve preferred it if he had been a creepy burglar instead. Had she lost it? Had she somehow done drugs and not known about it? Was this a really weird dream?
She opened the tap and splashed some water on her face. Okay, there was a werewolf in her bedroom, and he might be injured. She had brought him here, so she should make sure he really was fine. She briefly imagined the Williamses finding a naked man in their shed this morning, and briefly giggled despite herself.