by Haley Weir
He cocked his head at her like he understood what she was saying. She fought the urge to laugh at his antics, but her smile grew in spite of herself. “I don’t know why I’m talking to you. It’s probably because I’m going crazy. First I save a wolf and then I keep him here like a tame house pet.”
He laid down, his front legs splaying out to frame his big head.
“I wish I could pet you,” she admitted in a soft voice. Immediately he stood and she gasped in surprise. It was almost like he’d understood her. But that was impossible. He must’ve stood because he’d heard her voice…but hadn’t she been talking before? Sighing, she shook her head and looked at her watch. It was late. She obviously needed to sleep, but didn’t want to leave him alone on his first night.
“I know you probably want to be alone. You know, with the whole ‘lone wolf’ thing. But I don’t know. I feel bad leaving you here. I don’t want you to do any damage to yourself, or my brand-new kennels. Yes, mister. I’m looking at you,” she said playfully, raising an eyebrow at him.
So she stayed. She pulled out the cot and set it up a few feet in front of the cage. She sang to try to help him fall asleep, and talked for what seemed like hours. She took notice of the amusing way that he cocked his head, lifted his paw, or dropped his head in response to things that she said. It was almost as if he knew what she was saying. But that was impossible. Still…she’d seen trained dogs do tricks like that, but never a wild animal, and certainly not a wolf. It was crazy, right?
Keaton watched her sleep. Her pretty pink mouth pursed as a chunk of blonde hair fell from her cheek and hung off the bed. What he wouldn’t give to be human right now and push that piece of hair back. He could romantically tuck it behind her ear and soothe the worried wrinkles in her forehead. He desperately wanted to settle in behind her, tuck him against her, and hold her safe through the night.
Wait, what? Keaton’s brain stuttered into awareness. What was he saying? That he wanted to spoon her? He wasn’t the cuddling type. He was more apt to hit it and quit it, if he was being honest. He didn’t like relationships, entanglements, or commitments of any kind. Because he never knew when he’d feel the desire to shift, he didn’t trust himself to be around a woman for more than a few hours.
But something about Ellison was drawing him in like a magnet. He hadn’t felt this way in a very long time, if ever. It was a pull similar to how he’d felt with his half-brother, Archer. It was like his body was telling him that Archer was a shifter long before his brain realized the truth. With Ellison, the feeling was just as strong, but different. It felt more like he needed to be in the same room with her, breathing the same air.
He’d always been protective and loyal. He was hard wired that way, likely due to his wolf genetics. But it had never felt like this. He knew without thinking that he would do anything to keep her safe, and to make her his. Except, of course, that was impossible. Even if he didn’t die tonight, he’d likely die within the week. And he couldn’t risk shifting into his human form because the injuries would be much more dangerous than in his stronger wolf form. Add all of that to the fact that if he didn’t die, it was not as if he could simply morph back into a human, pick her up like some white knight in a fairy tale, and carry her away to bed and then wed her.
Giving a low yawn that sounded more like a howl in his wolf form, he turned in three circles and then curled up in a ball on the floor. He made sure that his head was tilted in her direction so that, even in his sleep, he could keep a watchful eye over her. His senses were heightened in this form and any sound trigged an alarm in his body much quicker than when he was a human.
After a few minutes, his body relaxed into sleep.
“Time for recess, Sir!” Ellison grabbed the leash off the hook and opened the wolf’s cage. She resisted the urge to name it because she couldn’t get too attached (Humane Society training 101). But she couldn’t keep calling him ‘buddy’ when he was clearly not a harmless Chihuahua or poodle mix. So she’d taken to calling him Sir, as it was both a name and a term of endearment.
She saw the black shadow rise, stretch, and then trot to the front of the gate opening. When she opened it, he bowed his head out of habit, and she slipped the collar and leash around him. This had become their routine after only a few days. Ellison liked to take him out five or ten times a day to make sure that he knew that this wasn’t a punishment. He was wild and needed to interact with nature as much as possible to keep him from getting acclimated to a concrete floor and white walls.
She rubbed his head, another habit she’d developed. For Keaton, it felt incredible. Ellison was amazed. He was the most docile creature she’d ever watched. He played like a puppy, behaved like a well-trained dog, and his eyes…his eyes were mesmerizing. They were so expressive, so intelligent. She had become convinced he understood her when she talked, so she’d started to tell him things. Anything that she thought of, she confided in him.
Ellison walked him outside to the run. After taking a look to make sure there weren’t any predators of the human variety nosing about the Society’s property, she slipped the collar off. He looked at her curiously. “You’re not a dog. You should be free, at least during recess.”
His jaw dropped open. Where some people would’ve been spooked by the sharp, white teeth, Ellison just saw a lolling grin. She laughed. “I know, you big goof. Now, have a good time…and no digging, Sir. I mean it. One hole, just one, and you’ll be back inside on the concrete during recess. You got it?”
He dipped his head in response and she chuckled again. As he sprinted away, running the length of the massive dog run, her grin fell into a soft smile. She was going to miss him when they had to release him back in the wild. But maybe he would come back? Her traitorous mind started to wish that he would recognize the location and come to the Humane Society, even if it was just once, so that she’d know that he was alive and well. Shaking her head, she realized that she was being ridiculous. As soon as he was released, he’d go back to wherever he’d come from. She would never see him again. He was a wolf, not a circus animal or her pet.
She sat down on the concrete step, pulling open the file she’d been working on. She’d taken to waiting outside while he ran and played. She was usually doing some mindless office work while watching him to make sure he didn’t reopen his stitches or hurt his leg. His injuries were healing at amazing rates. He was still walking with a bit of a limp and his belly was tender, but when Dr. Weber came back tomorrow, Ellison knew what she was going to say. He was almost ready. Just a few more days and then he’d be gone.
She’d miss the big guy. He’d almost become a friend to her over the last week. He was a magnificent animal, but it was more than that. He’d never once made a move to hurt or intimidate her, even when she was feeding him or treating his wounds. She hadn’t given him a sedative since the first day. She hadn’t even considered it.
Suddenly, she felt a large presence standing over her. Without time to even feel fear, his big head dropped onto her arm, and a pair of big brown eyes gazed up at her adoringly. She laughed. “God, I’m such a sucker for those eyes. Is this what you want?”
She reached out and fondled the soft fur of his ears, rubbing his big head in calming circles. He was panting from his run and his tongue hung out. But his eyes closed, and a soft whine grew from his belly. She put down her work and started stroking him with both hands, down the nose, behind the ears, and scratching at his scruff. “I’m going to miss you,” she admitted quietly, for his ears only. Then his big brown eyes opened and he stopped panting. He nudged her again, and this time she wrapped her arms around his entire head, laying her head down on top of his for a moment.
It was amazing how safe and secure she felt with him. She knew that she was playing a dangerous game, feeling so unconcerned for her own safety. But it almost felt like second nature to trust him. He would never let any harm come to her, and she knew that. It was an odd sensation for Ellison, because she usually had quite a hard time
establishing trust. She was shy around new people, which was probably a result of her childhood after her parents passed away. Being passed from one foster home to the next had done a number on her ability to be comfortable when new people entered her life.
But this place finally felt like a home, and she’d settled here after turning eighteen. She liked her friends, such as Dr. Weber, and loved her work and neighbors.
Suddenly, she heard the tinkle of the bell at the front counter. “We gotta go, Sir. Come on.”
She put the collar back on him, so loose that it couldn’t have restrained him even if she tried, and led him back into the cage. She secured the door and the lock before dropping the key onto her desk.
“Hey, Hal, I’ll be with you in just a sec…”
Keaton stared at the key. Every day, he saw her place it on her desk. He could easily reach it in human form through the holes of the chain link fence. He would give it a try tonight. He would have to shift and risk injury and slip away during the night. He knew that Dr. Weber was coming back tomorrow, and he couldn’t risk getting sent somewhere else to be treated or…anything else. He had to get to Archer and warn him at least.
That night, he waited until Ellison was asleep on the cot and shifted as quietly as he could. He didn’t make any noise, but there was a cracking and extending of bone that sounded like clicking. Luckily, she only murmured and didn’t wake up to catch his transformation.
Standing as a human for the first time in a week, he stretched and groaned in a low, quiet voice. Even though the wolf form was his natural state, it felt amazing to be back in his human body. He took one moment to look at Ellison through his human eyes. One word from him, and she’d wake up. She would let him out and…and what? Scream? Run? Call the cops?
He shook his head. It was a fantasy to think he could ever bring her into his life, especially now that she’d seen his wolf form. While he could try to make it so that she’d never connect the two, he couldn’t risk it now and have her quick mind make the connection. No. Once he left here, he would never be able to return to her.
Focusing, he reached through the wire and got the key. Then he stuck his hand out and opened the padlock. The locks were designed to keep an animal in, not keep a human from getting out. He carefully let himself out, moving slowly to avoid making any noise. He only had one shot. If she woke up, she’d see an intruder and wouldn’t wait to hear him explain.
He left out the front door, breathing a sigh of relief that there didn’t seem to be any kind of alarm or security system. Then he headed out to find Archer.
During the night, Keaton felt too guilty to leave the Humane Society entirely. He decided he would come back, and if they wouldn’t let him go, he would have to fight his way out. He returned just before dawn, staying in human form until he’d let himself back in the cage. Ellison was still breathing soft puffs of air and snoring lightly. He took a beat to check out her body in his human form.
She tried to hide under shapeless scrubs, but in the last week, he’d gotten to see a lot more of her as she changed in the back room with him. In the beginning, he had turned away to give her privacy, but quickly realized that this would be the only time he’d be able to take her in before their time was up. So he enjoyed watching the lithe grace she exhibited while changing from dirty scrubs into clean ones, or from scrubs into sleep shorts and a tank top.
In the week he’d been here, Ellison devoted all of her time to him. She’d never gone out, never had anyone stop by. It made him think that maybe she was as alone as he was, other than his relationship with Archer and, now, Vanessa. He’d never had anyone else to share his secret with. For the first time, he started to feel jealous of what Archer and Vanessa. His brother could show his wife who and what he was, and be totally honest with her. They had no secrets. If he ever found a woman like Ellison out in the real world, he knew that he would still always keep secrets from her.
She gave a light yawn, and he quickly secured the padlock and then he shifted back into a wolf, enjoying the warm confines of his animal body. Her blue eyes flickered open a few minutes later, and a soft grin spread across her face. “Morning, Sir. How did you sleep?”
He let out a soft howl, answering her question and making her laugh. He loved her laugh. It was even better than he expected when he’d first met her. Her laugh was mesmerizing, honest, and soft. He took her in with intensity, trying to commit the sound to memory. He knew it would likely be their last day together.
She stretched, and he got a peek at a sliver of golden skin. It made his canine mouth salivate. “Yeah, I slept good too, even though I won’t be too disappointed to give up this cot and go back to my own bed.”
It was bittersweet, thinking of her in her own bed. Keaton wished he could see it.
The bell dinged at the front counter, likely introducing Dr. Weber’s arrival. Ellison grabbed her stuff and headed to the front. Then Keaton heard a man’s voice instead of the doctors. His wolf ears ticked forward and back, catching the conversation even from the back of the building.
“…Got it last night but haven’t looked at it yet.”
“Thanks, Lou. I will.”
Then he heard the door shut. What had they been talking about? What did she need to look at? His heart beat a little bit faster. Surely it wasn’t…
He didn’t need to wait long to find out.
Ellison went to the back office to check the tapes. Lou said that the security system had sent him an alert last night that the front door had been unlocked and opened during the night. They didn’t have any sirens or alarms, but the smart locks alerted him when someone came in or out of the building during non-working hours.
The wolf was sitting next to her desk on the other side of the cage, and she popped her hand in to touch him quickly on the nose. “No worries, Sir. Just something I need to check on. You would’ve heard if someone had come in the front door, right? You’d never let anything hurt me.”
For once, he didn’t give her any kind of indication that he’d heard her. It was unusual, but she shrugged it off. She supposed that even animals were prone to having good days and bad days just like anyone else.
She hit play on the tape. It’s motion detector starts sixty seconds prior to any motion at the front door. The building was dark, and Ellison started to write on the files next to her, positive that it was a false alarm. She looked up again and she saw a shape…a very human, masculine shape. She gasped.
“How did we not hear that?” she whispered to the wolf. She watched as the man came from the back offices and went out the front door. “He’d been back here, with us.”
She rewound the tape again and again, watching it several times before pausing it. “I think he’s wearing my scrubs…although they obviously don’t fit him.”
The scrubs were almost laughably short and fitted on his muscular body. “He’s kind of… he’s…pretty hot,” she admitted out loud, tapping her pen on the corner of her mouth.
He was tall, much taller than her, and looked muscular. He had tattoos that peeked up through his scrubs. “But why would someone break in here?”
Then she watched the next tape and saw the figure walk back in. The time stamp showed that had only been a half hour or so ago. “What the hell? Oh my god, maybe he’s still here,” Ellison said, the panic in her voice rising.
She rapidly flicked to the camera in the back room and watched the reflection of her back in the screen. She saw the animal was staring at her intently. His body seemed to be frozen. Ellison looked over at him, at the familiar brown eyes and huge dark shape. “…What is going on,” she whispered.
The wolf didn’t move. Shaking her head, she rewound the backroom footage with trembling fingers. She didn’t know what she expected to see, but knew that she’d be unprepared regardless.
When she saw the footage of her beautiful furry friend change into a human, she watched it over and over and over until it was ingrained in her head. Her mind couldn’t believe it, but she knew
what she had seen. “You’re a…a…”
The wolf whimpered. Slowly, she turned to look at him. Her whole world seemed to be moving in slow motion. Then she watched as he started to tremble, shake, and change. His fur dissipated, leaving warm tanned skin marked with tattoos in its place. His body lengthened and shrunk, his back legs growing longer and his torso elongating. His huge wolf head shifted into the face that she recognized from the surveillance footage. “You’re a…a…”
“I’m a shifter,” the man/beast answered in a low voice, close to a growl. She shivered.
“That’s…im...impossible,” she stuttered, her heart beating so fast that Keaton could hear it.
He grinned. “I assure you, it’s quite possible.”
“But y-you,” she stammered, her eyes scanning his ripped body. She saw the deep wound at his belly and the way that he stood off-kilter, putting most of his weight on one leg. “You’re still injured?”
He nodded. “Any trauma that happens to my wolf form is shared when I am human. Usually it’s a lot worse. I heal faster as a wolf.”
Her head was swimming. “This is not happening. This is a dream.”
He sighed, reaching through the fence. She jerked away from him. “I’m not going to hurt you. I was just going to let myself out,” he assured.
True enough, he grabbed the key, limped to the front of the fence, and unlocked the padlock. He let it close with a bang and walked up to her, dropping the key onto the desk. When she stood up to meet his eye line, she was hit with the scent of man instead of beast. Then she realized something else. “You’re naked.”
He gave a low, throaty chuckle. “Yeah. Wolves don’t tend to wear much clothing.”
She gulped and handed him a sweatshirt and sweatpants left at the office by one of the male volunteers. “Here. P-put these on.”