by Godiva Glenn
"Stop!" Nancy cried. "Don't hurt him!"
Of course...
Wyatt looked over his shoulder at Nancy to argue and Brent took that moment to tackle him against the nearest bookshelf. Wood creaked at his back and the entire apartment seemed to shudder. Wyatt held his hands up, protecting his face, but Brent didn't care if Nancy was screaming at him to stop. The punches continued, landing randomly on Wyatt's body as he grit his teeth and absorbed each hit.
His wolf was furious, riding up and down his skin like wildfire. Beyond Nancy's frantic voice and the sound of Brent's fury, his wolf was snarling and chomping. Growling and pawing at Wyatt to react. To take down the threat. Nancy’s reaction was the opposite of a typical lupine female, who would understand how against Wyatt’s nature it was to not respond to a threat.
The hits took their toll and Wyatt stumbled to the ground amidst loose books and owl trinkets.
“Stay down,” Brent panted, his voice hoarse from being out of breath.
The two words triggered a brief flashback to Wyatt. A moment in his past where Damon had beaten him down and put him in his place. Wyatt had deserved it that time, even if it had taken him a while to realize it.
But he didn’t stay down this time. He wasn’t in the wrong and he wasn’t beaten. He pushed himself up in time to see Brent grab Nancy’s arm. Now all the screaming in the world wouldn’t stop Wyatt from destroying Brent.
He grabbed Brent’s wrist and squeezed until he had to let go of Nancy or lose his hand. As he reeled back in pain, Wyatt threw a punch at his face that connected with the sickening crunch of shattered bone and cartilage. Red gushed from the battered remains of Brent’s nose, but Wyatt barely registered the sight. The scent of fresh blood hit him and made his wolf shudder in triumph.
He tossed Brent across the room and watched him crumple like a broken doll, taking with him an end table and toppling a small bookcase. The sharp pierce of breaking glass made Brent flinch. No longer the posturing man, he was howling in pain between sobs and slurred curses. Wyatt stomped over and yanked him up by his bloody shirt.
“I never want to see you again,” he growled and pushed him toward the stairs.
Brent half-ran half-hobbled down and a second later the door slammed.
Wyatt turned to Nancy, ready to make sure she was unharmed, but her wide eyes and pale face stopped him before he could open his mouth.
“Your eyes,” she whispered, voice trembling.
The wolf prowled along his skin and had come forward enough for it to show externally. His eyes were glowing gold. He didn’t need a mirror to see it. It was the one part of shifting that tended to be more instinct than anything else. Hard to keep under control without practice, but it’s not like he’d ever seen a point in controlling it before.
He’d never fought a human. Never been in the position, and never had planned to be in the position.
“Nancy…” he said softly. There was a gentle slur to his voice. Fuck. His teeth had sharpened. That was a first.
She ran to her bedroom and for a moment, he considered leaving her alone. But scared as she was, he still needed to make sure she was okay. Then he could say goodbye.
TEN
Nancy’s door was open, but Wyatt tapped his knuckles against the wood to announce himself. She was seated on the far corner of her bed with her back angled to him. Her legs were curled up against her chest and she stared forward, not reacting to his knock.
“Nancy?”
Her head fell for a moment before she wiped at her face with both hands. He circled the bed and hesitated. Every bone in his body told him that his place was beside her. Holding and comforting her.
Yet she was upset and scared, and maybe she didn’t want him around at all. Especially since he’d just revealed himself as not quite human.
He hovered for a moment but sat down next to her. She didn’t flinch or move away, but neither did she look at him. Her focus was trained on the opposite wall.
“I’m sorry,” he offered.
She sniffled and wiped at her face again. “Sorry?” she asked weakly. “For saving me?”
“Sorry this happened.”
She sucked in a breath and shook as she released it. “I get it now.”
“Get what?”
“I should’ve let you pummel him from the start.”
He wrapped his arm around her. “I don’t think—”
“I was scared,” she bit out. “Brent terrified me. I mean before, when I was seeing him around. But I pretended I was okay because I didn’t want to drag you into it. Especially since you had your own mess you were dealing with.”
“We can’t change the past, anyhow.” He brushed wet strands of hair from her cheeks. She was practically vibrating with panic. “Are you okay now?”
“I’m shaky and crying and I hate it,” she admitted. “It’s over but my body is still panicking, reminding me of what happened.”
“I suppose we should talk,” he said
She stood instead, walking to the window before turning and surveying the room. “Not here. I’m only guessing, but Brent was listening in on me somehow. Maybe cameras. And I don’t know…” She scrubbed weary hands over her face. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. Call the cops?”
“Probably?”
“And if they go to Brent and he tells them about you?” She licked her lips and lowered her voice to a faint whisper. “About your eyes?”
Meeting the cops didn’t sound appealing, but it seemed a secondary issue. “Your safety should be the first priority. I’m on my way out of town. I’ll be fine.”
She didn’t look convinced or comforted in the slightest. It occurred to him that maybe he should stick around a little longer. Maybe he couldn’t just destroy her ex and her furniture and vanish.
“Call the cops. Tell them what happened,” he instructed.
“And everything else?” she asked.
He rose from the bed and ran a hand through his hair, trying to arrange his own thoughts. “If you want to talk, I’ll be at the motel. I’ll text you the name.”
“You aren’t leaving, then?”
The hope in her voice was heartbreaking but didn’t change the facts. He couldn’t stay forever. “I’ll stay the night, at least. But I have to get home.”
She hugged herself and glanced away. “Okay.”
He moved towards her but saw the tremble of her lip and the subtle flinch his action caused. Regardless of how she could portray a semblance of calm conversation, she was scared of him now. No doubt wondering of monsters and what type he was. Her shaking wasn’t leftover adrenaline and fear of Brent, it was prolonged exposure to Wyatt.
The realization bothered him. He didn’t like the thought of her being afraid of him as she’d been of Brent. But then maybe throwing a man across the room wasn’t the ideal prevention of it.
He nodded to himself, a feeble attempt to seem like he hadn’t been meaning to hug her. He exited the apartment as quickly as he could without appearing to flee. There was no choice but to tell her the truth now, if she wanted it.
If he were a loyal lupine, he’d leave and never look back. He wouldn’t risk endangering not only himself and his pack, but every single lupine in existence.
But he was in love, and as it turned out, that tended to scramble logic away. He couldn’t stay with her, so he would at least be honest about why.
* * * *
Back at the motel, it was a different room but the same feel of grungy discomfort. It smelled like mediocrity and settling for less. One of the corners smelled like someone had spilled coffee and no amount of commercial carpet cleaner could get it out.
Really, the coffee corner smelled better than the corners heavily doused with lemon disinfectant. He’d chosen this place for the price, not the luxury. Now that Nancy would see it, however, he wished he’d gotten a place that looked a little less… infested.
Every tick-tock of the inaccurate wall clock unnerved him. He’d told Rosa he was
on his way back, and he should be. How would Reid react if he could see Wyatt now? Ready to betray the pack because he’d fallen too deep into a mess that wasn’t his own and wound up pining for a human he couldn’t have.
Maybe it was karma. Maybe this is what happened to idiots who hurt their friends. He scratched his head and growled. Probably his imagination but it wouldn’t surprise him if he left here with fleas.
A shadow passed by his window. He could tell it was Nancy, even though her silhouette was distorted by the yellowed miniblinds that didn’t quite lay flat. He made it to the door and opened it before she could even knock. Either he was quick, or she was hesitating. Probably a combination of the two.
Her eyes took him in as if she’d never seen him before. He felt like he was under a microscope with the way her gaze flickered up and down and even seemed to zoom in. Stepping aside, he welcomed her into the small room.
“Sorry it’s a bit rundown,” he muttered.
She walked past, guarded, and hesitated at the bed, the only seat in the minimalist layout. Her chin lifted and she half-sat, half-leaned against the end table in the corner. He shut the door and watched her. At least she wasn’t shaking anymore, though her eyelids were still puffy.
She was terrified, he could smell it, but she didn’t act that way. And if she thought the worst of him, that wasn’t coming across. The more he thought of it, the more he wondered if she was deep in shock. So numbed that the existence of monsters didn’t make her scream and run the other way.
She pushed the sleeves of her oversized sweater up to her elbows. She hadn’t changed, but he’d barely noted what she was wearing until now. It was the same ridiculous owl sweater she’d worn the first time they met. He’d been obsessed with Charlotte at the time, but he’d noticed Nancy.
It made him think of how much had changed. How far they’d come.
“Where do I start?” he asked.
A strangled laugh escaped her, and she took a deep breath, which she released shakily. “Whatever you are,” she said slowly. “Mija is one too, isn’t she?”
“I…”
“And don’t bother lying. I think we’re way past that. One look at this place and I know you aren’t the hotshot outdoor supplies marketer that you claimed to be.”
He didn’t even remember telling that lie, but it seemed like something he’d say on the spot. “Oh.”
“I didn’t ever believe, to be honest. But I assumed you had a good reason to lie. Like maybe you were a jobless bum and didn’t want to admit it.” She glanced away. “I trust Mija, so I trusted you.”
The room didn’t contradict her theory. “I don’t have a job. Accurate guess there. It’s more like a calling. I travel a lot, we call it ‘running’ as in… running between packs. Offering advice. Sharing news. Mediating.”
“Packs?”
Say it. “I’m lupine.” He stepped away from the door, hands in his pockets in a faux relaxed pose. “I look human but inside, I’m not. I’m more… wolf.”
Her eyes pinned him in place, but it was clear she didn’t understand.
“The glow you saw, that’s because my wolf was coming to the surface. The eyes… that’s a subtle thing, I guess.”
“A few times, I caught Mija’s eyes glowing like that. I never said anything, but when I saw yours, the pieces came together,” Nancy whispered. “You. Mija. Then… Charlotte? Damon?”
“Yeah.”
Her fingers toyed with the edge of the desk. “Lupine. Like werewolves?”
“Yes and no.” He hated the term werewolf but that seemed an unnecessary tangent.
“Shifters.”
“Some use that term, sure. We can change when we want. The full moon is an obligation, but the rest of the time, it’s our choice.”
She cupped her face with her hands and shook her head. He wished he had thought to grab some bottled water or something. Anything that could soften the extreme madness of this moment.
“You must think I’m stupid,” she said finally. “Telling you that you had a bear spirit. And all that talk… I get it now. You all must’ve had a laugh about it, right?”
“No,” he insisted. “That never happened. We kept the secret because we have to.”
“And you’re really a wolf? Paws and tail and fur?”
“Yeah.”
She looked at the floor. Her hands rubbed her thighs. “How many of you are there hiding around?”
“In the world? I don’t know. We usually avoid humans, but some packs avoid other packs, too.”
Her head bobbed, dark hair bouncing and falling in front of her face. She straightened and walked to him, one careful step at a time. Once she reached him, her eyes met his and she placed her hand on his chest. “You don’t feel any different. Warmer, maybe.”
“This form is meant to blend in. For our safety.” He took a chance and covered her hand with his own, pressing it over his heart.
“I guess running around as a wolf would be a bit alarming,” she agreed.
“Even more so with our true lupine forms, which are a blend.”
She took a deep breath and stared forward at his chest. After a moment, she asked, “If you have three forms, is it like three personalities? When you’re all wolf, do you still think about human stuff?”
“Sort of? I think of my wolf as my other half. The purer half. He’s separate from me, but still me all the same. In this form, yeah, the human part is in control. And when I’m on all fours, my thoughts are simpler. His thoughts, I suppose, but it’s not like a brain swap. More like the focus changes.”
“And lupine is the blend there too,” she finished and stepped back. “This is insane. I’ve lost it. That’s the only explanation,” she sputtered. “Because I want to believe you, and I don’t even know why.”
Still holding her hand, he spread her fingers out along his palm. Within seconds, russet fur spread from his elbow down, and his hand had grown and transformed to be larger and tipped with dark claws. She was frozen and mute, staring at him until he pushed his wolf back down. His hand returned to normal and his fingers laced with hers.
“This is why I can’t stay,” he said. “Especially if the police want to talk to me. I assume Brent’s version of the story has less of him being a dick and more of me being a maniac who broke his face.”
Instead of backing further away, Nancy moved closer. “They have to find you first. I didn’t have a full name to give them, no address, nothing. But I think they’re more focused on tearing apart my place. Two cameras so far.”
“I should have punched him harder,” Wyatt muttered. “Broke an arm, maybe.”
“Yeah well. I’m in no hurry to get back.”
“I don’t blame you,” he agreed, before seeing the warmth in her stare. “Oh…”
She gnawed her lip for a moment, brows knitted. “When you come around, it’s like the room heats up several degrees. Is that a lupine thing too?”
“Ah. We have that effect on humans, yeah.”
“Then the butterflies I get, the insane optimism that you’ll stick around longer… is that all some form of wolfy sex magic?”
He cleared his throat. “Not quite.”
“Yeah. I was afraid of that.” She pursed her lips and gave a quick nod. “I would be the foolish type to fall for the most unavailable man in the world.”
“It’s not like that. I wasn’t trying to—” He cupped her chin. “I have to go, and you can’t tell anyone about what I’ve told you. It’s not because I was playing a game here, it’s not because I don’t think you’re amazing…”
“But you have your own life,” she finished. “Your own world. And I suspect there’s no way I fit into it.”
“Yeah.” He replied too quickly, and her face fell, but there was no taking it back.
“Do you want to stay, though?” she asked.
The answer nearly broke through his teeth. Of course. If there was a way to keep her, yes. “I don’t know.”
She pulled away a
nd moved across the room to sit on the bed. “Why are you here, Wyatt? I assume the first time around, you were all in town to find Mija. Take her home. That part, it’s an easy guess. But why do you keep coming back?”
“Because this is where everything fell apart for me,” he admitted. “The first time I was here was the last time I felt confident about what my life was supposed to be. Charlotte and I were a couple. I was about to start my trial to become a runner. Everything was laid out, perfect. Happy.”
“Before you had your asshole moment,” she added.
“Exactly. Though to be fair, I think I was always an ass and it didn’t hit the surface until here.” He stretched his arms up and folded his hands behind his head. “I’ve come back between missions to try and analyze how fucked up I was. Imagine how I’d do things differently.”
“I get that, a little.” She looked him over. “You’re leaving again, and I get the feeling you aren’t coming back. Does that mean you’ve figured it out?”
“Yeah,” he said, a little surprised to hear himself say it. A half hour ago, he was still a little lost but aiming to head home regardless. Seeing Nancy put everything into perspective. He was no longer confused about who he was. He knew who he was, what he was, and what he needed to do—which was get back to his pack. He loved her, but he couldn’t take her away from the world she belonged in.
“Visiting never had anything to do with me, then,” she said with unmasked disappointment. “Then why did you hang out?”
“Mija wanted to make sure you were okay.” It was the truth, and a solid omission. He said he’d tell the truth, but maybe it was for the best if that truth applied only to what he was. Right? Nothing good could come of saying that he wanted her. He wasn’t going to be selfish.
“Mija calls me once a month. She knows I’m okay. You could pop in for five minutes to see the same.” The tacky floral bedspread gathered into her hands at her sides. “You’re lupine, okay. And you were a dick in the past, fine. But this doesn’t sit well with me.”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
She stared at her feet. “I thought we had something. You’re impossible to read now, but I didn’t think it was all in my head.”