by Melissa Haag
“No.”
“Then you’re not being stubborn. You just have some issues to work through.” His hand smoothed over my back, pressing me a little more firmly against his heat. “And you will work through them. I have faith in you.”
“Thanks,” I said, giving him a slight squeeze before reluctantly pulling away from him. “Things were way less complicated before my mom got here. I know she loves me, but gods, I wish she would just leave. I can’t deal with her and Adira at the same time.
“Do you know what my mom did?”
“No. What?”
“She brought my very human and very sick Dad here to prove to me that feeding from a human doesn’t hurt the human. You should see him, Fenris. She thinks I’m sick even though I look fine on the outside, but when she looks at Dad, she doesn’t even see the hollow cheeks or the dull look in his eyes when her attention isn’t on him.” I shook my head. “It breaks my heart, seeing him like that. Why can’t she understand?”
“I think she does but that she’s so desperate she’s willing to do whatever is necessary to help you. Even if the choices she’s making now will make you angry later.”
I sighed and shivered slightly, wishing I’d picked a dress with a longer skirt.
“You ready to go inside?” he asked.
“Not just yet. It’ll be a while before the dinner party breaks up.”
Fenris walked with me to the nearest bench, and we sat to watch the stars. My legs grew cold then numb, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to go back inside and see either of those boys, or worse, hear my mom with my dad.
Instead, I leaned against Fenris. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, sharing his heat. I’d never been more grateful for his quiet company and friendship. Where I’d once seen him as a hopeless flirt, I’d learned he was so much more. He had a vast depth and capacity for understanding.
Closing my eyes, I exhaled slowly and told myself tomorrow would be better. After all, it couldn’t possibly get any worse.
The deliciously warm air wrapped around me as I walked through the barren trees. My dress rode up awkwardly with each step. I frowned, looking down at it. The A-line, short skirt tickled a memory of me sitting with Fenris on a bench in the Quills’ snow-covered garden.
The scent of cakes filled my nose and distracted me. Inhaling deeply, I looked at the trees once more. I loved this part of the dream. The anticipation of finding food and eating until I was bloated with no fear of consequence.
“Take what you need.”
The words echoed around me a moment before the cakes appeared. The perfectly small circles, no more than four inches wide and equally as high, were covered in dark chocolate shavings. With my mouth watering, I grabbed the nearest one, and I started to eat. I laughed as I danced through the woods filled with my current favorite cake, Death by Chocolate.
“I will always be here for you.”
I loved this place, this forest, and wished it wasn’t a dream. I never wanted to leave it. I grabbed another cake and stuffed it in my mouth. Then another. The cakes were still warm. Hot even. They warmed my hands and my middle. I started to sweat but didn’t stop eating.
The trees squeezed in closer around me.
My inner thighs warmed.
Something was wrong.
I dropped my cake.
“Don’t stop.”
I backed up a step, turning a slow circle, wishing for the first time ever to escape the cake dream. The trees shook, then the cakes and the forest faded. But the heat didn’t. It radiated over me, warming my front, especially my legs. Why my legs?
Disoriented, I opened my eyes and blinked up at Fenris. It took a second for things to click into place: the sight of my bedroom ceiling above him, the way my skirt had ridden up to my waist, how he was braced on his arms to keep his weight from crushing me, the way my bare legs were around his jean-clad hips under the covers, locking him in place.
What had I done?
Before panic could fully take hold, my bedroom door opened.
“Eliana, I had an idea about how—oh!”
I couldn’t tear my gaze from Fenris as he winked at me. His eyes weren’t clouded with obsessive lust but clear and full of humor.
“Eliana, baby,” my mom said. “Why didn’t you telling me you were feeding from the wolf boy? This is perfect.”
Perfect? In no world was this perfect.
Fenris grinned down at me and wriggled his eyebrows, saying nothing. I wanted to kill him.
“Mom, leave now.”
“Of course. You need your privacy and your mother out of your hair. I’m going. Your dad and I will stay somewhere else in town so you can be as loud as you want. Call me tomorrow when you wake up.”
The door closed. I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
“You did this on purpose,” I whispered.
“Yep. And now your problems are solved,” Fenris said. “Because your mom thinks you’re feeding from me, she and Adira will leave you alone. Plus, your mom is moving out. You’re welcome.”
His smile never wavered, and the future repercussions of his actions grew in my mind.
“Fenris, what have you done?”
Thank you for reading The Howl, the first book in the By Kiss and Claw series. The series continues with The Hunt. Coming soon!
Author’s Note
Just how much do you love Fenris?! Have you caught on that his easy-going smile is just a mask for everything going on under that playful exterior? I cannot wait to explore all the feels he’ll finally be able to share with Eliana in book 2. Once she’s ready, of course.
It was crazy hard to balance their push and pull because she was pushing so hard. The poor girl just wasn’t ready for him at the start. How could she be when she’s so afraid of herself and what she might do to the people she cares about? Hopefully her complete refusal was making more sense to everyone as the story went on.
And just how loving was her mom, huh? Breakfast in bed, presents, a free pass to skip school any time she wanted. It’s everything a teen wishes their mom would do. Yeah, not so much! Ha! It was fun putting myself in a creature’s head from a maternal standpoint. I wanted to make her so loving by their standards while showing how “alien” she was to the human standards, which is what Eliana grew up learning. Talk about cultural conflict!
Speaking of conflict…Piepen. There were so many times I interrupted my sprinting crew (authors I Skype with who keep me accountable and working) because of my spontaneous laughing. I’d have to stop and explain what I was doing and completely sidetrack all of us. But it was so worth it. I love Piepen and cannot wait to come up with new ways for him to torture…er, I mean love…Eliana.
Book 2, The Hunt, is going to be a ton of fun! While Eliana may have gotten her wish to have her Mom gone and Adira off her back, her troubles are just getting started.
If you want to hear more about The Hunt, be sure to sign up for my newsletter at melissahaag.com/subscribe.
Happy reading!
More books by Melissa Haag
Judgement of the Six Series
(and Companion Books) in order:
Hope(less)
Clay’s Hope*
(Mis)fortune
Emmitt’s Treasure*
(Un)wise
Luke’s Dream*
(Un)bidden
Thomas’ Treasure*
(Dis)content
Carlos’ Peace*
(Sur)real**
*optional companion book
**written in dual point of view
Of Fates and Furies Series
Fury Frayed
Fury Focused
Fury Freed
Other Titles
Touch
Moved
Warwolf
Nephilim
ive.