Emily snickered. “It's okay. Caleb's uncomfortable with me, so it's better not to complicate matters.”
“Maybe,” Joslyn retorted questionably. “But I can talk to him if you want.”
“No! Seriously, Jos, it's no big deal. I was just curious, and besides, there's a guy at work who's been flirting with me all week. So maybe I'll cast out a line and see what happens.” Not that I will.
The production manager at the studio, a blond named Carter Hayes, had been passing compliments her way and hanging around whenever he had nothing better to do. He was attractive in a suit-and-tie kind of way, but Emily wasn't interested—mostly because he reminded her of Evan.
Carter sometimes acted high and mighty, and though he wasn't negative with his criticisms, he often put his opinions out on the table needlessly. Just like Evan, he valued his judgments as if they were infallible, and for Emily, that was a huge turn off.
During her thoughts, Joslyn snickered. “Reel 'em in, huh? Still, I might talk to Caleb because I'm curious now.”
Emily hated the part of herself that jumped in curiosity over whatever Joslyn might learn from her brother-in-law, and replied as plainly as possible, “That's fine, but just don't do it cause you wanna hook us up or something.”
“Don't worry, I won't,” she promised sincerely. “Anyway, do you still wanna go to the arcade? Cause I'm free, and bored.”
Finally, Emily found a smile, giving a quick agreement. “Yes! What time?”
“Give me half an hour. I wanna get changed and clean up.”
“Cool, that's more time than I need! Be there soon.”
With that said, they hung up, and she started gathering her things to take back to the duplex. Thankfully, it wasn't a difficult task when her clothing was already stored in a suitcase she'd been keeping in the laundry room. The only things left was her purse, one of her cameras, and her laptop, which were all on the coffee table.
So she grabbed everything to haul out to her car at once.
Opening the backdoor, she placed the items inside only to be hit with the scent of beef and onions the moment she leaned in. Unsure where it was coming from, she looked in the front seat to realize she'd abandoned her bag of leftovers from Blue Moon in the passenger's seat in her haste to speak with Caleb.
Grumbling over the reminder of her dashed hopes, Emily reached up to grab the bag with the decision to chuck the food in the trash. But as she reached the center of the yard, her thoughts were distracted by the sound of shuffling coming from the trees surrounding Caleb's home.
Stopping not far from the picnic table, she looked up to the left, and noticed the nearby bushes rustling. Somehow, the occurrence called to mind the wolf pack that sometimes visited in the search for food, and Emily got the feeling she was about to see one of them emerge. Oh crap, I need my camera!
Sadly, the moment she had the thought, not one, but two large canines emerged from the trees, giving her no time to run back for the device without potentially startling them away.
Emily groused over the thought since this was probably her last chance to take any pictures, and neither wolf present resembled the alpha Caleb pointed out the previous week. Instead, these had lighter fur and weren't quite as big.
Still, the animals were beautiful, and she nearly forgot to be concerned about the fact that they were wild, both sniffing the air before one of them turned his snout to the dirt and began moving closer to her position.
Emily watched intently, unsure what could be drawing him closer until the wolf looked up in her direction as if catching a scent—and she recalled the leftovers still clutched in her hand.
Grrr...
Emily's eyes widened in response to the threatening growl, her heart picking up its pace. Hadn't Caleb said these wolves could get snappy when hungry? That had to be the case now because the canine's ears flicked outward with sharp fangs bared, and all too quickly, its companion joined in.
Just throw the bag and run inside, Emily thought, though she didn't immediately move, uncertain how well her plan would work. Sure, it was the food inside the bag they were scenting, but they might think she was what smelled so delicious. So if the bag went over their heads, they could ignore it and come for her instead.
She also wasn't completely confident of her ability to get inside before they reached her.
So she took a deep breath, standing very still while carefully considering her options. Yet, in the middle of her deliberation, a third wolf emerged from the trees near the garage—and this one was much larger than the others. Shit!
Emily's fear redoubled, and in turn, the first two wolves snapped as if to startle her into running.
In response to the unexpected movement, she flinched, involuntarily stepping back—and right into a small pothole in the dirt. As a result, the heel of her foot dipped, causing her to stumble backwards and right onto her ass.
That's when they lunged.
Quickly, Emily turned over and scrambled to reach the steps and get inside the house, her mind so clouded with adrenaline that she could only wonder if the scream she'd heard was her own.
She also didn't realize until she'd made it to the first step that neither of the hungry canines had reached her.
Looking back, she saw why.
Instead of attacking her, the largest of the wolves had intercepted the others, and was now keeping them at bay. Thankfully, the smaller canines were no match for the giant, and after a brief battle of claws and fangs, they relented, taking off toward the trees again.
But the largest remained in the yard, growling in their direction with his dark fur bristling.
Quietly, Emily worked her way up the steps, hoping she wouldn't draw his attention by making too much noise. But she soon froze when the wolf let a low bark and looked back in her direction with a pair of copper brown eyes that almost seemed … friendly.
Just like Caleb's.
Regardless, Emily's first instinct was to grab the doorknob and rush into the house no matter how friendly the wolf seemed. Yet it wasn't growling at her, and instead, panted happily, his posture normal when he barked in her direction, allowing her to relax—albeit marginally.
With a nervous laugh, she mentioned, “I think Caleb's wrong about the leader because you're way too big not to be the one in charge.”
At her comment, the animal's head flicked to the side in a cutely curious manner, and Emily finally smiled.
“You can't be tame.”
Woof!
The bark sounded playful, and as she used the steps to push herself up, Emily conceded, “Okay, friendly maybe, and thanks for the assist with your buddies. But I'm not signing up to be eaten by wolves today, so take the bag and go, big guy.”
By that time, the wolf had started sniffing at the dirt, drawing in closer to her, and stopped only a few feet away. If she reached out, she could pet him, and Emily found herself too curious not to do just that, even despite her dangerous encounter only moments prior.
As soon as her hand hovered over his snout, the wolf pushed it up against her palm, and she grinned. Her fingers slipped through his glossy fur with ease—and Emily realized this animal was too clean not to be someone's oversized pet.
“You live around here?”
Woof!
“I'll take that as a yes,” she chuckled, drawing both of her hands over his head—and he seemed to enjoy the attention, nuzzling her palms with a low huff of approval.
So she didn't stop, continuing her idle chatter in the process. “You know, my apartment was broken into last week, and if you'd been around, I bet the guy who did it would've shit himself.”
The wolf barked, tail wagging happily as she added, “I always wanted a dog anyway, but not anything as big as you. I asked my dad for a beagle when I was twelve. They're so adorable, but Gary had allergies big time, so I got a fish tank instead.”
After mentioning that, she started scratching the wolf's ear, laughing when his hind leg started kicking.
“Oh,
the big boy has a soft spot, huh?” she baby talked him with a grin, wishing there was more time to spend with the canine. But Emily didn't want to keep Joslyn waiting, and petted the wolf again before standing.
“Okay, someone's expecting me, so I've gotta get going, and don't give me that sad look.”
Despite her warning, the canine stared up at her with soulful eyes, and she groaned loudly. “Seriously, that's not fair. You're so cute when you're—”
Emily stopped mid sentence when her gaze drifted toward the garage. There she noticed a leather boot standing near the corner wall, and curiously stepped toward it, soon realizing that the matching boot was sitting nearby, and so was a tank top.
The same one Caleb had been wearing.
“What the hell?”
Scratching her head, she blew a curly tendril of hair from her face, wondering why Caleb would remove his shirt and shoes before his walk. Then again, she hadn't paid much attention to his footwear before, so maybe he'd just removed his shirt because it was already dirty, and the boots had been laying there all along.
Emily would've inspected the situation more closely, but two things stopped her. The first was her phone going off in her pocket, probably Joslyn checking up on her.
Second, the big wolf took off toward the bushes so quickly she gasped.
“Oh! Okay … bye!” she called with a smirk, then decided that if Caleb wanted to walk around the woods shirtless and barefoot, that was his prerogative, turning to her car while answering the phone to let Joslyn know she was coming.
On the way, Emily worked diligently not to think about Caleb or allow herself to be upset that he wasn't interested. But sadly, she hadn't realized just how attracted to him she truly was until experiencing the sting of rejection, which didn't make the effort to forget any easier to accomplish.
Still, Caleb couldn't have gotten too deeply under her skin. She'd only known him a week, and he'd spent much of that time either working or renovating. So it wouldn't take much to make the spark he'd lit fizzle out.
Just time, distance, and getting herself to believe it was actually as simple as that.
Chapter 13
As soon as Caleb heard Emily's car pulling out of the driveway, he hopped back into the yard with his jeans clasped between his teeth and trotted to the rest of his clothing laying near the garage.
There, he let the garment drop to the ground just as his body tensed, mystically changing shape to human again.
With the transformation complete, he donned his pants, then grabbed his boots and shirt to carry over to the picnic table where he sat with a low sigh. Emily's forgotten bag of food was still laying in the dirt, and he considered everything that just happened.
It was a stroke of luck that Joslyn called when she did, otherwise Emily might've learned more than she needed to know when she found his clothing laying on the ground. Yet Caleb wasn't quite as worried about the possibility of being discovered as he was over the effect interacting with Emily as a wolf was having on him now.
He definitely hadn't meant for it to happen. But as he'd been running through the woods, trying to shed some of his frustration, he'd detected the sound of growling coming from his home and took off in that direction to find Emily facing down two hungry wolves.
Apparently, the scent of the food she was carrying had them mistaking her for a meal, so he'd intercepted and chased them off, then checked to make sure she was okay.
Thankfully, no physical damage had been done, either to him, her, or the offending animals. But the trouble was that, in animal form, a lupine's senses were sharper, meaning scents and sounds that already affected them as a human had a stronger impact.
So while Emily's scent was always fresh in his mind as a human, as a wolf, it'd bombarded him until all he could think about was gaining as much physical contact as possible.
And damned if he hadn't enjoyed it—kicking foot and all.
Caleb would've grinned over the stupid notion if he wasn't so concerned about his rapidly growing interests. Not even Fiona had gotten his instincts going so strong, particularly not in such a short amount of time. But he'd never interacted with her as a wolf, and didn't doubt he'd feel any differently afterward than he did now, which could be summed up in a few words as highly possessive with a heavy desire for Emily's company.
And in light of those feelings, he knew the truth for certain.
Bonding had begun.
So what the hell was he supposed to do now? Even if Caleb gave into his instincts and made the decision to get closer to Emily, he simply couldn't keep secrets with another human, not after what happened with Fiona.
Yet telling Emily the truth up front meant getting permission from Cade, but Caleb couldn't get himself to make that call, and not just because of his fear that things would go south again. Instead, most lupines waited until they knew how well a relationship with a human would work before requesting permission to reveal the truth. Not only was it a matter of trust, but also an issue of altering a human's perspective entirely—and in doing so, changing their lives.
There was a mystical phenomenon called the Shroud that kept normal people from seeing the things they didn't believe existed. But once the truth of the supernatural was revealed and accepted, the Shroud would fade, allowing them to see all types of things they'd previously ignored.
And the human would see it for the rest of their life, regardless of the turns their relationship with a lupine took.
So the decision to tell Emily the truth had to be weighed carefully, and Cade might not agree if only because Caleb hadn't even told her he was interested, let alone tried to see how things would go between them.
Groaning, he leaned forward with his arms draped across his thighs, so lost in thought he didn't hear his uncle's truck pulling up into the driveway.
But he did hear Travis mentioning, “Damn, son, you almost look like you've been shot in the nuts with a BB.”
Quickly looking back to see the elder lupine approaching the picnic table, Caleb asked, “When the hell did you get here?”
He scoffed at the question. “With everything goin' on right now, if you didn't even hear me pull up, you should probably go inside where it's safer.”
Caleb groaned, looking ahead again while Travis sat on the picnic table next to him, then asked astutely, “But let me guess, you've got girl problems.”
“How'd you know?”
“First of all, I can smell her perfume,” he mentioned. “Second, I heard about the drive thru pay-and-go you pulled when you were dating Fiona.”
Caleb grumbled. “I was distracted.”
Chuckling, Travis nodded. “I know. So who is she?”
“Joslyn's best friend, Emily.”
“Oh yeah, Cade told me about her,” Travis mentioned, then confused him by adding, “and you must be going through hell after what happened to Fiona.”
Hesitantly, Caleb inquired, “What are you talking about?”
With a sage look on his weathered face, Travis returned, “You know what I'm talkin' about. Henry told me everything that happened in Atlanta 'cause he was looking for advice on how to help you through it. He also wanted to make sure the story didn't get out to the pack because he knew how devastated you were.”
Caleb groaned over the news, but didn't get a chance to respond before Travis held up a hand and added, “Don't be angry, he was just concerned.”
“I'm not mad,” he admitted. “Annoyed maybe, but it's actually kinda nice that you know. I was wishing dad was around to help me out with this, but … ”
As he trailed, Travis agreed in a solemn manner that proved he missed his younger brother just as much. “I know, and like Henry would've put it, you can only carry a heavy load alone for so long before it pulls ya down. So why don't you start by tellin' me about this girl.”
Caleb didn't hesitate. At this point, he needed the support, or in the very least, some idea of what to do if only to make things easier to handle. So he started, “Not sure wha
t there is to talk about. Emily's beautiful, smart, has a kick ass sense of humor, and I just ran into her as a wolf.”
Travis sighed. “Well that's gonna make it worse.”
“Right. I didn't even feel this strongly about Fiona when I told her the truth. I just had a better idea of how well a relationship would work because we'd actually dated.”
A momentary silence lapsed between them, each caught up in his own thoughts until Travis finally asked, “Any idea what you wanna do?”
“I want to get closer to her, but … ”
“But you're afraid if she finds out what you are, she's not gonna take it well,” Travis supplied.
“Exactly.”
The elder lupine offered a sympathetic shake of his head, then stood from the picnic table and said, “Sounds to me like you need to come clean with Emily early, get all that fear out of the way and then focus on what's more important.”
“More important?”
“Yeah, getting the hell on with your life,” Travis stated bluntly, turning to face him. “I know you're scared shitless, but I think this situation is unique enough that Emily wouldn't hurt knowing we exist. She's been friends with Joslyn all her life, so the two of you need to sit down and have a pow wow over what's what, and let her come to terms with it.”
“You really think that's a good idea? Change Emily's life just because I'm interested? We don't even know how well I'd bond with her yet.”
“But you just said you didn't feel this strongly about Fiona when you told her, and besides, Emily's close to Joslyn, too. So it wouldn't just be a matter of telling her because you've got strong instincts. It's also a matter of friendship.”
“And what if this fucks their friendship up?”
Confidently, Travis returned, “I'm pretty sure they can work through it, just like you can. Caleb, you're trying to be a lone wolf in a pack, and it doesn't work that way. The pack works together, otherwise, what's the point of havin' one?”
Caleb sighed, knowing that was true. But he had to point out, “Still, no one else knows what really happened with Fiona, and I'd rather things stay that way.”
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