by Alison Paige
Granny, where are you? Maizie’s brain was fuzzy, filled with intoxicating scents and sounds, with the instincts of her wolf-half. There was just too much, too many distractions. But she knew what Granny looked like, didn’t she? Yes. She remembered her, the way she made Maizie feel, what she meant to her. None of these people were Granny.
Maizie turned and jogged along the building, avoiding the cast of light spilling from the windows. She followed the edge around corners, into the alcoves and out again. She finally made it to the back of the building where four windows were spaced evenly along the façade. The first overlooked the backyard, but the forest edged close to the last three. Granny’s suite.
The light from Granny’s room cast a wash of light into the forest, illuminating a matching rectangle of foliage. Maizie circled out to the edge of the light, careful not to be seen.
Granny’s lace curtains were drawn, but the heavy toile drapes were pulled back to the sides, exposing the room to anyone who cared to see.
Granny. Maizie knew her instantly. The old woman sat in her hospital-style bed, the top section angled up so she could watch TV. A remote control in one hand, she held a fork in the other, poised over a cranberry apple walnut tart waiting on a rolling tray table over the bed. Her feet wiggled a happy rhythm under the blanket, her mouth curled in a half smile, still working on her last bite.
She was happy and Maizie’s muscles relaxed, releasing a tension she hadn’t noticed before. Granny was safe and cared for in case this transformation didn’t reverse itself. Maizie shuddered at the thought.
She wasn’t stuck like this, was she? The old stories always had some poor hapless sap who’d gotten himself bitten returning to his human form. Reclaiming his life was a struggle, but he always tried, always wallowed in denial.
Of course most often he didn’t succeed and wound up transforming at the worst possible moment. The villagers would storm and the hapless sap would mindlessly attack some innocent child, giving good reason for his brutal death.
Maizie shuddered again and made a mental note to stop watching so many horror flicks. She’d be fine. This couldn’t possibly be a permanent state and villagers hardly ever stormed these days.
Granny took another dainty bite of tart, her smile broadening as the pastry passed her lips. She leaned her head back, dancing her fork in the air like a conductor. Maizie never realized how long and lovely Granny’s hair was. Like a blanket of fine white snow, it lay in a shimmering sheet down her back to her bum. White curls pooled around her hips, tiny wisps tickling her cheeks.
Gawd, she meant the world to Maizie. Why hadn’t she got one last hug, one last feathery kiss? She wanted to hear Granny’s voice, to feel her soft hand smoothing over her cheek, telling her life was more than loss and heartache. She wanted to go to her now.
Maizie took a step, her front paws and head bathed in the light from Granny’s room. She stopped, instinct warring with human want. She couldn’t. The fear was too great. Her wolf-half wasn’t ready to trust humans, even the ones she loved.
She backed up, stealing into the shadows again. Another time. If she stayed this way, Maizie would keep trying to overcome the scream of her wolf instincts. But for now, even if the worst happened—furry wolf parts forever, rampaging villagers, whatever—Maizie knew Granny was safe.
A knock sounded at Granny’s door and riveted Maizie’s attention.
“Come in,” Granny said, the words more sung than stated.
The door opened and a dark-haired man poked his head through the crack. “Hey, Mom. Were mwap sleeping?”
“Riddly?” Granny’s hand dropped to the bed, fork, remote and MTV forgotten. “No…no. I’m mwap. Is that mwap, Riddly?”
Maizie’s wolf brain struggled with the words. Daddy? Maizie edged forward, light touching her toes and muzzle. The man smiled, stepped in and closed the door behind him.
“How’s my mwap girl?” Handsome, sophisticated in his tailored business suit, the man was familiar, but Maizie wasn’t sure why. He was thickly built, like a tall wrestler, with broad shoulders, a squared jaw and a prominent Romanic nose. He was graying at the temples, the dull color all the more noticeable against the sheer blackness of his neatly trimmed hair.
He kept his right hand hidden behind him as he came across the room to Granny. When he reached her bedside, he leaned in and kissed her forehead then offered the bouquet of white roses he was hiding.
Maizie snorted. They were beautiful, but they weren’t Granny’s favorite. Violets. Granny would do anything for a handful of violets. Maizie’s thoughts were proven by Granny’s placating expression.
“Oh, mwap mwap, dear. They’re mwap. Could you mwap them in mwap mwap me? There’s a mwap in the mwap mwap.” Granny shook her fork toward the bathroom door.
“Sure, Mom.”
That man was not Riddly Hood. Maizie’s father never would’ve brought his mother the wrong flowers. A strange vibration hummed in her chest, a low growl filled her ears. It took a second to realize the growl was coming from inside her, anger manifesting in her new wolf form. She liked it.
The moment the strange imposter left the room, Granny fumbled at her chest. She found her locket and worked hard to open it. A wide sentimental grin filled her face, a sadness pinching the corner of her eyes as she gazed at the pictures inside.
“I, ah, brought mwap papers we mwap about,” the man said from the bathroom.
Granny hurried to close the locket, fisting it in her hand before he strolled back into the room, vase overflowing with roses. He paused for a moment, his gaze studying her face then dropping to her hands at her chest. His expression darkened, his smile suddenly more stiff, forced.
“What’ya mwap there, Mom?”
“Mwap nothing, mwap.” But the phony Riddly’s attention was riveted. He set the vase on Granny’s nightstand and reached for her hands.
The growl vibrating through Maizie grew louder. She took another bold step into the light.
Granny giggled. Let him open her hands. “Just mwap mwap locket. The picture’s so old. You hardly look like yourself. And look at little Maizie. Barely five years old.”
The man studied the pictures, his thick black brows wrinkled tight over his dark eyes. But then he smiled, closed the locket and placed it gently on her chest. “That picture mwap mwap ages ago. I looked mwap a different person mwap then.”
Granny nodded, her smile bright. “Still handsome mwap mwap, though.”
“Thanks, Mom.” The man slipped a hand into the breast pocket of his suit and pulled out a thin stack of papers folded long-ways. He set them on the tray next to Granny’s tart then placed a thick fancy pen beside them.
“Mwap I miss mwap top twenty mwap?” He nodded toward the TV.
“Mwap on sixteen. Sit, sit, mwap a little mwap mwap with mwap old mwap,” Granny said.
“Old.” He scoffed. “You’ll mwap mwap us all.” He pulled the storage bench from around the end of her bed then dragged one of the high-backed chairs closer. He dropped into it with a casualness that belied his sophisticated attire and propped his expensive leather-shoed feet on the bench.
What were the papers he talked about, the ones sitting conspicuously on Granny’s tray? And who the hell was he anyway? There was something familiar about him, but her wolf brain wouldn’t make the connection. It didn’t matter. Everything inside Maizie told her she needed to get him away from Granny. Even her wolf-half agreed.
She backed into the shadows again, jogging toward the end of the building. Maybe she could find a door propped open or slip in behind someone else. She had to get to Granny, protect her, despite her instinctive fear of humans.
She edged along the building, skirting the pockets of light as best she could. She turned a final corner where the forest and grass ended. Her toes edged against the wide expanse of blacktop. Before her, the parking lot of Green Acres Nursing Home stretched between her and the front door.
The forest encircled Green Acres on three sides, leaving th
e front façade and the parking lot exposed. The lot was lit like daylight by three enormous lights placed just right to keep shadows at bay. Beyond the parking lot, directly across from the nursing home, cars whizzed by on a busy two-lane road, and on the other side of that, the night evaporated in the glow of human encroachment. A restaurant, a grocery store, a gas station and more—the edge of civilization on one side, acres and acres of forest behind her. Maizie wanted to turn back so badly her muscles ached from the restraint.
Granny. She needed her and Maizie took a tentative step. The black ground was warm on her pads, still holding the heat from a sunny day. She moved farther, her gaze fixed on the glass entrance. Inside she could see the front desk and a familiar face seated behind it. What was her name?
It didn’t matter. She wouldn’t recognize Maizie like this anyway. Maizie kept moving slow and steady. She stayed low to the ground, crouched, trying to be smaller, less noticeable. It was pointless, she knew, she was utterly exposed.
A car door slammed and Maizie froze, heart pounding. Her gaze darted over the parking lot, five cars. Her ears twitched, she sniffed. Nothing. Muscles tensed, wanting to run, but she didn’t move.
“Maizie?”
She knew that voice, deep and rich, soothing like…
“It’s mwap…Gray. Mwap it easy, mwap mwap?”
Gray? Maizie followed the voice with her eyes. She found him standing next to a long black car parked by the forest on the other side. She watched him, his hands low, out from his body as though he meant to seem less threatening. Her instincts weren’t buying it.
She sniffed again and picked up only a hint of his scent when the wind shifted around, bouncing off the building. Mmmm…she knew that smell, earth and plants, the forest, but there was more. A hint of sweetness, human cologne. Maizie’s wolf-half balked at the odor, edging backward.
“No. Wait.” He stopped moving. “I mwap help. Let mwap mwap with you.”
Maizie knew the words, but couldn’t wrap her wolf brain around their meaning. He was human. She didn’t trust humans. She moved another step back.
“Jeezus, you mwap mwap beautiful animal. I know mwap, scared and you’re mwap mwap mwap half of mwap mwap saying, but mwap mwap be mwap mwap running mwap alone.”
Maizie took another step back. Why was she even out in the open like this? Where was she going? She couldn’t remember. It didn’t matter. She had to get away. She had to run, her instincts demanded it and they were too hard to ignore.
She turned, but something about the human stopped her. She looked back and saw his face contorting, changing shape. He stripped out of his shirt, popping buttons, throwing the remains to the ground. He moved to his pants, working his buckle and zipper even as he toed off his shoes. He was naked in seconds, his body shrinking, skin rolling as though his bones moved and reshaped beneath the flesh.
Thick silvery fur sprouted over his shoulders, rippled down his chest to his belly, hiding his penis and balls in an instant. He fell forward, his arms and legs changing to paws before they touched the ground. Just like that he was a wolf.
He snorted with a hard shake of his head, pausing as though he needed a moment to recoup. Then his pale blue wolf eyes focused on her and he sauntered forward. Maizie’s muscles twitched, the urge to run screaming loud in her head.
Yes, he was a wolf, but he was a male wolf. The apprehension remained, only the reasons for it had changed. This wasn’t her territory and she knew with a shift of the wind it was his. She’d detected his scent all over the forest. This place belonged to him and his pack. She was an outsider. If she were male, she’d likely already be dead. As a female there were choices—for him, not her.
He could attack, deciding he had enough females in his pack and dominating another wasn’t worth the trouble. Or he could take her now, possess her, claim her as his own. Either way, Maizie would have little to say in the matter. He was at least six inches taller at the shoulder and a solid fifty pounds heavier. His decision would be absolute.
A warm shudder tickled under her fur down her back. Even in wolf form the thought of him taking her was an erotic temptation. But until she knew his intentions, complete passivity could be fatal.
Maizie lowered her shoulders, her ears pinned back against her head. She growled, bared her teeth. Gray stopped his slow approach, his pale eyes fixed on her, judging her intentions just as she judged his.
He was too far away, his body language ambivalent. She’d have to allow him closer to be sure, close enough to strike. She couldn’t take that chance. Her wolf-half wouldn’t allow it.
Maizie spun, springing off her powerful back legs, pumping her front legs to propel her forward, away from the male aggressor. She didn’t know where she was going. It didn’t matter as long as she got away.
Her nails clawed at the blacktop, slipping when they couldn’t dig in. Gray’s nails clattered behind her, giving chase without hesitation. She glanced back, saw his body eating the distance between them, his pale blue eyes alight with fury. He’d overtake her in seconds.
Panic clogged her throat, hammered through her heart, pumped her legs harder, faster. She shifted her attention forward, ready to throw herself into the run.
Lights. Blinding. Two brilliant orbs barreling toward her. Thunder rumbled behind them, vibrating through her brain. Maizie gasped, a sharp high-pitched yip. She tried to stop, throwing her weight backward, her paws scrambling to slow her momentum.
Gray’s heavy body collided with her, unable to shift speed and direction any better than she. The impact knocked the air from her lungs, both of them tumbling off the blacktop onto soft grass. Maizie found her center and stopped her roll just in time to pull her nose out of the way of the minivan rolling up the driveway.
Twisting hard, throwing her head and neck, Maizie got her feet under her. Adrenaline surged through her body, giving her a dizzying high while she puzzled what to do next. Where was the male? Nothing mattered more.
A low growl turned her around, the sound so visceral it vibrated through her flesh and bone, stuttering the beat of her heart. She peered into the forest, trying hard to pinpoint the sound. Full dark made for a night blacker than pitch, even for her enhanced wolf eyesight. Straining, she managed to catch a subtle shift of movement behind a cluster of trees and focused her gaze as the soft glow of pale blue eyes broke the curtain of black.
Gray’s silvery fur caught the light. The chase was on.
Chapter Twelve
He’d saved her life, knocking her out of the way when her animal instincts froze in the headlights. Normally that should have earned him some points but Gray knew Maizie’s fevered wolf brain wasn’t up to the logic. Once her body manufactured enough antibodies to break her fever, she’d shift back to human form. Unfortunately, there was no way for Gray to know how long that would take.
Maizie crouched, ears pinned back, belly nearly touching the grass. She bared her teeth, growled at him, warning she’d fight or run if he dared to approach. Protecting her until her fever broke wasn’t going to be easy this way. They were animals now. No way to communicate except the way nature intended for the species. At least in that respect, Maizie was capable. She was more wolf than human for the time being.
Gray snorted with a hard shake of his head and stepped from the shadows. Maizie edged back, her brilliant green eyes fixed on him. She snarled, her voice louder.
Gray had the feeling she was more ready to run than fight if the opportunity arose. He couldn’t read her mind or her his, but they sensed each other, understood each other’s wants, desires and needs. A natural phenomenon created by an enhancement of the normal five.
With a small whimper, a submissive sigh, Gray lowered himself to the forest floor. On his belly, he edged closer, head cocked to the side, eyes downcast as much as possible. I’m not going to hurt you.
Maizie straightened, not completely but enough he knew she understood. Ears perked, her head twisted one way, then the other before she gave a curious yip. What do yo
u want?
Gray continued the submissive approach, not really answering. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m not going to hurt you. He was almost to her, but Maizie was becoming antsy.
Her heart beat so hard he could see the subtle vibration of her fur. Her feet shifted, finding the best footing to launch into a run at a moment’s notice. Fear seasoned her body chemistry, the scent seeping through her pores, a bitter taste on the air. It was a risk for her to let him get too near. She’d know he could overpower her in seconds.
She stepped back, gave another yip, but this one was harder, laced with warning. What the hell do you want? Stay away. I will bring you down.
Another whimper, Gray edged closer. I’m not going to hurt you. Just a few more feet and he’d be close enough to strike.
Maizie was smart, evolution affording her centuries of knowledge, the instinct that enabled the weaker sex to survive the demands of the stronger. And Maizie was functioning on almost pure instinct.
She barked—sharp, angry—her feet dancing her backward, her tail swished once, quick. She started a low growl. I won’t be dominated. I won’t be killed. I’ll fight…if I have to.
Gray didn’t buy it. She was so frightened he practically choked on the scent of it. Her feet fidgeted, her muscles rolling tight under her fur. She was ready to bolt, to run at his slightest distraction. He wouldn’t be distracted.
In a straight-on foot race, Gray knew he could smoke Maizie’s smaller stride, but through the twists and turns of a forest run, her smaller size would turn to an advantage. He had to get closer before she took off or he might never catch her.
He called her bluff, throwing up one of his own. Gray rose, not to his full height but enough that he met her eye to eye. He bared his teeth, his growl deeper, louder, more visceral than hers. Move and I’ll end you here—now. My forest. My pack. I decide. Don’t move. Let me nearer.
Jeezus, she was beautiful. To his wolf-half she was as alluring a female as she was a woman to his human-half. Fear sparked in the jewel green of her eyes, but underneath they still managed to captivate him with their curiosity and intelligence—with her sheer defiance.
