“Wolfie,” she sang out. “Hungry, baby?”
Colin eagerly made his way to her side, rubbing his body against her legs, hoping she would reach down and give him a cuddle. With a laugh, she did, before making her way to the fridge and getting out a piece of the meat she had bought on the way home. As she put it in a bowl and set it on the floor, she said, “The man said liver would help you get your strength back. Hope you like it.”
Even though the meat smelled like the wrapper it had come out of and not the fresh wild scent of game, he sniffed it and then scarfed it down hungrily. Faye sat at the table, pouring herself a bowl of milk and then shaking half the box of cereal in it. Absentmindedly, she looked down in surprise when Wolfie laid his head on her knee.
“Finished already?” she asked, wide-eyed. “You must have been really hungry.”
Quickly, Faye finished eating. She was so tired, and her bed was practically calling her name. After leaving her bowl in the sink, she headed for her room. Colin hesitantly followed her, watching as she disappeared into the bathroom once more. He peeked in and saw her brushing her teeth with one hand and combing her hair with the other.
Stepping back from the door, he looked at her giant bed and felt another wistful longing to be in his skin again. That bed just looked so soft. Maybe he could just sit on it for a minute. Faye was not looking.
He swung his head to look over his shoulder at her in the bathroom before nimbly jumping up on the bed. He sat with his tail thumping against the mattress as he waited for a moment to see if Faye had heard him. She hadn’t. She was singing now.
With a happy sigh, Colin fell over in a doggy heap and rolled into his back, paws straight up in the air, his tongue lolling out.
Faye stepped out of the bathroom and paused as the urge to laugh made her clap her hand over her mouth. The silly goose, she mused. Wolfie lay flat on his back, his legs straight up in the air as a weird grunt/moan came out of his muzzle. Unable to contain herself, Faye nearly choked on a laugh.
Colin jumped up when he heard her, guilty as could be, and tumbled off the bed with a yelp as Faye continued to laugh at him.
His head popped up from the other side of the bed to look at her. If she was laughing, she must not be mad, right? he pondered. His tail thumped the floor as he cocked his head at her.
“You are one weird wolf,” Faye managed to say between her giggles as she sat down on the bed with her legs crossed. “Come here, you goofball.”
Colin wasted no time hopping back up on the bed beside her and stretching out, taking up half of the bed with his body.
Faye left him there while she locked the doors and turned out the lights.
“No doggy slobber on my sheets,” she warned as she got under the covers.
Colin let out a soft ‘woof’ at her. She giggled and murmured sleepily, “Silly puppy.”
Colin laid his head on her chest and sighed as he closed his eyes. Her arm came around him as she snuggled into his fur, and he couldn’t stop his tail from thumping against the bed at her touch.
“Stop wagging your tail,” she groaned sleepily.
Colin whined, trying to tell her he couldn’t help it.
“I swear, sometimes I think you’re trying to talk to me,” she said softly before kissing the top of his head. “Now go to sleep.”
Colin watched her with adoring eyes as she dropped off to sleep. Frustration surged through his veins. He was where he was supposed to be; in his Promise’s arms, holding her, loving her, but because of his fur, she might not ever know.
He tried to make himself relax so he could sleep as his mind swarmed with thoughts about what he would do if he couldn’t ever shift back to his skin. Colin knew he would stay with Faye all her days as nothing more than her wolf if that was the case. But, without his skin, he couldn’t claim her. And if he didn’t claim her, she would eventually die.
A hand gently stroking down his back calmed him slightly, and his eyes swiveled up to look at Faye. She was still sleeping but had somehow noticed his distress.
Perhaps she felt the beginnings of the bond? Colin didn’t know, but he was able to fall asleep with her scent calming him.
He could worry about the future tomorrow.
CHAPTER nine
“Wolfie!” hollered Faye. “Get your furry butt off of my porch!”
Colin whined, and his ears dropped as he slunk off of the porch. With great disgust, Faye took the end of the broom she had been using to sweep off the porch and frowned. Gingerly, she eased the dead rabbit off the porch, blood dripping from its severed neck.
“Ugh,” she groaned as she surveyed Wolfie’s bloody mess.
She shook her finger at him and said, “You can’t bring your meals up on the porch. Ugh, that’s so gross . . . blood everywhere.”
Colin snorted at her. She did realize he was technically a wolf, right?
She noticed his expression and blew out a breath as she muttered to herself, “I know. I know. He’s a wolf. But it’s so bloody!”
Colin stretched out on his belly on a warm patch of ground. The snow had melted slightly, leaving patches of white scattered over browning grass.
He stared up at Faye as she dug into her jean pocket as something shrill vibrated through the air.
“Hello?” asked Faye.
Colin sank his head down on his paws to take a nap as Faye talked to her friend, Suzanne, on the phone. But at the loud volume she was talking, he was sure any creature for miles around had heard her.
“I have to pay for Mardi’s shoes!” said the angry voice on the other end of the line.
Faye shrugged and sat down on the porch steps. “My apologies,” she said, chewing on a fingernail, “but I’m tired of bailing you out when I’ve got better things to do.”
Colin could hear the woman on the other end of the phone scoff. Faye seemed agitated so he clambered to his paws and trotted over to join her, shoving his head under her arm. She smiled warmly down at him, and Colin licked her cheek lovingly.
“Why would you bring a dog to work?” Suzanne exploded.
“I couldn’t leave him here,” explained Faye, absently running her fingers up and down Wolfie’s back, “and he’s not a dog; he’s a wolf.”
Colin tried to contain the shiver he felt at her touch and curled himself around her, his head lying on her lap.
“As if that’s so much better,” sneered Suzanne.
Colin found himself not liking the woman and how she was talking to Faye, but he couldn’t do anything about it except whine so he closed his eyes and settled on her lap, burrowing his head into her stomach. Faye giggled at the ticklish sensation.
Suzanne sighed in exasperation.
“Look,” said Faye, tired of the conversation, “you put me in a tight spot. Now, I’m not getting all up in your business. You should start working the shifts yourself. You do get the money after all. I’m tired of covering for you.”
With that, Faye hung up and let out a sigh of relief. Lately, she had felt that her and Suzanne’s friendship was getting more and more one-sided. Suzanne only ever called when she needed something, and Faye was getting plain tired of being used.
“Just you and me all day today, Wolfie,” sang Faye as she scratched his ears.
She laughed when his back leg started shaking. He let out a groan. They sat that way for a while until Faye decided to get up and feed the chickens.
Colin was left with his dead rabbit, and he neatly ate it while keeping one protective eye on Faye. He cleaned up any leftover blood staining the dark boards of the porch and then trotted after Faye, his belly full and content.
She shook her head at him and said, “Well, if you keep catching your own food, I guess that’s less money I have to spend on you.”
He grinned up at her, and Faye laughed before pushing his stinky doggy breath out of her face. “You need a tooth brush,” she gasped.
After that, Colin couldn’t do much for her for the rest of the day. She puttered around th
e house, fixing a loose shutter, dragging out her potted plants so they could get some sun, and then when it started getting dark, dragging them back inside the closed back porch.
He felt like a lazy oaf, freeloading off of her.
It was dark when every muscle in his body tensed as the Call echoed through the night. He lay on the porch at Faye’s side while she sat curled up with a book in her rocking chair. Faye looked up from her book, laying one hand on his head as if she thought he would bolt. His ears perked up and he whined, his paws scratching at the wood on the floor as the Call sounded again.
Multiple voices joined the lone howler, and Colin felt his vocal cords seize. He was on unclaimed territory, he knew, but that still didn’t lessen the pull of the moon or his responsibility to let the pack singing know of his presence. He had run through their territory from the moose, and now they were singing praises to the moon and inviting others to join them. He glanced up at the sky, noticing for the first time the full glowing orb rising over the trees. He was bound to Faye in more ways than one.
She was his protector. Ironic as it seemed at the moment, she was also his alpha and, most importantly, his Promise. His duty was to her alone, but his fur side wanted to run with a pack and change with a pack under the moon as they basked in its glowing warmth.
He felt a twinge of pain run down his spine and whined long and low in his throat. He was about to jolt off of the porch when he felt Faye nudge him towards the cabin door.
She didn’t want to lose him, Faye realized as she listened to the wolves howling not far away. More and more voices joined the chorus, and she glanced down at Wolfie to see him crouching, ears perked, yet staying by her side and leaning into her hand that rested on his head.
She knew he wanted to go, so she stood and tried to usher him inside, thinking maybe if he couldn’t hear them as well, he might not go.
She didn’t want him to go.
CHAPTER ten
“Wolfie!” Faye’s voice was shrill as she shut the front door behind her, eyes wide at her wolf staggering and groveling on the floor in front of her fireplace.
A groaned whine floated to her ears.
Colin writhed on the floor in pain, black dots clouding his vision. He felt his spine lengthen; his vertebrae moving, shifting, realigning. Each step of the Change was pure agony. He howled in pain, no longer able to stop himself. He hoped the cabin walls muffled it enough that the pack worshiping the moon a few miles away would not hear him.
He couldn’t defend his Promise mid-change. His paws clawed at the floor, leaving long gouges in the hard wood as he felt the bones in his jaw break. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth with tears forming in his eyes as they rolled back in their sockets. He tried to whine, but the noise was garbled as he foamed at the mouth, drooling onto the floor.
By the goddess, he didn’t know if he would survive. He had never felt such pain while changing. Momentary discomfort was to be expected as bones moved and reshaped and internal organs shifted. It was a strange feeling but one a shifter soon grew accustomed to.
But not even a first shift was this painful, he thought.
Faye blinked slowly in the light, fear slowly taking over. Something was not right here. Wolfie seemed to be reshaping, and his fur was disappearing and then reappearing, sprouting from his pores like grass from the ground in the spring.
It was not normal.
She backed against the door, eyeing the shotgun propped in the corner and wondering if she was going to have to use it. She could call for help, but she lived too far out into the bush for anyone to make it in time. And if they did arrive while she was still breathing, what on earth would she tell them?
Her pet wolf was somehow breaking his own bones and growing and re-growing fur apparently on command? They would likely haul her off for a mental evaluation, she thought, not to mention they’d probably shoot her wolf.
A pang struck her heart at the thought. Even though something was definitely off, she still didn’t want to get rid of him.
The thought of werewolves crossed her mind and she scoffed.
Not likely.
Colin felt like he was going to spontaneously combust as his internal temperature sky-rocketed. Another wretched howl broke from his muzzle as he flung himself at the stone of the fireplace.
It hurt so bad.
The bones in his legs popped, and he heard Faye’s scream rise above his own. He could not fathom how she was not running by now. Changing in general was slightly grotesque to humans, but, with the way he was feeling, he had to look like a ghastly demon from the very pits of hell. He glanced down at his legs over his shoulder. His legs were twisted unnaturally with the bones poking under the surface of the skin, pushing it out and stretching it thin. His veins pulsed under his skin. Fear welled up in Colin as he tried to calm his breathing and stay still. If the bones broke the skin, he would be crippled.
His toes shortened as the fur receded again, and he let out an agonized garble as he choked on his tongue that was suddenly too big for his mouth. His chest heaved as he fought for breath, his eyes growing wide in panic. He turned, trying to catch Faye’s eyes with his own, begging her to help him. She was shaking, standing on the table. He had wrecked the room.
When did that happen? he thought.
His arm wrenched behind his back, and he forgot about the state of the room as he sobbed, trying to breathe. His tongue was choking him.
Faye watched as the creature on her floor stilled, his body, for it was definitely male, was stiff like a corpse. The veins on his neck and arms were bulging, and his head was raised slightly off the floor. His eyes locked on hers, begging. His immense chest heaved, and Faye realized he was fighting for air. His arms were useless at the moment, laying limp on the floor. His right arm was completely twisted around with his elbow jutted up into the air.
The sight made her want to vomit. The hair on his chest receded, and her eyes were met with a broad expanse of male chest. Carefully, Faye climbed down from the table and made her way over to where he lay. Just as she knelt beside him, his ribs cracked, the sickening sound making Faye flinch and scramble away. His ribs jutted out, making Faye realize how malnourished he actually was. His mouth opened with a silent cry as his eyes squeezed close in agony.
Then Faye saw what the problem was.
His tongue.
It was too big for his mouth and was blocking his airway.
“Damn,” she whispered, staring at him wide-eyed. “Holy mother of Mary.”
Faye blinked, wondering if she should pinch herself to see if everything was real.
His body shook, and Faye slowly laid her hand on his arm as she scooted close again. Her arms ached as she tried to hold him still.
She then commanded, “Don’t bite me.”
Quickly, she shoved her fingers in his mouth and cleared his airway. He sucked in a breath, and Faye jerked her fingers out as his tongue shrunk, slowly becoming normal in size.
Colin fell limp against the floor as tears streamed down the side of his face. Breath after breath filled his lungs, and he vaguely registered Faye pressing something soft and cold to his forehead.
He tried to speak, but his vocal cords wouldn’t cooperate yet, so he settled for a soft moan. His body was too tired for his eyes to remain open.
It was a brief reprieve for him.
A few minutes later, fire danced across his skin, making him feel like he was boiling in oil. His left arm was half-phased; the upper half human, the lower half still complete with claws. He whimpered and squirmed uncomfortably as the next wave of Heat hit.
Frantically, he clawed at his skin with his left hand, digging for the source of the fire in his chest. Screams tore from his mouth as he raked his claws down his chest, shredded skin imbedded underneath. Blood poured down his side as the added pain momentarily eased the fire.
His hand clutched at his head as he rocked back and forth. He pulled at his hair, sobbing as his lips moved, trying to form words, s
creaming for it to stop.
Faye yanked his arms away from his head, stopping further damage. She held his arms down as he suddenly felt like he was freezing. His teeth chattered as his body temperature dropped. A sob jerked from his body as his legs finally lengthened, and the bones snapped back into place. His right arm twitched and then molded back into its natural shape.
The fur receded from his left arm, and the claws on his nails shortened before turning into short dirty fingernails on a hand. Flesh and bone, skin and blood. His body shook as he lay panting, his eyes too heavy to open.
He was exhausted, and his body ached horribly. The blood on his chest was crusty, and his wounds were still slightly bleeding. He vaguely registered something wrapping around his torso.
Then something soft enveloped his body as his head was lifted and laid on something soft. Whimpers escaped his mouth as the source of the Heat he had been clutching to his chest moved.
Faye removed her arm from where he had been holding it to his chest like a child. His hand clutched hers desperately. She watched him, sitting a few inches away, as he felt for her. The movement obviously hurt him. Soft cries escaped his full supple lips as he curled around her, much like the way her Wolfie had done, pushing his head into her lap.
Goosebumps rose on his arms, and he quieted while his body shivered.
Faye realized he was cold as he pulled his arms to his chest. He curled into the fetal position around her and cuddled into her.
Slowly, she let one of her hands rest on his head in a way she hoped was comforting, the other running gently in barely a ghost of a touch up and down his back. Faye hoped his heavy breathing meant he was asleep. He needed it after that—transformation— or whatever it was, she pondered, bewildered.
She tried to wrap her mind around the fact that her wolf had changed into a man. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would not believe it. He had a lot of explaining to do.
Under An Alaskan Moon: A Shifter Romance Page 4
