The Gift of Love

by Lori Foster

“I am not an animal. ”Great now I was quoting the Elephant Man. “I was joking about the thermometer up the butt, you know. ”

  “Relax. Richard, Doctor Carter, is one of us. He’s a werewolf. He went to school for general medicine then went back to get his doctorate in veterinary science to help the pack. Turns out he liked being a vet more.”

  “What a heartwarming story. ” I looked back out my window, trying not to think about all the indignities animals endure during doctor visits. “If he asks me to pee in a cup, I’m screwed. ”

  Luke’s soft laugh tickled through my belly. Crap. Of all the people who had to see me like this, why him? And here I thought having him wash the mud off my hairy stomach would top my embarrassment chart. How the hell was I going to get up on one of those high metal tables? And what would happen when I really did have to pee? Ugh. I didn’t want to think about it.

  “So, how many of us are there? ” I asked, cleverly changing the subject.

  He glanced at me then back to the road and shrugged. “In the world? Hard to say. But locally, there’s just our pack. About one-fifty, although there are a few couples expecting.”

  “One hundred and fifty werewolves in Washington, Pennsylvania? That’s not possible. ”

  On the other hand, Washington was a small town surrounded by really small towns, surrounded by acres and acres of forest that blanketed the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. I guess if there was going to be a spot on the planet where werewolves would multiply like rabbits, it’d be Washington, PA. We also have a large population of rabbits, coincidentally. Or maybe it wasn’t a coincidence.

  “We’re not just in Washington. The pack house is here, but most are spread out and live in nearby counties.” He looked at me for a second, glancing at the road and back. “We’re normal people, Ella. Just like you. We have families, jobs, join bowling leagues …”

  “Those people aren’t normal. ”

  “The point is that being a werewolf changes your life, but it doesn’t have to change the way you live.”

  My gaze drifted back to the greenery whizzing past my window. “Could say the same thing about incontinence. ”

  “You’ll get used to it.”

  “I don’t know. This is pretty much the weirdest thing that’s ever happened to me. Was it like this for you?”

  “No,” he said, and his voice was softer, more private. “I’ve always been a werewolf. Born this way. Both my parents were pack members.”

  “Didn’t know that was possible, both born and made werewolves. Not that I really thought about it. ”Up until about four hours ago I didn’t even know there was anything real to think about. Live and learn … the hard way. “Are most born werewolves?”

  “Yeah. At least in our pack. We’re a pretty tight community. It’s hard to find people outside the group who’d fit in. Only about an eighth of our members were bitten, and most of them were bitten for love.”

  Aw, sweet. I’m not jealous. “How many were accidents?”

  “Uhm … counting you?” He suddenly seemed very focused on the road. Either that or he just didn’t want to look at me. “Three.”

  “Three?”

  “Yeah. Two of them were teething accidents. Cute werewolf baby, a couple of admiring checkout girls who got their fingers too close. Y’know.”

  “I’m the only werewolf that was accidentally bitten by an adult?” It seemed too much like karmic payback, though I had no idea what I’d done to piss off karma.

  I couldn’t keep thinking about it. I sighed and stuck my nose out the window, catching the breeze. It wasn’t a dog thing. People do that, too. “So if only an eighth of the pack are turned for love, the rest of you must only date furry?”

  He flashed me a sideways glance, his sharp chiseled cheeks going red. “Mostly. Like I said, it’s hard to find someone outside the group who shares our unique … interests.”

  “Like what, playing catch? Chasing tails? A deep fascination with fire hydrants?”

  “You joke, but wait ’til you see one of those stout red beauties now.” He whistled, and I hoped to God he was joking.

  “Perfect. ”I stood and thought about lying down on the Jeep’s little bucket seat. Wasn’t going to happen so I sat again. My skinny little wolf legs were tired. “So is there a sexy she wolf in your life?”

  I’d made it as casual a question as I could. Many a teacher, female and male, had thrown themselves at Luke and gotten nowhere. He’d nipped any further attempts in the bud with the old “I don’t date colleagues” excuse. I guess I could be wrong, but from what I’d seen, Luke didn’t date anyone. Not that I’d been stalking him or anything. He had plenty of friends. Everyone liked him. He’d even invited me along with the group to go dancing plenty of times. But group dates don’t count. Besides, I’d never noticed him noticing anyone.

  “Yes and no,” he said. “The last few people I’ve dated were werewolves, but no one who’s ever triggered my instincts.”

  “Is that a euphemism? ”

  He glanced at me, brows drawn in confusion. “Oh. No.” He laughed. “Wolves mate for life. When we meet our true mate, our instincts take over and we’ll do … almost anything to be with them.”

  “Ah … good to know. So what if you don’t meet the one? You stay single? ”

  “No.” Luke shrugged. “Most of us marry, have kids, grow old, and die perfectly happy without ever feeling that overpowering animalistic draw to someone. Just like humans.”

  “Wow, depressing. ”

  “No, it’s not.” He laughed again. I liked that I could make him laugh. Unless he was laughing at me and not with me. Wait. I wasn’t laughing.

  “We still fall in love, just like anyone,” he said. “But you know how rare it is to find that special once-in-a-lifetime love.”

  “Yeah. ”Even harder to find that special someone who feels it back. “So, uh … no special wolfy for you yet, then? ”

  “No.”

  My heart did a little happy dance in my chest.

  He rolled his shoulder. “Well, yeah. I mean, there’s someone.” Stupid heart. “She’s … she’s not my soul mate, but I’ve known her all my life. Our parents were pushing us together in our playpens. But …”

  “You don’t love her?” I’d cross my fingers if I had any.

  “No, I love her. She’s one of my best friends. It’s just …” His gaze swung to me, and if I hadn’t looked like a dog, literally, I might think there was something meaningful behind that glance. He looked away, hands white knuckling around the steering wheel. “It’s complicated. Besides, there’s a lot of politics involved. Makes a person’s motives suspect no matter who they are.”

  Werewolf politics. That was a new one. “You don’t trust her?”

  “Of course I trust her. Well, no. I mean, I don’t really trust anyone.” He sighed, pulling to a stop at the first traffic light we’d come to in twenty minutes. We were getting closer to downtown Washington. “My father’s our pack’s alpha. As his son, I’m in line to take over. My wife, whoever she is, will be the alpha female. That’s a powerful position, with a lot of perks. It’s similar to the wolf hierarchy, but more … civilized. Sort of.”

  “Sheesh, Luke, that’s a horrible way to go through life, ” I said.

  “I’m used to it.”

  “But if you never really trust anyone, how can you ever find love? Love without trust is like … like cotton candy without sugar, like lemonade without lemons, like ketchup without tomatoes, like—”

  “I get the idea.” He flashed me one of his heart-stopping smiles, and my belly felt like it sat up and begged. “My parents managed to find each other. I don’t know. Maybe I’ve already met my true mate, and I just need her to realize it, too, for the instincts to trigger in both of us.”

  “Right. ”That would be my luck.

  About ten minutes later we pulled in front of the Paws & Claws pet clinic. The stand-alone vet’s office was on the outer edge of town in an old Victorian-style house
.

  Luke came around to open my door. He slipped the looped end of a nylon leash around my neck, so loose I hardly felt it through my fur. I crawled from the seat to the floor and peered at the sidewalk.

  The distance to the ground seems a lot farther when you’re traveling it head first.

  Seriously.

  “You need help?” Luke asked.

  I glared up at him, though I think it lost something coming from a furry face. “I got it. ”

  The sidewalk was as hard as it looked, and I landed on my skinny wolf front legs with a huff, followed by two quick shuffled steps while my back end dropped behind me. Ugh. So undignified.

  “Wow, dude, your dog’s huge.” A young female voice stated the obvious. Both Luke and I looked at the college-age couple walking toward us. They looked like Barbie and Ken dolls, both tall, blond, and exceedingly tanned.

  Was she seriously calling me fat? Like being furry wasn’t bad enough. Sheesh.

  “You’re a werewolf. She meant your overall size, not your weight, ” Luke said through our nifty mental connection. “Why would you think that?”

  I didn’t answer.

  “Aw, but he’s a good-lookin’ pup.” College boy squatted in front of me, scratched the fur behind both my ears. I wanted to be offended by the gender screwup, but …

  Ohmygod, the ear thing was awe-and then-some! It felt better than … than sex. Okay, not that good, but close.

  “Eww, David.” College girl looked like she might hurl. She flicked her long poker-straight hair over her shoulder and held her barf back with manicured nails at her pursed mouth. “Don’t touch that thing. It’s going to the vet. Who knows what diseases it has.”

  “Get over it, Shelly,” he said, still scratching—thank you. “There’s a ton of reasons you take a dog to the vet.”

  I was starting to like this guy. Never mind that in human form I’d be invisible to a hard-bodied hotty like him. Yeah. This werewolf thing wasn’t all bad.

  It was like being a whole different person. I was attractive in this form. People, men, noticed me. I liked it. Really liked it.

  “Ella, all this time … Is this really what you think of yourself.?”

  I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. In that same instant an urge so strong, so foreign to me I didn’t know to suppress it, overcame me. I raised my chin … and licked David, the college hotty, right on the nose.

  He laughed and, to my surprise, kissed my nose back. Okay, yeah, even from my end there was an ick factor, but I could get used to it.

  I thought Shelly might faint. She groaned and staggered back a step. “Oh, God …”

  For the first time I felt a pull on my leash, and my brain tripped over the sensation. I heard Luke’s smooth voice in my mind. “That’s enough, Ella. ”Out loud he said to the couple, “I’m sorry. We’re going to be late.”

  I pulled my head from David’s scratching hold and looked up at Luke. His scowl was fixed on David, teeth clenched so tight I could see the muscles flex along his jaw. What was that about?

  David pushed to his feet, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. Laughing, he leaned in to give Shelly a kiss, but she shoved him away. “You are not going to touch me until you wash the dog spit off your face and hands.”

  I stepped closer to Shelly, sniffed her leather flip-flop, her ankle, her knee. She stiffened under my curiosity, clutching at David’s hand.

  “He’s just sniffing you,” David assured her.

  She smelled like wax and artificial flowers and too-strong perfume. The smells stuck in my nose, made me sneeze. Shelly jumped, squealing. “Eww, it spit snot on me.”

  Oops. Yeah, wasn’t all bad.

  four

  I had never had my butt sniffed, but after I’d walked into the vet’s office, the likelihood I would have my first up-close-and-personal dog-style handshake became a very real possibility. Doctor Carter may cater to werewolves, but they weren’t his only clientele.

  The place was packed. There were three cats in travel cages and one on a leash, which was just, y’know, wrong. I counted four dogs, a boy with a turtle in a box, another with a rabbit and—I kid you not—a hefty-sized man holding a tiny fishbowl. The bowl was empty except for the dingy water. My curiosity soared. But I couldn’t ask. Crap.

  I followed Luke to the receptionist’s desk. The woman behind the counter peered up at him through thick glasses way too big for her face. Her brown hair, the color of a paper bag, was split down the middle, and pulled into two ponytails behind her ears on each side. Someone seriously had to tell her the look wasn’t flattering. Not me, of course. I couldn’t talk.

  Her smile blossomed, coaxed to life by Luke’s GQ looks. “Can I help you?”

  “Yes. The name’s Danhurst. He’s expecting us,” Luke said.

  Like he’d used some secret code name, she sobered. “Yes, Mr. Danhurst. I’ll let him know you’re here. It’ll only be a minute or two.”

  “Thank you,” he said, but she was already on her way, disappearing through the half door and down a hallway.

  Luke took the only seat left on a two-person bench. The scary-thin woman next to him held a cat carrier on her lap. The cat inside hissed at me. Every bone in my body wanted her to open that little door. “C’mon, cat. You wanna piece of me?”

  Weird. I like cats.

  As much as my brain balked at sitting on the floor, my body seemed to move on reflex, finding a spot next to Luke’s leg. “Do the employees know what you—I mean, we—are?”

  “Only Doctor Carter and his vet assistant, Linda, know. She’s probably in the back with him. The others have just been told that the Danhursts are priority customers, ”he said to my mind without any outward sign that he’d spoken. This telepathy thing was pretty handy. Almost as fun as speaking a foreign language in front of people.

  “Is Linda a werewolf? ”

  He draped his arm across the back of my neck and shoulders, his fingers digging into my thick fur, scratching. God, that felt good and not just in a dog kind of way. The feel of his hand on me, even through my fur, set my heart to a faster beat. My skin tingled under the dense hair, the sensation heating deep inside me, and my mouth went dry—and hot as an oven.

  “No. She just wants to be, ”he said. “She’s been trying to get one of us to turn her for years. Not sure why. ”

  She probably just wanted to be closer to the pack, be a part of them. I know being a werewolf made me feel strangely connected to Luke in a way I’d never felt with anyone else before despite the short time that’d passed. It occurred to me that Luke had never touched me before he’d turned me into a wolf. Not that the opportunity had come up much. And granted, part of that was my fault. I’m not a touchy-feely kind of person. But still, I couldn’t help wondering if all these casual kindnesses were because it was easy to forget the real me in this form.

  I leaned into his leg, enjoying the closeness while I could. His scent surrounded me, more potent than I’d ever noticed before. Or maybe it was my wolf-enhanced olfactory sense that made the difference. Either way, I liked the sweet, masculine smell of his cologne, the clean soap scent, flavored by the unique pheromone tang of his skin. I closed my eyes and breathed him in, letting the warm aroma seep into my bloodstream.

  Here, in this office, surrounded by strangers, I was man’s best friend, Luke’s best friend, closer to him than anyone in the world. I was going to soak it up while I had the chance. Once I was back to my old body, the rules would change all over again.

  “You’re a frustrating bundle of contradictions, you know that?” he said.

  “Uh … what’s that?” I hadn’t been talking to him, just thinking to myself. He couldn’t hear every thought that passed through my head. Could he?

  Luke shifted in his seat, though he didn’t move his hand from my neck. “What rules? And who set them? Why do things always have to be so complicated with you humans? It’s no wonder we’re encouraged to steer clear of them. ”

  I glanced up at the ti
ght, drawn lines of his face, the narrow slant of his husky-dog blue eyes. A sickening dread weighted my stomach. “Hello? Testing. One. Two. Three. Can you hear me?”

  “I hear you, Ella. Not that it makes a difference. I thought the one good thing that would come out of my screwup was that I’d finally hear your thoughts—understand you better. ” He laughed in his head, bitter. “Hell, hearing your thoughts only make things more confusing … and maddening. ”

  “So you’ve been listening to everything I’ve been thinking? Everything?”

  He looked down at me, blushing, emotion flickering through his eyes. At least he had the decency to look embarrassed. “Yes. ”

  “Wow. Thanks for the heads-up. Am I hearing all of your thoughts?”

  Luke looked away. “No. Be grateful. ”

  What was that supposed to mean? “Not fair. ”

  “You’ll learn to shield your private thoughts. Takes time. Trust me, I realize now I want you to learn. ”

  Sheesh, testy much? “Who stepped on your tail? Why are you so grouchy with me all of a sudden?”

  He took his hand away and tucked it under the fold of his arms across his chest. “Did you have to enjoy that guy putting his hands all over you so much? And I have never avoided touching you, Ella. I tried a million times to get closer to you. But no matter how many times I invited you to go out, you turned me down flat. ”

  “Whoa. Why does it bother you that I liked him … petting me?” The word felt wrong despite its accuracy in this instance.

  Luke wouldn’t look at me. “It … it doesn’t. Just forget it. ” He tipped his chin toward the client door. “Here comes Linda. ”

  Forget it. Yeah, like that would happen.

  The tall brunette held the door open, her wide smile brightening at the sight of Luke. “It’s so nice to see you again. Who’ve you got there?”

  Veterinarian assistant Linda was pretty enough, if not a little tall in my opinion. She had a model’s body, thin, long-limbed, and the kind of face that only really looked good in pictures. Too large eyes, too wide a mouth, the bones in her cheeks and jawline were too sharp, which made her face pretty but … intense.