Terrifying.
Her heart rate kicked up a notch, and a twist of anxiety tightened her insides. She swal owed, and managed a weak smile for Alex. They al took seats around the picnic table, and Merek and Chloe pointedly did not mention the fact that Alex’s hamburger was rare to the point of raw. The moon flickered in the darkening sky, and a silent Alex stared at it, his eyes gleaming with untamed wildness as a shudder went through him.
“We’l be staying here for a few days, until ful moon passes, then I think we’l head further inland.” Merek, being Merek, didn’t skirt around the issue that was on everyone’s mind. “We’l find some place similar to this next month. If there’s anything more than this you need, let us know, and we’l make sure you get it.”
“Thanks. I wil .” Alex’s chin dipped in a nod, polite, but not trusting. He unbent enough to meet Merek’s gaze. “This should be fine, though. Just . . . a place to run that’s isolated enough that I won’t get into too much trouble.”
“Yeah. Not a lot of Normals around here. I asked.” The warlock shrugged, crunching on a potato chip.
“That’s helpful, actual y. If we can stay somewhere away from Normals next time, too, that would be best.”
A faint smile touched the werewolf’s lips. “I can’t stop the Change, but I can keep from rampaging and biting anyone. It’s not easy, but I can do it. Fewer Normals to tempt me is . . . better.”
Merek gave an easy nod, total y accepting of the wolf’s nature, which made Alex relax in his seat. “I’l make sure we have appropriate accommodations for you.” A grin crinkled the corners of his gray eyes.
“Though you may have to explain the situation to Ophelia.”
Alex barked out a laugh. His gaze slid to Chloe. “Did she scratch you up too badly?”
She held up her arms to show the long scratches. “Not too badly considering how pissed she was, but she did get me a couple of times.”
Merek frowned, grabbed her wrists, and bent his head to inspect the damage. He glanced at the lantern burning on the edge of the table, and it glowed brighter. Far brighter than a lantern could actual y glow. The flames dancing in the fire pit roared higher, casting their light across the table and Chloe’s arms. Alex made a smal , impressed noise in the back of his throat, but he, too, leaned forward to get a good look at the scratches.
Warmth spread from Merek’s cal used fingertips in waves as he stroked over the scraped flesh. His touch was barely there, the delicate brush of a butterfly’s wings, but the heat of his skin, the power of his magic, burrowed deep inside her. Goose bumps spread up her arms and down her body until she shivered. She closed her eyes and swal owed, trying to keep the incessant longing at bay.
“Am I hurting you?” His voice was low, but the anxious edge to the words made her eyes fly open.
“No, you’re not hurting me,” she whispered. In fact, the ache in her arms had faded to nothing. When she glanced down the scratches were gone, healed by his spel .
That was sweet. Alex’s voice echoed in her mind, and he leaned further over the table to get a better look.
He narrowed his gaze, and she could almost feel the sweep of his lupine senses moving over her, checking her injuries. Gone. I didn’t know anyone who wasn’t a Magickal doctor could heal like that.
“I can’t do anything fancy, but cops have to have first aid training.” Merek’s gaze sharpened on Alex’s face. “Your fangs are showing.”
He winced, pushing to his feet. “I’m going to go Change in the tepee. It . . . makes it easier to stay in control at ful moon if you make a regular habit of shifting a couple of days before.”
Putting action into words, he strode away, and a few moments later, Chloe tensed at the distinct and horrifying sound of every bone in the human body snapping and reforming into a new shape. Her stomach heaved a bit, and she clamped a hand over her mouth. Merek rubbed a hand up and down her arm. “I hate that noise, too.”
“You never real y get used to it, do you?” She pitched her voice low, hoping Alex was too involved in his shift to eavesdrop.
Merek shrugged, again with that quiet acceptance. “If you’re a wolf, I imagine you do. Or if you spend enough time around wolves, but I haven’t, so no.”
Alex, now in ful wolf form, shot from the tepee, shaking from head to tail. He froze when he came into the moonlight, his gaze lifting to the heavy orb. His chest expanded in a deep breath, and then he threw his head back, and let loose a long, keening howl. It was answered from several different directions. Chloe’s eyebrows arched. Real wolves or other werewolves? She couldn’t tel , but she’d bet a werewolf could.
Alex loped over, his long body lithe, his fur as dark as his human hair, but shaded with lighter brown and tawny. Chloe reached out to scratch behind his ears. He closed his pale eyes and leaned trustingly into her touch. She stroked the rough silk of his coat and bent forward to drop a kiss on his muzzle.
“Did you freak out Ophelia?”
His tongue lol ed out in a wolfish grin. No, she’s asleep. The fur would have flown otherwise.
“Your fur, not hers, I bet.” Chloe looked down her nose at him. “My familiar is feisty.”
He snorted, then froze, every muscle in the wolf’s body going on alert as he stared at a copse of trees beyond their campsite. Chloe and Merek turned in unison to fol ow his line of sight.
A slim young wolf slipped from the underbrush, staring at Alex, eyes gleaming in the moonlight. He glanced back at them, instinct warring with caution as his body shuddered. I know it isn’t smart, but I sense no deception from her. She’s just another werewolf here for full moon.
Merek closed his eyes and swore softly. “Be careful. Don’t run too far.”
I’ll be back in a few hours. With that final thought, Alex spun on his haunches and launched himself into the trees. The bushes rustled slightly as he passed, but soon there was nothing to indicate the wolves had ever been there.
Chloe bit her lower lip, the darkness closing in around her as her godson disappeared. Too many worries warred for dominance inside her, and she swal owed.
“He’l be al right.” Merek reached out to catch her hand.
“I know. I’d know if he wasn’t.” She tapped a finger to her temple. “The voices in my head would tel me so.”
His eyebrows arched. “That is an entirely disturbing mental image.”
“Says the man who can see the end of days in his head. You can just leave my little voices alone, thank you very much.”
He snorted. “Fair enough.”
She shivered, pul ed her hand away from his, and wrapped her arms around herself. Instinct, more than anything, drove her to her feet. Anxiety sliced through as the darkness deepened. She tried to reassure herself that there were other people close by. She could even see the faint flicker of distant campfires, but it wasn’t the reassuring bustle of a vibrant city.
Distraction, that was what she needed, but reaching for Merek would only make him ask questions. His gray eyes already saw more than she’d like. After last night, he definitely understood something was wrong with her. He’d sense her desperation was for something far deeper than sex.
Pathetic. Clingy. Needy.
The last thing she wanted from any lover was pity, especial y not from Merek. She winced and stepped further away from him and closer to the light of the fire, drawn like a moth to a flame. Her jaw tightened as she clenched her teeth. She’d done so much to conquer her fears, had come so far, but it took everything she had to move past the fire and toward the blackness of the rippling lake. Every step away from the brightness of the flames sounded like a death knel , though her feet hardly made a sound on the soft shore.