Page 10 of Deep Love

“I died and have been living as an angel in a place called Seraphia.” She pointed a finger heavenward. “Someone framed me for re-routing a group of souls and I was kicked out of that eternal paradise, but I didn’t re-route them. I would never do that.” She squared her shoulders for a moment then gestured to herself. “Now I’m back, in a body that is remarkably identical to the one I’d inhabited before, I have all the memories of my previous life on Earth, and I remember every moment you and I spent together.”

I chewed on her words for a few silent moments, the crazy story making far more sense to me than any notion involving her faking her death or being in hiding or any number of other scenarios I’d imagined while cooking in the diner tonight.

And she wasn’t a werewolf. She wasn’t like me.

“Mason?” Her voice made me snap my head up to look at her.

“Yeah?”

“Say something,” she said. “You must think I’m insane.” She threw herself onto the couch beside me.

“Umm . . . no, actually I don’t.” I angled to face her. “I’ve experienced things that don’t seem possible, but they are. They happen.”

“Things you’ve seen during your time in the Army?” She reached a hand out and rubbed my forearm.

“Some of the things I saw while living the military life were hard to witness, yes,” I said slowly, “but I had some shit going on before the Army too. Shit that makes it easy for me to believe you’ve risen from the dead.”

Delphi puffed out a breath. “That must have been some shit. Does it have to do with your family? I remember them being pains in your ass.”

“Yeah. That stuff is still a part of my life.” I took my turn standing and pacing the living room. “My family continues to present some difficulties, but it’s different than the typical issues people deal with when it comes to their relatives.” I stopped pacing and grabbed Delphi’s wrists, tugging her to her feet. “It’s probably best if I show you the main issue that makes believing your angel story so easy for me.”

I led her to the door of the apartment, opened it, and took her outside to the back parking lot of the complex. We walked for a few moments into the patch of woods behind the building. Delphi didn’t question where I was taking her or what we were doing in the woods. She never had questioned me about anything. She had always been up for whatever I wanted to do. She seized every opportunity and that was one of the things I’d loved most about her.

“Okay. Promise me you won’t run off after I do what I’m about to do,” I said.

“Mason, I never thought I’d see you again,” Delphi said, her voice a little strained. “There is nothing you could say or do right now that would make me run off.”

“And you know I would never hurt you, right?”

“Of course.”

Nodding, I pulled off my Moose’s Diner T-shirt and started unzipping my jeans, while Delphi shot a panicked look around the immediate vicinity.

“No one’s around.” I removed my boots before peeling off my jeans and stepped out of my boxers and socks, adding to the pile.

Delphi’s eyes were wide and locked on my dick. My alert, eager dick who had been awakened the moment I’d laid eyes on Delphi at the diner tonight. She licked her lips and I had a sudden vision of her mouth surrounding my length as she sucked me to a happy ending. My dick definitely recalled how skilled Delphi had been at making his day.

“I hope to hell you still look at me like that after this next display,” I said.

“How could I look at you any other way, Mason?” She put her hands to her cheeks. “My Goddess, you’re still so beautiful.”

I wanted to strip off her clothes and show her exactly how our bodies remembered each other, but that would have to wait. She’d shared her story with me. She deserved to hear—or see—mine.

“Okay, here it goes.”

Werewolf rules were pretty strict about not changing in front of humans, but that rule probably didn’t apply when I was in the company of a human who had died, spent time as an angel in the afterlife, and then had been returned to earth.

Returned to me.

I summoned my wolf and the familiar tingle traveled throughout my human body. In the next moment, I was standing on all fours in front of Delphi.

True to her word, she didn’t run off. She didn’t scream. She didn’t even look afraid. Surprise was clear on her face though, and she put her hand to her mouth as she stared at me.

She lowered her hand and took several steps closer to me. “You’re a . . . you’re a wolf.”

I sunk to my belly like a dog would, letting her know I wanted her to approach, to touch me, to accept me. I couldn’t stop my tail from swishing back and forth when her fingers made contact with my gray fur.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, her hands coasting over my back. “You’re amazing.” She kneeled beside me and leaned forward, pressing her forehead into my furry side. “Gorgeous.” Delphi scooted around so she was in front of me and cupped my face in her hands. Her gaze met mine and she smiled. “Still have those beautiful blue eyes, even as a wolf.” She dropped a kiss on my nose then scratched my ears, causing a low rumble to buzz in my throat. “Oh, you like that, do you?”