Page 74 of Tempting Fate

“You want me to follow you?”

Another huff. Okay. That’s got to be a yes, right?

I follow the wolf down an alley between two houses, then round some more houses, until we’re right by the park where the original video I received was shot. The shadows in it are deep, and I shiver.

Though who’s going to cause trouble when there’s a wolf around?

The wolf huffs again and then leaps over the fence, into the park. I hesitate. “Fuck, I’m going to get into trouble for this,” I mutter. I’ve half-forgotten the livestream is on, but I adjust the camera on my jacket and take a second to make sure night mode is on. It was an expensive piece of equipment, but worth it, especially considering how many times I’ve dropped it.

The wolf whines from somewhere in the darkness. “I’m coming,” I say and climb over the fence.

It’s not as dark once I’m in the park, enough light emanating from the streetlamps that at least I don’t trip on anything. The wolf is up ahead, sitting in a little pool of light, and when I take another step closer, he barks once.

I freeze. “Easy,” I say. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

He huffs. I get the distinct feeling that means obviously, and then I shake my head because wolves don’t think like that. They can’t.

But he wants me to see something. I know that. I’m sure of it. There’s a strange pulsing in my chest, not quite uncomfortable, and it feels like it’s drawing me in two directions, only I don’t know where each one leads.

“What is it?” I ask. “What do you want me to see?”

The wolf opens his mouth, tongue lolling out, and I know that’s not a smile, but it feels like one.

In the next second, he transforms. I fall back on my arse, staring in horrified silence as the wolf’s body twists, limbs changing, lengthening, thickening, hair melting away—

Leaving a man standing there, breathing hard, utterly brazen in his nakedness.

No.

Not a man.

Patch.

And, for a second, I forget what I’ve been doing because he looks worried, smile too rigid; he brought me here to show me this, but—

“Fuck!” I shout. I fumble the camera off, letting it land in the grass, and my hands are shaking so much that I almost drop my phone, but I see a flood of comments, so many viewers—

By the time I shut the livestream off, I know thousands of people have seen it. Regret and fear sink like stones in my stomach.

“Em, what is it?” Patch asks. Patch the human. Because Patch is also a werewolf. “What—What happened?”

My eyes sting. My body is too hot, throat too tight. I don’t dare to look at him.

“I just… I really fucked up.”