Page 11 of Fifty & Feral
And desperately wanting Connor. Even though, rationally, that made zero sense.
“Yeah, I get that. You’re a natural leader. You probably led a team of people doing something important when you were working, right?”
“I was a foreman on a construction crew,” I said.
“A lot of the young crew members looked up to you for advice? You probably got to know their families. Became their go-to person.”
I stiffened. Fuck, it was like he was reading my biography. “Yeah,” I said, “I really miss that aspect of it.” Expressing the sentiment that had been swimming through my head the last few days was easier than I thought.
I wasn’t bored. I didn’t need a project, I needed people.
“I’m getting kind of desperate. I was thinking about joining a retirement community or something. I just want to be around people again.”
Mason smiled, leaning forward in his chair, his forearms resting on his knees. “Well, good. Maybe we can make this easier than I thought. You’re an alpha, a natural pack leader, and our pack desperately needs you.”
It was as if his own words surprised him, and he clamped his mouth should. A muscle ticked in his lower jaw.
“Oh,” was all I said. There were more like me? I hadn’t given that any thought. I was too caught up in my own problems that I hardly gave a thought to whether or not others were like me, except on that first night when I’d heard the howling.
“Was… was that the pack the other night when I heard others like me?” I asked.
Mason nodded. “Our property actually butts up to yours. We aren’t far from each other. We heard your call, but without knowing if it was safe, we didn’t come find you that night. I was able to track you down via your scent.”
“Holy shit. This is crazy. This can’t be real.” It hit me then that this wasn’t just a few crazy dreams. It was real. It was happening. I turned into a wolf at night and others did too.
My breath was coming too fast, the trees around me spinning.
“All right, we’re going to have to move past the ‘I don’t quite believe werewolves exist’ thing. So I’m going to show you.” Mason stood and began removing his clothes. “Just bear with me. Once you meet the rest of the pack and do a few midnight runs with us, nudity won’t bother you at all.”
Once he was completely naked, he wasted no time in shifting. Where a grown man once stood, there was now a large wolf. His fur was a mix of grays and browns, his eyes an amber color. There was an intelligence to them and a gleam I’d noticed in Mason’s human eyes.
“Oh fuck,” I said. It was real. I was not crazy. Or at least if I was, I wasn’t alone.
It was one thing for me to suspect that I was changing each night. It was quite another to see a person change in front of me.
“Fuck!” I said, and I flew backwards, nearly tipping over in the chair. Thankfully, the chair was sturdy.
Mason shifted back just as quickly as he had changed. I almost thought I’d imagined it.
“Cool. So we got past that part. Werewolves exist. I am one. So are you. At this point, you probably can’t quite control your shift. See, the thing is, in order to keep our animals and our human side at a nice balance, we need a mate. Especially at your age. We don’t always meet our mate when we first shift, but it’s pretty typically.”
“I’m not married,” I said dumbly.
He laughed. “Yeah, she probably wasn’t your mate, anyways. I’m sure she’s a wonderful lady, but she wasn’t the one for you. Is there anybody you’re drawn to these days? Can’t quite get them out of your head? Are you dating anyone or maybe there’s ‘the one that got away’? Anyone in your life?”
“Connor,” I said without hesitation. His was the first name that came to me. I’ve never even met him in person, yet he was the one person who sparked an interest in me that was unmatched and unwavering.
“Ah, perfect. So there is someone. Great. Well, that’s better than it could be.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Well, because you need to solidify your mate bond, or you’re going to end up being stuck in your werewolf form for the rest of your life.”
Chapter 8
Connor
Iwas out of my mind. I had to be out of my mind.
