Page 15 of Fifty & Feral

He let out a whine and he looked away, like it shamed him for me to see him this way.

No. I hated that. Hated that he moved away from me. He should never be away from me.

“Hello, gorgeous,” I said. “You’re beautiful like this. It’s okay.” I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. I felt it in my soul.

He lay down and crawled toward me, as if staying smaller might make me feel better.

I wasn’t scared, though. This was Jack. My Jack, and right now, he was my wolf.

I dropped to the ground in front of him and reached out a hand. “Can I touch you?” I asked. “Let me hold you, Jack.”

This was insanity. More insane than me showing up unannounced to the home of a man I hadn’t met. More insane than anything I’d ever dreamed of.

Jack was a wolf. A real live wolf.

But he was mine, and I would not run. I would not back down.

He put his snout in my hands, and I threaded my fingers through the thick fur around his neck. “Oh wow, you are… softer than I expected.” I petted his fur because I wasn’t sure what else to do.

I came here today to check if Jack was all right because some instinct of mine told me he was struggling with something. Well… this might just be what he was struggling with. I didn’t know how long he’d been turning into a wolf, if he could control it, or if it just happened at night or whatever.

But I knew that I was here for him. He didn’t scare me.

In fact, I was more intrigued than ever by this man.

“Do you want to run around or just hang out here?” I asked.

Jack snuggled closer to me, his whole body almost on top of me. The weight of him nearly took my breath away.

“Oof, okay, we can just lie here. But maybe not on me. You’re big.”

Jack let out a huff and licked at my cheek, and I laughed.

“Okay, okay. Not sure I want any puppy kisses. Let’s just enjoy the sunset, yeah? We can stay here as long as you need.”

I didn’t know wolves could sigh, but he seemed to. The tension in the air eased, and it was like the forest came alive again. Some spell broken, a test passed, and now the two of us could breathe.

I laid my head back, and Jack sprawled out against my side. The two of us lay together in the grass, staring up at the sky as the sun set.

It wasn’t how I imagined the night going, but there wasn’t anywhere in the world that I would rather be.

Chapter 10

Jack

“Dad?” My daughter’s voice cut through my dreams, interrupting the contentedness of being relaxed and calm, wherever my subconscious had gone once I’d fallen asleep.

The sleep I was being ripped from was the most tranquil and serene I’d experienced in weeks.

“Dad?” she said again, this time slightly more panicked than the first.

It was strange that I could hear such nuances in her voice when her pitch had barely changed, and already I scented the lilac perfume she preferred. I could tell she’d had coffee flavored with caramel this morning, but that she wasn’t carrying a cup with her now. I hadn’t even seen her yet, but all of those senses came to me. I hadn’t even opened my eyes yet. Then the pillow that I was on suddenly leapt forward, and I was knocked off the couch.

I was sleeping on the couch?

“Oh my goodness!” came Maya’s startled voice, closer now that she had walked into the room..

This time I did open my eyes. I was on all fours, but not in my wolf form. Instead, I was human, but also, I was naked.