Hope’s wolf sat down and tilted her head to the side. She looked too damn sweet to be mad at, especially the way her right ear flopped forward.
“Come on, beautiful. We’re home.”
She sneezed, but it was a show of resistance.
Tak looked skyward, scheming up another approach. After a thoughtful pause, he pulled the sausage out of the bag and waved it in front of her nose. Because of the plastic seal, she couldn’t smell a thing and stared at him as if he were crazy.
“I’m running out of ideas here.” Tak held the flower to her nose. “Don’t you trust me just a little?”
Her neck craned, and her nostrils flared as she sniffed the petals on the sunflower. Something must have clicked in her memories, because she dove out of the truck and trotted around him, toenails clicking on the concrete.
Sometimes animals made connections with their human counterparts from scents, emotions, and sounds. He wondered if Hope had liked the flower more than she had let on.
Since he had her keys, getting in the building wasn’t a problem.
The elevator, on the other hand, spooked Hope enough for her to back up. Tak used the flower to lure her in, and she growled at the man waiting at the doors. He gave Tak a stony look and stayed behind for the next elevator.
As soon as the doors closed, Hope’s wolf sniffed the floor and all the buttons. She was a curious thing with a lot of spirit. Once the lingering nervousness had dissipated, she revealed the true nature of her wolf, brave as any by the way she held his gaze. He also noticed how she’d interacted with that stranger. Her posture, the position of her tail, her vocalization—those were all indicators of where a wolf naturally ranked in a pack. Hope was nowhere near the bottom. She carried all the traits of a strong female, and no matter how inferior she might have felt in human form because of her trauma, her wolf was highly intelligent and fearless.
He snorted when she lifted her leg and pissed on the wall by the buttons. It wasn’t unusual for dominant females to mark territory, though it didn’t always mean they were alphas. Tak adjusted the purse on his shoulder.
As soon as the elevator doors opened, she took off. Tak jogged after her with an armload of groceries and clothes. She skidded to a stop in front of the apartment, her tail wagging excitedly.
Tak fumbled with the keys, and she practically knocked him over while he unlocked the door. Her wolf bounded inside the apartment and danced. He chuckled at the sight of it. A Shifter’s animal revealed a lot about their true self. Tak surmised that Hope had her guard up around him, but her wolf revealed that she was vibrant and free-spirited.
After closing the door behind him, he let her shoes fall to the floor and left them there. Tak strolled into the kitchen and set down her purse, clothes, and all the groceries. He put the sausage in the fridge and did a quick scan of the apartment. Everything looked the same as he remembered. Except for one thing—the half-empty bottle of wine and two glasses in the sink.
Not one, but two.
His jaw clenched. When he felt her wolf licking his fingers, it drew his attention away. “Feeling better?”
She sat down and stared up at him, probably wondering what an alpha was doing in her territory.
Tak wondered the same thing. He wasn’t her watchdog or packmate. As much as he wanted to stay, it wasn’t right for a female to be alone with a wolf who wasn’t her packmate. He knew his intentions were honorable, but as far as she was concerned, he was dangerous. Tak would rather die a thousand deaths than bring her harm. She was a queen in his eyes—a noble female who would one day rule a pack.
Doing right by Hope became a moral imperative.
While her wolf was strong and confident, Hope was the one who carried the burden of an evil that happened long before her first change—just a little girl who believed no harm would ever befall her at the hands of her own kind. How could her wolf comprehend the terror she’d survived? An attack that not only marked her face but marked her spirit.
Had they not already killed the monster, Tak would have hunted down the coward and disemboweled him.
Hope’s wolf rose up on her hind legs and put her paws on the kitchen island—a polite way of asking him to leave her domain. He didn’t belong here, and they both knew it.
Deciding on the best course of action, Tak kissed her wolf on the nose and then walked out the door.
* * *
I jolted awake,my heart racing as I sat up and looked around.
Home.How did I get home?
The light in my bedroom signaled late afternoon, so not much time had passed since… since what? Waking up from a shift was always disorienting, but the moment I recalled shifting in Tak’s truck, I buried my face in my hands.
Oh, no. What have I done?
I remembered biting him, but I’d blacked out soon after and had no memory of what followed. Did he have to subdue me? Had I injured him?
Even worse, what if my wolf had cowered in his presence and fled?
