The pacing stopped. Dead silence.
“Riley.” I kept my voice steady, non-threatening. “I know you’re scared. I know I should have told you. Please let me explain.”
“Go away.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“Caelan...”
“I’ll wait here all day. All night. However long it takes.” I leaned my forehead against the door. “Please, Riley. Just let me explain.”
“I can’t... I need to... I’m not...”
She was spiraling. I could hear it in the fragmented sentences, the rising pitch of her voice. Every instinct screamed at me to break down the door and use my presence to calm her.
I forced myself to stay still. She wasn’t ready. Pushing now would only make it worse.
So I waited.
I sat on the floor outside her apartment, back against the wall, and I waited. Hours passed. The sun moved across the sky. I heard her cry, talk to herself, throw things at the door. I heard the shower run, heard her cry again.
It was torture. Worse than any physical pain I’d ever endured.
The door opened in the afternoon.
Riley stood in the doorway, face puffy from crying, hair a mess, arms wrapped around herself, trying to hold herself together. She looked exhausted, beautiful and terrified.
“I have questions,” she said. Her voice was hoarse. “If this is real. If I’m not losing my mind.”
“It’s real.” I rose to my feet slowly, carefully. Approaching a wild animal. “You’re not losing your mind.”
“Then I have questions.”
“I’ll answer everything.”
She stepped back, leaving the door open like an invitation. Tentative, but there.
I walked inside, and the questions came rapid-fire. She was standing across the room from me, keeping the couch between us as a barrier, firing them as bullets.
“How long have you been a... a werewolf?”
“My whole life. I was born this way.”
“Are there more of you?”
“Many more. An entire realm full.”
“Can you turn me into one?”
“No. You’re either born a wolf or you’re not.”
“Do you eat people?”
“No.” I couldn’t help the slight curl of my lip. “We’re not monsters.”
“You turned into a giant wolf in an alley and knocked out my ex.”
“I was protecting you.”
