She paused at that. Swallowed hard.
“Show me,” she said finally. “Again. Shift. I need to... I need to see it clearly, when I’m not being strangled.”
I hesitated. “It might frighten you.”
“I’m already frightened.” Her chin lifted, stubborn, brave. My brave little menace. “Show me.”
I stepped back to give her space, took a breath, and shifted.
The transformation was faster this time, my wolf eager to prove itself to her. Bones cracked and reformed, fur rippled across my skin. In seconds, the massive golden wolf stood in her living room, taking up half the space, our amber eyes fixed on her face.
Riley’s hand flew to her mouth.
For a long moment, she just stared. Her eyes were huge, her breathing was shallow. She was pale as a ghost.
Then she screamed.
“OUT! GET OUT! OH MY GOD, GET OUT!”
She was throwing things at me. A pillow, a book, her shoe. The stuffed wolf I’d bought her. That one stung.
I shifted back mid-dodge, catching her other shoe before it hit my face.
“Riley...”
“I CAN’T... I NEED... GET OUT!”
She grabbed a blanket from the couch and hurled it at my naked body, shoving me toward the door.
“Just... go... I can’t... I need to THINK...”
She slammed the door in my face.
I stood on the landing, naked, clutching a blanket, and sighed. An Alpha Prince of Duskmere, sitting naked in a hallway, wrapped in a throw blanket with cartoon cats on it. My brother would never let me live this down.
I wrapped the blanket around my waist and sat back down. At least she’d thrown things at me. She’d looked me in the eye, aimed, and thrown them. That meant she cared, right? Hell, she chose the plushie I’d given her. She cared enough to think ofmeas she threw those things. Yes. I still had a shot.
Hope would be the last thing I fucking lose. Sanity would go first. I’d never had much of that anyway.
I could still hear her inside. At one point she called someone, and I heard fragments: “...can’t tell you yet...” “...no, I’m fine...” “...just need time...”
Her friends, probably. Checking on her.
Hours passed. The sun set. The hallway grew dark. I didn’t move.
My body was still recovering from the compulsion. I should’ve eaten and rested. Do any number of things to restore my strength. But I wasn’t leaving this spot until she was ready.
Night fell completely, the neighborhood grew quiet around me. Distant sounds of televisions, of doors closing, of humans going about their lives. Normal, simple sounds. My life would never be simple again. I didn’t want it to be. I just wanted her.
Then the door swung open.
Riley stood there in pajamas, hair wet from another shower, face scrubbed clean. She looked calmer now. Still wary, but calmer. The hysteria had faded into measured wariness.
“Is Thessa one of you?” she asked without preamble.
“Yes.”
“A werewolf. She-wolf?”
