Austin sniffed. “He shot me point blank in the back of the head, and I remembered not being able to move my arms and legs. I couldn’t speak—all I could do was lie there and listen to them talking about me and my family. They thought I couldn’t understand them, but I did. Have you ever been scared of living and scared of dying at the same time?”
I wiped my eyes and shook my head.
“No one,” he said with a slight whimper. “There was no one to tell me I was gonna be okay. They thought I was gonna be like that until I died, but little by little, I started moving again. The doctors couldn’t believe I could move my arms, but I still couldn’t walk or talk, and I wouldn’t be able to until I turned fifteen—and you know what comes after that. Being a half-turn didn’t heal everything.”
He let out the most gut-wrenching cry.
“I shoulda died that night with my family. I shoulda died with the rest of my pack on that test site in the marines.” He howled,tears soaking his face. “Why am I still here? It doesn’t make sense.”
“Austin,” I said, wiping my face as I climbed closer to him. “You’re where you need to be now. Right next to me.” I pressed against the side of his face with my other palm, not letting go of his hand as I maneuvered over him. “You’re safe.”
The werewolf sobbed again, and I leaned into him, touching his forehead with mine.
“You’re safe,” I whispered again, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You’re my family now.”
He nodded, his breathing returning to normal. When I pulled away, his hand caught my back, holding me against him.
“Stay with me,” he said softly, our mouths almost touching. His voice had a child-like meekness to it, even though it was much deeper than mine. “Will you stay with me?”
“I’ll stay as long as you need me to.”
We were so close that his scent mixed with mine. Instinctively, my lips met his and he reciprocated the emotion. It wasn’t quite sexual, but not innocent either. It was worlds different from what I experienced with Roscoe, because I was the one in control, keeping him tame. Was this the vironoct the mayor told me about?
His army fatigues brushed against my leg, but they were slightly damp from arousal. What radiated from my own groin was painful. Everything I’d been told about half-turns led me to believe we needed to be claimed in order to control our rage, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
Our lips broke apart, and I pulled away.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
From the look on his face, he was just as bewildered as I was.
“For what?”
“This doesn’t make you uncomfortable?”
“No,” he said, his tone a little deeper than before. “Do you need it?”
“What?”
“Roscoe’s not here. Do you want me to—”
“Oh!” I said, scrambling off him. “No, I’m—I’m good for now, thanks.”
His ears fell off to the side. “All right.”
“Do you still want me to stay with you?”
“Yeah,” he whispered, his downward inflection tinged with what I could only assume was disappointment.
I grabbed his hand again and the tenseness from earlier melted as we stared at one another, his eyes still glimmering like tiny orange pools.
“I never told anyone before,” he said. “I never could.”
“I won’t tell anyone. And if you ever feel overwhelmed, come lay down with me. Okay?”
“Cody.” He swallowed hard, opening his mouth to say something else, but instead cleared his throat. “Okay.”
“What is it?”
