“Depending on the circumstances, that could be worse.” I decided to change the subject. “What about your parents? Do you remember anything that’s not some made-up origin story about the Italian mafia?”
“I didn’t make that up. My grandpa was a big ol’ Sicilian alpha.”
I stopped and folded my arms, and Roscoe turned around.
“All right, I made that up, but it could be true.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me next to him as we continued walking. “I can’t even remember what my parents looked like. I mean, they’re good and dead by now.”
“It’s still kind of sad. I mean, they were your parents.”
“You miss yer parents?”
“Not really,” I said. Sometimes a lie made reality a little less painful. “They were so strung out on drugs that my grandparents had to take care of me when DCF stepped in. Then they got all weird and mean when they stopped drinking and doing drugs. All they did was just trade one addiction for another, but they’re still terrible people.” I forced a laugh, trying to silence the painful memories that crept in. “Who knows? If they saw me with a werewolf old enough to be my grandfather, that could be the final stake through their hearts.”
“Speaking of…”
“Not in the woods.”
“Hey, food ain’t the only thing that draws ‘em out. They get a whiff of us doin’ what we do best, and every feral will come runnin’.”
“We brought food and booze. You’re not going to use my ass as bait.”
“It ain’t that bad. You could handle it easy.”
I shot Roscoe a disgusted look. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just sayin’. We could solve two problems at the same time.”
“I don’t have a problem,” I shouted before lowering my voice again. “I’m not letting a bunch of wild werewolves run a train on me, you pervert. Would you really want to see that?”
“Hell, I’d sit back and jerk to it.”
I bit my lower lip again, this time a little more hurt than annoyed.
“Oh, come on, Cody. You gotta loosen up a little. You get real cranky when you try to go against nature.”
“This is not natural, and I’m not some animal.”
Roscoe stopped and set the box down on the ground. “I didn’t say you were.”
“It’s implied, like I’m this insatiable sex addict that can’t control his instincts and is only good at one thing.”
“Cody.” The werewolf pulled me into a hug. “I think you’re like this because yer a little too old to be going through this half-turn stuff, and I don’t know what you need,” he pulled away. “Something’s off about you, but that’s why we’re out here.”
“What if Mosavi was right, and this is dangerous?”
“That guy’s got issues, too. You wanna end up like him?”
“You mean rich, handsome, powerful”—I shot a glare at Roscoe—“and clean? Sounds like a dream.”
“Nah. That ain’t what I see. That guy’s strugglin’ with what he is, and he’s angry that he has to fight it every day. It must be hell forcin’ himself to stay in that human body while keepin’ up appearances he can’t even hold onto for that long without going back into hiding.”
“That reminds me. We saw Austin’s half-turn form. Can you do it too?”
“Yeah, but I ain’t gonna. It hurts like hell, and I’m surprised Austin was able to hold it for that long. The guy’s got a really good pain threshold.” Roscoe rubbed his hands together. “We should probably set up camp here. It’s too dark to look for these guys right now.”
Our drunken laughter echoed through the forest, which was otherwise eerily quiet aside from the crackling fire.
“And that’s not even the funniest part. He kept tryin’ to get with me, but every time I’d kill the mood with another dad joke. I thought he was gonna turn right then and there, the way he bared his teeth and the little bristles on his neck shot up. I think Adam actually wanted to kill me.”
