“You’re sure laying that flattery on thick, aren’t you?”
“I’m serious. You’ve got a bigger hog than I did when I was half-turn.”
“Christ, seriously? How big am I gonna get?”
Roscoe shrugged. “Well, that part all depends. Sometimes we get huge, sometimes we don’t. I’m kinda curious about what Adam’s gonna look like. If he ends up being bigger than Austin, I just may lose it, cause that’s gonna be the funniest shit.”
“How much longer do you think he’s got?”
“Hard to say.” Roscoe pushed a few low-hanging branches out of the way so I could pass. “It’ll be soon, though. The poor guy’s really going through it. The weeks leading up to the big event are some of the worst. He’s gonna get really moody, and I may have to step in to keep him in line. Austin don’t know what the fuck he’s doin’.”
“That just killed my mood.”
Roscoe looked over at me, but I kept my focus ahead.
“You must really hate Adam or somethin’.”
“I don’t hate him. I just… hate the thought of you with him.” I rubbed my forehead. “God, it sounded even more ridiculous saying it out loud.”
Roscoe wrapped an arm around my waist, and pulled me closer to him. “I didn’t know it bothered you.” He radiated smugness. “You really like me, don’t ya?”
“Let’s change the subject.”
“I did promise I’d make him feel good tonight.”
“Good, you didn’t specify. Tuck him in and tell him a bedtime story,” I muttered.
“I was thinkin’ of the old proverb ‘teach a man to fish.’” Roscoe stroked his chin. “Austin needs to learn how to be a werewolf because obviously the guy’s so fucked up he’s ignoring instinct.”
“What are you thinking, exactly?”
“Well, I have a classroom all set up in his room now,” he said, his tail wagging enough that it was slapping my lower back. “This is a job for Professor Roscoe.”
“Oh, you’ve gotten promoted to professor, now?”
“Spent over eight decades on my degree.” He paused and turned to me. “Yer okay with that?”
“You and Austin screwing around isn’t the same as you and Adam. I don’t—” I let out a frustrated groan. “I don’t know why it feels different, but it does. It doesn’t bother me when you’re with other werewolves.”
Roscoe gave my earlobe a slight flick. “It’s a half-turn thing.”
“I don’t like all this weird magic shit,” I said. “Did you know the mayor can turn all the way human?”
“For real? I can’t even do that. Explains how the guy got to be mayor, though.”
I reached into my pocket. “You should take a picture of when I’m fucking you so I can send it to Adam.” My fingers brushed against something familiar, but it wasn’t my phone. I stopped cold and pulled out the gold lighter I thought I’d thrown away. “Roscoe…”
“What’s wrong?”
“I think we need to get out of the woods now.”
Chapter 15
The Fission Reactor
No matter how many times I tossed it away, the lighter found its way back to me, polished to a shine and engraved with another threatening message. I didn’t know how it worked, but I started to understand its purpose. The last message that appeared had been cryptic, but it made my hair stand up. Mosavi wanted me to know he was monitoring my every move.
He put on quite a show of dominance, but was Roscoe right about him? What exactly did anyone know about the elders that ran werewolf society from the shadows, and did anyone really understand the vironoct? Was any of this kuu stuff necessary, or was it a convenient way to control an entire population? The conspiracy theories piled up in my mind as I sat in silence on the loveseat, flipping the lid of the lighter over and over.
