“Buck,” Honey said again, experimentally, and the wolf’s lips wrinkled to expose finger-long fangs. “Youdorecognize that name. Where is he? Where’s Buck?”
The wolf shook its head, as though the name was a hornet buzzing around its ears. It cowered away from her, fur rising along its back. Electricity raced over its feathers, leaping out to strike the ground like miniature lightning bolts. The growl took on a whining, pleading edge.
“Buck!” Emboldened by this reaction, Honey advanced on the wolf. It cringed lower, tail clamping between its legs like a scolded dog. “What did you do to Buck? Did you hurt him? Take me to Buck, right now!”
The wolf turned in a circle—but it didn’t look like it was trying to lead her anywhere. Instead, it almost looked like it was fighting with itself. It collapsed, writhing and snarling, snapping at its own flanks. The light from its wings brightened, electricity crackling from feather to feather. Bloody froth flecked its jaws.
Alarmed, Honey tried to rush forward to restrain it, but another thunderclap of hot air and searing light drove her back. She flung up a hand to protect her face, momentarily blinded.
And when she could see again, the wolf was no longer there.
CHAPTER7
The wet, earthy smell of leaf litter filled his nose. With effort, Buck managed to lift his pounding head out of the dirt far enough to spit out a mouthful of blood.
“Motherf—” he started; and then, remembering that there was a decent chance a kid would be in earshot: “Motherlover.”
The words came out thick and slurred. His tongue throbbed, which was a pain in the—well, literally his mouth, but also his ass. It was bad enough having to chain himself to his bed every night. If his transformations were getting so bad that he was at risk of biting off his own tongue, he was going to have to start sleeping in a damn ball gag.
Still, if he was face down in mulch, at least he couldn’t be draped over a cabin roof. Wincing, Buck pushed himself upright, taking stock. General feeling of having been ripped cell from cell and stuck haphazardly back together with crazy glue, check. Blessedly peaceful forest, surprised check. Lack of a circle of goggling children, relieved check.
“Well,” he said out loud. “That’s an improvement.”
This feeling of warm, pleased accomplishment lasted precisely seven seconds, which was how long it took him to get to his feet, brush himself off, and turn around to find Honey.
She stood frozen, face white as milk, mouth open. She looked as though he’d just plummeted from the sky in a crash of thunder. This, he supposed, was fair enough, given that it was no doubt exactly what he’d done.
“Y-you,” she stammered. “You… you’re…”
He followed the direction of her horrified stare. Downward.
What he was—of course—was stark, balls-out naked.
With a strangled yelp, he dove for the nearest cover. This, naturally, turned out to be a bramble bush. Fuck his life.
“Everything is fine!” he yelled, crouching as low as he could get. Thorns jabbed his junk. “Nothing to see here. All totally normal.”
“Nothing to see?” Honey’s voice rose an octave, getting louder. “Totallynormal?!”
Buck bit back a swear word. Grabbing a handful of brambles, he dragged them down in a futile effort to provide more cover. “Look, I am really not in a fit state for this conversation. Will you please go back to camp?”
“No, I will not go back to camp!”
Her footsteps stomped closer, with the force of a woman whose patience was well and truly shredded. A mere thorn bush was clearly not about to dissuade her.
Looking around wildly, Buck spotted a sign roped to a nearby tree. He lunged for it, for the first time grateful for his newfound speed and strength. Tearing the sign free, he whipped it in front of his midsection. This meant that when Honey stormed into view a second later, his genitals were safely labeled:PRIVATE PROPERTY - KEEP OUT.
“What is happening?” Honey looked on the verge of either screaming or throwing a punch. “Why—how—Buck, what the hell is going on here?”
He kept his sign strategically positioned. “I should think that’s obvious.”
“No, it is not!”
Okay, now he was getting annoyed. Buck wasn’t clear on shifter etiquette, but surely if you encountered unexpected nakedness, it was basic common decency to tactfully withdraw without asking questions. So he had a minor personal problem. There was no call for her to demand all the embarrassing details.
“Woman, I don’t make a habit of going hiking in my birthday suit,” he snapped. “Do I really have to spell it out?”
“Yes!” she cried. “Please spell it out! That would be very helpful, thank you! Buck, a moment ago you were a giant glowing wolf! With wings!”
