The urgency of the question was displayed more in the tension on her face than in her words. It made him wonder what kind of crap she’d been dealing with over the past few days that he didn’t know about.
“Because I went through the same confusing time after I lived through my own incredibly painful and traumatic episode in Gulfport,” he explained. “I couldn’t control my emotions, I smelled my neighbors baking weed four blocks away from where I lived, and I overheard my beat partner telling the shift sergeant he thought I was having a nervous breakdown. Which was probably what it looked like from the outside. Of course, I happened to hear that particular conversation from the far side of a pistol qualification range, which obviously shouldn’t have been possible.”
Selena didn’t say anything. Instead, she stood there naked and vulnerable. He wanted to take her in his arms and hold her. But he couldn’t. Not yet. There was more that needed to be said.
“This genetic change is also why you bit me on our first date and again last night,” he added. “Part of it is because you’ve just started the process, but the biggest part is that you haven’t gained control over your body yet. Your fangs and claws are going to pop out whenever you get angry—or aroused—until you gain control.”
He was about to follow up with a promise to help her gain that control. To be there with her through the whole thing and then some. But he didn’t get the chance.
“Fangs and claws?” she growled. “What the hell are you talking about? You make it sound like I’m turning into some kind of monster.”
Damn, he was doing a crappy job explaining this.
“You’re not turning into a monster,” he said quickly. “But you are getting claws and fangs. They’re part of the package when you become a werewolf.”
Selena stared at him, her expression unreadable. Bending over, she picked up her dress and yanked it over her head, ignoring her bra completely as tears filled her eyes. Brooks stood up to follow, knowing he was blowing this. She either didn’t believe him, or she thought he was insane. Both were equally bad.
“Selena, stop. Please!” he pleaded, walking around until he was in between her and the back door. He didn’t want to pen her in, but she needed to understand what the hell was happening to her. For her own safety and for the safety of every werewolf out there in the world. “I know this sounds crazy, but I promise it’s true. You’re turning into a werewolf, and all this stuff that’s happening to you will only get worse until you learn how to control it. If that isn’t enough, there are people in the world who will hurt you if they know what you were. You need to let me keep you safe.”
She didn’t say anything as she dragged her heels on, the move unbelievably graceful even in her anger.
Brooks reached for her, intending to pull her into his arms for a kiss. He needed to make her see that all of this was a big mistake. But then she spun around and stabbed him with a glare that stopped him in his tracks. Dark eyes flickered with a color deep in their depths. He wasn’t sure what color it was, but he knew it sure wasn’t green.
“Stop it right now!” she shouted. “I don’t know whether you think this is funny or if you really believe this crap. Either way, just stop. I don’t want to hear anymore.”
Brooks heard Selena’s heart thudding at a thousand miles an hour. He could smell the fear coming off her in waves. She was terrified and confused, and the way he was handling this situation was making it worse. His gut twisted as she shoved past him, heading for the door. The protective alpha instinct in him started to panic, warning him that if he let her go, he may never get her back. She might beThe Onefor him, but that wouldn’t mean anything if he let her get away before she knew what the hell beingThe Oneeven meant.
He wanted to reach out to grab her, to somehow keep her here with him until he could get her to listen to him. But he knew that would never work. He remembered the strength she’d shown last night while they’d made love. If she wanted to leave, it would take a lot of physical force to even attempt to stop her. Brooks wasn’t ready to do something like that to her. Not even to keep her safe.
So he decided to do the one thing that might get her to understand he wasn’t making this up.
“Selena, wait!” he called out, running to catch up to her as she reached the door. “If last night meant anything at all to you, I’m begging you to stop and look at me for a second.”
She hesitated, then slowly turned to face him. There was doubt, fear, and sadness in her eyes. But there was anger, too. So much frigging anger. He didn’t have much time to do this.
“Don’t freak out,” he said softly.
Holding up his right hand, he let his claws slip out to their maximum length.
Selena’s eyes widened, and she stumbled back, hitting the door, fear and shock overcoming every other emotion.
“Please don’t be scared,” he begged, taking a step closer and moving his hand this way and that so she could see it. “It’s nothing but my claws. The same kind of claws you have. The same claws you used to scratch my stomach and my back.”
Selena’s gaze was locked on his claws, until he’d said the part about his back. Then she moved so fast, he could barely follow the movement, her hand grabbing his shoulder and spinning him around.
He’d known his back was scratched up, but he didn’t realize how bad it was until he heard her sharp intake of breath. He spun back around to see her standing there with both hands covering her mouth, an expression of pure horror on her face.
“It’s okay,” he whispered, taking a step closer. “You just got a little carried away last night. That won’t happen once you gain more control.”
“I really am a monster,” she whispered.
Her claws extended as the stress and fear of the moment overwhelmed her. At the sight of them, her whole body began to shake, and he could see the tips of her fangs peeking out from behind the hands she still had over her mouth. She must have felt the sharp tips against her lips and realized what they meant, because her eyes widened in near total panic.
Brooks closed the distance between them, not able to stand the sight of her so scared. But that turned out to be the very worst thing he could have done. He swore it sounded like her heart was going to explode as more fear ripped through her.
“Stay back!” she sobbed, her fangs and claws on full display as she tried to push him away. “I don’t want to hurt you again!”
He tried to resist, but that only made it worse. One moment, Selena was growling in fear, and the next, she was snarling in uncontrolled rage, her eyes flashing vivid blue. The next thing he knew, he was flying across the room like he’d been hit by a truck.
