Alpha?
Pack?
Karissa’s head started to swim. She obviously recognized those terms in relation to wolves but was starting to think this werewolf thing was more complicated than she’d thought.
“I’m still a little confused about how what happened at the fight club turned you into a werewolf,” she said.
“I was born with the gene,” Hale said, saying the words as if he was repeating something that he’d been told. “If a person who has it goes through a traumatic life-or-death event like the one I did, the body gets flooded with high levels of adrenaline and cortisol, flipping the gene and turning that person into a werewolf.”
Karissa considered that for a moment before realizing it didn’t help. She was never very good with science. “But what does that even mean? Do you grow fur and bay at the moon once a month or is that only in fairy tales, too?”
He chuckled, his face finally lighting up. “All fairy tales. There’s no connection between the moon and werewolves. We shift whenever we want, but only some of us can go far enough to get fur.”
“Can you turn into a real wolf?” Karissa asked, unable to hide the excitement in her voice.
Hale shook his head ruefully. “I wish. Several members of my pack can accomplish a full shiftinto wolf form, but I’ve never been able to pull it off. Apparently I’m not completely in tune with my inner werewolf…or something like that.”
“Okay, so no to the fully wolf thing then,” she said, not bothering to hide her disappointment. “I’m guessing you can shift at least some, right? I mean, you have claws.”
That got her a nod. “Being a werewolf means I have enhanced physical strength, speed, and healing. My senses are better than a regular human’s—well, except for my nose because of that fight with your brothers. And yeah, I have claws and fangs.”
Fangs! You’ve got to be kidding me.
Karissa gazed at him, wide-eyed. “Cool! Can I see?”
Hale pulled back and stared at her in shock, like she’d just asked the most indelicate question ever.
“What? I showed you my sword.” She smiled. “You’re a little bit old to be acting all shy, aren’t you?”
“That’s what you’re going with?” He snorted. “I showed you mine, now you show me yours?”
“Maybe. Will it work?” she asked with a laugh, glad to see that he wasn’t really upset. “I never did get a chance to try that particular line on you when we were dating.”
Hale regarded her appraisingly for a moment. And then, just that fast, his face changed. The tips of two fangs appeared, growing down over hislower lip, until they were at least an inch and a half long. She glanced down to check his hands to see sharp claws that were even longer.
But while the fangs and claws were definitely amazing, the most striking change with Hale’s werewolf shift were his eyes. Normally a beautiful blue, they now glowed a vivid yellow-gold so bright they were practically humming with energy. It was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen.
And a confirmation that it hadn’t been a trick of the light the other night at the hotel.
Hale sat on the couch beside her, motionless and barely breathing, as if he expected her to jump up and bolt from the apartment.
“Well, you’re not running away screaming,” Hale said, and Karissa realized his face and hands had shifted back so quickly that she hadn’t even noticed. “That’s a plus, I guess.”
She reached out and grabbed his hand, holding on to it tightly. “I’m not running anywhere. Definitely not over something like claws and fangs. Did you really think I would?”
He shrugged. “People have been known to bail for less.”
Like she’d walked away from him back in high school on nothing more than her parents’ insistence that their relationship was over.
“I already agreed to try and fix what my family broke,” she said softly, her fingers still interlacedwith his. “Nothing I’ve seen or heard tonight changes any of that. Unless you want it to.”
He continued to gaze at her, his expression impossible to read. But at the same time, he squeezed her hand a little tighter. It felt nice.
“I’m definitely still okay with that plan,” he said, his voice equally soft. “I want to keep working on trying to see if we can get back to what we had all those years ago. I only thought I should give you a chance to change your mind now that you know how different I am. I know dealing with something like this is a big ask. I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to back off and reassess.”
While Karissa understood the sentiment—even appreciated it to a degree—it was getting frustrating, both of them dancing around each other like this. “Hale, you can stop right there. I don’t need to reassess anything. Okay?”
Karissa expected a word or two signifying that Hale understood, or maybe a nod. What she got instead was Hale leaning forward to kiss her. It was unexpected but certainly wanted.
