I startle, scooting back on the snow.
“The wolf is Royal?” I nod.
The wolf nods back.
“The wolf is nodding back. The wolf is Royal.” I shake my head.
The wolf dips its head.
“That is not — No.” I push up off the cold ground, straightening my coat. I’m starting to feel more chilled, and I imagine my nose and cheeks must be turning red. “This can’t be. No. Humans don’t become wolves.”
The wolf walks forward and bends its neck up to look at me, pretty much standing as tall as it can. Its chest is pushed against my front, and its nose is practically against my chin.
“Royal?” I question again a little louder, like maybe he hasn’t heard me, maybe the wolf isn’t Royal, and this is a misunderstanding.
Then the wolf’s warm, kind of dry tongue licks my chin.
“Ew. Dog breath.” I step backward.
A shiver rakes through my body.
“Okay, Royal, if you’re the wolf, then you need to stop being the wolf. This is weird, and we need to talk.” I square my shoulders at the beautiful gray wolf.
The wolf steps back and lets out a massive sneeze before walking over to Royal’s clothes.
I keep my eyes trained on the wolf.
It’s hard to comprehend seeing it. The wolf’s body shifts and changes. It’s fast and slow, and time seems to move differently as it happens.
But then Royal is back, his bare ass facing me.
“Okay, Royal is a wolf. I sound insane. God, I’m going to end up a nun.” I close my eyes.Maybe this is just a bad dream, and I’ll wake up.
“I am a wolf. My whole family are wolf shifters.” Royal’s voice isa little hoarse. He clears his throat. “You’re not going insane. And you’re not going to be a nun.” When he turns toward me while buttoning his pants, he’s wearing a devilish smirk. “You wouldn’t have any fun being a nun.”
“You can’t be serious.” I shake my head and gesture to him. “A wolf.”
I quickly look down at the ground. Distinct paw prints litter the snow-covered earth, big like a giant dog. I pull my phone out of my pocket and take a picture. It happened. I have proof it happened.
“You can’t tell anyone, Leticia.” Royal’s voice is low, almost threatening. “If you’re going to tell someone, I have a duty to stop you.”
“No one would believe me.” I scoff and put my phone away. “I can barely get anyone to believe me about anything else. You being a wolf would get me locked up in one of those ‘rejuvenation centers’ or something meant to keep me calm but not actually called an asylum.” I shove my hands in my coat pockets. “So why are you telling me this?” I shiver, and my teeth start chattering.
“Come on, let’s go inside. You’re freezing.” He steps toward me like he’s going to touch me.
I step back and dodge him, heading toward the house on my own.
Once we’re inside, my coat hung up and boots off, Royal fusses over me, having me sit in front of a fireplace, which he clicks on with a remote, and looks at me with a deadly serious expression. “Antonella is now also a wolf shifter.”
I freeze. “No. No, she’s not. Excuse me, what?” I stare at him, mouth gaping, trying to wrap my head around the impossibilities that are apparently possible. It’s one unbelievable thing for Royal to be awolf shifter, but Antonella? For some reason, that’s where my brain decides to draw the line at suspending disbelief. I try to remember the words he used back in the car. “This has to do with the coup? The incident where you were shot?”
Royal nods. “There was a defector among the ranks. My uncle, Neil, went a little bit power hungry. He tried to have me killed and frame Antonella and your family for breaking the truce.”
“No.” Stunned speechless, I roll my wrist, hoping to encourage him to keep talking.
“I’m fine, my parents are fine, Kerrianne is fine.” Royal assures me.
“But Toni is a werewolf now.” I reiterate his words.
