Guilt lodged in my throat as I turned away. “Yes, but I wasn’t staring where I was supposed to.”
“Where were you staring?” she asked, her question genuine and so innocent. I wanted to burn my eyes out for violating her trust.
“At your chest,” I forced out the truth, not daring to look at her sweet face as she realized I was a total fucking pervert.
Instead, a light tinkling laugh filled my ears, and I whipped my head toward her with my brows bunched together.
“Oh my!” She giggled, waving her hand back and forth. “I’m sorry for laughing, but I’m not upset. I came out without a bra. It’s hard not to notice with the night air and all.”
“Really?”
She nodded, grinning at me with her eyes rimmed red from crying. “I needed a laugh, and you wereveryhonest. It’s okay. I feel safe with you, Lachlan.”
A warm and fuzzy sensation spread through my veins as what I was sure was a goofy ass grin spread across my face. “You feel safe with me?”
The last time anyone had said that was...
My heart froze in a panic at the realization. Thankfully, she spoke up before I had time to dwell on the past.
“Yes,” she declared, brushing off some dirt from the tops of her feet. “So, tell me, what’s the true difference between a wolf shifter and a werewolf? Other than strength.”
“And other than the fact that we’re better in literally all the ways?” I countered, and her cheeks tinged pink as she nodded. “We can only shift during a full moon.”
Her eyes brightened at that, and she scooted closer, brushing her shoulder against mine. “Is it true that you have a different form than a full wolf?”
She’s freezing.
I reached out and wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and she nuzzled into my chest. I shifted my ass on the rock so it wouldn’t go numb and tried to focus on anything but her bearberry and snow scent that made me want to pull her closer and see if she tasted the way she smelled.
“Yeah, that’s true,” I rasped, trying to act like having her this close wasn’t affecting me. I wasn’t a teenage boy, for fuck's sake. “We take on wolf features but are still able to walk on two legs. We’re totally in control during full moons, unlike what you’ve probably heard.”
“Can you turn a human into a werewolf?” she asked, and a lump formed in my throat.
Spasms went off in my muscles, and my eyes stung with unshed tears from the innocent question. Flashbacks of my incompetence came to mind, and my vision blackened.
“Lachlan, that’s uncomfortable.” Wren’s small voice was muffled as I’d pulled her tightly against my chest and fully onto my lap without realizing it.
I immediately let her go, and she pulled her head up and moved her legs to each side of mine to straddle me as she caught her breath.
“I didn’t mean to upset you.” She planted both hands on my shoulders as mine fell to her hips.
“You didn’t.” I swallowed hard, staring into her patient gaze. Patience and understanding I knew I didn’t deserve. “It’s just hard to talk about.”
“You don’t have to answer then,” she told me, her fingers biting into my shoulders as she shifted to move off my lap.
Squeezing her hips, I stopped her from moving and held her in place. I didn’t know why, but the compulsion to hold her was undeniable. “Werewolves can turn humans.”
It was a fact, but in Kalista, among the other supernaturals, it was only speculation. The werewolves’ population was down to about one-hundred-twenty. Our entire species lived in an isolated village in the mountains of Cursinia.
Her lips parted, and she settled back down, scooting further up my lap and sitting directly on my hardening cock as she listened with intensity.
Stifling a groan and trying to focus on the conversation at hand and not on the growing erection in my pants, I said, “Few outside of my kind know what I’m about to tell you.”
Her hands slid from my shoulders to behind my neck and she leaned in closer. “I won’t say a word.”
I gave her a strained smile and nodded. “Our ancestry dates back to witches cursing humans. Humans and supernaturals never saw eye to eye. The legend says that a group of humans had kidnapped and killed a witch for no reason, and the witch’s coven placed a hex, sacrificing themselves in order to turn the humans into what they’d feared. A monster.”
“But werewolves are no more monstrous than any of us,” she murmured.
