“That’s not the point. He was concerned, that’s all. He asked me to come check on you in the middle of breakfast service.”
I winced, hating that I was disrupting everyone’s schedules. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to be sorry, Wolfie. I just want to know what’s happening.” Zee lowered his voice. “Didhedo this to you?”
My hands fell away from my face. “He who?”
“You know who. The walk-in. Squirrelly looking guy.”
“Bowen?”I couldn’t stop the smile that stretched across my face with his name on my tongue.
“Sure. Bowen. Whatever. What has he done to you?”
My brow furrowed as I stared at Zephyr. “He hasn’tdoneanything to me.”
Zee waves a hand over my soaked and shivering body. “Like hell he hasn’t. Maybe he’s a witch or something. Did he give you anything to eat or drink?”
My cheeks flushed red at the thought of the mangled bully stick on the floor by the couch. No way was I telling Zee about the dog chew; I would never hear the end of it. “No. I’ve barely even seen him.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. “I’ll check with Kieran to see if he’s found anything. And you… just be careful, okay?”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. I will.”
Zee patted my shoulder and stood up. As he turned to walk away, I called out, “Hey, Zee!”
He looked over his shoulder at me. “Yeah?”
“Uh… thanks… for this. You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
“That I saw your twig and berries?” Zee huffed out a laugh. “No, I’ll be trying to scrub the image from my mind, thank you very much. But… the rest of it? I’m not making any promises, not if we want to figure out how to help you.”
I gave him a half-smile. That was as good as I could ask for, I supposed. While I wasembarrassed at having been found in the state I was, I felt oddly at peace. Not with Zee, but with myself.
Though it had been frantic and I’d rubbed myself raw, I felt in sync with my wolf. For the first time, maybe ever, our desires had aligned with a singular focus.Bowen.
Bowen
After my second restless night, the bags under my eyes were getting bags of their own—my own matching luggage set without the benefit of having brought anything with me. So much for a relaxing vacation. Not that I was on vacation, per se. The email from my work putting me on suspension for being AWOL meant there was no need to hurry back.Sigh.
Here I would stay for the time being and… hope I could afford the bill when it came. Although staying didn’t seem like such a bad idea after my encounter on the walking path. It was the one thought that kept me sane as the shadows danced around my room in the middle of the night.
Somewhere on this island, there was a man who walked as a wolf at night. Or… partly wolf. He was bipedal and had some anthropomorphic qualities. Awerewolf. When my eyes couldn’t close for fear of theshadowy presence, I kept myself busy byGooglingwerewolves.
It wasn’t a full moon last night, which debunked the first article I’d found on it. Did they turn every night? Was it only at night? Were there any legends of werewolves in California? Or off the coast of California? Weresea-werewolves a thing? Did all these islands have them? Where did he come from? Was he a guest here?
Question after question swirled through my mind, even as I could still feel his breath huff against my skin or the warm trail along my cheek from his tongue. The gesture felt more intimate than simply a happy greeting from an animal or the intimidation of a predator. Though maybe that was my tired brain filling in details that weren’t there. Andmaybe… Iwantedit to be different because of the thrill it gave me. Even in my exhaustion, my lips tilted up at the memory of it.
Whether real or imagined, it had probably been the most exciting moment of my life, and I’ve had some doozies. Curiosity and a desire I was trying not to acknowledge filled me, and nothing I could read online would satisfy it. I needed to find him.
Why didn’t I ask his name?It would have been so much easier if I had. How was I supposed to find him now? I supposed I could wait until nighttime and return to the walking path, but I needed something to keep me busy and to keep shadows from my mind.
I feltmy lips flatten into a grimace as I realized what I would have to do. I was going to have totalkto people. A shudder went through me at the thought of having to approach strangers and strike up conversations. My literal worst nightmare. Okay,asidefrom the dark hand reaching for me in my dreams and the ominous feeling of impending doom.
What kind of questions did one ask when trying to determine if someone was a werewolf? “Pardon me, sir, do you happen to have fangs or a tail sometimes?” I huffed out a laugh and rolled my eyes at myself. Sure, that would go over well.
With no other ideas coming to my foggy brain, I accepted my fate. I would have to become everything I hated; a nosy tourist. As I dressed in another set of borrowed clothes, I consulted the inn’s activity guide and plotted an itinerary that made my soul die with each social activity I added, starting with poolside yoga and ending with a sunset flight. I wasn’t sure what kind of flight it was, but I was hoping there were multiple alcoholic beverages involved. How early was too early to start drinking? But then… I was on vacation time, right?
Breakfast had been challenging enough to make me consider giving up on my quest to find the werewolf. It started out well enough with a delicious veggie eggs Benedict, but when the chef took every chance he could to watch or glare at me, my nerves started to get the best of me. I still had no idea what thatguy’s problem was. It didn’t seem like he gave the same attention to anyone else in the dining room. In fact, he seemed generally well-liked by the other guests. What did he think I’d done?
