A kid.Get it together, man.
She was twelve years old and harmless.For God’s sake, he’d been in the military and was a big man who shifted to a wolf.Capable of looking after himself.So why was this kid scraping his nerves the wrong way?
He dragged in a lungful of air and froze.
No!
No.No.No.
That couldn’t be right.
The girl was twelve and as flat as an ironing board.She was a child.A child.
She couldn’t be his mate.
Hell, his wolf was playing nasty tricks on him.His mate had died almost three years ago.Jenny had been Henry’s mate, and her ex had murdered her, sending him into a tailspin.
He breathed again, taking care to keep the inhalation shallow.
“Mister, could I buy a dog from you one day?They’re beautiful.”
Henry cleared his throat, prepared to respond.Nothing but an unintelligible croak emerged, and he scanned for the teacher.Where the hell was she when he needed her?
“Gerard?”He raised his voice so his friend would hear him over the excited kids and equally animated dogs.
“Yeah, mate.”
“Could you answer this kid’s question?I need to leave.Now!”
He was a dirty old man.That’s what he was.A dirty old man.
Gerard sent him a glance, and what he saw must’ve alarmed him.He hurried to Henry.“I’ve got you.”
“Outside.”Even as he gasped the explanation, he pushed past the girl, holding his breath to avoid more of her scent.
Unbelievable.Nature playing a nasty trick on him.
He brushed off a parent and a teacher.Henry was sure they considered him rude and taciturn.He knew people gossiped about him, but his loyal friends were all that mattered.
Henry hit the door and pushed outside.
“Hey, mister,” the childish voice carried after him.“You didn’t answer my question.”
“Speak to your parents about a dog,” he snapped, wincing at his harshness, but this was self-preservation.“Go back inside.The teachers want you within sight.”
Gods, why was fate such a cruel bitch?He broke into a run, barely clinging to his control.His bloody wolf wanted to rub against the kid and inhale her scent.
That wouldneverhappen.
Henry ran faster, ghostly images of Jenny chasing him.By the time he reached the native bush surrounding their property, he was sprinting.He could no longer see or hear the child, but she was in his mind’s eye.
Dammit, fate was diabolical.
He burst into the trees, an uncontrolled shift brutally reshaping his bones, the rent of fabric jarring and echoing his mental state.Henry fell to his hands and knees and prayed no one had witnessed this fall from grace.He bore impressive control, but not today.
Henry lay on the forest floor, exhausted and shocked, the damp earth and dead leaf litter pressing against his belly.Long minutes later, he rose on trembling legs and untangled pieces of clothing from his legs and arms, tossing them aside.
His wolf wanted to return to the child.
