Thoughts zipped through her mind, each more unbelievable than the next.This was the stuff of fiction.The things she wrote about in her fantasy novels.
Laura had mentioned Henry.
“Is that Henry?”she whispered to Levi, not taking her gaze off the wolf.
“Yeah.”Levi sounded uncertain whether she should know this information.
She quickly counted the animals pressing against her.If she included Levi in their number, her entire squad of youngsters surrounded her.
Laura and Charlie didn’t seem concerned, behaving like they knew what was happening.
“Henry,” Laura said in a firm voice.“Let Charlie put cuffs on her.We have to do this right.”
“Let me go,” Amanda said.“I haven’t done anything.You wait until I tell my father what you’ve done.By the time he’s finished, you won’t have a job or money.”
Neither Charlie nor Laura seemed cowed.Charlie pulled handcuffs off his utility belt and nudged the wolf aside.In seconds flat, he had Amanda cuffed and on her feet.
“What are you arresting me for?”Amanda screeched, fighting Charlie.She did an excellent job until the wolf grabbed her leg and tugged.The leopard circled to Amanda’s other side and nipped her hand.Amanda yelped and staggered away.It was in the direction Charlie was trying to take her, so Maia assumed the leopard was helping.
“Henry, will you take care of Maia?”Laura asked.“I need to go with Charlie.”
In answer, the wolf stalked past Laura, heading straight toward Maia.He’d looked massive standing over Amanda, but now he seemed enormous.
“Henry,” Levi said.“We did exactly what you said.”
The wolf nudged the boy, his gentleness and affection evident in the lick across the boy’s cheek.The wolf growled, and Levi stepped away from Maia.He grinned as he closed his eyes, his brow scrunched as if he was concentrating hard.Seconds later, a faint glimmer shone around him, and he morphed from a grinning boy to a happy wolf pup right in front of her.
Her gaze shot to the adult wolf in time to see the animal change and Henry appear in its place.She covered her mouth with her palm, her eyes bugging wide as Henry kneeled beside her.Had he… She blinked hard, but no, Henry was still there, and Levi, the wolf, gave her a sly lick.
“Maia, are you okay?”Henry asked hoarsely.“When Levi signaled Gerard and me… Those were the worst moments of my life.”He helped her rise with gentle hands.She wavered, shock doing a number on her knees, but he caught her against his body.His naked body.
Henry was a wolf.
Wolves and leopards surrounded her.
She wasn’t seeing things.
The animals were not figments of her imagination; she knew them by name.
Chapter 32
HenrysidledclosertoMaia, holding his breath.Each of his senses worked overtime, trying to read his mate.His nostrils flared, and terror tiptoed down his spine while he waited for a reaction.Levi whined, picking up on Henry’s inner turmoil.Maybe he should’ve informed Maia earlier about his otherness, but the time had been inopportune.She’d been dealing with enough.
Amanda shrieked obscenities, and Henry glared at the protesting woman Charlie and Laura dragged away in handcuffs.Her pretty face contorted in another scream, and he took satisfaction in her disheveled appearance.The bitch.He and Gerard might’ve been too late if it weren’t for the kids.
A shudder worked through him, a reaction to the close call.The woman’s attack echoed the past so precisely.Jenny’s ex had murdered her in this forest when she’d slipped into the trees for a quick toilet break while Henry waited for her.Despite the runners and zombies filling the paddock, no one had seen or heard a thing.He hadn’t suspected danger until Jenny had failed to reappear, and he’d gone searching.
Gerard nudged him, and Henry shook away the past.He visualized his human form and flowed into his shift.It was time to see what Maia thought of his secret.
The kids loved her, and she’d let them close without panicking.He prayed there was room in her heart for him in both forms.London and Megan would help and share their stories because they understood the devastation he’d face if Maia rejected him.
Swallowing hard, he kneeled beside her.“Maia, are you okay?”he asked hoarsely.“When Levi signaled Gerard and me… Those were the worst moments of my life.”He grasped her arms and lifted her to her feet.She wavered, and he balanced her while desperately assessing her reaction.
Her blue eyes were enormous in her pale, dirty face.The scent of coppery blood filled his next breath.
“Where are you hurt?Let me carry you to my vehicle.”
“I can walk.”
