Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
The cabin sits up ahead, obscured by layers of leaves and foliage that would make it difficult for a human to find.
But I can smell it, the odors calling to me.
Liam’s already here.
I run to the cabin and stop, taking a moment, my tongue hanging out as my hot breath makes the air cloudy.
My thoughts are on Ruby, always, a piece of them given to her as I prepare to change back.
It’s difficult to think about anything else. It was a mistake how close I got to her in the gym, like I was bathing in her scent.
It was wrapping itself around me, cloaking me.
It felt like home.
Taking a few moments, I calmed myself, getting ready for the change.
It’s more painful than usual. Probably because the wolf doesn’t want to go, doesn’t want to do anything other than run toward Ruby’s scent as quickly as possible. I can’t scent her this far outside the city, but the wolf within trembles when I think about returning, finding her, and claiming her.
With the change done, I walk over to the cabin, removing the camouflaging branches and grabbing my duffle bag from the container next to the door.
Grabbing my clothes, I quickly get dressed, pulling the hoodie over my head and then pushing the door open.
Liam sits at the table, the lamps lit, looking down at a book. He’s only three years older than me, but sometimes I still see him as much older as I did as a kid.
He’s as tall as me, wide, with similar silver-streaked hair. His eyes are darker, and he has a small half-moon scar on his chin, the result of my first change when he supervised me into becoming my wolf self.
I lost control, fought him, a kid who couldn’t control this power, this curse.
He stands, walking over, clasping my hand.
I clasp it in return, and our eyes meet.
We don’t meet often. One of the ways hunters track us down is by our scent, and that’s always stronger when we’re with our own kind.
It’s like the wolfish parts of us can’t help but send out signals, like the beasts are having a conversation of their own, one too complex for words.
“Is everything okay?” he asks. “You sounded...different on the phone. And your scent, Ramsey. Something’s changed.”
I swallow, walking over to the adjoined kitchen and pouring myself a coffee. I raise an eyebrow at Liam. When he nods, I pour him one, too, carrying both over to the table.
“Something has changed,” I say. “That’s why I’m here. I don’t understand what’s going on. It doesn’t make any sense. And yet I don’t want it to stop, Liam. I can’t think about it stopping, about not wanting her.”
“Hold up.” Liam leans forward. “Start at the beginning. Wanting who?”
So I explain, beginning with the chase through the city in wolf form, then the meeting in the park.
Finally, I end with yesterday, when I saw her at the gym.
“I thought I was going to change both times,” I tell him. “In the park and at the gym. I haven’t felt like that since I was in my early twenties.”
Liam sits back, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve never known you to feel this way about a woman. Or anything when I think about it.”
I smirk. “Well, hooking up isn’t exactly fun when you could start changing any goddamn second.”
“No.” Liam shakes his head, looking at me in his typically no-bullshit way. “We both know you could’ve held yourself back. Maybe not with this woman. With Ruby. But with somebody else, somebody who wasn’t making your scent so powerful, I could smell it from miles away.”
I sigh, nodding. “All right, Liam. Yeah. I don’t care too much about dating, women, or any of it because I’ve never met the right person. I never thought I could meet the right person. And now I have.”
Liam massages his forehead.
“What?” I snap.
“How can you say she’s the right person when you almost changed, in public, twice? And your scent...if there’s a hunter in your city, just one with the ability to track a scent, then it’s only a matter of time before they find you. Before they try to finish what they started.”
“I know.”
“Guess how many of us are left, by my last count. Guess, Ramsey.”
I grunt. “No more than three hundred.”
“Two hundred and twenty-one. I’m sure there are more wolves who don’t know about us, about the support we could offer. But there can’t be many, or we would’ve heard about them.
“In the old days, the wolves would’ve made more, run out to some village, scratch or bite someone and give the curse to somebody who wanted it, somebody who needed this power. We’d be able to train them. To help them learn how to control it. Or two wolves would breed, giving the ability to their children. Or hell, a wolf and a human would breed, and maybe the child would start to turn. Maybe not.