A wolf.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. Heart pounding, mouth dry, he croaked out her name. “Jewel?”
Even as her body contorted and changed, she raised her head to look at him. Tried to speak. Instead, she could only growl again.
The last remnants of swirling colors vanished.
So did Jewel. Protected by a screen of magic, her transformation from woman to animal had become complete. Instead of Jewel, a huge, ivory wolf stood where she’d knelt.
Watching him with her eyes.Jewel.
Colton reared back. Away. “What the hell?”
Like everyone else, he’d seen the movies, heard the stories, read the books. Werewolves didn’t exist, except in the fertile imagination of writers and producers.
Did they?
Evidence to the contrary, the wolf snuffled, moving closer.
Telling himself not to run, Colton continued backing away. Though he didn’t sense danger, he couldn’t fathom what had happened. Jewel had…what? Changed into a wolf? Part of him screamedno wayand wanted to look for the smoke and mirrors, the hidden cameras.
Though she’d claimed she could, she couldn’t really have become a wolf. This was reality, not some alternate world in a paranormal novel or pulp horror movie.
Still, he took a step back.
The wolf lowered its head, still watching him. Jewel’s beautiful emerald eyes looked exotic in the lupine face.
No. Not. Possible.
Yet it was.
She’d called herself a shifter. She’d tried to tell him the truth.
Jewel, beautiful, sensuous Jewel, was a werewolf.
A werewolf? He shook his head, trying to make sense of the illogical.
There was no such thing. Was there?
The beast moved closer, still intently focused on him.
Colton stumbled. Cursing, he righted himself, hoping the wolf wouldn’t attack. Even though he could barely wrap his mind around it, facts were facts. As a seasoned reporter, he could force himself to recognize them, even when the shock of the impossible threatened to make his stomach heave.
A werewolf. He’d made love—several times—to a werewolf.
No escaping the truth. She hadn’t been lying. Jewel, his Jewel, the woman he’d been entertaining thoughts of making a permanent part of his life—wasn’t even human.
Reeling, Colton staggered away, unable to look at the ivory-coated wolf. Either he’d gone crazy or the world had become his own personal twilight zone.
He knew better than to run, though every instinct screamed it. Instead, he took off at a brisk walk, heading for the untamed hills where other wild animals roamed.
Maybe if he walked enough, far enough, long enough, hard enough, reality would return.
Instead, new reality refused to leave him. At first the wolf kept pace with him, skirting the trees as Colton climbed the old hunting path toward the bluff.
Finally, when he would not acknowledge its presence, the animal veered off, heading toward the wooded area and, most likely, fresh game. Wild pigs and deer inhabited these woods. A feast for an experienced hunter—or a hungry wolf.
An image flashed in his mind. He saw the ivory wolf bringing down a doe, ripping out its throat, blood dripping from sharp, white teeth.
Jewel’s teeth.
No! He groaned. How could he reconcile the woman he’d begun to care for withthis?
