Suddenly, he shifted into cub form.
Celeste gasped in horror. They were in public. She looked around wildly, but nobody had seen the shift, as far as she could tell.
The dog began barking frantically, and its owner quickly grabbed its collar and hurried off.
It took several frantic minutes for Mandy, Celeste and Truman to coax Jeffrey into human form. Mandy grabbed Jeffrey in her arms and Truman threw his jacket over him. When they were halfway back to their car, Jeffrey shifted back into human form, stark naked now.
“I’m sorry,” Jeffrey said, crying, as they buckled him in to his car seat. “I didn’t want to change but I couldn’t stop myself. I’m sorry. Can you just whip my butt and get it over with? I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault at all,” Celeste said. “Nobody is spanking you. I’m not mad.”
“Yes, you are. I can tell in your voice.”
He cried all the way back to the lodge. When he got to their room, he ran into the bathroom and locked himself in.
* * * * *
Grant was in the middle of a long, boring meeting when Truman came to the door and gestured for him to step outside. The look on his face sent him hurrying out of the room.
Truman explained what had happened. “Mandy’s in the room with Jeffrey,” he said. “Uh, Celeste…she was crying, and she said she had to go for a drive. She took her suitcase and left.”
“Go join Mandy, okay? Stay with Jeffrey and let him know we’re not mad at him.”
“Of course. We all told him that. He’ll calm down,” Truman said.
Grant hurried out to his car. Before he drove off, he called her phone and it went to voicemail.
He left a message. “Celeste, baby, it’s okay. I’m not mad. And I know where you are right now.”
Don’t leave us, don’t leave us. This isn’t you. This isn’t what you do.
He raced into town and drove straight to Greasy Gus. To his enormous relief, Celeste was leaning against her car in the parking lot.
Grant parked next to her car and walked up to her. Tears were running down her cheeks, streaking her mascara.
She hadn’t left them. Grant took a deep breath. The thought of losing her made him feel physically ill.
He pasted a smile on his face and sauntered up to her. “Hey, lady. I’ve got this kinky fantasy about picking up an incredibly sexy woman at a greasy restaurant. Could you please make my dream come true?”
She tried to smile, but then sobbed harder.
“Grant. I’m so messed up.” Her voice was raspy with emotion.
“Join the club. I’m the president.” He pulled her to him and hugged her. “You’re talking to a guy who spent the last five years paying beautiful women not to have sex with him. Don’t you dare try to pretend you’re more messed up than me. I won’t have it.”
“I didn’t know that being near a dog might make Jeffrey shift. I’m an idiot. I’m going to get him hurt.”
“No, you are not. That doesn’t happen to all cubs – it’s actually pretty rare – but I still should have known better. You’re human; you couldn’t know everything about werewolves. This is on me, and Mandy and Truman, not you.”
She took a long, shuddering breath, and wiped at her cheeks with her sleeve.
He hugged her harder, crushing her up against him.
She tipped back her head to look up at him. “I’m going to tell you something, and I’m begging you to believe me. I wasn’t going to leave you and Jeffrey.”
“I believe you.”
“Even though I had my suitcase in my car. That’s…a reflex. I was so flustered, I grabbed it without thinking, and then when I got here, I realized what I’d done and I panicked. I knew you were all going to think that I was abandoning Jeffrey and you’d hate me, and you wouldn’t want me to come back, but I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving. So I was just sitting here trying to think what to do next.”
