Page 28 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Wolf

He looked calm, but his tone was laced with barely contained anger. Was it because Jerry was human? Or was it because it was Jerry who stood before them?

Jerry didn’t even seem to notice the other man’s tone. “Or what? What’s a man in a bathrobe going to do to stop me?” His eyes widened, like he’d just noticed something else, and his shoulder shook with amusement. “Oh, man. Is that a sash on your foot? Did you hurt yourself?”

“I might be injured, but I can still—”

“Look, buddy, this is between me and my girl, okay? Not you. Get lost.”

And without waiting for a response from Bryon, Jerry returned his attention to Miranda, the sneer returning to his face.

“What exactly were you thinking, Miranda? Figured you could just dump me? Figured you could call it quits on us and move on?” He shook his head, taking another step closer, and a cold shiver traveled up her spine. “It doesn’t work that way, babe.”

“It does when you happen to be a lying, cheating asshole,” she spat.

Jerry flinched like she’d slapped him across the face. Then his eyes narrowed. “You and I are endgame. We’re meant to be together. You know that.”

“No, I know better.” She sucked in a deep breath, her heart thudding so hard it was a miracle no one else could hear it. “That’s why I left. I want nothing to do with you, Jerry. You can’t have me back, and you never will.”

Fury flashed in his eyes. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

His every word was dripping with anger, but Miranda ignored the knot forming in her gut. She’d had enough. Enough of Jerry, enough of running, enough of everything. “Look, Jerry, I’ll make it clear as many times as I have to: I don’t want anything to do with you. I should’ve informed the police when you started threatening me. The second I’m out of here, I won’t hesitate to do it if it means keeping you as far away from me as possible.”

Jerry’s fury was momentarily replaced by something else. Fear? “Then maybe I’ll just have to make sure you don’t get out of these woods, babe.”

Okay, that definitely sent a chill through her body. Before she could figure out whether to come up with a response or turn around and run away screaming in terror, Bryon stepped in front of her, holding out his arms at his sides as though to shield her from her ex-boyfriend’s threats.

“Don’t even think of trying anything stupid,” he said to the other man.

Jerry gave a dangerous scoff. “I thought I asked you to get lost?”

“Leave her alone. She’s not your girlfriend anymore. You need to—”

“Get lost!”

He moved without warning, faster than Miranda could blink. The next thing she knew, his fist had connected with Bryon’s jaw. Bryon staggered backward with a heavy grunt, nearly slamming into her in the process.

“No!” she heard herself cry.

Bryon recovered surprisingly quickly. She couldn’t see his face, but the anger radiating from him was almost palpable.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he said.

And then he struck.

He was even quicker than Jerry, and as he launched himself at the other man, he was almost a complete blur. Jerry didn’t even have time to react. Bryon’s fist slammed into his face with a heavy thud. Before Jerry could recover from the blow, Bryon punched him in the gut, and the man went down hard.

“I warned you to leave her alone,” Bryon snarled, as Jerry began pulling himself to his feet, clutching his stomach. “You should’ve listened to me.”

The other man’s eyes flashed. “You’ve got hands, I’ll give you that. But you’re not going to take me down hobbling about with an injured foot. You’re less of a human than I am.”

He clearly meant that as an insult, but Bryon didn’t even flinch. “You’re right. In fact, I’m not even human at all.”

Jerry blinked at him in confusion. “What do you...?”

It happened then, without warning. Bryon tossed aside the bathrobe. His skin seemed to darken and sprout thick, brown fur, and Miranda saw claws extend from his fingertips. As she watched, his face elongated into a snout, and an inhuman growl rose from his throat.

It was a jarring sight.

And Jerry seemed to think so, too. The man stumbled back with a cry, tripping over a root and landing on his butt. His eyes bulged out of their sockets, his jaw hanging open as he scrambled to his feet.