Page 57 of The Golden Receiver

I reached him, and I nudged him with my snout. His eyes opened a fraction, and he tried to scoot away. The sour smell grew sharper.

Fear. Anxiety.

He was afraid of me.

I whined and nudged him again.

See me. Know me. It’s me, Kieran. It’s me. I’m not going to hurt you.

“Ev-Evander?” he whispered.

I nudged him another time. Letting him know he was right. It was me.

I needed to get him back to the dorm. Out of danger. Somewhere safe.

I hated walking on two paws as a wolf. Some of my pack ran that way. Some of them loved it. I had never liked it because it felt wrong. I also felt like I was one of those weird dogs you saw in online videos that walked around on their hind legs like some kind of domesticated demon. They were scary, and I’d seen myself doing it. I looked scary.

But I couldn’t carry him any other way. I couldn’t help him.

I stood up. I reached down and picked him up, cradling him into my arms.

Kieran’s arms wrapped around my neck. “Soft,” he whispered.

If I could smile, I would have.

I took off running again, slower than before, careful not to jostle him. I didn’t know how hurt he was. I didn’t know if I was right to even take him back to the dorm. Should I take him to the campus clinic? But I couldn’t. I couldn’t tell them how he got hurt. Not until the sun came up and the blood moon ended and I could turn back into a form that was more useful to him. I didn’t even know if he’d want to go to the clinic.

I only knew that I needed him to be somewhere safe, and the only place I knew he could be safe was with me.

We got to the door of Karloff Hall, and I realized the next problem. My key was across town at the warehouse. It wasn’t like I had pockets.

I growled in frustration.

“Pocket,” Kieran groaned. “My key. It’s in my pocket.”

Oh. Right. Kieran probably had his key. Except his pockets were not made for my paws. They were made for small human hands.

He seemed to realize it at the same time I did. He slowly moved his hand to his pocket and pulled out his keycard. I held the card to the reader until I heard the quiet click of the lock. I used my back to push open the door and started down the hall. When we reached the elevator, I pushed the up button. Once we were on, I pushed the button to the sixth floor.

I couldn’t leave Kieran alone.

I didn’t want to assume that his roommates would be okay with a werewolf hanging around their dorm.

There was only one choice: my room.

We reached my door, and I was once again reminded of the fact that my keys were across town. I should have remembered that. Maybe I should have taken him to his room.

But I heard movement behind the door.

I kicked at the bottom of it in an attempt at knocking before I heard Kieran clear his throat. “You can put me down,” he said quietly. His voice sounded hoarse and pained, and it made the idea of putting him down a complete non-starter. Instead, I held him closer to my chest.

I kicked the bottom of the door again, and the sounds inside changed. I heard the lightest of thuds, like something was being put down. Then I heard heavy footsteps. No one in my room walked like that normally. My hackles raised.

I bared my teeth, ready to attack if someone came too close to my human, as the door opened.

“Evander?”

Oh. Right. Blood moon. The heavy footsteps were Preston. He’d said that he was going to stay in tonight. I’d forgotten all about it while I was running with my pack. I’d really forgotten all about it once I found Kieran.