Page 9 of Baiting the Werewolf

But I had no choice. Except for the first time, I only visited him in this form when I couldn’t reach him any other way, and he really needed me.

I hear a pitiful growl on my left as a wolf gets up with some effort. Nick strikes him down without even looking. Then turns to me again and nods.

What the fuck does that mean?

With a snap, he’s partially shifted. Mostly a human, just with inhumanly large proportions.

No no no no…

Wes lets out a scream then.

Fuck.

He still doesn’t run. He has the same expression that he gets every time I force him to sit through a horror movie.

Nick raises his arms to calm him and takes a few steps towards him. “It’s okay. Everything is normal. You’re safe now.” His voice is soothing.

Wes blinks at him, his eyes getting wider with every step. His heartbeat is louder than the groans of the werewolves.

Nick gets closer, and Wes plasters himself against the tree, shaking his head.

I growl at Nick. That’s far enough.

He turns to look at me and frowns. “Do you know him?”

I look between him and Wes, who’s gone back to staring at me. How do I handle this? Wes isn’t going anywhere… especially now that he knows our secret.

The Bureau has an entire protocol for accidental sightings, which includes multiple discussions with an agent and some light stalking.

The idea of Wes being around another werewolf, being scared and intimidated into keeping our secret, makes me furious. I don’t have a choice anymore. Just like I didn’t have any the minute I heard Wes’s small voice on the phone earlier. I’ll have to put my big boy pants on and deal with it.

Because this is Wes and he’s the only one that matters.

Nick takes my pause as acceptance and smirks. “Alrighty then. I’ll let you deal with this.” He walks away to get the bag we threw away when we shifted and, hopefully, our pants. As much as I'm comfortable being naked around werewolves, I don't want to spook Wes even more.

Okay, time to face the music. With a deep breath in, I shift to my human form. Years of shifting have ensured the process is quick, smooth, and painless.

“Eep.”

I want to laugh at the sound that just came out of Wes’s mouth, but I don’t. I can’t. “Wes?” I find myself imitating Nick, keeping my hands up and visible, as I take small steps toward him. “I can explain.”

His eyes scan me, the way they didn’t with Nick. The irrelevant fact gives me an unexpected ego boost. I internally shake my head in disappointment. Focus, brain!

“You’re naked,” he breathes out.

I follow his eyes as they trail down my muddy torso to my dick, which is starting to get the very wrong message at Wes’s scrutiny. He’s clearly in shock. The attention is a reaction to that, not a sign of interest.

He doesn’t see me that way.

He’s definitely seeing me that way right now, though. A low howl from behind me reminds me where we are. I turn to find another wolf trying and failing to get up. Right. Priorities.

I turn back to Wes, who’s starting to get some color back to his face. His eyes flick to the wolf, worried.

I wave him off. “We’re fine. They can’t hurt you, okay?”

He nods, jerkily. “I got your charger.” His voice is high.

I imagined a lot of reactions from Wes if he ever found out about me. Replayed a moment like this, albeit with way less violence, a thousand times in my head. It was my favorite hobby.