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He closed the gate, got to the ground, and shifted to wolf form. He could at least jog on three legs through the woods to get to his supplies and speed things up a bit.
When he was dressed in his jeans and a gray T-shirt, his injured leg bandaged beneath the denim, Reardon used the umbrella and limped heavily back to the entrance gates. That humming noise was still present, but he couldn’t sense where it was coming from. The other wolves waited for him, their loyalty and concern touching Reardon in ways he didn’t think possible.
After opening the gates and coming back into the sanctuary, he ambled to the log cabin. The sky was dark and morning was still several hours away. Reardon circled around to the back of the house and sat in one of the patio lounge chairs where he and Brandy had enjoyed each other’s company last night.
Figuring he’d wait for morning there, he stretched out his legs, easing the pressure off his hurt one. He set the umbrella down on the patio beside the chair and let out a quiet chuckle when all fifteen of the wolves spread out on the ground abutting the patio. Like a protective circle, their energy surrounded him and he wondered if they truly knew what he was. That he was like them, but not. They appeared to understand and it warmed him to know he had that connection with them. Though he didn’t belong in this time and place, he didn’t feel alone. Not like he often had in his life before this point.
When Reardon opened his eyes next, morning sun embraced him. He rubbed sleep from his eyes and turned a highly tuned ear toward the log cabin behind him. He immediately picked up the sounds of water running through pipes and imagined Brandy taking a shower. That image made parts of him awaken as he pictured her lovely, naked form covered in water droplets.
He listened until the water noises stopped. At that point, he reached down, grabbed the umbrella, and got to his feet. He tested his injured leg and found it to be tender but not as bad as it had been last night. In fact, he took a few steps away from the lounge chair without incident or cringing in agony.
The upside to being a werewolf.While he knew the wound was still healing, the bulk of the mending had happened while he was asleep. In the next two days or so, the injury would be totally gone save for a slight scar. Scars always lingered… as reminders he supposed.
Reardon set the umbrella on the lounge chair and made his way to the front door of the cabin. Some of the wolves followed him while others continued their early sunbathing. As he raised his hand to knock on the door, Dylan came running over with Meredith a few steps behind him.
“Hey, Reardon!” the boy said, his face full of a delight that made Reardon’s heart swell.
“Good morning, Dylan.” Reardon couldn’t help smiling back at the boy.
“Are you coming over for breakfast?” Dylan asked.
Reardon hesitated and Meredith filled the silence. “Of course he is. Doesn’t he look like a man who knows breakfast is the best meal of the day?”
Dylan squinted up at him, sunshine illuminating the boy’s face. “He looks like a man who thinksallmeals are the best.”
Meredith laughed. “Good call, kid.” She put her arm around the boy’s shoulders and looked at Reardon, a squinty-eyed expression on her face similar to Dylan’s. “Did you get held up last night somehow?”
So Meredith knows.And from the firm set of her lips, she wasn’t happy he hadn’t shown last night either. Of course she wasn’t. She didn’t want to see her daughter hurt anymore than Reardon did.
“I did. I’ve come to apologize.” He wished he had some flowers or other gift to enhance his apology.
Meredith walked past him and opened the front door. As Dylan raced in, she looked over her shoulder at Reardon. “Better be a damn good apology, sir.”
She motioned for him to go into the cabin ahead of her and he figured that was a good sign. At least she hadn’t told him to leave. She believed he should have the opportunity to make up for his no-show.
The question was…did Brandy?
“Hey, Mom!” Dylan called out as he ran into the living room.
Reardon held his breath as the boy skidded to a halt and took in the empty wolf bed. Reardon had planned to talk to Brandy alone. Now he had an audience of one boy and one grandmother. He wasn’t exactly ready for that.
“Where’s Alator?” Dylan shot into the kitchen, the dining room, and back to the living room while Reardon stood there, searching his mind for an acceptable story for a missing wolf.
“He couldn’t have gotten too far,” Meredith said. “That leg of his has to be hurting.”
Not as much as you’d think.Standing as he was now, Reardon did his best to keep most of his weight on his right leg as he leaned against the living room doorway.
“MOM!” Dylan ran for the stairs, but Reardon could smell Brandy on her way down.
Gods, she smells wonderful.A fragrant mix of flowers he wanted to bury his nose in and inhale for an eternity.
But eternity with Brandy wasn’t his. He knew this. He had to hurry the hell up and tell her his secrets before time ran out.
“Why hello, son.” Brandy’s voice plucked chords deep inside Reardon and he closed his eyes, relishing the sensations. “What’s all the noise about?”
“Where’s Alator?”
“In the living room,” Brandy said.
