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I take a quick shower and put on a nightgown. With underwear. When I look out the window, Riley’s wolf is on the porch, lying down.
I open the door.
He comes in.
“Still you, huh? Is Riley coming back?”
He jumps up on the couch and lies down.
I stick another log into the wood stove from the basket, sit beside him, and open up the e-reader app on my phone.
He puts his head on my lap.
I try to read, but I can’t focus.
I turn my attention to the wolf instead, running my fingers through his soft fur.
“You know, it really sucks,” I mutter.
His eyebrows jut up enough to let me know he’s paying attention.
“Wolf shifters identify their mate, right? They look at her and know. I looked at Riley when I was eighteen years old, and I knew. I knew that was the man who would be the man. The man who’d be everything to me. And I was so sure that if he was mine, I’d be everything to him. I took every opportunity to come back to Drowsy Hollow to see if I could catch a glimpse of him for three years until I finally fucked up and drank that wine. And it made me go after what I wanted most in the world. I wonder if all witches fated to mate with wolf shifters identify their mates first. I’ll have to inquire and see if there are other witch/wolf shifter pairings. Maybe I’m the only witch who’s dumb enough to do something about it.”
The fire crackles and the rain picks up again. I wrap my quilt around myself and rub the flannel from Riley’s old shirt on my face. “I used to sleep with this and swore I could smell him sometimes. He smelled so good that day when I ruined everything. I knew I loved him. I knew it was more than infatuation. Those few hours we spent together, the way he looked at me, his presence, everything about him. And I wish I could go back and change everything. Save him all the grief I caused.” I wipe my eyes. “I’d wait the seven years. I’d wait twenty, thirty, forever if it meant I wouldn’t hurt him.”
Riley’s phone rings from the coffee table.
Grey calling.
I answer.
“Hi Greyson, it’s Erica.”
“Erica, hey. How’s everything?”
“Um… well…”
“I heard you two were-“
“Stuck? Yup. Copulatory tie to be technical. Yes, I Googled it.”
He laughs. “Sorry, it’s not funny. Though it probably will be when you all look back on this later. Since you answered, I take it that’s over?”
“He shifted and it let me go. But now it’s the wolf that’s here and he’s been here for… like… four hours or something.”
“And… how’s his wolf’s demeanor?”
“He’s totally different from Riley. He’s very sweet.”
Greyson laughs.
I hold the phone.
The laughter dies down, and Greyson starts talking again. “So, seems like there’s a bit of a separation happening. We’ve seen it before when the man and his wolf aren’t simpatico.”
“So they’re not usually a separate personality? Because from all I thought I knew, they aren’t supposed to be.”
“No, they’re not supposed to be.”
“So, where’s Riley then?”
“In there. Like his wolf was. Watching.”
“So… not like… dormant, sleeping or something like that?”
“No. He’s watching, listening, and probably pissed that he hasn’t gotten back in.”
“Not just enjoying not being here stuck here with me?”
“He’s there. He’s just in wolf form, though sounds like if the wolf’s sweet and Rye wasn’t, he’s split. But he’s still in there. And knowing him, pissed off at being locked out.”
“Shit, so stuff I’ve said about him to his wolf, he’d have heard?”
“Yeah.”
“Shit,” I say, stroking the wolf’s head.
Greyson laughs.
The wolf looks up at me and his eyes glow green just briefly.
I jolt in shock.
Was that a message?
The wolf puts his head back on my lap.
Greyson keeps talking, “I’ll call in the morning and see if anything has changed. Think his wolf was tired of him being a dick so now he’s holding out.”
“Oh… like… refusing to let Riley back in?”
“Probably.”
“Yikes. Could that go on for a long time?”
“It’s been known to happen.”
“Yikes,” I say. “What does it mean when his eyes glow?”
“Riley’s? Riley’s wolf? Any of us on the council - our eyes can glow when we’ve got heightened emotions.”
“Like anger?”
“Yeah. Among other emotions. The wolf is calm, sweet as you said, so don’t worry. You need anything?”
“I’m good,” I tell him. “Though if Riley isn’t back by the morning I might need someone to drop off some doggie kibble if it’s not too much trouble.”
He laughs heartily. “He doesn’t need dog food, Erica. If he’s hungry, he’ll let you know to let him out so he can go hunt.”
“Oh. Maybe he did that. I put some roasted chicken on the floor in a bowl and he doesn’t seem to want it.”
“He won’t eat that. He’ll bug to be let out and when he’s hungry.”
