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7
Beau
Outside, I dump the tent underneath the bus. My animal is raging beneath my skin, burning me up inside.
Having that sweet little she-wolf in my arms drove me to the limits of my sanity. I shouldn’t have touched her earlier. And I definitely shouldn’t have kissed her just now, shouldn’t have gotten hard again.
My wolf and I are at war.
She’s mine.
All I want is to claim her.
I’ve been hoping I could take care of her. Protect her. Keep her safe. And that could be enough.
But she drives my wolf wild.
Of course, she does. She’s the hottest darn thing I’ve seen in my entire life. And every part of me insists, she’s the one.
I thought I was destined for loneliness.
But Savannah and I complete each other.
She’s the one my wolf has been craving all these years.
I hated that I couldn’t tell her the truth. I’ve never spoken the words aloud for fear of what it’ll do to my wolf. I’ve worked hard to suppress even the memories. To compartmentalize them in my rational half, keep them safe from my wild half.
And the past day has been a taste of what will happen to my animal if it experiences a rejection again.
I casta glance at the small town in the distance. A few lights twinkle from buildings, but looks like most people are asleep already.
I strip my clothes off and let my wolf come. It needs a release; it’s the only way I’ll be able to keep it under control all night long.
It bursts out of me, eager to be the one in charge. Silently, I make a deal with it:
Run now for as long as you want, so long as you quit tearing me up inside.
My wolf is not always one to honor a deal, I think wryly. Remembering those mad years in the forest, trapped within my beastly form.
Concealed beneath a blanket of darkness, I run along the riverbank. There’s little chance of being seen here. Might encounter a solitary, nocturnal fisherman or two, but I’ll smell them coming from a mile away.
I run for miles and miles, out of Perdue Town, into another small town and then another. I pass two lovers kissing on a bridge, too wrapped up in each other to notice a big gray wolf intruding on civilization. I pass three fisherman crouching in the darkness, their equipment illuminated by little electric lamps. I pick up the scent of a rabbit, give chase, and snatch it up in my jaws. I’m not really hungry, but the thrill of the chase, followed by the satisfying taste of freshly hunted meat calms my wolf. Make things right in its world.
I run until I’m tired, and then I turn and go back home. By the time the reassuring bulk of Bertha comes into view, my paws are sore. We must’ve been out a couple of hours. I trot up to the door of the van and listen for Savannah. The sound of slow, regular breathing washes comfort into my bones. She’s sleeping deeply, poor thing. She must be exhausted.
Satisfied that she’s safe, I bound up the ladder and make myself comfortable up on the roof. The wind has whipped up and no way am I fiddling with tent pegs and ropes on the riverbank.
At last, my wolf is exhausted, and I sleep.
* * *
When my eyessnap open again, the sky is still pure black and glittering with stars. But a terrible racket fills my ears. Banging, wailing, snarling. I lurch upright, electricity charging my body.
Savannah.
In a single bound, I crash all the way down to the ground, then I tear open the door of the bus, and—
The interior is in chaos. Things knocked over, broken. The bed overturned. And in the midst of it all is a small, silver she-wolf. Standing in the middle of the floor, trembling and whimpering.
