Page 45 of Recipe for a Curse

“But I’ve been feeding you.”

“Promised me more sticky buns,” he whispered.

I gaped at him. I had promised the wolf more sticky buns. Was this all for real? Legit? “Can you change whenever you want?”

“Yes, and no,” Rio said looking away. “Changing makes the hunger worse. If I’m already hungry to start with it can be dangerous. Hard to decipher humans from prey and food. It’s why I stay so far away from people. You shouldn’t have gone to the trailer last night. I could have hurt you.”

Instead, he’d decimated the food supply I’d brought and kept me warm. I climbed out of bed to stand near him, looking him over for signs of anything different. Did it hurt? Was it one of those scary transitions like in movies? Was I sane for even believing him? I reached out to touch his face but he backed away.

“I don’t want to hurt you,” he said.

“But you haven’t. Are you hungry?”

He looked at the kitchen. “Was up earlier and ate. I’m okay for a bit. I need to eat more closer to the moon. The pull to shift and hunt is stronger if I don’t eat enough.”

No wonder everyone told me to keep him fed. I stepped in close and reached up to cup his face. He still looked like Rio. A little scruffier, but not gaunt or ill looking like he’d been when I’d first dragged him home. He did look tired, not in a lack of sleep way, but in a world-weary way.

“So, if I keep you fed, you’re not a danger to anyone then, right?” I said rationally.

“If you’d asked me that last month, I’d have said no… the hunger is intense, a gnawing of need that grows until it seems to take over.”

“But now?” I’d been feeding him like crazy. That had to mean something.

“I’m not sure anyone is safe, but maybe you are. The wolf seems to recognize you.”

I thought about that. “You are the wolf.”

“Yes,” he agreed.

“But is the wolf you?”

He shrugged. “When I’m not starving? A little.”

“Does the change hurt? I’m sorry. I have so many questions and I’m still not even sure this isn’t some weird, undercooked hot dog dream.”

He blinked at me, but didn’t pull away. “I will answer as much as I can. I’m not sure the change hurts or not. I sort of black out when it happens. Both ways. Sometimes I remember bits of being the wolf, sort of like snapshots.”

“You remember stuff from last night?”

“Yes,” he agreed. “Not at first. Woke up this morning hungry and in your bed. Thought the worst. Only you were fine.” He looked toward the kitchen. “Ate a lot of your food, then Zach showed up at the door, angry and worried. I started to remember bits of last night.”

“Zach knows,” I said, suddenly aware of all the things he and Sean had been saying that made no sense.

“Sean has some power,” Rio said. “He kind of glows with it. He can tell what I am. Perhaps has met someone like me before.”

And somehow that made sense. Why not? Werewolves were real, and my boss’s lover was some kind of witch? Was there a Chinese mythology for witches? It was far too much for nine in the morning. I needed coffee.

“Let me get coffee. Is there any food left?”

His cheeks turned pink. “Very little.”

I waved a hand at him as I headed to the kitchen to see what I could find. “I need coffee, and there’s more food at the main house.”

“I don’t have any clothes. Left them out there with the sled…”

I glanced back his way taking him in again, so happy he looked healthy. “I’ll send a text to Zach. You can borrow something of his and maybe find the sled?” I narrowed my eyes at him. “Because you’ll be staying, of course.”

“I shouldn’t…” he began.