Page 31 of Someone Else's Wolf

"Small? What does that mean?" I was beginning to get offended. I didn't want to be small inside.

His smile was caustic, amused by my offense. "I mean, you're no predator." His voice was soft and absolutely certain, and I shut up immediately.

No. I wasn't. To him, that was a good thing — and I think to me it was as well.

#

Our partnership was forged out of finding the best choice for each of us, and learning to work together to achieve our goals.

There was no deep well of friendship or affection. Kirk could be difficult, and I know I sometimes cramped his style. He would much rather have taken on the medical establishment — indeed, the world — alone. There was a hardness to him that made me think he could have.

But we adjusted, learning, stretching ourselves to work together, to do it well.

In most cases, the purpose of having a partner for a shifter who was doing a demanding job seemed to be to protect them, to stick up for them if they felt overwhelmed, or to shield them from annoying people and unfair burdens. For Kirk, it seemed the other way around — I would have to shield the world from him. He was grimly determined to let me, to work with me, but I could see that sometimes it rankled.

Despite of all of that, we developed a somewhat comradely way of relating to one another. When I offered to go for a run with him, he snorted and rolled his eyes. "You would never keep up," he told me, brutally honest as always.

Of course he was right, and it was foolish to be annoyed by that. A moment later, he thumped me hard on the back. "You can run with me if you wish, but don't expect me to hold back."

"That's all right. You're right, of course." I couldn't keep up with Peter, either, and Kirk had no reason to sugarcoat the truth or coddle me.

"You're simply not very fast," he told me, looking at me as though I perplexed him.

"I know."

He reached out and brushed his fingers across my mouth, an unexpected and rather rough touch. "Stop frowning. I'm not trying to offend you."

"You haven't. It's all right."

I turned away from him, feeling hollow inside. I was far too sensitive lately, and in truth, it wasn't about him at all. Everything seemed to come back to Peter. He hadn't texted or called me for days, not since his visit. But I wasn't going to be the first one to cave. If he could do without me, very well; so could I.

"You're a liar."

"And you're annoying." I frowned at Kirk.

He stared at me. "You're allowed to tell me when I'm being rude. I don't mind that. But Iwillbe honest with you."

"I don't expect you not to be. It's all right. We don't have to run together, but some sort of bonding activity is supposed to happen. We can just eat lunch together or something."

I was really stretching. Nobody had demanded that we participate in any bonding activities, but it was strongly implied that if you didn't like spending time with your partner-to-be now, what the hell were you doing?

Cohesion was supposed to happen, and while we wouldn't necessarily be turned down if we didn't give the impression of being good pals by the end of the course, it wouldn't help our case any if we never did things together outside the required coursework and certification training.

Even now, Kirk was going through old material for me so we could learn it together. He was obviously bored to death with the repetition, but I had to be informed, and he would follow the letter of the law, of course, and leave nothing to chance. I knew he was trying hard, bending over backwards to accommodate a partner, by his standards, but I didn't know if anyone else would understand that.

Kirk grimaced. "I'd rather not eat with you, if you don't mind. All that meat you consume."

"Well, I'm not going to become a vegan for you!"

"I didn't ask you to. What's the matter with you?" He gave me a little push with his fingertips, frowning at me like I puzzled him. "You know I wouldn't hurt you on purpose, Shane. I thought you were used to me. But you smell like you might as well be bleeding, you're hurt so much."

My eyes prickled, and I turned away. It was unnerving, having him see through me so well — even as he was quite dense about other things, such as socially acceptable behavior and, you know, being polite.

"It's a bit stressful. All of this training. And...Peter."

"Peter." His mouth twisted in disgust. "Your wolf. What did he—? Or shouldn't I ask?"

"Sure, now you're tactful." I huffed. "I'm just being stupidly emotional."