Page 74 of Wishing for a Werewolf

“What would you like to see?”

“Your wolf.”

I suck in a deep breath. I never imagined her asking this, and it’s touching to think she wants to know all of me.

After a few moments, I slide away and roll to a crouch, leaves crinkling with the movement. Then magic tingles through me as I set it free, letting my shift wash over me, leaving me as a wolf.

“Your face doesn’t look that different from your werewolf form, but I’d know you no matter what—you have the same golden eyes.” Autumn’s gaze travels over me as I stand in a pool of moonlight. “You’re glorious.” She sits up and touches my forehead, awe filling her voice instead of fear.

I’ve never been more grateful for her brave nature than this. I don’t know what I would have done if my fire had feared me.

“You’re beautiful,” she whispers.

“Thank you.”

“You can talk!”

“Of course I can talk. I’m fully sentient in all of my forms.”

“I know that. It’s just… I didn’t realize the wolf could talk, too.”

I sit down and let her pet me some more.

Her curious little hands move over my shoulders, my back. “I never realized wolves could be so big. You’ve got to have twice the muscle of a Great Dane.”

“Regular wolves aren’t. As a fae, I’m unbound by such constraints.”

“You’re never your wolf around town.” She meets my gaze. “Why not?”

“Part of it’s practicality. Even with the protection spell in place, non-magical humans aren’t going to react well to my size. As you say, there aren’t any dogs as large as I am.”

“And the other reason?”

“It’s too comfortable, too easy to want to be the wolf I’ve been for all of my life.” I sigh and fully admit a truth I’ve told no one. “I mentioned that when I first bought the house, I slept every night in this form. What I didn’t tell you was how hard it was each morning to become a man.”

“Then why do you shift? Why be a man at all?”

“I love my wolf, yet this is never all the cu sith were meant to be. We were always supposed to be able to shift.”

She nods, a tiny frown pinching her brow as she considers my words.

“As much as I love being a wolf, this form lacks certain attributes.” They’re things I didn’t realize until I had Autumn in my life. Since the first moment I touched her skin to skin, I could never be satisfied with being only the animal. “My wolf lacks arms to hold you. It lacks hands to touch you. And it lacks a mouth that can taste the sweetness of your kiss.”

“Oh, Rune.” Her lips tremble. “That’s the most beautiful thing anyone’s ever said to me.”

“Not nearly as beautiful as you, my fire.” Magic ripples through the air as I shift into my fae form, taking her mouth in a starving kiss that makes her cling to me. I need this—I needher—more than I could ever have imagined. It’s a primal want, a hollowness aching to be filled, and only Autumn will do.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Rune

I spend the next several days at my house with my family and a new group of visiting pack mates. Astrid and Agnar delight in showing them how to use the television. The adults are so new to the idea of moving pictures that they don’t mind the cartoons, but once the little ones are in bed, I put onMission Impossibleso they can see what other types of movies are like.

We practice cooking simple meals, and everyone loves cheese almost as much as Autumn. I also serve a selection of baked goods from Cake My Day, to show them what the best biped foods taste like when made by an expert brownie baker.

My house is full of noise and motion and pack, and it feels so right.

Yet I miss my fire and wish she were here, brightening the room with her laughter and quick wit.