Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 87771 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 439(@200wpm)___ 351(@250wpm)___ 293(@300wpm)
My head tilted forward, and my eyebrows jerked up my forehead in surprise. “Holy shit, really? What the hell happens on full moons?”
“That’s when us shifters involuntarily transform into our were forms. For us, yes, that’s typically what you think of when you hear werewolves. We’re bipedal wolflike men and women. Our heights and builds change; our arms elongate and hands turn to claws. Noses into snouts. It can also be a vulnerable state for us, even with as much power as we have.”
“How so?”
“We tend to lose control to our basic animal instincts in were form. If I’m not locked up, for example, I may end up getting the urge to go find you. Not to hurt you,” he quickly added, likely going off the look on my face. “But because I’d want to be near you, protecting you. And sometimes, yes, those instincts can turn dangerous. A were wanting to go and settle a fight with an enemy, for example. In those cases, it’s best we all have a safe room that we can lock ourselves in and keep everyone else both safe and unaware of our existence.”
I sucked in a deep breath. I wasn’t sure if his explanation made me feel any better about this.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Mine
GABE
I tried reading his expression as I explained what happened on full moons, but he remained pretty neutral. If anything, he seemed intrigued. I’d been expecting, at minimum, fear, possible disgust. But curiosity wasn’t something I felt quite ready to process.
My fingers floated over the digital lock pad. “Would you like to see it?”
Eli took a moment to consider it. He looked toward the door, face scrunching in thought. As if this choice would alter the course of things to come, one way or another.
“Yes,” Eli said, and my heart leaped. “I’d like to see. If that’s alright.”
“Absolutely,” I answered without hesitation. This wasn’t something I wanted to hide from him.
Fuck.
I didn’t want to hide anything from him. Ever. I’d done enough hiding. It had become a part of me. I wore this veil of misdirection and falsehoods like the fur coat I’d wear in my wolf form, except it never came off. No matter how uncomfortable it made me. Even if it felt like the weight of my hidden desires was heavy enough to crush me. I couldn’t shift out of it. Couldn’t run from it.
I’d continued to lie. Continued to hide parts of myself from almost everyone except the very few who were part of my pack.
It was tiring. I was breaking.
And Eli was healing me.
I tapped the sequence of numbers that unlocked the door. The heavy lock slid open, and the door nudged forward. I pulled it open. A blast of cool air hit us.
“Whoa, is it a room or a freezer?”
“I tend to run hot in my were form.”
Eli took one more look at me, considering me, before he stepped inside. I followed him, close enough to hear the small gasp that came out of his mouth. I reached forward and placed a hand on his lower back.
“It’s beautiful in here,” he said.
And he was right, I had to admit. “Thank you. It’s an instinct to make our were rooms as nice and cozy as possible.”
That’s exactly what I’d aimed for. The logs of the cabin had been covered over with reinforced concrete, then painted in a calming, rich, mint green. There was a wide window—hurricane-proof to withstand any kind of impact—that overlooked a sea of trees dusted in white from a passing snowstorm. There was a television with a couple of video game consoles connected to it. Not that I played it in my were form, but it was nice to have in the comedown after the shift, when I just wanted to chill. There was a cloud-blue rug underneath a plush daybed pushed against the wall, a row of gray and white pillows up against the brown leather headboard.
Just next to the bed, barely noticeable, were four hooks where the chains went.
Eli was looking at none of that. His attention went to the photos that were all framed and hung up on my gallery wall. They were artistic shots of different moments during some of the hockey games. A close-up on Emmy’s blades kicking up a dusting of ice. A blur of black and light blue and white crashing into a blur of red and gold and black. A wide shot of a packed stadium.
“These are all yours?” he asked, although I had a sense he already knew my answer.
“They are. Helps me remember who I am if I start, you know, losing it.”
Eli gave a nod and an “mhm.” He wasn’t paying attention to me. He was examining my photography. And even though we’d been fully naked around each other already, it was this moment that made me feel most vulnerable.