Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 61468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 307(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
“Logan—” I begin but he shakes his head.
“Later, okay? I promise we’ll talk about it later.”
I guess I have to be contented with that. We stop by the front desk of the clinic and get a list of foods the “pup”—there’s that weird term again—needs. I scan it quickly and see lots of red meat and other sources of protein are highly recommended. They also give me a bottle of prenatal vitamins to take and schedule me again for Monday.
Logan takes my hand.
“Come on, sweetheart—time to go home.”
I let him lead me to his truck and help me inside—it’s high up and difficult to get into but he boosts me up with ease. We ride most of the way home in silence and I’m trying to think of how to broach the subject when Logan surprises me by speaking first.
“How much did Dirk tell you about what he is?” he asks, cutting his eyes towards me.
“What he is?” I ask, confused. “If he’d told me he was a grifter, we never would have gotten married!”
“No, I mean biologically,” he emphasizes.
I shake my head.
“What do you mean? He’s just a guy.”
“No, he’s not and neither am I.” Logan’s voice is grim, as though he’s bracing for me to be upset. “Neither are you, for that matter. You’re at least half Were—your scent is clear about that.”
“Where, what?” I exclaim. “What are you talking about?”
“Werewolf,” he says quietly. We’ve reached his house now. He parks in the driveway and turns to face me. “What I mean is, you’re half Werewolf, Poppy.”
“What?” I can feel my eyes going wide. Dear God, I knew it was too good to be true! Logan is crazy.
“You…you’re insane.” I whisper my thoughts through numb lips.
“No, I’m not and I can prove it to you.” Despite all the weird things he’s saying, he sounds remarkably patient and sane.
“Prove it how?” I demand. “By changing into a wolf?”
“That’s exactly what I plan to do,” he says calmly. “Only we need to wait until it gets dark and the moon comes out. That makes Shifting easier.”
I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I stare at him blankly. Does he really think he can turn into a wolf?
Apparently so. He’s staring at me with that same patient expression on his face.
“I don’t expect you to believe me until you see me Shift,” he tells me. “All I’m asking is a chance to show you—that’s all.”
I don’t know what to say to that. My first instinct is to cut and run. If he’s crazy, I need to get myself and my unborn child to safety! But he’s so calm…so sane looking. He’s not begging or pleading or demanding. Also, Dr. Elizabeth was talking about the “Were” stuff too. Either they share the same delusion or…or maybe there’s a kernel of truth here.
I look around—it’s almost six and twilight is already falling. It will be dark soon.
“Just let me show you,” he repeats. “I swear you’ll be perfectly safe. And if you don’t like what you see, you don’t have to stay.”
He’s been good to me so far—very kind and gentle. He’s such a big man he could crush me with one fist, but he’s never raised a hand to me. My brain is saying “run!” But my heart is telling me to stay.
I decide I’m going to go with my heart on this one.
“All right,” I say at last.
“Good.” He gives me a smile. “Let’s go inside.”
And so we do, even though I still think he’s probably crazy.
What am I getting myself into?
9
LOGAN
I can’t believe Dirk didn’t tell Poppy about the Were world at all—or show her his Wolf. It’s an inexcusable lack of courtesy that just proves to me all over again he was intending to abandon her all along. He didn’t even care for her enough to show her who he really is.
Meanwhile, Poppy has clearly been raised in the human world and has no idea that she’s half Were and that she married into a Were family. The baby she’s carrying is going to be mostly Were too. She needs to know what that entails because a Were pregnancy is different from a human one—a lot different.
But first I have to prove to her I’m not crazy.
Humans have so many wrong ideas about our kind. They think that we’re freaks and monsters and make-believe boogeymen who only come out during the full moon.
And while it’s true that most of us need a full moon to let our Wolves out, we’re not the evil killers Hollywood has made us out to be. We just live with an animal inside us. Well—males do. Female Weres don’t have Wolves inside. So at least Poppy doesn’t have to worry about that. But I’m still not sure how she’s going to react to seeing my Wolf come out.