man.
“Yes,” he insisted and looked perfectly comfortable with this information.
“And the other wolf who growled at me?”
“That wasn’t me,” he answered with a chuckle.
“Was the other wolf a real wolf or a person?” I asked and then realized my question didn’t really make sense. “You get what I mean.”
“Yes, I do,” he said with a clipped nod. “The other wolf was a werewolf like me. His name is Achak and he’s one of my tribe.”
“Achak,” I repeated. “What does his name mean?”
“Spirit.”
“Why weren’t you and Donovan given Inuit names, like the rest of your tribe?”
“Donovan’s Inuit name is Makoktok,” Alex answered. “He just preferred Donovan.”
“And what’s your Inuit name?”
“Taktuq.”
“What does it mean?”
“Fog,” he answered and then smiled. “Mainly because the day I came to my mother happened to be a foggy one.”
“But you go by your English name?”
He shrugged. “I’ve always been more comfortable with it. And before you ask, I don’t know why.”
“Ha-ha,” I grumbled as the waitress approached us and I ordered another glass of wine. I figured I’d need it.
“You need food, Elodie,” Alex said, reminding me of exactly that fact. I’d been so caught up in the conversation, I’d completely forgotten about my empty stomach.
The waitress gave us a few minutes to review the menu and returned to take Alex’s order of prime rib rare and my order of a cheeseburger with fries.
“So going back to Achak,” I started as I remembered the two wolves and Achak in particular. He hadn’t exactly been friendly. “Why did he growl at me?”
“He didn’t know you and therefore, didn’t trust you.”
I shrugged. “You didn’t know me and therefore, didn’t trust me.”
“You’re a female,” he answered with a shrug of his own. “You didn’t threaten me.” He smiled. “Although you are a little scary now when you look at me like that.”
I decided not to take offense, mostly because I had bigger fish to fry. But first things first: “You protected me from Achak.”
“Yes,” Alex answered quickly but then cocked his head to the side as he apparently thought better of it. “Well, he wouldn’t have harmed you. He’s just… brazen.”
“Getting back to that whole bit about you becoming feral when you take your wolf form.” I studied him. “You didn’t seem exactly feral then.”
“I don’t completely lose all touch with my human sentience,” he explained. “It’s just that I become more… hmm, how can I put it?” he asked as he looked up at the ceiling as if it had an answer for him. “I just become more instinctual, I guess,” he finished with a broad smile as he faced me again.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Rather than telling you, maybe it would be better to show you,” he finished, throwing down the gauntlet at my feet.
Chapter Sixteen
It was full-on snowing by the time we got outside. I was also full-on buzzed, probably bordering on drunk, owing to the three glasses of wine and the third of Alex’s beer. Yes, we’d both finished our meals and each one of us had licked our plates clean. Alex had tried to pay for my dinner but I’d flatly refused. Instead, I’d taken care of the bill—I didn’t want to feel like I owed him anything because I didn’t. As far as I was concerned, he was still a possible suspect in his brother’s… er death wasn’t exactly the right word now—disappearance.
The alley behind the bar was deserted, which wasn’t a big surprise since most of the town was tucked away, asleep in their beds. Calling this an alley was a stretch, though. It wasn’t much more than a crumbled, snow-dusted dirt road that stretched from behind the bar down to the post office. No Dumpsters or fire escapes or nefarious types lurking around here. Unless I counted the big orange tomcat watching us with glowing yellow eyes from under a flatbed truck that sported four flat tires. The cat was a permanent resident here—he lived inside Mo’s Tavern.
Although it was technically the end of winter, it might as well have been the very middle, considering how thickly the snow was falling, how hard the wind was blowing and how cold I was, through and through.
Alex wore only a light jacket and jeans. Not even a beanie cap. He seemed, if anything, to relish the cold. Or, maybe, it was just that he relished being outside. I noticed he lifted his face to the wind and elements more than a few times, a small smile on his sumptuous lips.
Sumptuous lips? I thought