Perfect Tales of the Were - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,27

Pack. With a Pack as large as Big Wolf, it took more than one man to keep it running smoothly. All the other dominant Alphas had their places in the hierarchy, and they all chose to follow Joe’s lead to make the Pack a safer, better place for everyone.

It was clear the two ranch hands knew nothing about battle form. They screamed. Cassie screamed. Chaos reigned for a brief period of time before Cody swiped his hairy fists at each man in turn. They hadn’t even managed to get off a single shot before both men were down on the ground, unconscious.

Cody shifted back to human form, but his clothes were in shreds. He found his cell phone and called Shane. He definitely needed some backup in securing these prisoners. He said a few terse words to Shane, and the sheriff cursed just once before replying that he’d be there within ten minutes, with backup.

Cautiously, Cody checked over the two assailants, removing their weapons and making sure they were still breathing. He’d hit them both pretty hard, but he hadn’t done any permanent damage, from what he could see.

Finally, he could put off looking at Cassie no more. She’d seen him in his most dangerous form. He had no idea what she would think now. He’d hoped to show her the fluffy full-wolf form first, and hold the battle form in check for when they knew each other better. But circumstances had been against him, and now he might have just lost her forever.

“I called the sheriff,” he said, looking up at Cassie. She was still standing there, frozen in place, on the porch. “He’ll be here shortly, with some of his men.”

He moved closer to the stairs but didn’t go up onto the porch. Cassie looked terrified. He took the shreds of his shirt off and rolled them up into a ball. His pants had fared a little better.

“Are you sure that’s okay? I mean…” Cassie said in a timid voice. “You might get in trouble.”

Cody didn’t dare breathe. “You’re worried about me?” He couldn’t believe it. Was her heart so big that she worried more about his safety from discovery than her own safety from him? Didn’t she see him as a threat? Especially after what she’d just seen?

“I—” She stopped and tried again. “I don’t know what that was I just witnessed, but…”

“What you saw is something very secret and very natural to me. I was born with the ability to shapeshift,” he said quietly, walking closer but still not climbing the steps of the porch.

“Into a…a werewolf?” she whispered, but he heard her.

“A wolf, yes. What you saw was the in-between form. What we call the battle form,” he explained gently, so quietly that even if either of the two ranch hands had been conscious, they could not have heard his words. No, his words were only for Cassie. His mate. The woman he wanted above all others.

“Battle form?” she repeated.

He paused at the base of the porch steps. “I meant to break this all to you a lot more gently,” he told her, chagrinned. “The battle form isn’t something we use very often. Most of the time, I’m human. Sometimes, I’m wolf. But no matter what form I take, I’m still me, and I still care about you.”

Just at that moment, the sheriff’s full-sized SUV rolled into the front yard, followed by two other cars. One was a deputy’s van. The other held Joe Villalobos, mayor of Big Wolf, Texas and Alpha of the Big Wolf Pack. Great. Just what they needed. Cody had been on the verge of regaining some kind of understanding with Cassie, only to be interrupted by all these guys.

Cody went over to talk with Shane and his deputy while Joe made a beeline for the porch and Cassie. Cody had to hope that Joe wouldn’t make things worse before he got back to Cassie. Then again, Joe was an experienced Alpha. He had to deal with many interpersonal relationships within the Pack all the time. Maybe his calming presence would help.

Cassandra could hardly believe what she’d just seen. Or what Cody had been telling her. Werewolves were real? And Cody was one? Scratch that. C.T. Billings was a werewolf. She still couldn’t quite absorb it all.

Cody had said he’d been born that way. Did that mean his sister, Megan, was a werewolf, too? The thought boggled her mind. Megan had been so nice. So feminine and even a bit shy.