Perfect Tales of the Were - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,30

her on the couch.

Something broke free and felt like blessed relief inside him. She wasn’t telling him to stay far away. She was willing for him to sit beside her. How much farther would she be willing to go with him?

He sat right next to her and put one arm out, on the back of the sofa behind her. In his embrace, but not fully. He would wait for her—watching her cues—to see if she would accept his touch.

“Believe me when I say, that was not how I wanted to tell you about all this,” he said, exhaling a bit of his frustration.

“I bet,” she said, her voice holding a touch of humor. “Were you going to tell me at all?”

He met her gaze and was troubled by her question. From anyone else, it would have been a valid question, but she was his mate. He wouldn’t have kept her in the dark about his true nature. He wouldn’t lie to her. Not ever.

“Yes, I was,” he replied, hoping she would believe him. “But, as you know, there were some other things I had to explain first. Tonight was part of that. Just the beginning, actually. Once you knew who I was, I was going to explain that I’d been sent here. Eventually, the rest would have come out. I wanted you to know because…”

She seemed receptive, so far, but would she scoff if he came out and told her why? It was his biggest fear.

“Why?” she prompted him with the soft-spoken word.

“Because there’s something very serious happening between us, Cassie. Please tell me you feel it, too.” His gaze held hers, searching. Hoping she would admit to the same tempestuous feelings that had filled his soul since the moment they’d met.

Cassie wasn’t going to lie to him. “I feel deeply for you, Cody,” she admitted. “Or I did…for the man I thought you were. It was already a challenge trying to reconcile Cody, the cowboy, with C.T. Billings, the business mogul. After those two pointing guns… And then, you…did what you did… It’s…” She threw her hands up in the air. “Very confusing, Cody.”

He moved a little closer, his arm inching closer to her shoulders but still not touching. She didn’t feel threatened by his position. On the contrary, he made her feel safe. And wasn’t that just the oddest thing in the world? Especially after what she’d seen him become.

“C.T. is Cody. The wolf is me, too. I’m one person with multiple facets. And every one of them cares deeply about you, Cass,” he insisted in a low voice that sent butterflies alight in her abdomen. “Would it help if I showed you the full wolf? What you saw—the battle form—isn’t something we do often. It’s more or less a last resort. A form to use when we’re in danger and need the extra oomph. Most of the time, I’m human. Occasionally, when I want to run free, I’m a timber wolf. Like a really big dog, who really wants you to scratch behind his ears and rub his belly.”

Okay. She had to laugh at that image. “I’ve never owned a dog, but I guess I get what you’re saying,” she told him. She thought about it for a moment, then turned to look him in the eye. “I think I’d better see this wolf of yours,” she said, feeling incredibly brave.

Then again, this was Cody. She knew, deep down, he would never hurt her. Even tonight, when he’d been that terrible looking beast, he’d been protecting her.

Cody stood up and dropped what was left of his clothing to the floor. She sucked in a breath. She hadn’t quite expected that, but it made sense if he was going to change shape into something that didn’t wear clothes. His gaze met hers, and he smiled.

Then, the magic began. A swirl of tingly, sparkly little pinpoints of golden brown energy zipped all around him, twining around his limbs and concealing him as he changed shape right before her eyes. He went from over-six-foot-tall man to a wolf sitting up on its haunches, right in front of her. A big wolf. A really big, big wolf.

Cassie was breathless as the magic faded, leaving the furry version of Cody staring at her. His head tilted to one side, and his tongue lolled out of his mouth, making her laugh. He looked both perplexed and adorably canine at the moment. It was hard to wrap her head around the change, but she