real. We’re fated, and right now, nothing else matters. She just doesn’t fully understand that yet.
Problem is, I’m not sure how to make her understand it without scaring the shit out of her.
She finishes the last of the power bar and takes a drink from the water bottle. Now that she’s no longer hungry I can concentrate on where we’ll sleep tonight.
“So what did you do before you turned rogue?” She asks the question from out of nowhere. When I don’t answer immediately, she adds, “I mean, if you don’t mind sharing. I just thought that since we’ve only known each other for a few days, that we should try to get to know each other more, since we’re … you know—” She clamps her mouth together, and some of the color drains from her face.
Shit. She’s thinking about how crazy our current circumstances are. She’s second-guessing herself again. It’s as obvious as a blazing neon sign.
“I worked on my family’s ranch back in Hidden Creek. I spent most of my life there, but I traveled a bit, too, when I had time off.”
She takes a deep breath, and some of the anxiety lessens around her warm chocolate eyes. “What’s ranching like?” Her hands are still clasped tightly together, her knuckles white, so I launch into everything I can think of.
I tell her about the horses, the smell of grass on an early summer morning, the lull of the cattle at night, calving in the spring, and the business side of it that isn’t always pretty but keeps the pack well-fed and provided for.
By the time I finish telling her everything about how my life used to be, she’s relaxed back against her headrest and the car’s running on fumes.
“What was it like growing up in a community that close-knit?”
I slow the car, knowing it’s twenty miles to the next town and that we need to make it. Better to drive conservatively. “It was better than I ever realized. I didn’t fully appreciate how great my life was until I left.”
“And you really can’t go back?”
I shake my head. “It’s not an option.”
“What would happen if you did?”
“Besides every woman and child running for their lives when they spotted me followed by all the males shifting and circling me to protect their families? It would be great.” I grin for good measure, but sadness pricks her eyes.
“You must be very lonely now, if returning to your old life or living in the human world aren’t possible.”
“Would you believe the loneliness never really bothered me? The beast—I mean my wolf—has become so strong that most of my time is spent struggling with him to keep him under control. I don’t have much time to dwell on the past.” Until now.
“So you can feel your wolf right now?”
“Yeah. I can always feel him.”
“Is that weird? I mean, what’s that like?”
“Before he turned rogue, it was normal, although he wasn’t as strong then so it was easier to forget that my wolf resided inside me. It was more like he and I were one, even though technically we’ve always had two separate consciences. But when a wolf is healthy, he’s like an extension of yourself. He’s always there, ready to make the shift, but he’s not in control, although your decisions are often in-tune so it doesn’t matter if your human side makes the decisions.”
“And now your wolf is in control and you don’t share the same desires anymore?”
“That’s right. What he wants and what I want are two different things.” Until you. Brianna has no idea that her safety and happiness are the first common wish both the beast and I have shared. For the first time in months, I’ve felt an inkling of what he and I used to share on a daily basis.
“Tell me more about being a werewolf.”
I’m hopeless to resist her demand and so is the beast, so I spend the next ten minutes explaining how you don’t experience your first shift until puberty and how dominance is revealed at that time.
“Dominance? What do you mean by that?” She tilts her head, completely enraptured in every detail.
I can’t hide my smile. “Every wolf has an innate inner strength. We call it dominance. The more dominant a wolf is, the more he can bend the will of those around him when he unleashes his magic.”
“Really? How the heck does that work?”
“Do you want me to show you?”
Her eyes widen before she nods.
I call upon the beast’s strength. He’s even