Brothersong (Green Creek #4) - T.J. Klune Page 0,108

what shit Will would get into if he was a werewolf, and none of it was good. “That’s exactly right. Listen to them. They usually know what they’re talking about.”

“Getting back into the swing of things?”

I shrugged. “Trying to. Look, Will. I’m sorry about—”

He held up a hand. “Say no more. I understand.”

I blinked. “You do?”

He nodded. “Oh yeah. Jessie explained to me that our Gavin here is your….” He frowned. “What was it again? Oh! Right. Your mystical moon magic connection. Or something like that.”

I was going to fucking murder her. “Oh my god.”

Will leaned closer, his breath smelling like coffee. “I don’t pretend to know all that goes on,” he whispered as if it were a secret just between us. “Shape-shifters, you know? I’m a little out of my depth. But she said that you cared very much about him and that you needed to find him so your mystical moon magic connection could be solidified.”

“Oh my god.”

“Ah,” Will said. “So it’s like that, is it? Hell, boy. Are any of you straight? Jesus. No offense, but it’s probably best I didn’t take the bite. I wouldn’t know the first thing about what to do with a penis that isn’t mine.” He frowned. “Though I suppose I could figure it out. I mean, I know what I like, so how hard could it—”

“Dominique!” I said, pushing by Will, who squawked. “Just the woman I wanted to see.”

“Uh-huh,” she said. “I don’t know if I believe you.”

“Save me,” I hissed at her.

She rolled her eyes. “Will, sit your ass down and leave my customers alone.”

Will looked outraged. “I’m his constituent. I have a right to know what’s going on in my local government, especially when it involves shape-shifters.” He blinked. “Huh. Of all the sentences that have ever come out of my mouth, that was one of the strangest.”

“Hear, hear!” the other men agreed.

“There’ll be time for that later,” Dominique said.

“If we’re not all dead by some evil monster that wants to kill us all,” Will muttered, but he left it alone as he went back to his seat. He patted me on the back as he went by, and I looked for Gavin, sure he was going to be cowering near the door.

He wasn’t. He was at the other end of the counter, sitting next to a man at the end. His eyes were wide and innocent. The man laughed as he handed over a piece of bacon. Gavin barely chewed before swallowing and huffing out a breath, ready for another.

“There are clothes in the back,” Dominique told him. “If you want to shift. We put them all over town just in case. Should be something there that’ll fit you.”

He cocked his head at her.

“Come on,” I told him. “Stop mooching. We’ll get something for you. Leave him alone.”

“I don’t mind,” the man said. “It’s like having a big dog.”

Gavin growled at him.

The man blanched. “Forget I said that.”

Gavin snorted before standing up and following me to the back of the diner. I sat down in a booth. Gavin tried to climb in after me, but I shoved him off. “You’re too big. Either stay on the floor or go get dressed.”

He wasn’t happy with that.

I sighed. “Look. As fun as one-sided conversations are, I need to know you hear me, okay?”

He sat down on his hindquarters, turning his head away from me.

“Pouting’s not going to work.”

One ear turned toward me, but that was it. I watched as his front paws began to slide along the linoleum. He brought them back, but they immediately began to slide again.

“Just like a dog,” I said.

He jerked his head toward me, flashing his eyes.

“Doesn’t work on me, dude. Come on. Your brother’s going to be here soon. I know he’d like to see you.”

He grumbled as he stood. Dominique held the door to the back open for him. She nodded toward me and followed Gavin through the door.

I rubbed a hand over my face. The men at the lunch counter were whispering to each other, but I ignored them, especially when they kept sneaking looks at me as if they thought I couldn’t see them. Dominique reappeared through the door.

I looked over.

She was trying not to laugh.

I arched an eyebrow at her, not sure if I really wanted to know.

“Pants,” she said. “Not really a fan.”

I groaned. “He can’t be naked in public.”

“I’m not,” he said, sounding extraordinarily put out. He walked through the swinging door. I started choking when I