He might not have been in on the cause of the conversation, but any wolf would have caught the gist of what we were talking about.
"If you hadn't been here when that demon got ahold of me not so long ago, I'd be dead." Samuel's reaction was not what I expected.
He ducked his head and snarled at Warren, "I am not responsible for you." "Yes, you are," said Adam, opening his eyes.
"That chap your hide?" suggested Warren gently.
He shrugged.
"People die.
I know that; you know that.
Even wolves like us die.
Fewer people die when you are around.
Those are the facts.
Being upset about them don't make them false." Samuel stalked away from us all.
There wasn't much room to get away, though, and he stopped with his head down.
"I was hoping this could be easier, Mercy.
But I forgot--you don't do easy." He turned around and met my eyes.
When he spoke again, it was in that gentle patronizing tone I thought I'd cured him of a long time ago.
"You can't save me, Mercy.
Not when I don't want to be saved." "Samuel," said Adam in a demanding tone, much stronger than his condition allowed.
He raised himself up on his elbows and stared at the other wolf.
Samuel met Adam's eyes .
.
.
and I saw shock in his face for just an instant before he began to shift to wolf.
It was a dirty trick, something Alphas--strong Alphas--could do, forcing the change on another wolf.
I suspected that if Adam hadn't caught Samuel by surprise, it would never have worked.
Adam held Samuel's gaze while we waited with bated breath.
Fifteen minutes is a long time to hold still.
And at the end of it, Samuel was gone, leaving the white-eyed wolf in his place.
The wolf smiled at Adam.
"Might not be able to save you, old son," Adam said, lying back again and closing his eyes.
"But I can buy us a little time to kick you in the butt hard enough you stop thinking about `tomorrow and tomorrow' and start thinking about how much your butt hurts." "Sometimes," said Warren, "it's real easy to see you were in the military, boss." "Butt kicking being part and parcel of the service, both on the giving and receiving end," agreed Adam, without opening his eyes.