jeans and work his zipper down, and as I do, I can’t help but comment, “I’ve never undressed a man so much in my life until I met you.”
The wolf’s golden eyes bolt up to mine.
It’s my turn to duck my head as I finish dragging his man’s pant legs from his wolf’s hocks.
That finished, I fold his clothes and set them on my bathroom counter. “Okay,” I puff quickly, shoving my hair behind my ears, strangely out of breath, “It’s time for me to get out of here. Bye, Deek.”
A wurf of returned sentiment is made, but he doesn’t look at me when I pass him to exit the bathroom. He does, however, join me when I make it to the door.
And as I walk out and begin to close it behind me, I glance back just once.
He’s watching me.
I shoot him a lopsided smile, wave, and with reluctance, shut the door.
CHAPTER 25
LUCAN
I text Finn. I break my phone. Then I Change, gather my clothes, put them in one of Maggie’s spare backpacks (along with my damaged phone), and perform the necessary arrangement of Changes required to lock up the house, exit into the backyard, fit on the backpack, go wolf—
And then I’m running.
Two miles.
Four.
Six.
Using sidewalks, dodging dog walkers and shocked dogs, startled cats, mothers pushing strollers, joggers, and—
I end up taking a detour when a squirrel darts out in front of me.
Stupid squirrels. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re the number one cause of deaths among werewolves and shifters. At least submissive ones. Finn, to my knowledge, has never bolted after any bushy-tailed arboreal rodent if it posed a detriment to his life. He’s got an alpha’s control.
I, on the other hand, am powerless not to chase the streaking puff of irresistible black and I nearly meet my end on the grill of a dark navy blue Crown Victoria and an alien-green Kia Soul.
If you’re thinking “A werewolf can see colors?”
Of course we can. We have nearly as many cones in our eyes as a human does: two verses your three, just like a wolf. And for the record? Your actual lupines (and canines, for that matter) can perceive colors just fine. The whole ‘only black and white’ thing is a myth, although it is true that they can’t always see the color spectrum that you’ll see.
Purple, for example, is a dead ringer for blue.
So that Crown Vic could be the loudest shade of violet known to man, and all I see, all a wolf would see, all a dog can see—is blue.
It’s the same way Finn sees his car. It’s also why he tells everyone his favorite color is blue, making them scratch their head as to why his ride is so NOT blue. But Finn knows that car is ugly. An eyesore, to a regular human.
He only sees a respectable admiral blue (with a tennis ball-green interior) like the rest of us werewolves.
He finds this hilarious.
Thankfully, I dodge the cars and make it to the pub in one piece. I book it behind the wood slat fence that encloses the dumpsters—a feature that is not only decorative, but intentionally offers cover for changing wolves. There’s even a waterproof bag hanging on the fence with a couple pairs of courtesy sweatpants and a couple of tops for ladies.
I’ve got Maggie’s bag though, and I slip it off of my human form and dress. Since my sneakers wouldn’t fit, I pad barefoot across the considerately well-swept blacktop (no glass shards to step in around a Pack-owned business) and gain entry through the rear of the building.
An easy feat, because it’s unlocked. Humans who get too curious about werewolves have a way of disappearing without a trace, so we rarely suffer the surprise of a non-wolf making use of the unguarded entry twice.
I flick a wave to Hank, the day cook today, and wind my way through the kitchen and hook a right to reach the office, following my nose to where I find a broadly smiling Finn.
I deck him, taking him down to the floor without ever meeting his eye.
Clutching his jaw, poking his teeth with his tongue to check if he’s now sporting loose ones (a problem that will only require a quick Change to fix, we can practically heal all natural damage we can incur on one another if we act fast enough) but evidently they’re fine. He sits up and shoots me a diabolical grin. “So. That picture did something for you after all.”