That was my thought as I smoothed her hair back, waiting for her to eventually stir. It didn't happen. I had no idea which movie was playing when my eyes slipped closed. I did, however, realize it had happened only after I heard the first girl the next morning.
Her giggle made it very clear I'd been caught. Cracking my eyes open, I made sure not to move because Elena was still out. Her arms were crushed between us, and I was pretty sure she'd been that way all night. Then I blinked my attention across the room to find Olivia smiling at me. She gestured for me to relax.
"We're making breakfast for you two. Let her sleep. Gabby said she's been stressed about having a boyfriend, and she wants to show her mom it's ok."
"I appreciate that," I told the girl. "Did you three have fun last night?"
She smiled and dropped her voice to a whisper. "Yeah. Thank you, Alpha."
I gave her a warning look for the title, but asked, "For what?"
"Mom let me stay because I said you were here. Otherwise, you know, mingling."
"Ah."
For most of our history, my kind had tried to keep ourselves secluded from humans. We lived in out-of-the-way towns or remote communes. People often assumed we were nothing more than a strange cult, but the truth was that we'd lived in fear of being discovered and studied. My family had the means to change that, and so we'd made Wolf's Run. Living here, we had the best of both worlds.
Yes, the first members of the community had been either the more desperate or progressive of our kind. Now, we were starting to see the reclusive ones showing interest. That didn't mean this would be a simple thing. Prejudices still existed. Even more than that was the fear of infecting others.
Lycanthropy was a bloodborne retrovirus. The only carriers of the disease were us, and the only animals susceptible to it were humans. No other primates - it was that specific. But retroviruses were contagious. Wolf scientists had identified the disease, studied its infection rates and how it changed us, but we couldn't tell humans. For now, all of this had to be a secret kept to our own people.
Because bloodborne diseases and children? That was a risk. Not everyone agreed with the idea of sending our kids to school with normal humans. One scraped knee or a nose bleed, and exposure was possible. Granted, the chance of that accidentally happening in human form? Slim. Outside of a blood transfusion or sexual activity, the risk of infection was next to nothing in our human bodies. The disease seemed to be most contagious in our wolf shape. Something about the depth of punctures from canine teeth introducing the virus into the bloodstream.
That didn't stop parents from worrying about their children getting caught in the backlash. As I looked down at the woman in my lap, I understood. It was the only reason I hadn't sweet-talked her into my bed yet. Lycanthropy was transmitted the same way as HIV, but was about half as likely to cause an infection. And yet, how would I even start that conversation with her?
The truth was that I couldn't. Not yet. She'd never believe me. Instead, I'd just take precautions, the same as I always had. Condoms prevented more than just kids. She was safe, so I could have my way with her, but I could never cum inside her. Thankfully, saliva was fine, because not kissing her would be pure torture. I just had to figure out a way to explain my obsession with condoms without making her feel like I didn't trust her.
Then again, if I treated this as normal, as what "all the kids are doing these days," she probably wouldn't even question it. The harder part would be when she did find out and started putting the pieces together, but I couldn't think of a better way to go about this. Not without showing her, and I'd tried that once before with a past girlfriend. It hadn't gone well. Not at all. I was just thankful that girl had been a bad shot.
I was pulled from my thoughts by Gabby's voice. "Mom? Ian? Breakfast is ready!"
Elena sucked in a breath, beginning to stir. "What time is it?" she asked.
I honestly had no clue, so I reached for my phone. "Just after ten," I told her.
"Mm. I'm too old for this." She snuggled back into