I couldn’t keep living here, wanting to trust yet unsure where I stood with him, with Nana, with the werewolves in general.
“Blake killed them. My mom, Richard.” I took a breath and whispered the words that I knew would seal my fate.
“He’s one of you.”
The words barely left my mouth when Emmitt’s body gave a huge lurch. Bones didn’t just move, his shape exploded into his other form. His sudden shift bumped me backwards. He fell to all fours, facing me. He tipped his head back and started yowling. Eyes wide, I listened for barely a moment before the door swung open.
Nana and Jim rushed in. Nana, looking stern and concerned, planted herself in front of Emmitt. Jim picked me up from the couch and dashed down the stairs.
“Control is...”
I only caught those two words. The rest faded as we reached the second floor landing.
“We left the boys outside,” Jim said. “They can probably hear Emmitt.”
He set me on my feet before we reached the door. I wobbled a bit, and he had to steady me. We stood in the shadowed entry. The boys still played on the swing set, though I saw Liam glancing up toward our apartment.
“What happened?” I asked, looking up at Jim.
He chuckled a little. “We’ve talked about your secret and tried to guess what it might be. You’d mentioned Blake a few times. Emmitt thought he was your stepfather until you corrected him. Then he was sure Blake was a controlling boyfriend from your past. Human. Easy to deal with. Finding out one of our own mistreated you, someone we consider rare and special, well, it put him over the edge. He’s still swearing.”
“Swearing?” I couldn’t believe that noise had been swearing. It’d been more like a one-sided dog fight. “Then why did you guys rush up there?”
Jim’s face lost its humor. “After your admission, Nana thought his sudden shift might turn your fear to include us. She wanted to put some distance between the two of you until he calmed down.” His gaze flicked to the steps behind me. I caught his lips twitching before he turned away. “Let’s go check on the boys and give Emmitt a minute to get dressed. Our clothes don’t shift with us.”
I followed him, not wanting to check the stairs behind me. I wasn’t ready for any more of an eyeful.
Once we stepped out in the sunlight, I started perspiring and wished we could sit on the porch. The boys didn’t seem to mind the heat. Probably because they were still wet from the sprinkler.
“You really didn’t know?” I asked as we walked toward the swing set. I waved at Liam to let him know everything was okay.
“Nope. That’s a bit of a shocker. It will take Nana some time to figure out who Blake is.”
“No!” I spun back toward the house, but Jim caught me before I could take a step.
“No one will do anything without talking to you. I promise.”
I glanced nervously at the house then back at the boys. They stood tense, watching me because of my outburst. I relaxed so Jim would let me go.
“Emmitt’s talking to Nana now. I can hear some of what they are saying. We understand what’s at risk.”
Both boys held themselves back from greeting Jim as we neared. I knew Aden just followed Liam’s lead. Liam, ever cautious, eyed Jim. I hated lying to them but didn’t want them to revert into their distrustful selves.
“Don’t use the TV upstairs,” I said to the boys. “The volume’s broken. We’ll have to get a new one.” I turned to Jim. “Sorry for scaring you.”
He nodded, understanding my lie.
Aden asked Jim to push him on the swing. My explanation for the noise and Jim and Nana’s disappearance were good enough for him. I moved to Liam, who still watched Jim closely.
“He runs fast,” Liam stated quietly, meeting my eyes. Too smart for five.
I nodded in agreement. “Just remember that if he and Aden challenge you and Emmitt to a race.”
“I’ll ask Nana to be my partner,” he said seriously. “She runs faster.”
It didn’t take long for Emmitt and Nana to reappear. Emmitt stayed on the porch while Nana walked toward me.
“We need to know more to understand how best to protect you.” She spoke in a low tone so that only I could hear. Well, probably Jim and Emmitt too, but at least the boys remained oblivious. “Would you mind talking to Emmitt on the porch?”
I agreed and shuffled toward Emmitt, unsure how he’d react to me. He met me on the bottom step, captured my fingers, and tugged me down to sit next to him. My stomach summersaulted at the contact, and I eased my hand away, wanting to concentrate. The churning didn’t completely leave, though, because our shoulders still touched, and I couldn’t bring myself to move further away.
“I apologize for losing control. It will never happen again.” He rested his arms loosely on his knees and turned his head to study me.
His spontaneous shifting had surprised me, maybe even freaked me out a little at the time, but it didn’t bother me now. “Did my secret change anything?”