Then Debbie thought of Rose and Lori carrying all those babies, and she realized just how much of a danger they were in.
Every time she thought of one thing, she thought of a ton of other problems with this whole scenario. Like driving a car and all of a sudden getting the urge to shift. She could see herself sitting in the car while it was parked alongside the road. Then a police officer she knew would check her abandoned car out and discover a wild wolf. But of course he wouldn’t know her. Not as a wolf. Then what? Tranquilize her and put her in the zoo? Kill her?
Oh, no, that’s just what she had been about to do to Tara. Put her out of her misery when she was a wolf. Debbie whimpered at the thought. Now she understood a little of what their kind faced.
But weren’t there evil werewolves? All the people she’d met—Allan, Paul, Lori, Catherine, Tara, and Rose, and the others—they’d all been really nice to her. And they’d been nice to everyone they met. No pretenses. They weren’t vicious people. Well, of late, Rose and her mother were reluctant for Allan to date her, but no wonder!
She thought back to the way he had kissed her, so lovingly, passionately, wolfishly. Here she’d thought it was the SEAL in him. Now to learn it was the wolf!
She groaned, sat down in front of the door, and stared at it, listening. He hadn’t moved from the bed. She frowned. He better not have gone to sleep while she was stuck in the bathroom.
No way was she going to allow that. She’d fix him! She’d had a puppy when she was young, and she remembered it missing its littermates when her mother brought it home. So for the first three nights, it barked bloody murder. She could do that. Bark until he couldn’t stand it anymore and let her out!
But as soon as she lifted her chin to bark, she let out the most hauntingly beautiful howl instead. One wasn’t enough. She had to try it out several times to see if every time the howl sounded just the same. But it didn’t. It was just a little different each time. Long, low, beautiful.
The bedsprings moved.
She sat still in anticipation. Was he going to shoot her with a sedative? Shoot her with silver bullets? Wish he’d never taken her home with him?
Should she get ready to pounce?
Chapter 16
Allan was wolf tired. Listening to Debbie howl all night was not going to happen. Hell, everyone with wolf hearing within a two-mile radius could hear her. And with her in a tiled bathroom connected to his bedroom? Even worse.
She reminded him of a puppy that was being isolated from the pack. But she wasn’t a puppy, and he knew she was frustrated with him and with what she had become. As much as he didn’t want her attacking him any further tonight, he couldn’t make her stay in the bathroom any longer while she was in her wolf form. Not when she was howling like she needed a rescue—from him.
Hoping this wouldn’t be an awful mistake, he sighed, pulled his covers aside, and left the bed. She immediately grew quiet, which meant she heard him coming and was listening to his footfalls on the carpeted floor as he approached the door and making decisions about what she would do next if he opened the bathroom door. At least she hadn’t been clawing at it.
Wearing only a pair of boxers, he felt vulnerable again, but he wasn’t going to get dressed just to let her out of the bathroom.
He hoped she wouldn’t lunge at him again when he let her out. If someone had shut him up in there, he would have been furious, but then again, he could shift at will. Then he wondered if she had to pee. Since she was still in her wolf form, she would have to relieve herself outside. He was sure she wouldn’t be happy about that at all, but worse, she couldn’t have any privacy. He’d have to put a collar and leash on her, and he could imagine just how unmanageable she would be.
All the things they did naturally as wolves would be first-time experiences for Debbie. All of this was just part of their nature, but dealing with a newly turned wolf, he realized just how much he took for granted.
“Debbie, I’m opening the door to let you out. You can either return to your guest bedroom, or you can join me in bed. If you have to go out to relieve yourself, I’ll take you outside.” Which meant he’d have to bundle up for the snowy cold first. “It’s hard to say how long you’ll remain in your wolf form, a couple of hours or longer. It all depends on the individual. But it won’t last forever.” He didn’t want to mention that she would have no control over it for some time.