SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(64)
It was one thing to not like a boss and quit a job, but what if she didn’t like the pack leaders’ rules and wanted to just…leave?
She doubted they’d let her.
*
Allan answered the phone and said, “Yeah, Paul, we’re both still alive.”
Then he smiled and Debbie smiled back, though he thought her expression was a bit devious.
Allan had to be careful about what he said to Paul so he didn’t antagonize Debbie, even though she left him in the kitchen and said she was getting dressed. She might still be able to hear him talking if she made the effort to eavesdrop on his half of the conversation.
“Any trouble?”
“Nah.” Allan didn’t want Paul to think he had to call on anyone else to help with Debbie. He thought if he and she kept an open dialogue, they’d be fine. Eventually. “Everything’s fine. We just finished having a delightful breakfast that she prepared for us this morning.”
“Really? She’s back to being her normal self?” Paul sounded surprised and Allan didn’t blame him.
“Yeah. She wants to keep searching into this business with the lake murder and find the shooter who nearly killed her and Tara. We can work it out.”
“Are you sure? What with the phase of the full moon being out for several days?”
“We’ll figure it out. She needs to do this. It’ll help her to adjust if she feels some part of her life is still the same. With her enhanced wolf abilities, she’ll see the usefulness in that aspect of her life.”
“Okay, I trust you know what you’re doing. Is she comfortable staying with you, or do we need to make some other arrangements?”
“I’d say after we managed to get through the night in one piece and she made a lovely breakfast, we’re doing fine. But I’ll ask her anyway.”
“Can you do it now? That way I can line up someone else if she wants to move.”
“Yeah, sure. She’s in her bedroom getting dressed.” Allan padded down the hall and knocked on her door. “Are you fine with the arrangements here, Debbie? Or do you want to stay with someone else?”
“You’re going to work with me to find the shooter and you’re my partner, so I’m fine with staying here,” she said, not sounding pleased, but it was a start.
“Good.” Allan told Paul, “She’s staying with me so we can work out the details about the shooter.”
“Just remember she can shift at any time, and she could get growly about it. It’s got to be a frustrating time for a newly turned wolf.”
Tell me about it. “I understand.” Allan swore he heard a low growl from the bedroom. “Got to go, Paul. I’ll give you an update later.” Before he hung up, Debbie howled and slammed into the bedroom door, sounding pissed off…again.
So much for keeping her progress a secret from Paul.
And so much for helping her get through this so she wouldn’t feel so frustrated with her lack of control.
Allan stripped out of his boxers and opened the guest bedroom door. Instead of lunging at him this time, she sat still, like a statue, looking at his naked form, then lifted her gaze to his, puzzled, as if she wondered just what he was up to.
“We’re doing this together,” he said, thinking maybe if he was a wolf too, she wouldn’t feel so alien. He hoped that he wouldn’t scare her. He shifted and she watched, staring at him as if she were in awe, shocked, or surprised. Maybe a little of all three.
The shift was painless, just a quick warming of the muscles, a blurring of forms, and he was a wolf. A bigger wolf than she was. He hoped that didn’t intimidate her.
She sniffed at the air, smelling his scent and gathering what he was feeling, which was a lupus garou’s interest in another. Because that’s just what she was now. He didn’t know if it would ever work out between them. She had to want him too, forever, and she may never be prepared to mate with one of his kind.
He stood still, not getting any closer, letting her come to him. She remained where she was.
He wanted to smile, but he was certain she wouldn’t understand that showing his wicked wolf canines in this instance meant he was smiling. He sighed, then moved forward. Her ears went back. She wasn’t trembling, but she was unsure of his intentions. Or maybe just what it was to feel like a wolf getting to know another wolf. Again, he realized what a huge undertaking that was for her also.
*
Allan was a huge wolf. Huge! Before he had shifted, he had dropped his boxers, and she’d wondered what in the world he’d planned to do. She hadn’t expected him to shift into a wolf. The sight was extraordinary—so fast, the blurring of one form into the other—until he dropped to his feet as a very real wolf.
He was beautiful in a very handsome wolf way. His coat was shiny and thick. Striking silver and tan markings on his face, his chest white and his back a silvery, golden saddle. But he was so big!
He towered next to her and she tried not to cower before him. She didn’t think she’d be some beta wolf, but this was a totally new experience for her. So maybe as a human she was alpha, and as a wolf, sort of beta?
She had to snap out of this and stand right up to him. Only she was afraid her legs would shake.
He licked her cheek. She bowed her head a little, and she was afraid that was cowering. She lifted her head and looked him in the eye, forced her ears to perk up, but she didn’t lick him back. Wasn’t that a sign she was interested in more? Like courting? Or mating? Dating?