SEAL Wolf In Too Deep(71)

“Not at all. You’ll be fine. And for the last two days, even though you had the urge to shift, you didn’t. So you’re making real progress.” He had seen the way Debbie had visibly tensed, as if she was holding back the urge to give in. Lori was visiting that day and quickly talked about swimming and diving at the lake anytime Debbie wanted. Though Debbie thanked her and seemed to want to do it, Allan noted that most of her concentration had been on forcing back the urge to shift. He’d seen the way she’d tightened her hands into fists and the strain on her face while he was cleaning out the fireplace.

It helped when a pack member talked away like nothing was amiss, though everyone could read the wolf cues. For Debbie to continue with the conversation and not totally freeze up said much about her gaining some control of her abilities. And that was a really good sign. Some newly turned wolves took much longer to adapt.

*

When the twins and their mother arrived, Allan made introductions and set the girls up at the table with milk and the homemade chocolate-chip cookies Debbie often made for pack visits. Rose had asked if she could sell them in her gift store along with the salsas and other things their mother made, and Debbie had loved being asked. And then Allan excused himself to chop wood.

Debbie didn’t mind. She’d rather he didn’t see her make a fool of herself if she had to shift all of a sudden when guests were here.

The girls were dressed in blue jeans and sweaters featuring flocks of fluffy sheep. The twins had backpacks, which they set on the dining table, unpacking coloring books and crayons. Debbie smiled. The twins were adorable. They glanced at her every once in a while as she and their mother talked, looking a bit curious.

“I started working out in Lori’s martial arts classes. I have so much more confidence now than when I first began,” Cindy said.

Debbie wondered if Cindy thought that if Debbie took some classes, she’d feel better about herself. She already knew martial arts so that she could apprehend criminals if she needed to, or to protect herself. She hadn’t had any confidence issues until she began turning into a wolf. Taking martial arts classes wasn’t going to cure that.

“She has all lupus garou classes and some that are just for female students,” Cindy continued.

One of the girls, Eliza, was vigorously coloring large areas of her page with blue crayon. The other, Meghan, was carefully working on something small with a purple crayon.

Debbie wondered where Cindy’s mate was, since they mated for life. She guessed she had lost him. All she knew was that Cindy had joined the pack and was raising the girls on her own.

“Do you take classes too?” Debbie asked the girls.

They both looked over at her. “Uh-huh,” they said in unison.

“Yes, ma’am,” their mother corrected them.

“Yes, ma’am,” they both quickly said.

Debbie smiled at them. They were sure sweet.

“Momma said you sometimes shift when you don’t want to,” Eliza said. Her blond curls were a little darker than her sister’s, and she was an inch taller and her cheeks fuller.

Her eyes widening, their mother looked horrified, and she opened her mouth to speak.

“Are you going to shift? Momma said not to act shocked if you did,” Meghan said matter-of-factly.

“I’m so sorry,” Cindy said, her cheeks flushed.

“No, that’s quite all right. I don’t feel like shifting right now. Sometimes it just happens when I least expect it.”

“Did you ever get stuck in your clothes when you started to change?” Eliza asked.

Often, but she wasn’t about to tell the girls about those times.

“Oh, I did once,” Meghan interjected before Debbie could respond. “We shift when Momma does so we don’t get into trouble.” Meghan’s eyes grew big and she leaned toward Debbie as if she was about to tell her a big secret. “I wasn’t listening to Momma when I was supposed to. She said we were to get undressed ’cuz we were going to shift.”

“You never listen,” Eliza said, coloring more of her picture blue.

“I do too.” Meghan stuck her tongue out at her.

“So what happened?” Debbie was getting a kick out of the twins and was so glad Cindy had brought them over.

Meghan sighed dramatically. “I had my purple socks on still.”

“That was funny,” Eliza said, nodding vigorously. “Whoever heard of a wolf wearing socks? I would have laughed, but I was a wolf too.”

“Yeah, then you tried to pull it off with your teeth and put holes in it. Then Momma got mad at both of us.” Meghan gave her sister a pointed look.

“I was just trying to help you take off your sock. I didn’t know my wolf teeth would put holes in it. But then you grabbed it back. So they weren’t all my teeth marks.”

“They were my socks and you were trying to take one away.”

“You were almost standing on your head, trying to pull off the one, and I was just helping you.”

“So you played tug-of-war with it?” Debbie could just imagine the two young wolf pups playing tug-of-war with the purple sock, both shaking furiously, growling, and finally catching Mom’s attention.

“Yes,” their mother said. “Believe me, with two wolf pups tugging on a sock, that was the end of it.”