I nuzzled her cheek, and her breath caught. The flavor of her scent deepened, growing richer. My canines lengthened, and need clenched in my gut.
“And when you do that, it just about brings me to my knees,” I said softly against her ear.
Her embarrassment told me I’d said too much. She pulled away and retreated to the kitchen. I let her go, but followed closely behind.
“If my scent is hard to mask, and you can smell my trails crisscrossing the apartment, why would one of your kind need to lean in close to scent me?”
A shudder of fear ran through her, making me regret saying so much.
“I’m sorry for upsetting you. I didn’t think you—”
“Oh, no, not you,” she said quickly, turning to face me. “I just meant—” She exhaled heavily. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Fair enough. You know I’m here when you do.”
“I’m sorry, Emmitt. I’m just not ready to divulge all my secrets yet.”
“I understand.”
“Will you show me again how you shift?”
I studied her for a moment.
“Are you sure?”
Since the morning after I’d revealed what we were, her moments of fear and panic had decreased. Yet, each time she felt either emotion, it worried me that I’d finally pushed her too far and she’d leave.
“I’m sure.”
I led her out into the heat, waving at the boys as they called to us. Winifred and Jim were playing baseball with them. Winifred had probably joined to keep Jim in check.
She’s testing my abilities so keep the boys back here.
We will. Don’t show her too much. She’s taking a lot in very quickly.
She wants to see me shift again.
It might be better to hold back on a full shift.
Agreed.
The heat pressed in on us as we walked along the porch to the front. In the shade, it wasn’t too bad, but it would be hot in the sun. The front was an ideal place, though. Branches from the trees surrounding the space extended over the lawn by several feet, creating cool pockets.
Michelle stepped off the porch and walked to the center of the lawn. The sunlight glinted off her dark hair as she inspected the clearing.
“Nana said no full shifting. She doesn’t want me upsetting you.”
“Um, okay.”
I didn’t need her scent to know she was disappointed.
“Nana mentioned that the benefits of both forms differ. What are the attacking benefits of each form?”
She wanted to know how we fought? I wanted her to know everything, but found it odd that was the first thing she wanted to know. Well, maybe not odd. She was afraid of Blake and probably needed assurance that we could handle him.
She seemed to read my hesitation.
“I want to know the strengths and weaknesses of each form. Like speed, for example. How fast can you move?”
Speed was easy. Sprinting, I made it to the other side of the clearing in a second.
“Can you move as fast carrying someone?”
I grinned and ran toward her. Before she could focus on me, I had her in my arms and we were running the perimeter of the yard. Her breath caught from the wind, and she turned to bury her face in my neck.
I swallowed hard at the feel of her exhale on my skin. Her fingers clenched at my shoulders as I continued my sprint, waiting for her to signal she was done. The signal I got wasn’t one I expected. Her lips brushed the crook of my neck, the place where a Mate bit to establish a Claim. Too many emotions exploded in me for me to maintain control. Hope, lust, and aggression clouded my reasoning as I quickly set her on the ground and stepped away. In a crouch, I struggled to pull back the change that fought to burst forth.
My teeth crowded my lips and fur rippled up and down my arms. Closing my eyes, I focused on my human form. Jaw level with my cheeks and eyes. Nose long, not elongated.
“What is it, Emmitt?” She scrambled close, clinging to my right arm. “Did you hear something?”
Her fear cut though my change, along with the realization that she didn’t fear me, but that something might be coming for her.
I took a slow breath as my mouth returned to normal. Then, I opened my eyes. Hers were wide and frightened and staring into mine.
“What? What just happened?” she demanded.
“I had to set you down.” I gently smoothed my hand down her arm. It didn’t seem to reassure her.
“Yeah, the fur gave that away.” She arched a brow at me.
“I was taken by surprise, that’s all.” I stood and offered her a hand up. Her fingers wrapped around mine. She never took her eyes from me as she stood. She didn’t let go, either. I liked it.
“By what?” she asked.
“You were just a little close, and I wasn’t expecting it.”
Her mouth dropped open just the tiniest bit. “You picked me up, remember?”
Seeing she wasn’t going to let it drop, I tried to find a delicate way to tell her she’d just about made every dream I’d never had come true.
“Michelle, Claiming is pretty serious stuff, equivalent to getting engaged in your world. If a guy would give you a small, velvet box, your first thought would probably be ‘it’s a ring.’ Turns out, it’s tickets to a ball game. Guys know girls associate those little boxes with rings, so it’s cruel to use them for anything else, right? Claiming is a quick, hard bite to the neck. We grow up knowing a werewolf’s neck is a special area that you don’t go near lightly. It’s the small, velvet jewelry box. Do you understand?”
She paled and glanced away. Strange expressions crossed her features, swiftly changing along with her scent. Confusion, revulsion, then arousal. I wasn’t sure how she could go from one to another like that.
“But you said you thought of me as a friend.”
“If that’s all you can give me, then I’ll respect your choice.”
Michelle looked away from me uncomfortably, but didn’t let the emotion hold her for long. She shook it off and returned to meet my gaze steadily.
“Stay away from werewolf necks. Got it. Sorry.”
“No,” I said a bit forcefully. “You can get as close as you want to mine. Just avoid anyone else’s.”
She blushed and cleared her throat. Adorable.
“How strong are you?”
That made me grin. “Strong enough that any display would catch the attention of Liam and Aden.”
“So, how do you fight a werewolf?” she said as if to herself.
“With another werewolf.”
She turned away from me, and her lack of amusement over what I’d meant to be a joke worried me. Had I pushed too much information at her too quickly?
She remained quiet as we walked to the front of the house and joined the rest. Jim had just set up the sprinklers for the boys. Liam was in the process of bringing Winifred over to the starting line when he saw us.
“Emmitt, you too!” he said, waving me over.
“Go ahead. I’m going to sit this one out,” Michelle said. She settled onto the front steps and watched as we raced through the water.
How Winifred managed to avoid most of the droplets was beyond me. Jim and I plowed right through everything with the kids. They giggled and squealed, their happiness a direct contrast to Michelle’s solemn expression.