Page 14 of Midlife Animal Rescuer Wolf

Definitely not good. The last thing he needed was to discuss last night, of all things, in this bar with all these people around. Bryon rose slowly to his feet, reaching for his friend’s arm. “Why don’t we take this outside, and—?”

“Don’t you dare touch me.” Harold yanked his arm out of reach. “You goddamn freak of nature.”

His words were like blades, cutting into Bryon’s heart with a suddenness. Bryon took a respectful step backward, holding up both hands.

“Okay,” he said. “But I can explain. What you saw last night... it’s not really what you think.”

The other man scoffed. “What, so I’m blind now? Or you think I’m an idiot? I saw you transform, Bryon. What kind of monster are you? You... you’re some kind of werewolf.”

More heads were turning in their direction. Bryon tried to laugh, shaking his head. “Maybe you had a little more to drink last night than you thought.”

“I know what I saw. I wasn’t drunk, and I wasn’t imagining things. You’re not a human. You... you’re something else.”

A look of pure revulsion came over his face. Bryon’s heart throbbed painfully in his chest. He and Harold had been best friends for years, and now the man was looking at him with barely a hint of recognition in those green eyes.

“You’re an abomination,” Harold went on. “Whatever you are, you shouldn’t exist.”

“Harold—”

“I know what I saw!”

The entire bar had gone silent. Everyone was staring now. Bryon stared at his friend, speechless. Now, more than ever, he needed another drink. Hell, he needed the whole bottle.

Instead, he pushed past Harold, heading straight for the exit amid murmurs and gasps.

“You’re an abomination, Bryon Sanders!” he heard Harold call after him. “And I’m going to make sure everyone else knows it.”

***

“A shifter is someone who can shift into animals,” he was saying. “Someone like me. Some of us can turn into wolves, some into bears, some into dragons or lions, and so on.”

Miranda almost pointed out that he’d just said dragons, but then again, that wasn’t much stranger than everything else he was telling her, if she was being honest. She sat up a little straighter, staring almost unblinkingly at Bryon as he went on.

“I’m not a werewolf,” he said. “Well, not exactly. I just can turn into a wolf.”

She nodded, not once tearing her gaze from him. So far, she’d learned a couple of things from him. The first was that the supernatural, everything she’d figured was merely fantasy, was pretty much real. The second was that supernaturals lived among humans—witches, vampires, goblins, fairies, and many more. That part had sent a tiny chill down her spine.

To be more specific, it felt a little like her world was falling apart and being put back together in a matter of moments. The world, as she knew it, was much, much different. Much bigger.

Much more dangerous.

She decided to ask the next question burning in her mind. “How long have you been a shifter?”

Bryon suddenly looked like he was trying not to laugh.

“What?” she wanted to know. “Did I say something wrong?”

“Well...” His brown eyes twinkled, and for a brief moment, she felt her heart stutter. “Not exactly. People don’t just become shifters at some point in their lives. We’re born this way, although some of us might take longer to manifest our abilities.”

“Oh. I see now.” Honestly, it was a lot to take in. Despite everything she already knew to be true, a part of her wondered whether there wasn’t a chance that he was simply messing with her, that she’d never even really seen him shift, that the whole thing had been a dream or a hallucination. It seemed much easier than accepting that it was real.

Another question popped into her head then. She turned to look at him, gazing for a moment too long at his parted lips before focusing on his eyes. A gentle flutter filled her belly, and warmth trickled down through her stomach. She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the sudden throb between her thighs, and decided to make her inquiry.

“How come you trust me enough to tell me all this?” she asked.

There it was again, that look like he was holding back a laugh. It was starting to irk her, but at the same time, she found his amusement somewhat attractive.

“Well, that’s the thing: I don’t.”