Taming the Beast

He sat in front of her, brown eyes seeking and curious.

“Tell me what’s happening,” Adam said.

“He’s just sitting in front of me. Staring.”

“All right. He’s calm. Time to annoy him a little.”

“How do you suggest I do that?”

“Grab his fur and pull.”

“What?”

“Used to do that to my son all the time when he was a kid. Trust me. He’s past thirty now, and doesn’t remember.”

“I don’t want to hurt him.”

“Of course you don’t. No decent person really wants to hurt anyone else, but you’ve got a good reason to be causing the pain. Just consider it medicine.”

“It’s violence.”

“Violence with an end goal. Go on, and don’t just yank, either. Grab and pull hard. If he doesn’t bark at you, you’re not pulling hard enough.”

Gods.

Mary forced another swallow down her tight throat and slowly extended both hands toward Andreas. “I’m trying to help you, okay? I’m trying to get you out of there so you can talk to me.”

The wolf cocked his head in such a humanlike way that Mary wondered if perhaps Andreas had swum back up to the surface and taken control of animating his body.

But then the wolf yawned, wid

e and long, and made a little howl before smacking his chops. There was nothing human about that.

She dug her fingertips into the wiry fur at the front of his chest, and no sooner had he looked down did she tug hard.

He didn’t just bark, but he howled loudly enough to make her eardrums throb and of course she let go, because if she hadn’t, someone would hone in on that noise and they’d find Andreas, and all she was trying to do was help him.

The pain must have been enough because as she scrambled back to her corner and her tote bag, the wolf writhed on the floor, body coiling and trembling, a pitiful gurgle coming from his throat.

“Come on, Mary, give me some idea of what’s going on there,” Adam said.

“Well, he’s convulsing.”

“Touch him.”

“Touch him how?”

“Just touch him. Put your hands on whatever you can reach. Give his brain a sensation to hone in on so he’ll shake off the wolf form faster. It’s harder for them to pull everything back in when they don’t have the training or experience.”

She crawled back to him and, without hesitating, planted her hands against his ribs.

He bucked violently, emitting soft barks and trying to nip at her fingers, but she held on tight. She pressed all her strength into her arms and when that wasn’t enough, she straddled the wolf to pin him down. She clamped her knees against his sides as tightly as she could and murmured, “Come on, Andreas. Come out so you can talk to me. I still have questions to ask you.”

He lashed his head side to side, practically slamming it against the rough concrete floor, and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want him to be bruised and battered when he regained his consciousness. She didn’t want him to hurt anymore, so she pressed her chest against his and grabbed the sides of his face.

Although she knew her magic wasn’t quite right for what he needed, she closed her eyes and tried to push her thoughts into his mind. “Andreas, please. Can you hear me? Stop this.”

Chapter 7