I smiled at him, a nasty thing that felt foreign on my face. “Try it, Bennett. See how far you get.”
He left then. He didn’t look back.
The timber wolf trailed after him. He stopped in the doorway, looking at me over his shoulder.
I turned my back to him.
Eventually he left too.
I dreamed, that second night, and it was blood and fire.
I screamed for someone to find me.
No one did.
I woke on the third day in the basement to something different. My mouth was dry and my eyes were gummy and stuck. I groaned as I sat up on the cot.
“Good morning,” a quiet voice said.
I looked up.
Kelly sat against the far wall near the door. He had a blanket covering his lap. His arm was bandaged. He looked frail and weak, dark circles under his eyes, like he hadn’t been sleeping. I wondered if he had nightmares.
I closed my eyes, hoping I was still dreaming.
I opened them. He was still there.
He pushed his hair off his forehead. He needed to get it cut. It was—
I stopped myself from thinking anymore. It didn’t matter.
I grunted at him. If I didn’t talk, maybe he’d go away.
“Are you hungry?”
Or maybe he’d just sit there. Goddammit. “No.”
“You should still eat.”
“I’m not hungry.”
He shrugged. “It’s there when you’re ready.” He nodded toward a tray on the floor. There was cereal in a chipped bowl and a small cup of milk. A spoon. A banana. A napkin. When I was fed, one of the humans would come with Ox or Joe and set the tray over the silver. I didn’t smell the Alphas this time, though. Kelly must have done it himself.
It meant nothing.
He shivered, and before I could stop myself, I asked, “Are you cold?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. It’s weird. I don’t know how humans can stand it. I’m always freezing now, even when I’m outside.” He chuckled, though it sounded forced. “Dumb, right? All the little things I never really thought about. Shifting. Being warm. Being able to smell my pack. Hearing where they were at all times. It’s frustrating. I feel so….”
“Human.”
He nodded. “Yeah. Jessie and Rico are… well. They’re trying to help, but they don’t get it, you know? It’s like I’m locked in a windowless room and I can’t find my way out.”
“Yeah,” I said, pointedly looking around the basement. “I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
He startled. “Huh. I never thought about it that way.”
“Why don’t you just have your Alphas bite you? Change you back?”