Heart of a Wolf

They? As in multiple wolves?

I looked from the woman who hid in the shadows to the wolf I’d tried conversing with earlier. “She’s beautiful,” I said, not moving from where I was. “Is she wild?”

The woman laughed, finally stepping into the light enough for me to see her face. Her pale skin surprised me. I’m not sure why, but I envisioned someone with a tan from too much sun.

Instead, she was as pale as I was with an angular face and hair that reached her shoulders. Given the limited light she was in, I couldn’t tell if her hair was jet black or if it just seemed that way because of where we were.

“I suppose we’re all wild at some point in our lives, but that would also depend on what side of the fence you’re on as well.” When I frowned, she corrected herself. “You’ll have to

forgive me for talking in riddles. You can never be too careful.” Then, kneeling beside the wolf, she took its chin in her hand and kissed it on the nose. “You are relieved. I’ll meet you at the nursery later.”

The wolf, Fallen if I remembered correctly, didn’t move, her eyes fixed on me.

“It’ll be fine,” the woman assured her, stroking the thick fur along her neck. “Besides, she’s just a pup. What harm could she possibly do?”

Fallen wasn’t convinced, sitting up but going no further.

And who was she calling a pup anyway? As far as I could tell, Fallen was full-grown, and considering there was no one else around…

No, it isn’t possible. There’d been a handful of lycanthropy cases in the past, but they took place decades before I was born. There was no way that I…

No, I thought, shaking my head. I don’t believe it. I refused to believe it.

The strange sickness. The aches and pains. The concrete cell…

My heart dropped as the color drained from my face.

The woman spoke before I had a chance to do the same. “It is a harsh reality,” she said, kneeling in front of my cell so she could meet my gaze. Hazel eyes stared back at me, their irises circled with a ring which shimmered from silver to gold the longer I looked at them. “I’m sorry for the cold introductions and poor sleeping conditions, but a wolf can be rather unpredictable during its first shift.”

I heard the words and read the sadness in her voice, but she honestly wasn’t trying to tell me that I was—

“You’re a wolf, Joanna. More importantly, you’re the first human to shift in over a hundred years.”

Chapter Four

I didn’t move. I barely breathed. My heart stopped ages ago, and the woman kept staring. Every muscle in my body tensed as my mind reeled out of control. They always say when you lose something it’s best to retrace your steps, but no amount of backtracking could help me make sense out of all of this.

When I went to say something, my voice caught in the back of my throat. Unable to speak and with a million questions bombarding my mind, all I could do was study the woman on the other side of the bars and hope she could read my mind.

Much like the chocolate wolf at her side, she was hauntingly beautiful. The few bits of sunlight that made their way into the room cascaded around her, basking her in an early morning haze. H

er eyes held my interest, making it close to impossible to look at anything else. The rings around her irises clearly had to do with her being a wolf, same with Fallen, but did that mean my eyes had the same ring as well?

My heart skipped at that. I’m not a wolf. I’m not a wolf.

I’m—

“I wasn’t bitten,” I told her when my mind finally decided to catch up with me, showing her my bare arms and legs to prove it.

She rose to her feet and offered me a partial smile before sending Fallen away.

The wolf hesitated, but after an intense staring contest, Fallen dipped her head and slowly padded out the door.

“You’ll have to forgive her,” the woman said, rummaging in her pocket for a key which she then used on my cell. “She’s terribly protective of me. You’ll find the others are as well.

And no, you weren’t bitten.” Her words were quieter than before and had the same sadness to them that I’d sensed on her before. When she spoke, she didn’t look at me. “I know you have a lot of questions, and I promise to answer them later.”

“But now?” I urged, chewing my bottom lip as I couldn’t bring myself to look at her. I wanted to, but a part of me felt like I needed to give her the respect she deserved. Which is funny considering she and her wolf friend just kidnapped me from inside a parking garage.