(Logan)
My senses hum slightly as I show Jaime through the house, hand in hand. Sheâs different this morning, and obviously eager to share something with me. Maybe the reason sheâs so very obviously feeling better? I almost want to drag out the tour just to keep that feeling of anticipation fizzling between us.
My home gym is probably the one thing that excites her most about the house. Her eyes shine when she takes in the modern equipment and amenities.
âThis is great. Iâm going to have to get back into a routine of training fairly soon. Maybe not as extensive as in my prior life, but routine is good for overcoming trauma,â she says, and Iâm amazed that she speaks about her recovery process in such a positive way. I also donât miss the implication in her words that sheâll be staying here during that that recovery process.
âYouâre free to use it whenever you need to. In fact, physical training is very important for us werewolves. We canât be in our wolf forms all the time, yet we need strength and agility and speed for when we do shift. Wolves are very active, and we need to maintain a level of fitness in our human forms to keep our two sides in balance,â I explain to her.
We reach my study, and I can see that sheâs drawn to the rows of bookshelves covering one entire wall. The opposite wall is much like most of the rooms in my house - a solid wall of clear, fortified glass that makes it feel as if youâre sitting inside the forest.
I reach above her into the bookshelf and remove two books. Theyâre quite visibly old, bound in leather, and heavy. I hand her one of the books.
âYour education on werewolves wouldnât be complete without you having read these,â I say, and she takes the first book reverently. âThis one is almost like an encyclopedia of sorts on our kind. It will give you all the facts and ins-and-outs, and likely answer any question you might have. This one,â and I point to the one Iâm still holding, âis a collection of historical accounts, of the stories we tell our children and the legends that forms our culture.â
She runs her hands over the spines of both and looks up at me.
âThank you. But youâll still tell me everything, right?â she asks. I canât help but tuck a stray strand of hair in behind her ear, and I like how her heart rate spikes up at that small gesture.
âOf course, I promised.â
She moves away towards the large leather couch near the glass wall, taking the two books with her. I follow and we both take a seat, tucking our legs so that we face each other.
âNow, you said you wanted to tell me something. What is it?â I ask, and for a moment Iâm sure I see a blush creep up over her beautiful face. She looks down, suddenly shy, and I donât prod her, needing her to say what she wants to without interference.
She looks up at me and our gazes lock. I can feel she is nervous but excited too.
âWhen I woke up this morning, I realized something,â she starts, clutching the books to her body. âI realized that Iâm okay with this whole werewolf thing. I think, somewhere deep down, I have always known that Iâm different to other people. I struggle to make deep connections with anyone, and Iâve always just felt that Iâm living this imposter life, you know?â
I nod, even though I donât really know.
âWell, it makes sense now. I felt different because I am different. And maybe my wolf never bothered to show up because I was in denial, whether willingly or not. Now I want to embrace my true nature. I want to learn what being a wolf really means. I want to experience everything.â
I smiled, a warm feeling settling in my heart as I listen to her say exactly what I wanted for her too.
âI can help with that,â I say, and she smiles back. Then she turns all shy again.
âThe other thing I wanted to tell you is that I accept you as my mate. Iâm not even sure exactly what that is yet, or why I feel I should say that, but I do feel this⦠this⦠pull towards you that is both inexplicable and sudden, yet it feels so right. I have never felt safer, or more right about anything.â
Her words pours out in a jumble, as if she couldnât wait to get it out, and itâs like having all my dreams come true all at once. I crush her in a hug so tight that the books between our bodies dig into our ribs. Then I pull them out and let them drop to the floor as I pick her up in another hug and swing her right off her feet, my nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her amazing scent.
She giggles, and as I place her down on her feet again, I grab her face between the palms of my hands and lay my forehead on hers. Pure elation and love zipped through every sinew in my body.
âYou have no idea how happy that makes me,â I breathe out. âMay I kiss you?â
She gave me a slight nod, still smiling from my twirling her around, and I captured her lips softly, reigning in the passion raging through my veins.
Our lips move slowly, sliding over one anotherâs with tenderness. The tingles made me weak at the knees and I broke the kiss much sooner than I would have liked. I have to keep reminding myself to take it easy with her.
She lets out a sigh and looks up to me, her eyes full of wonder.
âWow,â she says, a blush tinting her cheeks pink, and my smile deepens.
âYes, wow.â I echo her sentiments.
I let her go as she stepped back, and we both bent down to pick up the fallen books. I place the one I picked up into her hands again as we straighten up. My hand slides down her arm, reluctant to break this beautiful moment. Iâm going to sound like an ass right now, but it canât be helped.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
âJaime, I have a meeting that starts in five minutes from now. Itâs just an online meeting so you are welcome to stay here, and maybe start reading one of those. Or you could hit that gym that youâd been eyeing earlierâ¦â
She thought about it, then moved towards the leather couch near the window wall and sat down.
âAs much as I would like some exercise, I think my body needs more time. Iâll take you up on your offer of staying here. Maybe once you are done with your meeting, Iâll have some more questions.â
âIâm sorry, I would have loved to just jump in and start telling you about usâ¦â my excuse sounded lame to my own ears, and even though she tells me itâs fine, I can see and feel her retract a little.
I mind link Maggie to bring Jaime some hot tea and cookies while I settle behind my desk and power up my laptop. Iâm glad she decided to stay, and my wolf was happy too with having Jaime in the room with me. I couldnât wait to finish this meeting and shower her with attention.
Maggie arrived with the goods just as my laptop pinged and the CEO of our luxury hotel chainâs face and voice pops up on my screen. Heâs soon joined by three other members of the executive team, and I check if Jaimeâs okay on the couch before diving into the nitty gritty of a quarterly report I needed oversight of.
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(Jaime)
My whole body was still tingling from that gentle kiss. Iâve been kissed before, but it has never given me tingles all over, or made my breath hitch and my heart go skippedy-doo. I think I actually blushed too.
I was expecting him to do something after that. Iâm not sure what, and Iâm a bit disappointed that he had brushed off the moment and gone into a meeting. But maybe Iâm just over-sensitive with all this new, jumbled-up emotions. Maybe itâs better this way.
I settle myself on the comfy leather couch, Maggie comes bustling in with some hot tea and cookies. How did she know that it was exactly what I craved?
I thank her kindly and glanced over at Logan, whose baritone voice hums like a soothing melody in the background as he starts up the meeting. I only half-listens as itâs mostly someone on the other side that drones on about numbers and options and all kinds of business speak.
I open the book that Logan said is like an encyclopedia on werewolves and smooth down the yellowed page, thin like parchment paper. The book was named âLycanthropyâ. There were nine chapters. I scanned the headings:
1. Nature and Origins
2. Transformation
3. Abilities and weaknesses
4. Packs and pack structure
5. Mating and Bonds
6. Society and Rules
7. Conflict and Coexistence
8. Culture and traditions
9. Myths
I page to the first chapter and start reading. It read like a scientific account analyzing a species, just like it would for any particular animal, or human tribe, much like a textbook would. It was the kind of book that I was used to, and I quickly got engrossed in the content.
Chapter one explained that werewolves were basically humans who have the ability to transform into wolves. While most only shift during a full moon, some werewolves can shift at will. They have existed on earth just as long as humans have, and just as with humans, how they came into being is a matter of who you ask.
Werewolves themselves believe that they were created at the very beginning by Selena, the Moon Goddess, and they have always lived parallel lives with humans. Limitations to their biology however has seen their numbers stay relatively stable whereas humans have proliferated and taken over. Werewolf couples would hardly ever have more than two pups during their lifetimes.
There is a body of scientific knowledge that believes that werewolves evolved from Neanderthal wolves just like humans did from Neanderthal apes. Thereâs a whole section about how a werewolvesâ wolf and human forms are extensions of the same being, and not separate manifestations or beings, even though werewolves refer to their wolf forms as âtheir wolfâ. It was like referring to your spirit, as your spirit and your soul both inhabit the same body.
And then it goes into the anatomy of werewolves a bit before it switches to ancient sacred sites that alludes to the origins of werewolves.
I move on to chapter two, which goes deeper into the anatomy and what happens to a person when they transform, or shift, from one physical bodily form to another. It was fascinating. It explained that werewolves first shift somewhere towards the end of puberty, but that there are signs all throughout puberty that indicates an imminent shift.
I wonder at that. I never experienced any signs. I went through a pretty normal puberty, I suppose. Or normal for a human. I had the odd pimple here and there, hair growth in the normal spots and my boobs started growing. But there were no sudden nail growth or aching gums or random jaw extensions during sleep.
The only thing that was indeed odd about my body was that Iâve never had a period. I had that checked out of course, but the doctors reckoned I was just a late bloomer and that I will eventually ovulate and have a period like other women. Iâm 23, it still hasnât happened, and I have kind of made peace with the fact that Iâll never be able to have children.
I turn my attention back to the book.
A first shift is apparently extremely painful. It gets better the more you do it, and those lucky enough to be able to shift at will or control when and how they shift (some could do a partial shift) hardly ever felt pain after a while.
Chapter three goes into detail about how werewolves have certain common abilities and how they differ from humans. These include enhanced senses, especially smell, hearing and sight, including night vision. I make a mental tick next to the sight and hearing one, and while Iâm not quite used to it yet I think the smell one is coming on nicely too. I sniff the air a bit to try and distinguish differences from before.
I can smell wood polish, and Loganâs unique, manly scent radiating from the other side of the room. I smell old books, and leather. Then I extend my sense of smell to beyond the room, and I realize I can smell Maggie in the kitchen. She has a fruity smell, like peaches! And sheâs preparing something that involved limes, chili, black pepper, garlic and chicken.
I smile in satisfaction that I could figure that out and start reading about the rest of werewolvesâ abilities. These include greater physical strength, stamina and speed compared to humans, rapid healing from injuries and extended lifespans.
My eyes flew wide. Thatâs what Logan meant when he said he had to draw my wolf out so that she can help heal me. But if my wolf is like my spirit, wouldnât she have been with me all my life? Wouldnât she have healed me without him having to âdraw her outâ?
It was a bit confusing. And then thereâs the extended life spans. Interesting. Apparently, werewolves develop in their human forms at the same pace as humans do, but from around 18 their ageing slows down and they can easily live four to five times longer than humans. Wow. Iâm intrigued by that.
Thereâs a new section under âabilitiesâ that talks about the ability to mind-link one another. Fascinated, I read on about how werewolves who belong in the same pack can talk to one-another through their minds rather than using voices. Itâs an ability that only develops once you have shifted for the first time and is unique to each individual in the same pack. It didnât explain the details of how this worked, but I wanted in.
Loganâs meeting drags on. I look at him from across the room and suddenly find myself wondering what pack he belongs to, and how old he is. And how old Dr Fairfield is. To me the old doc looked to be around 80, but if werewolves live much longer, I presume their physical appearance will not reflect that of a human of the same age either. And I wonder if I will get to do the mind-link thing. I make another mental note to ask Logan about this.