Chapter 11: Just a Sleepover

CLARA

I gave Elias a weak smile as I tried to summon the nerve to leave. It took everything I had to fake the calm I didn’t feel.

“I don’t have work tomorrow, thankfully, but I really should get home. I’ve already taken eight hours of your time for my silly interview.”

“You can stay here until morning,” Elias countered. “I know you’re nervous about driving through the forest in the dark.”

Which was a creepy statement, because he once again knew something he shouldn’t. That, or he was stupidly good at guessing things about me.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly,” I replied, shaking my head despite the fact I had multiple reasons to say yes. “Besides, I’m absolutely disgusting after wandering through the woods for hours and being treed like a raccoon. I need to get home so I can shower and put on clean clothes.”

“I have a shower. And clothes.”

What came out of my mouth in response, you ask?

“Do you? Because you don’t seem to wear very many of them,” I said.

I immediately slapped a hand over my mouth.

I could feel my cheeks beginning to burn—my ears were already halfway to charcoal.

Rather than being offended, Elias radiated amusement, despite his solemn face.

“Owning and wearing are two different things,” he replied.

Somehow that sealed my fate.

Next thing I knew, I was standing in a large, open shower made of flagstone with a fluffy towel and a shirt that I’m pretty sure could have fit three of me inside of it.

I put the towel and shirt on a rack near the door and stood under the hot water for a long time, just letting the stress and grime of the day disappear down the drain.

When I thought too hard about using Elias’s shower and sleeping in his spare bedroom, I could feel my entire body ascending with embarrassment again. But I also felt like I’d somehow stumbled into some sort of smutty romance novel.

Minus the smut, because I ~definitely~ wasn’t planning on sleeping with Elias tonight.

I was ~not~ that kind of girl.

***

Elias must have used up all of his words for the day, because when I exited the bathroom with damp hair and his shirt draped over myself like a nightgown, he said nothing.

He only gave me a hungry look and led me to the spare bedroom.

I felt slightly nervous about the way he eyed me, but he remained a perfect gentleman.

“Thanks for dinner and for not making me drive through the woods tonight,” I said.

He only nodded.

Sleeping in a bed again was ~heavenly.~

While I was starting to get used to waking up stiff and sore from sleeping on the floor, I didn’t want to be. Sinking into the red plaid sheets and pulling a heavy down comforter over my clean body felt like pure bliss.

Pretty sure I was asleep the moment my head hit the pillow.

***

I found myself again in the woods.

I was running, my senses heightened and my footfalls more graceful than usual.

I felt powerful and strong, and not the slightest bit afraid.

I could sense that I was being chased, but for some reason I knew I wasn’t in danger. I raced around a large tree and risked a glance behind me, seeing the same silver wolf as in my last dream and Elias’s painting.

I began to laugh and heard laughter echoing in my head. My running turned to play.

The wolf would pounce in my direction, and I would leap out of the way, hurrying a few feet away to repeat the game. I felt exhilarated and eventually allowed the wolf to pin me to the forest floor.

As he began to lick my face, an unexplainable bond tugged at my heart.

I longed to stay with the wolf, to run and play in the woods forever. To be by his side and live my life with him, which was…really weird.

Or it would be—if I hadn’t just realized that my hands and feet had become paws, and that I was ~also~ a wolf.

We rolled around in the undergrowth, yipping and howling joyfully as we played. Again, he pinned me and licked my face, then together we rose and began to run.

The wind whipped my fur, and my muscles burned.

Finally, we reached our destination: the meadow with the large, flat rock. The silver wolf and I leapt up to the open surface and sprawled out, our sides heaving and steam rolling off of us in the winter air.

I rolled over onto my side and stared deep into the wolf’s golden eyes, and he began to shift.

Moments later, Elias lay where the wolf had been. Golden moonlight lit his outline in a glowing halo, as if he were some sort of heavenly being.

“Clara,” he whispered.

***

I shot up in bed, breathless, heart hammering.

The ghost of Elias’s voice still echoed in my ears—~Clara~—soft and intimate. Too real.

I knew my brain was just coming up with nonsense based on the events of the day…right?

But I’d dreamed of a wolf with golden eyes before. And the next day, Elias had somehow known about it.

I shook my head and let my heartbeat slow as I took in the guest room bathed in moonlight. Everything was quiet.

And yet, something was off.

I wasn’t entirely sure what it was; I just felt unsettled. Perhaps the room was too hot?

So I stood and walked to the window, intent on opening it to get some fresh air. I paused to look out over the property, finding it particularly beautiful in the light of the full moon.

The blades of grass had been turned to shards of silver, and the trees stood like frosted sentinels in the distance.

Then I spotted movement.

Near the edge of the clearing, six wolves had emerged from the trees. They slowly approached Elias’s cabin, postures relaxed and ears perked up.

I watched as they reached the front lawn and playfully pounced at each other, just like Elias and I had in my dream.

And then, the unimaginable happened.

I spotted the silver wolf from my dream, his pelt luminous in the moonlight.

As I watched him, he began to shrink. His fur disappeared and he rose to two legs.

When the change was done…Elias stood in the moonlight, not just shirtless.

I’m not ashamed to say I ~definitely~ took a good look at him in all his glory before stumbling back to the bed, convinced I was still dreaming. Because what the hell else could be happening right now?

What I’d just seen made zero sense, unless Elias was a werewolf.

Which was ridiculous, because werewolves didn’t exist.

Right?

I had to be dreaming. I almost went as far as pinching myself to make sure, but honestly? I didn’t want the confirmation.

Instead I closed my eyes, and the rest of the night passed in empty blackness.

***

I was awoken by a beam of sunshine drifting lazily across my face.

A wide yawn stretched my cheeks, and I extended my arms and legs as far as they would go, enjoying the sensation of my muscles tightening and relaxing.

It took a moment to remember where I was; when I did, my cheeks flushed pink.

I really ~had~ spent the night at Elias’s house!

But I had no regrets, despite my strange dreams.

I straightened Elias’s shirt to make sure everything was covered and wandered downstairs, following the scent of bacon.

I found Elias in the kitchen, cooking up a large breakfast.

Fresh scones steamed lightly on the table next to a pile of scrambled eggs and hash browns. Butter, jam, honey, and salsa had been placed next to the food, along with salt and pepper.

“Eat,” Elias demanded without even looking up from the pan.

I have no idea how he knew I was there; I thought I’d been pretty silent, padding around the house with my bare feet.

But I did as I was bidden, loading up my plate with a bit of everything. I slathered my scones with butter and honey, and butter and jam, and poured the fresh salsa over the eggs and potatoes.

Everything was just as delicious as the steak from last night. I devoured it with a hunger as strong as if I really ~had spent~ all night running through the woods.

Elias turned to face me with the pan of bacon in hand. He dropped two thick slices on my plate before putting the rest on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the extra grease.

He sat down, filled his own plate, and silently ate.

To make things less awkward, I decided to attempt a conversation.

“I had the strangest dream last night.”

Elias looked up at me, slightly tilted his head, and stared into my eyes. I took that as a “go ahead,” and continued.

“I dreamed I was a wolf, running around the woods with the silver wolf from your painting. At the end of the dream, the wolf and I jumped up onto the rock we sat on yesterday. And the wolf turned into ~you.~ ~How ridiculous is that?”

“Less ridiculous than you might think,” he replied and stuffed two slices of bacon in his mouth.

It felt like a declaration that he had no intention of explaining. Though I was practically dying of curiosity, it seemed my interpretation was correct. No matter how long I stared at him, Elias didn’t elaborate.

So I pouted and continued eating.

Another thing that baffled me was the sheer amount of food he had made. There was easily enough here for a dozen people, and I had no idea why he thought the two of us needed such a large breakfast.

That is, until there was a knock at the door.