Chapter 11: Show and Tell

There were no more dreams, and I woke up still on the comfortable couch. Grey was gone from the recliner, but I found him in the kitchen drinking coffee.

“Is there more of that?” I asked while rubbing my eyes. I was still tired.

“I just made a full pot,” he replied. “Want me to get it for you?”

“No, I can do it.” I searched the cupboard near the coffee pot and found a mug. “Is there any word from your friend about the little wolf?”

“He thinks he found the wolves’ den,” Grey said. “He placed a trap near it to catch all the wolves. That pack strayed too far south from their usual territory. They’ll make sure the little wolf is healed before they release them all somewhere far away. It’s not safe for them, or for people, to have them this close to humans.”

“That makes sense.” I yawned as I poured coffee into the mug. I took the mug to the table and sat down across from Grey. “Where’s Lily?”

“She must be sleeping,” Grey said. “She works hard and deserves a little extra rest sometimes.”

I nodded. “She’s great. I like her a lot.” I began sipping my coffee and soon felt a little more alert. “I’m starved. Do you want some breakfast?”

“Can you cook?” he asked with a grin.

“If I couldn’t, my mother and I would have starved long ago.”

I recalled some of my earliest attempts at making meals and laughed. It was nice to be able to look back at that part of my life and see something humorous.

“What?” Grey’s eyebrow was tilted again. It was kind of sexy.

“I was thinking about my first attempt at making a frozen pizza.” I giggled. “I loaded it up with my favorite things: fish sticks and jellybeans. When I presented a slice to my mother, she began to laugh like crazy. We both did. The pizza tasted really gross, but we ate every bite of the revolting mess. It was the last time I heard her laugh.”

Grey looked into my eyes, and I felt that strong pull between us again. The expression on his face softened, and his gaze seemed to grow warmer as we stared at each other in silence.

"You’re amazing to have gone through what you did and still be able to laugh about it,” he said, breaking the silence. “I doubt I could have handled being isolated from the world like that.”

I shrugged, a little embarrassed by the praise. “Thanks. But those times are over now. I’m looking forward to the future.”

“Smart girl,” Grey said and got up to pour himself another mug of coffee. “Hey, have you thought about going somewhere else to live? This house is so big and isolated. And there’s nothing to do around here. You have the means to live anywhere in the world. Wouldn’t you love to live on a beach, or somewhere near a big city? You’ve never been to a museum or a nightclub.”

A jolt of shock ran through me. Did he want me to leave Denhurst?

“No, I’m staying here,” I insisted. “I want to explore this house thoroughly. There must be family photo albums, old letters, and stuff like that. How can I learn about who I am by leaving my ancestral home?”

“It was just a thought,” Grey said as he returned to the table with his mug. “You deserve whatever makes you happy.”

“That’s nice.” I stood and went to the refrigerator. What made Grey think I’d care about beaches and nightclubs? But it was sweet of him to think of my happiness.

“Are you ready for some breakfast yet?” I asked.

“Sure.” he grinned. “But no fish sticks or jellybeans in my eggs, please.”

I laughed and pulled from the fridge all the ingredients for a veggie omelet. I was cracking eggs into a bowl when Lily arrived in the kitchen.

Her pink hair was in braids today and she was limping a little. She gave me a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I overslept.”

“That’s okay,” I replied. “I want to make breakfast this morning. Go sit down at the table and relax.”

Lily gave me a smile and made her way to the table. Before she sat down, I saw her left ankle was bandaged.

“What happened?” I asked.

“It's nothing. I twisted my ankle,” Lily replied with a shrug. “I can be so clumsy sometimes.”

Poor, Lily. I’ve heard sprains can be painful. Then I noticed blood on the bandage.

“Why are you bleeding from a sprain?” I asked. “Grey, let’s take Lily to the hospital. A doctor should check her out.”

“She’s fine,” Grey said. “Are you making breakfast or what? I’m starved.”

I leaned over and gaped at the blood-soaked bandage on Lily’s left ankle.

“No, she isn’t fine,” I insisted. “Let me see under the bandage.”

I pulled a chair in front of her. “Put your foot up on the chair so I can see where you're bleeding from.”

Lily shook her head in short, fast jerks. “No, Emma, please, I’m fine.”

“At least let me change the dirty bandage.” I put my hands on my hips and waited for her to do as I asked.

Lily and Grey exchanged glances, and he shook his head in the negative.

“She’s fine, Emma,” Grey repeated. His voice was tense, and the way his pewter eyes glowed brought back a memory of the black wolf from last night.

“No way. No freaking way,” I whispered to myself as my mind flew to the memory of the little pinkish wolf.

Its injury had been to its left hind leg. Petite Lily had pink hair and a corresponding injury.

It wasn’t possible. But the evidence in front of my eyes was too convincing for it to be a coincidence.

I had to know what was under that bandage.

If what I was thinking was wrong, the bandage still needed to be changed. Some of the huge bloodstain had turned brown, and the wound could get infected.

Leaning down next to Lily, I gently grasped the tape covering the bandage and pulled.

Lily gasped and Grey yelled, “no!” But the bandage slid off Lily’s ankle and into my hand.

The wound on Lily’s ankle was no sprain. It looked like a deep animal bite that was partially healed.

It was no longer bleeding, and it was mostly light pink scar tissue. But the wound was definitely made by big, sharp teeth.

And that wound had not been there yesterday. Lily had been wearing shorts with flip flops at dinner last evening. Nobody heals from a huge wound like that so quickly.

I looked to Grey and Lily for an explanation. But they both stood silently, looking at the floor.

“What really happened?” I asked. “Why are both lying to me about this?”

A thought hit me like a bolt of lightning. The huge black wolf that led the others in saving me last night had pewter-colored eyes, exactly like Grey’s eyes!

I shook my head in disbelief and put a hand to my thundering heart.

“How did you get that wound, Lily?” My eyes bore into hers, while the words, "don’t lie to me" repeated over and over in my head.

She looked at Grey. “I have to tell her the truth.”

“A dog bit her last night, “ Grey said, his voice flat and weak.

“Nuh uh. Don’t go there. That’s no dog bite,” I said. “Lily, tell me the truth.”

“I … I,” Lily stammered.

“Lily, no!” Grey shouted.

In tears, Lily bolted to her feet and hurried from the room. She may as well have admitted she was the small pinkish wolf.

“I won’t be lied to or bullied, Grey.” I caught his gaze. “Tell me the truth: are you the black wolf who saved me last night?”

His head whipped from side-to-side as he fought answering the question.

Finally, he looked me in the eye. “Yes, I am. Lily and I are wolf shifters.”

There it was ... the truth. Along with fear, I felt a little relieved. It was as if another piece of the puzzle that was my past had fallen into place.

“What’s a wolf shifter?” I asked. My mind was spinning. I never imagined things like this were real.

“We can change into wolf forms of ourselves,” he said and patted the chair next to him.

I sat down on the edge of a chair at the other end of the table. “Do you mean like a werewolf?”

He chuckled. “No, relax. We are not werewolves. We can shift into wolves whenever we want. There’s no full moon needed. And we don’t go around killing people either. Harming a human is a major crime in the shifter world.”

I let that sink in for a moment. “What happened to give you and Lily the ability to shift into wolves?”

“We weren’t bitten or anything. It’s hereditary,” he replied, closely watching the expression on my face again. “It’s something we were born being able to do.”

I nodded. Lily was his cousin. The ability running in their blood made sense. “How do you do it?”

“Do you want me to show you?” Grey asked. “I will, but you must vow to never tell another human soul about us. In the past we were feared by humans. And what humans fear, they destroy.”

I hesitated. It was scary, yet a strange excitement was racing through me. I wanted to see him shift. It seemed vital for me to understand everything about wolf shifters.

“Yes,” I told him. “Show me.”

Grey took my hand and pulled me to my feet. “We need somewhere private.”

“Let's Go back to my father’s den,” I suggested.

“How appropriate,” Grey said with a smile.