“And I intend to keep spoiling you, even when you’re fully recovered.”
“Well, you have to let me spoil you some, too. Will you let me give you a back massage?”
He gave me a cocky, happy, grin as he said, “Not going to turn you down, Buttercup.”
Chapter Thirty
Brain
Four days later Harmony’s stitches were out, and she’d played around with her makeup to get a look she liked.
She looked nothing at all like my Ice, but she was still my Buttercup.
I knew Duke and the other wolves who’d already met her wouldn’t be fooled, because there was nothing we could do about her smell, but there was no danger of anyone else recognizing her as the woman she used to be.
And we wouldn’t be seeing any of the Chattanooga RTMC members today.
Bud met us in Marietta and followed us on his bike to Chattanooga. We didn’t technically need an Alpha to oversee this, but I wanted to be sure we crossed every t and dotted every i, so I’d asked Randall if he’d help make my telling Harmony official.
“I can’t really tell you what to expect, but I feel I should warn you Randall is Duke’s twin brother. They don’t dress the same, and their hair is different, but they’re identical twins, and I don’t want it to catch you off guard.”
“Bud is President of the Atlanta Rolling Thunder Chapter, what’s Randall?”
“He’ll have to tell you, if he wants you to know. I promise to answer every question about me you ask, but I can’t answer questions about other people.”
I kept the conversation to other topics for the rest of the nearly two hour drive, and as we pulled into the driveway and his house came into view, she said, “Looks like an Alpha Werewolf’s house.”
His home was built using huge slabs of stone, like you’d expect a castle to be made of, but the architecture was modern. Looking at the home and surrounding meadow and forest through her eyes, I couldn’t argue with her, but I shook my head and said, “Please, please, please stop thinking out loud.”
She chuckled and said, “Okay,” and I parked and met Randall as he came down his front porch.
“Randall Bevering, meet Harmony Johnson.” Bud had taken his helmet off and was walking towards us, and I included him as well. “Bud, this is Harmony.”
Everyone shook hands, including Bud and Randall, and we walked with Randall to the rear of his house, and into a screened-in porch. He walked behind a bar area, where there were three full pitchers, and he said, “We have water, sweet tea, and lemonade, as well as beer in the outdoor fridge.”
Harmony asked for tea, Randall poured lemonade for himself, and Bud and I drank beer. As Randall walked to us with everyone’s drinks, he looked at me and asked, “You sure you want to do this without Abbott around? You sure she’ll agree to the stipulations?”
“If she doesn’t, I’ve made arrangements to meet with him this evening, and Bud will stay with us so she’s properly chaperoned.”
“Stipulations?”
I nodded to Harmony and told her, “I promised you answers, and the truth is Occam’s Razor served you well, though I couldn’t verify it before. I’m a werewolf. Would you like to see the proof?”
“You won’t hurt me?”
“Never, Buttercup. I’ll know who you are, and I’ll be able to understand you, though I can’t talk back, obviously.”
“Then yeah, I’d like to see.”
I smelled her arousal, layered over her anxiety, as I stood and stripped. She wasn’t afraid, just nervous, and the sooner I changed and let her pet me, the better.
* * * *
Harmony
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the change happened so smoothly, my brain couldn’t comprehend the transition as Brain morphed into a huge wolf.
Even though it was impossible logically, my big strong biker was now a beautiful wolf, and everyone was looking at me for my reaction.
He was dark grey on top, but his chest, legs, and stomach were a light grey — almost white. His eyes were golden, and I could see the intelligence in them. I should’ve been freaked, but part of me had known this was the most likely answer to all of the puzzles, so I’d been prepared. Kind of.
“You’re beautiful, can I pet you?”
He walked to me, sat beside me instead of facing me, and I reached over and around his body to pet his chest, and worked my way up to his neck and head.
I looked to Bud and said, “He sat like this to show he’s protecting me, didn’t he?”
“Perceptive,” said Randall. “You’d guessed he was a wolf, already?”