“He said he’s hard to hurt. Exactly how does that work?”
“We heal really fast. The strongest of us, even faster. It hurts like fuck to get shot, but as long as we can heal before we lose too much blood, we’re good.”
“Silver bullets?”
“Bones take the longest to heal, but if everything’s lined up we can be good to go in ten or fifteen minutes. If it isn’t lined up, sometimes the Doc has to re-break them, so they can heal right the second time.”
“You can’t talk about silver bullets? That probably means there’s something to it.”
“Some questions you’re safer not knowing the answer to, Gen. Do me a favor and stop thinking out loud, okay?”
“Because you can’t know if I’ve figured it out?”
He didn’t answer and she said, “Yeah, okay. What about the full moon?”
“We’re drawn to turn on the full moon. If we don’t have a chance to turn and run on one of the three nights of the full moon, we’re miserable. The strongest of us can keep from it, but it’s a horrible experience so we rarely do.”
“How often do ya’ll turn?”
“Some only change once a month, to run under the full moon. I know one of the wolves in the local pack is currently staying wolf more than human. His wife recently died and he isn’t dealing well. The pack is letting him go wolf for a little while, but will begin pulling him back to human before much longer.”
“So, ya’ll are friends with the pack? No animosity between the two groups?”
“In Atlanta, the MC and the pack don’t get along so well. We usually managed a truce, but there were problems. Duke used to belong to the pack here, and he went to the Alpha right off and told him he wanted the two groups to not only get along, but to be friends. He promised not to poach from the pack, but was clear he wouldn’t turn anyone away who wanted to make the change. The two groups aren’t exactly friends, but we aren’t enemies, either, and so far there haven’t been problems.”
“How often do you and Duke change into wolves?”
“Duke does when something’s bothering him. He went somewhere and ran when the two of you were broke up. Most of us prefer to change after we’ve been injured. Even if our physical body heals, it just doesn’t feel right until we’ve gone to wolf and back to human. If we’re injured bad, turning to wolf can save our life.”
“That’s why you liked the fact there was already a wooded area on the lot? And that’s why the woods are off limits to girlfriends and wives unless there’s a paintball match going on?”
“Yes. Wolves don’t like fences, so it isn’t ideal, but we like rooms and doors even less. Our wolves have learned that the woods in the compound are safe, but are only for napping and not for running.”
“Duke once told my brother I called to his soul, and then looked at Isaac and told him, both of them. I never got an answer before of what he meant, but I’m thinking now that he was saying both his human and wolf soul? Do you have two souls?”
“I’ve done more than my fair share of speculating about that, and I’m pretty sure we only have one soul, but I agree it’s easier to speak about it as if we have two, sometimes. Many werewolves consider themselves two entities, a human and a wolf. When they’re learning control, they see themselves as fighting the wolf in order to make decisions as a human, and in order to stay human when the wolf wants to take over.” He stopped talking to do something on the keyboard, and then resumed as if he hadn’t stopped. “In my case, I realize I’m one being, one soul, with two physical bodies. Fighting the wolf doesn’t work for me, but making a decision about which body serves me best at this moment helps me stay human when the wolf wants to take over. With that being said, the wolf inside of me needs to like whoever the man likes. I once thought I was madly in love with someone, and ignored the fact my wolf couldn’t stand her. Turns out, the wolf was right. She was a cold-hearted bitch and had managed to hide it from the man.”
“So he was basically speaking in code to tell Isaac his wolf likes me, too?”
“Sounds like it.”
“I’ve seen something in his eyes, something wild, more than once. It kind of freaked me out. Was that his wolf looking at me, somehow?”
“Possibly. Duke’s wolf stays a little closer to the surface than most of us allow. He has excellent control, and he trusts his wolf’s instincts. He’s faster than the rest of us when we’re human, and his hearing and smell is better than ours when we’re human.”