“I had to,” I said simply. “I’m a vet—or I was going to be, anyway, before Celeste came along and turned me even though I didn’t want to be turned. I can’t stand to see an animal in pain. I had to help you.”
He gave me a grim look. “You’re lucky I didn’t take your face off.”
I gave him an arch little smile. “You were too busy eating bacon—three packs of it.”
“Three packs?” He stared at me in disbelief. “You let me eat three packs of bacon? Fuck, woman—my cholesterol is going to be through the roof.”
I shrugged. “It was the only way to keep you busy while I treated your paw. Besides, you didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who worried about things like cholesterol. If you did, why would you have three packs of bacon in your fridge in the first place?”
“There was a sale at Publix,” he grumbled. “That precooked stuff—it keeps forever.”
“It does as long as you don’t turn into a huge hairy wolf and gobble it up all at once,” I said solemnly, trying not to laugh.
Victor looked at me and I could see his defenses crumbling. Suddenly, he gave a snort of amusement. I pressed my hand over my mouth but couldn’t hold back a giggle, which made him snort again. Before I knew it, we were both nearly crying with laughter.
“I don’t…don’t know why it’s so funny,” I gasped at last, wiping my eyes. “But if you don’t eat bacon when you’re a wolf, what do you eat?”
“Game mostly,” he said, shrugging. “Sometimes I leave something out for myself—you know, in case I didn’t catch anything. But I would never leave out that much bacon—I got no fucking self control when I’m the wolf. I don’t know when to stop.”
I shook my head. “That is so weird. You leave out food for yourself?”
“Yeah, well,” he said defensively. “Some nights are better hunting than others. And all that running around in the woods works up an appetite.”
“No, no—I don’t mean weird in a bad way,” I said hastily. “I just meant…the way you talk about your, uh, wolf—it’s almost like it—he—is your pet. A pet that lives inside you, I guess, and only comes out at night during the full moon.”
“He’s more than a pet—he’s the other side of me. And he comes out a lot more than that,” Victor growled. “He…sometimes I get stuck in that form. As the wolf. That’s why I told you not to expect me back anytime soon.”
“So that’s why you were able to stay a wolf even after the sun came up,” I said thoughtfully. “I wondered about that. Can you turn any time you want?”
He nodded. “Could do it right now if I wanted to. But then I couldn’t guarantee when I would change back again. Probably tomorrow morning. The sun being up helps some.”
“Is that normal, I mean, for a were?” I asked, before I thought about it.
Victor’s eyes went abruptly hard.
“I have…” He cleared his throat. “I have a condition. Called Moon Sickness. That’s what enables me to turn whenever I want, even in the daylight hours, and keeps me in the wolf form for longer than usual.”
I sensed I had hit a raw nerve.
“I’m sorry,” I said apologetically. “I didn’t mean to say you weren’t normal—of course you are. I’m the one who’s messed up.”
“What are you talking about?” he asked, frowning. “You seem fine to me.”
“Oh, no,” I said emphatically. “I’m a terrible vampire. That’s why Celeste hated me so much. She said I was the most hopeless person she’d ever turned.”
“Well, it doesn’t sound like you much wanted to be turned in the first place,” he pointed out. “It’s hard to be good at something you hate. But you don’t seem like you’re doing too bad to me.”
I sighed. “Thanks but I can’t do anything. I’m no good at finding a vein—or I wasn’t until Corbin showed me. And I know it hurts when I bite people.”
“It’s not so bad,” he said politely. “I mean, it hurt a little last night when you took from my wrist. But this…” he rubbed the spot on his neck where I’d bitten him. “Hardly hurt at all.”
I felt cautiously pleased. “I am trying to get better,” I said. “I’m learning how to heal the wounds I make too. But there is one thing I don’t think I’ll ever be any good at.”
“Which is?” He raised an eyebrow at me.