Metal clinked against metal as Kirill removed something from his cloak, held it in front of Mac. Leather straps connecting smooth, curved iron tips.
“My claws.” Mac frowned and leaned forward before he could stop himself.
“Yes.” Kirill eyed the contraption with expression of a jeweler examining a competitor’s piece. “You miss being a wolf.”
Memories flooded over him, memories of running on four legs, of living in a world rich with scents. Prowling the forest like a shadowy guardian, isolating threats to his people and dealing with them with tooth and claw. The satisfaction in the primal simplicity of it, the power and confidence that came from proving himself in bloody physical combat. The unique gratification of eating his prey. “It was…efficient,” he said finally, his voice rough with yearning for that simpler time.
“What if I could give that back to you? Give you the best of both worlds so that you could be wolf or man at your discretion?”
“You can do that?” Mac met the vampire’s eyes before he could stop himself, needing to see if he was serious.
The eyes that had glittered with crimson minutes ago were once again a frosty blue, clear and perfectly serious. “I can. That is, with your permission?”
Mac tried to hold onto reason, to remain cautious and think through what the vampire had said, think through what his offer might mean. But he was already standing, already taking a step forward, eager to claim that offer before it could be snatched away from him. “Yes.”
Something clicked on the wooden floor beside him. A familiar sound. Claws on the worn planks. Mac pivoted in time to see a brown wolf disengage itself from the furry pile in front of the fire. His lips parted in surprise, then his jaw tightened as he realized how careless he’d been, how oblivious. How had he missed a third wolf?
The creature was beautiful, brown silky fur over a long, lean body. Like his wolves, this beast was larger than most, obviously something more than normal. Golden eyes stared at him and even though there was no tension in its body, no threat, there was something in those eyes that was not entirely friendly.
“It would be best if you try to relax,” the vampire suggested.
“Relax?”
Mac only took his eyes off the wolf for a second, but apparently that was all it took. Pain seized his arm, sharp teeth sinking into his flesh. Mac shouted in surprise and pain and pulled, trying to tear his arm away from the wolf gnawing on it with single-minded intensity. The beast released him, leapt back before he could even think of striking out with his booted foot. It lowered its body, baring bloody teeth at him in a snarl.
“Was that strictly necessary?” Kirill asked, his voice dry.
The wolf slanted those golden eyes to the vampire and snorted. The silver wolf shifted in its sleep and the brown wolf ceased its snarling, whirled away from Mac and Kirill to trot over to the other wolves. It licked the top of the silver wolf’s head like a mother caring for a pup, leaving a wild tuft of fur protruding between its ears. The wolf settled again, body growing slack with sleep. The brown wolf gave it one more lick then spared a glare for Mac before trotting out of the room in the direction of his bedroom.#p#分页标题#e#
“You’ll have to forgive Loupe.” Kirill drew a handkerchief from his cloak, stepped forward to offer it to Mac. “She is something of a protectress of wolves and I’m afraid she’s not terribly pleased with the state of your care for your four-legged friends there.”
Mac stared down at his arm where the wolf had bitten him, trying to reconcile what had just happened with what the vampire was saying. Blood trickled over his skin, soaking the torn material of his black shirt. He took the handkerchief the vampire offered and pressed it to the wound to staunch the bleeding. “What are you talking about?”
“He’s talking about the fact that those wolves could have lost their legs thanks to the abominable care they received from the man in charge of their well-being.”
The woman’s voice was soft, but firm, the voice of a mother who doesn’t want to wake sleeping children, but also wants you to know she is not pleased. Mac narrowed his eyes at the woman standing in the doorway. Her blonde hair fell loose about her shoulders, framing a delicate face with bright green eyes. Those eyes caught the firelight and threw it back at him in glittering shards as she gave Mac a severe look then deliberately marched over to where the two wolves were sleeping. She lifted the skirts of her pale blue dress and knelt down, stroking their fur and murmuring to them. The wolves stirred faintly, but she hushed them, and tenderly checked the bandages over their wounds.