“Yeah, well...” Ryne rubbed the back of his neck. “In normal circumstances, an interview with a nature photographer would be a simple job.” Her aura let him know she was speaking the truth so at least part of his concerns had been dealt with. Now came the hard part; breaking the news to her about werewolves.
Melody fixed her eyes on him, a speculative look on her face. “But you’re not a simple photographer, are you Ryne?
“Not exactly.”
“Then what? Do you smuggle drugs in the picture frames? Are you in debt to the Mob? Wanted for murder? Robbing a bank?”
“No. Nothing illegal.”
“Then what?”
“Well...” Ryne tried to think of any easy way to tell her, but knew they didn’t have time to beat around the bush. He might just as well spit it out. “You see... I’m a werewolf.”
Melody blinked at him then gave a distinctly un-amused laugh. “Right and so am I. And when there’s a full moon, I get all furry and start howling. Come on, Ryne. Give me a break. I feel like crap because...well...I don’t know why, but I do. The point is, I’m just not in the mood for stupid stories.”
“I’m not joking. I really am a werewolf and so are you. Well, technically you’re only partially a werewolf since you’re still undergoing cellular changes, but eventually you will be.”
Ryne watched as she got a funny look on her face and then began to ease away from him. “You actually believe those books I saw in your house, don’t you? And I bet you’re a card carrying member of that Lycan website I came across, too.”
“We don’t really carry cards, but yes, my name’s on the registry.”
She threw her hands up in the air. “Oh, this is just great. I’m locked in a room with a wannabe wolf-boy and some psycho lawyer is trying to ‘persuade’ me to hand over a report about said wolf-boy.”
“Stop with the wolf-boy crap and get rid of the attitude.” Ryne felt his patience wearing thin. It had never been one of his strong points, and Melody’s mocking was stretching it to the limits. “This situation is serious. A lot of lives are at stake, not just ours, and we don’t have that much time before that fucking Aldrich returns. There are werewolves. I’m one. You are becoming one and Aldrich wants that report so he can find other packs and do God only knows what to them.”
His tone of voice caught her attention and she sobered. “You really believe this stuff, don’t you?”
“Not only do I believe it, I live it, every day. And soon you will, too.” He saw her open her mouth to comment but headed her off with stern words. “Let’s cut to the chase. I’ll do a little demo. You will not scream or pass out or do anything else clichéd. You will sit, watch and then we’ll discuss the situation in a calm, rational manner. Got it?”
She nodded and Ryne couldn’t help but allow a fleeting smile at the way she just shut up and listened when he went into Alpha mode. Damn, but that made for a nice change. Stepping back, he brought forth his wolf. Around him, the air seemed to shimmer, his vision temporarily blurred, then just as quickly, it cleared and he was looking up at Melody’s gaping face. He couldn’t help but give a delighted yip and wag of his tail at being able to rub her face in her disbelief. However, the situation was too serious to spend time on such childish actions. Quickly, he transformed back and sat back down.
“Wow.”
He raised his eyebrows at her bland response and waited expectantly for further comment. When none came, he frowned. “That’s it? Just ‘wow?’ No questions? No ‘how’d you do that?’”
“Oh, I have questions. Lots and lots of questions. Like, what kind of drug did you or Aldrich slip me? And why? I mean, sure you might have this fantasy life thing about werewolves, but why do you have to drag me into it?”
Ryne growled in frustration. “You weren’t drugged. You really did see me change into a wolf and as for why I’m dragging you into this...well...you’re becoming a werewolf, too.”
“Right.” She snorted. Her disbelief was obvious and irritated him no end.
“Think about it! You’ve been inexplicably ill for the past few days—”
“It’s not inexplicable. It’s from the cut on my arm.”
“Well, the cut was part of it, but didn’t you notice how quickly it healed? And haven’t you wondered why, if the cut is gone, that area of your arm is still sensitive? And what about the fevers that come and go? Or what about this—have you been hearing voices in your head?”