My Wolf’s Bane(88)

“Can you do that?” My eyes cut to his. “I thought it was too hard not to morph.”

Zack drove the car into the driveway of my house, jumped out and got to my side before I’d even opened the door. “Difficult, yes, but not impossible.”

“We should go out. You need to.”

“No. I won’t put you at risk. We’ll figure out another way.”

I wondered what that other way could be. I wouldn’t let Zack suffer to keep me safe. I couldn’t. I unlocked the front door while Zack kept guard. Inside, we checked for Daniel’s scent, but he definitely hadn’t been in the house.

Usually by now, we were already back from the woods. A run was overdue and I itched to get out. It must’ve been harder for Zack.

Dropping the keys on the kitchen table, he paced.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked, taking off my sweater.

“You’ll have to watch over me, make sure I don’t shift.”

“But… so what if you do?” I dashed around making sure there were no places the curtains didn’t cover, then did the same upstairs. When I returned, a black wolf awaited me, restlessly trotting through the living room.

Go to sleep. I’ll be fine. When I hesitated, he added, If you’re worried about me taking off, it’s not like I can open a door with my paws.

I giggled. “True, but you might suddenly feel desperate to run. If you turned human, you could open the door. I’ll stay.”

Suit yourself. He took off and sprinted down the hallway.

I prayed he didn’t damage anything. To save my cuticles from my worrying teeth, I switched on the TV. It had been forever since I’d relaxed and did something mindless. Normal. While keeping an ear out for Zack, I flipped through the channels until I came across a comedy.

About a half hour into the movie, Zack plopped onto the other end of the sofa, back in his human form and dressed. “What’s on?”

“Who cares? It’s got Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.” I shot him a smile, but he didn’t return it. “Was that not enough? Do you still need to go out?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine, for now.”

Why was he staring at me? “Then what’s wrong?”

“You’re in my bed and I’m tired. Although that’s not what I was thinking.” He grabbed a decorative pillow and leaned against the end of the sofa. “I’m not comfortable with you so far away. It would take Daniel two seconds to break through your window and snag you. I wouldn’t be able to get there in time. Now that he’s upped his threats, we can’t afford to sleep at opposite ends of the house anymore.”

“I could sleep in my dad’s chair.” I eyed the recliner uncertainly.

“You take your bed. I’ll sleep on the floor in your room.”

I shook my head. “No way. That chair will be more comfortable for me than the floor. It’s hardly fair to let you be uncomfortable when you’re only here for my safety.”

“Okay. It’s late. Let’s get ready for bed.”

Get ready for bed. That sounded good. I turned and went upstairs to clean up. Out of the shower, I blow dried my hair then contemplated which PJs to wear, settling on a set that covered nearly every inch of me. I wanted to avoid tempting him, which would then torture me.

Delaying my reunion   with Zack a few more minutes, I rifled through my closet in search of what I would wear tomorrow, running my hand along the skirt section, then the jeans and tops. Stopping at the dresses, I picked up the hem of a gown covered in paper. Where the protective wrap ended, gold and cream fabric peeked out. I fingered the delicate lace.

“Hey.”

I jumped, my eyes darting to Zack who stood in the doorway, bare-chested and hair wet. My stomach did a little flip.

“It got too quiet and I got worried that…”

With great effort, I smiled and tried to keep my eyes on his when I really wanted to ogle his six-pack. “I’m fine.”

“What’s that?” he nodded toward the hem of the dress in my hand.

“Daniel planned on taking me to prom, so I got this. Now, the thought of going anywhere with him makes me want to vomit.” I glanced down at the gown again. “Waste of a perfectly good dress.”

“Why not go anyway?”

Was that his way of asking me to go with him? Since we were pretend boyfriend-girlfriend, why not pretend go to the prom together? I waited for him to ask.

“People go stag all the time,” he said with a shrug of his shoulder.

“Hell, no.” I gave him a dirty look. “I’ll be down in a minute.”

He backed away and disappeared, his footfalls getting fainter the farther he got. “Come down soon. Having you so far away makes me nervous,” he shouted from below.