Page 31 of Wolves Always Bite

Adrianwaved away my worries. “No.It’snot a bad thing.Justdifferent.”

Hiswords weren’t reassuring.

WefollowedVaninto a narrow back alley and stopped by a building with a sign announcing it was theWillowLakePoliceDepartment.Theadjacent buildings didn’t have any doors or windows that faced into it, andIsuspected that was by design.Haulinga person with talons instead of hands up the front steps would make most people gawk.Threeof our attackers looked like humans now, but the man who’d attacked me was still refusing to shift his hands back.Adrianhad said his natural glamour would kick in as soon as he shook off all his magical form.Sohe was being obstinate by holding this form so long.Obviously, he didn’t come from a big family likeIdid, or he’d have learned that being difficult never garnered the results you hoped it would.

Maybehe was an only child.Hmm…Howlarge were typical supe families?Iknew having seven kids for humans was considered a lot.Myguess was supe families were smaller, because if there were a lot of magical people around it’d be harder to keep it all a secret, even with their fancy glamour.

And, whileIwas thinking about it, when the supernaturals transitioned from their magic-lite form to their hyped up magical one, that needed a cool name, like battle ready or high-test or undiluted.Iwondered if they already had one.

Andthat was just one more thing to add to the list of thingsIdidn’t know.

Isurprised even myself thatI’dheld back my questions for so long.Prettysoon the dam would break, though, andIwasn’t sureAdrianwas up for the task of answering everything when it happened.

VanandAdrianunloaded the harpies and their friends at the back of the building and hauled them inside.Aminute later,Adrianjumped back in the truck and pulled around front to park on the street.Thenwe both went inside to fill out some forms about what’d happened.

I’dexpectedVanto thoroughly interrogate us—andI’dbeen determined not to complain about it, sinceIknew how important it was to have answers—but it hadn’t turned out that way.Thisbrush with law enforcement was nothing like they showed onTV, butIsuspected some of that was because we were dealing with supes.

“Thatwas fast,”Isaid when we exited the building again a few minutes later.

Adriannodded. “Ithelps to have a supe as theChiefofPolice… and a hellhound at that.TheEternalMagicgifted them with the ability to know when someone is lying.”

“Arethere supernatural people in all police stations?”

“Thereprobably should be, but few supes enjoy working in a human dominated environment,”Adriansaid.

Peopleon the street gawked at us as we climbed into his wreck of a truck, but we ignored them.Theywere looking at the truck, not my sexy werewolf companion, and there wasn’t anything we could do about that.

“Butthis one does?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Halfthe staff were supes.”

“Halfof them?”Mind.Blown.Igaped and stared at the police station, hoping to catch a glimpse of the supes.HowhadImissed them?Theyreally were rockstars at blending in.Iwanted to go back in and watch them, see ifIcould identify the supes and figure out what kind they were.

“Iguess we should find a hotel.”Adrianscanned the street. “Vansaid there were a couple of places around here, right?”

“Yeah,Iguess,”Isaid, still running my thumb back and forth over my phone’s broken screen.Ashwould know where we should stay.It’dbe so easy to text him but then he’d knowIwas here.He’ddemand answers.

“Idon’t like hotel rooms much,”Adriansaid. “Toomany strange scents and sounds.ButIdon’t think we should risk sleeping in a tent right now.”

“Youusually camp?”Ishuddered at the idea.HowdidAdriancharge his phone?Orshower?Notall my good looks were natural.Someof this took hard work in front of the mirror in the morning or at least regular showers, neither of which were readily available in a tent.

“Don’tlook so horrified.”Helaughed at me. “Iwon’t make you sleep in a tent tonight.”

Whichmade me think about other sleeping arrangements for tonight.I’dshared a room with one brother or another for most of my childhood.Iliked sharing rooms, particularly whenIwas stressed.Havingsomeone close soothed me.

WouldAdrianthink that was weird?Orwere puppy piles a thing like what some authors said?I’dlearned that so much of what appeared in fiction didn’t exist in real life.IhopedAdriandidn’t shatter this as a myth too.Ichewed on my bottom lip asIeyed the werewolf.

“Youlook like you have something on your mind.”

"Canwe bunk together?"Iasked, my cheeks flushing. "Separatebeds, of course.Ijust…"Ioffered separate beds, but that was me being polite.Ididn’t want to come across as some slutty human desperate for werewolfD.EvenifIwas.Mymain goal, after all, was to have someone in the room with me.Ididn’t thinkI’dsleep otherwise.

"Yeah.Wecan share a room."Adrian’seyes flashed a golden color.Itwas the same color his eyes had been when he’d shifted into hisAnubisand his wolf forms.Oh.Ihoped that meant his wolf side liked that idea.

“Good.”

Adrian’scheeks darkened and he averted his gaze. “Truthfully,Idon’t thinkI’dhave been able to sleep if you were in a different room anyway.”Heswallowed hard. “Shit,I’mgoing to scare you, soIshould shut up.Butthe thing is…Myevery instinct is telling me to protect you.ButI’mokay if you want your own bed.Or, after hearing all that, your own room.Ican sleep in the hallway.”Hecleared his throat. “Ijust thought you should know.”

“Iwant to share a room with you, wolf boy.”Igrinned at him, feeling likeI’dwon the lottery.Hewanted to keep me close.Usually, people got tired of me by now.AndnowIwas becoming all twitterpated likeThumper,Bambi, and the gang.Ileaned toward him.Mygrin had probably turned into a rather lecherous leer as my thoughts turned naughty.Afterall, sex would also help me relax. “I’mlooking forward to it.”