Page 17 of Wolf's Midlife Baby

Holly was pretty sure there was something funny about him, but she stuck to her policy of hearing him out so he’d shut up. “Yes.”

“I think I’ve got it figured out.” He leaned close, his cologne too strong. “I spent a bit of time in that club last night. People don’t think anyone can hear them when there’s loud music playing, but I’ve got a great ear. I kept hearing them saying weird things like they were going out for a run. I figured it was a code phrase for drug deals or something. I mean, no one goes out for a run after they’ve been dancing and drinking at a rock club. Right?”

Her throat had gone dry. This couldn’t really be happening, could it? “Sure, but you never know?—”

“So I followed a few of them,” he continued, his brows furrowing down over his dark eyes. “Holly, what I’m about to tell you is absolutely wild. Understand that I’m telling you—and only you—because I think you’re the only person I can trust with this information.”

Or because he wanted to work with her or somehow thought it might get her into bed with him. Holly waited on tenterhooks, terrified of what he might say next.

“They’re not—” He looked around again and then lowered his voice so that it was barely above a whisper. “They’re not human. These guys left the club on foot, and I followed them at a distance. For a bit I thought maybe I was mistaken, but then they got to some of the parkland near the river. And Holly, I shit you not: They changed into wolves.”

She’d always known it could happen. The wrong person at the wrong time would get too careless with their secret, and someone else would be just nosey enough to see it. Her mind reeled, and her body threatened to lose balance. What could she do? “Are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” Kyle had given her his arrogant, macho attitude many times before, and it was rare that she saw any shred of authenticity in his personality. It was there now, though. He wasn’t laid-back Kyle, who hoped to get laid on a company trip. He was Kyle Freeman, investigative journalist, a man on a mission to expose a massive story. “I didn’t have a drop of alcohol in that club. I was completely aware and sober. I’m talking teeth and fur and tails. Everything. I have no doubt I can recreate what I saw by spending time in the right places.”

He straightened but still had a hold of her elbow. His face was hard and serious. “You believe me.” It was a statement, not a question.

How could she not? Though not a wolf, she was one of the very subjects Kyle wanted to pursue. “Yeah,” she managed.

Kyle gave a slight nod. “I’m going to stay in Eugene for a few days longer and pursue this. I’m not telling anyone at work about it, not even Marshall himself. I have to keep it under wraps until I’m ready to bring it out into the spotlight, so as far as anyone else is concerned, I’m just taking vacation time. What do you say? Are you with me?”

It was an impossible situation. Kyle was a pain in her ass every year, and she couldn’t wait to leave him behind. But if she did, he stood a chance of being much more than a pain in the ass to thousands of people. If he were successful and did a good enough job that people could actually believe him instead of laughing him out of the newsroom, it would change everything. Not just here in Eugene, and not just here in America. The entire human civilization would experience a massive paradigm shift they probably couldn’t handle. Holly wanted to believe that Kyle wasn’t capable of making waves that big, but what if he was? There were many ifs, which was precisely what scared her.

“Sure,” she finally said, knowing she had no choice. She had to stay, and she had to work on this project with Kyle, but not for the reasons he hoped. Holly had to completely botch the story and keep it under wraps. That was the very antithesis of what she was all about, but the risk was too great. “I’m in.”

8

“Sorry there isn’t very much closet space,” Pierce said as Rick stepped out of the guest bedroom. “I’ve just been using it for extra storage, but I can take those boxes and put them somewhere else for a while. I should be able to get them out of your way in a couple of days.”

“Don’t worry about it,” his father insisted. “And aren’t I the one who should be apologizing to you? Encroaching on your home and everything?”

Pierce resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “You’re not encroaching. I invited you. Besides, we’re family. This is just how it works.”

“Yeah. I guess so. Listen, is it all right if I put my shampoo and conditioner in the shower?” He thumbed over his shoulder at the bathroom at the end of the hall.

“C’mon, Dad. Of course, it is. I was just telling you I’ll get things out of your way so you’ll have a place for everything.” He knew all this was only coming out because his dad felt so lost and out of place. Pierce had never thought his apartment was big, but maybe he’d been taking even that tiny amount of square footage for granted all this time. “And really, I’m going to get those boxes out of your way.”

Rick had retrieved his shampoo and conditioner from the dresser and put them on the edge of the tub. “It isn’t like I’ve got much to put in the closet right now. I’m lucky enough to have kept some extra clothes at the fire station, but I’ll have to go shopping sometime soon.”

“Right.” Pierce felt bad all over again. He hadn’t meant to remind Rick that he was left with nothing after the fire, but it was a topic that seemed impossible to avoid. “I can go with you sometime next week.”

Rick sat on the couch as they returned to the living room but didn’t lean back into the cushion. He sat with his elbows braced on his knees, looking ready to spring forward at any moment. He hadn’t really been comfortable since he arrived. “Jessica has already told me she’s taking me. Then Paige and Ellie jumped in on it as soon as they realized it meant a trip to the mall. I don’t know how much shopping I’ll actually get done, but that’s all right. Hayden’s girls are sure a hoot.”

The timer on the kitchen stove went off, and Pierce stepped in to grab the pizza from the oven. “I can’t say you’re in for a culinary adventure while staying here at Château Pierce, but I promise you won’t go hungry. You want to grab a couple of sodas while I slice this?”

“Sure.” They arranged themselves on the recliners in the living room, their plates loaded with pizza and cold sodas on the table between them. “I suppose I’ve been technically living the bachelor life for the last ten years with your mother gone, but it feels a little more authentic in an apartment eating frozen pizza.”

“Is it really so bad?” Pierce asked with a smile. He found himself smiling around his father almost all the time lately, trying to find anything that would keep him in good spirits. He felt so bad for him. Yes, it was sad for Pierce, too. No doubt Hayden was grieving in his own way. But both of them had grown up and moved out. It had to be much harder for Rick. “I’ve always got junk food in the freezer, cold beers and sodas in the fridge, and far more streaming services than any one man could possibly need.”

“Oh, that’s just fine for me. I suppose you think it’s fine for you, but I have to wonder what your girl Holly thinks about the whole thing.” Rick picked up the toppings that’d fallen onto his plate and put them back onto his pizza.

Pierce nearly choked on a pepperoni slice, but he should’ve expected the subject to come up eventually. Hayden and Rick had both been around when he’d pulled her from the water. They’d been gentlemanly enough not to ask questions when she showed up on his arm after the fire, but they weren’t dumb. There had to be something going on for her to be there with him in the middle of the night. “I don’t know that I’d call her my girl,” he began.

Rick blotted his lips with a paper towel and then folded it into the palm of his hand. “She seems very nice.”

It was an open door into the rest of the conversation. Looking back, Pierce realized his father had mastered that a long time ago. He’d never come right out with demanding questions when he wanted to know what was happening in his sons’ lives. Instead, he’d casually bring the subject up and then just let it hang in the air. His patience had always been much greater than that of his boys.

That was when they were younger, though. “Yeah. She is.”

---