Page 38 of Bred By the Wolfman

Boomer tugs harder on the leash, and fear fills Dee’s eyes.

“What is it, buddy?” she says, voice trembling. “Who’s out there?”

Shit. She’s absolutely terrified. I can’t let her think some creep is in the park, waiting to jump on her.

Well, I guess there’s one creep out here.

“It’s me,” I say in as calm of a voice as I can as I rise to my feet, still hidden in the shadows. “It’s just me, my dear.”

“I know your voice,” Dee says, furrowing her brow. Then her mouth falls open. “Bill? Is that you?”

I take a step forward, and then another, until finally I’m out from under the shadow of the trees. The moonlight skates across my snout, illuminating my face. Boomer sniffs the air, and his barking stops.

Confusion twists Dee’s small features. “Wait, Russ?”

Boomer runs up to me, this time with his tail wagging. He remembers me. I kneel down in front of him to pet his head, hoping to keep myself as unimposing of a figure as possible.

She called me Bill.

“Wh-what are you... what are you doing here?” Dee tugs on Boomer’s leash, urging him to come back to her. “It’s the middle of the night!”

I swallow hard. Fuck. This is the worst possible way this could have gone.

“I’m sorry,” I say, extending one hand toward her. She flinches back, her blue eyes gigantic. “I’m so sorry for scaring you, Dee.”

She blinks at me when I speak. “Your voice. I thought it was familiar.”

All I can do is nod. “I’m Bill,” I say, before she can beat me to it.

She pulls Boomer closer to her. “And you’ve been Bill all along,” she whispers. “Russ, you knew. The whole time.”

My dirty laundry is out there now, on full display.

“Have you been... following me?” Her words are horrified.

“I had no choice,” I say, hoping, begging that she’ll understand. “When we met at DreamTogether, Dee, something happened. We connected. I know you felt it, too.”

She shudders, and her grip on the leash tightens.

“I felt something,” she admits, turning her head away so she doesn’t have to look me in the eyes.

That buoys me. That gives me hope.

“I’m sorry that I had to follow you,” I say. “But I have to protect you. I have to make sure you and the cub are safe.” She may not understand, but I had no choice. Everything in my world is driving me towards her. She and our cub are the pinnacle of my existence.

“And that’s why you’ve been tailing me?” Dee asks, voice pitching high as she turns back to glare at me. “You’re following me around in a park at night to protect me?” Then, it’s as if she realizes something, the way her mouth falls open. “That’s why you were there, isn’t it? When you saved Boomer?”

Again, I nod, because there’s no point trying to lie anymore.

“Bill,” she murmurs, as I rise back to my feet. Dee stares up at me as I block out the moon from touching her face. “I never thought I’d see you again, and you... you’ve been here the whole time.”

And then, quite suddenly, tears burst from her eyes. She raises a fist and charges at me, and I stumble back in surprise as she slams it into my chest.

“You fucking psycho!” she wails. “You could have just said, ‘Hey, Dee, remember me? Bill?’ and I would have jumped into your lap!” I catch her arm in my big paw, and she struggles to keep hitting me with it. She’s crying harder now, and I’m worried someone’s going to think I’m assaulting her and send the cops. “Instead, though,” Dee growls, “you had to go and fucking stalk me!”

I’m a fool. A complete idiot. I should never have lied to her when she mentioned DreamTogether. I’d been too afraid of that stupid boyfriend of hers, of how she might turn me away, as if he holds any candle to the mating bond I share with Dee.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. “I wish I’d told you the truth. But I didn’t want to get in the way of your life.” With my hand wrapped around hers, I tug her closer to me, and she stumbles forward. She’s stopped trying to hit me, at least, but she’s still holding firm against me.

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