Page 92 of The Wolf in My Tavern

“Wha’ do ye wants us t’ do, Master Gray?” the captain asks me.

“Nothing,” I say, and shifting to my beast form, I follow.

Chapter Thirty-Three

Ada

Callum carries me clasped tightly against his chest. It feels like we are flying as he takes giant leaps across the ship’s deck. There is so much weight to him that I feel the ship almost rocks under the passage of his tread.

There is a hole with shattered wood around it where the trapdoor to the hold once was. He jumps clear through, landing on the floor below, with a resounding thud vibrating through my body.

His chest is heaving, his body a radiating menace, and yet it is not directed at me.

Somehow, miraculously, it is my Callum inside here.

He prowls straight to a dark corner, where I see the remnants of chains and scraps of material representing the pants he once wore. Here in this shadowy corner, he gently lowers me to my feet before settling upon his haunches, caging me, his intent gaze centered upon me.

I asked Lizbeth what was coming. “Fun,” she said. “Messy, glorious, life-changing, fun!”

Did she know what Callum was?

Did Gray?

I believe he did.

Only now that he has changed and is before me, I’m still not sure exactly what he is.

I mean, he looks much like Gray’s shifted beast form—his face is distinctly wolven—but he is huge and must be twice the size.

How did he ever contain all this inside his human flesh?

He sniffs, drawing closer until his nose butts up against my chest. I’m naked and grow a little nervous as he nuzzles me, his eyes flashing bright green.

He’s not going to… he wouldn’t… he couldn’t… not without breaking me.

“Oh!” His huge, beastly tongue darts out to lick over my collarbone.

He continues to sniff me and lick my body in various places: my breast, my shoulder, and underneath my chin. He turns me around and laps from the back of my thighs, over my ass, and up my back, making me squirm when it tickles.

I twist around to face him again, trying to ward off his eager tongue.

He rocks back on his haunches and makes a deep, rumbly sound in his chest—his purr. The contented sound brings the sting of happy tears to the back of my eyes.

“Callum,” I say in wonder, sinking my fingers into the thick, luxurious fur covering his chest before sliding all the way up until I cup his huge jaw. Where Gray’s fur is short and dense, Callum’s is long and shaggy, and the most beautiful russet color with flashes of black and cream.

He stills at my touch, pushing his snout into my palm before emitting a sweet crooning noise.

It softens me completely. I fling my arms around his neck, pressing in as tight and close as I can. He wraps me up and moves deeper into the corner, crooning for me.

“I love you, Callum. I have missed you.” A small, happy giggle escapes me. “But goddess, how is this much beast contained in a single man?”

I feel the world tilting. At first, I think the ship is listing on the sea. But then I realize that the giant beast is shrinking before my eyes.

The shrinking stops when he is a more comparable size to Gray.

“Oh!” I gasp as he suddenly drops me to the ground, spins, and issues a menacing growl. His body seems to pump up and grow again.

I peer around him to find Gray standing there.

---