Page 39 of In The Shadow of The Wolf

“I spent the evening at Terry’s house. He has a very nice home.” Henry began the conversation.

“He does have a nice place out there, lots of land to run.” Dean paused for a moment, then added. “I heard you come back early this morning. Was Terry called into work?”

“Yeah, he brought me home around two this morning.”

“Things progressing between you?” Dean cocked his eyebrow up as he stared over at Henry.

“I think they are, but it’s going to be a long road for Terry. We aren’t going to get things worked out to anything resembling a relationship in the time that I have here. I’m heading home after the ceremony on Friday. It will be a long time before Terry is ready to bond with a human male. That much I know for certain.” Henry found that actually stating what he was thinking was more painful than thinking it. He wished he’d kept the information to himself.

“Give him a chance. I know I’ve said it before, and I still mean it. Terry is changing. Even in the couple of days that you’ve been here, he has changed. I think there is hope for him.” Dean winked and then changed the subject to the ceremony and the details. They sat together for a couple of hours talking about a lot of nothing, and it was relaxing.

After lunch, Henry had been asked by Molly to pick up some white ribbon from the craft shop in town. She accused him of moping around the Ranch and said he needed a task, so here he was getting white ribbon to be used for decoration at the Bonding Ceremony.

He wasn’t too bothered by it, considering he could maybe stop by the police station and talk with Terry for a bit. He wasn’t sure how Terry would feel about the visit, but he hoped it would be alright. He hadn’t heard from Terry since he dropped him off this morning, and he was wondering how he felt about their evening together. Did Terry regret the intimacy? Was he scared now of having a relationship with him? Henry was curious.

...

Terry finally finished writing up the call from this morning and filed the paperwork with the court. Now he wanted to talk to Henry. He wanted to make sure he had a good time last night. He also wanted to assure him that he would have stayed in Terry’s bed if work hadn't called, and they would have had breakfast together this morning. He called on the house phone after there was no answer to Henry’s cell.

“He went to town on an errand for Molly.” That was all anyone knew, and Molly wasn’t available to elaborate. He tried Henry’s phone again, and this time he answered.

“Hi, Henry.” He stated as sultry as he could manage. He got a soft giggle for his effort. “Would you be interested in a cup of coffee and a piece of apple pie at the Black Bean, my treat?” Terry needed to see Henry. He really needed to see him. His wolf was starting to get impatient with him and wanted his mate.

“Sure, I’ll meet you there.”

“See you in about five minutes.” Terry hung up and hurried to the door, yelling over his shoulder that he was going to the Black Bean. He didn’t wait for a response.

...

On the way out of the craft shop carrying his bag of white ribbon, Henry accidentally ran into someone on the sidewalk. He quickly turned to apologize when he realized it hadn’t been an accident. The man that had been sitting with Terry yesterday and had given Henry a scalding stare was standing over him, holding tight to his upper arm.

“What’s your game?” He snarled and lightly shook him.

“Not sure what you mean,” Henry answered and then added. “Please release my arm.” The man spat on the sidewalk and aggressively pulled Henry up to him, so their faces were inches apart.

“What I mean is why are you getting so friendly with Terry? Why are you making people believe you two are a couple or something? It’s ridiculous because Terry would never get cozy with a human.” The word human came out like a sneer.

“I heard that he was probably bisexual, which isn’t really the problem, although I find it unnatural. The problem is you, Henry Grange, you’re not good enough for Terry Moore. You are nothing but a sniveling weak excuse for a man. You are nothing but a human.” He pushed him away with his last word, and Henry nearly stumbled to the sidewalk but caught himself before he completely lost his balance.

“Stay away from Terry if you know what’s good for you. Stay away from him. If you don’t, you may find yourself getting hurt.” He pushed roughly by Henry and disappeared down the street.

Henry stood there for a few minutes, gathering himself before righting his packages and heading to his car. He thought about coffee and pie with Terry but decided he just wanted to go home. He sent Terry a text and begged off the date.

Terry was sitting in the booth by the window waiting for Henry when he received the text message. Running a little late, Molly needs the supplies; going home, see you another time. Henry. He read it several times before responding. He asked if everything was okay and if he could see him for dinner this evening. Henry assured him he was fine but wasn’t feeling up to socializing, so he declined the dinner invitation.

Terry sat there trying to figure out what had happened in the short time between his call and the text. Something was wrong. Henry had completed the entire conversation through text rather than a call. It wasn’t like him. He would stop by the Ranch tonight and see him.

“Terry, you mind if I join you?” Terry was pulled from his thoughts by Kelvin asking to join him as he was sliding into his booth. “You waiting for that . . . cousin of Ronan James?” His tone was harsh and judgmental. Terry shook his head and dropped his phone into his pocket while glancing out the window. “Good, let’s have some pie. I haven’t had a good piece of pie in days.”

“Your wife doesn’t bake pie for you?” Terry asked, but not really caring about an answer. His mind was still on Henry.

“No. She doesn’t bake, she doesn’t cook, she doesn’t clean, and she doesn’t do much of anything. She does manage to make my life a living hell, but apart from that, she’s pretty much at loose ends.” He looked at Terry and then over to the waitress, signaling they were ready to order.

“Sounds like a match made in heaven.” Terry mocked.

“I’m sure it was made somewhere, but I doubt it was heaven.” He sounded more sad than sarcastic.

Henry drove past the coffee shop and glanced in, hoping to catch sight of Terry. Unfortunately, he did, and what he saw saddened his heart. Both Terry and Kelvin sat together talking and looking pleased and relaxed. Terry didn’t need him in his life. If he were smart, he’d pack up and head home now.

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