“Sure,” I sighed. “What?”

“If I prove to you I’m a werewolf, you have to spend the night with me. I won’t touch you if you don’t want me to, but I want one last night together before you go home forever.”

“Fine,” I said, waving a hand in dismissal. It wasn’t like he was going to change, anyway. “Whatever you say.”

“Alright.”

Thor pulled his hand away and took a few steps back. He reached down and peeled off his shirt, tossing it to the side. Then, without hesitation, he dropped his shorts to the ground, his heavy cock flopping free. The thick metal ring through the head reflected the floor lamp in the corner. He took a deep breath, kept his eyes focused on me, and began to lean forward.

At first nothing happened, and I was just about to laugh it off when his eyes suddenly changed. In the blink of an eye, they went from their normal baby blue to gold, the color bringing me back to that night I’d fallen in the gorge all over again. Then, with a growing fear in the pit of my stomach, I watched his body snap and crack. Fur sprouted from his pores and his face elongated, fangs dropping down from the roof of his mouth. In a matter of seconds, I found myself not in the room with a hulking tattooed man, but with a massive white wolf, his tail wagging happily behind him.

And I was fucking horrified because I recognized him. It was the wolf from the night I’d gotten hurt. The one that I was convinced was going to eat me. I thought I’d only made him up in my dreams, but it seemed it had been Thor all along.

I had no idea what to say.

The wolf let out a low whine and took a step toward me, his tail low but still wagging softly. I was absolutely frozen with fear and no matter how much I wanted to run, I couldn’t force my feet off the floor. The white wolf inched closer, his golden eyes still staring up at me. The fucking thing’s shoulders were higher than my waist. It was huge. And I knew with just a quick glance at those jaws that he could easily kill me in a single bite if he wanted to.

Instead, he nudged his forehead against my hand, a low whine echoing from his throat again. When I didn’t react, a pink tongue lapped at my hand, and he looked up at me again. The warmth seemed to snap me out of it for a moment and I was suddenly overtaken with the urge to pet him even though I knew I shouldn’t. But there was something there, that same bond that I felt before urging me on. I wasn’t sure how I knew it, but I was starting to be convinced that he wasn’t going to hurt me.

“Th-Thor?” I asked, my hand shaking as I lifted it.

He nodded, tilting his head down.

My hand landed between his large fluffy ears, the fur threading between my fingers as I stroked him. He was so soft and warm. A sudden urge took over me and I leaned down, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

Suddenly I was ten years old again and my old dog was sitting in front of me in the backyard. She always liked to be hugged like this and the memories made me feel safe. I’d always wanted another after she passed on, but Mom wouldn’t hear of it.

But this was different. The connection I felt with Thor was deeper. If I closed my eyes, I could almost feel his relief that I hadn’t gone running for the hills the moment he changed. There was a sense of joy emanating through his skin as I buried my face in his fur.

The wolf in my arms seemed to shift for a moment and I heard the familiar cracking once more. Before I could look up, I felt a strong pair of arms wrap around me and realized my face was no longer buried in wolf fur, but in Thor’s chest hair. His heart thumped wildly below his skin, his elation almost palpable.

“Believe me now?” he asked softly.

I nodded.

“Will you still spend the night with me?”

I nodded again. “Yeah.” I glanced up at him, his eyes blue again instead of gold. “I… I have a couple questions.”

“Just two?” he laughed.

I couldn’t help grinning. “Well… maybe at least three.”

???

We’d both been sitting in bed for over two hours, just going back and forth. I’d ask a question and Thor would answer. So far, I’d grilled him about every piece of werewolf trivia I could think of. There was a surprising amount to go through.

“So silver is bad, werewolf hunters might still exist, and there’s lots more packs out there like you living in secrecy all over the world. Is that about right?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, still running his fingers through my hair as I rested my head in his lap. “That pretty much sums it up.”

“And there’s a pack on the eastern mountain, isn’t there?”

Thor sighed. “Yeah. They’re leader is… not nice.”

“What did he do?”

“He killed my father.”