Page 11 of Don't Howl At Me

“I must admit that I saw a few photos of you enjoying dragon rolls and spicy tuna on your social media accounts before you blocked me.”

“Ah, so you can’t read my mind,” I joked.

“No.” Wolf grinned. “That is not my special power. I do have a cousin who can read minds, however. Be careful around Travis. He isn’t afraid to use his skills to cheat at card games.”

“Noted.” I took a sip of my mai tai. “So, what exactly are your unique abilities? I did hear that you can use scent energy. Is that true?”

“It is.” Wolf paused to taste his sake. “Energies give off certain flavors depending on the circumstances. Fear is acidic; borrowed energy can smell sour or sometimes off in another way depending if it was freely shared with the user or taken by force.”

“That is amazing.” The server placed our order on the table, and I took my favorite piece before he walked away. No one was keeping me from that unagi and avocado roll. “I want to dip every roll in this sauce. I don’t care if it only goes on certain ones.”

“If you would like, I can bring extra eel sauce for the table,” the waiter offered.

“Yes, please,” Wolf said.

“Of course.” The waiter hurried off to fulfill our request.

“What made you decide to work for GSC?” Wolf picked up a piece of the caterpillar roll and popped it into his mouth.

“I always wanted to help shifters.” I leaned back and thought about the answer. “There were some injustices in the town where I grew up. Non-shifters were afraid of the unknown. The dragons in my area liked their privacy. Those two factors didn’t mix well.”

“What happened?” Wolf took a drink, and his throat worked as he swallowed.

How is a man so sexy drinking?

“My brother Seb was dating this human girl, his chemistry class lab partner. They fell in love, fast and hard. Her parents loved him and had no problems with them being together. Unfortunately, other people in town did. Including her oldest brother.”

“This story doesn’t end well, does it?” Wolf leaned in and squeezed my hand.

“No.” I shook my head and took a deep breath before continuing. This story was always hard to retell. “After graduation, my brother and Sherri moved in together and attended classes at the community college. They were so happy. I remember their first Christmas together. They had this mini tree with homemade ornaments they made together. One of the ornaments was this adorable one Sherri hand painted. It was a little heart that readFamily of Three. Seb was so excited.”

Wolf gave a small smile. “That’s an adorable way to announce a baby. But I’m guessing her brother wasn’t thrilled by the news.”

“No, he wasn’t.” Tears threatened to spill. “When he found out, he went into a blind rage and tried to attack my brother. Unfortunately, Sherri tried to stop him. When he pushed her away, the force made her stumble and fall into the street. The driver didn’t see her until it was too late.”

“Fuck.” Wolf grabbed my hand again. I was thankful for the grounding touch.

“My brother couldn’t live without her. The next day, I found him.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “He’d hung himself with the lights from the Christmas tree after destroying all the decorations. Everything was trashed except the one with the baby announcement. That one he left on top of his letter to us. His last goodbye.”

“I’m so sorry. How the world can have such hate and ugliness?” Wolf’s sincerity shone in his eyes.

“That day, my eyes were opened to the fact that shifters were still consideredotherby so many non-magical humans. I refused to shut them again, researching different ways to assist in helping shifters. Finding the Global Shifter Council. I met with the trainers and learned what it took to protect and defend when needed and to take down when all other options had been exhausted.”

“I’m glad you were there to help others and found a job you love. It’s exciting that GSC has contracted with the Survolar-Romano Training Center to integrate more magic-weaving into their arsenal.”

“I’m the one who suggested they look into it, after speaking with Rayne and Zander at their wedding rehearsal and they discussed their ideas for opening the center. I brought the possibility to my supervisor and was ecstatic when they agreed. So, do you like working for the center?”

“I love it. I have worked exclusively with Zander’s brother Nikolai for several months. He has the magic but not the grounding or control. We tried doing group training for him, but it was risky. I took on the personal training position. He’s getting better though.”

“It’s good he has someone willing to take the time to teach him at his pace,” I said.

Wolf nodded. “That’s my goal with the training center. Not just to make it possible for anyone interested to come to learn but that we will be able to adjust to their learning style and tailor the training to benefit them individually. I don’t want anyone to fail.”

The conversation flowed. With each new topic, we discovered how much we had in common.

I never thought about the way a man ate as sensual, but the way Wolf flicked out his pink tongue to get the little drip of sauce on the side of his mouth had me growing hard. I was ready to push this public table over and straddle his lap.

“Take me home, alpha. Show me you’re all mine.”

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