Page 37 of To Challenge a Wolf

“Yeah,” he said.

How on earth…? Vivian angled her head up to meet his eyes, but he avoided hers. He glanced around at the stares from his pack.

He shrugged again, but this one was even less convincing. “I don’t know how. I just did it. Changed form.”

“And in his wolf form, he moved like I’ve never seen another wolf move,” Robert said. “Once in my life I’ve seen a vampire move at full-speed, and they look like…flowing water. That’s how Rhett moved.”

“Are you saying that blur from the camera feed isRhett?” Jeremy said. “Moving like avampire?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Robert said.

Jeremy turned to Rhett. “Okay, since Mal did away with the bad alpha, who didyoutake out?”

“One of them brought a gun. I stopped him from using it, but I didn’t kill him.”

“What about changing form?” Jeremy said. “Did you decide to, the way Mal does?”

“Yeah. No.” Rhett spread his hands, the gesture more vulnerable than Vivian had seen him among his pack so far. “I don’t know. I…” Searching for words wasn’t typical Rhett either. After a moment he looked to Malachi. “When I saw the weapon, I thought something like…I’ve got to get there in time. I can’t get there on two legs. And it was like you heard me.”

“Not in words, but my wolf sensed something.” Concentration furrowed Malachi’s brow. “Somehow I felt your need for the wolf form, and I agreed.”

“So when you’re in wolf form, you can turn us into wolves,” Trevor said.

“I don’t think I can do it against your will. But if you want to, I think I can give permission for the change.”

“Wow,” Willow whispered. “That’s incredible.”

Trevor lifted his hand. “When can we test it?”

“Not tonight,” Malachi said with a low rumble that held both warmth and finality. “Rhett, is that why you approached me after the fight?”

“I couldn’t change back on my own,” Rhett said. “But I didn’t know what I was asking you when I came to you. It was like…all my wolf instincts said to stick near you. And if anyone could help me, you could.”

The pack fell silent with pure wonder. After seeing Malachi in his wolf form, Vivian now itched to see Rhett (and a night-vision snapshot didn’t count). His fur would be nut-brown like his hair. His blue-gray eyes would be striking in a wolf’s face. He would be smaller than Malachi but bigger than a natural wolf. He would be beautiful and wild.

Her reverie broke as Trevor tilted his head at Rhett and said, “You got between Malachi and the gun.”

Rhett let out a low growl. “Look, Trevor, it happened in a split second. A rogue who’d already attacked here once was on my land, and I saw he had a gun. That’s all.”

“You risked getting shot,” Trevor said. “You didn’t know you’d be able to change form.”

Rhett growled.

“I’m not razzing you, man. In fact…” Trevor threaded his way around a few people and—no, surely he wasn’t going to— Yep. He threw his arms around Rhett and pounded him so hard on the back, he’d have bruised a human.

“Rhett, I take back every snarky thing I’ve ever said about you.”

“Still don’t own a tank,” Rhett said, trying and failing to extricate himself from the wolf hug.

Trevor barked a laugh and pounded on Rhett one last time, then let him go. “Thank you, man. You probably saved somebody’s life tonight, you know. Could’ve even been Dad’s. He was right there too.”

“Maybe. Now back up.”

Trevor took a few steps backward. “You stilldeserveevery snarky thing I’ve ever said about you. But I take them back anyway.”

“That’s great, Trevor, because your brilliant snark was really starting to hurt my feelings.”

As if in deliberate provocation, Trevor clapped a hand on Rhett’s shoulder. Then he made a quick retreat back to Kelsey. Rhett gave a low growl, but one corner of his mouth twitched, and Vivian wanted to thank Trevor. Rhett needed people in his life to poke him in the heart occasionally, remind him he had one.

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