Page 33 of Watch Me Burn

It’s distracted. This is my chance.

Can I outrun an injured wolf? Doubt it, but I’m going to try anyway.

At least, that was the plan. It all goes to hell in a handbasket when the wolf pushes up off of the earth, almost like it’s trying to stand. A blink of an eye later, heisstanding—and it’s ahebecause what was a wolf a split second ago is a man.

He whirls around on me, and nowI’m distracted.

Conall. The wolf isConall.

His gold-colored eyes blaze as vividly as my flames as he stalks toward me. “Did you just light my tail on fire?”

It’s the tone. The accusatory tone, coupled with the fury etched in every line of his rugged face as he bears down on me. My back immediately goes up, and instead of being shocked that Conall was a wolf, I give him a quick up and down to show him that I’m not impressed with him at this very moment.

Mistake number two. I don’t know how I didn’t notice it straight off, but as he crosses the distance between us, I realize something I wondered about shifters, though I never had a chance to ask.

As their beasts, shifters are naked, right? You don’t see Mayor Lou as a skunk wearing his normal uniform of a jacket and khakis, though I wouldn’t be surprised if he had a tiny version of his air freshener to wear when he waddles around Dyea in his animal form.

That wolf was all fur. And now, directly after his shift back to human, Conall is all skin.

“Naked,” I yip. “You’re naked. You’re a guy, and you’re naked.”

And he’s annoyinglygorgeous.

Why couldn’t he have a hairy belly and a mushroom for a cock? Oh, no. Despite being a shifter, he doesn’t have any hair anywhere but near his junk, and considering it’s a good six inches soft, I’d hate to see what monster he’s packing when he’s hard.

And, oh, am I lying.

Conall doesn’t seem to give a shit that he’s completely nude—or that I’m definitely noticing that the Alaska cold doesn’t affect him at all, either.

“I’m not a guy. I’m a shifter whose ass has a burn on it because some human just lit my Alpha damn tail on fire,” he growls. He turns sideways, dick flopping as he moves. “Look at it.”

Don’t look, Bridge, don’tlook?—

“Your ass looks fine to me.” There’s a tiny pink patch, almost ironically in the shape of a heart, that might,mightbe a burn mark. If that. Who knows? Maybe he was born with it. “I doubt you’ll even scar.”

His expression becomes a dare even as he says, “I’m a shifter. We heal quick.”

“So why the hell are you giving me shit, Mr. Grump?”

“Because you lit my tail on fire!”

That again.

“You were running at me. As awolf. Sorry, but if a wolf comes after me, I’m not going to stand there and let it eat me.”

A muscle tics in his jaw. “I wasn’t doing anything like that. I was following behind you to make sure you didn’t get into any trouble. It’s not safe for humans to leave the safety of the sanctuary.” His chest heaves, and it takes everything in me not to lower my gaze any further than that. “But you’re not a human, are you?”

What was his first clue?

“Well, neither are you.”

“Yes, but everyone in Dyea knows that I’m a wolf shifter. I don’t hide it. Can’t say the same about you, can I? A fire witch in Dyea. I knew there was something… I could sense it. I just never thought you were a witch. Does anyone else know?”

Translation: who else has been keeping this intel from him?

Though I don’t see how it’s his business, if I want him to keep my secret, I have to at least try not to piss him off any further. I’m probably shit out of luck already due to the whole ‘lighting his tail on fire’ thing, but I try anyway.

“Elise,” I admit. “Just Elise. And she’s really a vampire?—”

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