Page 21 of Fighting Furry

“We're in love,” Axel said, sounding a bit panicked. I swung my gaze to him, eyes wide. He shrugged and widened his eyes like he was the innocent in this situation and not about to get us both killed. Figuratively killed. Shelly was not a murderer.

When I looked back over at Shelly she was glaring at me. “And you had your arm healed by a faith healer?”

“Uh-huh,” I said. Damn, her full focus was intimidating. She rarely turned it on me.

“Even though you're not the least bit religious?”

“Um…I—” She shifted in her seat and I got another hit of her scent that was…“Holy shit,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “You're pregnant.”

Next to me, Axel dropped his head into his hands and moaned something about being a dead man.

Shelly's eyes widened in shock. “How could you possibly know that? I haven't even been to the doctor to confirm it, yet.”

“Private investigator,” Axel said, his voice gruff.

“What?” Shelly asked.

“I'm a private investigator. I've been showing Julie how I use the smallest clues to figure things out about people. She probably noticed that you're looking a little heavier and your breasts are…” He finally picked up on the daggers Shelly was glaring at him and shut up.

“Bless your heart, you must have hit your head before you stepped in this diner if you think I'm going to believe that balderdash,” Shelly said.

“Look, Shelly,” I said. “Axel's telling the truth. I picked up on the changes in you, not because he's been teaching me anything, but because you're my very best friend and there's no way I wouldn't notice—”

The waiter delivered our food, interrupting me. As soon as he walked away, Shelly pointed at each of us in turn. “Not another word from either one of you until my plate is cleared. Today is the first day in two weeks that I've actually felt like eating and I am going to enjoy this meal.”

I bent over my plate and began to eat. Axel nudged my knee with his own until I looked at him. He glanced at the door in a meaningful way, but I ignored him. I wasn't going to walk away from my best friend. No way in hell.

I finished my breakfast in record time. Werewolf metabolism was no joke. I considered ordering another meal, but Shelly was already suspicious enough and I wasn't about to do anything to get Axel killed.

I waited for Shelly and Axel to finish. Apparently, Axel had much better willpower or he was less hungry than me. Shelly put down her fork and her knife, wiped her lips with her napkin, and glared at us. “Explain. And it better be the truth this time.”

“Shel,” I said. “It's just that—” Axel put a hand on my thigh.

“It'd be easier to show you,” he said. “Do you have time to stop over at Julie's condo?”

I stared at him wide-eyed and shocked. What the hell was he doing?

Shelly's anger seemed to lessen just a smidge. She nodded. “I have a few minutes. I'll meet you there.”

As soon as I was alone with Axel in my car, I punched him in the shoulder.

He winced and gripped his arm. “What the hell was that for?”

“I'm not going to let you kill Shelly to keep our secret. We'll figure out something to tell her.”

He grinned like he thought I was cute. I was a lot of things, but cute was not one of them, damn it. “I'm not going to kill her,” he said. “I have an idea. Can you trust me?”

Damn it, I shouldn't trust him. He'd protected Krista but he didn't know Shelly and he might be close with Krista. “Honestly,” I said. “I don't know you.”

He nodded. “Fair enough. But you know you can use the alpha voice on me, and you can probably kick my ass if you have to. Just give me a chance. If you don't like what I'm doing, feel free to take over.”

I couldn't argue with that. I started the car and drove us out of the parking lot. “How the hell have the werewolves kept their secret for so long?” I asked. “You're a terrible liar.”

He shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “Shelly is more…inquisitive than I'd expected, you should have warned me.”

“Right,” I said. “Because most people just accept the changes in a person when they get turned into a werewolf without questioning it?” I was grousing at Axel, but I knew I'd screwed up, too. I wasn't in the habit of keeping things from Shelly and I hadn't realized how much I'd changed until I was seated across from her.

“Most people are born wolves to wolf families,” Axel said. “The ones who are turned are usually estranged from their families already or are…Easier to convince to break ties with their families.”

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