Page 28 of Wolf Reborn

Miles’s moods were like a yo-yo, and Gavin could only hold on and hope that whatever the bite had done to him, it would even out. On the other hand, the man had almost died and then been turned into a werewolf. Miles was always passionate—it was one of the things Gavin loved about him. All those things combined could explain it.

He didn’t think he was all that different from before being bitten, but that could be because he was only half a werewolf. But Dez was the same old Dez, he just got furry every now and then.

Miles would be fine. He was just overwhelmed. And who could blame him? Frankly, he was dealing with the change better than Gavin.

Gavin was microwaving soup and making tea in the kitchen when Miles drifted in, leaned on the counter, and watched.

It was easy enough “cooking” that even Gavin didn’t struggle with it. He couldn’t make eggs, but this was hard to mess up. Soup, covered, in the microwave for two minutes. Earl grey steeped in boiling water for just under a minute, then about half milk. He wasn’t sure how that translated into powdered creamer, but he suspected the answer wasn’t going to be the tastiest thing ever. It might be a little stronger than Miles liked, even.

Plus the tea in the cupboard hadn’t been plain old Earl Grey, it had been Earl Grey with lavender, and Gavin wasn’t sure what he thought of that. Lavender was... strong.

It might be a little much, especially for the newly wolfy.

When he was done, he set it in front of Miles and waited.

“Am I an experiment?”

“You’ve never tasted anything as a wolf before. It’s—” He sighed and looked back at the microwave, refusing to meet Miles’s eye. “It’s different.”

He could just make out the man’s silhouette on the edge of his vision as he tipped the cup up to try it and immediately set it down, making a tiny choking noise. Gavin wanted to jump in and apologize, pat him on the back, offer to help, but what was there to help with?

“I see what you mean.”

They were quiet until the microwave dinged to indicate it was finished. Instead of opening it, Gavin stared some more.

“It could be bad tea.” Miles was quiet for a moment, waiting for a response, then he stepped over to lean into Gavin’s side. “You can’t just be over this already, huh?”

Gavin turned to look at him. “Over this?”

“You bit me,” Miles said, and there it was, between them. Right where it would always be. “You found me dying, and you bit me, and now I’m a werewolf.”

Gavin swallowed hard and nodded. The microwave dinged again, apparently to remind them it had finished, but not been opened yet.

“You’re very angry with yourself about that,” Miles continued, waiting again for Gavin to respond.

This time he couldn’t.

Was he angry with himself for biting Miles? He was angry there hadn’t been a better way, but even if his phone had worked, and he’d summoned an ambulance, Miles could easily have died on the way to the hospital.

Gavin knew damn well that not every injury sustained as a human was healed as a werewolf, but he’d bitten Miles anyway. Not because he had any magical beliefs or thought the universe was a fair place. It had been his only hope.

That had been his choice: bite Miles or watch him die. Or maybe bite himandwatch him die.

It had been the worst kind of choice, and Gavin had made the only one he could. He never would have forgiven himself if Miles had died.

“I am,” he finally agreed.

Miles picked up the tea and held it out to Gavin. “You know how illogical that is, and that’s kind of pissing you off too, right?”

How did this man know him so well?

“And right now, you’re thinking even my favorite tea doesn’t taste good to me anymore because of some weird werewolf thing.” He paused, cocked his head, and added. “That’s it, right? There’s a weird werewolf sense thing?”

Gavin nodded and finally opened the microwave to stir the soup and put it back in for another minute. “A lot of things taste wrong. I don’t like soda that much anymore. Or a lot of artificial flavors I used to think were fine.”

“You know what Earl Grey is made with?” Miles asked.

“Tea, one assumes. Camellia Sinensis. Since it’s British, probably one of the varieties from India.”

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