Page 12 of Midlife Wolf's Only Hope

It’s damned strange to think about Klarice knowing the truth about me.

Shifters are out in the open these days. More to the point, shifters don’t hide their existence as a matter of policy anymore. When I was young, the fastest way for a shifter to end up with the hell beat out of him was simply to be indiscrete about our nature. Do it a few times, and you’d end up dead. Humans think of us as monsters and until you live a life where at any moment people with torches and pitchforks might go after you, you can’t really comprehend what that means.

Even though we are out in the open, though, we don’t share this kind of thing with people this quickly.

The younger generation is more open about it. I imagine my grandchildren will likely be very open about it. For now, though, it just feels strange to have shared that with her. The really strange part about it is that I don’t really know why the hell I did. I mean, Klarice crying about the fear that I might die like her husband died isn’t a good reason to shift. I don’t even follow my logic trying to comfort her with that, for God’s sake.

In any case, as stupid as it may or may not be, it’s out in the open and whatever consequences there may be to it, I’ll have to deal with them.

It’s pretty damned difficult to worry too much about that when her head is on my shoulder and she’s sleeping peacefully. I wonder what Gwen might think about it. I wonder if Gwen’s boss knows about her nature. I wonder if the kids have told anyone about themselves. My son’s joking aside, only one animal is passed down and it follows the sexes. He’s a wolf shifter. His sister is a coyote. I wonder if they’ve shared that with anyone.

I really wonder why in the world I haven’t talked to them about it.

I’ll definitely be talking about it soon.

She stirs and then looks at me and smiles. “If you start howling at me, I’ll make you sleep outside on a leash.”

I stare at her in shock for a second and then burst out laughing. It’s so strange for this to be such a profound and significant thing to me and for her to be completely okay with it. I say, “You’re the first human I’ve ever told. I mean, there are some who know because my parents told them about themselves but you’re the first human I ever decided to tell and then told.”

She snuggles a little closer and kisses my cheek. “And you did it to make me feel better. You trusted me enough to tell me just so I would feel better after breaking down like a complete idiot.”

I turn my head and kiss her softly on the lips. “Breaking down, yes. Like a complete idiot, no.”

She hums a little and then her hand moves down over my chest and lower. Twenty minutes later, she’s back with her head on my shoulder, breathing softly. I smile at her and caress her cheek, then settle in next to her.

When we wake, the sun is low in the sky. I check my phone and am relieved to see we still have a few hours before Vince will be home. Klarice’s kids are with Gina until tomorrow, so we have time to hang out for a while before I need to go home.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she says as she lifts herself off of me.

I don’t answer right away. You can’t really blame me because her ass is absolutely perfect as she walks to the kitchen and I’m too distracted to respond. She returns a moment later with a bottle of wine and two glasses and sits next to me.

“Feel better?” I ask her as I accept the glass.

“Much better,” she replies with a smile. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“Of course,” I say. “I’m glad I did. I’m glad you know what I am now.”

“Me too,” she replies. “It wouldn’t have mattered though. It wouldn’t change how I feel about you.”

“I know that,” I say. “I’m just glad you don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

“No,” she says. “Not about you.”

Her smile fades a little as she says that. I frown and ask, “What’s wrong?”

She sighs. “I’m worried about Annie.”

“Annie? What’s wrong with Annie? Did something happen?”

“Not yet,” she says.

“So what’s wrong?”

“Do you remember the night we met when Annie fell from her bedroom window and sprained her ankle?”

“Yes,” I say. “I never would have predicted that would be one of the best nights of my life but sometimes the best things in life come in times of crisis.”

She rolls her eyes and chuckles. “Beautifully said, Romeo. Anyway, the reason she fell is that she was sneaking out.”

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