Page 110 of Love Bites

“Everything about me, Bella,” he whispered. “I’m a beast.”

Beast.

The word hung in the air between us. That was the way I’d first thought of him, when he’d stalked into the courtyard like some kind of predator. But it didn’t make any sense. He was clearly just a man. What could he be talking about?

“You’re a man,” I said, voicing my thoughts as I stupidly gestured at him in the darkness.

“Would you like for me to show you?” he asked.

“Will you hurt me?”

“Never.” His voice sounded strained.

“Then yes,” I said. “I want to see.”

“Don’t scream,” he said.

Before I could ask why I would scream, there was a sound in the air, a sort of hush of movement.

My eyes strained against the darkness, hoping for some hint as to what was happening.

A heartbeat later, the cave was still and silent.

“Luke?” I whispered.

There was no answer, but I heard a huff, almost like a sigh.

I reached out into the darkness. Something soft and warm met my hand, like thick hair.

No.

Fur. It was fur.

I froze and then the dark shape butted against my hand, as if eager for more contact. It felt almost like a dog, but way too big and too high off the ground for that. Whatever Luke had become, his head was at my chest level.

I let my hand run up the top of the head and down the neck, where its fur grew shaggier.

I felt shoulders, and the slope of its spine.

It huffed at me again and head butted me in the hip.

The movement was slow and gentle, but the creature was big enough that I nearly stumbled.

“I can’t see you,” I said. “Move closer to the light.”

I stepped toward the mouth of the cave, to the place where the pinpoints of light that bled between the vines illuminated the cave floor slightly.

I looked back toward the creature I had touched.

It moved to me slowly, glowing blue eyes appearing first, and then I saw its full shape, its thick coat shimmering slightly in the moonlight, shoulders rolling with a fluid quality that suggested incredible power.

My heart leapt in my chest at the sight. But somehow, I was not afraid.

“You’re a wolf,” I breathed.

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