Wolf Dreams

Chapter 4

The wolf bounded off, and Erika covered her mouth with her hand and sank to the ground. Lazlo really was a...werewolf? How was that possible? She'd known him all her life, and while he'd always been wild, he'd never once given her a hint of his ability to change his shape.

Granted, he'd been gone ten years. She'd gone through quite a few changes, too, coming into her own powers. Had he been like this before he left, or had something happened to him in New York?

She had to find out. Since he'd left his clothes in a pile, she figured he'd come back. Finding a comfortable spot sitting against a wide, ancient oak, she settled in to await his return.

***

Later, pleasantly exhausted and sated, though finding no trace of little Katya, Lazlo returned to the small grove where he'd left his clothes. He picked up a whiff of another scent, but it was far enough away that it didn't alarm him. He crouched on his belly on the damp, leaf-covered earth and shifted back to human.

As a man, he felt the force of his arousal and grimaced. Changing from wolf to human was always sexual for his kind; for that reason, shifters liked to change in pairs, whether mated or simply wolves with benefits.

Since he was alone, he picked himself up off the ground and began to get dressed. The breeze blew from behind him, so he kept his eyes open for signs of any intruders, wary of the other scent he'd picked up.

There. Ahead. Someone stood in the shadows, half-hidden behind a tree. He crouched low, into a fighting stance. Then she stepped forward and he realized who it was. Erika.

"Welcome back," she said.

Heart pounding, he stopped the instinctive curl of his lip and kept himself from snarling. "What are you doing here?" he asked, aware the low growl of his voice was barely civil. Another lingering effect from recently being a wolf. "You know the Royal Forest is forbidden."

Her bright blue gaze touched on him, seeing everything. "I might ask you the same question, except I think I know what you're doing here."

How much had she seen? Probably everything. But he knew her; she would never betray his existence. The one thing he was sure hadn't changed about Erika Cenov was her good-heartedness. She always went out of her way to keep others from getting hurt. She wouldn't say or do anything that would cause him harm, like try to alarm the villagers with talk of dangerous werewolves. The Pack was safe.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he debated how to answer. To his chagrin, she saved him the trouble.

"In my dream, I saw you become a wolf. Just as you did now." She swallowed hard, the slight trembling in her voice giving away her fear. "You're really a werewolf, then?"

Despite himself, he winced. "We prefer the term shape-shifter."

Inhaling sharply, she eyed him. To her credit, she didn't scream or run away, or act as though she considered him terrifying. Which was, he figured, what most humans would have done. Even for someone who had precognitive dreams, witnessing a man become a wolf had to be a huge shock.

Still, he didn't expect her next statement. "I know you didn't kidnap that girl, but..."

"But what?"

She visibly gathered up her courage, straightening her spine and lifting her chin. "Do you have other information about it?"

"Other information about what?"

Her steady gaze held his. "I'm asking if the man who took her was also a...shape-shifter."

"Truthfully, I don't know. With the description you gave, the entire police force is looking for him. I haven't heard anything about him being recognized as a member of the Pack."