making you some tea.'
'Wolves drink tea?'
Liam smiled down at me. 'It calms the nerves,' he said. He moved back away from me and headed into the kitchen. I heard him turn the water on and off and then place what must have been the pot on the stove.
I turned my head to the side of the pillow as I took in the room. A small scuffed up coffee table sat in front of where I lay on the couch. The rest of the living area appeared sparse, except for a few large body sized pillows haphazardly thrown about the floor. At the far end of the wall, a large stone fireplace reached up, disappearing through the thick beams that ran horizontally along the ceiling.
'Where are we?' I asked.
Liam returned, sitting down on the coffee table across from me, and extended a large steaming mug. 'My house,' he said, placing a matching cup down beside him.
I slowly took the mug from him and paused to inhale the sweet damp steam. It did help. 'You have a house?' I asked.
Liam smirked slightly and then leaned forward on his knees. 'Don't act so surprised.'
I took a sip of the tea, rolled its smooth taste over my tongue, and then swallowed. 'Sorry,' I said. 'It's just, I'm trying to wrap my head around this whole,' I paused, 'wolf thing.' I nervously tapped the handle of my mug. 'I didn't imagine that, did I?'
'No,' Liam said. The corner of his lip turned up. 'And I'm not always in wolf form, Charlotte.' He motioned with his head for me to look at the way he was dressed. My gaze followed, noticing the way he sat made his faded gray tee shirt hug his abs. I quickly looked up, and covered by drinking some more tea. The subject needed to be changed.
'So what happened? How did I get here?' Strange, how I could have meant that in more ways than one.
'You passed out. After I scared the other wolf off, I carried you here. You're hurt.'
He reached for my ankle, but I tucked it back under me with a wince. 'So there was another wolf?'
'Yes, but not like me. That one was purely animal. He probably sensed your injuries, figuring on an easy meal.'
My jaw dropped. 'He was going to eat me?' My stomach coiled.
Liam took the mug from me and placed it down next to his. 'Wolves don't usually attack humans. It had to be desperate. I could tell my scent confused him.'
'Because you look human?'
'Yes.'
I didn't want to ask Liam if he had reacted like a wolf to communicate to the other one properly, or if instinct had dictated that. The whole thing made me feel numb. I wanted to wake up.
Liam offered my cup back, but I shook my head. 'Why do you look human? Are you some kind of werewolf?'
'I don't know.'
'But a wolf bit you. You were once human.'
Liam stared down at his sneakers as steam rose off his untouched tea. 'I never said a wolf bit me.'
My jaw dropped just as the front door to the living room slammed open. A heavy clamber of footsteps and male voices filled the air. Liam put his finger to his lips, and then took off over to stop them before they entered the doorway.
'Ah, Liam. Thank God you're here.' I recognized the voice as Steve's.
'Guys, this isn't the time. I need you outside.'
'But, Liam. I saw tracks. Something's out there.' He must have tried to move past Liam, because Liam's arm shot up and blocked the door jam. 'What's going on?'
Byron leaned over and his face broke into a grin. 'Hi, Charlotte.'
I sank down into the couch and buried my head under the pillow. 'Go away.'
'Come on you guys. You heard her.'
'Since when does she rule the house?' I couldn't tell who said it, but a low gurgling snarl came from somewhere deep in Liam's chest. 'Leaving,' the voice said and the front door opened and then clicked softly back in place.
'But what about the tracks?' Steve asked.
'Solitary wolf from what I could tell. Met him down by the river. I would have smelt others if there were more. He was desperate. Something must have scared him our way, but I'll be checking into it. Don't worry.'
I saw Steve nod and then he peeked down under Liam's arm. 'Bye Charlotte,' he said with a little wave.
'Get out of here,' Liam said, as he dropped his arm and playfully shoved Steve towards the door. Byron took the opportunity to slip in and gave a quick wave too. 'All of you,' Liam said, pointing. 'Now.'
Byron chuckled, but I heard the door open and close again. Liam made his way back over to where I lay. He sat down next to me on the edge of the couch, instead of the coffee table this time. He touched my arm. 'You okay?'
I peeked around the edge of the pillow that I held over most of my face and muttered, 'Is it safe?'
Liam chuckled. 'Yeah. Sorry about that.'
'Are they...?'
'Wolves?' he asked. 'Yes, but they were bitten.'
I took a moment to roll that around in my head, but it still didn't make sense. If Liam hadn't been attacked, what did that really mean? My nerves started to go haywire and I extended my hand towards my mug sitting on the edge of the coffee table.
'Want me to heat it up?' Liam handed me the cup. I shook my head and took a long, deep sip.
'Do they live here?'
'Yes.'
I expected as much, although I did feel guilty about getting them kicked out of their own home. Liam seemed to read my thoughts.
'It's still my house, Charlotte. I took them in. They need to follow my rules. Besides, outside isn't exactly a punishment for a wolf.' The corner of his mouth lifted and for the first time I saw how even that small gesture had an animalistic undertone. 'They're fine.'
I swallowed and took another sip of my tea. 'So if you're in charge of them, would that make you their Alpha?'
Liam chortled a small laugh and then rubbed his forehead. 'Yeah.'
'What?' I asked. 'You don't sound too thrilled.'
He shrugged and then brushed a stray hair from my cheek. It made me shiver. 'I never asked for this. My brother's the one who always wanted power and control. Even as pups. I'd rather just hang out, hunt, and do my own thing.'
'More of a solitary wolf,' I said, purposely ignoring the fact that he said he had once been a pup. My mind wouldn't grip that, at least not yet.
He smiled. 'Maybe that's why I turned human.'
I sat up a little bit further without trying to move my foot. 'Wait a minute, you mean you were a wolf first?' My mind tried to catch up with what that meant. I knew he said he was a wolf, but he couldn't mean he really was wolf. He meant, werewolf, right?
Liam cleared his throat and looked a little uncomfortable. 'Yeah,' he said. 'I was born a wolf. When I was about three in wolf years, I woke up one morning human. Scared the life out of me, but yeah.'
I think I stared at him in shock for a good two minutes, not even knowing what to say. 'So you were three, out in the woods, human, all by yourself?
'Well, no. My brother was with me and soon after we ran into a guy named Thomas who sort of adopted us. Long story.'
'Okay.' I rubbed my forehead trying to get all of this to sink in. 'But, how did this happen? I know how the werewolf thing works.' I think. 'Don't you have to be bitten or something? I mean, you were like bitten by human were you?'
Liam chuckled, shaking his head. 'No. I don't know why I turned human. I've searched for a reason for years, but still haven't found the answer. Guess I'm just a freak.'
