'Locked the doors, checked the windows?'
'Placed warding stones around my bed, as ordered.' Her gaze met Kat's. 'But not yours, so be warned.'
She nodded. The magic of the stones only extended so far, and a queen-sized bed wasn't within those limitations.
Of course, that was presuming she and Ethan were actually going to share a bed. Looking at him now, she had an unsettling feeling that wasn't likely.
He'd said nothing more than sex, and that's what she'd agreed to. Did that 'nothing more' include not sleeping together?
She crossed her arms and hoped that wasn't the case.
She'd like to think there was something between them other than the immediate need for release. That it wasn't just the moon and the fever rushing through his veins that made him want her. That he actually liked her.
'I'll go change, then we can get our walk over with.' She picked up her bag back and walked into the other cabin. It was a mirror image of Gwen's, only a little bigger. She continued into the bedroom. The bed was luxurious, covered with a comforter thick enough to lose fingers in.
Across from it was another open fire, smaller than the one in the living room but just as warm. She dumped her bag on the bed and checked out the bathroom. It was basic, but there was a big old claw-foot tub. Just the thing she needed to take the chills from her spine later.
She went back to the bedroom and changed into warmer clothes, then grabbed her coat and the chocolate bar and headed back to the other cabin. Gran was sitting on the sofa, a bemused expression on her face. Ethan was nowhere to be seen.
'What have you done with him?'
Gwen snorted. 'He's outside, pacing.'
'Why on earth is he pacing?'
'At a guess, I'd say he's angry. Not sure why, though.'
She paused, eyebrows raised and eyes twinkling. 'What on earth did you do to him?'
Heat touched her cheeks. 'Me? Nothing.' Nothing except make love to him, and surely he couldn't be angry at that.
He'd wanted her as badly as she'd wanted him.
'Well, something's got him all worked up, so tread warily around him.' Gwen glanced at her watch. 'And be careful when you're walking around out there. It's always possible I was wrong about the timing of the attack.'
Kat nodded. 'Are you retreating to the stones?'
'Right after I finish my coffee. Ethan's got the key to your cabin, but if my light is on, come in and give me a report.'
Something she'd be doing anyway, just to make sure Gwen was okay. She shoved on her coat then went out to find Ethan.
He'd stopped his pacing and was standing in the middle of the driveway, staring up at the cold silver moon. She stopped beside him and thrust her hands in her pockets.
'It must be horrible,' she said softly.
She could feel his gaze on her, but didn't meet it.
'What must be horrible?'
'Being forced through the change every full moon.' She loved shifting shape, but then, she was able to pick and choose. A werewolf had no such choice, not when it came to the full moon.
'It's just the actual change that happens with the full moon. The true change begins five days before, when the base urges begin to rise.'
She smiled. 'I wouldn't have thought that part of it would be much of a problem to most men. Doesn't the allure of the werewolf guarantee a satisfied outcome?'
'Mostly.'
'Then surely it's only the forced change that presents any real problem?'
'Losing your soul to a beast is never pleasant.'
She did look at him then, a little surprised by the acerbity in his voice. 'But the werewolf is your soul. It's you.'
'It's not me. It's a beast I'm forced to live with once a month.'
'I'm human, not an animal.' He thrust his hands into his pockets and walked away. 'Let's get this over with.'
'But…' Her voice died. This was the first time she'd ever met a shifter who didn't accept his heritage, and she wasn't entirely sure what to say.
And what would he think of her , if he ever discovered she could shift shape as well?
'But,' she repeated, running after him, 'you're not an animal, because you control the werewolf, not him you.
Even on the night of the full moon when the change is forced on you.'
'It's not something I want, regardless.'
Why? Had he always felt this way, or had something happened in the past, and this bitterness was the end result?
'But if you don't accept it, how in hell are your kids ever going to understand and control — ' 'I won't ever have kids,' he broke in, voice harsh. 'So that's not going to be a problem.'
She blinked. His fury spun around her, so deep and raw it snatched her breath away. 'You don't like kids?'
'No.' His voice was flat. Dead. 'If we're going to play twenty questions, why don't you try answering a few?'
She gave him a sideways glance. His face was still expressionless, but the way he moved, the set of his shoulders, all suggested anger. At her. 'What?' she said warily.
'Why did you kill the driver that rammed us?'
It certainly wasn't the question she'd been expecting, and though she schooled the surprise from her face, she knew he'd probably seen it anyway. 'What do you mean?'
He stopped and grabbed her arm, spinning her around to face him. His eyes were dark puddles of rage, his fingers hot and tight through the thick layers of clothing.
'Mark arranged for a cruiser to go out and pick up the suspect. But he was dead when they got there.'
She cursed internally. Trust the damn cops to get there before the thing had disintegrated properly. 'I have no idea — ' He shook her so hard her teeth rattled. Energy surged, and she clenched her fists, fighting the desire to slap his angry butt across to the other side of the road.
'Don't lie to me,' he said 'You killed the driver. I don't know how, but I intend to find out why.'
She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. 'I've told you why already. If you don't want to listen, it's your damn problem not mine. Now let me go before I do something I may regret.'
'You killed a suspect in a murder case — ' 'You're going to have a hard time proving that, buddy boy. First, I didn't go anywhere near the suspect, and second, by morning that body is going to be nothing more than a few scraps of bone and hair.'
He stared at her, anger so evident in his eyes they practically glowed. He didn't believe. She wondered what in hell it was going to take before he did.
'What do you mean?'
'I told you, it's a zombie. Now that it really is dead, it'll undergo an accelerated decomposition process. Now get your damn hand off me.'
'Not until you tell me how you killed it.'
She hit him with kinetic power instead, wrenching his fingers from her arm and thrusting him across the road.
He hit a pine with enough force to shake some cones loose and slithered down its trunk to the ground.
