Chris, sitting next to my cage, watched me moan when nimble fingers dug in. “Good thing I’m not the jealous type,” he said.
“Too bad he’s already married.” I let my jaw drop as the magic thumbs worked their way into my shoulders. “Or I’d snap him up in a second.”
“Wrong sex,” Chris pointed out.
“I’m reconsidering,” I retorted.
We laughed, and Josh shook his head.
Ten days before the full moon, Chris and I were in the barn, working on guided visualizations when Josh appeared at the doorway, waving Chris’s phone. “Matt needs you,” he said.
Chris’s expression went grim, and he grabbed the device from Josh’s hand before leaving.
“Brandon?” I asked.
Josh nodded. “It isn’t looking good.”
“Do you ever go with him?”
A strange look flooded his face, a mixture of shame and disgust. “I tried. For a while. After we met.” He shook his head, and his jaw tightened. “But it just isn’t me. And when I realized Chris would get himself killed trying to protect me, I knew I couldn’t go.” His pale gaze scanned me before he continued. “Enforcers aren’t made—they’re born. Chris stepped onto the earth that way. He’s always given his all to protect those around him. It’s in his blood.” He paused, and for an instant, the wulf shone through in his eyes. “Just like it’s in yours.”
I stared at him in shock. “Christ, Josh, I’m not an enforcer. I’m not even wulfan. At this point, I’ll be lucky to make it to wulfleng status.”
He gave his head a shake. “Deny it all you want. But I’ve seen it, and I know Chris has too. You can’t alter what’s in your blood. You’re an enforcer, through and through.”
I was still staring at Josh in shock when Chris re-entered the barn.
“We’ve got an uprising in Brandon. They need me.” He looked at me with worry in his eyes, then glanced at Josh. “Can you supervise Liam’s training? He’s progressing well, he can do the physical part on his own now.”
“Hey, man, I know the drill,” Josh said. “We’ll be fine.”
“Lock him in for meditation, when you have to push him . . .”
Josh grabbed Chris by the shoulders and kissed him full on the lips. When he released him, he said, “Just go. And for Christ’s sake don’t fall on a sword. I’m running out of Band-Aids.”
Chris blinked. He pulled Josh in for another fiercer kiss, the sentiment so raw I had to look away.
After he left, Josh stood very still in the aisle. When he finally met my eyes, his face revealed nothing. He peeled his lips back from long canines in what could be considered a grin. It was not a reassuring expression.
“If you think Chris is tough,” he said. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”
* * *
Over the course of the next two days, Josh proved his point. Chris might be a tougher physical taskmaster, but Josh proved insightful at pushing my mental boundaries. He seemed to sense the exact moment to poke, and when to bring me back down. The emotional rollercoaster exhausted me, but he continued to chip away—Chloe, Dillon, Peter, Keen, abandoned animals—until, on the heels of a story of starving and beaten horses in Texas, my temper snapped.
He sat in the aisle with Keen at his feet, safely beyond reach, while my eyes glowed emerald fire and my fangs dropped in a gush of blood, and that was when my jaw wrenched loose. At least, that was what it felt like, but I retained enough presence of mind to recognize that the bone stretched rather than broke, elongating into my wulfleng snout. Not fully, but my teeth had room to shift into proper placement. My ears tingled, and when I reached a clawed hand up, I ran fingers along the pointed tips.
I glared at Josh through the bars. “Bastard,” I slurred, and laughed. Or at least, I tried to, but my tongue hung out of my mouth like I was a demented dog. The release of my anger caused the changes to reverse, and I couldn’t suppress a groan as the bloody teeth slid back into my gums.
“Oww.”
“It gets better,” Josh said. “The first changes are always the worst. Wait until you feel the tail.”
Right. Spine pulling apart. Something to look forward to.
A ringtone had Josh digging through his pocket.
“‘Hungry Like the Wolf’? Seriously?”
“Used to be ‘Clap for the Wolfman’ but he objected.” Josh waggled a dark eyebrow at me before he hit a button on his phone. “Hey,” he said. I watched his face grow grim. “We’re good. Just got a full nose job from Liam. Made him laugh.” He listened for a moment. “Okay. Look after yourself. Love you.”
He disconnected and sighed. “He can’t make it back until tomorrow. They found where the wulfleng were sleeping, but not everyone was home. So they’re hunting, might finish late tonight or early in the morning.”
Hunting. What a term. Chris would return soon, and I experienced a rush of relief. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how worried I’d been about him being gone. I had a week until the full moon.
“He’s okay?”
Josh shrugged. “So far.” He shoved the phone in his pocket. “Your teeth too sore for supper?”
“Never.”
We shared a companionable meal with Keen. It was good she ran with me daily or she’d be a butterball by now. I’d never live it down at the clinic if I had a fat dog. If I ever make it back to my old life. I thought about the change and what would happen if I made it through to the other side. And I considered what Josh had told me about enforcers.
“Are enforcers paid for what they do?” I asked.
Josh swallowed his mouthful of chicken sandwich before answering. “They’re paid a retainer, more if they’re on the clock. Almost all enforcers have alternative employment, but their job requires
