“Change back to who you are, Bruce. You’re a human man first, wolf second.” That wasn’t exactly the way Captain M had described it, but she wasn’t here.
Bruce ignored him. He started moving around, slowly at first, but quickly learning how to walk. The guy was coordinated, that was for sure. It had taken Laddin hours to figure out the basics of walking without his back legs tripping him up.
“Come on, Bruce,” Laddin said. “Shift back.” Even he could hear the edge of panic creeping into his voice. “You’re my responsibility, and I really don’t want to screw up on my first mission.” Against his better judgment, he reached back into the van and picked up the remote for the shock collar. He didn’t want to use it. Hell, he didn’t want to touch it, but if he didn’t get the barn door closed, that was going to be the only way to keep Bruce in sight.
Meanwhile, the wolf began to trot. Not walking forward and back like he had been doing, but a trot that headed toward the back of the barn. Great. While Bruce went to the back, Laddin headed for the door. He could shut it while—
Shit! Some instincts were normal to all lupines, and Laddin knew how much fun it was to chase things—like him as he ran for the barn door.
Bruce pivoted and leaped forward. He moved with grace—at first—but then his front legs couldn’t keep up the pace. It was that whole arm/leg thing. The human mind forgot to use the arms while the back legs were still working, and that usually led to a nose in the dirt.
Yup. Nose plow. Laddin was ready. He jumped forward and grabbed the shock collar. Then he held Bruce’s head down in the dirt like Yordan had done to him not so long ago. It was a dominance move. Then again, even as a human, Yordan had had the muscles to take Laddin down.
Laddin, not so much.
It was like holding on to a bucking bronco, and a life in LA had no way prepared him for the spinning, twisting, biting nightmare that was wolf Bruce. Laddin’s arms were jerked nearly out of their sockets, and his wrist wasn’t going to be able to take the strain much longer. He’d grabbed on with one hand, but he managed to haul his arms together enough to latch on with his second. He kept waiting for Bruce’s body to betray him. The guy hadn’t learned how to move fully as a wolf yet. Shouldn’t he be face-planting about now?
Or now?
Or now?
Laddin gasped as he was jerked left and right. Keep hold! Keep hold! He did, even when Bruce flopped sideways, rolling over him in an effort to dislodge him. Laddin’s head banged painfully on the dirt, and he lost his breath as 180 pounds of wolf muscle crushed his ribs. But he held on.
He felt a finger snap, and he cried out in pain but didn’t let go.
Then Bruce righted himself and started lunging for the barn door, though it wasn’t so easy, given that he had to drag Laddin along. Words and curses flew through Laddin’s mind, but he didn’t have the breath to voice them. All he had was a steady determination to hold on. Hold on!
And then Bruce planted his feet and twisted sideways. He bared his teeth, then bit down hard on Laddin’s leg. Pain shot through Laddin’s nervous system, and he screamed. His hands loosened, but he didn’t let his grip slip until the wolf bucked again.
He couldn’t hold on. Not when he was afraid he was about to lose his leg. Damn, damn, damn. He gathered the energy to shift. It was the only way to make sure he didn’t bleed out.
The change was familiar now, and he dove into the sensations. Heat, then a shocking energy that tipped into pain. Next step, he would dissolve into joy, only to reform on four legs.
But he never made it that far. Just when his body was about to dissolve, Bruce hit him broadside, knocking him over and completely disrupting Laddin’s focus. He lost the change energy and remained completely, vulnerably human. Even more so when Bruce closed in for the kill, putting his mouth to Laddin’s throat.
Panic burned hot and hard. His heart raced, and his mind scrambled to find a solution even as it refused to focus on anything but the teeth at his throat. There was no time to try to shift again, no way to break free, and the blood from where he’d been bitten was soaking his jeans. What to do? What to do?
His wolf mind answered while his human brain was still stewing in panic. He had to submit. It was the only way to soothe the wolf in Bruce. And though neither the wolf part of Laddin nor the human side wanted to do that, he realized it was the only way.
So he lay there, absolutely frozen. His breath was short and tight, and his body rigid with fear. He felt the saliva drip from Bruce’s mouth roll down his neck. Did Bruce understand that Laddin was submitting? He sure hoped so. One good chomp and Laddin was dead.
But the wolf wasn’t biting down. Instead, Laddin lay there, feeling Bruce’s breath hot against his neck, doing his best to remain calm. Why the hell wasn’t the animal doing something? “I’m submitting,” he whispered. “You’re the boss.”
Nothing.
Then a weird sense of déjà vu hit him. This was just like before, when Nero and Wiz had first turned him into a werewolf. It was as if every moment of his life had been leading him to right here, right now. It didn’t make sense. Sure, his becoming a werewolf had been predicted ever since he was born. But this moment hadn’t been foretold by anyone. And yet the inevitability of it settled onto his shoulders and into his very heart.
He relaxed. What would happen would happen. And if this was
