Bruce nuzzled back, which was pure delight. Laddin doubted the guy would have done so as a human—he wasn’t the touchy-feely type—but right now, Laddin needed a warm body to hug.
They stayed that way for a moment, but eventually Bruce got restless. Laddin released him with a happy sigh, then looked out the open front door. “You probably need to go out. It was a while before I figured out exactly how to use the outdoor facilities, so to speak….” His voice trailed away.
Only Bruce wasn’t headed back out the door. Instead, his nose was twitching as he walked down the hallway.
“We’re sleeping in the barn, remember? Every room here is full with wounded wolves.” He stood up and joined Bruce. “So here’s the situation. There’s a big lake about fifty miles from here. We call it Lake Wacka Wacka. Anyway, it’s full of poison that is seeping into the land and expanding across Wisconsin. Nobody outside of Wulf, Inc. knows why. We do, because Nero saw it happen. A demon dropped into the lake and suddenly, bang, everything started dying.”
He took a breath and tried to keep his voice calm, but he’d been talking to people all day, hearing the stories of what was going on, and it had shaken him. He needed to share, and right now Bruce was the best person to talk to.
“The demon is somewhere around there, poisoning the lake and the land. We know it’s getting stronger because the dead zone is growing. But we can’t find the damn thing. And the scientists, the military, and the reporters aren’t finding it either. Having all those humans around is bad enough, but suddenly mystical baddies are showing up too. They’re probably drawn to the possibility of the world ending.”
He dug his fingers into Bruce’s fur, feeling grounded with every shift of muscle and fur. Even the way Bruce breathed eased his own breath.
“You saw what happened to Bing’s face, right? That was from a lich—a big undead magical guy. I also heard there was a mated pair of chupacabra. Think Bigfoot without hair and with evil teeth. They’re not supposed to mate, but everything’s gone wonky around the lake. That’s what demon energy does. It screws up the natural order. And if you think responding to a human domestic violence call is dangerous, try to get in between a pair of emotional chupacabras.” A shudder ran through him, but he took a deep breath and regained control. “So we’re in a bit of a bind. No one can find the demon because we’re all busy keeping the paranormal weirdoes away from the vanilla scientists. And the journalists are everywhere. Be careful where you shift, because somebody’s going to snap a picture if they can.”
If Bruce was listening, he gave no sign of it. Instead, he pressed his nose to the first bedroom door, then looked expectantly back at Laddin.
“You want to check on the patients, don’t you? Even though you’re in your wolf form and can’t do anything if there’s a problem.”
Bruce nodded, then cocked his head at Laddin until he eventually gave in.
“Okay, okay. You can tell me if there’s a problem. But be quiet, and don’t take long, because you still stink.”
Laddin opened the door as quietly as possible, and Bruce padded inside. Laddin watched as the wolf inspected the patient, sniffed the wounds—though how he could smell anything over the bad cheese odor was beyond Laddin—and then cocked his head and pressed his ear to the man’s chest. The patient was so exhausted that he didn’t so much as twitch. That might have worried Laddin, but Bruce turned back to the door and nodded with a slight dip of his chin.
“All good?”
Another nod.
“Then I guess we’re on to the next one.” And so they went, from one room to the next.
Several of the patients woke up holding their noses as they complained about the smell. Laddin made them wait as Bruce performed his tasks. Tasks that—incidentally—no one asked him to do but Laddin respected nonetheless. Wulf, Inc. was hard up for medical personnel, so no one bitched too much about having a smelly wolf come sniff their aches and pains.
Eventually the task was done, and they went together out to the barn. Laddin pulled out a couple of bedrolls even though he knew Bruce would likely stay a wolf for the night. It was way more comfortable in a cold barn. He’d do it himself, but he knew that it was better to reserve his shifting strength for when he really needed it.
Bruce busied himself sniffing around the barn. Laddin remembered finding every little smell fascinating. Disgusting or sweet, it made no difference. He actually longed to do it with Bruce now. There was nothing like moving around in a pack, asking in lupine ways, Did you smell that? Cool, huh? What about this? What do you think this is? They never used human words, but everyone knew what the other was saying. Wolves were simple that way.
He stretched out on his bedroll and looked out the window at the three-quarter moon. “Do you see that, Bruce?” he asked as he pointed at the night sky. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she? Cold, remote, and she still plays havoc with my life. And yet, I look at her and I’m in love.”
Bruce padded over, his gaze on the dark sky before returning to Laddin.
“I’m one of those weres who is affected by the moon. I don’t go rampaging about like a movie werewolf, but yeah, I feel the power in her. It’s like an electric wire in my bloodstream. The stronger her light, the hotter the buzz. And during a full moon, I get hit with
