Chapter Eleven
Jillian
Want to run?
I scribbled the question on a sheet of paper and chewed on my bottom lip as I jutted the thing in front of Dean. Nervousness fluttered in my belly as I stepped back, wondering if not only could he read it but would he want to.
Yeah, we had talked about running before but things changed with the snap of a finger. I knew that firsthand.
“I don’t know if I can, Jillian.” Every time he said my name, a spindle of want shot down my spine and warmed me head to toe.
I sat down in the shabby chair next to him. The only thing I could offer was a shrug.
“You think I can do it?” The uncertainty in his tone made me wither. He was a shifter and a powerful one from what I could tell. Of course he could do it. I had zero doubts that he was a natural.
I nodded. Gods, I’d never wished I had a voice more.
“If you believe in me, I think I could fly.”
For some reason, that made my entire chest swell like I’d just won something huge.
I got up and waved him toward the front door. No more trying to shift in my home. It was too small and with his newness to the whole wolf thing, he was liable to tear down the entire cabin. One big puff from the wolf, and I was sure it would all fall.
“Don’t you get embarrassed, taking off your clothes like that?” I’d already stripped off my pants and sweater and stood in front of him in nothing but my underwear. I looked down at my body and threw my hands in the air. It was either strip off the rest or have them shred with the transition.
I didn’t have a big wardrobe to shred.
He swallowed hard. “I guess that’s a no. We all have the same basic parts, right?”
Even though him getting undressed didn’t bother me, I turned around and pretended to stretch while he undressed. When I heard the sound of his crumpled T-shirt hit the ground, I shifted in place.
“I can’t believe you can just shift like that. I don’t even drink a glass of water that fast.”
Now in my wolf form, his pine-and-molasses scent was stronger. I swore that if he was a mile away from me, I could smell it. It was unique to him and, unlike when he’d been very nervous, the bitter edge was not there, just sweet, enticing Dean scent. I wished I could bottle it up and keep it with me forever. Using my muzzle, I nudged at his legs. Dean bent down and stroked my fur.
“Damn, you are a beautiful wolf, Jillian. Absolutely stunning. Your eyes turn golden. Did you know that?”
I shook my wolf head. By the second, my wolf was desperate to run with him, to have him near us in his animal form. Another nudge with my muzzle, and he finally got the point. Plus, I had a little something up my sleeve. Something I’d never told anyone about.
I could force a shift in others, either way. I could force another to shift from human to wolf and from wolf to human again. I’d never told another soul, or, you know, communicated it to another soul. No one ever suspected that the outcast could have such power.
Before now, I’d been afraid to use it on anyone else. Truth be told, I’d only ever used it when I was a kid.
Shift.
The command wasn’t the solution we needed. He needed to learn how to shift and shift fast if he was to stay in this pack and be anywhere near me. But as he grew more used to his wolf form, it should make it easier to reach for. So...
With a grunt, Dean fell to his knees, and in moments, he was back to that lean wolf that I’d spotted not so long ago in the woods.
He did it. Well, technically I did it, but I was not telling him that or writing him that after our run, either. It would only smash his confidence.
His wolf was boisterous and playful. It bounced around, smelling everything and pawing at unknown objects like a newborn pup. I supposed in a lot of ways he was a newborn pup.
A sound in the distance caught his attention, making his ears point upward, and before I could react, he was gone in a flash. Sprinting through the trees and below the understory, he bounced in and out of sight. He was a fast one.
But I was faster.
I caught up to him in no time and kicked out my back leg, letting him know I was near. His deep-brown eyes looked at me and then back to the forest as though he was choosing between the two of us. There was no reason to. I would run with him as long as he wanted. Clearly, his wolf had been kept in too long. An extended run would do him some good.