Cynthia Cooke - Running with Wolves

“Yes, please.” Shay’s eyes widened as she took in the mound of food on the plate. “There is no way I’m ever going to be able to eat all this.”

“Thanks, Marge,” Jason said, offering her a smile as she filled Shay’s coffee cup then refilled his.

She paused for a moment, basking in his attention, a pleased smile stretching her painted lips. “Anytime, hun,” she said, then took her coffeepot to the next table.

Shay would have to remember that smile of his and make sure she didn’t swoon over it. Irritated, she shoved a piece of ham into her mouth.

“Are you feeling better?” Jason asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Shay said politely over the mouth-watering ham. When had ham ever tasted this good? Much better than the spinach-and-cream-cheese omelets she usually ate. And sausages. There were sausages, too, buried under the thick slab of ham, and strips of bacon. She smiled. Heaven. She was in heaven.

“I don’t know why I’m so hungry,” she said as she scooped scrambled eggs into her mouth. “I can’t believe I can even eat after everything I went through last night.”

“Your body needs the protein.”

As she ate, she glanced out the window, surprised by how much clearer her vision was, especially in the dim light of dawn. She was seeing color slightly differently. Yet, somehow, she was able to see better, farther. And she could hear and smell really well, too. The rich scent of sizzling pork was making her ravenous.

She dug into her food, not stopping until the waitress was back refilling her mug with coffee.

“My goodness. Well, he did say you were hungry.”

Shay glanced down at her plate and felt the heat of embarrassment rise in her cheeks. Her plate was half-empty. How had she eaten all that food, that quickly? “Please give my compliments to the chef,” she said. The cook behind the counter turned and waved.

“Joe says thanks,” Marge said, and laughed.

Shay took a sip of coffee and looked up at Jason, her eyes meeting his over the rim of her cup. Was it really possible? Could she really be changing? Transforming? Into a wolf?

“Okay, tell me more,” she said, suddenly wanting to hear it all, even if she didn’t believe. Even if she refused to believe.

“What do you want to know?” he asked, hesitation strong in his voice.

“Tell me about my dad. Did you really know him?”

“Yes. He was a good friend of mine.”

“How is that possible? You were a kid.”

“Because once you go through the change, you age differently.”

“How do you mean?”

He leaned toward her, dropping his voice. “You age very slowly.”

She stared at him, amazed by the implication of his words. “How slowly?” she whispered. “How old are you?”

“Eighty-five.”

“Get out.” She stared at him, at the plumpness of youth beneath his cheeks and eyes, the even tones and smooth skin. “Eighty-five? No way.”

“It’s true. Our life expectancy is somewhere around four hundred.”

“Seriously?” She downed another sausage as she tried to absorb what he’d told her. Four hundred.

“I’m not sure I would want to live that long,” she said honestly. She was only twenty-three and life had already been...hard.

“Shay, you’re not alone,” he said, seemingly reading her mind. “You have family waiting for you back at The Colony.”

She looked up at him, her eyes widening, her heart afraid to beat. No, she was alone. She’d lost everyone, one after another until there was no one left. Just her and Buddy, in their little house in the woods.

“Your family is anxious to meet you. Grandparents. A cousin.”

Shay shook her head, her breakfast forgotten, her mouth dry. “My dad said he didn’t have anyone.” The words came out a hoarse whisper.

“I suppose to him he didn’t. He had to leave them behind and never look back. But they are still there, waiting for you. You even have a house—your dad’s old house. It’s a great place right on the lake. Your dad loved to sit in an old chair out on the end of his dock and fish. You and Buddy will love it there.”

Tears watered Shay’s eyes. She blinked. “I...I thought I—” A lump caught in her throat.

“I know I’ve given you a lot to absorb, but if you believe nothing else, please believe that you have family anxious to meet you, and they’ve been waiting to do so for a very long time. Will you come with me to The Colony?”

“Are you actually asking?” She couldn’t help the smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

He nodded and leaned back in the booth, amusement dancing in his eyes and suddenly he looked as handsome to her as he had that first moment she’d laid eyes on him. “I’m asking.”

She thought of her father’s parents and knew she had to meet them. She had to see for herself. “Yes, I’d like to come. I’d like to see this place where my dad once lived, I’d like to meet my family. But I’m not promising I’ll stay.”

“Sounds like a deal to me.”

She turned her attention back to her plate, but no longer felt the need to devour what was left. Instead she picked at her food while discreetly watching him. She didn’t know if it was because of the way he’d held her through her pain, or the way he just seemed to know what she needed, but she was beginning to see him differently than she had before. More as a friend than someone who was dismantling her life.

Who was she kidding? Last night she’d wanted him to be much more than a friend. His sure touch, his warm hands had stroked away her pain and made her want so much more than just comfort. He looked up from his breakfast, his bluish-gray eyes locking on to hers and holding steady. Heat suffused her cheeks and she dropped her gaze back to her plate.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked with a strange hitch to his voice. She looked up at him and couldn’t help wondering if he knew what she’d been thinking. “There’s a whole community waiting for your arrival.”

She nodded, not trusting her voice to speak. She finished the last of her coffee as he rose to pay the bill. A pickup truck had pulled into the parking lot and parked next to Jason’s. Buddy was standing up in the front seat, barking at the two men who hopped out of the cab and were walking toward them. She didn’t need to see the cloud of darkness swirling around them to know they weren’t here for the food.

They were here for her.

She could sense it from the energy flowing from their minds, see it in the dark auras swirling around their heads. She looked at Jason standing in line at the cash register and then at Buddy going crazy, barking madly in the front seat of the truck.

She hurried toward Jason but just as she reached him, just as she turned to point out the window, another truck pulled into the lot with another two men, the same thought patterns issuing from inside them.

“Jason!” she hissed under her breath, and grabbed his arm.

He followed her gaze out the window, taking in the situation, then threw the check and a twenty on the counter. “Keep the change, Marge.”

He turned her away from the front door, from the door closest to the truck, and with a hand on her back quickly led her toward the rear of the diner, toward the open-air walkway that led back to the motel. Away from the parking lot. Away from the truck.

“What are we going to do?”

“Make a run for it.” He grabbed her hand, hurrying her forward toward the outside door. They reached it just as all four men walked into the diner.

“Now!” Jason said, and they bolted outside, running toward the truck. And they almost made it, would have made it, if one of the men in the diner hadn’t chosen that moment to glance back out the window.

The next thing she knew, he was bursting out the diner’s door, running toward them. They kicked into high gear, running faster than Shay ever thought she could and still the man reached the truck before they did.