It was only a dream, I told myself. What was the worst that could happen? I took a step closer, and then another. I swallowed my fear and extended my hand.
His head was bigger than a bear’s—huge, with a broad brow. As my trembling fingers touched it, he closed his eyes, rolled his long muzzle until his nose rested against the soft skin of my wrist, and breathed me in.
The warmth of it sent tingles up my arm, straight into my core. My heart flipped right over in my chest, and the longing that ripped through me robbed me of breath. My knees shook as if they would give way.
What was this creature? How could he have such an effect upon me? The green gaze snapped open once more, and the sharp-toothed jaws opened.
“I am yoours,” he said.
My heart accelerated as reality spun away, the trees, rocks, and bushes blurring. I made a last, desperate grab for him, but he was gone...
I shot upright in bed, breathing as though I’d sprinted a mile. As I struggled to calm down, I noticed that Trix still lay in her spot, her chin resting on her paws.
Her eyes, though, were wide open. The dark one blended with the night, but the blue one gleamed at me.
The TV still prattled on against the wall—some mindless sitcom rerun. I reached for the remote and snapped it off, then lay back and pulled the covers to my chin. After a moment, I released one arm, reaching into my Trix’s fur, stroking her reassuring warmth.
Unicorns and what—a werewolf? The descriptions fit. And what had flown over us?
Getting attacked beneath a giant fish sculpture certainly made for interesting dreams.
Yet the memory of the werewolf’s warm breath on my wrist flooded me with unexpected heat. What the hell was up with that?
He’d been scary, my brain insisted. But my heart and body didn’t agree. It took me a while before I could admit that they thought he was sexy.
Much better than chocolate. And Ilovedchocolate.
I reminded myself that this dream was a distinct step up from my usual. I seldom slept well, my brain’s misfirings providing weird, chaotic images without any references to reality. They usually caused me to bolt awake to a full-blown anxiety attack, unable to piece any of it together.
But although this dream was a welcome change, the end result was the same—I lay sleepless until dawn.
3
Matt
My cousin Joe picked me up at the airport. In my case, werewolves did fly.
Yeah. I could have paid to use the realm gateway in Darwin. But while most things in life I didn’t fuss about, I had an issue with gates. Mainly, that they grabbed me from one spot and planted me in another, with no realistic explanation as to the whys and hows.
Maybe it meant I had trust issues.
Also, they were bloody expensive, and I was a poor backcountry Dire. If Joe hadn’t splurged for my plane ticket, I wouldn’t have been able to make the journey at all.
My first flight had been kinda cool. And now, here I was, almost nine thousand miles away from home, hanging with my buddy and cousin, Joe.
The two of us drew a fair amount of attention as we walked through Winnipeg’s Richardson International Airport. I was used to female ogling, and now, walking with Joe, we were certainly attracting it. We were both about six foot five, with typical Dire builds—broad shoulders tapering to narrow hips and powerful thighs.
When you spent your nights running as a beast, you tended to put on muscle.
But it wasn’t just our builds that were similar—we also both waved our hands as we spoke and had belly laughs that carried for miles. Plus, face it, North American women loved Aussie accents. I’d been told as much, and my plane trip had given me reason to believe it.
Of course, I hammed it up for them. Our station might be remote, but satellite technology gave us access to social media. I was therefore perfectly capable of speaking without it. But at the moment, it seemed to be netting me beautiful-female attention...
I continued my research as I followed Joe through the building. Women’s faces lit up every time I smiled their way.
“G’day,” I greeted a pretty redhead.
“Oh, hello,” she returned with a smile. “You’re Australian!”
