Free When Will I See You Again by Julie Lynn Hayes Page A

had just happened. He felt a wetness there. “Oh God.” He thought the man had missed them both, but apparently he’d gotten the wolf. How bad was it? The wolf didn’t seem to be complaining.
    Correction—werewolf. Not the same thing, was it? Alexx wasn’t sure. Science had never been his strong suit. Especially anything to do with animals. And he had barely begun his research on the supernaturals, still a lot to be learned there.
    So what was he supposed to do? Hell if he knew. But he did know he couldn’t just leave him there. He also couldn’t take him back to his room at the boarding house. Alexx’s landlady, aka the Black Widow, wouldn’t permit him to have a dog in his room, much less a wolf. Where else was there to go?
    A drop of water hit his nose. He turned his face up only to have more fat drops splat on him. The night had just begun to rain on them. Great. Alexx sighed. Just great.
    Well, they had to get out of this before it got any worse. A rumble of thunder suggested that it would do just that. But where to go? Not like he had a car or anything. Then he remembered the small building he’d seen. They could take shelter there, at least until the rain ended and he could take stock of the situation.
    Assuming they could even get in, that was.
    “Let’s go into that shack, why don’t we?” he suggested to the

wolf, waving toward it. He had every reason to believe his words would be understood. It seemed the sensible thing to do, anyway.
    He tried not to lean on the wolf too heavily as he got to his shaky legs. “Can you walk?” The wolf nodded, as if he understood.
    Of course, he understands, doesn’t he? Alexx leaned down, keeping an arm about him, searching for the cabin.
    The wolf seemed to know just where to go, and Alexx followed his lead. The rain was thicker now. He didn’t think it would last, but this would be shelter until it let up. The wolf pawed at the door, and Alexx pushed. It opened easily. He breathed a sigh of relief. At least something was going his way.
    Once they were both inside, he closed the door and felt for a locking mechanism, but he found none. Whoever owned it probably didn’t keep anything of value there, nothing he was worried about losing. He was surprised to find a small cot, collapsing on it gratefully. The wolf leapt up beside him.
    “Let’s take a look at you.” He carefully felt about the wolf’s fur, searching for the damage the knife had wrought. The blood felt as if it had coagulated already. It must have been a superficial wound. “You okay?” he asked, running his hand over the top of the animal’s head. The wolf licked at his face, taking Alexx by surprise.
    “You seem okay, guess I’ll have to go with that for now. So, what are we going to do?”
    For that, the wolf had no answer.
    Alexx felt suddenly very tired. The night, and the alcohol, were all taking their toll. He felt a yawn coming on. He tried to stifle it, but that didn’t help as another came fast on the heels of the first.
    The wolf nudged his chest.
    “What is it?” Alexx asked. Did I do something wrong? The

wolf kept pushing, until Alexx found himself flat on his back on the cot. He began to laugh. “Okay, okay, I get it.” He pressed his hand against his mouth. So sleepy.
    He turned onto his side, one hand still resting on the wolf, as if reluctant to break contact with him. The knowledge that this was no ordinary wolf, but a werewolf, didn’t bother him in the slightest. He felt comfortable with him, no matter who or what he was. The wolf settled against him, and Alexx wrapped his arm about him, burying his face against him.
    “I’m just going to close my eyes for a minute. Wake me up soon,” he murmured. The wolf made no reply, but he hadn’t really expected one.
    Alexx curled up around the warm body. The sound of the rain outside was soothing, and before he fell asleep, he began to whistle one of his favorite tunes. He cuddled the wolf, holding him gently as he