Free Little Wolf by R. Cooper Page A

the man was pulling out all the stops and showing Tim sides of his personality that probably even Carl had never seen, and Carl was likely some kind of being Tim had never heard of that lived forever and had untamed eyebrows.
    “It’s a couch, Tim.” The sheriff snorted but then rubbed at his face and turned away. “I meant you could sleep here if you wanted. I will be back in a bit with—”
    “Do not say food,” Tim warned. “I feel like a baby as it is.”
    “ My dinner,” the sheriff finished, then cracked a tiny smile before Tim could feel any more stupid. “And some food for you.” He put up a hand as Tim opened his mouth to voice a complaint. “You might want it by then.”
    “I’m not little because I’m underfed, you know that right?” Tim crossed his arms but tried to keep his tone light. “Little is just something I am. Believe me, people have tried force-feeding me to get me to grow.”
    “Have they?” Nathaniel didn’t react as if Tim’s remark was funny. He didn’t seem amused at all anymore. His voice went so cool and soft that he was like someone else, some thing else. He had a wolf’s eyes in a man’s face. “Introduce me to these people someday.”
    Tim backed up, hit the couch, and fell on his ass. He was like a wolf in the wild, he was. “I am the king of the awkwards,” he whined at the ceiling. “You sure you want me in your house? Wait, of course you do, because who could resist all of this?” He waved a hand over his body and looked over when Nathaniel didn’t answer.
    Nathaniel dropped his gaze to the doorknob. He held on to it for a moment, then took his hand away to wipe his palm on his pants. “Just rest. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
    “Your life is hard enough without me in it.” Tim was tripping over his own tongue. He was a wreck of a person, and he only got worse when in this man’s presence. It was best to address it now.
    “Do you think so?” Nathaniel frowned at him without seeming angry. “What exactly do you know about my life?”
    Tim gave up on debating the point when he realized he had nothing on his side of the argument. “Okay.” He let that go since he had deliberately not inquired into Nathaniel Neri’s personal life. “But why do you care?” He looked up. “About me?”
    “You know, for someone convinced he has no place with me, or in this town, you have a lot of concern for both.” Nathaniel flicked a glance at the desk while Tim tried to think up an answer for that. “Feel free to look around if you get bored. There might be a magazine or a book in there. I know you like to read.”
    Tim swallowed, then swept a look around the room—the slightly out of order desktop, the touristy mug used to hold pens and pencils, the Shasta State Park calendar on the wall, the pinboard covered in paper. He didn’t see any pictures or personal effects. They might be in the desk itself, but Tim wasn’t about to start snooping, at least not until he was more comfortable. Anyway, that desk reminded him of Carl saying the sheriff didn’t have a life. The desk was all work, no play.
    Tim looked down at his knees. “I’ll try not to bother you, okay? And I’ll be out and on my way as soon as I have more money and a plan.” It should make it better with Carl if Tim did his best not to burden Nathaniel more.
    “You aren’t a bother, Little Wolf.” Nathaniel ran a hand over his hair as if he meant the exact opposite of that.
    “Yeah,” Tim snorted. “Because I have such a sparkling personality. It’s okay. You can admit that you’re helping me just because I’m were.”
    Nathaniel’s visible confusion over something Tim said was so familiar it was almost comforting. “It’s not just because you’re were.”
    “I know you probably would try to help a human too. That’s kind of what this town is about, right? Rescuing people is what you do. I didn’t mean to imply that you wouldn’t want to help anyone.” Tim angled his head to