Free Heart of the Woolf (Woolf Series) by Kai Andersen Page B

resignation that crossed
Jake’s face. “Call the police. We’ll talk later.”
     
    * * * * *
     
    Eventually, the police came and hauled off the thug. By then,
Jake had willed his features to assume human form. He cursed himself inwardly
for allowing the beast to take over his physical appearance, but when he’d
heard Adrienne’s scream from several blocks away with his canine ears, his one
thought had been to reach her before she was harmed.
    Fortunately, Jake was acting on the right side of the law,
i.e., rescuing his friend’s possession. Anyway, the thug wasn’t injured, so
nobody would be able to press charges against Jake. Nor would The Council come
after him. To aid the police in their investigation, Jake added the information
that the thug might have an accomplice who’d provided the decoy by causing the
car’s alarm to go off so that Adrienne would be alone. The police promised to
look into things and to inform them should they have any leads. Before the
police left, they dispersed the neighborhood residents who’d come out to watch
the fun long after the excitement was over.
    Jake and Adrienne walked back to her flat in silence. The
crunch of their shoes on the sidewalk was unnaturally loud to his ears. Her
face was averted from him so he couldn’t see her expression; he also didn’t
know what she was thinking. He could have lowered his shields to let her
emotions flow through to him, but he didn’t want to. He wanted to hear it from
her lips. In such an important situation as this, it was better that she tell
him her thoughts herself.
    Adrienne could be like Lila, and reject him for the
aberration, the monster that he was. He didn’t know many women who could accept
being with someone who was half-human. Still, he drew comfort from the fact
that she had recognized him for what he was -- a werewolf. Which
meant that she might have seen or heard or encountered one of his kind before,
and just might be one of those humans with the big heart that Jared had
mentioned. Despite himself, hope burned like a tiny wavering flame in the wind.
    Jake hadn’t said anything to Jared when they’d met the other
day, but the moment Jake had seen Adrienne, he knew. She was the one --
his mate. There was a sense of rightness with her, something that he didn’t
feel with Lila ... with any of his past girlfriends. He didn’t know what
he’d do if Adrienne couldn’t accept him for what he was. His fear of her
reaction to the truth was the main reason he had forced himself to keep his
distance from her all this time.
    The moment they entered the flat and shut the door behind
them, Adrienne rounded on him. “When were you going to tell me that you’re a
werewolf?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did you ever plan to tell me?”
    “Adrienne --”
    “Or didn’t you think this is something I needed to know?
Would I just wake up one day to see you biting me? Or to see you changing to a
wolf while making love to me?”
    He flinched at the unjust accusations. How could he explain
he’d been so consumed with his fear that Adrienne couldn’t accept his werewolf
heritage that he hadn’t thought so far ahead?
    “So, tell me, Jake! Speak up! I’m not an empath like you; I
can’t read your mind!”
    “Adrienne, I realize you’re in shock --”
    “Damn right I’m in shock! I never expected my boss and lover
to be a werewolf!”
    “But you recognized me.” Anger at Adrienne’s illogical
behavior filled him. His voice was cold as ice, in direct contrast to the heat
of wrath that was fueled by uncertainty burning within him. “You saw me and
knew that I am a werewolf.”
    “Yes.” Her voice was flat and her face devoid of all
expression. “I had a lover once, and he was a werewolf, too. I knew he was one
from the very beginning, before our relationship started. I was given the
choice to accept him or not, based on the truth of what he was. What about you,
Jake? I didn’t know you were an empath, until after we’d