Moon Struck: When Were & Howl Book 1

  Chapter 10

  Rob wrote a giant alphabet across several sheets of paper. Being a wolf, he seemed to have a knack for the size and spacing needed. He sat with his back to the wall in nearly the same place we had been during the post-moon-morning.

  The first questions were easy enough. Am I Jen? Yes. Am I okay? Sure. Do I need anything? No. (So I lied. I needed help, but I wasn’t going to come right out and ask him for it.)

  There is something I would like to get out in the open right now. Rob smelled good. Not pleasant good or sweet good, but desirous hungry delicious good, and being in the confined space of his office made the scent so much stronger.

  I focused on the letters.

  The collar was starting to chafe. I scrabbled at it with my paw, trying to pull my head through. Rob unbuckled it, and set the collar on the floor, next to the letters. I sniffed it, but the look and feel was so different from the amulet, I wasn't sure they were the same thing.

  “Jen, what’s going on? Why don’t you just change?”

  Using an alphabet paper-form of a Ouija board sucked. The response took a long time, so I limited myself to one word replies. “Stuck.”

  “What do you mean? You can’t change back to human?” Rob said it in a shocked quiet voice and his voice was so gentle I melted.

  Whining, I ran to the letter Y. That was all that was needed. “I’m sorry. I’ve never heard of this happening. Has it happened to you before?”

  I touched the letter N and feeling sorry for myself and longing for comfort, I slowly padded to Rob and put my head on his knee. That was a mistake.

  Rob scratched my ears absently, probably trying to think of something he could say that would make me feel better. Instead, I felt something else, something deep. Before this, he was just the handsome boss I had a crush on, but when Rob touched me like that, I felt so safe and so...

  I know I said that he smelled nice and I felt desire for him, but this was different. While he scratched my head and I leaned against his leg, my heart was full. I loved him. My love came out in a pathetic little whine.

  Rob misunderstood. “It’s okay. You’ll change back eventually.”

  I don’t know how long we sat together, but I am fairly certain he enjoyed the closeness, too, because he sat very still just scratching my ears. To his benefit, he kept his hand to the area of my head and ears. I just leaned against him and enjoyed the company.

  Strange what you could get away with as an animal. This kind of togetherness would have been awkward any other way. I think we were both afraid that if we moved too much the spell would be broken, and we’d be two separate people going in opposite directions again.

  The phone rang and Rob stood. “I better get that.”

  I sighed. My ears perked up when I heard Ali. Her concern came off high-pitched. She’s like that when she’s worried, and Rob interrupted her obvious list of concerns. “I found her. She’s here, but Ali, she’s in were-form and she can’t change back.”

  I must have gotten a heightened sense of hearing from being in wolf form, because I heard Ali swear, and it was a word I can’t use in polite company.