Page 190 of His Hungry Wolf

“Is it possible to have that with a human?” I said immediately thinking of my feelings for Cage.

“Not as far as I know.”

“I think it is,” I told him.

“I have yet to see it happen. And, I’m not as young as I look.”

I looked at him again. “How old are you?”

“I’m 149 years young,” he said with a tight-lipped smile.

I was blown away. I thought he was going to say 65. Even that would have been a stretch considering the only hint to his aging was his speckled beard.

“That’s incredible! How long do wolf shifters live?”

“Not that long, unfortunately. Most meet a violent end early. Like I said, there are lot of things out there that will hunt your type down and kill them. Hence the protective spell.”

“Wait, so are you saying that there are wolf shifters in this town?” I asked suddenly unable to breathe.

Dr. Tom leaned back and crossed his arms.

“There are.”

I let out a gasp.

“Where? Who?”

“There is only so much I can tell you.”

“How come?”

“It could be dangerous. And, we’ve only just met. I might have already told you more than I should have.”

“Please, I need to know more. You don’t know what it’s like growing up thinking I’m the only one.”

“The problem is that now that I know who you are, I know the baggage that comes with you. The reason everyone was being so welcoming when you first arrived was because we suspected you were a Fae. We could tell there was something magical about you. But, wolf shifters your age aren’t usually so… composed after they’ve started shifting. And even when Fae don’t know what they are, they are able to tap into their abilities and often end up as trackers.”

“I said I was here looking for someone,” I remembered.

“Yes. And, Fae are even more vulnerable than wolf shifters. So, we were hoping you would stay with us. There’s safety in numbers.”

“So, is everyone in this town a Fae or wolf shifter?”

“No, there are human allies here too.”

“Dr. Sonya?” I said suddenly recognizing the difference.

“She’s human.”

“Titus?”

Dr. Tom looked at me blankly. “Here’s my dilemma,” he said ignoring my question. “I have a spell that can make you forget everything I’ve told you. For the safety of the town, I can use it.”

“Is there a second option?” I asked suddenly feeling like I was going to shift.

“Yeah. I can trust that you won’t betray our community. It’s always good to have allies.”

“We’ll go with option ‘B’,” I said with my heart pounding.