Page 8 of His Hungry Wolf

“That’s not why I played.”

“Then, why did you play?” I asked sensing a way in.

“It doesn’t matter. That part of my life is over.”

“But it doesn’t have to be. Again, I know you don’t owe me anything. But I’m asking you to at least consider it. It would mean a lot to me. Papa too. We would both love to work with you again. And, two years or not, I know that what you had is still in there. You were just that good,” I said ending with a smile.

I could tell I got through to him when his gaze finally lowered.

“I’ll consider it.”

Rushing forward, I threw my arms around him.

“I knew you would. I knew it,” I said overjoyed. “You were great back then and you’ll be great again,” I told him as I released him.

“I only said I’d consider it,” he said coldly.

“Of course. Right,” I said pulling myself together. “I’m just really happy right now. Look, I’ll be in town for a few days before I head to my next meeting. How about I call you in a day or two? We could do dinner. It’ll be my treat.”

“You have my number?” Claude asked confused.

“Everyone has your number.”

“What?”

“It’s the one from the website, right?”

“Oh. Yeah.”

“Then, I have it,” I said heading for the door. About to leave, I stopped. “Hey, remember sophomore year when we took that camping trip to Big Bear.”

“It’s hard to forget. It was the first time I shifted in front of you. You nearly pissed yourself.”

I laughed. “To your credit, you had warned me how intensely disturbing it would be to hear your bones break. But I had insisted.”

Claude thought a moment and nodded. “Yep. I haven’t shifted in front of a human since.”

“You know, I’ve been to a lot of places and seen a lot of things since then. Now I realize that watching you shift was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I never thanked you for it. Thank you.”

Claude grunted pensively.

“I’ll call you,” I told him before taking a final look at my once best friend, and then walking out.

Chapter 4

Claude

I stared as my reason for leaving university early retreated to a rental car and drove away. My heart pounded. A prickling heat washed over my skin, rattling my bones. Taking a deep breath, I struggled to breathe.

I couldn’t take this. Feeling caged within the office, I needed to run. I leaped to the door and flung it open. Stripping down to nothing, I shifted and took off.

Losing myself in the trees, all I could think about was the feeling as my leg muscles drove me forward. The wind whipped through my fur. Around me, the world slowed down.

This was how I had felt with the football in hand and a defensive line fighting to get past our offensive’s wall. If I had ever had a secret weapon, being able create this feeling on the football field was it.

My four legs sprinted for as long as they could. As they slowed down, I fell into a still brisk pace. I couldn’t have guessed how much seeing Merri again would affect me. At one time he had meant so much to me. But after he showed me who he really was, I had realized that I had never known him.

At university, players had joked that the reason I was so good was because I was a robot programmed to throw a football. That implied that I had no heart. I did have a heart, and it broke after the things Merri had said to me.