Animal Lover

She shrieks as he knocks her down and her cellphone flies into the grass.

Before she can react, he starts licking her face.

She's trembling, trying to fend him off, but her brain hasn't quite caught up with the fact that he's not attacking her.

He stops and stands over her, waiting for her to calm down. Her hands are clutching at his leg and chest, with some force. It doesn't hurt, particularly, but it was uncomfortable. Her chest heaves as she cracks open an eye and looks at him. He licks her face, once.

Under her breath she mumbles, "What the hell are you?"

Emmett whines.

"Hello! Are you alright?"

Emmett and Lyssa both look up at the sound and Emmett heads for the trees.

Lyssa gets up on her elbow as a couple of young men in shorts and sneakers round a corner of the trail. "Are you hurt?"

"Um, no, thanks. Tripped over my own feet." She gets up and starts dusting herself off. "I thought I saw something."

"This your cellphone?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"You probably did see something. There's a lot of wildlife here."

"Wolves?"

The shorter man barks a laugh. "Around here? No way."

"Probably not for a thousand miles. Did you think you saw one?"

"I dunno."

"Probably somebody's German shepherd got loose."

"Um. OK. Thanks for checking on me."

The taller one looks at her a little more closely. "Sure you're OK? We could walk you back to your car..."

"No, thanks. I'm good. Sorry to spoil your run."

"Not a problem. Take care." They start to jog off.

"You, too."

A short distance off, the one nudges the other. "I wouldn't mind getting a piece of that."

"Yeah, she's hot."

"We should have at least gotten her name..."

Emmett watches the interaction, upset about the interruption. If only he could shift form and talk to her. Now that she realized what he was, mostly, and the truth had frightened her, he was going to have to win her over again.

Human men found her desirable, of course they did, so, if her relationship with Ronnie ended, she wouldn't be alone for long.

The timing was in his favor. This would be his best chance to claim her as his own. He's crouched low, invisible to the three of them, just inside the edge of the trees.

She headed back to the car, her phone in her hand, again walking slowly.

He follows and watches her sit heavily on the bench. He walks out, slowly, and sits beside her.

She glances at him, then at the phone in her hand.

Then she starts mumbling to herself. "No wolves around here. Park rangers would be really interested. But there are coyotes."

Emmett huffs in disdain. " You are awful big for a coyote."

Emmett puts his head in her lap. She absently scritches his ears.

"You really don't act like a dog but you don't act like a wild animal either."

"Maybe you're part wolf and you got away from somebody? But there haven't been any reports. Someone would be looking for you."

"Wolves are way out west. Someone would have seen you by now."

"Could I get into trouble for having you?" Emmett whines. She pats his head.

"Yes, I know. I kinda like having you around. But, what if you don't belong here?" A whimper now from him.

He couldn't change. Not here.

Someone might see and she'd likely freak out if she saw it.

He had to get back to her house before he revealed himself to her.

It was a delicate thing, consorting with human females. He had to be certain of her or he'd never be allowed to bring her into the pack. His Alpha would see to that.

He'd seen the fire in her and he wanted her.

But, he didn't dare leave her alone right now or she'd run.

With a sigh, she turns on her phone and automatically checks for messages.

"Lyssa, you bitch, you hung up on me! I didn't do anything wrong and now you're breaking up with me?"

"I just wanted to talk to you and you won't even answer me?"

"You know what? Fine. I had to picture Angelina every time I was with you just so I could get off."

"You fucking cunt, I could get three better girls than you!"

"Go fuck yourself!"

Emmett could easily hear Ronnie's tirade.

He watched her face as her eyes closed and tears started to fall.

Damn! Someone else coming, he broke for the trees again.

"Emmett."

A couple comes around the corner, arm in arm.

The woman looks at her. "You alright, darlin'?"

Lyssa sniffs and rubs her nose on the back of her hand before nodding.

"Boyfriend troubles?" Lyssa nods again.

The man looks a bit puzzled, and inhales deeply.

"Find a man who won't make you cry, darlin'. Or, better yet, get a good dog."

She kisses her companion and they both chuckle. The man now speaks. "I'm sure there's someone close who will treat you well. Good luck."

"Ta!" The woman waggles her fingers and they walk on.

They walk out of earshot. "Who is it?"

"I'm not sure. I don't recognize the scent. I'll tell Thomas when we get back."

"Think he's the one who made her cry?"

"I doubt it, he's here with her. He wouldn't bring her out onto our range, especially since she hasn't been turned. It must be her human boyfriend."

"I agree. Well, this is an interesting little mystery."

Damn, just what he'd been afraid of. Two wolves of the Ross pack now knew he had come onto their range without permission.

Randall would have his skin.

Better get her moved before they come back.

He edges back out of the bushes and licks her hand. He takes a few steps towards the car and looks over his shoulder at her.

She switches off the phone and stands. "You're right. Let's get outta here."

They go back to the car and Lyssa opens the back door. He streaks in from the edge of the trees. "I hope you got your fun in."

She gets into the driver's seat and looks in the rearview mirror. He's laying, head down, on the back seat. Doubt fills her again. All the wildlife shows she'd seen - he looked like a wolf. She was certain she had a wolf in her car. What was she gonna do?

They drove home quietly with her glancing in the mirror every so often.

She was worried. There was really only one thing for it.

He was going to have to reveal himself to her when they got back to her house.

She pulls into the garage and shuts off the engine. And sits there.

After a few minutes, he stands and wuffles in her ear.

A sigh. "OK."

Inside the house, she refills the water bowl. It trembles as she sets it back down.

He takes a drink as she walks across the room and perches in front of the computer.

He walks over, sits beside her, and puts his head in her lap.

The grey wolf.

Canis lupus.

Native to Europe, Asia, North America.

Packs of 5 to 11, generally a nuclear family.

Pups born in spring, five to six.

Related to the domestic dog.

Up to about 80 pounds.

Colored blond and cream to browns and black.

Generally monogamous.

Interbreeding with dogs and coyotes.

She then searches for any sightings in the area. "Where the hell did you come from?"

Next are pictures. She searches through numerous photographs of wolves. "Emmett, you look like them. You really do." She looks down. "You are a wolf, aren't you?" Big chocolate eyes look up at her dark brown.

She slides out of the chair and onto the floor beside him.

She wasn't really ready, but he had to show her his true nature soon. She was likely to call the authorities and try to have him removed from her house, forcibly.

He could get away from the humans pretty easily, but it would take time, and only confuse her further.

No, sooner was better.

She was sitting on the floor beside him now, which was actually a good sign. However, he needed room for the change.

As he stood, he heard noise at the front of the house. He turned to face the threat.

"LYSSA!"

She jerked when she heard Ronnie's bellow and scrambled to stand.

Emmett already stood at the door as Ronnie began to pound on it. "Lyssa, godammit, open the door! Lyssa, I wanna talk to you. Open the goddamn door!"

Emmett stood there, growling, hackles raised.

She shoved him sideways a bit and opened the door, leaving the locked screen door between them and Ronnie.

Emmett raised his head, bared his teeth, and growled.

Trying to keep her voice steady, she says, "What do you want, Ronnie?" Ronnie scared her now. It was easier to be brave with Emmett beside her.

Ronnie's face is red. He was pissed, and he'd been drinking. Again.

"Open up. I wanna talk to you."

"About what? About how you can never drink without getting drunk? About how you'd really rather spend time with the guys than with me? About how you could have really hurt me?"

"Goddammit. I said I was sorry, Lys. What more do you want? I am. And, yeah, I drink. You do, too. I work hard.."

"Don't you dare say you deserve it."

That stops him. Grumbling, he says, "What was the other thing?"

She give him a look. "That you'd rather spend time with the guys."

"I wanna spend time with you."

"You wanna come over, eat, drink, and fuck."

"Somethin' wrong with that?"

"That's all you want to do, Ronnie. There's a lot more to life, or there should be."

"Like what?"

"Oh, going to a show, taking a walk in the park, listening to music, see an exhibit at the museum."

Ronnie's distaste shows in his face. "Girly stuff. I don't have time.."

Lyssa interrupts him again. "I'm a girl, Ronnie. I like to do girly stuff sometimes. We've pretty much been doing things you wanna do, not what I wanna do."

His voice gets sly, a drunken attempt at sexy. "You like a lot of the stuff I wanna do."

She sighs, looking at him. "Yeah, some of it, I do. But I wanna do more than drink and screw."

His voice raises again. "You know how my schedule is. I don't have a lot of time to spend on other stuff."

"Then you don't have time for me."

Lyssa turns to close the door and Ronnie grabs for the screen door.

Her eyes go wide as he grabs ahold of a loose edge of the door frame and begins to yank, putting all his weight behind it. "OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR!"

Emmett shoves her aside with his bodyweight and she staggers. He then jumps up, snarling and snapping at Ronnie.

Ronnie backs off quickly at the aggressive counter to his actions. The fuckin' dog was HUGE.

As Ronnie backs off Emmett backs slightly and puts weight against the inside door. When it clicks shut, he turns and looks up at Lyssa.

Ronnie recovers enough to pound on the door one more time, peering through the small window. "See how brave you are without the fuckin' dog, bitch."

He pounds down her front steps, mumbling under his breath, "Fuckin' animal lover."

Lyssa stinks of fear, eyes wide, hand over her mouth.

She hears his truck squeal out and moves before Emmett gets to her. She checks all the doors and windows on the lower floor, twice. Then practically runs up the stairs. He barely gets into the bedroom behind her as she slams and locks the door.

Her breath hitches as she gets on the bed and pulls her knees to her chest, putting her arms around them.

Emmett puts a forepaw on the bed, looks at her, and whines. "Yeah, c'mon, Em."

He jumps up and sits beside her.

She throws her arms around him. "You big ole furry lump. I'm so glad you're here, Emmett. I think he might have hurt me." He feels her trembling.

As time passes she starts talking to him, about Ronnie, his friends, her friends, and her aspirations.

She comes down from the adrenaline rush and starts to feel drowsy. I think I'm gonna take a nap. "You'll keep watch, won't you?"

Of course he would. Thre was no way the human male could get close to her now.

He watched her sleep for a time. She looked angelic, at least to him.

Her short, dark hair against tanned skin. The relaxation of her face, worry smoothed away in sleep. She had a small scar at her hairline and he wondered how it had come to be there.

And her scent called to him. Beyond the smells of soap, shampoo, and deodorant came a warm, womanly fragrance. In addition, he could tell she was just coming off her most fertile time, which added to his attraction.

He changed form and, lying atop the bedclothes, carefully curled up behind her and put an arm around her.

After about 45 minutes, she began to stir.

He watched her and waited for the inevitable surprise and panic.

She twisted, rolling to her back, and, with a drowsy groan of contentment, opened her eyes to him.

It surprised him how long it took before she screamed and scrambled out of the bed. His ears ringing from the scream, he tries to talk to her before taking any other steps. He levers up on an elbow.

"Lyssa, it's alright. I won't hurt you. My name is Emmett Forester. Please, calm down."

A man! A man in her bed! In the bed with her! Who was he? More importantly, how did he get in? And where was Emmett? Her guard dog, uh, wolf.

"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here? Get OUT!"

Her eyes run over him, trying to assess what kind of threat he was, but lingering in the places you might expect.

"And why the hell are you naked?!"

She's backed into a corner near her closet with no easy way to get to the bedroom door. He watches as she looks around for a weapon of any kind and checks her clothing. Still there, nothing ripped. What the hell?

"Lyssa, please, try to be calm. I understand this is a shock to you but I'm Emmett. You invited me into your home. You tended my wounds and fed me."

"But, but, Emmett's a dog, um, a wolf."

"Yes, I am. Sometimes."

"No, it's impossible. What kind of freak are you? And why am I talking to you?" She lunges for her dresser, for her cellphone.

He leaps up to stop her, grabbing her wrists.

She responds by kicking him in the balls. He grunts at the sudden pain but does not release her. Instead, he twists her toward the bed to stop her from kicking him again.

Oh, god, he was pulling her to the bed.

Oh, god, he was gonna rape her.

Oh, god, she couldn't get away.

Oh, god, she was probably going to die.

In a small voice, "Don't hurt me."

"Lyssa, sweetheart, I'm not going to hurt you."

Sweetheart? "I am not your sweetheart, let go of me." She tries to wrench out of his grasp.

"Lyssa. Please. Stop. Listen to me for a moment."

She quiets and he turns to face her. She kicks him in the balls again.

Another grunt from him. And he closes his eyes against the pain. "Please stop kicking me."

Then, he quickly sits on the bed and pulls her into his lap. She struggles further, trying to slide off. He wraps his other arm around her waist.

Her chest heaves and she glares at him. "My name is Emmett. You slept outside with me Friday night. You fed me a wonderful meal. Ronnie came over yesterday. You cooked on the grill and he got drunk. You ordered him out of the house. We went to a park this morning and, just before you fell asleep, you told me how much you missed Eli and Tara, that you hadn't seen them for months."

Her mouth falls open. "You've been watching me? What kind of crazed stalker are you?"

"I understand this is difficult for you to believe. Please, let me show you."

She looks into his brown eyes, gulps, and nods.

He releases her and she bolts for the door.

He snatches the cellphone off the dresser and grabs her as she struggles to unlock the door. She's yanking on the knob. "Open up. Open up!"

She flinches when he takes her shoulders. Her posture shows defeat as he guides her back to sit on the bed.

She looks terrified when he slides her cellphone under the door and into the hallway.

He turns to look at her. "I will not hurt you. Just. Watch."

The naked man with dark grey hair and brown eyes starts to look hairier. The shape of his body begins to change. His face pushes out and his ears begin to point. His chest gets narrower, and deeper. Fingers and feet shorten. The hair becomes fur and his limbs change shape. Something creeps over the outside of his penis as the muzzle and tail push out.

He drops to four paws and stands, waiting for her to acknowledge him.

"No." One word. That was her only response.

She watches, enthralled, as he shifts back.

He steps toward her and she shakes her head, backing away. "Uh, uh. No way."

He stops. "I'm werewolf, Lyssa."

"There's no such thing as a werewolf."

"Then how do you explain what just happened?"

"I dunno. Holograms. Drugs. Ronnie put me in a coma. I'm still asleep."

"How would you have me prove it to you?"

"You can't prove something that isn't true."

Stymied, he stands there, looking at her. What else could he do?

She looks him over. Dark grey hair that he flips out of his eyes, down to his shoulder blades. Brown eyes, the color of chocolate. Strong arms, broad chest with a covering of curled hair, not too much, not too little. Down to a narrow waist. His penis mostly flaccid and of a respectable size in that state.

Scars. On his hip, his chest, a recently healed mark on his.. leg?

Her forehead creases in confusion.

His voice is soft. "Alright, then. Please trust that I won't hurt you. Lay down and close your eyes." She looks at him. What kind of trick was this? "Give me a few minutes. When you open your eyes again, I'll be the Emmett you've known before."

She considers him another moment. Without a word she gets onto the bed, rolls onto her side. Hugging herself tightly, she closes her eyes.

He changes back to the wolf and gets onto the bed, listening to her sharp intake of breath. He turns his face to her and watches.

Carefully, slowly, she opens her eyes to him.

Emmett lays on the bed beside her, looking at her. Actually, he was giving her sad, puppy dog eyes. They both jump as her stomach growls. She chuckles, nervously.

She pushes upright, "Are you hungry, too?"

A slight shake of his head.

Did dogs? wolves? shake their heads?

How did her life get so surreal?

She looks around; there was no man. He hadn't hurt her. He'd just stopped her from running away while he talked to her, or tried to.

If it had been a dream, it was very weird. A naked man, a handsome, naked man, OK, a gorgeous, naked man in her bed should have initiated a dreamy lovemaking session with her. He'd told her he was a werewolf.

She walked to the bedroom door and unlocked it. Emmett got up and stood beside her. She opened the door to the hallway.

Her cellphone lay on the floor against the opposite wall.

She looked at the cellphone, then at him. Then back to the cellphone.

She was trying to process the evidence in front of her. He stood still while she sorted through everything.

He counted her breaths, a little more rapid than usual. Seven, eight, nine...

She drops to a knee beside him, runs her hands over his head, down his back, to the leg that had been torn up. She comes back up to his head, takes his muzzle. "Emmett?"

He answers by giving a slight nod.

She sits heavily on the floor. "Impossible."

He sits, and places a paw gently on her thigh.

She looks back up at him.

"But there's no such thing as werewolves.", she murmurs quietly. "They're just stories. Something people use to scare children or to explain the noises in the woods or...

You're really a werewolf?"

Emmett give a light bark of acknowledgment. But he wasn't going to change again until she decided.

"But, it isn't dark. And, and, when was the full moon?"

He simply sits there, watching her.

"You're a werewolf?"

Again, a slight nod of his head.

"I don't believe it." She stands. "Why me? Why now?" She looks down at him. "Aren't you supposed to have some sort of telepathic power or something?" Emmett whines.

"No, huh?" Her voice raises. "What am I supposed to do with a werewolf in the house?" Another whine. "Why are you still here?"

He sticks his nose in her crotch. Her eyes go wide and she shoves him away. "Oh, god. Oh, yuck. No! I, I..."

Her stomach rumbles again. She runs down the stairs.