{"id":1475,"date":"2018-10-02T08:44:26","date_gmt":"2018-10-02T12:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1475"},"modified":"2018-10-08T09:38:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-08T13:38:43","slug":"shadow-wolf-chapter-2-scene-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1475","title":{"rendered":"Shadow Wolf, Chapter 2 Scene 2"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-1476\" src=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cropped.jpg\" alt=\"Shadow Wolf\" width=\"864\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cropped.jpg 864w, https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cropped-300x222.jpg 300w, https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/cropped-768x569.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px\" \/>Did you miss the beginning of the story? If so,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/?p=1470\">please click here to start from chapter 1<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">Or, rather, to face the two-legged wolf in human clothing. Gunner raised one eyebrow at the pointy blade just barely indenting the skin beneath his Adam\u2019s apple. Then, ignoring my weapon, he held out a mug of chamomile tea, the sweetness of honey curling off the surface as the leader of the wolf pack I lived amidst greeted me aloud.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">\u201cTough night?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">I shook my head, not so much in denial as in a refusal to rehash my dream landscape verbally. And in response, Gunner\u2019s open face shuttered ever so slightly as if he was more disappointed by my evasion than at being greeted by the sharp tip of a sword.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">But just as quickly, Gunner regained his customary smile, jiggling the mug between us so the ceramic clanked against my magically-created weapon. \u201cWe should do something fun before Kira\u2019s custody hearing,\u201d the ever-patient werewolf suggested. \u201cGo for a run somewhere wild before we\u2019re due in court. Or&#8230;shopping? Does Kira like shopping?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">\u201cMy sister loves nothing better than spending other people\u2019s money,\u201d I admitted, allowing my sword to diffuse back into a magical blob that slid along my skin to form a bracelet, a belt, a sheathed knife at my left ankle. In front of me, Gunner didn\u2019t even twitch at this evidence of my kitsune nature. \u201cBut we shouldn\u2019t spoil her,\u201d I added. \u201cAnd, anyway, I\u2019ve got other plans.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">\u201cPlans?\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">This time I accepted the mug my companion brandished in my direction, pretending that I needed all of my attention to prevent a spill. Taking a sip, I noted that Gunner had steeped the tea just the way I liked it, not so long it turned bitter but not so short that it was simply sweetened water with a hint of aroma to turn hot liquid into soothing tea water.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">The flavor was perfect&#8230;but my gut clenched anyway. Because it was time for our inevitable weekly ritual. No one managed to slip away from the pack without extensive explanation, but I couldn\u2019t afford to let any of the werewolves I lived with know where I went on Tuesday afternoons. In lieu of the truth, I always ended up stuttering through an entirely unbelievable explanation, and the wolves around me always smiled grimly and allowed me to lie.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">As usual, my body language broadcast my mistruth before I even opened my mouth to speak it. \u201cGirl stuff,\u201d I said stiffly, turning away from the piercing eyes of the far too astute werewolf who was providing food, housing, protection, and now the likelihood of ripping Kira out of the foster system permanently.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">Gunner had done everything he could think of to enfold me into his pack&#8230;and yet I remained at heart a solitary kitsune.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">\u201cIt might take a while,\u201d I continued. \u201cSo I\u2019ll meet you and Kira at the courthouse. If you don\u2019t mind bringing her there for me&#8230;.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">\u201cOf course, I\u2019ll take care of Kira,\u201d Gunner agreed quietly. \u201cShe\u2019s part of our pack.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">The unspoken addendum\u2014that I lacked that distinction due to actions just like this one\u2014separated us more effectively than my now-absent weapon.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">But there was nothing I could do about the sad sag to my companion\u2019s shoulders. Nothing except the impossible\u2014turn myself into a wolf.<\/p>\n<p class=\"first-line-indent-western\">So, stepping backwards, I nodded once. \u201cThank you,\u201d I murmured, eyes downcast in wordless apology, \u201cfor the tea.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>Want to continue the adventure? <a href=\"https:\/\/books2read.com\/u\/4NGN9J\">Pick up Shadow Wolf on the retailer of your choice<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Did you miss the beginning of the story? If so,\u00a0please click here to start from chapter 1. Or, rather, to face the two-legged wolf in human clothing. Gunner raised one eyebrow at the pointy blade just barely indenting the skin beneath his Adam\u2019s apple. Then, ignoring my weapon, he held out a mug of chamomile [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,142],"tags":[14,7,27,23,8],"class_list":["post-1475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-excerpts-aimee-easterling","category-series-moon-marked","tag-paranormal-books","tag-shifter-books","tag-urban-fantasy-books","tag-urban-paranormal-romantic-fantasy","tag-werewolf-books","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1475"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1487,"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1475\/revisions\/1487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/aimeeeasterling.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}