Change For Me (Werewolf Romance) (The Alpha's Kiss) Read Free Page A

think.”
    Grandpa pushed open the door and held it as I walked through.
    Was he telling the truth? Grandpa I mean. Was everyone really as scared as I was about everything? Even Caitlyn with that smug, obnoxious half-grin she always had? She was moving all the way across the country to go to a school that people go crazy trying to get through.
    Aaron hadn’t ever been away from his parents for more than a weekend, and he was moving to Flagstaff, two hundred miles from here. Must be pretty horrifying.
    Somehow, knowing that everyone was just as creeped out about the future as me gave me a little bit of perverse comfort.
    “Hey, grandpa?”
    The ancient Bronco’s engine roared to life. “Yep? What’s got your gander, Leroy?”
    I shook my head. “Nothing, I just wanted to say thanks. That’s all.”
    “Anytime, little girl,” he struck a match with his fingernail and touched it to the top of his pipe-full of vanilla flavored tobacco. “I know what it’s like. I might not remember much, but I sure remember all the little things that make life interesting.”
    As we made our way down the skinny town road to the middle of town, neither of us said much. The only sounds were the air hissing through the tobacco in grandpa’s pipe and the rhythmic, gentle pop of his lips.
    I closed my eyes, happy for a few moments of repose, and let my head roll back and forth against the window with each little bump in the road and rumble of the old engine.

Two
    ––––––––
    “Y ou know, Leroy, someday you might look back and wish you’d paid attention to my rambling old-man stories instead of fiddling with that phone all the time.” Grandpa whistled and rocked back in his chair.
    He stuck his finger in the end of his pipe a couple of times then touched another match to it, blowing a big puff of sweet, vanilla-scented smoke.
    “Why not tell me a different one, grandpa?” I smacked my gum. The candy shell crunched for the first couple of chomps. Little bursts of mint filled my mouth and my nose. “If all that stuff about the wild packs of monsters running around the forests and the mountains is true, why do you only ever tell me the same story?”
    “They’re true,” he insisted, taking his pipe out of his mouth and pointing it to the horizon. “See that?” He jabbed the stem in the direction of a weird plateau jutting out. “One of them lives in a cave near the base of the mountain. Goes up there to survey the land and make sure everything’s on track. You can see him every night. Well, almost every night. He’s a little old too, but it’s different for them.”
    “So,” I said, pulling my knees up to my chin against the growing desert chill, “there’s a... would you call him a werewolf up there? If I sit out here all night, I’ll see him? This isn’t some story you just made up?”
    “Stay out here and find out,” he said. “As for me, there’s a game coming on, and I’d rather sit in there instead of out here in the wind. Anyway, when are you getting married?”
    I laughed so hard I snorted. “Married? It’s been at least a week since you asked me that, Grandpa. And just like then, I’ll say that I haven’t even thought about it.” I put my bare foot up on the table, wiggling my toes.
    “Well you should, you’re getting pretty old there, too Leroy. Just like me and Po—” he cut himself off with a draw on his pipe.
    “Grandpa,” I chuckled, “you’re the old one! Anyway, why does it matter? I’ve got my whole life in front of me. What’s the point in worrying about all that stuff now?”
    The truth was that I hadn’t stopped thinking about settling down and getting married for as long as I could remember. I guess growing up the way I did – with no one around but myself and my grandpa to rely on – made me crave stability and security. That, and I’d just never found anyone I liked enough to really get serious about.
    Except, of course, the guy who wouldn’t have anything to do