from Italy.”
“Yeah, he came into the hospital room with a few other people.”
“If he finds out I told you anything, it will not be good.”
“So you will?”
“Not here,” he said, looking over Gwen’s shoulder then his own.
Eager, her brows floated up and her eyes widened, indicating that if he leads she’ll follow.
He started up the corridor and Gwen followed at his heels. “I’m Brandon, by the way.”
“Gwen,” she offered.
They passed through the back exit, Brandon first and Gwen following into a vegetable garden. As Gwen hopped up so that she could walk beside Brandon instead of behind him, she noticed the aisle they traversed was flanked by tomato and pepper bushes. She recognized the green fronds of carrot tops and other root vegetables, as well as the wall of flowers that wrapped the perimeter, which included sunflowers, roses, and interestingly golden rod. It occurred to her that she wasn’t sneezing. Golden rod tended to stir up the worst allergies and yet she felt fine.
“We grow a lot of our own food. I don’t eat it, but the herbivores do,” he said offhandedly before they stepped through an archway of roses, leaving the garden.
“What do you mean herbivores ?” She asked, trying to follow. There had been so many bits and pieces of information between the Administrative Heads, Joseph, the pale Italian, and now Brandon and though Gwen kept the tidbits on mental file and well organized, she couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Brandon held his tongue until they’d ducked into the forest where a mulch path stretched out before them. “So you know you’re in the Cascade Mountains,” he started.
“Yeah, that much I got,” said Gwen.
“Our organization is called The Cascade Sanctuary & Wildlife Preserve and what we do here is nurture sick and injured animals back to health, then release them into the wilderness.”
“Ok,” she said to show she understood. That woman, Elektra had told her as much.
“But we also serve a different purpose,” he went on.
“Ok,” she said again, encouraging a detailed explanation. She was now looking up at him as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest. His eyes shifted intensely as he kept his gaze straight ahead, as though he was searching for the right words. The stride of his gait was firm, deliberate, highly masculine yet fluid. There was something graceful about how he moved, the swing of his arms, the slight roll of his shoulders, the way his weight transferred from one foot to the other. It dawned on her that she found him attractive, but when the feeling struck she realized attractive didn’t fully capture her impression of him. In a snap decision, Gwen shut the feeling down before she could explore it further. The last thing she needed was to get blindsided by unruly emotions when she was clearly in the crisis of her life.
“The Sanctuary homes shifters,” he said.
“Shifters?”
“Like what you saw in the Training Center, which was only our gymnasium, by the way. We have additional exercise rooms, as well as classrooms, and that’s only listing our indoor facilities. Outdoors we have countless practice spaces.”
“Brandon, what are shifters?” She asked, gently bringing him back on topic.
“You said you saw a guy turn into a wolf. Well, yeah, that’s what you saw. He shifted from his human form into a wolf.”
Gwen stopped
“Yeah, he came into the hospital room with a few other people.”
“If he finds out I told you anything, it will not be good.”
“So you will?”
“Not here,” he said, looking over Gwen’s shoulder then his own.
Eager, her brows floated up and her eyes widened, indicating that if he leads she’ll follow.
He started up the corridor and Gwen followed at his heels. “I’m Brandon, by the way.”
“Gwen,” she offered.
They passed through the back exit, Brandon first and Gwen following into a vegetable garden. As Gwen hopped up so that she could walk beside Brandon instead of behind him, she noticed the aisle they traversed was flanked by tomato and pepper bushes. She recognized the green fronds of carrot tops and other root vegetables, as well as the wall of flowers that wrapped the perimeter, which included sunflowers, roses, and interestingly golden rod. It occurred to her that she wasn’t sneezing. Golden rod tended to stir up the worst allergies and yet she felt fine.
“We grow a lot of our own food. I don’t eat it, but the herbivores do,” he said offhandedly before they stepped through an archway of roses, leaving the garden.
“What do you mean herbivores ?” She asked, trying to follow. There had been so many bits and pieces of information between the Administrative Heads, Joseph, the pale Italian, and now Brandon and though Gwen kept the tidbits on mental file and well organized, she couldn’t make sense of any of it.
Brandon held his tongue until they’d ducked into the forest where a mulch path stretched out before them. “So you know you’re in the Cascade Mountains,” he started.
“Yeah, that much I got,” said Gwen.
“Our organization is called The Cascade Sanctuary & Wildlife Preserve and what we do here is nurture sick and injured animals back to health, then release them into the wilderness.”
“Ok,” she said to show she understood. That woman, Elektra had told her as much.
“But we also serve a different purpose,” he went on.
“Ok,” she said again, encouraging a detailed explanation. She was now looking up at him as they walked deeper and deeper into the forest. His eyes shifted intensely as he kept his gaze straight ahead, as though he was searching for the right words. The stride of his gait was firm, deliberate, highly masculine yet fluid. There was something graceful about how he moved, the swing of his arms, the slight roll of his shoulders, the way his weight transferred from one foot to the other. It dawned on her that she found him attractive, but when the feeling struck she realized attractive didn’t fully capture her impression of him. In a snap decision, Gwen shut the feeling down before she could explore it further. The last thing she needed was to get blindsided by unruly emotions when she was clearly in the crisis of her life.
“The Sanctuary homes shifters,” he said.
“Shifters?”
“Like what you saw in the Training Center, which was only our gymnasium, by the way. We have additional exercise rooms, as well as classrooms, and that’s only listing our indoor facilities. Outdoors we have countless practice spaces.”
“Brandon, what are shifters?” She asked, gently bringing him back on topic.
“You said you saw a guy turn into a wolf. Well, yeah, that’s what you saw. He shifted from his human form into a wolf.”
Gwen stopped
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