My gloves came off with a snap of latex, and I tossed those in the trash. Old habits die hard, so I uploaded the pictures to my laptop then emailed a copy of them to myself at a generic address and then forwarded a set to Thierry. I wanted backups in case the evidence—or Ayer—went missing a second time.

With that done, I sat at the table and tapped my pencil while debating sleeping arrangements. The door to my bedroom was shut, but I had no doubt where the wolf intended to bed down for the night. The thing was, with Graeson mentally MIA, I wasn’t sure how much I trusted the wolf beside me.

Swallowing a yawn, I pushed to my feet and headed for the bedroom. As expected, the wolf shot past me and leapt for the middle of the bed. I stood there, considering folding out the kitchenette booths into their twin-bed configuration. My calf twinged at the thought, but I grabbed a pillow and comforter then returned to the kitchen.

Ears perked, Graeson barked.

“Forget it.” I grimaced. “You’re not the boss of me.”

He bounced on the mattress and barked again.

“No.”

Bark. Bark. Bark.

“Bad wolf.”

Paws hit the floor with a powerful thump that shook the trailer, and claws skittered. He bumped into the bend of my knee, and I landed half on top of him. He took my pillow between his teeth and yanked it from under my butt. Once he deposited it near the foot of the bed, he came back for the comforter.

“Graeson,” I groaned. “Stop that. I’m not playing tug-of-war with you.”

Except I was. He threw all his strength into pulling it out from under me, but my weight was enough to keep it pinned. He growled playfully and tossed his head, tail wagging.

“You’re warped.”

He didn’t disagree.

Shifting to the left, I slid far enough over that he could free his prize. Mouth full of fabric, he jumped on the bed, spat out the comforter and nested in it while shooting me a look that said clearly, “What are you still doing down there? See how comfy this nice bed is? There’s plenty of room for both of us.”

Aware I was taking orders from a lanky dog with big teeth, I crawled into bed and let him curl around me. All that fur soon made me sticky with sweat, but Graeson wouldn’t budge. Once he started snoring, I caved to temptation and began stroking his velvety-soft inner ears.

“I know you’re in there,” I said, thinking of the man hiding deep beneath the wolf’s skin. “You can’t hide forever. You won’t heal until you come out and face this.” I shut my eyes. “I can’t do this without you.”

The wolf smacked his lips, and warm drool permeated my shirt.