He rolled his eyes and gave me a careless shrug. “We fucked for hours, okay? It was my first time. Of course, I can feel it.”

“But, but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

I was crushed that he was in pain. Last night had been wild and crazy, and yes, parts of it felt like a fever-dream, but it was without a shadow of a doubt the best night of my life. I wanted it to be the same for Jules. I wanted that desperately.

“I’m fine, Sully. I’ll heal.” His mouth turned up as a cocky grin spread across his face. “Besides,” he said, opening his palms at his sides in a careless shrug, “totally worth it.”

I felt mildly reassured. I got to my feet and started looking around for my jeans.

“Hey, what do you say? Should we shift and run it off?” he asked.

I shifted immediately. My wolf and I were completely aligned. If Jules wanted something, he was going to get it. Stat. I blinked several times. It felt strange for my wolf to be indoors. Wrong almost. It made me feel skittish. I took a few paces toward the door.

“Sully,” called Jules.

I stopped moving and looked back at him. He walked over to me and ran his fingers through the thick fur on my neck. Then he crouched down, wrapping his arms around my neck. His eyes were serious. Vulnerable. I’d read somewhere once that boys sometimes find it easier to tell their secrets to a dog. I was no dog, but I was a distant relation. The look on Jules’s face told me that might be true for him. He pressed his face into my fur and whispered, “Stay close, okay? Don’t run ahead. I don’t want to be far away from you today.”

I looked up at him and bowed my head slightly. I didn’t move until he shifted and when he did, we made our way into the forest side by side. As we ran, I thought many things. It was far from the type of run that brought mental clarity. Thoughts churned around in my mind. Some were insignificant and I can’t remember them now. Some were about Jules. I was worried about how he was feeling. I was watching his gait for signs of discomfort. I couldn’t see anything that concerned me, but as I watched him move at my side, I couldn’t help noticing that the ridge of his back only came up to my shoulder. It didn’t make sense. His wolf was huge. I’d seen it clearly when we played fetch. He was as big as any one of The Brothers. If he was that big and I was looking down at him, it begged the question; how big was I?