Cry Wolf Read Online Free PDF Page A

taking on greater responsibilities in the sanctuary. They lived in the cabin with Renee and tended to take their meals in the cabin’s kitchen or dining room. Ki was a notable exception, because she cooked for the shapeshifter barn.
    The shapeshifters didn’t like Kelly’s smell and she didn’t particularly like theirs, but they made a concerted effort not to wince away, which she appreciated and reciprocated. The pancakes helped. She poured hot syrup over her stack and dug in. About halfway through her pancakes, her nostrils flared and caught an even better scent. Ki had taken bacon out of the walk-in freezer.
    Ki cooked the bacon and put it on the tables. Kelly caught Ki biting back a smile as Kelly grabbed a few before any of the shapeshifters could. Then Ki sat down on the bench on the other side of the table.
    “Aren’t you going to eat?” Kelly asked, chewing more slowly, a little self-conscious at her enthusiasm.
    “Yeah, in a minute,” Ki said.
    “I can’t guarantee there’ll be any bacon left if you wait.”
    “I can always make more,” Ki said. “Look, I’ve kind of danced around the issue.”
    “I’ve danced around the issue myself,” Kelly replied.
    “We wanted to give him some space,” Ki said. “I mean, Grant didn’t give him a choice like he was giving Renee—well, like he was pretending to give Renee. But Malcolm hasn’t even come to the cabin ever since the change. He says it’s because he can smell Renee when he’s in there.”
    “What he doesn’t say is that he can smell the rest of you, too,” Kelly said. “No offence.”
    “None taken. I can smell him, too,” Ki said. “It’s just… He doesn’t really have anywhere else. He can’t go off and live as a stray or in a shelter like we can, although we came here because we didn’t want to do that. He’s got all these woods to run, but—”
    “But what if he encounters people?” Kelly finished for her. “And with the winter waning, the sanctuary’s going to get more visitors soon.”
    “He’s afraid of himself, he’s angry at Renee and he’s all alone. I thought when you came, he wouldn’t be so lonely.”
    “He’s avoiding me, too,” Kelly said. She quickly polished off the rest of her pancakes and bacon. “I don’t have the history that all of you have with Malcolm. I didn’t feel it was my place to go around telling him what to do.”
    “Well, consider this your permission,” Ki said.
    Kelly reached for the last piece of bacon on their table. Her hand shook as she offered it to Ki. Ki had been looking like someone had kicked her kitten, her black eyes downcast. However, at Kelly’s offering, Ki couldn’t help but grin a little. “You have it. Like I said, I’ll make my own.”
    “You sure?” Kelly asked. She wiped drool from the side of her mouth with her free hand.
    “You are so funny. Yeah, go ahead.” Ki had to laugh. “You know, I noticed that Grant ate a lot of meat, and now Malcolm picks around his vegetables, but neither of them are as excited about meat as you.”
    “That sounded really dirty,” Kelly said as she polished off the rest of the bacon.
    “I know, I realised that as soon as I said it,” Ki giggled.
    “I do love meat, though. And it’s a wolf thing, because I used to practically be a vegetarian. Can’t explain it.”
    Like a dog who had eaten its meal too quickly, Kelly stared longingly at the empty bacon plate but forced herself to return to the subject at hand.
    “Don’t worry about Malcolm,” Kelly said. “I think I’ve given him enough space until now. He can’t run away from it forever any more than I could. And the rest of you should start treating him like normal. I mean, don’t rub his nose in the fact that he isn’t a shapeshifter, but you don’t have to tiptoe around him either. If he explodes, just hit him on the back of the head or something. There’s no need to feed his behaviour.”
    “He’s always had a solitary streak,” Ki said. She