The Wolf at the Door Quotes

“Murder was like getting a tattoo. The first one you carefully ask yourself why; each one after you ask yourself why not?”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“My name’s Oliver. Though if you want to call me Pretty Eyes Park again, I promise I’ll still come running.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Fortunately, Park seemed more bemused than offended. “Do you disapprove of human-werewolf relationships, Agent Dayton?”

“No. Of course not. I—that’s not what I meant. I just didn’t understand...” Cooper trailed off, thoroughly uncomfortable, and Park took pity on him.

“She’s not my type because I’m gay.”

The silence was sharp. Vaguely Cooper was aware his mouth was hanging open. He shut it quickly. Then opened it again to say, “Oh, that’s nice.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“You’re not a very pleasant damsel in distress,” Park remarked.

“And you’re a shitty Lassie. Timmy never had to wait this long when he fell down a well.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“You’re afraid.”
Cooper nodded, then let his head tip back, gasping, when Oliver pulled him closer still and moved to nuzzle over the scars on his belly.
“Why?”
“Because you can hurt me.” It slipped out without Cooper thinking, and he almost kicked himself when Oliver pulled away to stare at him seriously.
“I would never.”
“Not like that. You could hurt me because I... I care.” The last words were nothing more than a mumbled exhale that your average person wouldn’t have heard.
Oliver heard.
He stood, their bodies pressed together, and he leaned in so his mouth was hovering over Cooper’s. “In that case, you scare me, too.”
Cooper’s heart pounded and he tingled all over. “Yeah?”
He felt Oliver’s smile on his lips. “Special Agent Dayton, I’m absolutely terrified, and I couldn’t be happier about it.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“You’ve got exactly twenty-seven hours and then I’m coming in there and trimming you down,” Park said from above.

“Like your big head could fit,” Cooper said. “And twenty-seven hours? It’s 127 hours! What do you think, he sawed his own arm off after one day?”

“You want to make it twenty-seven minutes, Dayton?” Park said.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Whatever the truth, one thing was clear: Barret had panicked and a kid was dead because of it. The wolf community was outraged and Cooper didn’t blame them.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“A sudden pain in his belly so sharp Cooper almost needed to vomit protested that. He bit his lip hard and ignored it. No medical reason, it’s all in your head.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“He wanted that, to be able to leave the job behind. But when your job changed your entire outlook on reality, how could you ever walk away?”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“If you didn’t do anything, why’d you run?” Cooper asked. “’Cause you’re BSI. I heard what happened in Syracuse.” Cooper’s eye twitched. Goddamn Syracuse. Did everyone know about that?”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“When Cooper identified himself as a BSI agent, civilians hardly looked twice. Didn’t know what it was. Didn’t care. Ben Pultz knew who the BSI was, though. And from the way he leapt, inhumanly graceful, over a fire hydrant and catapulted down a side alley, he cared who the BSI was, too.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Everything about him looked crumpled. His clothes, his hair, his skin, his face, his spirit.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“There was a difference between not distrusting someone anymore and trusting them to let yourself be totally vulnerable.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“In Cooper´s opinion the amount of taxidermy had crossed the line from that of an enthusiastic hunter into Norman Bates territory.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“The fact that Cooper Dayton was running down the side streets of Bethesda and not driving back to D.C. by now was proof that his father had been dead wrong. His haircut was plenty professional. Too professional, even. How else could Ben Pultz have made him as a federal agent from thirty feet away and taken off running? Not from his jeans and T-shirt. Not from the weapons carefully hidden under his intentionally oversized jacket. It had to be the bureau-regulation hair. Apparently Pultz didn’t think he looked like a “boy band reject,” though Cooper doubted his dad, Sherriff Dayton, would be swayed by the opinion of a fleeing homicide suspect.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Furthoe didn’t give you the whole story, but we’re on the edge of a cliff right now, Dayton. Tensions with the wolf community haven’t been this high since the coming-out and every ignorant comment and action on our part makes it exponentially worse.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“I don’t disagree,” he said slowly. “But what else can we do? With all due respect, we’re overtaxed. There aren’t enough agents for all the flagged cases and when we do get there we don’t have the information or experience needed. Not to mention bad relations with the wolves don’t make them any more willing to be helpful.” Surprisingly, Director Furthoe looked pleased, almost smug. “I’m glad you agree, Agent Dayton. When Cola suggested you for this, I knew you’d be a perfect fit.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Say something to him, Cooper thought. Say anything at all. But he was horrible at this. Couldn’t tell when men might be interested in him, didn’t know what to say when they were.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“The public could never know about werewolves, though. That was one of the few things the BSI and the Trust agreed on.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“You see, they don’t have to completely change shape to grow claws or fangs, and that is what makes them so dangerous, as you well know, Agent Dayton.” Cooper’s hand twitched to his stomach. The stitches had been removed but the skin was still raw and tender, and the indigestion daily.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Werewolves were not just in books and movies, cartoons and games. They were real and they had “come out” five years ago to governments around the world, represented by a group that called themselves the Trust.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“I’m afraid I already know they’re real.” “No, you don’t. But you will,” Furthoe said. “What do you know about werewolves?” Cooper frowned and shifted his weight, awkwardly. “Is that a gang, sir? I’m not familiar—” “No. Werewolves. Sometimes a man, sometimes a wolf. Or woman, too, of course.” “Sir?” Director Furthoe leaned back and pointed at the chair again. “I really think you should take that seat now.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“So he’d made promises. And when his recovery was complete he found himself signing away his life in the hushed office of Jacob Furthoe, Director of the secretive Bureau of Special Investigations. “Monsters are real,” Furthoe said, accepting his contract like a pin-pulled grenade and pointing to the chair across the desk.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“After Cooper had woken up in the hospital missing six and a half feet of small intestine, with a tube draining his stomach contents out his nose and an invitation to discuss “possible promotion opportunities” at the mysterious BSI headquarters, the only question he had was what the hell had happened. The BSI told him they could answer that if he agreed to join their team.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Motive didn’t have a lot to do with bloodlust, Jefferson would say, and shake it off, ready for the next case. But he was used to it. He’d been working for the BSI for five years. Almost as long as the BSI had existed. Cooper had only been there for six months and wasn’t yet comfortable walking away before an investigation was technically closed.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“he wanted to be back in Bethesda questioning Pultz. Why had he killed Caroline Tuscini? Why had he paused after dropping to the other side of the fence when he could have gotten away? What had he been about to say?”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Cooper realized he was smiling to himself while sorting through Baker’s toolbox and quickly stopped. BSI had a hard enough time keeping up appearances without the locals seeing him grinning over a serial killer’s potential torture tools. Talk about bad press.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“She’s on her way to Mercy Hospital in Portland.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door

“Portland Jetport’s ceiling was made entirely of polished wood beams and the walls were all glass. A giant modernized log cabin, which was pretty much exactly what he’d expected of Maine.”
― Charlie Adhara, The Wolf at the Door