nonetheless.
“So what’s your plan?”
“I don’t really have one,” I admitted, slumping further into my chair. “I’ve got a list of the victims and their next of kin, but other than that I have no idea what to do. I suppose I need to try to track down some weres to talk to, see if someone can get me a meeting with the pack master of Denver, but it’s been years since I was in contact with any other weres. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Well, I can help you get in touch with the pack master. He’s a regular at The Vine, and I’ve patched up plenty of his wolves over the years. He owes me a couple favors,” she said with a heated smile that made me wonder if she shared a history with the pack master. “I’ll make some calls in the morning and arrange a meeting for you.”
“Wow, thanks. That’s a huge help.”
I finished drinking my cocoa while Alyssa bustled off to fetch me some pajamas for the night, leaving me alone with my thoughts for a few minutes. After the trial that had put Samson in prison for killing seven women and almost making me the eighth, my therapist had “recommended” I attend a support group for newly transformed weres. Given that most weres are born, not bitten, I was the oldest one in attendance except for the group leaders who were there to guide us through our first few terrifying shifts from human to wolf.
At the time I’d still been reeling from the way my life had been turned upside down. When they first hinted that I should join a pack, I had quit the group and returned to the solitude of my mountain cabin. It wasn’t that I disliked other weres or that I was afraid of them; it was the thought of being surrounded by others with the same duality of mind and heart that I was experiencing. It unnerved me. I knew how unpredictable my own wolf could be, how sometimes I felt helpless and lost beneath the strength of her desires. I was sure that being around others with the same urges would overwhelm me, and I would be lost forever, trapped inside while the wolf ruled my body.
Desperate for a reprieve from my heavy thoughts, I was grateful for Alyssa’s interruption when she swept back into the room, even if she was accompanied by the fearsome looking Marvin perched on one of her slender shoulders. I eyed the small bundle of peach satin folded in her arms, sure that it couldn’t be the pajamas she had spoken of; the scrap of fabric barely looked big enough to cover half my ass, let alone the rest of my important bits.
“These should fit you,” she said with a smile, handing the silken mass over. “The guest room’s all set up for you.”
Smothering my thoughts with a forced smile, I rose from the table and followed my host down the hallway towards the guest room. Like the rest of what I had glimpsed of Alyssa’s house, the room was bright and cozy. Pale pink cabbage roses adorned the wallpaper covering the four walls, and antique lace curtains hung at the small windows flanking the brass bedframe. A bedspread patterned with tiny pink and purple flowers was overlaid by a cream chenille blanket that looked soft as a cloud and topped with a mountain of lace covered pillows. Matching white wicker night stands stood on either side of the bed below the windows while a small chintz armchair loaded with more lacey cushions was tucked into one corner of the room. The room was full of feminine softness—everything I wasn’t.
Right away I knew that it was too perfect for the likes of me, reeking of vampires and spent adrenaline. I was contemplating taking a quick shower before crawling into bed when Alyssa said, “Don’t worry if Marvin pops in during the night to say hello. He doesn’t sleep much except when he’s getting ready to molt, so sometimes he wanders around the house a bit.”
Looking at the creepy bird I fought against a shudder as he eyed me with what could only be described as an evil, lecherous grin. How a bird can grin, lecherously or otherwise,
“So what’s your plan?”
“I don’t really have one,” I admitted, slumping further into my chair. “I’ve got a list of the victims and their next of kin, but other than that I have no idea what to do. I suppose I need to try to track down some weres to talk to, see if someone can get me a meeting with the pack master of Denver, but it’s been years since I was in contact with any other weres. I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Well, I can help you get in touch with the pack master. He’s a regular at The Vine, and I’ve patched up plenty of his wolves over the years. He owes me a couple favors,” she said with a heated smile that made me wonder if she shared a history with the pack master. “I’ll make some calls in the morning and arrange a meeting for you.”
“Wow, thanks. That’s a huge help.”
I finished drinking my cocoa while Alyssa bustled off to fetch me some pajamas for the night, leaving me alone with my thoughts for a few minutes. After the trial that had put Samson in prison for killing seven women and almost making me the eighth, my therapist had “recommended” I attend a support group for newly transformed weres. Given that most weres are born, not bitten, I was the oldest one in attendance except for the group leaders who were there to guide us through our first few terrifying shifts from human to wolf.
At the time I’d still been reeling from the way my life had been turned upside down. When they first hinted that I should join a pack, I had quit the group and returned to the solitude of my mountain cabin. It wasn’t that I disliked other weres or that I was afraid of them; it was the thought of being surrounded by others with the same duality of mind and heart that I was experiencing. It unnerved me. I knew how unpredictable my own wolf could be, how sometimes I felt helpless and lost beneath the strength of her desires. I was sure that being around others with the same urges would overwhelm me, and I would be lost forever, trapped inside while the wolf ruled my body.
Desperate for a reprieve from my heavy thoughts, I was grateful for Alyssa’s interruption when she swept back into the room, even if she was accompanied by the fearsome looking Marvin perched on one of her slender shoulders. I eyed the small bundle of peach satin folded in her arms, sure that it couldn’t be the pajamas she had spoken of; the scrap of fabric barely looked big enough to cover half my ass, let alone the rest of my important bits.
“These should fit you,” she said with a smile, handing the silken mass over. “The guest room’s all set up for you.”
Smothering my thoughts with a forced smile, I rose from the table and followed my host down the hallway towards the guest room. Like the rest of what I had glimpsed of Alyssa’s house, the room was bright and cozy. Pale pink cabbage roses adorned the wallpaper covering the four walls, and antique lace curtains hung at the small windows flanking the brass bedframe. A bedspread patterned with tiny pink and purple flowers was overlaid by a cream chenille blanket that looked soft as a cloud and topped with a mountain of lace covered pillows. Matching white wicker night stands stood on either side of the bed below the windows while a small chintz armchair loaded with more lacey cushions was tucked into one corner of the room. The room was full of feminine softness—everything I wasn’t.
Right away I knew that it was too perfect for the likes of me, reeking of vampires and spent adrenaline. I was contemplating taking a quick shower before crawling into bed when Alyssa said, “Don’t worry if Marvin pops in during the night to say hello. He doesn’t sleep much except when he’s getting ready to molt, so sometimes he wanders around the house a bit.”
Looking at the creepy bird I fought against a shudder as he eyed me with what could only be described as an evil, lecherous grin. How a bird can grin, lecherously or otherwise,
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