Howling for My Baby

by Beverly Rae

  “Dad, climb on Jason’s back.”

  “What? You expect me to ride on top of a─”

  “Watch it, bud. This ain’t no pleasure trip for me, either.” Jason shot Syd an exasperated look and groaned when she answered with a pleading expression. “Come on. Let’s get this done.” With her keeping him steady, Skeller managed to get on his knees, then slide onto his back. “Shit, man, ever thought about a diet?”

  “Just shut up and haul me out of here. Sydney, get your mother.”

  The three odd companions slipped out of the darkness, with Syd helping to keep her father on his back. Catching her mother’s attention, she motioned for her to follow them. Miriam grabbed William’s arm and together they fought their way over to the trio. Yet, surprising everyone, William spun around and headed for Benjy.

  “Griswold, are you okay?” Miriam touched Jason with a loving pat and examined her husband’s head.

  “I’ll be fine. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Hold him steady up the stairs, Syd.” Jason twisted his head around and howled a message to the other shifters. “We’re outta here. Don’t leave a mess.”

  “Don’t leave a mess?” She shot him a questioning look. “What do you mean?”

  I do not want to answer her question. At least, not right now. Instead, he kept his head low and tried to keep his body from rocking too much and throwing off the injured man.

  But Syd, being the smart girl she was, figured it out on her own. “You don’t mean…”

  Again, he let her question go unanswered. Hearing the cock of the rifle, he warned the others and lowered his body a second before a shot echoed through the room. “Keep going.” Resuming his trek, he’d gone up a little farther when Max shouted from below.

  “I’m going to blow you animals to hell where you belong.”

  As if a giant had thrown ice water over the whole group, hunters and shifters alike stopped fighting and stared at the man standing alone in the farthest corner. He held several sticks of dynamite grouped together by duct tape.

  “Now where did you get that stuff?” Benjy jumped off a hunter to shift into human form again. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to play with explosives?”

  “I’m warning you,” Max snarled, his veins bulging at the side of his neck while a vibrant red color flowed up his neck. “Leave Sydney here and the rest of you can get out.”

  “I’m not leaving her with you.” Jason’s fur stood on end and he twitched his ears in warning. “Not on your life. Or mine.”

  Max giggled a strangled high-pitched sound and Jason saw the insanity in his eyes. “Have it your way, wolf man.” Without another warning, he pinched a lighter from his pocket and lit the wick.

  “Everyone, get out!” Jason didn’t wait to see if anyone obeyed his order. Instead, he jumped through the open doorway and bolted through the house.

  “They destroyed my parents’ home. Look at what─”

  “Syd, this is no time to worry about furnishings. Run!” With Syd keeping her father on his back, he loped from the home. Thankfully, Miriam escaped ahead of them.

  Although their progress was slow, they crossed the yard and made it to the other side of the street. Hunters and shifters poured out of the house and scurried off in different directions. Jason flopped Skeller onto the ground and Miriam knelt beside her husband to pull him into a hug.

  Syd, her face flushed with excitement, hugged him and planted a kiss on his furry forehead. “We made it.” She dropped to the ground, panting.

  “Yes, we did.” But where’s Benjy? In an instant of alarm, Jason shifted to human form and took a few paces toward the house.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Syd bolted up to stop him. “You’re not thinking of going back in there, are you?”

  “I don’t see Benjy. Do you?”

  She scanned the neighborhood. “No. But he got out. He had to. He’s probably running like the devil is on his tail. Just like we should be doing.” Her sad attempt at a laugh fell short.

  “No. He’d try to meet up with me if he could.” He met Syd’s fearful gaze. Placing his hand on hers, he pried it away from his arm. “I’m going after him.” Without giving her time to stop him again, he dashed toward the house.

  “No! Jason, come back!”

  The force of the blast threw him into the air.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jason bolted upright and found Syd. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and he didn’t wait a second longer. Instead, he ran toward the house—or what was left of the house. Flames flashed into the air from the center of the destroyed home and ashes rained down around him.

  “Jason! No!”

  He paused to find an opening in the wall of fire, allowing Syd to catch up with him and clutch his arm with both hands. “You can’t go in there. You’ll die if you do.”

  “It takes a lot to kill a werewolf, remember?” He tugged at her hands, trying to get her to let go. However, by using all her newfound strength, she managed to hang on to him.

  “I’m not stupid. Fire is one thing you can’t survive.”

  “I still have to try.”

  “No, you don’t. Face it. He couldn’t have survived the blast.”

  Her words drove the air from his lungs and he knew her heart ached for the funny shifter. Still, she drew herself up, with firm resolve etched on her features. Without words, he knew she wouldn’t let him make a fatal mistake. They had too much to live for.

  “I’m sorry, Jason, but if he was still in the house when the bomb exploded, he’s already dead. I won’t let you throw your life away on a hopeless situation.”

  He yelled an agonized howl, grief mixing with anger at the truth of her words. “You don’t know anything for sure. I have to check to be certain. I can’t leave him behind. He’s my friend.” His voice cracked, guilt driving a knife into him. “Damn me! I did leave him. I left him down there and ran out.”

  She brought him to her in an embrace. “You saved me and my family. Your family. And you warned all the others. You couldn’t have done anything more.”

  “But Benjy’s always been at my side. I can’t…” The rest of his words never made it out of his mouth.

  “Well, for the love of a good lay, you can’t what? Finish what you were saying, Jay-Jay.”

  Jason and Syd whirled to see Benjy, naked, bruised, bloodied, but alive and standing at the edge of the yard. Jason couldn’t help himself. He pulled Benjy to him, with Syd joining in for a group hug.

  “You got out! But how? You were standing too close to Max. You couldn’t have had time. How? Oh, crap, I don’t care how. I’m just so damned glad you’re alive.”

  “Sheesh, don’t put so much stress on the bones, will ya? I haven’t taken today’s calcium tablet yet.”

  Jason let him go and scrutinized his body for injuries. “You’re bleeding. Are you all right? Where are you hurt? Talk, Benjy.”

  “Has hell frozen over? Did a gay get elected president?” Benjy laughed. “I don’t believe I’ve ever heard you ask this many questions in all the years we’ve known each other. Not to mention telling me to talk. You usually tell me to shut up.” He tilted his head to slant him a sly look. “Could it mean you care about your cutie-pie buddie-bud?”

  “Don’t push it, thin man.” Jason grinned and didn’t think he’d stop grinning for another month.

  “Okay, okay. But ya can’t blame me for wanting to milk the moment.”

  “Hey, Benjy, what do you want me to do with this creep?”

  Again, they turned in the direction of a voice.

  “Medusala. Uh, I mean, William. You made it out. I’m glad you─” Syd’s gaze traveled from William’s ash-covered features to the crumpled heap of human flesh at his feet.

  Jason stalked over to snag the man’s hair and lift his face for inspection. Max, unconscious, reminded him of a marionette a child had forgotten to pick up and put in the toy bin. “Shit, the bastard got out.”

&nb
sp; William let go of Max’s shirt at the same moment Jason released his hair, letting Max slump to the ground. “Not through any effort of his. Benjy, however, was absolutely brilliant.” William saluted the lithe wolf man, who bowed in return. “He knocked Max on the head with one of the broken guns, and the jerk dropped like a sack of flour. Then he slung him over his shoulder and threw him out the same window you guys used to get inside the basement. Who knew a scrawny dude like him was so strong? And thank goodness this asshole had a long wick on the bomb or we’d have gotten blown to smithereens.”

  “Not that I’m not happy you made it, but instead of going through the window, why didn’t you simply snuff out the flame?” Jason and Syd exchanged a look. Yep, leave it to Benjy to do it the hard way.

  Benjy glanced at William, whose face echoed the same embarrassed expression that was on Benjy’s. “Gee, why didn’t we think of that?”

  “Because it would’ve been too easy?”

  Benjy took Jason’s explanation and ran for it. “Uh, yeah, you’re right. Way too easy for a hero like me.”

  Slapping his friend on the back in a good-natured way, Jason congratulated him for his bravery before pointing at the crowd gathering in the streets. The hunters and shifters had disappeared, leaving their small group surrounded by concerned—and very curious—neighbors. Police and ambulance sirens blared through the night air. Jason took Syd’s hand. “Uh, we may have a problem.”

  She tossed her hair, sending his heart into overtime, and stuck out her chin. “Not me. I don’t have a problem. Not while you’re with me.”

  He darted his gaze at the gawking crowd of onlookers. “How are you going to explain your dad’s house blowing up to your neighbors and the authorities? Not to mention you standing around in a blanket next to two nude men, a cross-dresser and an unconscious man?”

  ƒ

  Deciding not to wait around to answer the inevitable questions, the small group lumped the unconscious Max into the flatbed of Skeller’s truck. Skeller, William and Benjy joined the out-cold hunter while Jason, Syd and Miriam hopped into the cab. With Miriam driving, they headed for Syd’s apartment. Syd could finally take a big breath, lessening the tension in her neck.

  “All I can say is thank goodness Skeller left his keys in the truck and parked in the street. Too bad he didn’t leave a change of clothing I could use.” Jason glanced over at Miriam. “Of course, you ladies probably enjoy sitting next to a virile naked man, huh?”

  Miriam chuckled and took a peek at his manhood. “I could take it or leave it.”

  “What?” The bruise to his ego wasn’t hard to miss in the tone of his voice.

  “Oh, sure, you’re nicely endowed and all.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  Miriam winked, reminding Syd of Jason. “But you don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.”

  Syd covered her chuckle with a cough. “Don’t worry about it, Jason. I think you’re wonderful to look at. And to touch, by the way.” She sucked in air when she realized what she’d said in front of her mother. “Oh, shit. Forget I said anything. I’m pleading post-traumatic stress disorder.”

  “Don’t worry about it, honey. I know you’re a grown woman with all the normal needs.” Her mother shot her a disapproving look anyway. “But watch your language.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” Syd was more than grateful when her mother pulled the car into her apartment’s parking space. Her home had never looked so inviting.

  But sneaking from the car into the apartment didn’t go without a hitch. A couple necking in the car next to them came up for air at the same moment a naked Jason and Benjy jumped out of the truck. “Oops. Hi folks. No worries here. Just a little late night skinny-dipping. My buddy and I kind of lost our swim trunks.” Jason wiggled his fingers at the astonished couple.

  “Don’t you believe it.” Benjy snaked an arm around Jason’s waist and snared his body against his. “We’re lovers and nudists. The rest of these folks are voyeurs. Want to come up and watch the show?”

  Syd clamped a hand over her mouth to cover her laugh. With a curt snarl, Jason broke free of his friend and hurried their group to her apartment.

  “Quick thinking there, Jay-Jay.” With another snarl, the annoyed pack leader dragged him into the bedroom with Syd following after them. “Hell, if you want to have sex with me all you have to do is ask. You don’t have to get rough. Unless, of course, you like it rough. Does he, Syd?”

  “Dream on, stickman. And don’t call me, Jay-Jay.”

  Syd grinned at them and quickly dressed.

  Benjy caught the jeans and T-shirt Jason threw at him. “Well, my fifteen minutes of fame sure didn’t last long. From hero to zero in less than an hour.”

  “Get dressed and come on.” Jason pulled on a pair of jeans he’d left at the apartment a few days earlier and topped it off with his favorite Are You Wild? T-shirt. He led the way into the living area where Max was still lights-out on the couch.

  William motioned to Jason and tossed him a belt.

  “What’re you doing?” Jason caught the belt the medium tossed at him.

  “Leave the man alone. If he wants to go au natural, I’m not stopping him.” Benjy plopped down on the nearby armchair, leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, and openly gawked. “He made an ugly female, but he makes a hunky male.”

  “Don’t even think about it, man.” William scowled and ripped off his bra. “I’ve had it with this stuff. After what I’ve seen tonight, I don’t want to have anything to do with any kind of alternative lifestyle. Werewolves, gays, mediums, whatever. In fact, I’m going to check into a good psychiatric hospital. Maybe after some old-fashioned electric shock therapy, I’ll figure out this was one bizarre dream.”

  Benjy rose and skipped over to William to bat his eyelashes at him. “Say you’re joking, sweet cheeks. Can’t you feel the simpatico between us? Can’t you sense the attraction?” He stuck close to William although the former female impersonator tried to get out of his reach. “I need a big strong man like you around the house. Or, uh, cave. How about you join me for some down-low on the lycan side of life?”

  Undressed to the shorts he’d worn under his flower-covered dress, William brushed off the persistent wolf’s advances and headed for the door. “I’d like to say it’s been fun, but it hasn’t. Mr. Skeller, keep your money. I don’t want anything”—he stopped and pointed at Benjy—“or anyone to remind me of tonight.”

  “No, my little blossom buddy. You don’t mean what you’re saying.” Benjy reached out for William but had his hands slapped down. With a cry of disgust, the medium-no-more rushed out the door. The forlorn werewolf cried out in one last attempt to get him to stay. “Come back, Willie, come back.”

  Poor Benjy. He never has any luck. Yet Syd should’ve known his sadness wouldn’t last long.

  Benjy pouted and flopped down on the sofa. “Well, shoot. I’ve always dreamed of having a boyfriend named Willie. Do you know why?”

  Together, Jason and Syd tried to head him off. “No, Benjy. Don’t go there.”

  He pursed his lips and pointed to his crotch. “Because I’d have my willie, his willie and, last but not least, Willie.”

  Syd joined in the collective groan and made a face. “Urgh. I didn’t think it was possible, but your jokes are getting worse.”

  “I think he’s coming to.” True to her maternal and loving instincts, her mother bent over the prone hunter to place a comforting palm on his cheek. “I’m sure I heard him moan.”

  “What are we going to do with him?” Skeller, appearing older than he had a few short days before, looked at her and Jason.

  “Hey, don’t look at me,” Jason growled. “He’s your buddy.”

  “Yes, but he’s in my apartment, which makes him our problem, too.” What a difference a short time made. Not long ago she’d thought Max was a stand-up kind of guy and a possible lifetime partner. Now she didn’t have any feelings for him. Not even bad ones. Not since finding Jason.


  “Well, if you ask me, I don’t think Mr. Max is going to give us any more trouble. I’ve shone the light on his secret and I doubt his Neanderthal brothers are going to welcome him back into their club. He’s persona non grata.” Benjy swiveled over to the hunter, took his arm and tugged the man to a sitting position next to him. “Hey, sleeping beauty, time to wakey-wake.”

  Max mumbled a few incomprehensible words and grabbed the side of his head. “Argh. Ow. Shit. What happened?” Once his head cleared, he took in the crowd standing around him and summoned up enough energy to make a break for it.

  Benjy’s hand on his shoulder brought him down again. “Where ya going, sweet cheeks?”

  “Let me outta here.”

  “But I don’t want to let you go yet.” Benjy leaned against the hunter, sending him scooting to the opposite end of the couch. Jason thwarted his escape by flopping down on his other side.

  “Max, buddy, Benjy’s right. You need to stick around.”

  “No. Please. I can’t hurt you anymore. Please, let me go.”

  Syd thought she smelled fear radiating from him. Could she smell fear now? Or was she imagining it? She wanted to ask Jason, but didn’t want to interrupt.

  “We need to make sure you’re not going to repeat your Unabomber trick again. Or anything else harmful to me and my friends.”

  “Take it easy. You’re scaring him.”

  Jason cocked his head in question at her. “Huh? Your ex-boyfriend tries to make minced wolfmeat out of us, and you don’t want me to frighten him too much?”

  Can you say “green with envy”? Syd tried not to show how wonderful his jealousy made her feel. Better she should show him later. “I don’t care about him. But I don’t want him sweating so much he’ll leave a stain where he’s sitting. My sofa is brand new.”

  Jason’s guttural laugh reminded her of his chuckle in bed. Too much time has passed since he jumped my bones. So, watch out, my handsome howler, tonight’s the night. Syd licked her lips, sending him an unmistakable message which he intercepted and received. He winked at her, letting her know he’d like nothing better.