by Lynde Lakes
Whatever you do, Brain, it will be the right thing.
As if he heard her message and without further hesitation, he drove the spear into Reeves’ black heart.
Brian watched Reeves intently, as if expecting him to rise again. Then, looking crazed, he drove the spear into Reeves again and again. Finally, he threw the sharp, bare branch aside and, breathing hard, he crawled up on the boulder, leaving a trail of blood, and untied her. He removed her gag gently and touched her lips with calloused fingers. The love in his intense- eyes moved her more than her favorite symphony ever could.
She rose to a sitting position, not even bothering to rub her aching wrists, and while keeping an eye on the black wolf’s limp body, she wrapped her arms about her beloved wolfman.
In the dawning light, the black wolf jerked once, morphed into Rory, jerked again, and then lay still as death.
As Brian lifted her gently off the boulder, she said, “You were right about him all along.”
She glanced at Brian. He was morphing back to his human form. He bent to kiss her, but stopped as though needing to take a breath. She watched in wonder and joy as his wolf-self vaporized and gusted out of his mouth like genie smoke caught by a breeze.
“Brian, your wolf left you, as if you finally held nothing back. You really do love me.”
“I’ve been telling you that all along. But I guess it took suffering through the pain of fearing I might lose you forever to finally allow myself to feel, to the depth of my soul, every emotion in my body.”
He was studying her, making her suddenly acutely aware of their nudity. “It seems so simple now. Our willingness to forfeit our lives for each other was well worth the deadly risk. But we both almost ended up dead.”
She shivered, feeling the cold fear still lingering in her bones. “As grateful as I am, I realize we still have a big problem. How do we prevent the devil from resurrecting Reeves again so he can morph again into another person? I don’t want my family to live with that fear into eternity.”
Suddenly Victoria and Hugh, half morphed, entered the clearing looking dirty and bedraggled, like they’d been through a hurricane. “What happened to you two?” Valerie asked.
“We heard the growling across the miles,” Uncle Hugh said. “And while trying to race to your rescue, we fell into two deep, hidden snare-traps.”
“How did you escape?” Valerie asked.
“We can talk about that later.” Uncle Hugh stared down at Rory. “Right now we have to take care of this ugly business. He’s my step-brother Reeves, isn’t he?”
Valerie shivered. “Yes, we’re sure of it now.”
Victoria kicked the corpse’s feet. “What’ll we do his remains?”
Hugh took a long breath then blew it out. “We have to dispose of the body. I suggest burning him to ashes.”
Valerie wasn’t sure she agreed. “Dad said cremation wasn’t final enough. He still rose from the dead.”
“We’d better do something quickly,” Victoria said, looking up and scanning the coral sky. “The police could come anytime. They’ve been combing the area by helicopter since your security man disappeared.”
Valerie gestured with a nod toward the table boulder. “He’s no longer missing.”
“Oh, My God!” Victoria said. “How ghastly.” Her tone took on a deadly calm. “I suppose we should dispose of him, too.”
“No, not a good idea.” Valerie realized there was no perfect answer. And, even though Reeves was dead, the trouble was far from over. “We should report our discovery and let the police take care of him. Reeves is another matter. He must be handled quickly and internally for the sake of our family.” She tried to sound as calm as her sister.
“I wish we had a shovel,” Uncle Hugh said. “But we can’t wait to get one, so grab some sturdy branches and start digging, folks.”
“First,” Brian said, “I have to untie the security man and drag him into the shade. He’ll fry up there in the sun.”
Valerie loved his humane intentions, but touching the guard would only bring more trouble. “No!” she said, knowing she’d touched the guard with her fingers. But she’d find a way to explain that later, if she had to. “You can’t touch him. You mustn’t get your DNA on him.”
Brian nodded. “You’re right, but I hate leaving him there. At least, I must cover him.”
He grabbed a hefty branch, stripped it of its leaves, leapt onto the boulder, and covered the guard with the greenery. Then he jumped off of the boulder and began digging with the sturdy limb.
Everyone stripped branches and joined him.
Valerie regretted that they didn’t have the right tools or sufficient time to dig an adequate hole.
Uncle Hugh rolled the corpse into the grave. It was barely deep enough to cradle the body. He placed kindling in with the cadaver and was about to light the wood chips when Brian said, “Stop! I have an idea. Valerie, give me your cross.”
Puzzled, she removed the warm cross from around her neck and handed it to him.
She felt a spark when their fingers brushed.
Brian met her gaze a moment then tossed the golden treasure into the hole on top of the black wolf’s chest and the kindling. “Wait, that’s not quite right.” He kneeled down and looped the chain around the wolf’s neck. The sun beat down unmercifully on the gold, almost blinding them with its brightness. Suddenly, the kindling and the corpse caught fire. Flames rose in the air. Screams echoed around them as though hundreds of dead spirits were writhing in pain.
With her heart pounding in fear, Valerie moved closer to Brian. He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Pray,” he told her and the group. “Pray like you’ve never prayed before.”
He sank to his knees, drawing her with him. Valerie felt deeply moved when everyone in the group joined them, their hands clasped, tips pointing to their higher power.
Then Brian’s voice rose, deep and controlled, above the others. “Dear God in Heaven, if it is your will, please bless the cross and give it the power to keep the devil away, and allow Reeves to cease to exist in any form. Let the Lamont family and all of its off-spring have peace at last and remain free of the reign of terror that has spanned generations. After a resounding “Amen,” the group covered the ashes and oddly still gleaming cross with dirt and then headed home.
Valerie wondered how she’d explain the vicious and deadly attack on the guard to the police. This was the time to prove she could think on her feet and was worthy of her CEO title. And that she was worthy of Brian who’d risked his life to save her more than once.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Upon her return to the mansion, Valerie reported the security guard’s murder to the authorities. Then she waved away her parents’ questions and told them Victoria would explain. Quickly, she ran upstairs to throw on some clothes. Brian did the same. She and Brian barely made it back downstairs before she heard the swish of rotors beating the air and then the thud of wheels touching down as the PD helicopter landed in her yard.
“I shudder at what they’re doing to the landscaping,” Brian said.
She laughed without humor. Only a man who loved gardening would say something like that. “We have more to worry about than messed up grass.”
When she recognized the officers, her stress-level skyrocketed and her knees began to tremble. Haywood swaggered toward her, his round face smug as usual. His partner, Officer Montoya, shook his head as if she’d been a naughty child.
Haywood lowered his dark, impenetrable aviator sunglasses, and with narrowed, muddy eyes he glared at her. “So you found the guard, did you? Like I said before, it seems whenever there’s trouble with wolves in this community you and your dad are always mixed up in it.”
She took a deep breath and met his gaze head on. “Do you want us to take you to the guard, or not?”
He stared at her coldly. “Most indubitably, Ms. Lamont,” Haywood said in a superior tone. “Lead away.”
Brian assisted her into the chop
per and then climbed in next to her and clasped her hand tightly.
They were flying toward disaster. She’d told the police about the wolf attack and they’d have no doubt that a werewolf had torn out the guard’s throat. Although she and her family would suffer the repercussions, reporting the murder was still the right thing to do. The guard needed to be discovered and returned to his loved ones for a proper burial.
At the murder site, Haywood rubbed his gloved hands together as if he relished the ghastly, bloody sight. “Well I’ll be. It’s like you said, another werewolf attack.”
Montoya went to the bushes and threw up. On his way back to the group his path took him close to the loose dirt. Feeling uneasy, she glanced over at the shallow grave marked only by smooth dirt and a scattering of pebbles and leaves that had blown in since they’d left it. She felt her knees go weak when officer Montoya looked down at the fresh dirt. Montoya, looking pale and tired, glanced at her but said nothing.
She was terrified about the look that passed between them. But when nothing came of it, the knots in her stomach disappeared.
In the following weeks it was touch and go with police, but when they couldn’t find any direct evidence linking any of the Lamont family to the murder, they put the case into an unsolved file and warned they’d be watching her and her whole family. But what else was new. The Lamont family had lived under a microscope for years.
****
With the wolves within her and Brian gone, and some assurance and lots of faith that Reeves would never return, Valerie copied her sister and made a quick trip to Las Vegas to get married. She and Victoria promised their dad that they would plan a formal double-wedding in April or June, whatever he wanted.
For the present, Valerie was more interested in the man than the marriage, and now that both of them were free of the curse she wanted to be gloriously and legally married when they made love again, just in case she was truly as fertile as she felt.
When they returned, they wanted to make love out in the wilds like their first time. They ran like children to a secret spot out of the sight of the mansion and the world, under a lone mesquite tree that promised shade. Brian snatched a rolled up gray blanket from his backpack and dropped to his knees. He placed a stone on three corners of the blanket and a small cooler with wine and cheese on the other. The smell of brush, mesquite, and newly planted grape vines drifted on the breeze and rippled the dried brush. The gentle movement soothed her inner turmoil and helped to bring her racing heart back to normal. The surroundings in the hilly mecca she’d learned to love as a wolf were breathtaking, but rather than drink in nature and fill her thirsty soul, she brazenly studied Brian. His dark, sexy magnetism never ceased to amaze her. And she knew as long as she lived, that this man with his unusual up-bringing would continue to surprise her.
She took a deep, shuddering breath. She no longer had to fight the spell this man had been weaving over her since the moment they met. Nor did she have to fight the curse.
A grin played at Brian’s lips. And although her nerves were taut, she grinned back, loving him so much she ached.
When Brian stroked her hair and looked into her eyes, she entwined her arms around his neck and drew him closer. His heat flowed over her like a soothing, warm bath. Her gaze fixed on his lips. They parted slightly, all man…all hers.
He didn't move. Brian's face was a sculpture of strong angles and planes. He let out an agonized groan that was very human, very passionate. Then he bent and captured her lips in a gentle taking.
Brian’s tongue traced her lower lip with maddening slowness, sending sensations racing through her. She moaned. His glinting gaze met hers and he looked deep into her eyes,
searching a moment. Then he lowered his lips to hers, his mouth open, moist, and faintly tasting of mint. He sought her tongue.
As their passion heated and soared, kisses weren’t enough. She tried to calm her excitement as they slowly disrobed one another. Then, laying nude in Brian’s arms, pressed against his hard, leanly-muscled body, she was oblivious to the hills around them or the purple mountains to the East. Beneath the gentle, sun-warming breezes, a hot unquenchable passion seared her soul. In Brian’s powerful arms, she felt a wildness rage through her that she’d thought she could only experience in the radiance of the full moon. With a soft sigh, she drew him close. His heat surrounded her, seeping into her bones, spreading waves of flames until every inch of flesh was on fire and begging for release.
She wildly raked her long fingers through Brian’s midnight black hair and drew him on top of her. He needed no prompting. She’d learned during their short honeymoon that living wild with a pack of wolves in his youth had only made him more confident as a lover. And now that he’d allowed himself to feel the full impact of his emotions, he was even more incredible, letting his love for her shine in every whisper, in every caress. “Oh, God, Brian, I love you more than I ever thought possible.”
He whispered in her ear, “How many memories these hills call to mind, the first passions, desperate and unrestrained. And now this beautiful love and unbreakable bond that has grown stronger every day since we met.”
Tears flashed to her eyes. With her heart over-flowing with the emotion he conveyed and the emotion he inspired, she clung to him.
While kissing away her tears, he slipped inside her, filling her with his heat and bold strength. Suddenly, she was oblivious to everything but his woodsy scent and powerful thrusts. Wildly, she lifted her pelvis, wanting more. And wanting it only with him—forever.
Epilogue
Hugh slipped into his brother’s office and watched him for a few minutes. A great, aching, brotherly love rose within so swiftly that it took his breath away, assuring him that he was capable of giving and receiving love. He didn’t know how Damon would take the news, but he decided to just come right out with it. He cleared his throat then said, “You and your family don’t need me anymore.” A constriction rose in his throat and he swallowed. “So, I’m moving on.”
Damon looked up, frowning. “Don’t be silly, we’ll always need you. Let me rephrase that…” He got up from his cluttered desk and hugged his brother. “What I meant to say is, we’ll always want you.”
“I appreciate that, but I have this great need to try to make a life of my own for a while. When the serum didn’t work on me, I decided it was because, like it or not, I’m still a member of the walking-dead and since I died a werewolf, I’m probably destined to be a werewolf for as long as I’m granted the blessing of remaining here on Earth.”
Damon shook his head, looking thoughtful. “Unless you fall in love and save a damsel from some terrible fate. Maybe then…”
“With me that probably won’t work. But that’s why I’m leaving. I’ve never felt the love of a woman and I’d like to experience it before I die. But first I must meet some women. Hence, dear brother, I’m off to do some traveling. I’ve signed up with a traveling circus that goes all over the world. Wish me luck….”
The End
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