Exhausted, she put on a loose pair of pants and a large sweatshirt. With her hair drawn back in a ponytail, she walked to the kitchen for coffee.
James handed her a cup and suggested she join him in Max’s study. It was only midnight.
Janet walked into the study for the first time. A bank of monitors took up the entire wall. Cameras pointed in every imaginable direction throughout the house.
“Do you sit here every month?” she asked James.
“Most months, Miss.”
“How long have you known that Max is a...” Oh, God. What was she suppose to call him?
“A werewolf?”
A nervous laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, I guess that’s what he is.”
“I’ve served his family for the last thirty years, Miss.”
She set her coffee cup down. “Why?”
James moved away, his eyes distant. “They saved my life.”
Not knowing what else to say, Janet sipped the hot brew and resigned herself to wait. ****
Alarms and buzzers woke her from her restless sleep. She focused her fuzzy gaze over to James from her perch on the couch. He spoke to someone at the gate. She read the relief in his face.
The images on the monitors showed several trucks overflowing with wolves coming onto the property. They were home.
Within minutes, the living room filled to capacity with the pack that had fought by Max’s side. Blood-marred hair clung to half of them, their wounds evidence that their fight had been vicious.
Despite her trepidation, Janet searched them all for Max. Unable to locate him amongst the pack had her spinning in circles and renewing the effort.
Finally, Richard walked in with Max at his side. He stopped in his tracks, their eyes caught and held.
James approached from behind and handed her an armload of blankets.
“What’s this for?” she asked.
He pointed to the horizon. “The sun is coming up.” As he said the words, the room filled with deafening howls and everyone started to change.
The sea of hairy wolves quickly changed to a sea of naked people. Men and women, alike.
Janet started covering those who were closest with the blankets. She rushed around the room and realized the scene was becoming a massive triage. Several of the wounded needed immediate attention.
“Richard,” she called bringing looks from several of those who already walked about.
Richard turned to her side.
“I’m going to need sterile gauze, hydrogen peroxide, betadine and tape.” Janet narrowed her eyes at him when he didn’t move. “Now!” she yelled.
Richard jumped back to gather what she demanded. Janet knelt down to the woman at her feet. The gash on her chest was deep, the bleeding significant.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” she told the moaning woman. “Hold this.” She placed the blanket to her side and pressed firm.
Looking up, Janet saw another man with a bite to his face. She rushed to his side to see how bad it was.
Two hours later, several people had been taken to local hospitals, while others left for home.
Exhausted, Janet sat down and rested her head in her hands.
“Here.” Max eased up behind her and set a cup of coffee in front of her. “You look like you could use this.”
She sat up and met his eyes. He had made himself useful during the ordeal of cleaning up his family’s wounds, but he hadn’t said a word to her since he changed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
“You didn’t give me a chance, Max. You lied to me.”
“I never lied to you.”
“Omitting the truth is the same as lying, and you know it!”
He tried to place a calming hand on her shoulder.
She shook him off and backed away. “I trusted you. Do you know how difficult it is for me to do that? What other dark secrets do you have?”
His jaw tensed. “My being a werewolf is enough, don’t you think?”
“Your secret almost cost me my life.” Janet stood and started to pace.
“I know,” he murmured.
“That’s it, I know? Don’t you have anything else to say now that you’re human again?”
“I’m sorry.”
Janet cocked her head to one side. She felt the tears stinging the back of her lids again. “I’m sorry, too. I thought maybe we had a future together.”
“We do have a future, Janet.” Max shortened the distance between them.
She backed farther away and put her hands in front of her. “No. We don’t.”
“Don’t say that.” he insisted. His arms circled her shoulders. He forced her to meet his gaze. “We are meant to be together.”
Janet shook her head.
“Yes, we are.” Her resolve started to crumble. Her body wanted to weaken and slip into his embrace.
Not again.
She pushed against his chest and ran from the room.
“Come back!” he yelled as she ran from his home.
****
Janet slept for the better part of three days following her nightmare. During all hours of the day Max called, leaving messages.
She didn’t call back. She needed time.
Her life was completely upside down. She dreamt of Max in and out of his wolf form. Every morning she reminded herself that it wasn’t a dream.
Werewolves did exist. She knew one up close and personal. The reality of that little fact made her question all life as she knew it.
If werewolves were real, then who was to say vampires were not? What about shape shifters and demons from the underworld?
Crazy talk, that’s what it all was. But who was to say it was only make believe? Perhaps her crazy patients weren’t so nuts after all.
Her fourth day in bed was interrupted by the phone. Her caller ID reported her father on the other line. Rolling over she dragged the receiver to her ear.
“Janet, honey, is that you?”
“You called me, dad.”
“Oh, yeah. I did, didn’t I?” His laughter brought a smile to her face despite the pain in her heart.
“What do you need, dad?”
“Can’t a father call his child to say hi?”
Janet rubbed her eyes and sat up. “Someone else’s dad, maybe, but not you.”
“You know me too well, baby girl.”
“So what’s up?”
Philip took a noisy breath that sounded like a groan over the line. “I’m having a cup of coffee with a friend of yours.”
“Really, who?” Janet kicked the sheets off and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Someone who asked if it would be okay if he married you.”
She paused, digested her father’s words. “Max.” she whispered his name.
Philip let out a hoot. “I’m glad you guessed his name. I was beginning to worry about this one.”
“Is he sitting right there?” Janet asked completely awake.
“Yeah, he’s a nice guy, Janet. Did you know he drove a Ferrari? Nothing wrong with a guy who drives a car like that if you ask me.”
“No one’s asking you, dad.”
“He did. Kind of old-fashioned of him, but I have to admit I liked it.”
“Put him on the phone,” she said.
“He says you’re not taking his calls.”
She was about to blow her top. “Put him on the phone!”
“Okay, okay...geez.”
“Hi, beautiful.” Max’s voice purred over the line, sending instant shockwaves over her body. Her heart lunged.
“Hi, Max.”
“Your dad’s a nice guy, even if he is making me pay for the coffee.”
“What are you doing?”
He sounded so calm, so sure of himself. “Having coffee, and asking your father for your hand.”
“You’re crazy, you know that?” She kept her voice even, although it threatened to crack.
“I’ve been
called worse.” He sighed into the phone. “I need to see you, Janet. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat.” His plea pressed on every nerve in her body. She ached for him, too.
“A bit extreme of you to pretend you want to marry me.”
“I’m not pretending, Janet. I am going to marry you. It might take me years to convince you we belong together, but I’m in for the long haul. I’m not going anywhere.” The lump in her throat caught, he sounded so sincere.
“How can I trust you? How will I know you won’t lie to me again?”
“I will tell you everything. From the beginning to the moment we met. Give me a chance, Janet. I need you.”
Janet heard her father’s chuckle. She imagined his laughing eyes as Max poured out his soul over the phone.
“Fine. Meet me in Griffith Park in front of the pony rides in an hour.”
Max’s breath came in a rush, as if he had been holding it. “You won’t be sorry.”
“Goodbye, Max.”
“Janet,” he stopped her from hanging up. “I love you.”
She choked on a cry before hanging up. She was a goner. She knew it before she made it to the shower.
****
It was Saturday and the park was crowded with families celebrating life in sunny California. Janet found a lone park bench and watched the children happily climbing on the backs of ponies. Their delightful squeals brought a smile to her face.
She knew when he walked up behind her, even before she turned his way.
“One day those will be our children,” he said in her ear.
Pivoting, she stared into an armload of roses. There must have been four dozen of all different colors.
“I didn’t know which ones you liked, so I bought them all.”
His million-dollar smile had the hairs on her arms standing on end.
“They’re beautiful,” she said while reaching for them. “You didn’t have to.”
“What man asks a woman to marry him without flowers?” He slid in beside her and captured her hand before bringing it to his lips.
“I don’t know.” Her train of thought fled. His soft lips caressed her hand. Without missing a beat, he slid a ring on her finger. “Max!”
“Say yes, Janet. Put me out of my misery and tell me you’ll marry me.”
“We hardly know each other,” she argued.
“We fit and you know it.” He moved in and placed a soft kiss to her lips. She trembled. He placed her hand against his heart. “Feel this. It beats in time with yours. The moment my lips met yours I knew you were for me.”
“That’s sweet but...”
“No buts. You have to believe me. We’re meant to be together. My kind has only one mate in their lifetime, and you are mine.” Her gaze searched his; his eyes drew in.
“Your kind…you mean werewolves?”
“Yes, werewolves. We have one mate in our life,” he repeated.
“You’ve been with other women.”
Max stroked the side of her face. “But I have only one mate, Janet.”
“I don’t know.”
“Ask me anything. Let me earn back your trust.”
Janet chewed her bottom lip. So many questions rose to the surface she didn’t know where to start. “Did you choose this life?”
“Yes,” he said without blinking. “Every month those like Gorman hunt, kill and turn others into monsters like them. The only way to track and remove them is by being one of them.”
Janet thought of his family, their dedication to each other when they returned from their hunt.
Their love.
“Are you immortal?”
He laughed. “No. I age, like you.”
“Gorman and you argued about the harm of the gun.”
“A silver bullet can kill me during the change and after but not before. They hurt like hell, but they’re not fatal.”
“I don’t understand. Gorman came armed. Ready to kill you.”
Max’s gaze focused on the children who played alongside the ponies. “Gorman could have shot me before the change, weakened me. After he would have done his best to take me out. We’re most vulnerable during the change. The folklore about silver bullets holds some truth. Your aim must have hit his black heart dead center.”
“You would recover from a bullet wound? Even if you were shot right now?”
“I heal quickly. We all do.”
The nurse in her struggled with his explanations, then again she had seen him morph into an animal. What could be harder to explain than that? “If we... if I were to be with you, would I have to change?”
“No. Is that what has you worried?”
“It has crossed my mind.”
Max lifted her chin and met her eyes. “I won’t lie to you. If another like Gorman came our way, you might choose my life. Gorman wanted you as his. He would have turned you. If I hadn’t been there to protect you, you would’ve found yourself howling on the next full moon.”
“Would I have been evil, like him?”
“Yes.”
Her hands clutched the stems of the roses. Small thorns pricked her skin. If what he said was true, and she believed it was, she owed him her life. He had saved her; he loved her. She couldn’t lie to herself anymore. Max already had her heart. She gave it to him long before Gorman had kidnapped her.
“I can protect you. I will guard you with my life.”
Janet pushed the roses off her lap and wrapped her arms around him. He pulled her close and gave a fierce hug. The relief of being in his arms renewed the tears that plagued her day and night since she left him. Wolf or not, she loved him, couldn’t imagine her life without him.
“Let me protect you.”
“What am I going to do with you?” She laughed against his chest. “I’m allergic to dogs.”
“Good thing I’m not one.”
“What if I start sneezing when were fifty and can’t stop?” He took her in with hopeful eyes.
“I’ll shave.”
Her laugh continued. “I suppose allergy medications will be better by then.”
“Or they will still make you sleepy. In that case we can stay in bed.” His lips caught hers, sealing his feelings and hers in a passionate kiss.
He protested when she pulled away. “I can think of worse things than staying in bed,” she said against his lips.
His hands caught her hair. His blue eyes pierced her soul. “I love you, Janet O’Brien. Marry me.”
“This is crazy!”
“Marry me.”
“I’m in love with a dog.”
He smiled, not missing her words. “I’m a wolf.”
“I’m going to be Mrs. Wolf.”
His lips tugged, his dimples flashed. “You’re going to be Mrs. Ritter.”
Plastered against him, Janet did indeed feel his heart beat with hers. With their mixing of breath and passion, he vowed words of love. “I will show you my love every day.”
“And on the nights of the full moon?” she asked.
“I’ll make love to you early, before the moon rises.”
Embracing the Wolf
by
Catherine Bybee
Coming April 2012
Chapter One
Kate scurried around the worn out Formica counter with three bacon and egg breakfast platters, two orders of wheat toast, and an English muffin, without butter, in her arms. She stopped short in front of the pie case and the only thing that registered in her brain at two in the morning was...
Why is a dog sitting in the middle of the restaurant?
Then it seemed all hell broke loose.
“Hit the floor,” the voice behind the knit mask yelled from the cash register.
Kate stared, not completely sure the man spoke to her.
“Hit the floor, bitch!”
Her eyes shifted to the customers who huddled behind their cushioned seats, eyes wide with terror, then back to the man who yelled. She opened her mouth to talk when the object in his hand leveled
her way. “I said, hit the floor.”
Kate froze. The deadly grey barrel of the pistol aimed directly at her face, slid fear deep into her soul. The plates she held crashed to the floor, and she took one giant step back.
Her only thought was of Joey.
The gun she focused on moved toward the register. The man hit the keys repeatedly but nothing opened.
His eyes shot her way. “Open it!”
Breath, coming in short gasps that resonated all the way to San Bernardino County, rushed from her lungs.
“Open it!”
Go along with him, and you’ll go home. Alive!
“Hurry!” The gun twitched, or maybe the man. She swallowed the lump in her throat and wiped her damp palms over the polyester of her uniform skirt. Going against every instinct known to man, she stepped over the broken dishes and closer to the deadly weapon.
The gunman jarred her shoulder with his freehand, waking her from her frozen state. “Hurry.” His voice wavered. Either his patience grew thin, or he had some doubt as to what he was doing.
Kate’s shaky hand removed the key to the cash register from her pocket, dropped it into the lock, and opened the drawer with a ding.
She removed the twenties and tens and handed the cash to the thief standing over her.
“All of it!” His putrid breath rushed past her nose with his command. He thrust the money in a bag he drew from his pocket.
The animal at his feet snarled, baring massive teeth.
The hair on the back of her neck rose. Kate’s gaze focused on the ice blue eyes of the dog. Although it didn’t look like a dog at all, more like a wolf, maybe.
“Hurry up.”
Reaching inside the till, her fingers scrambled to remove the cash. She handed the masked man every dollar and even grabbed the cash from under the drawer. “That’s all there is,” she told him, cringing away from the gun.
“Don’t move,” he ordered, backing out of the drab interior of the lobby without taking his eyes off her.
As if in slow motion, the side door to where the help took the dirty dishes opened, and Julio stepped through not knowing a robbery was taking place.
The gunman turned, Kate’s mind raced ahead. She thought of Julio’s four kids without their father.
On reflex, Kate pivoted, shoved the gunman away, and yelled a warning.
Before the Moon Rises (Ritter Werewolves) Page 7
