Giving up on Scootie’s metaphor, she went to the grill in hopes of snagging a hot dog. Her stomach rumbled with hunger.
“Hey, Doll.” Clark leaned over and kissed her cheek. “Ready to get naked?”
“Why did you have to say it like that?” Jill scrunched her nose. “No, I’m not ready. Can I have a dog?”
There was one awesome thing about wolves. They never joked when it came to meat. Immediately, a hotdog was produced. Not just any hotdog, this sucker was twelve inches long.
Mark grinned as she bit into it. “I’m taking that personal. I named that one after my junk.”
Jill gagged and everyone laughed. Too hungry to care, she chewed it slowly and swallowed. “You’re an idiot.”
Once she piled potato salad and a side of beans on her plate, she plopped down next to Jane and a couple other females to eat.
Everyone ate too much, so when the first couple began to dance, the women all rushed to join them. It was best to get some of the overstuffed feeling out of the way before removing any clothing.
At ten o’clock, when the full moon was in display, Luke called everyone to order. He explained the rules and protocols, not that they were needed. Males and females separated. Everyone disrobed.
Most females were modest and undressed behind cars or bushes. Most of the males undressed out in the open without care, throwing their clothes on top of one of the unused tables.
Once shifted, the run would take however long, but the earliest wolves would return was midnight. Usually, the mated ones returned first. Those not mated returned second and new mates would not return until morning.
Jill hoped to be with the second group.
Everyone eyed each other and it was comical to see two males eying the same woman whose eyes grew round and her face flushed at their attention.
The packs dispersed and Jill turned to find the large shifter behind her. “Avian needs a word with you.”
Oh boy. The wolf vibrated with excitement under her skin, ready for her to release it. “Okay, but I don’t have much time to chit-chat.”
She walked next to the man. “You’re a jaguar or a panther. How do you find a place to shift without causing panic?” She’d never met a large cat shifter as most tended to remain in countries with jungles and such.
“Panther. I have a large property.” He shrugged, the massive shoulders moving up and down. “Sometimes I come here.”
Now she saw it. He moved with grace, not one sound from his leather boots. Cats always made her wary, but not him. He was different. A hunk.
“What’s your name?”
He flashed her a gorgeous smile. “Victor Pantera.” He pronounced the name with a Spanish accent. Perhaps he was from Brazil or something. Jill promised herself she’d look up where panthers lived.
Avian’s cool expression didn’t bode well when they neared. His gaze scanned the area behind her before meeting hers. “I can’t let you run today.”
“What?” Her wolf tensed and Jill was pretty sure what looked like a shiver shook her body. “I have to. My pack is running. I can’t not run.”
“Ivan asked that I do what I can to keep you from mating.”
“Uh...” Yes, once again, she was without words. On one hand “awe wasn’t he sweet?” on the other “this from a guy who won’t commit”.
Avian reached for her and patted her upper arm. “You can shift, but Victor will run with you in that area.” He pointed to a separated wooded spot.
She eyed the panther. “I don’t think our animals will get along.” Jill grinned at Victor, who frowned. “Besides, what if I mate with you?”
Victor’s eyes rounded and Jill wanted to laugh. Males. No matter how tough, for some reason, the idea of mating scared the shit out of them.
“I don’t think that can happen,” Victor provided, but the look in his face said he didn’t know squat.
“You don’t know because you’ve never run with a female wolf. I’m a very pretty wolf.” Jill held up her arms as if presenting a brand new car on The Price is Right.
“On second thought, you’re cute. Let me think about it.” She dashed away, stripping and shifted. Just as she hoofed it into the trees, she heard two “Damn its”.
Okay, so maybe the run did become a chaotic disaster of sorts. In shifting, she didn’t realize she’d not removed her t-shirt. So as she tore through the fabric with her teeth, a black panther caught up with her.
Her wolf freaked out and raced off with one leg caught in the t-shirt. She accidently ran into two wolves that stumbled and then turned to find a black panther. More gathered and attacked the panther.
Kind of.
The huge cat climbed a tree and the wolves surrounded it.
Jill managed to get free of the t-shirt and, not sure what else to do, joined the under the tree panther watch.
About an hour later, the pack leaders were summoned, somehow. They came and dispersed the wolves.
Luke, Dale and Walter were scary, huge wolves, but no match for a panther.
Especially one who sat on a branch and seemed to nap.
Then things got worse. A wolf began circling Jill’s wolf. The slut wolf in her enjoyed the attention and no matter what Jill did would not discourage the attention. So what happens? A vampire rushes the wolf and knocks it so hard, it probably went into the future.
Wolves growled and chased the vampire, who ran so fast that he was a blur. Jill was pretty sure she saw clothing in one of the wolves’ mouths, so maybe one got lucky and bit the shit out of Avian.
Of course, this was the perfect time for the two males who’d been eyeing the one female to get into one hell of a snarl and bite fest that could have been broken up by either a pack leader or a vampire guard. Unfortunately, the pack leaders were staring at a sleeping panther and the guard was being chased off.
Jill sat down on her haunches and put her muzzle between her paws. This was a mess.
Finally, the two wolves realized that, while they fought, the female had disappeared and rushed off in separate directions to find her.
Perhaps the girl would be lucky and end up with two mates, Jill thought.
Then, her wolf no longer caring what happened, fell asleep.
“What the hell were you three doing?” For the hundredth time, either Walter or Luke asked the same question. She, Victor and Avian stood before the pack leaders while the rest of the pack who’d returned took way too long to get dressed and pack up as they strained to hear how the drama would end.
Avian held his arms out. “I take full responsibility. It was not my intention to be intrusive in any way. I merely went out to ensure Jill was all right. She seemed in distress. Victor was following my instructions to check on her, unfortunately not realizing how it would affect the run.”
Everyone looked to Jill. She shuffled and cleared her throat. “My t-shirt got stuck.” So yep, that was all she could come up with. To be fair, Avian had taken responsibility, so, technically, she and Victor were in the clear.
As discreetly as possible, she leaned backward to get a glimpse of Avian’s butt to see if part of his pants were missing. Oh yeah, the left cheek fabric was torn. A giggle-snort escaped before she could stop it.
Everyone turned to look at her and Jill rolled her eyes. “No one got hurt. Except for maybe Avian’s left butt cheek, we’re all fine.”
Avian gave her a droll look. The others looked at the vampire, but kept their expressions neutral.
Finally, they were dismissed, as what Jill said was true. Other than the panther having to wait until the coast was clear to come down the tree; no harm, no foul.
“You could have mated.” Luke caught up with her. “There’s still time to shift and run.”
He didn’t seem surprised when she shook her head. “Nah, Ivan has those two convinced we’re a couple, so they’d only chase after me again. You know how you men are about your stupid oaths.”
Luke nodded.
Of course he knew.
; Men were all dumb as hell.
So far, she’d avoided Scootie and the other women. Not in the mood for chatter and gossip, especially since she was probably the main character in most stories, Jill went to her car.
The cell phone dinged as soon as she got in the car. Four texts from Ivan.
I return tomorrow.
How are things?
Did you see Avian?
I miss you.
What was up with the dude? He’d poofed for weeks, now he was all over her like flies on poop. Jill let out a breath and sent two replies.
Things are perfect.
Miss you too.
So her second text was true.
Maybe she’d make him sweat a little. An evil smile curled her lips.
Avian says hello.
I ran with a panther.
We’ve become close.
There. Jill dropped the phone into her purse and started the engine. Teach him to send some panther and super-duper vampire to ruin her run. The phone dinged a couple times, but she ignored it. It was time to take control of her life.
First of all, she would handle publicity for the reality show.
Howlin’ would be the biggest YouTube hit since the kid sitting on a potty with a ukulele.
It was time to go big time. She fist pumped in the air and sped toward her condo.
Chapter Eleven
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
Wine was always one’s best friend until morning. Jill stumbled to the front door and pulled it wide open. “If you’re a serial killer, please make it quick.” She didn’t bother to check who it was. Instead, she went to the couch and fell back onto it. “Oh, my poor head.”
“What did you drink?” The deep voice was unfamiliar at first. Then it penetrated the haze of hangover and Jill’s eyes popped open.
“Hi, Victor. What are you doing here?”
“Apparently I’m here to kill you.”
“No really.”
“I kinda want to kill you.”
Then, she remembered. Ivan. Texts. Mention of a panther. “Oh.”
One day, when confronted, accused or assaulted, she’d come up with good one-liners. Why couldn’t she be like Indiana Jones or Iron Man? They had the best comebacks ever.
The panther leaned closer and, boy, was he a looker. “You made Ivan think you and I...” he motioned with his hand between them. “Now a very pissed off vampire is headed here to confront me.”
“Oh.” Yet again, nothing. She had absofuckinglutely nothing to add.
“Call him.” Victor handed over her cell phone. For a second, Jill wondered where he’d gotten it. Maybe she’d left it on the coffee table? Or did she take it with her to the bedroom?
“I must have been very tipsy. It's not a good idea for a single woman to leave her cell phone out of reach. What if a serial killer...”
“I thought you wanted a quick death.” Victor’s voice was flat, his eyes were flat, he was pissed.
“Yeah, anyway.” A soft moan sounded when she moved. Her head felt as if it separated from her shoulders. “You know, if I was full wolf, I’d be just fine. Stupid human side can’t handle a bottle of wine. What a wuss.”
“Call him.”
“Okay.” Jill pushed the key and the phone rang in her ear. It felt like a bullet.
“Hey.” Ivan didn’t sound mad. At least that one word sounded just fine.
“Hey.”
Silence.
“What’s up?” Once again, he sounded just fine. Jill smiled at Victor who scowled in return.
“Umm, I was wondering if you wanted me to pick you up at the airport. We can have lunch or something.”
“I’m already home.”
“Oh.” Shit. So now what? She shrugged and Victor glared. “Anyway I wanted you to know nothing happened between me and Victor...”
“So you call him by his first name now? Everyone calls him P.”
“P”? What the hell was that? It was stupid. “I think ‘P’ is stupid. ‘P’ is a rapper name.” Jill cringed when Victor groaned and grabbed his own head.
“Who the fuck was that?” This time Ivan sounded angry.
“P.”
There was shuffling and then she heard footsteps. Then the call ended.
“Okay, so that’s done.” She put the phone down and went to pour a glass of water. “I should have some Ibuprofen around here somewhere.”
The panther left. And Jill swallowed her pills.
She wondered if Ivan was all right. He’d hung up really fast.
As much as she wanted to call him back, the urge to throw up was much stronger.
“Jill. Jill.” Someone was shaking the planet. Her entire world was rocking and not in a good way.
Jill sprung from the couch and barely made it to the toilet before tossing what was left of her two hotdogs, potato salad and beans from the day before.
Feeling remarkably better, she returned to the living room to find a very pissed off Ivan. “What did he do to you?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you sick?” One thing about Ivan, when the vampire was mad he was hotter than when he was happy. Something about the way his lips curled, nostrils flared and jaw tensed. It almost looked like he was about to climax...only different.
“Jill.”
“Oh, yeah. No, I did it to myself. Wine.” She pointed like a setter to the counter where an empty bottle of wine was. “Drank the whole thing last night.”
“Why was he here earlier?” Ivan was still pissed. He stalked to the sink then opened the dishwasher. What the hell? Had he become domesticated all of a sudden?
Jill joined him in the kitchen, but she was more interested in toast than cleaning. “Don’t put the wine glass in the dishwasher. Those are hand wash only.”
Ivan gave her a droll look. “I was looking to see if two wine glasses were used.”
Vampires sure had some strange traditions. She shook her head. “We only drink out of one glass. Both humans and wolves.”
His expression took her in. “You’re so complicated sometimes.”
That, she’d never been called before. Silly guy to think using one glass of wine made her complex. “Why would you drink out of two glasses?”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “I am checking to see if ‘P’ was over last night and he had wine, too.”
“Oh. Want some toast?”
Minutes later, she sat at the table with a plate of bacon, eggs and toast. Next to her plate, a cup of black coffee, and, across from her, Ivan eating his own breakfast. This was how things were when they lived together. He cooked, she ate. Perfect.
Until she broke things off because he didn’t commit.
She was an idiot.
“Ivan?”
“Mmm?”
“I’m an idiot. You committed to me, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Now you’re leaving and I’m losing you.”
He smiled. “You’ll never lose me.”
Jill sniffed and a tear slid down her cheek. How could she have been so blind? How often did one meet a man...or a vampire that checked off all the boxes?
Hot. Check.
Hung. Check.
Cooks. Check.
Rich. Check.
Cooks. Check again.
Immortal. Could be a problem. Check.
“You’re going to forget all about me when you see the bright lights and cabaret girls.” Jill was in full cry mode now. “I’m so stupid.”
“You’re not stupid.” Ivan gave up on his breakfast and got up. He picked her up from the chair and placed her on his lap. “Don’t cry.”
“What about when I get old and you are still young? I’ll look like a pedophile.”
“No you won’t.”
She pushed her face into his shoulder. Finally, the truth as to why she’d sabotaged their relationship. Jill straightened and studied his perfectly handsome face. Ivan made her breathless. He was flawless and beautiful. Kind,
caring and he loved her. She didn’t have to hear him say it. She knew it and it scared the shit out of her.
“What am I going to do? What about when I start looking skanky?”
“We’ve got at least fifty years to figure it out.” Ivan kissed her gently and hugged her.
“Come back home.”
“What about Vegas?” Jill wiped her eyes with his shirt.
“It can wait.”
She smiled at him and let out a long sigh. “Okay.”
Chapter Twelve
“Oh.” Once again, her grasp of the English language was astonishing. Jill stared wide-eyed at her cell phone. She put the phone back up to her ear. “Yes, of course, thank you.” The call ended.
“Oh. My. God.” She leaned back and looked through the windshield. Will walked toward her car, his gangly legs making quick work of the distance.
Minutes later, they sat in a booth at the Pancake Palace. Although Will’s gaze was glued toward the kitchen, she knew he listened to her.
“I got an amazing job offer.”
His reddish eyes flickered to her. “Awesome.”
“If I take it, I have to move to LA.”
This time, Jill had his full attention. “I don’t want to move to California.”
“I know, which is why it’s my job offer and not yours.” Jill wanted to shake him, but she understood he felt compelled to be near in case she needed him and, for that, she loved him. Will was the best kind of friend. “I won’t ask you to move with me.”
His bony shoulders lifted and lowered. “I got a girlfriend. Otherwise, I’d probably go. But we’re serious.” The toothy grin made Jill smile in return.
“I’m so happy for you. Do I know her?” Of course, Jill suspected who it was. There was a bi-spectacled squirrel named Mildred that always baked cookies for Will. She often asked him over for tea and such.
Will blushed. “Yeah, you know her. Mildred finally snagged this bachelor.” He sniffed the air. “I’m starving.”
Magic and Mayhem: Reality Shift (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Southern Shift Book 2) Page 6
