by Nora Snowdon
“Hi.” I shook her hand. “Rosie’s been filling me in, somewhat.”
“Oh.” She looked disappointed. “Well, I guess she’s figured out a thing or two by now. And if you want any dirt on Robert, ask me. I know all his secrets.” She ducked as Robert attempted to swat her head.
“Don’t scare Ella away, brat. I like this one.”
Me? He just told his sister he liked me? As if to reinforce his words, Robert squeezed my shoulder.
“Anyone for Bocce Ball?” Lucas picked up a canvas bag resting on a hall table.
“Sure.” I glanced up at Robert. “I’m not good at it, but I like the game.”
We entered a humungous kitchen like they have on TV cooking competitions. The stainless steel appliances and countertops gleamed like brand new and a warm, spicy scent of meat cooking emanated from the massive oven. No chef in sight, but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t be the mother. “Wow. Do your parents have big dinner parties?”
“Mostly before the full moon runs everyone gathers here for food and drink,” Lucas answered as he pulled open the industrial sized fridge. “Wine, beer, coolers? What do people want?”
Anna reached in and grabbed a couple of coolers, one of which she passed to Rosie. She held up the other to me.
I should stay sober to keep from blurting out anything embarrassing. Then again, I could really use a drink. “Sure.” I took what looked like an odd nuclear reactor-green colored drink. After dropping the screw top into the garbage can, I took a cautious sip. A little sweet, but not too bad.
“Anna’s on our team,” Rosie shouted as she headed first into the back yard. There was a large grassy area with an orchard to the right and a square cement and glass building to the left. Directly in front, the grass slowly morphed into a thick forested area.
Robert pointed to the woods. “That’s where we go for our runs. But I’ll teach you in private how to transition on Saturday. We can join the pack the following month.”
Saturday? That was only two days away. Not nearly enough time! I nodded, hoping Robert wouldn’t sense my panic. More and more it felt like he was guessing my thoughts and feelings which scared the heck out of me. Why, when I finally found the man of my dreams, did he have to be a werewolf? It was so unfair. Hell, life was unfair. You’d think by now I’d have figured that out. I gulped a swig of my drink. From the picture on the label, I gathered it was supposed to be lime and mango flavored.
I grabbed a green ball and stood next to Robert as Anna threw out the white ball for us to chase.
“What kind of wimpy toss was that?” Robert shook his head in mock disgust then nudged me to where Anna had thrown from. “Go ahead. Smack that ball.”
“Yeah, right.” I threw my ball and way overshot the mark. I slunk back to stand near Robert.
“Uh-oh. Looks like we have a ringer here.” Rosie laughed as she stepped up to the line.
“She was aiming to where Anna should’ve put the white ball,” Robert replied smugly. His arm snaked around my waist and he pulled me back against his body. Whoa! Is this allowed in front of other people? Especially his family? Only Anna seemed to notice and she grinned. Okay. I guess it is.
Rosie’s throw was a lot closer. Then Robert deserted me to land his ball practically nudging the mark.
“Nice shot.” I hadn’t realized people could actually get good at this game.
“Phht. He just got lucky.” Anna sneered as she landed her ball just outside of his.
“Ditto, brat.” Robert kissed my temple before sending me back to the line. Was he making a point with the PDAs? And was it to me or them? Damn, it felt nice, though. I threw my second ball way too short. Groan.
“Don’t worry about it,” Robert murmured into my ear as I scuttled back to him. “We’ve got the advantage of home turf.” He hollered to his brother just as he was letting go of the ball. “Okay Lucas, let’s see that rubber arm in action.”
Lucas watched his ball drift past the others. Not a good shot, but certainly way better than mine. As Robert went to throw Anna grabbed his sleeve, causing his ball to barely roll a few yards. He turned and growled at her.
Anna grinned. “Aw too bad, Robbie. You just didn’t get much motion on that one.”
“Jeez, you guys aren’t going to start tackling each other, are you?” I asked Robert as Rosie moved up to throw.
He raised his hands in surrender. “Nobody would dare tackle Rosie. She’d take you down so fast, you’d swear it was warp speed.”
Rosie’s shot landed just outside of Robert’s and Anna’s. “Not bad.”
“How do you score?” I asked as we gathered up the balls. “Is there a point system?”
“Not really. We won that round because we were closest. Usually after about six rounds we get bored then we fight over who won. Ultimately Rosie wins no matter which team she’s on.”
“Yup. I let you guys get the first round because you’re new.” Rosie handed Robert the white ball to mark. “But from here on in, the game is mine, all mine.” She let loose a wicked witch cackle.
The game proceeded pretty much as Robert predicted. Even though it seemed like we had won, with Robert being closest most rounds, they declared Rosie the winner at the end.
“Your family is nuts,” I whispered to Robert as we followed the others back to the house.
He stopped, pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “I hope that’s a good thing.”
“I don’t know. Crazy werewolves sound a little scary.”
“I’m crazy about you. Is that scary?” He tipped my chin up and I could see he wasn’t joking.
“Kinda,” I admitted. His smile faded and I rushed in to explain. “I just don’t know how to be part of a family like this. I don’t think I can be what your family expects.”
“Screw my family. Can you love me?” His eyes burned into me.
“I’m afraid to.” I shook my head. “You won’t want me if I don’t turn into a werewolf on Saturday.”
“Is that what’s worrying you?” His face hardened. “Or are you using it as an excuse?” He turned back toward the house. “Come on. Dinner time. They’ll wonder where we are.”
Damn, I did that badly. Tears hovered at the back of my eyes and I tried to stall them. At the kitchen door, Robert stopped and leaned over to kiss my temple. “I shouldn’t rush you. Pretend I never said any of that.”
But I want you to love me. I smiled, hoping it didn’t look too fake. “Thank you.”
****
The rest of the evening went by in a haze. Maybe partially because I had too much to drink, but I think mostly because I was obsessing about how I could make things right between Robert and me. He still seemed as attentive as always, but there was a hurt in his eyes I couldn’t ignore. Could he really love me? More likely he was in love with the werewolf he assumed I’d become.
I tried to keep up with the playful banter between Robert and his siblings, but by the end of the evening I was almost too tired to listen.
“We’d better be off.” Robert squeezed my shoulder. “Ella’s fading.”
“I’m fine,” I protested weakly.
“It’s late.” He stood. “Say thanks to the folks if they emerge from their den.”
His parents had disappeared soon after dinner, his mother announcing that the father had some bills to reconcile. He’d looked confused, but followed her agreeably. What an odd pair.
“Okay. It was nice meeting you, Ella. I can’t wait to see you after you’ve transitioned. You’re going to love it. I promise.” Rosie hugged me and this time I managed to hug her back. I guess people with affectionate families are better at that.
Lucas and Anna also hugged me goodbye and then we were on our way. Damn. I would like to be a part of that family.
Robert turned to me as he drove back to my place. “You okay? My family can be a little overwhelming at times.”
“They’re great. Well, I’m scared of your mother, but the others were fun.”
“Yeah.
” He chuckled. “Hell, sometimes Mother still scares me. Lucas and Anna both said how much they like you, and I think Rosie is especially happy to have a new ally who understands her point of view.”
“They’re great,” I repeated. I leaned back and closed my eyes while he drove. It seemed easier than talking. When we got to my place he walked me to my door. He stopped on the second to last step.
“Hey, I have to fly out of town tomorrow to meet with those TV guys. I’ll call you on Saturday so we can meet up before the big event.”
“Oh!” I wasn’t going to see him tomorrow, so this was it? “Can’t you come in tonight?”
His eyes narrowed. “You want me to?”
I pulled his head toward mine and kissed him. He was slow to respond so I moved in for full frontal contact. That did the trick. I rushed to unlock the door and disarm the alarm so we wouldn’t give the neighbors a free peep show. The clothes dispersed as we fumbled our way toward the bedroom.
We only made it to the hallway before he had me against the wall screaming in ecstasy. And then a couple of more times after we made it to the bed. Maybe Rosie was right about the heightened sexual response after being bitten, but even so, Robert was one heck of a lover. I’ve never had someone so in tune with my needs and desires. I wished I could tell him I loved him, but it would only make it hurt more for both of us later.
CHAPTER 6
As he ran through LAX, Robert tried to quell the unease building in his chest. Darting through a wall of perfume-soaked, red-hatted women, he narrowly avoided flattening a screeching toddler. He slowed to a brisk walk along the endless hallway. Rushing to the gate wouldn’t make the plane depart any sooner. The banks of TV screens concurred with his watch. Nine AM. Damn! He still had over an hour before they started boarding his plane home to Seattle. But that also meant he still had about fifteen hours until Ella transitioned for her first full moon.
If only he could get a hold of her. He’d phoned her at work several times on Friday and got her voice mail. Then when he’d called her at home later and still got no response, he’d panicked. He’d tried to book a flight back Friday night but the earliest one available was this morning.
He wasn’t even sure what he was worried about. Despite the moon, he didn’t think she’d be looking for another lover. What scared him more was that she might be running from her fear of becoming a werewolf. It’d be dangerous for her to transition on her own and especially if she was resisting it. He’d panicked his first try and without weird Uncle Harold coaching him through the sequence, God knows if he would’ve gotten stuck in some half-way state of being.
Maybe she just didn’t want him to help her through it. Could she be embarrassed? If so, he needed to swallow his pride and let someone else guide her. Maybe Rosie or Lucas? He’d wanted to be the one she’d share it with, but this change wasn’t about him. Damn. He shook his head in frustration.
Finally inside gate 23, he stopped to hit speed dial on his cell. Her cheerful voice asking him to leave a message hit him like a punch to his gut. Had he ruined this poor woman’s life in a careless moment trying to retrieve a worthless picture? And what if, after she changed, she decided she never wanted to see him again? Could he live without her? It didn’t seem possible.
He jammed the phone back in his pocket and marched to the huge windows. Yup. There was the plane. Then he strode back to check the time on the computer above the check-in desk. Nine-twenty. Fuck. Time was crawling. He paced around the tacky connected armchairs filled with a wide spectrum of particularly stinky humanity. His acute sense of smell always kicked into overdrive when he was anxious or annoyed.
After he’d walked probably five miles in the 40 square foot enclosure, the chatty attendants finally made the boarding announcement. It appeared others were equally enthusiastic to move as everyone queued regardless of whether their aisles had been called. Robert gave the toddler waving gooey hands in front of him a wide berth. He wondered if he should try to call Ella one more time, then suddenly the line was oozing onto the plane.
“Welcome back, Robert.” The flight attendant’s hand brushed his and then lingered as she read his seat number. “Did you have a nice stay in LA?”
“Fine, thank you.” Robert nodded as he maneuvered his laptop and carryon by the woman. It wasn’t until he’d stowed his laptop and jacket away that he realized she’d been flirting with him. There was something familiar about the woman. He hoped he hadn’t dated her. And would there soon be a tweet or Facebook mention about what an arrogant snob he was? He tried to fix his face into a pleasant but preoccupied expression to forestall any more bad impressions. After all, maybe Ella was fine and just got busy or forgot her new phone somewhere.
He imagined her meeting him at the airport and both of them laughing about the ridiculous TV offer he’d just turned down. Apparently instead of another design show, they’d wanted him for a dating show where they’d encourage twenty beautiful women to throw themselves at him. He couldn’t imagine anything worse and had told them. “Oh don’t worry,” Carlin had kept repeating, “You don’t have to actually marry any of them. Think of it as a couple of months of all the sex you want for free. You don’t even have to pay for the dates or jewelry.” Ella would’ve had something funny to say about that.
But given how badly he’d behaved with women on his last dance with fame, he couldn’t really fault the producers for trying. He just would’ve been politer refusing them if only they hadn’t chosen this weekend to fly him down for the pitch.
He sat back into his seat and willed everyone to hurry up, find their places and sit the fuck down. It took ages for the plane to move and then the two hour and fifteen minute flight took forever. In Seattle, the plane was further delayed waiting for a gate. The customs guy, a sweaty belligerent oaf with a crew cut and one button undone in the center of his jacket, pulled him over, probably wanting to prove that they treated minor celebrities as badly as the rest of the population. Robert kept his cool; a cavity search would definitely not improve his day. At least his car actually started in the airport parking lot.
He relaxed his shoulders and calmed himself on the drive over to Ella’s house. The home looked normal from the outside, but repeated knocking and doorbells were unanswered.
Shit.
He didn’t know her well enough to even guess her whereabouts. Wow, what kind of jerk was he that he knew so little about the woman he loved? Had he just spent their whole time together talking about himself? He’d definitely rectify that when he found her. But where was she? He didn’t want to ask Lucas for help. If she was out with friends, then being tracked down by a pack of wolves might be embarrassing even if they were in human form.
She’s a writer— maybe she’s gone to a coffee shop to write. He looked up the ten cafes closest to her house on his phone. It was a shot in the dark, but he had to do something.
He’d entered the sixth coffee joint when his phone rang. Please be Ella! He breathed deeply then glanced at his phone. No. He let out his breath in a frustrated huff.
“Hi Lucas. What’s up?”
“I wanted to hear how your meeting with EL TV went.”
“Terrible. They offered me a bloody dating show.”
“Wait a second. That could be great publicity for Colbert Enterprises.”
“Stuff it, Lucas. I can’t believe they wasted my time on that drivel.”
“Well you haven’t been wasting much time working lately what with your big romance, so what’s the diff?”
“Screw you. I gotta go.”
“Hey. What’s going on? You still worried about Ella’s first transition? She’ll do great. Just give her the sequence slowly and calmly and trust me, it will work. Oh, and I took Rosie out for a huge steak dinner first. And after you should’ve seen her turning in circles trying to admire her new tail. She was so cute.”
“Yeah, that’s great—”
“Ohh, is Ella with you now?” Lucas coughed. “I’ll let you get back to whatever…”
“No, she’s missing!” Oh hell. Why did I tell him?
“What do you mean missing?”
“I said I’d call her yesterday from California and see her today when I got back.” He swallowed. “All I get is her voicemail. She isn’t at home and hasn’t phoned me back.”
“Maybe she’s out shopping for something to wear. Some women like to do that.”
“Maybe. I’ll call you later. I want to keep the phone free.”
“Sure thing. Bye.”
Robert flipped through his messages to see if she’d called during their chat. No. Damn. He went back to looking in cafés. Not that he had any real hope. At the last café he suddenly realized he hadn’t eaten anything so he grabbed a roast beef sandwich and coffee and tried to figure out his next plan. She wouldn’t have contacted her mother as they weren’t close. She had no other relatives. He didn’t know anything about her friends, but odds were she wouldn’t want to be with them in case she turned.
The streetlights had just flickered to life when it suddenly hit him. God. How could I have been so stupid? Trees, you asshole! She used to hide in trees when she was upset. He jumped back into his car. His best bet was to drive to her neighborhood park, transition into wolf so he could cover more territory faster, and then rely on his nose to find her. He hoped he was right as he only had a few hours before the full moon would be at its most potent and she’d have to turn.
Woodside Park was much larger than he recalled. He needed to be methodical in his search. Before transitioning, he slipped his phone into a bag he could carry in his teeth. Awkward, but he needed it in case he was wrong and she called him from somewhere else. He marked the starting point nearest to her home and then started weaving back and forth in stripes into the woods. Most of the trees in the first section looked a little insubstantial but as he got deeper inside he wondered how safe it was for a woman to be hiding in the thick forested area.
