SAPPHIRE, A Werewolf Love Story
BY Devyn Dawson
Reader must be 18+
Explicit language and sexual situations
Published by Devyn Dawson
©Copyright 2013
License Notes
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Cover design by Devyn Dawson
Editing by Paris Kelly
Table of Contents
Published by Devyn Dawson
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1. Soccer
Chapter 2. Casino
Chapter 3. Phone Call
Chapter 4. Running
Chapter 5. Date Night
Chapter 6. Sapphire’s House
Chapter 7. Sunrise
Chapter 8. Restraints
Chapter 9. The General
Chapter 10. Bike
Chapter 11. Depression
Chapter 12. Storm
Chapter 13. Babysitting
Chapter 14. Bite
Chapter 15. Shift
Chapter 16. Jail Cell
Chapter 17. Guess Who
Chapter 18. Remember
Chapter 19. Love
Chapter 20. Fairy Tale
Acknowledgements
Prologue
“Shut up! Stop talking to me!” He yells in my face. His teeth are neon yellow, and his breath reeks of coffee and cigarettes. “Are you the one that did it? Did you send those bastards after me?” He pushes the metal folding chair I’m tied to until it rocks to the side. “Look at me when I’m talking to you!”
“I thought you wanted me to stop talking,” I reply. He glares at me with his demon-like eyes. I turn my head towards him…don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry…stay strong. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know you,” I proclaim for the hundredth time since this morning when he kidnapped me.
“Stop playing dumb…you bitch!” Spittle sprays on my face as he shouts at me. “I’m sick of girls like you thinking you’re better than me. Was that your boyfriend?”
I take a deep breath to keep my words steady. “Listen, I don’t have a boyfriend. Whatever the problem is, I can help you. Do you need money? I have money, take me to the bank and you can have however much you need.”
Without warning, he backhands me across the face. “Money? I don’t want your money…slut!”
My face stings but he won’t see me play victim. “Please tell me what’s going on. My family needs me, please don’t kill me,” I plead. My sensei would tell say to bargain with our assailant if we’re ever attacked. Keep them engaged until we can get in a position to disarm the person. This guy doesn’t have a weapon, but he’s strong as hell. He’s Hispanic, but talks like he’s lived in the United States for a long time. His accent isn’t strong, it’s watered down. Take inventory of every feature on his face.
Two moles near his right temple.
Flat nose, wide nostrils.
His top lip curls down when he talks, as if he’s disgusted from every word from his mouth.
Chickenpox scar on his left eyebrow.
The most noticeable flaw, the burn marks on his right hand. He’s been burned severely in his past.
My mom and Storm are spending the day together so I left her my car. I rode my bike to work, happy to get out in the April sunshine. I pulled up to work and started to get off my bike when I was assaulted from behind. I’m praying someone will notice my bike at work and how I’m not. How long before they call the police is debatable.
“Your family? You’re going to beg for mercy for your family? Right, I’ll care if you have a family.” He enunciates every word with venom. “I can’t have a family because of you. He might not be your boyfriend now, but he was at one time. He still follows you, did you know that? He watches you, and I watch him watching you. I wouldn’t have figured it out, but one night I saw him parked on your street. What a surprise he’s going to have when he finds you when I’m finished.” He takes a folded up piece of notebook paper and stuffs it in my front pocket of my pants. “There’s a reason he never turned you into a monster. What was the reason Sapphire? What. Was. The. Reason. Bitch!” He does know my name. I’m not random, that changes the rules of the game. He’s out for vengeance for some reason, and he thinks I know why.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about! Tell me what’s wrong.”
Like a crazed lunatic, he drops to his knees in front of me, and he starts unbuttoning my button down blouse. Flashes of the library incident resurface. Recognition hits me like a cement block. My heart races as I prepare myself mentally to fight off a rape. Before I can register what he is doing, he bites my side.
Chapter 1. Soccer
SAPPHIRE
Three years ago
“Ruby, you’re getting on my nerves. I told you already, I’ve been volunteering at the hospital all day,” I complain. A few weeks ago, I was sentenced to community service at Mercy hospital after my sister Ruby got into a minor disagreement in the movie theater parking lot. I intervened; and my fist was caught making contact with a mouthy girl’s cheek. The security officer called the police.
“You were there for four hours, how does that make it an all day event?” Ruby asks. She comes into my room to admire herself in the full length mirror. One thing Ruby doesn’t lack…confidence. “How are my girls?” She says and turns sideways to see her profile.
“Your girls look fine. There is more to you than your boobs. I had to go into the shop before I did my CS, so don’t tell me if I’m tired or not.”
Ruby busts out laughing. “Okay Phire, I don’t need a lecture about how I’m so much more than my rockin’ body. I picked this shirt up at a yard sale last weekend. I love when I find a name brand bargain.” The red lipstick she carefully applied accentuated the fullness of her lips. “Come on, Erwin will be there with his boys.”
“I know Erwin, and his boys are nothing but trouble makers.”
“Says the girl who just got finished with her community service,” Ruby quipped.
She did not just go there. “Oh, says the girl who started the fight.” The whole fight was over a girl flirting with Erwin. The girl threw a punch at Ruby and I turned and knocked her out.
Ruby crosses the room and kneels next to the bed, “I might be a pain in your ass, but we’re going to go strut our stuff. Get up, throw on your jeans and boots, it’s time to get rowdy.” She holds her hands up in prayer and pouting.
“If I go, you’re going with me to the casino after the game. You promised me that we’d do karaoke when I finished my communi
ty service. Keep in mind; as soon as Erwin’s boys start acting like horn-dogs, I’m out. Got it sis?”
Ruby leans over and kisses me on the nose. “You’re the best, I owe you one.”
“Yeah, yeah, about fifty…who’s counting? I hope it doesn’t rain tonight. I can’t wait until tornado season is over.”
~~~~~~
Ruby graduated high school last summer but she couldn’t give up soccer games. She played soccer until her junior year when she had an ACL injury. Her coach and doctor agreed her soccer days were over. At nineteen she not only looks older than she is, but she knows she’s an expert at prowling. She never had a shortage of boyfriends but she couldn’t stay committed when Erwin came around. He’d been a senior her freshman year. I was a senior too, but I took classes online so I could work during the day to help with bills. He was the quarterback, and she was smitten, they were picture perfect to the average eye. It wasn’t long before his personality proved he was after one thing and would stop at nothing. They dated off and on for the last couple of years. With every break-up, I loathed him more and more.
I tucked in my black button down blouse, making sure the top two buttons are left open. I turn around and check my butt, making sure the pockets make it look fuller. Black Ariat cowboy boots, and a rhinestone belt, yeah I’d turn heads, with any luck…the adult male ones.
“Ooo girl, wow, for someone that hates outdoor soccer games, you look smoking hot.” Ruby says as she shimmied into her denim jacket.
~~~~~~
We’d no sooner walked through the gates for the game, when we were bombarded by a group of screaming girls. Ruby has never had a shortage of so-called friends. I never trusted them; they only seemed interested in our half-brother Stone. His father is from Spain, mixed with our full-blooded Native American mother Pearl. His exotic look and big smile turns heads wherever he goes. He works as a ranch hand, which made him big and bulky, the kind that teen girls and cougars find sexy. Ruby would bring someone home and they’d no sooner walked in the door, and would ask where Stone slept.
Knowing Ruby would be gossiping for another ten minutes, girl can talk! I decide to bite-the-bullet and stand in the concessions line. I stand there staring at my cell phone, pretending to be engaged in an important text conversation. I glance up; my gaze lingers into amber-colored eyes. He’d been looking down at his phone a second ago, now, his eyes boring into me. My heart flutters as we lock eyes.
Don’t stare Sapphire, that’s rude. My mom’s words running through my head. I drop my gaze, but not before he gives me a crooked grin. He is not walking over here. Oh yes he is. I take mental inventory of my surroundings. Habits die hard with me, especially since I was attacked during my sophomore year. I left the library one night after dark, but my car was parked right in front of the building so I didn’t pay much attention to the parking area . I didn’t hear him sneak up behind me until it was too late. It wasn’t until the librarian closed up and she saw me face down in the parking lot. My shirt had been ripped and I had my throat slit open. The weeks that followed consisted of me in the hospital and police guarding me day and night. They were concerned the person would come back to finish the job since he thought I could identify him. Truth is, I don’t remember anything about the attack.
“Hey there, did I catch you at a bad time?” The deep voice startled me out of thoughts. He put his hands up, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Have you ever looked at another person and known that you were in trouble? Not in the bad kind of trouble, the kind of trouble that is sinfully good. I couldn’t help but smile at him. “Oh, sorry, I was thinking about something. Do I know you?”
He put his hands half-way into his front pockets of his faded Levi’s. He was making red flannel the sexiest material I’d ever seen before. My eyes dropped from his gaze and I snuck a peek at his chest. Only fair since I caught his gaze drop to mine too.
“No, I’d remember you if I’d met you before,” he replied. Even though it sounded like a line, it came across as if he meant what he said. “I saw you come in with your friend, and couldn’t help but notice she ran off.”
I’m not used to guys walking over to talk to me, at least not good looking sober ones. “Yeah, that’s my sister Ruby; she still has friends that go to school here.”
“I’m Parker, my friend Collin’s younger brother is playing tonight. He’s told me he’s been training for the Olympics for the last two years.” He holds out his hand for me to shake.
“Next,” the woman in the concession stand says.
“Excuse me for a second,” I say to him and turn to face the PTA mom. I order a bottle of water and some peanut M&M’s. Before I had a chance to dig two dollars from my pocket, Parker has handed the lady the money. “No, you don’t need to pay for my junk food.”
His eyes smiled at me and I knew he did it out of kindness and nothing expected in return. “If I can’t buy a pretty girl a bottle of water, what’s the point of working?”
“You’re good at this,” I grin at him as he holds a hand out to me. “I’m Sapphire, but my friends call me Phire.” We shake hands as we walk away from the concession stand. I look around checking if I can see Ruby, but of course she has disappeared.
“Ruby and Sapphire, I like the names and I love that you’re called Phire.” His five o’clock shadow was a couple of days old and I watched as the sun glinted off his auburn whiskers.
All around us were cheers and the sound of gravel as we crossed over towards the bleachers. His friend stayed next to the chain link fence, and was yelling out with the rest of the crowd.
“Yeah, my mom has always said she’d never have anything more precious than her children, so we ended up with names of gems. My brother didn’t get as lucky, his name is Stone.”
He and I walked up the metal bleachers; he puts his hand on my elbow and guided me to the top seats. A couple of girls nudged each other as we walked past. I didn’t blame them at all; he was nothing short of a younger, healthier, better looking Marlboro man. I’d almost expected him to smell like tobacco, he was that sexy.
Sitting down next to him gave me the feeling of belonging to someone, I felt protected.
Chapter 2. Casino
PARKER
Ten minutes until the game starts and I swear I’m going to pull out the tonsils on all the screaming girls. Collin’s little brother is vying for a spot on the Olympic team, Collin asked me to come out and watch him play. I’d been home-schooled by the family that I’ve lived with most of my life. I graduated when I was 17, now I’m 23, and I feel old around teenagers. Most of the time, I live at the Phelan farm, it’s on the outskirts of Choctaw, Oklahoma. I have a trailer I use as an office when I’m on special assignments for the pack. Choctaw is about a thirty minute ride from Oklahoma City, which was plenty of distance in my book. The trailer is the complete opposite direction, placed in the woods outside of Piedsville. The city has too many people, their smells and noises make my sensory system overload.
I’d been restless the last few days with energy I couldn’t explain. The wolf in me was edgy and ready to find some trouble. I’m a werewolf, I can shift any time I want, unlike the myth where we only turn on a full moon. Our pack is private, and we keep to ourselves. We run on our own land, and do our best to keep a low profile. The General, our alpha, has been getting ready for the Great Wolf. The legend says a wolf would be born to human parents and will grow to rule all packs. Our pack princess Pru, the daughter of the General, has located the Great Wolf and now the pack is preparing for major changes. Pru’s been in training and will soon introduce him to our pack and let him know he’s a werewolf. Thankfully, I’m not the assigned bodyguard to protect Pru, she and I don’t always see eye to eye.
“Hey man, I’ll be back in a minute,” Collin says.
“No problem, I’ll be right here,” I reply. Without thinking about it, I take mental pictures of everyone and everything. The moment I check the concession line, I see her. A few minutes ago, I wat
ched her and another girl who looked like a younger version of her come through the gates. Without warning, her eyes caught me watching her. Instead of turning her head away as most people do when their flee instinct kicks in, my inner wolf nodded his head in approval.
I’m not usually attracted to human girls, they have too many hang-ups. My head was telling me to stay away; my wolf was telling me he’d make life miserable if I don’t meet her. Never one to ignore him, I walked over to her. Her scent is distinct, and sends waves of desire to my wolf. She’d smell better if she didn’t have on perfume, but I could smell the real her. Something about her is animalistic, and something about her is trouble. All I want to do is grab her by the waist, and throw her over my shoulder and take her home. Something in her is damaged; I feel it all around her.
I lean in and pay the two dollars for her candy and water. Her dark hazel eyes sparkle with curiosity. She tells me her name is Sapphire, and I’d never known a name so appropriate before. A gem that is both beautiful and mysterious. Her heart rate stayed steady as she talked to me, giving me an insight to her instincts. I wondered if it would matter to her if I ran off with her and claimed her as mine.
“Are you and your sister sitting anywhere in particular?” I ask.
She smiles; showing off her perfectly straight white teeth. “My sister doesn’t believe in sitting at a soccer game. I on the other hand like to sit up high, away from everyone.”
“Would you like to sit with me?”
Her eyes sparkle as she nods her head yes.
My kind of girl. “We’ll go up there,” I say and point to the top of the bleachers. Guiding her to the top, I am keenly aware of her every move. The next hour and a half I sat spellbound by her every word and it flew by too fast. We talked about nothing and everything at the same time. She never mentioned boyfriends or exes and never talked about life beating her down. I couldn’t let her leave and not get her number.
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