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.
“You want to go have a beer? Ruby and I are going over to the casino, they have a small bar and karaoke.”
“Yeah, believe it or not, I’ve never been to the casino before. I bet I could twist my friend’s arm.” Twist his arm until I feel the bones break if he tries to screw this up.
“I’ll tell you what; I’ll give you my number if you show up.” She grins at me and looks up through her eyelashes.
My insides are rumbling as we walk down the steps to meet her sister. “You’ve got a deal.” This time, her heart did skip a beat. My wolf growled at the thought of letting her out of my sight. Breathing her in, I satisfy his need to be near her.
~~~~~~
“The casino, really? I saw that girl you were sitting with, she’s foxy,” Collin said with a slight inflection of his voice.
“Foxy? Who says that?”
Collin smiled and shrugged. “I heard my brother say it the other day; I thought I’d try it out.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “Yeah, it’s not working for you.”
“Noted. Which casino; you know they’ve put one on every reservation?”
“The one in El Reno.” She didn’t specify which one, surely she meant that one. She told me she is Arapaho, and that’s where the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation is located.
Climbing into Collin’s jacked up truck made me wish I’d driven tonight. He had antennas and a giant metal toolbox in the bed of the truck. The interior is the precise way I’d expect from him and his O C D self. The strawberry air freshener stings my nostrils and I must adjust my sense of smell. I bet it costs him over a hundred dollars a week in gas to drive back and forth to work.
He cranked up My Chemical Romance and headed for the highway.
My inner-wolf has never reacted to a human before meeting Sapphire. The restlessness was getting worse as we made the forty minute drive to the casino. Like a kid anticipating Christmas morning, waiting to unwrap the gifts from Santa. I close my eyes for a moment as I imagine unwrapping her. The idea is irresistible.
Could they place a casino any further away from civilization? The waning crescent moon didn’t offer much light as we drove down the desolate road. Like a blaring beacon, the sign for the casino flashed colorful lights. The drone of the tires, after a long ride, would have typically put me to sleep. I was too wound up to be sleepy.
We drive around the packed parking lot until we find someone leaving. Thankfully, they are driving an oversized SUV, leaving enough room for the giant truck. The moment I open the door, I pick up her scent. No longer worried about being at the wrong casino, I’m filled with anticipation.
Collin said he needs to make a quick call. I can’t help but hear him on the phone. He asks his brother to meet us at the casino to be our designated driver. Ready to get our drink on, we walk through the automated doors.
“I’m going to hit the ATM, and the bathroom, I’ll meet you in the bar. Don’t take this personally, but if she stood you up, I’m gonna laugh,” Collin says as he walks away.
“I didn’t get stood up,” I say with confidence. We part ways as I look around for the bar. I follow the sound of someone singing “Wind Beneath My Wings” off-key.
The bar looks the same as every other nightclub. The lights dimmed low to make everyone look better in the dark. The back of the bar has a small stage, big enough to hold a band and a karaoke machine. A group of giggling drunk girls take the stage, and pick a song to sing. Two round tables are pushed together, and that is where I spotted her. Ruby is telling a story to a guy who is obviously hoping to get lucky tonight. I can see Sapphire’s profile, she looks anxious, by the way she bounces her leg up and down. Without coaxing, she turns around and faces me. Relief washed across her face, her leg quit bouncing, and she stands up, and walks over to me.
Her grin alone was worth the forty minute drive. She flings her arms around me like I’m a long-lost friend and whispers; “You made it.”
Instinctively, I hug her back and mentally inventory every part of her that’s touching me. Like a puzzle piece, Sapphire fits perfectly in my arms.
She pulls away and blushed. “I’m sorry, I’m a hugger. Come on over, I’ll introduce you to my friends. We’ll get you started with a shot of tequila.” She takes my hand and leads me over to her friends.
The waitress leans down to take our order, not without brushing up against me. Like a cat marking me, and I can’t stand cats. “Bring her a shot of your top shelf tequila, and I’ll take a Jack and coke. Come to think of it, bring the rest of the table whatever they are drinking,” I say as I reach for my wallet. The waitress continues to flirt, not attempting to hide it from Sapphire. I have a feeling that if it were to come to blows, Sapphire would kick her ass. There’s a vibe from her that she can handle her own, and I’m counting on it.
“I’ll need a glass of water too…if you don’t mind,” Sapphire says with confidence. I smile at her, knowing she was staking her claim of me.
After a couple of drinks, Sapphire is tipsy and giggling, but not sloppy drunk. She grabs Ruby’s arm and pulls her away to the ladies room. I’m left with Collin and the girls that were singing when we came in. Collin wasn’t kidding when he said he’d need a DD to get home. I on the other hand am a werewolf, my body absorbs the alcohol and heals the intoxication more rapidly than humans do.
A familiar beat starts blaring through the speakers and I turn around and spot the karaoke culprits.
I SAW HIM DANCING THERE BY THE RECORD MACHINE
I KNEW HE MUSTA BEEN ABOUT SEVENTEEN
THE BEAT WAS GOING STRONG
PLAYIN MY FAVORITE SONG
Sapphire and Ruby were up on the stage singing surprisingly well. Sapphire took the microphone like a rock star and held her other arm out, pointing at me… she struts off the stage as she sings. She stops in front of me, with a grin across her face.
AN’ I COULD TELL IT WOULDN’T BE LONG
TILL HE WAS WITH ME, YEAH ME
AND I COULD TELL IT WOULDN’T BE LONG
TILL HE WAS WITH ME, YEAH ME, SINGIN’
I LOVE ROCK N’ ROLL
SO PUT ANOTHER DIME IN THE JUKEBOX, BABY
I LOVE ROCK N ROLL
Without warning, she’s in my lap, and I can’t hear anything but the beating of her heart. Mmmmm …I stare at her graceful neck as her head tilts towards me. I put my hand on her waist, and pull her closer to me. She jumps up and runs back to the stage and Ruby takes over.
Collin leans in and mouths, “I think she’s into you.”
I lift my glass and toast him.
As the girls come back to the table, I pull Sapphire’s chair closer to me. She laughs and tells jokes until everyone at the table is captivated by her.
“Can I see your phone?” Sapphire says with her hand out.
I pull it out of my pocket and hand it to her. She c
an ask for my bank account and I’d give it to her. I watch as she frantically types something out. Standing up, she hands me my phone but hits the talk button first. Her phone begins to vibrate, and I know it’s in her back pocket. She answers the call and shoots me a flirty smile.
“I told you I’d give you my number if you showed up. Now, I have yours too,” she holds her phone up showing me her screen.
My brain screams to run as fast as I can, my wolf screaming not to let her out of my sight. She’s human…as in human, human. I think to myself. “Will you have dinner with me tomorrow, which is really today?”
She presses her lips together in a grin and nods her head yes. Her list of positives is beating out the fact she’s human. The way her dimple only shows when she grins, and the way her dark hair gives her an exotic vixen look. The way she laughs at her own jokes and laughs harder when she screws up the punch line.
We walk with the girls outside and to our surprise the girls walked over to the Tribal Police car parked by the doors. Sapphire runs back to me and gives me a hug and whispers in my ear not to forget to call her in the morning. I’m going to need a good long run when I get back to the farm.
The officer driving the car looks to be friends with the girls and happy to see them.
I turn to Collin, who is propped up against the building. “Toss me your keys, I’m fine to drive.”
He makes a feeble attempt at tossing me the keys, which is nothing more than him tossing them straight up over his head. My reflexes are fast, and he’s too intoxicated to notice. I get him to the truck and fasten his seatbelt. I take his phone from his hand and text his brother not to bother coming out to the casino.
http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-A-Werewolf-Love-Story-ebook/dp/B00C12XRAU
Wide Awake
Academy of the Fallen
by Daniele Lanzarotta
http://www.amazon.com/Wide-Awake-Academy-Daniele-Lanzarotta-ebook/dp/B0052TMTE4
© 2011 Daniele Lanzarotta
ONE
My life had been pretty normal until that point. I went to a private high school in LA, where I lived with my adoptive parents. I did pretty decent at school, especially for someone who didn’t try very hard. I had awesome friends, and an okay boyfriend, I mean, I thought he was great at the time, but a lot of people saw him as a jerk, but whatever… Boy! Was I wrong?
That day, I woke up and then spent probably the next half hour scanning through my closet. On a normal day, we would wear the school’s uniform, but the school principal gave us a free pass that day, since we had a field trip. As long as we were dressed in what he considered decent, which was code for boring, we didn’t have to wear the school’s uniform.
I went downstairs, grabbed something to eat and walked out the door, getting in my Audi R8, that I had just got for my birthday. It took me forever to talk Kelly and Andrew, my adoptive parents, into getting me that car. They had the illusion that I was going to drive some kind of SUV!
Andrew and Kelly were great. They pulled me out of foster care when I was about to turn four years old, so they were like my real parents; the only parents I knew, but when it came to safety, they were a little over-protective.
So… school field trip! Who would have thought that would mess up my so-called normal life?
***
We weren’t at that silly museum but for a couple of hours. And then, my boyfriend Justin pulls me aside from the class because he wanted to talk. Like he couldn’t talk at any other time of the day, right?
So I followed him into one of the rooms along the hallway and just as soon as I got the hint that he was trying to break-up with me, I turned things around on him.
“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you too,” I said.
And then I jumped right into what I wanted to say before he could break-up with me first.
“This isn’t working out, Justin.”
He seemed surprised at first and then he just looked totally pissed-off.
“Well, glad you agree, because I have been kinda dating your friend Ashley too.”
Okay, minus one on my awesome friends list. Lucky me, I could put on an act. Not showing any reaction I looked into his eyes and said, “Good. You two are perfect together.”
Justin turned around and stormed out of the door. What did he expect me to do? Cry and beg him to stay?
Needing a moment to get myself together, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I was good at putting on an act, but that didn’t mean that wasn’t hurtful. Okay, I had only been dating Justin for about a month, but Ashley had been my friend for a long time.
Point was… that tough act, was just that, an act. Yes, I was just 16, but I had already learned how to hurt people before they could hurt me. That was my own defense mechanism. I would break-up with boyfriends, (not that I had many until now, I mean, I was only 16) as soon as I thought they were about to break-up with me. I would end a friendship as soon as I saw a friend get closer to someone else. It just made things easier.
Ashley kinda caught me off-guard though. Ugh, I hated when that happened. I was furious and I really hoped that my two other friends, Jess and Emily didn’t know about it.
Right away I knew I would have to get to them before Ashley did. Ashley could have Justin all to herself, but I wasn’t going to sit and watch her take my two best friends too.
Unfortunately, me knowing that I needed to find Emily and Jess as soon as possible, wasn’t enough to make me rush out of there. I ended up hanging out in that room for a while. Not because I found anything interesting in that room, on the contrary, it was all a bunch of junk… but I used my time alone to check my text messages and totally lost track of time.
I took another deep breath and just when I was getting ready to walk out of that room and go try to find the rest of the class, I heard a noise from the room next to the one I was in. I was afraid that whoever that was had heard Justin and me earlier, and would go on to spread rumors around the school. I instantly thought that rumors were the last thing I needed, although that was inevitable. Still, I couldn’t help myself from going into that room to find out who that was and how much he or she had heard.
I walked in there and at first I didn’t see anyone. I heard someone sobbing, but that was it. I took a look around and in the back of that room, behind this awful old looking desk there was a girl hiding.
“Umm, hey. Are you okay?”
The girl turned around and it was clear that she was scared. I assumed she was probably lost. She looked younger than me…. probably about twelve years old, and I felt sorry for the girl, because whoever shopped for her clothes was in deep need of a visit to the mall, or maybe some fashion magazines.
The girl didn’t say anything.
“I’m Kayla. What is your name?”
“Carolyn,” she said, still sobbing.
I was trying to rush; I really had to catch up with the rest of my class…
“Are you lost, Carolyn?” I asked.
She nodded.
I looked out in the hallway, and saw a tour guide.
I turned back around to face her and let her know someone who could help her was on the way, but the girl was gone.
“Okay then…”
The tour guide approached me.
“Do you need help?” he asked.
I told him about the girl and he said he would take a look around. There had been a couple of other schools there that day. Then he used his walkie-talkie to find out where my class was.
So, I had missed the entire field trip. Not that I really cared…
Outside, everyone was already getting into the school bus. I saw Justin and Ashley, all over each other, but what I was pleased to see were Jess and Emily as far away from them as they could have possibly been, and they both looked disgusted.
I noticed that a couple of people stopped what they were doing when they saw me walking out of the museum. It was one of those moments when you feel as if everyone is watching your every move. They were probably trying
to catch my reaction in seeing Justin and Ashley together, but I just lifted my head up, smiled, and walked toward Jess and Emily.
They both waited until I got there and then, Jess whispered, “What the…”
I quickly interrupted her. “I broke-up with him. He must have seen it coming because apparently he had been with Ashley for a few days.”
“But…we didn’t know you were thinking about breaking up with him,” Emily said, sounding disappointed.
“Sorry. I kinda wasn’t sure about it at first. I wanted to be sure it was definite before I told you.”
Emily sounded more cheerful now. “That makes sense. Well, it looks like you made the right choice. I just can’t believe that skank would go after him like that though.”
“Eh… I guess they are kinda perfect for each other in a skanky kinda of way,” I laughed.
Jess, Emily and I got in the bus to go back to school and face a day that was about to get weirder and weirder.
TWO
On the ride back to school, I talked my best friends’ ears off. That was my way of showing them how much I didn’t care about Justin and Ashley.
Justin and Ashley sat a few seats in front of us and every once in a while, especially when we laughed out loud, Justin tried to discreetly look back.
I guessed the way I turned things around, breaking up with him before he could do that to me, really got to him because he didn’t look too happy.
Jess and Emily were already spreading the news that I had been the one who broke-up with Justin, and it was obvious that once he heard that everyone knew what had happened, well, what I manipulated to happen, Justin would be even more furious.
We finally got to school and Jess, Emily and I were walking toward the parking lot when we heard Ashley calling out to us.
“Hey, guys. Wait! I need a ride.”
I turned to Jess and Emily, “She must be kidding, right?”
They both looked back at Ashley and gave her an evil look that I was glad I wasn’t on the receiving end. Ashley didn’t say anything. She just turned around and went the other way. Jess and Emily said they were going shopping and asked me to go, but as much as I hated to say no, I had to catch up on my chores before Kelly started taking away my privileges.
The Great Wolf: A Legacy of Kilkenny Novel Book Three (The Legacy of Kilkenny Saga) Page 15
