by K. S. Martin
“You’re really pretty.” She walked over to the table he’d set with candles and linen napkins. He placed the plate in front of her and took his own to his seat next to her. “How was your day?” He smiled and cut his chicken. “Busy?” Tina nodded.
“It’s been a very confusing and weird day. I’m taking it one breath at a time. Brett did an awesome job at running the kitchen and I made fudge pops, they were really great, I tried one.” Mac smiled at that. Tina took a bite of her chicken and chewed thoughtfully. “This is awesome.” She pushed the capers aside with her fork. He watched and noted that she didn’t like them in his mental inventory of her likes and dislikes. He sipped the white wine he’d poured. It was the same as he’d used in the sauce. “Where did you learn to cook?”
“Mom, of course. My parents had a restaurant when we were young. I paid attention because she was usually at the restaurant and I was a hungry kid.” He patted his stomach. “I do a very nice Bolognese.”
“What’s that?” Tina forked greens into her mouth.
“Meat sauce, it goes over spaghetti. You’ll like it. Does the bakery make Tiramisu? It goes great with the pasta and there’s coffee in it.” He cajoled.
“We can, we have in fact but not often. I could make you one. I have the recipe memorized.” She pointed to her temple and winked at him. “Maybe I will make a small one just for us to go with your Bolognese. Would you like that?” Her eyes were blue luminous pools he thought, he wanted to dive in and stay forever. The wolf was panting and pacing again.
“I’d love anything you made for me, I’m sure.” Mac smiled and carried their plates to the sink to run water over them. Tina walked over and grabbed the wash cloth. “Oh, no you don’t.” He took it back and turned the coffee pot on that he had already loaded. “They will wait. Come on. You’ve worked all day and you deserve to relax.” He pulled her over to the couch and sat her down. “Do you want your wine?” Tina glanced at the coffee pot with longing. “Okay, no more wine, we will wait for the coffee.” Mac took two cups and two saucers down from the cabinet and washed the dishes while he waited for it to brew. “We are working in your house, on Lane Road, right?” Tina nodded. “It’s nice. We had to trash all of the carpet, all the drywall to four feet, and I talked them into new top cabinets to go with the new bottoms too because you know that the bottoms won’t match the tops when there’s a thirty years difference in age. You’re getting new doors too.”
“That’s great Mac, thank you.” The coffee pot gurgled just as he finished the dishes and he poured two cups. “Are you going to get into trouble when they find out that we know each other?”
“Nah. The insurance guy came around to my way of thinking and got the impression that it was all his idea, no sweat.” He brought the coffee to the couch and sat beside her. “Besides I gave it to him at a deep discount since he’s going to have to replace the bathroom cabinets as well.” Mac grinned.
“How did you do all of that? I thought that you worked for your brother. Did he approve it?” Tina was excited. It was like getting a whole new house instead of the tired old dear from the fifties that was in various stages of renovation. Her parents only replaced or renovated when things were completely worn out and no long of any use. The kitchen in the bakery could use updating as well.
“I don’t work for my brother, Owen, anymore. My brother and his wife are moving back to Colorado since her father took ill. He has an aggressive cancer and they are going to take care of things there. He gave me the reins to the company. My other two brothers Matt and Eric are co-owners and they agreed since, well since we started dating.” Tina inhaled sharply.
“Are we? Dating, I mean.” Tina sipped nervously.
“We are. In fact, I think that it might be a little more serious than that.” He took her cup and put it on the coffee table with his. Tina nibbled her lip furiously. What was he going to do now? Was this it? Was this the man that she would let take her virtue? God, she hoped so. Mac leaned forward and kissed her, softly at first then increasing with passion. Her fingers twined in his hair and he pushed her back further into the deep plush couch still kissing her. “Tina.” She realized that he’d stopped and opened her eyes. How long ago had he? Suddenly feeling a little foolish, she smiled up at him. It was so easy to get lost in that lovely sensation of warmth and excitement when he touched her.
“Yes?” Her hands dropped to his shoulders. Her fingertips pressed and felt the deep muscles there.
“I want to take you to bed.” She focused on his face now. “I really want to but there are things about me that we must discuss first. Things that you may not like, private things that can never be repeated, things that could get me killed.” Tina was frightened now and more than curious. “Can you keep a secret?” Why couldn’t they just go to bed? She wondered. Instead of asking, she crossed her heart and locked her lips then threw away the imaginary key. He grinned. “Okay then.” He pulled her closer to him and upright. He took a deep breath and blew it out. “I guess I’ll just come right out then and say it.” He watched her face. She was waiting and curious. Could he trust her? His gut said so. Did she trust him? Tell her, mate her, and claim her. She is mine. Down boy, just a minute. Too many minutes. We should be bonded and making pups, we are not getting any younger. The beast was getting anxious. Okay cool it. “Uh, I’m a werewolf.” Her eyebrows rose up under her bangs and her teeth clamped down hard on her bottom lip. He thought that he saw her chin quiver just slightly. “My brother’s are too. My brother Owen has to go to Colorado to take over Shari’s dad’s place as alpha and I am to take over Owen’s place as alpha here. It doesn’t change anything between us.” He let out the breath that he’d been holding when she nodded. Tina reached for her coffee and downed the hot brew in one gulp then set the cup down with a clatter. “Say something.” He commanded.
“You’re a what? Did you say werewolf? You’re a werewolf like in “Silver Bullet?” The movie by Stephen King and that Gary Busey was in? The one where there is a kid in the wheel chair that shoots the priest in the eye with the bottle rocket because he’s a werewolf? Or are you the thing in the old Abbot and Costello movies? Or the American Werewolf in London? Is that what you said?” He grinned.
“Sort of, not exactly. When I shift, I don’t turn into that Hollywood crap, I’m full wolf and very lovable. You’ll like me.” He got serious again when he saw the trepidation on her face. “Tina, I have to tell you this before we make love because when we do, I am going to claim you as my mate. I knew that you were the one as soon as I bit into that fudge pop the very first day that I came here.” She shook her head. “If you aren’t sure or you don’t want to spend the rest of your life with me then we need to decide that now. I promise you though; I will take very good care of you, if you will let me have the honor.” Tina gulped air. He was serious. This was not a joke. Mac was saying that he is a werewolf. The notion is ridiculous, she told herself. Sometimes she’d read about them in romance novels and they were good guys, the kind that you wished for but that’s all make believe, right? His cell buzzed in his pocket. “Tina?” She shook her head, crossed her arms over her chest, and studied him. “Tina.” He sounded resigned. “I’d really hoped…” Mac’s face was closing up. “Will you at least keep my secret?” Tina’s head tipped to one side and then she got up and refilled her coffee cup. His was still full. She came back and sat down. He’d thought she would leave and now he looked less sick, hopeful even.
“I think you’re nuts.” She sipped. “This is either some very poor and sick twisted joke or you’re nuts. Or are you’re telling me the truth? Which is it? Up until now you haven’t acted insane at all except that you say that I’m lovely.” His chest rumbled with a low growl and her eyebrow rose. Did he just growl? She’d heard that sound before, that low rumbling noise in his chest and it was usually when he was angry, like now. Could this be real? Maybe it was a dream. It couldn’t be real, could it? “You don’t seem like a practical jokester either. That leaves the tru
th.” He was watching her, hopeful but reserved. “I don’t know anything except what I’ve been told in the movies. I don’t know anything at all about wolves except that they chase road runners.”
“He was a coyote.” Tina’s face contorted. “Wile E. Coyote, genius?” He said it like Wile E. always did, stretching out the word genius. “From the cartoon, he wasn’t a wolf.” Her lips formed an ‘O’ and he chuckled.
“Okay so now I know less. In the movies you guys are supposedly compelled to change into big, scary, out of control, bloodthirsty things on the full moon, true or false?”
“False. The pull of the moon is strong but unless you’re a pup you aren’t compelled, it is controllable. However, it is exhilarating and that pull is strong. I can change or not change at will. I have less control over myself when I am him and he has less control when I am me but I make the decision of which to be and I am the dominate in the relationship.”
“Who is he?”
“He is me. He is him. He is the beast that lives within me. It’s like a presence inside my head, almost like a split personality except I can hear him and I can talk to him in my mind. Do you understand? Sometimes he is harder to deal with than others. Lately, he’s been impossible. He wants you, to claim you. When you’re around all I hear is mine, mine, mine, claim, mate blah, blah blah.” Tina grinned. “He keeps sending urges through me because he knows you are our mate.” She looked horrified but sipped her coffee.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if you found a nice girl wolf?”
“It’s not on the table until you and I decide. You and I have to decide. The choice is biological for me. My body knows you are perfect for me, wants you, and has chosen you. If you reject me then I would be free until the next biological choice happened by. That could be in a week or fifty years so the urge is strong sweetheart.” Tina sipped her coffee again.
“So you don’t think that I’m lovely, it’s because your wolf says that I am its mate.” He scowled and snarled. She ignored it. She knew that Mac wouldn’t hurt her. “You said that you can change at will right?” He nodded. “Then change now. I want to see you. If I’m your mate then you should be able to do that for me.” She put her cup down on the coffee table and knotted her fingers together in her lap.
“You don’t believe me.” He swallowed the lump in his throat.
“I didn’t say that I don’t believe you. I really want to believe you Mac but you have to admit that this is an incredible story and if our roles were reversed, you would expect me to prove it to you. For instance, if I told you that I have a tail or a third nipple, would you want to see?” His smile was broad and amused. “Of course you would. So you say that you can turn into a wolf, do it and don’t hurt me. I don’t want to see a snarling bloodthirsty monster like in the movies. Those are my conditions.”
Mac nodded and got up to pull the drapes closed and to lock the door. As he walked toward her from the front door, he changed. Tina’s eyes went round and huge. A gasp formed and got stuck in her throat. He was on all fours now at her feet. He was big and a deep espresso brown with golden amber eyes. He sat back on his haunches and lolled his tongue out then yipped at her and wagged his tail. Tina laughed and reached for his furry head with both hands. Her parents would never let her have a dog. She now had the biggest, baddest doggie, well, the biggest, baddest wolf on the block. Tina couldn’t resist and dug her fingers into the deep fur under his ears on the sides of his head then scratched giving him the same baby talk as any dog that she met. “What a pretty boy you are! Oh, look what a good boy! His eyes glazed and lost focus. Tina giggled. He sprang up onto the couch and licked her face. “Arg. Stop. Too much slobber!” She tried to hold him back and kept her face turned away from the wet sloppy tongue laughing hysterically. Suddenly he was Mac again. He was kissing her jaw and neck as his hand covered her breast and kneaded it.
“His lips crushed hers and his tongue explored briefly. “Now that I’ve proven myself, may I take you to my bed?”
“No.” He looked horrified. Tina put up her hand and he sat back on the couch watching her. “You said mate and claim, that’s like married isn’t it?” He nodded. “So, if I sleep with you right now I am basically marrying you? He nodded again. “Haven’t you slept with other women? Does that mean you’re married to them too?”
“No baby. It wasn’t the same with them. It was a physical release only so it didn’t mean anything with them like it does with you.”
“So, if I sleep with you right now, I don’t get a wedding?” Her eyes misted.
“No sweetheart it doesn’t mean that either, I will marry you each and every day if that’s what you wish. But to a wolf, this is marriage. We can plan a huge wedding if you like, both of our traditions and expectations will be met then.” She felt better. Tina had always wanted the fairy tale, a big white fluffy dress, a flower girl, bride’s maids and a light pink seven tiered squared cascading cake covered in white lace piping, pearls, ruffles, and white sugar calla lilies and roses cascading from the top to the bottom on one corner then pooling around the bottom like the train on her dress, she’d contemplated this just a little. She and Luca could make that cake. It would take a week and they could do it but Luca was gone. Brett could make the flowers, he did the best ones. He started to lean toward her again and again she put up her hand. He again looked disappointed.
“Mac,” she said softly. I think that I need to treat this like a marriage proposal, you are proposing, right? Mate is for life, claimed is for life and my children will be affected. What will they be like? What will the pregnancy and births be like? I need time to think about this. I want nothing more than to let you carry me off to bed but not if it means forever before I have considered all angles to this and hashed it over in my mind. Besides, you have to admit that I have the right to be a little freaked out by the whole werewolf thing. I mean ten minutes ago that was just Hollywood bullshit like you said, and now its…real. I’m not sure that I’m ready for anymore weird today.” He nodded. “Is there any way that we could just sleep together without all of the forever stuff right now?” He let out a deep breath and closed his eyes.
“I don’t know if I have that kind of control baby, you are like the best chocolate and peanut butter cake ever made to me. I don’t know if I could stop at one piece. My wolf is crazy about you and I’m not sure that I could hold back the urges he sends.” She gave him a half smile. “The children will be children until they are teens and the pregnancy and birth will be as it would’ve been with a human.”
“I’m going to go to bed Mac. I need to process all of this. One more question, if you claim me, does that mean bite?” That’s what it meant in her books. He nodded. “And if you bite me, will I turn into a…?” He was shaking his head and grinning at her naiveté.
“No, darling, you have to be born a werewolf, you cannot be infected and turned into one, it’s not a virus. That’s more Hollywood BS.”
“Okay. You won’t turn into the wolf and bite me in my sleep?” One corner of his mouth lifted and he shook his head. Tina got up, kissed his cheek and went to her apartment. Mac sat down on a kitchen chair and put his head in his hands a low growl rumbled in his chest.
“Shouldn’t have told her like that. Shouldn’t have sprang it on her like that.” He blew out a breath and got up to pace. It would be another long night. Fool. Too much talk. We are wolf, we scent, we claim, we mate, we bond, we don’t talk. “Oh shut up.” Mac muttered. Now no talk? And now no mating either. Fool!
Chapter 8
“Ohmigod.” Tina whispered leaning against the kitchen sink and bracing herself on stiff arms. “Oh. My. God. What the hell was that? I must be having a nervous breakdown. It’s the only explanation for the past couple of weeks. I need coffee. I need a shot. I need a kick in the ass for not running away screaming.” She opened the refrigerator and saw nothing stronger than orange juice. There was a bottle of tequila in her bottom desk drawer, Luca kept it there for celebrations and traumatic events, o
r that was what he called them. Really, they were too many wedding cake orders at once. If more than four wedding cakes were ordered in a week, Luca always took a shot then went straight to work. Tina had always suspected that it was an excuse to drink, but it was one shot and where was the harm if it got the work done. She locked her door and crept down the stairs into the bakery, trying to be quiet and not wake Mac. This was definitely a traumatic event. Damn Mac anyway, why couldn’t he be just a normal and typical horny guy that was taking her virginity right now? It would’ve been so great, all the muscles south of her waist clenched sweetly. The convent was looking to be a more pliable option every minute. She opened the bottom drawer and pulled the tequila out then filled her kitty cup half way. Tina took a whiff. “Ewww.” Why did he like this stuff? It smelled awful just like she remembered from the dorm bathroom so long ago. She wondered if it would really help and took a sip. Tina shivered and spit it into the trash can, no help, it still tasted awful. She guzzled water from the bottle she’d left on her desk.
“Is that because of me?” Mac’s deep voice drawled behind her startling her. “I’ve driven you to drink.”
“No, well yes it’s because of you but you haven’t driven me to drink because that’s still the nastiest thing I’ve ever tasted.” She screwed the top on the liquor bottle and threw it in the trash. “Mac.” Her tongue darted out and wet her lips, her blue eyes wide and luminous. He watched, holding his breath. “I don’t know what to do.” He held his arms open and she hesitated. Mac grimaced and she went to him. “I know you would never hurt me, I mean you wouldn’t hurt me intentionally, but what if …” His arms tightened around her and he tucked her head under his chin.
