Little Red Valentine (Enigma, Maine)

by Iris Abbott

  Mitch wished he could argue with them, but he knew they were right. He thrust a hand through his hair. “I know I have to tell her and I will soon, but she has enough to deal with right now with this stalker business. I want him taken care of first. Then I will worry about the rest.”

  ****

  Scarlet shivered and snuggled into Mitch’s side when he pulled her closer. He didn’t seem to be affected by the cold she silently mused. She was covered almost from head to toe to combat the cold Maine winter. Yet she could still feel the chill in the air. “I think my toes are about to freeze, but it certainly is gorgeous.” The rain from the night before had turned to ice thanks to a drop in temperature and the woods looked like a winter wonderland.

  “We’ll go back soon,” Mitch promised. “And we’ll spend more time out here in late spring when the wildflowers are in bloom. I just wanted to show you this makeshift path. It leads almost straight from my back door to yours. It might come in handy one day you never know.”

  Scarlet gave him a big smile. “I love wildflowers. A picnic out here would be great.” She suddenly gave a huge shudder. “Just as long as you know where you’re going and we don’t get lost. I’ve done that before. It was ten years ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday. That reminds me,” she gave him a shy look from beneath lowered lashes. “Have you ever seen any wolves in these woods?”

  Mitch was careful to show no change of emotion on his face. “There have been a few sightings over the years. Biologists believe that the occasional wolf travels down from Canada. I don’t suggest you come out here on your own, at least not until the weather is better and you are more familiar with the area.” He didn’t want her running into anyone else from the pack until she knew the truth.

  Scarlet entwined her gloved fingers with his and stopped moving. “Don’t worry I won’t.” Then she pointed with her free hand, “Look I can barely see the cottage through that gap in the trees there.” She briskly rubbed her arms. “I’m freezing! Let’s go back to your house and lounge in front of the fireplace in your bedroom.”

  Mitch squeezed her hand and abruptly turned back toward his house. He was ready and willing. His body had been aching for the comfort and softness of her body even before they left the house. “How fast can you walk,” he asked before setting off at a very brisk pace.

  FIVE

  Scarlet quickly inserted the key into the lock of the cottage. She didn’t have much time. She’d inadvertently left her business journal behind and it had notes she needed for a couple of projects she was trying to finish. She was just going to grab the journal and run back out to the car, five minutes tops. Mitch would never have to know about their little side trip.

  She looked back at the car where Brittany, Selena, and Julie were waiting for her and waved. They had just come back from lunch in Enigma’s town square and Scarlet had cajoled them into stopping by the cottage. The outing had been a much-needed break from Mitch’s smothering overprotectiveness. She’d been cooped up in his house for five days now. The invitation from her new trio of friends could not have come at a better time. Mitch was incredibly busy running his business and even though she had work of her own to do she was going stir crazy in that house.

  Mitch still hadn’t had a chance to update the cottage’s security. She had a sneaky suspicion he was putting it off on purpose to keep her at his house. Not that she minded. She loved being with Mitch as a matter of fact she loved Mitch. She had been slowly accepting the depth of her changing feelings for the dark, dangerous, and dominating security expert. She thought he felt the same way about her, but other than the stormy passion that brewed between them he kept his emotions well hidden.

  She pushed open the door and left it slightly ajar. Scarlet headed for her desk in the back of the cottage. The clicking of the door as it was shut told her she wasn’t alone. She spun on her heels and came face to face with her worst nightmare, Travis Linden. She cautiously backed away from him without taking her eyes off of the maniac. Thank goodness she was in home territory and she knew the layout of the cottage like the back of her hand.

  He started walking toward her and, she took another couple of steps backwards. She felt her temper start to simmer. She hated the way this man made her feel and she hated that he had such negative control over her. “You shouldn’t have stayed here Travis. I’m not alone and any minute now my friends will come barging through that door to help me.”

  Travis pulled a wicked looking knife from behind his back. “The more the merrier,” he gave an evil sounding laugh that made Scarlet’s skin crawl.

  Scarlet took a deep breath and focused on staying calm. She would need her wits about her to survive. If he didn’t have the knife, she would scream to alert her friends, but she didn’t want them walking into this crazy man’s clutches. She was next to her desk. She slowed allowing him to close some of the space between them. She had a plan to get away from him, and draw him away from her friends all at the same time. A tote bag filled with some new graphic art magazines she’d recently bought from the bookstore rested on the side of her desk. She causally palmed the straps and tightened her fingers around them. Then when Travis was close enough she swung the bag with all her might. The bag struck him in the shoulder of the arm holding the knife. The cold piece of metal clattered to the floor.

  Scarlet headed straight for the back door and the shortcut through the woods that led to Mitch’s house. She was very grateful Mitch had taken the time to share it with her a few days ago. She stumbled into the trees and then chanced a glance behind her. Travis came barreling out of the door in hot pursuit. She didn’t see the knife. She might have a chance now. She concentrated on navigating fallen branches and uneven earth as she dodged low limbs and briers.

  “I don’t like this,” Selena insisted. After all she was the worrier of the group. “She promised us she would be in and then right back out. Something’s wrong I just know it!”

  “Stay here and be prepared to call Mitch just in case,” Brittany warned her friends. Brittany ran to the front door of the cottage just in time to see a man chase Scarlet out the rear entrance. “Damn, Mitch is going to be furious with all of us!” She ran back to the car. “Call Mitch right now and tell him a man is chasing Scarlet! It’s probably her stalker. I’m going after them. Let Mitch know that they are in the woods behind her cottage.” Julie was already dialing her mobile phone. Brittany took off after Scarlet and her pursuer. She couldn’t afford for them to get too far ahead of her.

  Scarlet ran deeper into the woods depending on instinct to guide her toward Mitch. She didn’t bother trying to be quiet. She just wanted to put as much distance between her and Travis as possible while at the same time closing the distance between her and Mitch. She tried moving faster. Her foot landed in the middle of a rotted log covered by debris and she lurched forward falling onto her hands and knees. She tried to get up, but something or someone grabbed her ankle. She looked over her shoulder into the glassy and evil looking eyes of her stalker.

  A shuddering sob escaped past her tightly clenched teeth. Scarlet was scared, but she wasn’t helpless. She let him get just a little bit closer. She used one of the moves Brittany taught her and gave him a vicious kick in the face with her free foot. She felt the grip on her other ankle loosen and she scrambled forward heedless of the sharp debris biting into her tender skin. She didn’t get very far before she was tackled from behind. The heavy weight that was now pushing her into the damp earth had also knocked the breath out of her. She wheezed and sputtered trying to get air in and out of her lungs. She felt her body being rolled over. She looked up with dread and met the crazed eyes of her stalker.

  The fight hadn’t left her yet. She entwined her fingers to make one large fist and swung toward the side of her captor’s head. Unfortunately he turned and she was rewarded for her effort by a glancing blow that only succeeded in making Travis angrier. A sharp slap followed and Scarlet felt the stinging blow all the way to her toes. She let out an out
raged scream and fought harder, but so did Travis.

  Neither of them were gaining ground, but Scarlet could feel her body growing tired. She knew she wouldn’t be able to fight him off much longer. Suddenly a fierce growl erupted from behind her. She and Travis both froze. Scarlet was the first to regain her senses. She shoved with all her might and was able to dislodge Travis. She didn’t even have to think about it. She’d take her chances with the large black wolf any day. It reminded her of the wolf that had helped her when she’d been lost in these very woods. She trusted it not to hurt her. She inched away from Travis and toward the wolf.

  Her movement though subtle was enough to garner her stalker’s attention and as if oblivious to the wolf he went after her again. A low bloodcurdling snarl was the wolf’s only warning. It used the tightly coiled muscles of its back legs to propel itself through the air and over a very startled Scarlet. The wolf landed on Travis’s chest, bared his teeth, and in less than five seconds ripped out the stalker’s throat.

  A terrifying scream broke the ensuing silence. It took Scarlet a few seconds to realize she was the source of the noise. She snapped her mouth shut and met the intelligent looking black eyes of the wolf now prowling closer to her. Something about those eyes was so familiar. She knew she should be afraid, after all the wolf was a killer, but she couldn’t find the energy to flee.

  The sound of running feet and snapping twigs caught the attention of both her and the wolf. A frantic Brittany soon came into view. She stopped when she saw the scene in front of her. “Oh thank goodness! I was worried we wouldn’t find you in time.”

  “I’m not out of the woods yet,” Scarlet smiled at the irony. “Brittany I don’t think the wolf will hurt you, but don’t make any sudden moves.”

  Brittany couldn’t stop the laugh that escaped. “I wouldn’t be so sure about that. That wolf is going to be mighty angry with us four ladies, probably for a long time to come. I think your gig is up and you better come clean right now Mitch.”

  Surely she wasn’t hearing right. “Mitch?” she looked from the wolf back to Brittany. What in the world was her friend talking about? What connection could there be between Mitch and this wolf. Surely if it was a pet she would have seen it around the house sometime during the past five days. Then right before her very eyes the wolf began to elongate and change shape. In no time at all instead of a majestic black wolf with a blood-covered muzzle, she was looking at a very naked Mitch with crusted and splattered bits of dried blood on his face and chest. Scarlet felt the edges of her vision begin to blur and then narrow until there was nothing but blackness.

  ******

  Scarlet slowly regained consciousness. This time she recognized Mitch’s bedroom and knew where she was. She felt movement next to her on the bed and turned her head toward it. Mitch was sitting there watching her with a changeable look that was hard for her to identify. Then the events from the woods came flooding back to her. She sat up straight edging away from him as she did. Part of her wanted to deny what had happened. The other more whimsical part of her knew not only was it possible, but that everything had happened just as she remembered it. “It wasn’t just a nightmare was it?” She looked straight into those black eyes and saw the look of resignation there.

  Mitch sighed. “Everything you think you remember is probably true. I was going to tell you everything as soon as your stalker had been stopped. What I have to tell you is life altering and I didn’t want it to be clouded by anything else. That’s why I chose to wait. It wasn’t a matter of me not trusting you with my true nature, or of me trying to keep it a secret permanently.”

  “Are you the same wolf that helped me ten years ago when I was lost?”

  Mitch took her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. It was encouraging that she didn’t cringe away from him. “At least you’re not afraid of me. Yes I’m the one that found you when you were lost. I was out on a run in my wolf form and I picked up a strange scent. I tracked it to you. You looked so delicate and forlorn lying on the forest floor cuddled into a ball. I was compelled to stay with you and now I know why. You were always meant to be my mate. You were so young then that the connection between us was weak, but as soon as I saw you on your first day back in town I knew we were destined to be together.”

  Scarlet listened, her eyes were wary, but she didn’t pull away from him. “How many are there like you? What about Justin?”

  “I don’t have an exact number. Shifters are spread out all over the world. The Gannon family is the main branch of wolf shifters in the eastern United States. And yes Justin is one too.” He shook his head. “There is so much to tell you. Enigma is a haven for paranormal beings.”

  Scarlet’s eyes grew wide and now she did inch a little away from Mitch. “Oh God,” she exclaimed. “What have I gotten myself into? This is why my grandmother banned me from here isn’t it?”

  “Probably,” Mitch agreed. “Most humans know nothing of our existence, but your grandmother was a wise old lady and she lived here most of her very long life. She may have suspected all wasn’t as it seemed. She may have thought you would be in danger if you insisted on spreading word of the wolf you’d seen.”

  “Tell me everything!” Scarlet wanted to know all there was to know about Mitch and her new home.

  Mitch settled himself more comfortably on the bed. He propped his back against the headboard and then drew Scarlet into his lap. He was relieved when she came willingly. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tight. “Let’s go back to the beginning of the legend,” he said. “Way back in time almost at the beginning of civilization in Mesopotamia there was a wealthy old man who had gone through three wives and had still been denied a much wanted son. The man knew he was nearing the end of his time and he desperately wanted an heir. So against his latest wife’s wishes he bargained with one of the lesser gods. This god was generally thought of as evil, but the old man was desperate. The god who sometimes took the form of a combination of canine and bird of prey was hungry for power and wanted to rise among the gods.”

  Scarlet was both appalled and wildly fascinated with what Mitch was telling her. She felt Mitch absently stoke her hair in a gesture of comfort. “Go on,” she encouraged. “What happened next?”

  “The god wanted at least ten blood sacrifices made in his honor. One for each month of pregnancy and then one after the child was born. The old man agreed. He made his first sacrifice the next day and another one exactly one month later. His wife began to show signs of pregnancy and the old man continued with the sacrifices.”

  “Something bad happened,” Scarlet guessed.

  “The old man died with two months of pregnancy and three promised sacrifices left. The wife who had never wanted her husband to bargain with the evil god in the first place refused to continue the sacrifices.”

  Scarlet sucked in a deep breath of air as a dark cloud of foreboding swept through her.

  “Two months later the widow gave birth to three small and sickly male children. The god who often took the shape of a winged canine visited her bedside and told her that she had given birth to three males that would always remind her of her folly in refusing to complete his blood sacrifices. Since he had been denied his blood sacrifices she’d given birth to one child that would need to take the blood of others in order to survive or he’d die a slow and painful death as disease ravaged his body. The other two males were made in the evil god’s likeness. One had the ability to shift into a wolf at will, while the other could take the shape of the fiercest bird in that region, a falcon.” He paused giving Scarlet time to process the meaning of his words.

  Scarlet’s startled gasp filled the bedroom. She turned and looked at Mitch in time to catch the twisted grimace that crossed his face. She caressed his cheek with a soft and loving hand, silently encouraging him to continue.

  “The midwife had already noticed the strange looking fur and feathers of the second and third born children. Fearing that a dark evil was at work and that the c
hildren would be a curse to every human in the vicinity she left them outside to the elements.” He shrugged. “Legend has it that a goddess felt sorry for the two banished babies and enlisted a family of wolves and falcons respectively to care for them. The wolf shifter thrived with the free roaming pack of wolves. Eventually he grew into a man and felt the need to strike out on his own to find a mate.”

  Mitch briskly rubbed his hands up and down Scarlet’s arms. “Wolf shifters have powerful cells in their blood and saliva that rapidly grow and aid in the healing of wounds and the destruction of disease. As a result we have prolonged lives much like vampires. Biting our chosen mate transfers some of these magical cells to them. Because humans can’t replicate the cells themselves, wolf shifters have to bite their mate at least once a month to inject more cells into her body.”

  Scarlet touched the bite mark on her neck and gasped. “You bit me when we made love,” she reminded him.”

  “You’re my mate Scarlet. And though I didn’t dare risk telling you everything until your stalker had been dealt with I still wanted to claim you and give you the added protection of those healing cells.”

  Scarlet absorbed this information and couldn’t help but feel warmed by it. She still had lots of questions though. “What happened to the other two babies? Do you know?”

  “Obviously all three of the babies survived because raptor shifters and vampires still walk among us today as do us wolf shifters.”

  Scarlet’s mouth dropped open. She really shouldn’t be surprised, if something similar to the werewolves of books and movies could exist then why not vampires? “Do you know any vampires?”

  Mitch chuckled. I’m friends with one of the oldest. “His name is Alessandro Russo and he lives here in Enigma.”

  Scarlet frowned. Why did that name sound so familiar? She sucked in a gasp of air. “Wait isn’t that Julie’s husband!”

  “Yes,” Mitch confirmed.