by Mac Flynn
Falling For A Wolf #4
Chapter 1
"Ah, this is the life," I murmured.
I sat on my porch with a hot mug of cocoa in one hand and a good book in the other. In front of me was my property in all its full fall glory. The trees shed their leaves and needles atop the wet, cool ground. Birds flew overhead heading south and wouldn't return until spring sprang back. The squirrels and chipmunks raced each other here and there collecting food for the long, cold winter. Their chatter mixed with the snow birds and created a chorus of nature's sounds. Bunny rabbits with their white coats hopped beneath the bushes and nibbled on the few pieces of grass not bit by Jack Frost.
I sighed and slid down in my chair. All was peaceful and serene. Perfect until I noticed when those squirrelly squirrels scattered to the far winds and, I watched as the chipmunks dove into their holes in the trees. The bunnies raced for their burrows and the birds flew off to partake of seeds from someone else's yard. The corner of my lips twitched up in a smile and I glanced down at the page number of my book.
"Only two pages. One of us is getting better," I mused.
I snapped the book shut and set it on a small table beside my chair. On the opposite side of the table was another chair like mine. An extension chord hung from the table and ran into the house. It was connected inside to a socket, and outside to a tiny fan. The fan faced toward a forest trail on my right that led up the hill, and in front of the fan was a second mug of hot cocoa. Its scenty steam rose up and wafted in front of the spinning blades which then sent the scent up the trail to my scent-sensitive neighbor. I thought of the devil, and he came in the form of Adam, my boyfriend and neighborhood werewolf.
Adam walked down the path with a grin on his face and stepped onto the porch so that he stood in front of me. He leaned down so that our noses nearly touched. "I think you might be abusing my ability to smell over long distances," he teased me.
I shrugged and took a sip of my cocoa. The mug bumped into his nose. "Just think of it as my calling card," I suggested. Adam grinned and pushed aside my mug. He captured my lips in a passionate, longing kiss that left me breathless and hot. We separated only for air and I playfully scowled at him. "I think you might be abusing my fondness for you," I added.
Adam chuckled and plopped himself into the spare chair. He grasped the spare mug in his hand and took a large drink. "Maybe, but you know I am unable to resist your cocoa."
"It's the extra scoop of chocolate," I informed him.
He leaned back in his chair and glanced out on the view I'd been enjoying. "So what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"
I opened my mouth, but a yowling cat interrupted my sentence. I blinked at Adam. The sound came from him. "Identity trouble?" I asked him.
"Not quite," he sheepishly responded. He pulled out his cellphone and glanced at the number, winced, and put the phone to his ear. "Hey, Doc, what's up?" The volume was too low for me to make out Doc's reply. "You know, it completely escaped our recollections, but we can have it to you tomorrow-oh, I see. Well, close all the windows and doors, and we will fulfill our promise. Goodbye." Adam terminated the call and sighed.
"Something wrong with Doc?" I asked him.
Adam smiled and shook his head. "It seems we forget about the promised bag of squirrel food, and the squirrels are attempting to invade his home to get at his pantries."
I cringed. My first adventure here was of a similar intrusion. "So we need to get that bag right now?"
"He would appreciate it," Adam agreed. He stood, but paused and glanced down at me. "But you must have wanted more than my company to bring me down here on such short notice."
I opened my mouth to speak, but I hesitated and clapped my lips shut. I stood and shook my head. "It's nothing I can't say later. For now let's go save Doc before the squirrels develop a taste for human flesh."
We took my car down the road to the general store. Agnes and her dad Abner were at their usual chores, the first in one of the aisles and the second in his customary chair to the left fast asleep. The bell over the door heralded our coming, and Agnes looked up from stocking a shelf.
Her face brightened and she creakily stood to her feet. "Well, well, about time you two showed up. We were starting to wonder if you'd up and died on us. What brings you two into these parts?"
"We need a bag of squirrel food for Doc," Adam told her.
Agnes brushed off her dusty jeans and sidled around the rear of the counter. She flipped through some inventory slips like a mobster flips through wads of cash. We followed her and stood before the counter. "They trying to rebel against him again?" she mused without looking up.
"I'm afraid so," Adam replied.
"I'm guessing this has happened before," I spoke up.
"Oh, just about every other month or so," Agnes answered. She paused on a slip. "Ah-ha. Here we are. We should have a bag in the back. Dad, could you help-Dad!"
Abner started and his rocker rocked a few inches forward. He whipped his head around and his eyes were wide. "What? Where?"
"Dad, could you help Adam find the bag of squirrel food? It's somewhere in the back with the rest of the pet food Doc makes me order," she told him.
Abner frowned, but inched himself from his rocker and shuffled behind us. "Come on, you know the drill, Adam," he commented.
"We'll be back in a moment," Adam promised me, and he followed Abner behind the counter and they disappeared through the door in the back wall.
"So were you needing anything for yourself?" Agnes wondered.
I shrugged. "To be honest we drove down here so fast I can't remember."
Agnes walked around the counter, wrapped a friendly arm around my shoulders, and led me into the aisles. "You might want to think about stocking up. Fall's here to stay and winter is always at its heels here in the mountains," she advised me.
I glanced around the store with its well-stocked provisions and tapped my chin. "Well, I guess I could take a few of all the essentials. I did just get paid."
"And we'll be glad to have you part with your money here," Abner spoke up as he shuffled forth from the back room. Adam was just behind him with a forty-pound bag of squirrel food draped over one shoulder.
Agnes started removing some of the items from the shelves, but had skill enough to turn and scowl at her parent. "Behave, Dad! We're not here to fleece any of our customers."
Abner resumed his spot in his rocker and frowned. "Ya might make more if you fleece those damned city folks," he suggested.
"No fleecing, cheating, swindling, or bamboozling," Agnes scolded him. By this time there was a small pile of canned and powdered goods at our feet, and Agnes scooped the mess up in her arms. I followed her to the counter and Adam leaned the squirrel food bag against the front. Agnes rang up my supplies first and bagged them so fast I got whiplash watching her. "All right, that's eighty-five ninety for the pretty young lady." I cringed, but forked over the dough.
Adam gently kicked the bag at our feet. "How much for the squirrel food?"
Agnes leaned over the counter and squinted her eyes. "A twenty pounder is fifty-four forty-nine, including tax."
Adam glanced at me. I nodded at the bags of food stuff and I pulled my pockets out. Nothing fluttered to the floor except my driver's license. Agnes already cleaned me out of my available cash. Adam sighed and pulled his wallet out as I picked up my license.
Abner's beady eyes watched me. "Better be minding that better, miss. No telling who'll pick it up around here. Ya might not get it back," he warned me.
I shrugged. "I don't know what any of my neighbors would do with it if they found it," I pointed out.
He shook his head. "Ain't the fancy folk I'm talking about."
"Dad, stop scaring the customers. Now you two go out and enjoy yourselves. This nice weather won't last for long," she advised.
Adam smiled. "You can feel it in your bones?"
She snorted and waved her hand at him. "Heavens no. I checked the weather channel thi
s morning and there's a cold front moving in. Might bring some snow with it, too."
Adam hefted the squirrel food over his shoulder and gave a nod. "We'll be sure to stay around our cabins."
Agnes set her arms on the counter and leaned toward us. Her eyes and the corners of her lips took on a decidedly teasing aspect. "Cabins? Still not rooming together yet?" she asked us.
Adam chuckled and gave her a wink. "Not yet."
I grabbed the paper bags off the counter and scowled at the pair. "Time to go," I scolded my companion.
"The boss orders me, and I shall obey," Adam replied, and he led me toward the doors.
"Wait a moment, you two love birds," Agnes called behind us. We paused at the entrance and turned to her. She leaned over the counter and her smile slipped into a frown. "I just wanted to warn you two about those Owens boys. I haven't seen them around for a while and that means they're up to no good."
"They're always up to no good," Abner mumbled.
Agnes scowled at him. "You know they get worse when nobody's seen them. They started a forest fire the last time nobody saw them for a week, and it's been four."
"We'll keep our eyes out for them," Adam promised.
Agnes smiled and nodded her head. "You do that, and you two have fun."
Chapter 2
The food, human and animal, was tucked away in the trunk and we slid into our seats. Adam buckled up, but I ignored the seatbelt and tapped a finger on the steering wheel. He glanced between me and the empty ignition. "Do you wish for me to drive?" he wondered.
"I wish for you to stop being so damned evil," I replied.
He smiled and shrugged. "I'm afraid that's a habit I could never break."
I rolled my eyes and inserted the key. "Uh-huh, and I'm sure you tried really hard to do it."
"For all of a day," he promised.
"Must have been the shortest day of the year," I quipped as I backed us out of the parking lot. We sped on our way, and my eyes flickered over to Adam. He had a pensive expression on his face. "Now what are you plotting?" I asked him.
"How to make a cradle. I haven't made one in a very long time," he told me.
"Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of things?" I wondered.
"No, why?"
"Because I might want a say in this matter."
"Why would you want that?"
"Because I'm the one who's going to have to carry that baby."
"Babies aren't that heavy."
"I meant for nine months."
"That's a very long time. Don't you want to teach them to walk?"
I leaned over the wheel and growled. "I meant I'm the one who's going to be pregnant, bitchy, and having irrational cravings for yogurt and pickles." I paused and furrowed my brow. My eyes flickered to Adam and studied his physique. "Can werewolves even, you know, do it with humans? I mean, you won't break me or anything, will you?"
"The werewolf's instincts will demand I give pleasure to my-ahem, mate, and offspring can be born of the union," he told me.
"But not a litter of puppies?"
"No more than for a human couple."
"Well, that's one comfort," I mumbled.
Adam leaned over to me and a devilish grin adorned his lips. His soft, warm breath tingled the flesh of my neck and his lips hovered over my trembling flesh. "I'd like to know if you play rough."
My eyes widened and I unintentionally turned the steering wheel. The car swerved toward a two-foot deep ditch. Adam grabbed the wheel with one hand and turned it. The right tires skidded into the gravel shoulder and the car came to a stop just inches from the edge. We both leaned against the back of our seats and listened to our hearts thump against our chests.
I leaned my head toward Adam. "Next time you want to get amorous ask me to pull the car over."
Adam nodded his head. "Agreed."
I put the car into reverse and pressed the gas pedal. The right-side tires spun, but we didn't move. I groaned and knocked my head against the wheel. The car horn honked. "Great, stuck. Just what I need, a tow bill," I mumbled.
I heard a door open and turned to see Adam step out. He shut the door and walked the thin line of gravel between the car and the drop-off to the front-right of the car. "Step on the gas when I tell you," he shouted to me as he pressed his hands on the hood above the right headlight. I set my foot on the gas pedal. "Now!"
I pressed the gas and Adam pressed his feet into the ground and pushed. The front right side of the car practically flew off the ground, and with our powers combined the car lurched and slid backward. In a moment all the car tires were back on solid ground. Adam brushed his hands against each other and slipped back into his seat.
He turned and smiled at me. "We make an impressive team," he pointed out.
I stared at him dumbfounded. "You ever tried bench-pressing to see what you can do?" I asked him.
"Yes, but there weren't enough weights in the gym. I had to settle with knowing I could lift more than a thousand pounds," he told me.
I whistled, or tried to. It came out more as a sputtering spit because I really couldn't whistle. "You should have tried out for the Olympics."
He shook his head. "You forget that werewolves shouldn't draw attention to themselves. That was one of the first of many rules my mentor taught me."
I pressed on the gas and gently steered the car away from the ditch and continued on our journey. "So is this mentor of yours still alive?"
"Probably. He was very old when we first met and knew how to survive."
"So why'd you guys split ways?"
Adam chuckled. "The usual reason for males. A woman."
A touch of jealousy arose within me. I raised an eyebrow and my hands clenched the steering wheel. "What kind of a woman?"
"The kind that could tear a deer apart in under a minute."
I stuck out my tongue. "So I'm guessing she was either a blender or a werewolf."
"When food was at stake she was both, but normally she was a werewolf, yes," he confirmed. He leaned back and his eyes took on a faraway look. "She could hunt with the best of them, and what wit! A man couldn't compliment her rear without receiving a tongue-lashing that left him dazed and confused."
I ground my teeth together. "And a body to match her intelligence?" I guessed.
"That of a goddess," he agreed.
My shoulders drooped. "Well, I guess having that kind of girlfriend you have pretty high standards."
Adam looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Girlfriend?"
"Yeah. You said you guys broke up because of some sort of a threesome," I reminded him.
Adam blinked at me, and I was a little surprised when he burst out laughing. "Threesome?" he repeated.
"You don't have to rub it in. It's bad enough with that whole werewolf perfection you just described to me," I growled.
He shook his head. "She wasn't my girlfriend. My mentor and she became friendly, and I left to give them their own space."
My eyes widened. "Ooh! That! Oh, I thought-well, I thought that-um-"
"That there was a love-triangle and my mentor and I parted on bitter terms?" he guessed.
I slid down in my seat so I could barely see above the wheel. "Something like that," I admitted.
"Nothing that bitter, but I must admit she occasionally caught me by surprise with her harsh words. Her wit was used for the amusement of herself, and if others happened to laugh then the more the merrier," he explained.
By this time we reached the gravel road and I turned us onto Doc's driveway. "You think Doc's eaten alive by now?" I wondered.
Adam shrugged, but the corners of his mouth twitched up. "We may perhaps have to extricate some squirrels from his arms and legs, but he will survive."
In a few minutes we reached Doc's old cabin. The woodland creatures sensed Adam coming and raced for their hiding holes. When the slightly domesticated beasts were hidden Doc himself stepped out onto the porch. The weather was a little chilly, but not enough to warrant th
e thick wool coat, hat, and snow pants he donned. On his face was a deep frown, and he met us by the car after we parked beside the cabin.
"You were almost too late. I think the squirrels were about to chew through the power lines and cut me off completely," he told us.
Adam hefted the bag of squirrel food from the back of my car, and turned with a smile at his old friend. "I'm sure it wasn't as bad as that," he argued.
Doc scoffed. "You're thinking that now, but when you have that inside I'm going to want some help fixing those power lines. If the squirrels can find them then the winter frost might, too."
"So you heard about the weather channel report, too?" I guessed.
He raised an eyebrow. "Nope. Don't get TV up here. I sensed it in my rabbit."
I blinked at me. "Your. . .rabbit?"
Doc jerked his head toward the cabin. "Let me show you."
Doc led us inside and I was glad the place was once more in one piece. There wasn't a sign of the tussle between Ashton and Adam except for the occasional deep gash in the floor. Doc waved his hand toward a small metal trash can in the back. "Pour it in there like always, and don't forget to get that lid on tight. Those rascals were gnawing and clawing at that thing so bad I made a new latch for it just in case. Chris, come over here."
Doc led me to a row of cages along the right wall near the kitchen. Inside one of the cages was a white bunny with a pink nose and ears. Its booplesnoot moved up and down sniffing the air and its eyes lazily blinked at us as we approached. I noticed one of its back legs was in a splint.
"What happened?" I asked Doc.
"Probably got itself stuck in a rotten log and it hurt itself trying to get out. I found it walking the rabbit tracks a few mornings back. It was easy to catch and bring back here for a little R&R," Doc explained.
I cringed. "Will it be alright?"
He smiled and nodded. "It's just a strain, but that kind of injury puts an animal at the bottom of the food chain. Another couple of nights limping along like that and I might not have had to worry about her. You want to hold her? She won't bite."
