Third Night, A Sweet & Sour Mystery (BBW Alpha Werewolf Shifter Romance)

by Flynn, Mac

Mirela whipped her head to him and narrowed her eyes. "She was no mere leader. She gathered us together from a few squabbling bands and united us as one. Without her we might have perished."

  A cry came from Toughs. She clutched her head and stumbled back. "No! I don't want to remember! Stop making me remember!"

  I pushed past Mirela and Orion, and grabbed Toughs' shoulders. "Toughs! No one is asking you to remember anything!" A light burst from my pocket. Toughs and I paused in our struggle as we both looked down at the bright illumination. I pulled the necklace from my pocket and held it in my open palm between us. It glowed with a dark purple light. "What the hell?"

  Toughs' eyes widened and she slapped the necklace from my hand. "Why did you bring that?"

  I drew my hand back and frowned at her. "Because it's yours. You dropped it in a tree trunk."

  She shook her head. "I left that behind because he'll find me with that! He'll find me and-" The light from the necklace slipped over her form and soaked into her body. Her eyes rolled back and her legs buckled.

  I caught her and lowered her to the bare floor. "Toughs! Toughs, are you-what the-?" My exclamation came when her body transformed in my arms.

  Toughs grew taller and her hair trailed to her rear. Her clothes stretched to fit her new body. The soft face of youth was replaced by a twenty-something woman.

  "Mab!" Mirela gasped.

  "That was the Mab you knew?" Orion asked her.

  She nodded. "Yes."

  I lowered her to the floor and looked over my shoulder at the pair. "Could someone please make a manual for living in this town? I could really use one right now."

  Orion shook his head. "No manual would explain what's going on here."

  Mirela bent down and picked up the necklace. She turned the trinket over in her hands and frowned. "Now I see you speak the truth about the High Wizard. This necklace is imbued with a powerful spell."

  "He told us it was a reverse spell that was slowly being released," Orion told her.

  She pursed her lips and nodded. "Yes, I can see that is true. And Mab-" She glanced at the older Toughs, "-she would certainly be able to produce such a spell, but for what purpose I cannot fathom."

  Orion turned to me. "You said you wanted me to give you a motive for why Mel would do all of this."

  I arched an eyebrow. "I don't think now is the time to bring that-"

  "It's because of Mab." He nodded at Toughs. "The first time we met him he asked about her diner. He told us he'd heard it was really good, but who told him that?"

  I shrugged. "Your aunt? Or maybe Troy? That's who told me."

  Orion shook his head. "Aunt Snoopy is a gossiper, but Mab doesn't make it known that her food is really good. She actually makes it taste horrible for the people she doesn't know or doesn't like, and my aunt isn't one of her favorite people."

  I stood and frowned. "So what you're saying is Mab hid herself from that guy by casting a spell on herself that made her both young and forget her memories?"

  He nodded. "Yeah."

  I half-turned so I could look down at Toughs. "So why did she make it slowly release?"

  "Mab was a brilliant strategist," Mirela spoke up. A small smile curved onto her lips as she studied Tough's strained face. "She could never be beaten at chess. Perhaps Mab wished to bide herself some time for a reason known only to herself."

  I folded my arms and furrowed my brow. "So how does the ship fit into all of this?"

  "Does it have to?" Orion countered.

  I nodded. "Yeah. It's the first weird thing that happened. Everything else followed it. Mab's disappearance. That Mel guy's appearance. Toughs and her book." I paused and glanced around. My gaze settled on Mirela. "Where is the book, anyway?"

  Mirela blinked at me and shook her head. "I do not know of what you speak. Mab brought nothing with her."

  I whipped my head to Orion. "This doesn't make any sense. She was practically attached to that thing since she swiped it."

  Orion pursed his lips. "Something must have made her think it was safer to hide it than to hold onto it."

  The witches outside started their chorus of high-pitched screams and there was a sound of stampeding feet toward the caves. "And it sounds like we're going to find out what that trouble is right now."

  Orion rushed to the door. Mirela and I followed and watched him fling the entrance open. A wall of fog fifty feet tall and twice that long rumbled out of the woods on the far side of the encampment. Hell hounds burst from the fog and flew across the ground. They overturned the cooking pots and trampled the campfires. The scent of sea air permeated the camp as the wall stopped fifty feet from the cliff wall.

  Mirela pushed past us and waved one arm above her head. "This way!" she called out.

  A dozen women and girls turned in her direction. Orion and I stepped out the door and to the side as they rushed into Mirela's home. She slammed the door shut behind them and turned to us. The witch leader jabbed a finger at the wall of fog. "What is that?"

  "Trouble," I quipped.

  It was trouble with a capital 'M' as a form emerged from the center of the fog. It was Mel Palaemon, and he was smiling.

  The young man stopped ten feet short of our position. He crossed one of his arms over his chest and swept into a low bow. "Good morning, my dear new friends. I'm sorry to arrive so early, but time grows ever short for my plans."

  "Your plans for Mab," I stated.

  He straightened and bowed his head. "I see you've figured out some of the puzzle, but is Mab able to give you all of the pieces?" He looked past us at the shut door. "When we last met she hardly seemed in a condition to do anything more than have her diapers changed."

  Orion stepped into his line of sight and scowled at Mel. "What do you want with her soul?"

  Mel closed his eyes and shrugged. "I'm afraid that's none of your concern. It's an issue between Mab and myself, one I intend to end very shortly."

  Mel snapped his fingers. Two large mastiff-sized hounds burst from the fog behind him and ran up to flank him. He lay his hand on one of their heads and stroked its illuminated noggin. "These hell hounds are quite useful, aren't they? A little more brutal than the Death's Messengers, but they are far more-"

  "Get down!" Mirela yelled.

  Orion and I hit the deck. A small paper bag flew over our heads and landed in front of Mel. The contents spilled onto the ground and exploded into a greenish mist.

  I heard Orion gasp a second before the smell hit my less-sensitive nose. It smelled like a skunk bedded a rotten egg and had a love-child. The stench ripped at my nose hairs and played them like they were the strings on a hard-metal guitar.

  The dogs beside Mel were just as affected. They reared up like wild stallions and gnashed their teeth at the green air as it floated toward them. Mel stepped back and slapped his hand over his face. His eyes glowed an unnatural blue like the deep ocean as he glared at us.

  "Hurry!" I heard Mirela call to us.

  Orion grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. "We need to go!"

  "I-cough-hate monologuing, anyway," I quipped as we turned tail and ran.

  Mirela stood beside the now-open cave entrance. We shot inside and she followed, slamming the door shut behind us. Orion and I stumbled into the center near the stove and coughed out our lungs.

  I swept my eyes over the perimeter. "Where's Toughs?"

  Mirela raced to the rear and stopped short of the corner. "She must have been taken by my tribe. That fool and his talking allowed the others to escape out the back, and we must do the same. The stench bomb will not last forever."

  Orion grasped my arm and tugged me toward Mirela. We stumbled around the corner and found it led to another bend in the cave that followed the curve of the exterior cliff. The three of us ran shoulder-to-shoulder with Mirela a little ways ahead as leader.

  "How did you know to prepare the bomb?" Orion asked Mirela.

  "Mab told me she feared an attack by dogs, and I prepared appropriately," Mirela explai
ned to us.

  "How far. . .does this cave. . .go?" I gasped.

  "We are nearly at the end."

  Another fifty yards of twists and turns, and we saw the exit. We burst into the early-morning air and was surrounded by the thick woods. A dozen pairs of tracks led into the snow away from the cave entrance. One trembling figure stood beneath the protective branches of an evergreen tree.

  Toughs. Or Mab. Or Toughs-Mab.

  CHAPTER 20

  "Toughs!" Orion called out.

  She managed a shaking smile. Her arms were wrapped around her and she shivered. Orion and I rushed over to her while Mirela remained at the cave entrance.

  I grasped one of her quivering shoulders and looked her over. "You okay?"

  Toughs nodded. "Y-yeah, I'm okay. Just cold."

  Orion took off his tattered jacket and hung it around her shoulders. "You woke up pretty fast this time."

  She grimaced. "Yeah. The spell is getting thinner."

  Mirela walked up to us and held the necklace out to Toughs. "Regardless of what you wish, you need this right now."

  Toughs pursed her lips, but took the necklace. "I know that now."

  "Do you happen to know how to get this Mel guy off our tail permanently?" I asked her.

  She shook her head. "No. I remember knowing him, but I can't remember what he is to me or how to get rid of him."

  "Or what he is to anyone else," Orion spoke up.

  I glanced at him and arched an eyebrow. "What does that mean?"

  "It means I've never smelled anything quite like him," he explained. He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. "That sea-salt air and those blue eyes. That isn't were powers, or even wizard and witch abilities."

  My shoulders slumped. "So you're saying we're dealing with a whole new creature?"

  Orion nodded. "Seems so." He turned to Toughs. "Does that sound right?"

  She shrugged and shook her head. "I don't know. I don't remember."

  "What is your heart telling you?" Mirela asked her.

  Toughs pursed her lips and stared hard at the ground. "It's. . .it's telling me he's on to something."

  A long, deep bellow echoed from the mouth of the cave. The cry reverberated with anger.

  I turned to my companions. "I think that's our cue to leave."

  "Promise me you will see me soon," Mirela pleaded.

  Toughs smiled and nodded. "I will. I promise."

  I spun Toughs around and pointed her in the opposite direction of the cave. "Nobody's going to be seeing anybody soon if we don't get out of here."

  Orion grabbed Toughs and me, and tossed us over his shoulders. I gasped as the air was knocked from my gut. "Can you give us a warning sometime?"

  He grinned. "I could, but where's the fun in that?"

  I yelped as he sped forward over tree and dale. Mirela waved to us and Toughs waved back before our witch friend hurried away.

  I glanced over my shoulder and Orion's to glare at him. "I'm a werewolf, too, you know. I can run!"

  "I know these woods better than you, and I'm nearly as fast even with you both," he pointed out.

  "Do you even know where we need to be going?" I questioned him.

  He shook his head. "Nope, but anywhere away from that guy is better than near him."

  I looked to Toughs and nodded at her necklace. "How easy is it for him to follow that thing?"

  She picked it up and furrowed her brow. "I don't know. I think within a mile or two."

  "We'll start there," Orion commented as he pushed faster through the snowy forest.

  The chilly run lasted until we hit the far road and found ourselves opposite the junk yard. A snow plow sat in the lot in front of the clean house. A few lights twinkled through the windows.

  Orion set us down in the yard and took a few steps toward the house. "I'll see if Jerry can lend us one of these hunks of junk."

  I checked my watch. The damn thing was dead. "Damn water. . ." I mumbled as I shook my wrist.

  "Let me fix it," Toughs spoke up as she stepped closer to me. It was a little odd being face-to-face with someone who only that morning had barely reached my waist.

  I arched an eyebrow. "You can do that?"

  She wrapped her hands around my watch and closed her eyes. I saw her lips move, but couldn't catch a sound. A brilliant purple light peeked out from between her fingers and illuminated our faces. The light held a warmth to it that relaxed my muscles like an expensive massage and dried my clothes like a profession dry-cleaners. I heard a few clicks and clacks, and the light disappeared.

  Toughs opened her eyes and removed her hands. "That should do it."

  I lifted my wrist to my face and examined the machine. It looked brand new. It hadn't been when I bought it. The hands moved in time with the hour. Nearly six in the morning.

  I dropped my arm to my side and studied Toughs' face. "Could you always do that even when you were Mab-Mab, and or is this stuff you can do as only Toughs-Mab?"

  A coy smile slipped onto Toughs' lips. "I'll leave that up to you to decide."

  I snorted. "You're definitely Mab. Any idea why you wanted to shrink yourself into a pint-sized suit?"

  Her smile faltered and she shook her head. "Only that I was afraid of him, and that he'd do something to stop me."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Stop you from doing what?"

  She pursed her lips and stared hard at the ground. "I don't know. I just know it was really important, and I've been waiting a long time to do it."

  The door to the house opened and Orion stepped out. He held up a set of keys which he jingled. "We have our clunker."

  I scoffed. "It can't be as bad as mine."

  Me and my stupid mouth. The 'car' turned out to be a repo-ed wreck. The paint peeled off the few original parts that were left and the other portions were a post-modern mash-up of rusted gray and gray rust.

  "I can see why they didn't mind it being repo-ed," I quipped as we drove down the road. I plucked a matches case from between the front window and the dashboard and held it up. "Anybody got a cigarette?"

  Toughs sat in the backseat and bounced at every hole we hit. She swayed from car door to center of the seat and back. "Doesn't this thing have any shocks?"

  Orion shook his head. "Probably not. Jerry robbed a few parts for his snowplow thinking he wasn't going to be using it."

  "He's not," I pointed out.

  "We're almost to town," Orion assured us.

  I glanced out my cracked window at the sleepy town that ran down the hill in front of us. "So what do we do when we get there?"

  Orion looked through the hanging rear view mirror at Toughs. "Any ideas, Mab?"

  She winced. "Please don't use that name. Not yet."

  "She's got a point," I spoke up as we passed a local in a truck. "Somebody here's that name on this girl and they're going to start asking questions we don't want to answer right now."

  Orion sighed. "So what do we call you?"

  "Just stick with Toughs for now," Toughs suggested.

  "And you have any ideas where to go, Toughs?"

  She furrowed her brow. "I think we need to go to the diner."

  "Did you leave something there we can use?" I asked her.

  The young woman shook her head. "No, I'm just hungry."

  "That Mel guy might find us there," Orion pointed out.

  I leaned back and cupped my chin in one hand. "Actually, that's a good reason to go."

  Orion raised an eyebrow. "So he can find us?"

  I dropped my hand and rolled my eyes. "No, because he would expect us to avoid that place, so it should be safe."

  "Or he could know that we know to avoid that place, and realize we'd believe it would be a safe place," he countered.

  "But maybe he knows that we know that he knows we wouldn't go there, so it'd be safe."

  "Or he could think what you said plus knowing we know, and go there to check it out."

  Toughs leaned forward between the seats and stuck hers
elf between us. "I'm still hungry, and you two can watch for him while I make some food."

  I fell back against my seat and shrugged. "Or we could do that."

  Orion parked the clunker in the alley behind Mab's diner and we stepped out. The crunch of car tires on the main drag and a few kids walking early to school showed life was once again in the town. We walked up to the back door and were presented with our next dilemma.

  Orion grasped the knob and tried to turn. It wouldn't turn.

  I looked to Toughs. "You don't happen to have been carrying a key around with you all this time?"

  The young woman smiled and shook her head. "There's no need." She nudged Orion out of the way and grasped the knob. I noticed a faint light emit from her palm and suck into the keyhole like a strand of spaghetti. A sharp click came from the knob, and Toughs turned it and opened the door.

  Orion glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "Have you always been able to do that?"

  I held up my fixed watch. "At least for a half hour."

  Toughs grinned from ear-to-ear. "I have many talents, and I'll remind you of my cooking one right now."

  She led us into the back which was comprised of a large pantry and the stainless steel kitchen with pristine counters, shining cupboards, and a retro floor that matched the one in the front.

  In the center of the kitchen was an island with a few bar stools. Toughs gestured to them as she walked over to a few cupboards. "Make yourselves at home," she offered as she procured cooking wear the likes of which my mom would drool over.

  Orion and I took our seats, prepared for a feast. We weren't disappointed.

  CHAPTER 21

  Toughs cooked as well as Mab, or herself, or whatever. It was good, and consumed, and I took the liberties of licking a few plates clean.

  "So are you able to tell us how you know what food we always want?" I asked Toughs as she sat opposite me.

  She smiled and shook her head. "No."

  I sighed. "If I had any doubts you weren't Mab you just shook them away."

  Orion didn't enjoy the meal as much as I did. He kept leaving his post at the stool to check the rear and front doors.

  The last time he came back his lips were pursed. "We probably shouldn't stay here any longer."