by Terry Spear
Then he hurried out of the room and she followed him down the stairs, making sure he left the castle. She wondered if his double was doing the battle scenes and Guy didn’t have to be out there for the moment.
As soon as he walked outside, she went to tell Grant and Colleen what had happened, just to give them a heads-up.
“Thanks for taking care of it,” Grant said. “For liability reasons, and because we’re wolves, we don’t want anyone wandering about the castle unsupervised. Even though nobody’s supposed to be in wolf form, you never know when someone might be talking about our wolf halves.”
Heather sighed. “I agree. I thought he was supposed to be in the battle fighting. I guess just the peons have to.”
Colleen laughed. “I suspect his double is doing some of the more difficult scenes, if Guy has a part in this right now. Though I’m surprised he wouldn’t be standing by.”
“Right. I’m off to take care of some things for my shop and then I’ll get ready for tonight. Oh, and thanks again for suggesting I help cater the food for the shoots. I couldn’t be happier.”
“You’re so welcome. You deserve it. And tonight will totally be fun. Missy is really looking forward to it and was amazed we invited her,” Colleen said.
“You never know, but she might mention us in all the tabloids,” Heather said.
“True. Oh, that reminds me, Julia is joining us. She said she might include a film star in her next romance novel.”
Heather smiled. “Julia would, too. She needs to watch the shooting of the film.”
“She will as soon as Missy has more scenes with the hero. I’ll see you and all the others down here at six. The shooting should be ended for the meal by then.”
“See you then.” Heather couldn’t wait, but she was glad Enrick would be there too.
Chapter 9
That night, Enrick was seeing Heather in a new light. She was so excited about spending time with the female star of the film. He really hadn’t thought she would be so fangirlish, but he loved seeing her having fun. She and the other ladies were happily talking to Missy in the dining room of the inn, while he and six other men were seated at two different tables nearby. He, Lachlan, and Heather’s brothers were five of the men. The other two were Missy’s bodyguards, and they sat at a different table.
Lachlan said, “Some of the men were taking Guy and a few of the key players to a special pub tonight. I didn’t think you would be interested in going.”
“No way.” Enrick drank some of his beer. Watching out for Heather was the only thing on his agenda.
“We all were asking Heather if we could have joined you to enjoy the picnic on top of the hill,” Lachlan said.
Enrick shook his head. “If it weren’t for the film, we would have some of our dates in privacy.”
“We think this works well,” Oran said, his brother agreeing.
Enrick scoffed. “What are you going to do when she has a mate who will protect her?”
“We’ll always be there for her protection. Maybe not always with you, but if you need us, you can always count on us to be there for her,” Oran said.
“And me too,” Lachlan said.
Which went without saying. Enrick’s brothers would always treat Heather like their own sister and watch out for her, even if Enrick didn’t mate her. She was like part of their extended family.
“I was glad we didn’t have any more trouble with the enemy clan during the battle scenes today,” Lachlan said, “and the wolves did really well.”
“Aye, they could spread their feet and stay on the top of the mud better than we could.” Enrick spoke low so none of the humans in the restaurant would hear them. “I overheard Colleen’s cousin William bit one of the men he wasn’t supposed to though.”
“Uh, yeah. He felt awful about it. He said the man who was supposed to be there had moved position, not that it’s that hard to do with all the fighting going on. As soon as he bit into the man’s arm, he knew he wasn’t padded as heavily as the man he was supposed to have bitten. He let go right away before he did any serious injury. The one he was supposed to bite hurried into position and yelled at him in Gaelic, which of course Colleen’s cousin didn’t understand. But he was shaking his sword at him, and William recognized him as the one who had the extra padding and attacked him,” Lachlan said.
Enrick frowned. “Did they reshoot the scene?”
“No. And the other man was trying to hide the fact he was hurting.”
“What about his injury? Was it bad?” Enrick suspected it hadn’t been or he would have heard from Grant or Colleen about it.
“William didn’t break the skin. The man had some teeth marks, bruising, but nothing serious. We all have padding so we hopefully don’t get cut by a sword accidentally.” Lachlan drank some more of his beer. “Okay, so we have a new development.”
Enrick and Heather’s brothers were all ears because they suspected it wasn’t a “good” development.
“The director wants to have the wolves bite two of the main villains’ arms during a final battle scene.” Lachlan started digging into his fish.
“Nay.” Enrick couldn’t believe Grant would go along with it. He ate some more of his chips.
“Aye.” Lachlan shook his head. “I didn’t expect that to come up when they began shooting this project. But it’s something the director wants now. He was really impressed how well our wolves work with the men in the battle scenes. And he wants to have that added touch for the final scenes with two of the main villains. We’ve made sure the wolves who will be involved know the man is a human villain, not one of our extras. And to go gently. They’ll be two of the stand-ins for the villains, and they’re human. We can’t have anyone turning a human by accident.”
“I didn’t realize the wolves were going to have to bite a human stunt double,” Enrick said again. “That’s awfully risky.”
“Aye, you know how the director is always coming up with new stuff to make the story look even better. I had to talk to Grant and Colleen about it. It’s a hard deal because we said the wolves could bite the men on the battlefield, no trouble at all as long as everyone was padded enough. So then why can’t they bite a couple of their main cast members—well, the doubles—if they are wearing the same amount of padding? Anyway, Grant and Colleen said they would think about it, but they lectured the wolves who actually would bite two of the men, in the event they did it. They have to make it look realistic, like a dog with a chew bone playing tug-of-war for keeps, but not to really sink their teeth in, which could crush the bone.”
“What about a couple of our men who could pretend to be the villains? No close-up shots of their faces, but all the action being done would be with our wolves and a couple of our men. If they accidentally are bitten through the padding, no trouble,” Enrick said.
“We discussed it, but the director wouldn’t go for it. If we do it, we’re going to have the men involved wear double the protection, and the wolves will be growling up a storm like they’re really tearing into them so it sounds vicious enough. We want the men to be pulled forward without resisting too much, but the director says it won’t be realistic enough. The actors really need to fight back.”
“Well, hell.” Enrick just hoped nothing would go wrong!
Heather glanced Enrick’s way and he suspected she had heard some of their conversation, courtesy of their enhanced wolf’s hearing. She was frowning. He felt the same way, but he didn’t want her worrying about it. She’d been having a good time visiting with the other ladies and the costar of the film.
Then suddenly, a couple of men got up from a nearby table and headed over to the women’s table. Enrick wasn’t too concerned. They weren’t wolves. And Missy’s bodyguards were on high alert, too, watching the guys. But the two men only handed her napkins and pens to get Missy’s autograph.
Then a couple of la
dies from another table approached her, since Missy was so cheerful about signing autographs for the men, and asked her for some too.
Everyone finally finished dinner, and the women got ready to head back to the castle. Enrick wanted to ask Heather to ride with him, but Oran shook his head at him.
“Let her visit with the lasses a bit. You kissed her enough this morning. No telling what you did with her on the hilltop at lunch.” Oran smiled.
“I was a muddy mess and didn’t want to get her clothes all muddy.” But Enrick went along with the plan and they followed the women’s car back to the castle.
As soon as they were parked, though, Enrick caught up with Heather before she retired for the night. “About breakfast…”
“Yes, I’ll sit with you, but we don’t have to have a separate table.”
He smiled. “Sure. That was special. We’ll eat with the others. But together.”
“I’ll save you a seat if you get up late.”
He chuckled. “I am never—well, almost never—late.”
“I’m sure you needed the extra sleep the other night.” She smiled, then frowned. “Did I hear right? That the director wants our wolves to attack some of the human actors?”
“Aye. It could be a recipe for disaster.”
“I’ll say. I sure hope Colleen and Grant can change his mind.” Heather wrapped her arms around Enrick’s neck. “Good night, Enrick. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Then they kissed. His hands on her waist, he was enjoying the sweet wine she’d had at dinner, the sensuousness of her lips, the feel of her soft body pressed lightly against his. He kissed her mouth slowly, building up the passion, his body reacting to hers at once.
“Hmm, Enrick,” she said, and her words were spoken like a sweet siren’s, willing him to carry her off to his chamber.
Man, did he want to.
“We need to run again,” he said. “So I can catch you properly.”
“If we could do it here, I would. It’s too far to travel back to Argent Castle tonight.”
He considered asking Grant if he and Heather could take a brief run in the woods, just the two of them, but Grant had made the ruling for good reason. “I agree. Tomorrow night then?”
“Aye.”
“We’ll have dinner with Ian and Julian and the others.”
“Okay, we can do that.” It almost made him feel as though he was having dinner with the family, as if seeking their approval to date their kin. “Tomorrow night then.” He was going to start kissing her again.
She smiled a little and pulled away, as if she was afraid this was going to go too far. “Night.”
“Good night, lass. See you at breakfast.” He sighed as he watched her go, but then he got a text from Grant. If you’re not in bed yet, come to the conference room for a meeting.
Enrick sighed and headed to the conference room. What now?
Lachlan was there already, and so were Colleen and Grant.
“Yeah, Grant?” Enrick took a seat on one of the sofas.
“I need three of our men to volunteer to have the wolves practice on them to ensure they don’t bite through the new padded sleeves we’re making. Two will do the actual attacking, but we’ll have another wolf on standby, just in case,” Grant said.
Enrick raised a brow.
“Not you or Lachlan. You have enough on your plate. I’ll need Lachlan supervising the practice. I need you, Enrick, to round up three men who wouldn’t mind volunteering for the job.”
“I can do that.” Enrick wasn’t opposed to having a wolf attack him for the exercise, but he did have a lot of other work he was responsible for. He didn’t want to voice out loud the real concern he had with this.
Grant finally did. “Okay, so we all know the consequences, should one of the men be turned. As much of a concern as this is, we’d even considered getting real wolves for the job.”
Enrick shook his head; Lachlan’s eyes widened.
Grant waved his hand, dismissing the notion. “It wouldn’t work. The wolf owner would have to supervise the wolves, and he might not even be able to use them in such a scenario. We’re human, so we can be told what to do in a situation like this. The real wolves could get into the fight so much with the men they were attacking that they turn on each other in a squabble, run off, who knows?”
“True.” Enrick ran his hands through his hair. “Okay, worse-case scenario?”
“One of the human stunt men gets bitten? We offer to take care of him. Full medical care, a stay at the castle,” Grant said.
Enrick noticed Colleen was sipping from her tea, quiet.
“Live here rent-free for the rest of his life at the castle,” Lachlan said.
“Armor,” Colleen finally said. “We have the men wear armor on the arm that the wolves attack. The padding will cover it so no one will ever know they have armor on.”
“The wolf is supposed to pull away the padding and then you see the blood,” Grant said.
“And if it’s for real, and not pretend?” Colleen said, annoyed. “They wear armor. It’s the only way you will agree to it. They can have a cut in the scene and do whatever they want with blood, removing the armor easily, replacing the torn-up protective padding. We can make sure it works. But they use armor to protect them, or we have our men serve as the doubles.”
“Unless they sign a waiver saying if they get bitten by a wolf and turn into one, they don’t hold any of us responsible,” Lachlan said.
Everyone smiled.
Grant patted Colleen’s leg. “They wear armor. You heard the lass.”
Enrick prayed that it would work.
Grant called the director, who was waiting to hear from him about how this would go. “You can meet us in the conference room. I’ll have Lachlan escort you up.”
Lachlan saluted Grant and hurried off.
Within a few minutes, the director and some of his staff were sitting in the conference room, ready to hear the verdict.
“The men wear real armor on their arms the wolves are supposed to attack,” Grant said.
The director was frowning.
Grant opened his mouth to speak again, but Colleen jumped right in.
Enrick and Lachlan were always surprised when she did that, and amused that Grant let her have her say.
“They are real wolves,” Colleen said. “And no matter how much training you give them, they’re still partly wild. We can’t risk having them tearing into the men that much. What if they forgot their training and their wild wolf half took over? These are not wolves that have been bred down into what you might think of as your pet poodle. They’re wolves, through and through. A wolf’s normal bite is around 400 pounds of pressure per square inch. If they’re fighting something or someone, it can be as much as 1,200 pounds. You wouldn’t want any animal biting down that hard on your arm.”
The director’s eyes widened a bit. “Sure.”
“Lachlan has the job of training the wolves to bite through the padding on the volunteers’ arms and not dent the armor underneath when the stunt men wear it for their final scene. We’re not changing our mind about this. The liability issues are too great, should a wolf accidentally bite through the padding.”
“All right, Lady Colleen,” the director finally said. He smiled. “I was going to agree already. I never would have likened them to a poodle, but I get your point. And I agree. We wouldn’t want to have the liability of a wolf accidentally crushing a man’s arm.”
Enrick was glad the director had finally agreed because he knew Colleen wouldn’t change her mind about it.
Grant had even looked into the backgrounds of the two human stunt men who would get “bitten.” Both had wives, kids, parents, and siblings. It would be a veritable disaster if they were turned and had to leave their families behind. No way did Grant want to have to control the
catastrophe that would be. Well, any of them, because it would be on the whole pack to keep a newly turned wolf in line.
Chapter 10
Heather finally had her important role to play again, as an extra in charge of the kitchen staff as they prepared the actual meal for the next scene. Enrick was busy with security, though she thought he was still wearing his grungy kilt from being in the battle that morning.
Maynard, a grizzled old gray wolf who had been in charge of the kitchens forever, wasn’t supposed to be in the old kitchen during the film. Heather was running the show, and she knew that rankled the older wolf. She understood he felt he was being pushed out of his “home” so to speak, but Grant and Colleen had agreed to use the kitchen to shoot some of the scenes, and their decision overrode Maynard’s need to be in charge of things there.
Grant had given him time off to just have some fun wherever he wanted to go, but Maynard’s whole life was wrapped up in food preparation, and it was killing him not to be there while Heather was managing the situation.
“You can’t be in here, Maynard,” Heather said to the growly wolf. She’d told him several times already in various ways: cajolingly, humorously, determinedly, but now she was just telling him like it was. “You’re not cast as an extra. The director only envisioned women being in the kitchen. He said it was all right if you wanted to serve some of the food.” She knew that would go over big with the cook and manager of the kitchen staff. Not.
“I’ve been working in this kitchen for—”
Well over three hundred years, but he couldn’t say that as some of the film crew were within hearing.
“…a long damn time.”
“Aye, and you will have your kitchen back as soon as the shoot is done. You hardly ever use this one.” Heather suspected he didn’t like that she got to do the majority of the catering for the meals from her shop instead of him from the castle kitchens. His food was excellent, no doubt about it. There wasn’t anything wrong with her getting the contract, but Maynard had taken exception to it.
