The Werewolf Queen

by Brandi Elledge

  I heard Lil say to Stephan, “Please tell me I don’t look like that when I’m flyin’. That girl looks like a one-winged duck flyin’ in circles.”

  Camden attempted to hide a smile. “Yes. Yes, you are. Now, come back down here and fight me.”

  The werewolves on the bleachers were cheering and clapping. They were all so excited for me that I didn’t have the heart to tell them that I didn’t know how to get back down. I closed my eyes and focused on lowering my body to the ground. As soon as my feet touched the floor, I let out a sigh. That took a hot minute.

  Camden chuckled. “I could have gotten you down if you needed help, but I knew you would figure it out.”

  “At least she did something interestin’,” Lil said. “Round one goes to my girl.”

  Camden was like a streak of lightning. He came at me so fast I didn’t see him until it was too late. He took the wind right out of me as he knocked me flat on my back.

  Lil groaned. “Ugh, and round two goes to the stud muffin.”

  He crouched beside me, partially blocking our audience’s view of me. “Are you all right?”

  I nodded because that whole pride thing reared its ugly head up again. “Yeah, I’ll let you have that one. Since you’re so old and everything. I didn’t want the newbie to school you in front of your friends.”

  He smiled that sexy smile of his. “Don’t worry about my feelings. School away.”

  Instead of just focusing on one aura, I concentrated on all of my new friends’ auras. Since I hadn’t figured out how to collect auras from the ‘storage bank’ that I supposedly had built inside of me, I was lucky I had so many different supernaturals in the room with me. Letting my walls down, I reached out my hand like I was trying to gather them all together. I watched the different colors wrapping around one another. With my other hand, I reached out to stroke all of Camden’s different colors, pulling them towards me as well. Then, with both hands, I shoved all the different energy I had collected towards Camden.

  He went flying across the room until a wall stopped him. He jumped up with a smile on his face. The things that made him smile. So weird. “That a girl, Sadie! Sadie?”

  Why was I so dizzy? Lil was asking me something I couldn’t decipher. I knelt on the floor while she cooed Cajun words to me. What was that dripping sound? I glanced down at the floor where a constant drip of blood hit the mat between my knees. Well, that wasn’t good.

  Camden knelt in front of me as he took off his shirt and pressed it to my nose to stop the bleeding. “Sadie, what happened?”

  My head pounded. Ariana’s words played back to me. My reaction had to do with letting my walls completely collapse and taking in Camden’s aura, but I didn’t know that for sure. “I think I might have just overdone it. I took everyone’s aura and swung them at you like I would a bat. Then I got sick to my stomach.”

  His eyes scanned my body with such worry. He had one hand on the back of my head holding me still, and the other hand was stanching the blood flow with his T-shirt.

  I grabbed hold of his wrist and in my most convincing tone said, “Camden, I’m fine. I’m learning all of this as I go, and I can’t learn if I don’t make mistakes.”

  Stephan came up beside me. “The blood has stopped; that’s a good sign, but maybe you should take a break.”

  I started to stand up. “No. We’re not taking a break. I met Ariana this morning.”

  Camden rested his hands on his thighs while he studied me. “She does not like meeting new people, but she wanted to meet you?”

  I knew I couldn’t keep the conversation I had with Ariana a secret, and it wasn’t like she asked me to. Her being the great psychic and all, she probably knew I would spill the beans, anyways.

  “Ariana told me that our first battle is imminent, and I need to be prepared. So that means that I need this. I need to train.”

  Camden seemed to understand what I was not saying. He stood and nodded at me. “All right, if you are sure, then we will continue.”

  Unfortunately for me, he decided not to put his now bloody T-shirt back on, and he chucked it to the side. Great. Just great. I was trying to learn how to control my powers, and now I was going to have to fight while being distracted by his beautiful body. No, I wasn’t distracted. It would take more than a six pack to break my concentration.

  I glanced over at Lil who was sitting with the wolves. “Where did Stephan go?”

  “Once he saw that you were okay, that vampire bailed. It was the blood. He gone just like that. Good thang, too. You ain’t no buffet, girl.”

  “Does it matter where the vampire went?” Camden asked. Well, didn’t he sound jelly? When I didn’t answer, he growled. Yep, definitely jelly. “If you are sure that you are ready, then we can begin.”

  “I’m ready.”

  “I’m not sure what happened earlier, but when something feels wrong, back off. Whatever you feel like you can control right now is what we will work with. All the rest will come with time.”

  He danced around me, coming towards me, only to back away again. It was like he was afraid to attack me. Frustration bubbled up inside of me.

  “If you’re too afraid to train me, just say so, but I’m not going to stand here all day while you decide if you think I’m too fragile.”

  Something came into his eyes, almost like he was… proud of me? Then he charged at half of his usual speed, but that was a start. I pulled just enough energy off him that when he grabbed me, I flipped us, so he landed on the mat first with me on top.

  He threw me off of him and just as I was about to crash on the floor, I channeled Lil and floated to the ground. He was right beside me, with his hand behind my head, trying to protect me as I fell. Except I didn’t.

  He smiled down at me. “Good girl. You are learning so quickly.”

  I returned his smile after I rolled to my feet. “Yes, but you can’t train me by trying to fight me, then trying to protect me at the same time. The enemy won’t be as gallant.”

  Camden took a couple of steps towards me. He reached out and brushed my hair behind my shoulders. That gentle touch had me stiffening. “Now that I know what you are capable of, I won’t worry about you anymore.”

  I heard Lil from the bleachers snort. “Liar. That boy is whooped.”

  “Did she just say I’m whipped?”

  With him this close, I could smell his exotic scent, and it took everything I had not to stare at his glistening chest. He looked like a Spartan warrior standing in front of me. One that I shouldn’t be noticing. Camden cleared his throat. Oh great, I had been caught staring.

  “Yeah, but it’s kind of hard to be whooped when you’re engaged to another, isn’t it?”

  A shield fell over his eyes. Good. He nodded as he took a step away from me. I told myself that I didn’t regret my comment or the lack of his closeness. We went a couple more rounds with him tackling me and me countering by throwing him against a wall. I knew he was holding back from me, and honestly, I appreciated it. I already had bruises popping up from this current training session. I could only imagine what I would look like if he socked it to me.

  “Sadie, it’s not that I mind being thrown into every wall in here, but what would happen if you tried something other than swinging auras at me like a bat?”

  Well, that was a good question. I pulled from Lil and centered all my energy on Camden, trying to make him float. I put too much oomph in it because he hit the ceiling right before he crashed to the ground. He moaned and rolled over onto his back.

  “Wow. I guess I should have been content with the walls. Do you know how tall the ceilings are in here? Twenty-four feet.”

  I knelt beside him. “I am so sorry. I think I know what I did wrong; try it again?”

  “I’ve created a monster,” he groaned. “All right, let’s do this until we get it right.”

  We both stood to face each other, and once more I pulled off of Lil and sent Camden flying again, but this time I stopped him right bef
ore he hit the ceiling. Control was the key. I slowly lowered him back to the ground. He came over to me and gave me a side hug.

  Color me twenty shades of what the hell was going on. He was stoic and stuffy one second, telling me we couldn’t even be friends, then the next minute he was jealous over Stephan. The saga continued with gentle touches, his need to protect me, and a partial hug. Either they were putting crack in my frosted flakes in the morning, or Camden had layers all right. Layers of crazy. The deeper I went, the more insane it got. “What was the hug for?”

  “That was for not shoving the ceiling down my throat again.”

  “You need to work on your trust issues,” I joked, because why not? If you can’t beat them, join them.

  “Well, considering you’ve hit me into every wall in this place a thousand times, not to mention that I received a dislocated shoulder and three broken ribs for my efforts, there might be some trust issues there.”

  I looked at his magnificent body and shrieked, “I did what?”

  He put his hands up to try and calm me. “It’s nothing to worry about. My body has already begun healing itself. Another thirty minutes and I’ll be good as new. But I am starving. What do you say we call it a night?”

  I nodded. “Oh. Okay, sure.”

  He went and grabbed his bloody shirt. “So, what do you say we give ourselves an hour? That’ll give us enough time to get cleaned up and the chef time to prepare a meal.”

  “What?”

  He winked and said, “Dinner. Remember? I owe you a story.”

  Layers and layers. Hot. Cold. Gruff one minute, winking the next. He was a cornucopia of emotions, and it was starting to mess with my head. “I technically didn’t win. You didn’t even go hard on me you just... You just—”

  “Was your human punching bag? You had to train with your powers, and since I heal quickly, I was your best option. So, dinner?”

  I could only nod. Maybe I needed speech training, too.

  As soon as he walked out of the gym with the remaining werewolves, Lil flew over to me.

  “Whew, that man is so hot he makes my wings skip a beat. Too bad they don’t make that version in a tiny size. Well, what the heck you standin’ there for with your mouth open? You gotta hot date to go prepare for.”

  “It’s not a date! And I refuse to drool all over him while he’s engaged.”

  Lil squinted her eyes at me. “Yeah, well, good luck wit dat.”

  I had a feeling I was going to need a lot of luck, and some hardcore determination on my part, if I planned on not letting that man get under my skin.

  Chapter Seventeen

  After I took a quick shower, I styled my hair while I debated what to wear. Ugh. It wasn’t a date, so what did it matter? I wasn’t trying to impress him. To prove that it didn’t matter, I closed my eyes as I picked an outfit from the armoire. I pulled out an orange sundress. Nope. That wasn’t going to work. Orange was not my color. I returned the dress, and this time I peeked a little. I was so screwed.

  I slid into a black dress and was putting on a pair of sandals when I heard a knock. Camden was on the other side of the door wearing a fitted polo shirt and a pair of faded jeans. No matter what he wore, whether it was an Armani suit, gym attire, or a pair of jeans, the man always looked like he was model-ready for a photo shoot. It was almost annoying. Almost.

  He had a bag in one of his hands. “Hey, I brought you something.”

  “You brought me something? What?”

  He handed me the bag, and there had to be at least four folded T-shirts in solid black smelling of a faraway ocean.

  “Um, are these your T-shirts?”

  He leaned into the door jam and crossed his arms. One side of his mouth lifted up into a smile. “Yes, they sure are. Last night you asked for one of my—”

  “T-shirts,” I finished for him. “Well, I was pretty toasted.”

  Maybe it was my lack of gratitude that made him give me a curt nod. “Shall we? I think I owe you dinner and a story.”

  “All right, let’s go.” He walked me down a couple of halls and pulled open the door to show a hidden elevator. We stepped in, and he hit the fourth floor.

  “We are going to the top floor? I haven’t been there yet.”

  The doors opened, and I stepped out with him. “That’s because it’s my floor, and I don’t usually let anyone up here.”

  I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t respond. Dinner that wasn’t a date in a private place. No biggie. His private quarters though, wow. It was amazing. After we exited the foyer, we entered a huge open living room that had a rock fireplace. The living room flowed into a warm kitchen.

  I was hoping he was going to give me a tour, so I could see the rest of his private space, but instead he led me to yet another door in between the living room and the kitchen. It opened to a set of stairs.

  “We’re going to the roof.” He waved me through. “Ladies first.”

  The narrow stairs led to a lush garden with beautiful flowers everywhere. Who would have thought that the ornery werewolf had a private terrace on top of a roof of all places? Layers. Lots and lots of layers. My fingers gently touched a rose petal.

  Camden smiled as he came up beside me. “I take it that you like it?”

  The more important question was, did it matter what my opinion was? But that would be too snarky even for me, so instead, I said, “Are you serious? I love it. It has to be the most beautiful thing in the world.”

  He still hadn’t taken his eyes from me. “Almost.”

  “Why do you do that?”

  “Do what?”

  “You are all over the place. Nice one minute, standoffish the next. Then you say things that I consider flirting. The problem I have with that is you’re engaged, so I guess I’m asking, why?”

  My whole life had been turned upside down, and I believed I was doing my best to adjust to the new circumstances. I didn’t know what was going to happen tomorrow, but I was pretty sure what I didn’t need was to hook up with a hot guy currently engaged to another woman.

  He started to say something, and I held up a hand. “You look like a man who commands respect. I can’t give that to you if you lie to me. So, if you want my respect, give me the truth.”

  He nodded. “After dinner, I will answer your question.” He didn’t wait for me to reply as he grabbed my hand, leading me around some beautiful statues and down a lighted path. There, in the middle of the roof, was a table set for two with a white tablecloth and two candles.

  I stopped walking, and since he still held my hand, he stopped walking, too.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I pointed at the table. “That kind of looks romantic. I guess I had it in my head that we would be eating something messy like ribs in the downstairs kitchen with other people coming in and out, not a candlelight dinner for just two.”

  He dropped my hand and cursed under his breath. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.” He turned around to walk back the way we just came from.

  As much as I knew that I should keep my distance, I didn’t want to. One thing was certain: I liked spending time with him. I was still a little shocked when I heard myself say, “Wait. It’s fine. Let’s eat and I can ask my questions.”

  After sitting in one of the chairs, I looked around nervously. Camden studied my face before asking, “You’re not afraid of being alone with me, are you?”

  “No, I’m not afraid. I’m from the South. We fear nothing except God, bad tea, and outdoor weddings that take place in August. I mean, seriously, that is just torture.” He shook his head and did that sexy smile thing he had down pat. Awkward moment over. That was me, Sadie the icebreaker.

  “All right, then let’s eat.”

  A chef appeared from who knows where and set one plate in between us. He poured two glasses of what looked like red wine for us both. I took a tentative sip out of my glass, as I still remembered what the tequila had done to me. Never again.

&nb
sp; He pointed at the plate in between us. “Care for some sushi?”

  I shifted in my seat a little. How to tell him I wasn’t cultured enough for sushi? “Um, about that. Where I come from, we use sushi as bait. I’m not sure if I could stomach eating it.”

  He laughed, and it warmed my insides. No. No, it did not. That was the wine. That one teensy sip of wine. He moved the sushi, so it wasn’t in front of me. “No worries. Some real food will be here soon.”

  The chef appeared again in a couple of minutes and put two plates of salmon and rice in front of us. My belly growled in appreciation.

  I took my first bite and moaned. “Wow, this is great, Camden.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed, and his blue-green eyes stared at me with such intensity I grew self-conscious. “You know, I think I could get used to that.”

  “What?”

  He cleared his throat. “Nothing.” Clearly, it was something, but I let it go.

  “Why don’t you tell me that story you promised while we’re eating?” I forked another bite of salmon into my mouth and made a hand motion for him to begin.

  “I’ll start at the beginning to give you a better understanding. My parents had several miscarriages before I was born. My dad sought out Ariana because she was the most powerful witch and soothsayer to have ever been born. He thought she could help my mom carry to term. Ariana told my parents she could help them, but only because the fates allowed her to do so. She said the future told her my mom would conceive two boys instrumental in winning the war.”

  He took a couple of bites of food before taking a sip of wine, and I had to curb my impatient nature from screaming, “Then what?” He winked at me, so he must have guessed what I was thinking.

  “She explained to my mom she was going to give each of her sons extraordinary gifts of power. Jamison and I are both werewolves; however, unlike others in our pack and other packs in the world, we don’t have to change into werewolf form during a full moon. We prefer it, of course, but we can fight it. She also enhanced our given powers, so we are faster and stronger than other werewolves, with speed like a vampire, and intuition comparable to a witch. She blessed us both with the ability to heal ourselves and others. Healing others is a power were-creatures and shapeshifters do not have, so in that we are different. The only thing that can kill us is a silver bullet through the heart or decapitation.”