Before Dawn

by Olivia Hutchinson

  Natalie glanced back up at Declan. There was a slight frown on his face, his eyes narrowed as he focused on Ruby.

  Ruby spoke directly to Declan then, “Too bad for you for calling that favor in. This would've been a freebie.” Ruby looked back to Natalie, her chin trembling slightly. “I'm here because the Council murdered my daughter and her human mate. They came after my granddaughter, and I want vengeance. And Natalie, you along with that one over there, are going to make things right in this world of ours one way or another.”

  Natalie sat back in her chair, her eyes wide, her fingers gripping the edge of the kitchen table. She was going to make things right? Her stomach rolled. She didn’t know what she was doing. Ruby put far too much faith in her.

  “No pressure or anything,” Ruby said with a wicked grin.

  After Ruby left, Natalie excused herself and disappeared upstairs. Declan suspected she was more than a bit overwhelmed. Not that he could blame her. She had quite the day considering she only learned about the existence of werewolves – thanks to Kaleb's transformation in Lila's living room – just hours before.

  She had some grit, he would give her credit for that. Declan retreated into his bedroom, packed his own suitcase in preparation for their departure in the morning, and then made himself a sandwich. He debated calling upstairs to Natalie to ask if she was hungry, but he considered the fact that his presence may not be welcome at the moment, so he ate his roast beef and cheddar while standing in the kitchen.

  Grabbing a soda from the fridge and a bag of chips from the pantry, he went into the living room, propped his feet up, and turned on the discussion regarding the fight the night before. The commentators were discussing the effectiveness of one of the fighter’s leg kicks when he heard the creak of the stairs. He glanced over his shoulder to see Natalie watching the commentators from where she was standing behind the couch.

  “Wanna sit?” he asked her before patting the spot next to him.

  She walked around the couch and perched next to him, tentative at first. He offered her the bag of chips which she took from him. After crunching on one, she asked, “Are they going to play the actual fight? Or just talk about it?”

  “Do you like MMA?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before.”

  “They’re just talking about it, but I recorded the actual fight on my DVR. Do you want to watch it?”

  She nodded, so he picked up the remote and pulled it up before hitting play. He stayed quiet as she watched the back-and-forth between the two fighters. When her brows scrunched in confusion, he said, "It's MMA, it's not boxing. There's wrestling, kickboxing. All of that is fair game."

  “Oh.” The cheers erupted on the screen when the end of the first round was announced. “They’re so bloody.”

  The one fighter's small cut next to his eye was bleeding profusely, coating his face as well as his opponent's fists and arms in blood. “It's not too bad.”

  “It seems like a lot.”

  “Well, it’s a head wound. It’s going to bleed more. Combine that with adrenaline and mix it with sweat and it’s going to look like a lot.”

  “I suppose their blood pressures are up too, so I’m sure that’s not helping.”

  “Exactly.”

  She ate another chip as the second round began. “Do you like watching the fights?”

  He nodded. “I do. These fights aren’t nearly as brutal as the ones I’m used to seeing, though.”

  Frowning, she asked, “What kind of fights are you used to seeing?”

  “The kinds that don’t feature human fighters.”

  “Oh,” she said, hesitant, and then stated, “Oh! You mean werewolves fight like this, too?”

  “Yes.”

  “Like as werewolves? Claws and teeth and all that?”

  “Yes and no. We fight in this form, too,” he said, gesturing to himself. “but it's not just werewolf versus werewolf, it's all the factions fighting. They all have their champions."

  “Even the witches?”

  “Yeah, even the witches.”

  “Men and women, then?”

  He nodded. “Mostly the men but there are some female fights. My sister Hannah likes the female fights.”

  She ate a few more chips before handing the bag back to him. “Who is the werewolf champion then?”

  “Hang on and watch this part,” he told her, pointing at the television. “Watch him.”

  “Which one?”

  “The bald one. Watch.”

  He watched the fight the night before, and while it wasn't the most thrilling he'd ever seen, the knockout had been pretty good. Just as he remembered, the bald fighter was against the side of the octagon, defending blows to the face while the crowd screamed. One misstep on behalf of his opponent and the fighter gained the upper hand, scrambled out of his opponent's reach until they were facing off again.

  One leg kick, then another, but it was the fake kick that left his opponent open, allowing the bald fighter’s fist to connect with the other’s chin, sending his opponent down to the mat in the knockout that ended the match.

  “He was knocked out?”

  The challenger's legs turned to rubber, and he hit the mat hard. He may not have lost consciousness altogether, but it was still defined as a knockout. "Yup. Did you see how he fell? He didn't know what just happened."

  “It’s over? Where’s the ten-count?”

  Declan shook his head. “No ten-count. That’s boxing.”

  “Oh.” He turned off the DVR and turned the commentary back on.

  “The werewolf champion is currently Jackson Vastag,” he said, answering her earlier question. “He’s been undefeated now for over a year. Bit cocky about it, too. Jackson is a hard hitter in his human form, and almost untouchable when his beast takes over."

  “Will we see a fight while we’re there?”

  He glanced over at her. “Do you want to?”

  She nodded slowly. “I would.”

  "It's not like what we just watched." He reconsidered his words. "Well, it is like that to a certain extent, but there are some pretty big differences. It's inside an actual cage, for one. A cage with a top because a lot of these men can jump and you don't want the fight going into the crowd because once they go, they go. And we also heal a lot faster than any human, so it's not uncommon for a fighter like Jackson to break a bone, keep going, and be healed by the end only to have it broken again."

  Natalie stuck out her tongue. “Yuck.”

  “It’s not for everyone. Plus, like you said, there’s the teeth and claws.”

  “I think I’d still like to see it.” She shrugged and the corner of her mouth lifted. “It’s not every day I’m gonna be able to see a werewolf cage fight.”

  This woman couldn’t stop surprising him if she tried. “Then I’ll make sure we go.”

  Natalie pulled her bare feet up onto the couch next to her, leaning toward Declan in the process as she watched the sports commentary program. He offered her the bag of chips one more time, but when she shook her head, he got up and put the bag back into the pantry before grabbing himself another soda and one for her as well.

  She took it from his outstretched hand with a smile and a "Thank you." Popping the top, she took a gulp and turned away from the television screen to face him as he sat back down on the couch next to her.

  “Are you scared?” she asked him, staring at the top of her soda can.

  It was a question he couldn't remember ever having been asked in his lifetime. Fear wasn't something werewolves were supposed to feel, he didn't guess. “Scared? Of what could happen in Boston?”

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  “No, not really.” He shrugged. “Angry, frustrated, but no, not scared.”

  Her eyes dropped to the top of her can as she picked at the tab. “And if we get caught? If someone finds out I’m human?”

  “That won’t happen,” he insisted.

  “If it does?”

  “If it
does, ask me if I’m scared then.” He put his own can down on the coffee table. “Are you scared?”

  "Yes and no." She frowned and then met his eyes. Determination showed on her face. "I realize things could go badly. I realize there's a lot of pressure on you and on me as well, but I don't know. Maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet."

  He shrugged. “Maybe.”

  She sighed, took a big swig of her soda, and said, “So, tell me everything. Tell me how to behave, what to do, who everyone is, and anything else I’m gonna need to know. I refuse to walk in there lookin’ like an idiot.”

  He laughed, unable to help himself. “You’re not going to look like an idiot, I assure you.”

  “Maybe. Maybe not.”

  “Definitely not, but there is one thing I want to make clear. There aren’t going to be very many places where we’ll be able to speak freely. You already know about the super-sensitive hearing and always function under the assumption that everything you say to me and everything I say to you can be overheard by people we don’t want listening.”

  “Of course.”

  “If you need a minute to breathe or we need to find a place to speak freely, we need a signal.”

  “That’s a good idea. How about I just slap you on the butt and give you a wink? That way people get the impression we’re just disappearing for a quick make-out session in private?”

  Declan sat back. That hadn't been what he was thinking at all, but he could see where it would be really, really useful. “You'd be comfortable with that?”

  “Not a big deal,” she said with a shrug. “We’re supposed to be dating, right?”

  “Right.”

  Natalie flipped her ponytail over her shoulder and looked him dead in the eye. “If we want this to look legit, I know I'm gonna have to be really comfortable with you right off the bat. Neither of us has time for hang-ups.”

  “Female werewolves can be touchy-feely types, and there's going to be nudity around. Can you deal with that?”

  “I work in physical therapy. I have to touch people all day, every day and they have to hold on to me a lot of the time to keep themselves steady. Working in the hospital and the retirement home, I see butts all the time. I can deal with nudity. Shoot, I saw your cousin’s pecker and massive balls just this morning.”

  He caught the growl in his chest before she heard it. Of course, she saw Kaleb naked. He changed in front of her, and yet for some reason the thought of her looking at his cousin really bothered him.

  She hesitated for a second. “You’re not talking about people like…doin’ it in public, are you?”

  He shook his head furiously. “No, no, no. I’m talking about being naked after a change or something.”

  She blew out a relieved breath. “Okay, good. Yeah, no problem.”

  “You were really worried about that?”

  She shrugged. “Out of my element, remember?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I’d say so.”

  4

  Natalie had never been to Boston before. The city loomed large outside the window of the SUV, big and intimidating to a small-town girl like her. Between living in Cantor and growing up outside of Boone, seeing the crowded skyline was a bit overwhelming.

  Natalie reminded herself again this was an adventure. That sentiment was what she was relying on to get her through the next several days. The plan at that moment was to return to Cantor by Friday. That gave Declan a full four days to talk to Zachariah and handle whatever the council threw at him regarding the situation.

  For the twenty-seventh time during the ride, she asked herself why she agreed to this.

  Panic was not an option. She took a deep breath and focused her attention on the cars surrounding them, thankful she wasn’t the one behind the wheel. Driving in traffic was not her strong suit, but Declan was handling it remarkably well. He weaved in between the vehicles clogging the road, stopping to pay the tolls as they went.

  They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about what she should expect. They discussed his family and hers, as well as the basics they should know about each other if they wanted to get away with their little ruse. Natalie ended up with more questions by the end of the night than she had at the beginning, but after eating the delivered pizza, her head began throbbing with the start of a migraine.

  It was a lot of information to absorb in one day.

  She went to bed with Ruby’s magic books and read for a little while after the migraine medication she took started kicking in. She left the door open while Declan worked in his office across the hall and ended up falling asleep on top of the worn pages. At some point during the night, she woke up to Declan carefully pulling the book out from underneath her face, setting it on top of the dresser, and turning out the light before going downstairs.

  The next morning, she woke up, took a shower, and was ready to go by the time Declan rolled out of bed. It was eight in the morning when he walked grumpily into the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of basketball shorts. She leaned against the counter, a mug of steaming coffee in hand and a smile on her face.

  She had always been a morning person. He, she quickly found out, was not.

  Even his grouchy shuffling didn’t stop her from appreciating his bed-tousled hair and the muscles he carried on his body. She knew he was built, it’s a hard thing to hide even under long sleeves, but without a shirt on? Holy moly. She hadn’t given him enough credit. Even his muscles had muscles, reminding her of some of the fighters they watched on TV the day before.

  It made her wonder if he ever ventured into the fighting cage he had talked about. He looked like he could handle himself.

  They ate cereal so he could use up the last of the milk before he showered. They were on the road within the hour, and Natalie settled in for the four-hour long car ride. Their conversation was halted several times when his phone rang. Official werewolf business that made no sense to her, especially since she only heard half the conversations.

  “Are we going straight to the Council House?” she asked him when they pulled off at an exit. They didn’t seem to be heading downtown, but that didn’t mean anything. She didn’t know where anything was.

  “No,” he said. “We’ll go to my parent’s first and get settled in before heading over there. I want to hear some of the discussions before they break for the day at five.”

  When he pulled up in front of a massive wrought-iron gate, Natalie sat forward in her seat a little more. It was hard to see anything through the thick trees. The only thing she could make out was the well-manicured grass in front of the intimidating fence that ran down the length of the road. The property had to be massive.

  Declan rolled down the drivers-side window next to what looked like an intercom. Only when he pushed the button to talk, static came on over the speaker. She couldn't see what he was doing, but when he put his thumb into his mouth, she saw the drop of red on the tip. The gate rolled open slowly, permitting them entrance and Declan rolled up the window.

  “You pricked your finger?” she asked him when they started down the long, winding driveway.

  “Yeah. Humans use prints, we use blood.”

  “That seems very…unsanitary.”

  "There aren't any bloodborne diseases passed between the factions. You can't catch anything from us, and we can't catch anything from an infected human."

  Once the trees thinned, the house came into view. It was a large colonial, several thousand square feet, but Natalie was surprised it wasn't bigger considering the gate it sat behind. There were three floors with four dormers coming out of the roof on what would be the third floor. It was hard for her to gauge the age of the home considering the brick exterior, but it was well maintained. Navy shutters and flower boxes sat outside the large windows, which made the place look especially inviting.

  Declan followed the driveway around the back of the house to a large, three car garage. There was a single door next to the garage bays that she assumed led up to a second floor. Dormers sim
ilar in structure to the house jutted from the roof of the garage.

  “My apartment is above the garage. That's where we're staying,” he told her. “It's not very big, but I figured you would probably want to stay there rather than in the house with my parents and sister.”

  “I don't care if it's a closet. I'm sure it's fine.” She smiled at him. It was a cute little garage, and she'd seen his house in Canton. He was a clean person so she was sure the apartment would be just fine.

  Declan parked the SUV next to the side of the garage, close to the door. Natalie swung her purse strap over her shoulder and followed him. He unlocked the door, flipped on the light switch and headed up the stairs.

  The floor was a neutral beige tile, and a few pairs of shoes sat just inside the door. A second door was on the wall to her left which she assumed led into the garage. Once at the top of the steps, Declan opened the door and stepped back to allow Natalie to enter first.

  It opened into the kitchen. The room wasn't huge, but as she suspected, it was clean. There was a two-burner stove, a small refrigerator, sink, and narrow countertops. A round white table with three chairs sat in the center of the kitchen. The fridge was humming, but that was the only noise coming from inside the apartment.

  Her fur-lined boots squeaked on the white tile as she stepped into the room and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering slightly. It was colder inside than outside.

  “I’ll turn on the heat,” Declan said, closing the door behind her. He walked over to the thermostat which sat on the wall in the dim living room just in front of her.

  The only furniture in the living room was the couch, an oval coffee table, and a mismatched entertainment center that was dinged but held a small television. The sofa was narrow and worn, most likely one he inherited from his parents at some point. The country style and tiny flowers embroidered in the blue material didn't look like something he would have chosen without a woman's influence.

  “There’s only one bedroom,” he said then, nodding toward one of the two doors on the back wall.

  “I can sleep on the couch.”