Moon Struck: When Were & Howl Book 1
Page 14
Chapter 14
After a comfortable night asleep on Rob's couch, I waited while Rob did a house showing and met with clients to list their house. It was going to be a slam-dunk. The house was in a good neighborhood and would sell quickly.
Waiting for the day to end so that we could get on with fixing me was the only hard part.
The moment finally came. I'd never see two men look so eager. Apparently being a werewolf must be awesome because they truly waited on the porch like two kids whose father had just come home from a business trip with presents.
Dirk introduced us to the guy that yelled at me on the phone and we got down to business. I wore the collar with the little brown pouch swinging under my chin. Trust me when I say the tooth mark in the leather was mostly an accident.
When Dirk leaned down to remove my collar, I nearly bit him. Talk about hackles rising. I wasn't expecting it and something about him just rubbed me wrong. With my canines showing, my growl meant business. It made no sense even to me, but I did not want Dirk touching me.
Rob knelt beside me, unbuckling the collar. His hand ruffling through my fur comforted me. “It's okay, Jen.”
“You want to go first?” Dirk stepped back, a quick flash of anger smothered with a smile that didn't quite fit. He wanted to be in control, and I wasn't playing nice. I decided I didn't much like him.
I watched the man wrap the collar around his throat, a doctor from a small town forty-five miles south, he took a deep breath when Rob handed him Giselle's spell. With a husky voice he read the words from the piece of paper Giselle had written out, words that made no sense by the way. Witches.
A flash of light followed the last word and he changed from man to wolf and then back again. That made sense since wolves only changed on the full moon.
“Do you have your power back?” Dirk held out his hand for the collar.
He gave Dirk the collar, saying, “I'll know soon enough.”
Dirk inspected the holes along the leather and touched the mojo bag. The urge to bite him grew, but I held my temper. Apparently I'm a territorial wolf. I had no idea I could be like that.
Dirk put the collar on, the change flashing for a moment to a wolf with a feral gleam in his eyes. We stared at one another, playing a dominance game in that instant that sent adrenaline shivering through my body. And then he was human again.
Dirk pretended nothing happened. He asked,” Have you thought about how you're going to find that third wolf?”
Werewolves met regularly at the full moon and since they ran in packs, somebody should have known if a wolf lost his power. Dirk only found one other wolf missing his power.
Being without vocal chords really stinks sometimes. I had an idea. Something life as a mouse had taught me. When a person is embarrassed by something, they tend to hide it. As I did my mousiness. Maybe this wolf hid his loss in silence.
I woofed at Rob and then spent a good half hour trying to tell him what I thought. I'm a horrible mime. Ali would have understood. Rob asked for computer paper and we had to do the whole alphabet thing again, just so I could tell him my idea, which turned out to be a good one after all.
“You know, we do have wolves who have disappeared from the pack runs recently. I know a few are sick, but the rest might just be in hiding. Let me make a few calls.”
Dirk left the room, handing Rob the collar. Rob played with the leather pouch, his fingers trailing the bite marks. He was watching me furtively, and now that I could see him through wolf eyes, I knew the wolf within was intrigued by me. I smiled, the kind of grin that made my tongue fall out. This time, Rob's smile reached the crinkles in the corners of his eyes.
Dirk returned with a list of names, some with phone numbers and addresses, some without. There were seven people on the list.
“I have it on good authority that this first one is holed up in a barn. You'd best check that address out first.” Dirk winked at me. It made me feel slimey. Some people should not wink, Dirk being one of them.
Rob took the list and thanked Dirk and we were off.
I'd love to say that we immediately caught the guy and gave him his wolf back and we all lived happily ever after. The next time I let Ali talk me into anything...I'm talking the slightest trip to get our hair done or even a quick stop at an ice cream shop, I'm going to remember the barn on Hawktail Road and the crazy man inside.
I've long thought that Rob had sixth sense about life. He just seems to know when to call for help. We drove to the barn. Ali was already waiting, her hair swept back into a pony tail. For her this was the middle of the night, but as much trouble as Ali can get me into, I have to admit, she's always there to help get me right back out again.
“Thank goodness you're closer to a solution. Jen's grandma is driving me crazy. She was actually waiting at the top of the stairs in front of my apartment door last night. She knows something's up.” Ali took off her sun glasses and slid them into the case. Now up close, with the rings under her eyes, no raccoon joke here, I could tell she hadn't been getting enough sleep, probably covering for me.
I yipped, and what I said was, “What exactly did you tell my grandmother and will I be able to join a family function without ridicule when this is all over?”
After years as friends, language is almost secondary. Ali tossed her sunglass case through the passenger window which had been slightly rolled down and said, “Hey, don't worry about me. I'm an accomplished liar. As a matter of fact, your grandmother is now happily convinced that you are on a cruise with a new boyfriend, who happens to be a hot werewolf. I didn't drop any names, so you have plenty of room to embellish.”
Rob lifted an eyebrow and smirked. Yes, that's right. He smirked. I realized then that he planned to be the hot werewolf in the story. And Ali just scratched my head and stepped by me as if she'd solved world hunger on her own. I let her be patronizing in that moment because she was my best friend and I could hear a growl coming from the barn, an inhuman growl, and by that I mean, the werewolf was a wolf, in wolf form, and not on a full moon.
You know how barns have those openings in the second story with large doors? To throw hay down, I suppose. Well, this wolf growled at us from the barn. Rob stepped in front of me. Seriously. I'm in wolf form and could hold my own a lot better than he could.
“I'm going to open the door slowly, and I want you to both to get in the car.” The effect was lost when he glanced over his shoulder to Ali to find a raccoon with a cheeky smile where a lovely young woman once stood. She greeted him with a chittering laugh and scampered under the car and out the other side, drawing the werewolf's attention.
In my limited world view, I thought that a wolf standing on the second story of anything would have to run down the stairs to get down from such a height. As I say, limited. The wolf in question dropped out of the opening like it was nothing. It occurred to me then that most barns had ladders. He couldn't have gotten out any other way. And he was running after Ali, snarling and foaming at the mouth.
No wolf was going to eat my friend. Even if she deserved it.
With a growl of my own, I leapt past Rob who yelled, “Jen! Jen, get back here!” He cursed like a rapper. Hell might have been mentioned a few times. It's hard to say, my focus was elsewhere.
There comes a moment in everyone's life when a decision must be made. A stupid, horrendous, really bad decision. This was my moment. Teeth bared, I knocked down the other wolf at full speed, snarling and snapping while we rolled in a tangle of fur and teeth.
He grazed my neck with his teeth and I growled and tried to sink my teeth into his. He tasted like manure. Like the barn. It was gross. So I didn't bite him. And he missed biting me. All around, not a great way to start off Round 1 in werewolf vs. werewolf.
The wolf shook himself away, his fangs bared while he stalked around me. I did the same with no intention of giving him the chance to look elsewhere. He could kill Rob or Ali in a single snap
and from where I stood, the guy acted crazy.
Rob spoke very calmly in a soothing voice and I imagined he'd be a good father, even for the early morning feedings. I shook myself. We hadn't even gone on a first date and I was writing our future together. How pathetic.
In the meantime, the wolf was listening. His head was cocked and he stood still. I waited. And then the wolf bolted, not for the barn nor toward Ali or Rob. There was only one direction left for him and he took it.
Ali regained her human form, and Rob and I explored the barn. We found a cardboard sign asking for help and a dirty backpack. I nosed around, but there wasn't much else to find. There was a tunnel through the hay and I worked my way into it only to find a burrow that apparently the werewolf slept in.
“Jen, are you almost ready to leave?” That was Ali. She sounded a little worried. That meant her raccoon sense was giving her a warning. And she and I listened to those warnings of hers. We'd been saved from maiming and arrest a few times when her tingly sense gave us cause to flee.
I scurried back out from the tunnel, laughing because this time, I was a wolf. Usually my trips down small areas involved some amount of fear and a healthy dose of caution. I felt powerful, strong, invincible. And my hindquarters itched. I scratched at the spot while Rob and Ali argued over whose house I'd be going to next.
Apparently, Ali wanted a sleepover...Rob did, too. It's nice to be wanted.
They agreed to meet at Ali's (which meant Rob lost the argument), and we'd regroup from there.
As Rob pulled onto the gravel road, I saw the wolf loping back to the barn. We'd left his cardboard sign and backpack intact. Ali might not be the most law abiding person on the planet, but she is compassionate. She took a few dollars out of her purse, which made Rob feel guilty, so he took a twenty out, and we left it for the wolf.
My neck itched. I tried to reach back with my fangs, with my claws, with anything. Why was everything itching all of a sudden?
I should have known another lesson in humility was coming. I was a mouse, for Pete's sake! How much humility do I need?
“Jen are you okay?” Rob asked.
“Grrr ..yip.” Which was my version of. “Rob, can we please not talk about the fact that my shoulder itches, my tail itches, even my belly itches. Maybe I'm allergic to hay.”
Of course, he just heard “Grr..yip” and started talking about how I'd feel better after a shower and that we could cross this guy off the list.
Ali lived in a small one bedroom apartment. It was a cozy little place. But one were to another, I can tell you, she was very patient when she discovered exactly what my little problem, err, problems were.
She was watching me try to scratch and she knelt beside me, ruffling her hands through my fur. “Uh, Rob, if you want to take Jen home with you, that would be cool with me. I'm sure she'd be more comfortable in a larger house.”
Okay, Ali was using her smarmy voice. What was going on here?
Rob fell for it. He grinned, “I thought we'd have to roll dice or draw cards. You want to come with us to the park tomorrow? We're going to try the next name on the list.”
Ali's knees creaked when she stood. “You know, I'd love to, but I have to work tomorrow and I really need to get some sleep.”
The universal signal for 'Please get lost.' Ali didn't use it much. She'd lived her life half-exhausted. Only as her special best friend in the whole world did I know this. Maybe she had a lead she didn't want to share or she was planning to revisit the wolf and cause trouble.
Ugh. Now my neck itched. This was beyond annoying.
With hurried goodbyes, Rob led me out of Ali's apartment. Glancing back over my shoulder, I do believe Ali was smirking at Rob.
“Ali sure changed her mind fast. She must have realized how tired she was once she got home.” Rob rolled the window down for me. At least I could enjoy the wind in my face while we went.
We were past the halfway point to Rob's house when his cell phone rang.
“Rob here.”
“Hey, Rob, it's Ali.”
She sounded smug.
“What's up?”
“Jen has fleas.”
The coward disconnected the call. I whipped my head around, feeling frantic not only on my own behalf but for Rob as well. She could have kept me and helped me hide it from Rob.
Now I was a bug ridden disease carrier. How horrid.
I whined. Rob tossed the phone onto the seat next to me. “So you heard?”
I nodded and felt like crying. Everything had gone wrong for me. Fleas. A pestilence. Fleas?!
A warm hand rubbed the top of my head. “It happens to the best of us.” Rob said. I'm not sure if he meant it. I figured once I turned human again, I'd ask. I'd sure feel better if he'd gotten fleas at least once.