“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Especially if there is more than one,” Ben admitted.
“But isn’t it your job to help them? What if they get hurt? It’ll be you guys in trouble, not just him!” she may have been laying it on a bit too much, but she knew Benjamin would take the bait. He did.
“Darren, I’m just gonna go check to be sure. Maybe he just needs a talking to, not a med ward trip,” he agreed, his partner just huffing in acceptance as Ben rushed off where Elizabeth had indicated. She started to follow him a little ways, before ducking into a shaded spot. Seemed Darren was a bit harder to move, which meant she would have to use the cookie Jeremiah had given her. In a few bites, the cookie was gone, but she felt no different. With a quiet grunt, she started to think of a new plan when a door nearby opened.
A male stuck his head outside of his den, sniffing around and she froze pressing deeper into the shadows. She was within his view, and his nose could easily smell her, but something was weird. He stepped out, sniffing the air, even going so far as looking right at her! After a shrug, he went back into his den and closed the door. He didn’t see or smell her! She was basically invisible right now it seemed. While the thought was slightly unsettling, she decided to continue with her escape. She made her way back to the entrance, rounding the corner and seeing Darren come back into view.
But now Darren wasn’t alone anymore, because Nicholas was there as well. She couldn’t catch a break as she clung to the cavern wall trying to sneak past them. They were talking quietly enough for her to not hear anything as she neared the exit. Once she saw Nicholas glance up at the entrance behind her but Darren, it seemed, brought his attention back to their conversation. After what felt like forever, she reached the open air and the tall trees and breathed deeply. She had done it, now she just needed to get home. After running a little away from the den’s opening, she called to her wolf, shifting easily onto all fours. The wolf knew the way and, after grabbing her clothes in her mouth, she took off towards home.
Flying past trees and small animals hiding in the underbrush, she ran like the wind itself reveling in the feeling once more. Distantly she heard the thoughts and feelings of other wolves running elsewhere in their wolf forms, and tried to lock down her mind. Her inner wolf helped, knowing that if she thought too much or too loudly, they would hear her and tell the Alpha or worse, the Beta. After less than an hour of travel, the moon high in the sky now, she was trotting up to her property and her front door. She shifted back to human once again, got dressed, and walked up to the door, turning the doorknob. She’d locked the front door and had to go around to the side door. Luckily it was still unlocked as it opened easily and she looked inside.
The hardwood flooring had a thin layer of dirt, she walked around the pool table in her den and stepped onto the kitchen tiles. All the lights were off, but she could still see just fine with the small shafts of moonlight leaking in from the windows. She tried to flip on the light switch and found that it didn’t respond. With a sigh she checked her side by side fridge and found several cans of soda and bottled water, all warm. She grabbed a bottle of water hating the taste of warm soda and looked around as she closed the fridge with her shoulder. Everything was right where it was when she left, at least from what she could see with the dim lighting. The microwave hung above the stove, the dishwasher filled with clean dishes she had run before leaving for work that day over a week ago. The water was off too, as she had a well like most Floridians. No electricity, no water. Her black slate countertops looked even darker at night, but stood out enough to discern where the lighter wall started and the counter stopped.
Knowing that she had no power limited what she would be able to do, so she went into her living room, looking at all the pictures on the walls of her family and friends. She focused on one picture, it was a company picnic not long after she had moved. Her friend Ginger, giving her rabbit ears behind her head, the memory of it made her smile. She missed Ginger. Another picture hanging nearby took her happy moment away and replaced it with a different memory. Her family, she was in the middle with her younger brother and their parents on either side, younger sister in her mother’s arms. She was only two years older than her brother with there being a bigger gap between her and her sister. She missed her family so much all of a sudden as tears stung her eyes. She brushed them away, maybe she would go home. The wolves couldn’t find her if she left the state, right?
Moving from the bittersweet memories caused by the pictures, she walked carefully down her hallway and into her bedroom. Her bed was made, just like she had left it. She opened her closet and was suddenly overpowered by a smell that had been following her throughout the house. She had no idea what it was, but she had to get rid of it soon as possible, as it was beginning to make her head hurt. Checking the battery operated clock by her bed, she saw it was past eleven-thirty. She flopped on the bed, smelled the nasty stench all over it and decided she would change the sheets before passing out. After about fifteen minutes, she crawled into bed, loving the softness of it. With a smile, she realized she was a lone wolf now, as they called it, and she would rather stay that way. She didn’t need the pack watching over her, she could do this. She’d be fine.
***************
She was running, faster than she ever thought possible. The feeling was amazing! The thrill of all the scents and sounds around her. She looked back at the three wolves trailing her, giving a breathy huff equivalent of a laugh. The pair of light grey furred brothers and the black wolf hot on her tail, neither slowing down. They swung wide, weaving in and out of the silver birch trees, their feet leaving large holes in the fresh snowfall. The chill air stung her face as she heard the youngest of the brothers bark at her. He was catching up, but she wouldn't let him catch her, not this time! A sharp right turn had the younger wolf skidding in the slippery forest floor with a yelp. She knew the older brother would tend to him so she kept running. Taking a risk, she glanced back again seeing if the black wolf was still there.
Indeed he was, yellow eyes shining brightly against his glistening black pelt. As her final trick, she skidded to a halt, veered left and ran for the lake she could smell even this far away. She heard the brothers in her head, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. She could only understand that they had taken up the chase again and were closing fast. The black on her tail seemed to make some plan with them to close in around her before the pond. They forgot she could hear them and knew their plan. The older brother tried to ram her from the side, but she jumped over him easily, her back legs just missing his jaws. But it was the younger who managed to surprise her, with a running jump just as she landed, knocking her off her feet causing her to tumble into the snow. The males all huffed loudly, laughing in her mind. She stood, shaking the snow out of her fur before strolling casually to the pond for a drink before it froze completely. Upon looking into the calm water, she heard clearly someone calling to her, the younger brother, as she caught sight of a pair of eyes. One silver, one golden. These were her eyes.
“Come on, Fenrir!” the younger brother had said.
***************
Elizabeth woke slowly to the strong odor in her house that she still couldn’t place. It was a little before sunrise, but she felt rested and calm aside from the strong smell around her. She got up and went looking for whatever she could find in her pantry and set to opening all the windows, assuming the smell was just musty air. As she snacked on untoasted Pop-Tarts, something began nagging her in the back of her mind, but Elizabeth couldn’t quite figure out what it was. After taking a few bites, realization struck her as quick as lighting and she suddenly knew what the feeling was.
The dream, it was all coming back to her now. Running through the snow, with a pair of brother wolves and a black wolf with yellow eyes and her eyes were… Gold and silver, the same as the O’Connor in the story from yesterday. Maybe she was just reliving the story, dreaming she was there. That would make sense, but she knew she heard t
hem call her Fenrir, and that was a name she had never heard before. Who was Fenrir and why did she get a weird feeling from that dream? She would google the name later, but first she had to get rid of this smell. Realizing she had finished her food and was still hungry, she grabbed another pack of Pop-Tarts and went to look for the air freshener. One spray and she realized her mistake, as it overloaded her nose so much she had to run to the window to breathe in the outside air.
Clearly she underestimated how sensitive her nose was now. It seemed the smell was getting better, as a breeze blew through the windows, but she still had work to do to get this place livable again. As the day wore on, she began to realize what the smell was. It was the smell of human, because when she lived here she was human. After taking care of dusting and sweeping she washed her old bed sheets and beat her rugs outside. It was nearly dinner time when she realized that if she was going to keep living here, she would have to buy a lot more food. What hadn't expired was not going to last her the week, maybe not even tomorrow. The thought of food brought up another problem. By now she had probably lost her job, so she would have to go find a new one or beg the manager to hire her back. She went to her laptop, unplugging it from the charger and powered it on, carrying it to the kitchen table.
As she started to work on getting her power back on, thanking all the powers that she could boost off a neighbor’s signal until she could restore the electric, she heard a knock on the door. No one knew she was here, so she had no idea who would be visiting. The thought occurred to her that maybe they had found her after all. The werewolves had found her and she was about to be dragged back to the pack! She slowly walked to the door, sniffing to see if she could tell who it was and if she could outrun them. Her eyes shot open in shock as she flung the door open only to be met with an open-mouthed Ginger.
“It’s true! You’re back!” Her friend flung herself at Elizabeth, bawling loudly into her ear.
Chapter Eleven
“Ginger, how did you know I was back?” she asked, suddenly unable to breathe with the strong perfume her friend was wearing. She gently eased her friend away while allowing her inside the house, patting Ginger’s back to ease the poor girls sobs.
“One of your neighbors thought he saw movement when he drove by this morning and called me. I told all your neighbors to keep an eye out after you didn’t come to work that Tuesday. It’s been over two weeks, where have you been?” Elizabeth had brought her friend into the kitchen, sitting her down at the small round table. She went to the fridge, and reluctantly handed her friend a warm soda.
“It’s a long story for another time, I’m so glad to see you,” Elizabeth said, fighting back the cough she felt in the back of her throat. What perfume did she have on? She took a big drink of her water bottle to try and clear her throat.
“Me too, I was so worried! The whole shop is worried about you. You know, even Dan is worried,” she laughed while Elizabeth gaped. Dan was her manager at the local ice cream shop she worked at.
“You’re kidding! He is actually worried about my well being? I’m shocked and a little worried. Should I be worried?”
“Well, we all think he is really worried because you were ‘one of his best’, but he does have several jars for donations based on finding you. The jars are supposed to be rewarded to anyone who gives the police any ideas about your disappearance. Guess I get that money now, huh?” She smiled at Elizabeth and she remembered how much fun they used to have together.
“You mean my neighbor, right?,” Elizabeth corrected.
“Well, I guess technically. Speaking of police, we should go tell them that you’re found! Have you called your parents yet? They reached out to Dan after they couldn’t reach you, that’s why we knew you were missing. I honestly thought you were just skipping work that day because it was deep freeze cleaning day.”
“Ugh, you know I hate that day, so yeah that would have been a good day to skip.” She groaned remembering last month’s deep freeze cleaning. Her hair spelled like spoiled milk even after three showers.
“That’s why I wasn’t too worried the first day. It wasn’t until the police came by the next day to ask if anyone had any information that I started to get worried. I’ve got time, and it looked like your power got shut off, so how about I take you out for some dinner? My treat, wherever you want. Well, not anywhere, you know how much we make!” Ginger stood then, finished her soda and threw the can away before grabbing Elizabeth’s hand. She was about to stand too, until her friend hugged her again, her nose being overcome with her scent.
She coughed before speaking, causing her friend to pull back a bit in concern. “I would love to, you know that, but I feel like I gotta set things right here first. I just need a little time before I’m ready to come around.”
“Well, dinner can wait or we can order in. I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea. Oh, and there was someone else asking about you too. Your regular customer.” Ginger raised her eyebrow, getting the desired response from her friend.
“Mike?!” Elizabeth stammered out.
“Yep, he’s also given at least twenty dollars to finding you. He’ll be so happy you’re back!” She leaned down to waggle her eyebrows at her friend’s darkening cheeks. “He might even accept that letter you’ve been writing for the last three months.”
“You-you know about that?!” she exclaimed, her cheeks quickly heating up. Her friend giggled at her embarrassment.
“Of course I do, I see you sneaking away during breaks to try and write it after seeing him. I’m amazed he isn’t fat after coming in every day to get the same thing.”
“He orders a low fat, frozen yogurt with strawberries. That’s not so bad. Well, okay maybe the dark chocolate pieces are a little bad, but it’s better than milk or white!” She remembered Mike’s choice of topping, her friend arching her eyebrow causing Elizabeth to blush even darker. Her sharp ears thought she heard a low growl somewhere outside, her eyes darting outside quickly. But she saw nothing. Maybe she was imagining it. The feeling of being watched fell over her, and she felt the need to get rid of her friend before something bad happened to her.
“Girl, the fact that you know his order by heart and defend his choice of topping shows right there that you are a little too close to him. Look, I get it, you like him and that’s fine. But you gotta fess up sometime. Just ask him out!” Ginger grabbed her friend’s hand, pulling her to her feet, towards the door.
“Okay, look I don’t wanna leave just yet. I just got back from… outta town and I need to get things in order here first. Tell Dan that I’ll be in to see him tomorrow, okay?” She pulled easily out of her friend’s grasp, as the feeling of being watched got even stronger. She felt eyes all around her, surrounding her.
“Hey, you okay? You look so pale, maybe we should go to the hospital. I’m sorry, I should have been more worried about your health.” Ginger was suddenly too close, her smell overpowering anything else she could have smelled about who was watching her. Her wolf begged to be out of here, to run while she still could.
“I’m fine Ginger, it’s just your perfume is so strong. Did you bathe in it today or what? No matter how much you put on, it's not gonna make Jon notice you.”
“What are you talking about, I’m not wearing any perfume. And Jon, ‘pssh’ forget him. I got someone else way better!” Ginger waved her hand like she was shooing a fly away. The realization that she wasn’t wearing any perfume hit Elizabeth that this scent was not what she thought it was. It was the scent of human, so much different and stronger than her own from when she was human. It was triggering something deep inside her, something savage. The longer Ginger stayed around her, the more danger she was in. Elizabeth pushed past her friend, frantic to get the smell out of her nostrils to breathe in fresh air, but Ginger followed her thinking she was heading out with her. Ginger was saying something but she couldn’t understand it, a haze filling the werewolf’s mind. The urge to shift, the urge to attack the human, to make her one of the
m. Her wolf clawed at her mind painfully, that human smell needed to be cleansed from her friend. She wouldn’t be alone anymore, Ginger would be just like her.
A deep growl echoed loudly from around the front yard, bouncing off the trees and the walls of the front porch. Ginger froze in place, the words she was about to say falling from her lips. Elizabeth scanned the area, trying to find where the sound came from. Not finding anything at ground level she looked up, to see what she had feared.
A pure white wolf standing on the roof of her porch, growling deeply inches from her friend’s head above. Ginger couldn’t see it from where she was standing, but she turned to look and absolutely screamed so loud it made Elizabeth flinch.
“What is that thing! It’s huge! Is it a wolf?!” Ginger had collapsed on the ground, crawling backward at the massive form as it landed between the front door and the two women. Head down, icy blue eyes glowing in the growing darkness around them, growling loudly and baring his teeth. Ear pressed flat to his head as he snapped once, twice at the female on the ground as it slowly moved toward her while Elizabeth was completely frozen with fear. This was the wolf that attacked her, effective changing her life forever as his teeth sunk into her flesh. But instinct to protect the pack, even this monster, trumped her fear as she found her voice again.
Pureblood (Pureblood series) Page 11