Elizabeth nodded. Fifteen minutes. She had fifteen minutes to prepare before she was out in her front yard flagging down a werewolf. She flexed her fingers and did a few stretches. Her entire body hurt but she had to be ready to run again if it came down to it. She rolled her head from shoulder to shoulder. She could do this. She had no idea what she was going to say, but she could do this.
What did you say to someone who was a werewolf? Chased any good cars lately? Do you enjoy rawhide chews or squeaky toys? Do you shed really badly in the summer? Don’t you just hate fleas? Ugh!
She stiffened her spine and headed for the door. “Stay in the house, Jeremy.” Jeremy nodded but she really felt it needed repeating. “I mean it, Jeremy, do not come out of this house until I tell you.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes. “I’ve got it. It’s Conner, Mom. Since he’s part wolf, doesn’t that make him loyal? That’s a good thing. He loves you.”
She smoothed her damp palms over her thighs. Did he? She had thought he did, but Conner had never actually said the words. And he had kept this huge secret from her. Did she even really know this man – werewolf – whatever? There was no sense in saying that to Jeremy, though. He was convinced. Her lips set in a tight smile, she nodded with determination and opened the door.
The wind had picked up, rustling the leaves and she could hear a distant rumble of thunder. Spotting a couple of sticks on the ground, Elizabeth grabbed them up. Better to be prepared, she thought as she saw Conner’s truck coming down the road.
As soon as he spotted her, he pulled into the drive and jumped from his truck. Elizabeth held up the two sticks in a rough cross and held them out in front of her. “Don’t come any closer.”
Conner stopped in his tracks and looked from her face to her makeshift cross. He raised a brow. “You know crosses are for vampires, right?” He asked. “Actually, I don’t think a couple of sticks would work on them either, otherwise they’d be running away from all of the scary lower case T’s.”
Elizabeth considered that for a moment but then pushed the cross further out from her body to hold him back. “If that’s true, then why aren’t you coming any closer?”
“Because you told me not to.”
Elizabeth nodded and dropped the sticks feeling silly. Then, what he had been saying sunk in. “Wait, vampires are real too?”
Conner shrugged. “If you’re asking if I’ve ever seen one, the answer is no, but most myths and legends have a core of truth so…” He trailed off. “Look, Elizabeth can I –“
“Am I going to turn into a werewolf?” Elizabeth interrupted him.
Conner blew out a hard breath and ran his fingers roughly through his hair. “No. Lycanthropy isn’t a disease, Elizabeth. Forget all of that crap you’ve seen in the movies because it’s just that – crap. Shifting has nothing to do with the lunar cycle, we’re not allergic to silver, and biting a human will not turn them into one of us. It’s genetic. You’re either born a shifter or you’re not.”
Born a shifter. She thought of his brothers, his sister and her husband with the twin girls, his parents. She remembered the way his mother had sniffed and been able to smell Conner. The crazy man at the barbecue who had growled at her and told her she didn’t belong. Then she remembered her grandmother and her crazy idea that Malsum Pass was full of werewolves. She let out a self-deprecating laugh. She had been so blind. “The whole town is like you, aren’t they?”
“You can’t tell anyone, Elizabeth. Do you understand that? If people knew, we’d be hunted.” Conner said taking a careful step in her direction.
Elizabeth looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Like people would actually believe me if I did!” She released a small hysterical laugh. “They’d think I was crazy, unfit, they’d take Jeremy…” She gasped in a breath. Just the thought made her feel sick. “Oh God.”
A crack of thunder made her jump; loud, close, it set her even more on edge. Panic began to set in as the rain came down, soaking her clothes in moments. She started backing up, shaking her head. “I can’t do this. I can’t.”
Conner tried to come to her, but she held out a staying hand. “Keep back.”
“Elizabeth, please,” Conner begged wiping his eyes clear of the rain that was pouring down. “You, me, J.T, we’re meant to be. Can’t you feel that? I love you. I would never hurt you. Please.”
Elizabeth stopped and closed her eyes. She tried to regulate her breathing. Conner loved her and, God help her, she loved him.
She felt his arms go around her, but she didn’t have the will to push him away. She needed the comfort they provided. “You’re my mate.” He said against her temple. “That’s for life, Elizabeth. I’ll never hurt you. I’ll never leave you. You and J.T are my family. I’d kill to protect you, and die to defend you. Nothing else matters. Please don’t leave me.”
His plea touched something deep inside of her. Conner would be loyal to her and Jeremy. He’d be there for them. They’d be a family. She still had questions, but right now, more than anything, she had hope. “I love you.” She whispered and then kissed him.
Chapter Thirty-Two
“What about faeries or witches?” Elizabeth asked and immediately after, J.T added, “What about gargoyles and dragons?”
Conner laughed. They were inside the camp now and he and Elizabeth were somewhat dry and enjoying some coffee, while J.T had hot chocolate. Outside, thunder continued to roll and rain pounded the small camp. J.T had practically jumped on him as soon as he’d come through the door, telling him how cool he thought the whole werewolf thing was. “We don’t actually like the term werewolf,” Conner had told him and then winked, “Too Hollywood.”
Now they were all sitting around the table peppering him with questions about every mythical creature they could think of. He wasn’t going to discourage them. At least now their curiosity had overridden their fear. When he’d come to the door earlier and been turned away, the smell of Elizabeth’s terror had been so thick it had sickened him knowing that he had caused that. His wolf wanted him to break the door down so that he could protect her, but the man knew better. He needed to bide his time, give her some space, but he had found it nearly impossible to leave. So he’d driven around in circles, waiting for a sign. It had come a lot sooner than he thought it would. More proof of just how courageous, how worthy, his mate was. He had wanted to shake his head and laugh when she’d thought she could hold him off with sticks. His strong, brave mate.
“I’ve never seen a fairy, though sometimes the flowers do make me suspicious. Witches, on the other hand – well, I’ve known a few women who could definitely qualify.” He sent J.T a wide-eyed look of fear and then chuckled. “As for dragons and gargoyles, I’ve actually heard stories that there are shifters of those species in other countries – the closest dragon shifters live in Iceland near the volcanoes while the closest Gargoyles are near Montreal in Canada.”
“So what kinds of shifters have you seen?” J.T asked.
“Well, for several years we had a bear shifter living on pack lands. Sebastian moved back home to California just this past Christmas and got married.” His eyes slid sideways to glance at Elizabeth for a moment from the corner of his eye before he continued. “We also have some felines on pack lands. Lily and Daisy Munroe – sorry, they go by Oremun now – are Florida Panthers and Daisy’s boyfriend is a Siberian Tiger straight from Russia.”
“A tiger?” J.T said, bouncing in his seat. “That is so cool!”
Conner laughed and rumpled the boy’s hair before he put on a mock frown. “Come on, buddy, you’re supposed to be team wolf.”
“Can I see him again? Can I see the wolf?”
Conner looked to Elizabeth for permission but she just kind of tipped her head slightly with a smile and raised one shoulder, silently conveying that it was up to him.
He stood up, intending to go strip off his clothes in the bathroom, when the lights flickered, once, twice, and then everything went dark. “I have some flashlights
somewhere Elizabeth said.”
“My place is hooked up to a generator. Why don’t you two spend the night there so you don’t have to worry?”
“Can I play the X-Box?” J.T asked and Conner laughed. Obviously the lure of a night spent gaming was more exciting than seeing Conner’s wolf.
It took longer to get to Conner’s than anticipated. Large sections of the dirt road beyond the camp had been washed away, creating crater like holes. She was glad to be following Conner, since he was able to pick the best ways around and she was easily able to keep track of his taillights in the pounding rain. Had she been in the lead, she probably would have driven straight into one of those holes and ended up stuck.
Malsum Pass, luckily, still had power. As soon as they walked through the door to Conner’s apartment, Jeremy asked, “Is Clyde here?”
Conner laughed. “The fur ball is with Zack tonight, but I can do one better. Just give me a minute.”
Elizabeth collapsed on the couch with a yawn, the day’s events catching up with her quickly now. She was exhausted and her poor abused muscles from her earlier mad dash through the woods felt tight and sore. She’d be lucky if she could walk tomorrow.
She had an idea of what Conner was doing and was braced for it, but seeing him like this, without panic clouding her brain, as he came out of the hallway and into the living room, so much bigger now in this small space, it still made her gasp.
She was hardly an expert, but she would have to ask him if shifters were bigger than regular wolves, because he seemed huge. His coat was primarily dark red interspersed with black except for just around the mouth, down his neck to his underbelly where he was pristine white.
A gasping sound had Elizabeth turning her attention to her son. He looked unbelievably excited as he stared at Conner, his brown eyes open wide in amazement. Jeremy took a step toward, but then stopped and looked anxiously at her. “May I pet him?”
Good question. She looked to Conner for guidance and in answer, the wolf came forward and pushed his big head under Jeremy’s hand. Jeremy let out a chortle of delight before taking over and stroking his hand down all of that dark fur.
Conner accepted the attention for about half an hour before he went back to the bathroom and returned as a man. “So, what did you think?” He asked with a pleased smile.
“Does it hurt?” Elizabeth asked. She didn’t know a lot about science or magic, however shifters would be classified, but to go from one form into another seemed like it would hurt.
Conner plopped down on the couch and placed his hand on her knee. “Not since the first time.” He said with a little squeeze.
“What does it feel like?” Jeremy asked from Conner’s other side as he joined them on the couch.
“Has your foot ever fallen asleep?” Conner asked and when Jeremy nodded he continued. “You know that pins and needles feeling when it starts to wake up?” Again Jeremy nodded, fascinated. “Well, it’s kind of like that only it’s your whole body and then it’s over and the animal is there.”
“You’re still you though, right?” Elizabeth asked, her forehead scrunching as she tried to figure out the best way to say it. “I mean you look different but your mind is still there. You know who everyone is and all that.” She let out a little huff of a breath. “I’m not saying it right.”
Conner squeezed her knee again and smiled. “No, I understand what you’re saying. It’s not like what they portray in the movies with the mindless beast on a rampage. Whether it’s the man or the wolf you see, it’s still me inside. I’m always aware of what’s happening.”
Elizabeth nodded and then recalled what she had wanted to ask earlier. “Are shifters bigger than the regular animals? I’m no expert, but you seemed bigger than the wolves I’ve seen at the zoo or on television.”
“Shifters are always bigger than their full animal counterparts. Since you don’t have the heightened senses, that’s one way that you’ll be able to tell.” Conner said, rubbing a hand up over her sore thigh.
Another yawn escaped her and Conner leaned forward to kiss the top of her head. “It’s been a long day.” And then to Jeremy, “Come on, buddy, and I’ll show you your room.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
“But it’s so early.” Jeremy complained. Elizabeth looked at the clock with some surprise. It was pretty early. If it weren’t for the dark clouds from the storm, the sun would usually be shining at this time of the evening. Her son may have done the mad-dash-with-crazy-mom through the woods, but he was in a lot better shape and obviously hadn’t felt the same effects of fear, adrenaline, and over the top stress that had pushed her to exhaustion.
“Well, if it’s okay with your mom, there’s a TV in that room and my old X-Box 360 is in there; it still has all the games I downloaded on it.” Conner glanced her way and she nodded.
“He hasn’t even eaten dinner yet.” Elizabeth added with a tired sigh. “I should probably go get him something from the diner.”
She started to stand, but Conner put a staying hand on her leg. “I’ve got this. Right now you need a hot bath and then sleep.”
Elizabeth groaned. Both of those things sounded wonderful, but part of her just wanted to stay right where she was. As if Conner had read her mind, he chuckled. “Don’t move. I’ll show Jeremy his room and draw you a bath. You won’t have to lift a finger.”
That sounded nice. She must have dozed off because the next thing Elizabeth knew, she was being lifted off the couch by a pair of strong arms. She gave Conner a sleepy smile and the nuzzled her face in his beard as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Your bath is all set, sweetheart, you just need to stay awake a little longer.” Conner murmured against the top of her head.
“No bath.” She grumbled sleepily, “sleep.”
“The bath will help keep you from being in pain tomorrow. I can feel the muscles in your legs twitching.” Conner said.
Elizabeth typically made use of the gym at work, but obviously her brisk walks on the treadmill and regular yoga hadn’t prepared her today’s workout. “I didn’t realize how out of shape I was until today.”
Conner set her down in the bathroom and frowned. “Your shape is just fine. No one would be prepared for the distance and speed you ran over that kind of terrain.”
“No human you mean. You probably run through the woods all the time.” Elizabeth said, waving her hand up and down to indicate his person.
She frowned, recalling Conner’s words from earlier. “How do you know I’m your mate and that this if forever? Is it some sort of wolf thing?"
Conner raked a hand through his hair, mussing the dark red locks, and puffed his cheeks up with air before blowing it out slowly. “Bath first before the water gets cold.”
Elizabeth eyed him for a moment trying to decide if he was putting her off. “I want to know.”
Conner nodded, “I can tell you while you’re in the bath,” he said eyeing her up and down “though I might get distracted.” He finished with a wink. “Or after you get out of the bath if you want privacy. Choose.”
She was half tempted to let Conner stay so he could explain that much sooner but she didn’t want him to hear all the groaning she was probably going to do getting into that tub. “Fine,” she said with a twist of the lips. “I’ll wait, but I won’t forget.”
Conner chuckled, dropped a kiss on her lips and then headed for the door. “I’ll tell you anything you want to know, mate. Yell, if you need any help.”
Thirty minutes later, wearing Conner’s bathrobe, Elizabeth found a tray of food and Conner waiting for her in his bedroom. His eyes moved over her from head to toe and he looked quite pleased. “I like seeing you in my robe.” He said, patting the bed for her to come join him. “Eat and I’ll explain.”
Her stomach growled and she quickly sat up by the headboard and grabbed one of the ham and cheese sandwiches Conner had made. She hadn’t realized just how hungry she was.
Conner waited until she was situa
ted before he began. “It’s said that the wolf knows when he finds his mate-“
“He?” Elizabeth interrupted. “Are you saying that it’s just males who know?”
Conner nodded. “From what I’ve heard, the male knows first and then it triggers something in the female.” He shook his head. “You could probably ask my sister and Riley. They may be able to explain it better. I honestly thought I’d never feel it so I’m not really an expert on this.”
Elizabeth stopped chewing and frowned. “Why did you never think you’d feel it?” She asked around a mouthful of sandwich.
Conner shrugged. “The lack of females in the pack, the distance between packs, it all factors in. Most males don’t wait to find their true mate, afraid that it would never happen and they’d die alone. So they pretty much do like the humans – date, fall in love, that sort of thing. The wolf inside is content with it.”
“But this,” she motioned with her hand between the two of them, “is different?”
“The mating bond is powerful. A look, a touch, can trigger it and the wolf inside immediately knows. Hell, it knocked me right on my ass.”
Elizabeth sat back startled, understanding on her face. “That day we first met, in the grocery store.”
Conner nodded. “I freaked. I never thought I’d feel it and then when I felt it with a-“
He shut his mouth so quickly, his teeth clicked, but Elizabeth knew instinctively what he was going to say. “Human?” She finished for him feeling slightly offended for her species. His grimace was answer enough. “It bothers you that I’m not like you doesn’t it?”
Conner took one of her legs in his hands and began massaging the calf. Elizabeth nearly groaned as he kneaded the muscle, but she kept her attention on Conner. This was too important. “I was at first.” He said. “My grandfather had a pretty big influence on me when I was growing up until my father realized the kind of hatred the old man was instilling, and he really did hate humans. He thought they were weak, inferior creatures that never should have been allowed to exist.”
Meant To Be: A Malsum Pass Novel Page 14