by Shara Lanel
What if she’d changed her mind and not even gotten on the plane? He’d be stuck in the city without someone to help him go into lockdown. Stupid! He should’ve asked someone pack-friendly for backup. Saron had human staff who knew his secret and could help when needed, and he got the impression others in the group had had to rely on human friends in emergencies. At the very least, he could attach the collar himself and close the closet door. He’d be fine, except for figuring out a new way to get through to Christine.
He smelled her even before he saw her. She was here, thank God. She came trudging around the corner in the midst of a handful of other commuters with her luggage bag rolling behind her. Her hair was a bit mussed and her mascara a bit smudged, but Jake immediately wanted to grab her and kiss her hot and heavy. However, her expression, when she caught sight of him, sent up a warning flag. She nodded at him in acknowledgment but without a welcoming smile. Damn, that stung, but he put a smile on his face anyway. He was relieved and happy to see her.
“May I?” he asked, gesturing for her carry-on bag. “How was the flight?”
Ignoring his smile, Christine gave Jake the handle of her rolling bag, which he shortened so he could carry it instead of slouching over to roll it. “Short delay in Atlanta, fine otherwise.” She was using the tone of voice she used at her office, friendly yet professional, detached. The whole flight had been wretched, but not because of the airlines. It was the worry and indecision that had been killing her the four hours since she’d left home. “How’s Dean?”
“He’s good, with his mom. He told me to say hi to you, which means he doesn’t hate you.”
She relaxed a little. She had liked Dean. “High praise from a teenager, huh?”
“Exactly.”
“Are you hungry? Want to grab a bite before we head to my apartment?”
Christine had tried to eat some during the layover in Atlanta, but her stomach had objected. She’d only managed some saltines and soup, and now her stomach was knotted even tighter. “Um, I’m not really hungry right now. Do you have snacks in your apartment in case I want something later?”
“No problem. And New York is the land of delivery, any time day or night.”
Jake guided her to the short-term parking area where he’d left his cab. The outside air was probably less than eighty degrees with less humidity than in Florida, but it seemed denser and oddly metallic. Maybe that was just their proximity to the airport. Jake loaded her suitcase into the trunk, then opened the passenger door for her. She buckled herself in as she waited for him to come around to the driver’s side. In a few minutes, they were leaving airport parking, but traffic kept them from getting anywhere else very quickly.
“Settle in. This’ll take a while.”
“Should I have come into La Guardia?”
“Still would’ve had to get off the island into Manhattan, so pretty much the same either way. Want to listen to some music or the news?”
“Maybe later.”
Though Jake wove through traffic expertly, she thought she’d better let him concentrate. Besides, she needed the silence to try to calm her nerves.
Someone behind them slammed on their horn. Jake flipped the guy the finger in the rear-view mirror, then gave Christine a quick grin. She had to laugh.
“Gotta think of it like a video game. Imagine dinging their tires with virtual lasers.”
“I love the racing games where you can hit the rear end of the other car and send it spinning off sideways into a wall.”
“Then it flips over and over. Flames everywhere, no one hurt.”
She nodded. “Unlike real-life road rage.”
“The cabbies, buses and limos, we all got a little dance we do. It’s the scary out-of-town tourists in their SUVs you got to watch out for.”
“Best for all concerned if I don’t ever drive around here.”
Jake winked at her. “Public transpo helps the environment and the economy. I think I saw some ad on that.”
It took an hour to get through the tunnel to Manhattan, but Christine was feeling much more relaxed. Jake hadn’t forced the werewolf issue by bringing it up. Maybe he’d just forget the whole thing? It would still be an issue that he’d tried to convince her of it in the first place, but by tomorrow morning she would safely be able to say she wasn’t his life mate because he wasn’t a werewolf. There were no such things as werewolves. On that firm footing, she could tell him things weren’t going to work out, they lived too far apart, yada yada.
Jake seemed to start when they first came out of the tunnel. He gripped the steering wheel tighter. Christine glanced around to see if something had caught his attention. The city was making the confused transition from day to twilight, more lights coming on though they weren’t yet needed. The sun no longer visible above the buildings and the shadows growing long. It was when they passed a vacant lot that Christine saw the low-hanging orb slowly rising above the river. The moon was dim because it was still technically daytime, but big and white. A weird sound came out of Jake’s throat and when she glanced at him, his features seemed shadowed and his knuckles white from his tense grip on the steering wheel.
“Are you all right?” she asked him as the moon quickly ducked out of view, hidden behind concrete and glass walls.
“Rising early tonight. I should’ve had you take an earlier flight.” His voice sounded strained.
“We’re almost to your place, right?” Did he have psychosomatic symptoms from just viewing the moon or was this some sort of act?
He nodded stiffly. “Five minutes.”
They didn’t see the moon for the rest of the ride since they parked in a shaded lot next to Jake’s building and took the elevator up to his apartment. Since his building was fairly short compared to others around it, they might not be able to see the moon the rest of the night. Christine was suddenly quite thankful for that, even though it was completely unreasonable. The moon only affected the tides, not people.
“Home sweet home,” Jake said, the old saying reminding Christine of her father. “Would you like a drink or anything?”
She shook her head. This was her second time in this apartment and she felt even more awkward than the first. “Um, where should I put my stuff?”
“I’ll put it in the bedroom for you. You can sleep in my bed since I won’t be using it.” He grinned, but there was worry in his eyes. He crossed into his room. She followed but stopped at the door. He sat the carry-on bag on a straight-backed chair near the window, then gestured to his closet. “Come over here and see what I’ve set up.”
“In the closet?” She did as told, though she kept glancing at the bed and thinking about all the things they’d done that first time she was here and just how much that had opened her eyes. She tried not to sigh at the thought that she had to deal with Jake’s delusions rather than let him spank her and fuck her all night long.
Jake could tell by Christine’s expression that she still didn’t believe a thing he was saying about being a werewolf. He caught her glancing at the bed and he could smell her faint arousal. God, he’d love to push her down onto the sheets and ravish her. He wouldn’t have minded a few minutes’ foreplay if she’d seemed open to the idea, but he understood her current caution. If only he were deluded, if only she could prove to him that he was deluded, how much simpler his life would be.
He opened the closet door and flicked on the light. Might as well show her all the crazy stuff now and pray she didn’t run off before she could see the truth. He noticed her eyes grow wide as she spotted the collar, shackles and eyehooks, instead of the usual clothes and shoes that belonged in closets. “Okay, so the collar is the most important part.” He picked it up from the floor. A thick chain was attached to it. “Because I’m not sure whether the cuffs will stay on my legs when I change.”
“Are those prongs?”
“Yes. The guy at the store recommended the collar for unruly pit bulls and the like. The prongs should act as a deterrent, so hopefully I won’
t tug at the collar until it breaks.”
“You’re really going to put that on and sit in the closet?”
He cupped her chin and made her look into his eyes. “Yes I am, and you’re going to listen to my instructions so you don’t get hurt.”
“I’m listening.” But her voice trumpeted her disbelief. “If you secretly wanted to be a sub, you could’ve just told me. I probably wouldn’t mind paddling your ass for a while.”
Jake wanted to smile, lighten the mood, pretend this was all about sex, but she needed to know he was dead serious, even if she didn’t think anything would happen that night. The moon was already pulling on him. It didn’t matter how many steel and glass buildings it hid behind as it rose or how far into outer space it was, he felt it just the same. At first it was a sense of being watched, just a tickle on the back of his neck. Then his skin started to itch, just mildly, which was what it was doing now. But soon his skin would start to burn and swell, and his muscles would begin to feel as though he’d overstretched them, like a torn hamstring or tendon. His bones would get all creaky and then they would start to throb. He hadn’t known bones could feel like that, but they did. Saron had filmed him once so that he could see what actually happened to him during a change. It looked like a liquid smooth special effect on the screen, not at all reflecting the physiological torture he was actually going through.
“Well, go on,” Christine said. “Tell me all of it.”
“Soon I’ll come in here and you can help me get all hooked up, make sure I’m totally secure. Then I want you to get out of the closet, shut and lock the door, and whatever you do—don’t open the door. Got that?”
“How will I see you actually change, then?”
He pointed to the freshly cut hole in the door. “Leave the lights on in there and you can look through here and watch or whatever.” He felt mildly embarrassed at the idea. He took a deep breath and charged on. “If you really don’t feel safe after you’ve witnessed the change, you can close the bedroom door too and sleep in Dean’s room. But if something really goes wrong and I break through my bonds somehow, don’t hesitate. Get the hell out of the apartment. Lock the door and find a hotel. Hopefully the front door would stop me from really flipping out my neighbors.”
“Now I’m scared.”
“Good, you should be. This is not a game.”
“Do you take something like PCP or LSD that gives you super strength and hallucinations?”
He shook his head. “You don’t have to believe me. In fact, it’s fine if we don’t talk about it at all, as long as you help me set up and witness for yourself. Also, it would be nice for you to unlock me in the morning.” He’d tucked a spare key in the baseboard in case she ran off and left him, but he really wanted her to be there after so he could see how she reacted to the craziness that was his life.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” Christine said abruptly, turning away and walking quickly across the room. She went inside the bathroom and slammed the door.
Jake nodded. “This is going so well.” So while Christine hid in the bathroom, he filled up a big dog dish with water and another with beef jerky sticks. At least those were something he ate as a human. He couldn’t stomach the idea of eating dog food even if he’d be perfectly fine with it when he was the wolf. The smell would probably nauseate him when he changed back in the morning. He didn’t want to think about what other smells there might be. He’d have to thoroughly clean the closet before Dean got home.
His skin felt as if a zillion hives had popped up on every inch. He hated this part worse than the pain because no amount of scratching would end the torture, so he did his best to resist the urge.
Christine came out of the bathroom in time to see Jake enter the closet with two mondo doggy dishes. He set them down and came back out. That’s when she saw how red and puffy his skin was, as if he’d been stung by a hive of bees. She rushed over and touched his arm, which was on fire. “Did something bite you? Are you allergic to anything?”
Jake stroked his fingers through her hair. “Christine, it’s the change.” He sighed. “It’s almost time.”
She looked up from his arm and saw the tendons in his neck tremble. She touched his neck and his pulse seemed to pound out of him into her own body. As she looked up farther, she noticed more hair on his chin than had been there half an hour ago. Had she just not noticed? Every part of his face was inflamed. “Do you have an EpiPen?”
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her just a little. “You are the most infuriating skeptic I’ve ever met!”
“Told a lot of people about this werewolf thing, have you?”
“Actually no. Saron found me. You’re the first person I’ve told flat out.”
“Or you would’ve been locked at Bellevue already.”
Suddenly he arched away from her and moaned. Then he jerked the other way, and with every movement, there seemed to be just a little more hair on his body. When he regained control, he looked at Christine and said, “It’s time.”
“Your eyes!” They had changed shape, angled upward.
Jake quickly turned away and headed to the closet, stripping off his shirt in the process. “My hands are… You’ve got to help me with the collar.” He was inside the closet now, looking at his hands as the skin seemed to ripple. He started fumbling with the snap of his pants. Christine was afraid to follow him in there.
“Now. Christine, you’ve got to put the collar on me now!”
His barked command had her instantly obeying, as if they were in that dungeon playing master and servant. Her nipples actually stiffened even though this situation had nothing to do with sex, even though Jake was at his least sexy with weird bumps and angles and tufts of fur all over him. She brought the collar up to his neck, but then his head jerked awkwardly and he cried out. When his eyes came back to her, they looked as if he’d popped in contacts for a Halloween costume. His pupils were no longer black but a deep blue and much larger than normal. Surrounding each pupil was a thin ring of fiery blue. The “whites” of his eyes were a lighter shade of blue that seemed to glow with the intensity of a nightlight.
Christine stumbled back a step, reaching for the doorframe behind her, still clutching the collar in one hand.
Jake moved his mouth as if he were trying to speak but finding it hard. He’d just pushed his pants down as another spasm shot through him, wrenching a screech from his throat, much like the sound of a kicked dog.
Finally he was able to speak. “Please,” was what he said, his voice contorted and gruff.
Buck up and get with the program, Christine told herself firmly. No time to reflect on whether she was insane or had been slipped LSD. The collar had to go on. She could collapse in a corner and cry later. She sprung forward quickly and got the thing around his neck despite his unpredictable movements. He put his hands on her shoulders, but then dug his fingernails in.
I’m not looking. Just focus. Don’t think. “Damn this buckle! Hold still, Jake!” Not that he could control his movements at that point, but it felt good to yell. She finally had the collar latched so he was now tethered to the wall. “Now, where are the cuffs?” She started looking around the floor, where the different bonds lay scattered, but suddenly she wasn’t seeing the floor, suddenly she wasn’t seeing color. Pain wracked through her as if she were on a medieval torture device. She screamed and thought she heard Jake screaming, but she couldn’t see Jake. She saw herself from his eyes as if he was on her hands and knees looking up at her. Her hands were fisted against the wall and her whole body was trembling. Her hair was all over her face and dripping with sweat. The pain ebbed, so she blinked her eyes trying to straighten out her vision. She turned and tripped over a dog dish, but the small space kept her from tumbling backward.
“Why can’t I see you? I can only see me. Why can’t I see what I’m looking at?” Then the pain ramped up again and she didn’t care whether she could see. She could barely breathe. “Is this what child birth without an e
pidural is like?” She started retching. The wall was the only thing holding her up. She was going to die right here in this closet.
Suddenly she heard chains rattle and giant paws slammed into her skin followed by a huge force of weight. The momentum had her flying out of the closet and onto the floor. She landed on her hip, hard enough she expected a huge bruise tomorrow.
A voice that barely sounded human yelled from the closet. “Shut the door now!”
Christine scrambled to her feet, realizing the shove into the bedroom had freed her from the tortuous pain and she could see properly again. In color and what was actually in front of her eyes, not someone else’s. She leaned against the door and slammed it shut. Then she slid to the floor, back against the wood, scraping sounds and howls behind her.
She thought she might have dozed off for a minute or two. When she started awake, she was in the same spot but no sounds came from the closet. It took another five minutes of staring unfocused at the bed in front of her before she convinced herself to stand up and look through the peephole. What she saw was a huge wolf with thick white fur asleep, chin on his paws, on the floor of the closet.