For Whom He Fights

by NaiKa Storm

  George held her hands up. “His words, not mine.”

  “Oh, I know and he is so going to pay for that,” Andronaisa said as they continued shopping.

  One hour and about ten bags later, they finally left Walmart. Half of those bags were just Andronaisa’s clothes. The others were essentials that were needed for the house. Once they left Walmart, the girls headed into Market 32 to get what groceries they couldn’t find in Walmart. George said she wanted to stop in Home Depot, so they did that as well. As they walked down the aisles, Andronaisa realized she had never been in a Home Depot. Anything that needed fixing around the apartment was done by Michael, or the landlord had people brought in. They weren’t in Home Depot for long and then stopped into Barnes and Nobles where Andronaisa bought a good amount of books and finally went to Applebee’s for dinner.

  They were quickly seated, and it wasn’t until after they ordered that George told Andronaisa about the different places around Cheshire that she might be interested in, as well as including some more of the history about Cheshire. They exchanged stories about their jobs, which was how George learned Andronaisa had been an interior decorator back in San Diego.

  “It’s really nice to have Stephane on my team because it really makes, or technically I should say it did make my job easy. I actually had someone on the team that I could trust and who knew exactly what they were talking about.”

  “That sounds more exciting than police work,” George smiled. “I always envied Stephane for being able to work with his hands.”

  Andronaisa laughed. “I agree, but I realized that designing was my calling and that knocking down walls and building things was not. I think being a homicide detective is really cool though.”

  The food came, and then George smiled at her. “You really think so? I have been at this job for four years and I still can’t understand how Kurt does it. How does he have time to take care of his mother, have a social life and do this job?”

  “Doesn’t he have someone who can help him?” Andronaisa wondered.

  “From what I know, he has siblings, but their relationship is pretty strained. So, no siblings for you?”

  Andronaisa sipped on her Dr. Pepper. “No. My dad left when I was two,” she shrugged. “What about you?”

  George got quiet for a minute and looked away. “I had a sister. She was older than me. When I was fourteen, she went out one night and didn’t come home. They found her body two days later in a ditch. I remember my parents refusing to let me see her because of how badly her body had been desecrated. She’s the reason I became a cop and later a Homicide detective.”

  “Oh my goodness, George, I’m so sorry. Did they ever find her killer?”

  George shook her head. “They had speculations, but nothing concrete enough to put a person behind bars.”

  Andronaisa reached out her hand and touched George’s arm. “I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t make the hurt go away, and I wish I could say something more profound than ‘sorry’ but I can’t.”

  George smiled, “Thanks Andy.”

  Andronaisa smiled at her and the two finished their food and after paying, they headed home. According to George, she was going to take the scenic route, showing Androniasa around Cheshire. Andronaisa wasn’t sure how much they’d really see, seeing that it was already nearing seven p.m. and getting dark. But she was still grateful for what George showed her. As they left Pittsfield and drove into Cheshire, the one thing Andronaisa quickly realized was that there were no buses in Cheshire, not like there were in Pittsfield. So if you didn’t have a car, you had to find some other way of getting around. Andronaisa saw a lot of people with bikes and for some reason, that made her smile. She was never really a bike person. She was more of a rollerblader. Andronaisa made a note to herself to see if she could find some here. She missed it. Michael used to tell her that it was childish and he threw out the only pair she had.

  “Thanks George,” Andronaisa said as soon as they got all the bags in the house and everything was put away. “I had fun today.”

  George beamed. “I’m glad. Now that we got those things taken care of, we can work on the other things. We need to get you a license, which we can do at the DMV and we gotta open you a bank account and...” she trailed off thinking.

  Andronaisa chuckled, “George, chill. Let’s just take it one day at a time, huh?”

  George smiled. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I just want you to be comfortable and happy with living here.”

  “Of course. I’m already liking it. It's such a nice change from San Diego.”

  “The guys are a lot cuter, huh?”

  Andronaisa’s eyes widened. “Who said anything about the guys? It has nothing to do with guys. I’m talking about the town itself.”

  George snickered, “Right. Of course.”

  Andronaisa narrowed her eyes. “George. I know what you are trying to do. And I appreciate it, but I’m just not interested.”

  Andronaisa went to shower and then somehow got roped into watching The Good Doctor with George. Not that she was complaining, really. It was nice to just kick back and not have to worry about how Michael would react when he came home. Or about stuffy clients. After watching that one episode, Andronaisa was hooked and wanted to see the rest. They spent the next couple hours watching the whole first and second seasons and the beginning of season three until Andronaisa got caught up.

  “I got you hooked,” George laughed. “But it's so good, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” Andronaisa chuckled. “I was not expecting it, but yes. Thanks,” She said sarcastically, laughter in her voice.

  “Anytime.” George laughed with a salute. “I’ll see you in the morning, Andy. Sleep well,” she said before slipping into her room.

  Andronaisa smiled as she lay in her bed. She wasn’t sure what time it was, nor did she really care. All Andronaisa cared about was how much fun she had today and couldn’t wait to tell Stephane about it. The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was seeing the face of Kurt and his smile.

  Chapter Seven

  Kurt and George got the shock of a lifetime when they entered the precinct the next morning to find the Feds there. Kurt knew that they would have eventually had to call them, but he assumed they had a little more time to try to solve the case before his boss brought them in.

  “What’s going on?” George crossed her arms, looking at her boss.

  “Sorry guys, I know you’ve been working hard on this case but we have three dead women and are no closer to solving this case.”

  George opened her mouth, but before she could speak, one agent came over and gave a smile. “I promise we’re not here to overstep. You guys are in charge here. We’re just here to assist.”

  Kurt scratched his arm. He seemed bothered by the guy. Or maybe it was because of the full moon. The full moon was tonight, and it always made him irritable and have less control. All he had to do was make it through the day without losing control, and he’d be fine.

  “... what you came up with.”

  Kurt shook his head, tuning back into the conversation, “I’m sorry what?”

  “We want to see what you guys came up with,” one of the Feds spoke.

  “Oh. Um, sure.”

  Suddenly Kurt blinked. And he looked at the group. One of them was a werewolf. That was a scent he could tell anywhere. His eyes scanned the group. The question was, which one? He shook his head. Did it really matter?

  “Kurt, you okay?” George asked as they headed into the room with the Feds to catch them up with everything.

  “Fine,” he nodded. “Just thinking that’s all.”

  George frowned. He didn’t look fine, but she had a feeling it had to do with the full moon tonight. She wondered if he would be okay to work. He was always so short-tempered when it was the night of the full moon.

  She and Kurt eventually sat down with the Feds and got them caught up on this case. Kurt announced afterwards that he wanted to check in with the Medica
l Examiner again. One of the Feds, who’s name was Michael, asked to go with him. George opted to stay at the station and work from a different angle.

  It wasn’t until Kurt and Michael were alone that Kurt realized it was him. Michael was the werewolf. “Does your team know?”

  “Just my boss. You?”

  “My boss and my partner.”

  “This isn’t going to cause a problem, is it?”

  “Let’s hope not.”

  Kurt parked the cruiser in front of the Medical Examiner’s office and went inside.

  “Hey Kurt, need something?” Seth asked before noticing Michael. He raised an eyebrow at Kurt, who just shook his head.

  “Something has been bugging me about what you found. Can I look at the girls again?”

  Seth nodded. He pulled all three girls out in front of Kurt. Kurt grabbed a pair of gloves and put them on before he inspected the girl closest to him. “Huh.”

  Seth furrowed his brow. “What?”

  “So I have to definitely debunk your wild animal theory.”

  “Why do you say that?” Seth asked.

  “Seth, look at this. I knew there was something interesting about the way these livers were removed. They were too clean. Almost... surgical.”

  Seth and Michael both walked over, and Seth nodded. “You’re absolutely right. How did I not recognize that?”

  “So whoever removed the livers had to have had medical knowledge,” Michael replied.

  Kurt nodded. “Yes. This wasn’t done with something like a sharp knife nor was it just ripped out. Our killer knew exactly what they were doing.”

  “Or they just watched a lot of television and YouTube,” Michael mused.

  Seth shook his head. “Not necessarily. The videos will only get you so far. If you don’t have access to the right tools, you can seriously botch this up and like Kurt said, the incisions and removals of the livers are too clean. Too surgical.”

  Kurt nodded and wrote something down in his notepad to share with George when he got back to the precinct. He also wanted to ask her how her shopping excursion went with Andronaisa.

  “Fuck,” he cursed. The last thing he needed to think about was the girl who made him lose control of the wolf inside of him.

  Both Seth and Michael frowned. “Are you okay?” Seth asked.

  “Fine.” Kurt shook his head and forced himself to remain calm. Even just her name caused his eyes to change. It was something he was going to have to look into. It didn’t make any sense, and he wasn’t sure if he really wanted to ask his mother. The last thing Kurt needed was for her to make comments about a mate. He just wasn't ready for mating.

  After checking on a few more things with the girls and chatting with Seth, Kurt and Michael headed back to the precinct. While they had been gone, George was going over all the connections with the victims that would cause them to be targets. One of the Feds talked to the families of said victims, even though George explained they had talked to them already. And another Fed was busy looking at a map. When Michael and Kurt entered, they sat around the table and each shared their findings.

  Hours later, the group had managed to come up with a list of suspects who seemed to fit the criteria of what they were looking for. The criteria being: recently broken car windows, medical training, and who lived or worked within a five-mile radius of both where the victims lived and the park where their bodies were dumped. With help from Carmen, a technical analyst that the Feds worked with, they narrowed down the suspect pool to about five people.

  “We can work on this tomorrow. It's getting late,” one of the feds commented. He was the one that Kurt and George figured was the boss.

  Kurt was thankful. With it being the first day of the full moon, he needed his time. He never understood why, even after twenty-six years, it was still like this on the full moon. The excitement, the anticipation, the feeling like he was going to break out of his skin at any given moment.

  “Kurt,” George called as they clocked out and headed to their cars. “You going to be okay?”

  Kurt nodded and smiled at George. He appreciated how she always looked out for him. “I’ll be fine George. I’ll call you in the morning, okay?”

  “What about your mom? I know how she tends to get during these nights.”

  “She’ll be okay,” Kurt answered as he climbed into his car. “Trust me, we’ll be fine. Go home and get some rest.” What Kurt didn’t tell George was that he was planning to take his mother out for a short run.

  THE CHESHIRE PACK, what they called themselves, comprised approximately thirty-five wolves. They made up approximately one point seventeen percent of the population of Cheshire. Because of it being such a small population of werewolves, it wasn’t all that uncommon for the townspeople to know about them. They knew werewolves lived among them, but they didn’t know their actual identities. The only ones who did were the pack and those few outside of the pack that were told.

  As far as Kurt could remember, every month on the first night of the full moon, the Alpha Pair liked to organize a community run along the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail. It would start off in the park where there would be food and conversation, and then just before the moon hit its peak, the pack made their way over to the trail. Once the moon hit its peak, the run would commence. Kurt always ran the entire thing. There has never been a time when he didn’t complete the run. However, tonight, he didn’t plan to. He was running with his mother who couldn’t complete the run.

  “Kurt, you didn’t have to do this,” she was saying as he handed her a plate of food.

  “And what, leave you home alone to wallow in misery? No way. I checked with your doctor and he said a small run will be fine. So that’s what we’re going to do.”

  “I just don’t want you to miss out.”

  Kurt raised an eyebrow. “Miss out on what, Ma? I’m not missing out on anything. Besides, I have to work in the morning so a small run will be good.”

  Kurt’s mother placed a hand on her son’s arm. “Well, alright.”

  “Mrs. Williams! It's so good to see you!” Dana, who worked in the bakery next to the hospital, smiled and walked over.

  “Hey Dana,” Kurt smiled at her.

  When Kurt was just a pup, or maybe a little older, he had been infatuated with her. He would follow her around like a lovesick puppy. He had even said he was going to marry her one day. But that all changed when he got older and realized that she wasn’t interested in him. Not like that, at least. They did, however, remain friends and after she got married and had pups of her own, he would sometimes go over and play with them, giving her a bit of a break.

  “Hey Kurt. Micah’s been asking about you. I’ve told him you’ve been super busy, but you’d come over when you got a chance.”

  Kurt nodded, “Hopefully, I’ll have this case solved by the weekend and then I’ll come spend time with my boys.”

  “He needs to find a mate and start having pups of his own,” Kurt's mother said.

  “Ma! I told you I’m not ready!” Kurt groaned.

  “When are you going to be ready? I need to have some grandchildren, Kurt.”

  Kurt sighed and said nothing, just focused on his food. Suddenly thoughts of Andronaisa walking around the house pregnant with his pups filled his thoughts. He gasped.

  “Kurt? What is it?”

  Kurt shook his head. What was it about this girl? Why was he getting all these thoughts about her? And from what he could tell, she wasn’t a werewolf. So mating with her wouldn’t work, anyway. His eyes widened. Why was he thinking about mating with her all of a sudden?

  “Kurt?”

  For goodness’ sake, he just met the girl! He knew absolutely nothing about her except that she was best friends with George’s cousin and that she was so utterly beautiful. God, the thought of getting her underneath him... feeling all that dark chocolate skin under his hands... hearing her call his name out in the throes of passion.... he groaned. Fuck.

  “Kurt!”

>   Kurt blinked, “Huh?”

  “Oh my god, where the hell did you go? We’ve been calling your name for about three minutes!” his mother shook her head. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah... sorry. Just got lost in thought. I’m fine. You nearly done? They’re getting ready to start.”

  Kurt was not okay. Far from it, actually. He didn’t know why Andronaisa got under his skin the way she did, but he was determined to find out.

  Chapter Eight

  The rest of the week flew by pretty quickly for Andronaisa. Mostly, she stayed in the house just making up plans for her new life. She freshened up her resume and applied to a few jobs, but she also looked into what it would be to start her own business here. She also looked into getting her own place. Sure, George said she didn’t mind her living here, but Andronaisa wanted her own space, something to finally call her own. So come Saturday morning, while George was still asleep, Andronaisa tossed on a light jacket, grabbed her phone and keys and left the house. She headed for the trail that George had told her about earlier, just as her phone rang.

  She didn’t recognize the number, as the only two who had her number were Stephane and George. But she answered it anyway and instantly regretted it. “Hello?”

  “Did you really think I wouldn’t find you? You and Stephane think you all are so slick.”

  Andronaisa cursed. How the hell did he get her number? Stephane would never give it to him. No matter what Michael did to him. God, she hoped Michael didn’t hurt him.

  “You gonna play that game with me?! You forget, I fucking know you!”

  “You know nothing about me,” Andronaisa responded, her voice quaking.

  “Hah!” Michael barked. “I know you better than you know yourself. You’re mine Andronaisa. And eventually, you will come back to me.”

  The phone went dead and Andronaisa stared at it for a few minutes before putting it back in her pocket and tightened her jacket around her. She no longer felt like being outside. She was feeling exposed. She looked around. How had he found her? Where was he? Could someone here know him and told Michael that she was here? But that still didn’t explain how he got her number. Sighing to herself, she turned and started to head back to the house when she slammed into a brick wall and fell flat on her ass.