Heartbeat

by Mell Eight

  The phone clicked off and Denton pulled it away from his ear. "He says their lawyer will be at your precinct with all the paperwork in an hour."

  "A lawyer?" Officer Roke asked, sounding suspicious.

  Denton shrugged. "I think that's just how the family handles any legal issues."

  "Thank you for your time," Officer McMin added when it looked like Officer Roke was about to argue more. They both left the office, and the dean sighed and shook his head.

  "This is such bad news for the university," he grumbled, rubbing his face with one hand.

  "If I could ask, what happened?" Denton asked. The cops had never actually told him. It would be nice to know that he didn't have to start making escape plans.

  "Ms. Oliva Stantonopolis was found murdered in the front lobby early this morning by one of our janitors. She had a note pinned to her chest, 'The R office caused this!' and the police have been making waves ever since."

  "That's horrible!" Denton gasped, one hand flying to his mouth in shock. At most he had thought Ms. Stantonopolis was using a minor assault as a bid for more attention.

  "It is," the dean nodded. "We really should have cancelled classes for the day, but the police said that would cause unnecessary fear among the students. It's still been hell. If you run into any problems with students in the registrar's office, give me a call. I don't want any panicked drop-outs; I'll be in my office all night, so don't hesitate."

  "Yes, Sir." Denton took that as his cue to leave and returned to the office.

  It was after nine o'clock by the time Denton returned to work, but neither Marla nor Fred had begun getting ready to go. Marla's eyes eagerly focused on Denton as he walked back to his desk. She looked like she was ready to hear all the gossip and wasn't about to let Fred escape without also hearing his two cents.

  "We told them you'd taken a tutoring job, but that you didn't do it through the school's program because you made more money that way," Marla explained in a rush. "We tried to tell them, but for some reason they were convinced you had to be the culprit."

  "I was tutoring last night and it went pretty late," Denton replied. He finally got to his desk and turned on his computer. He got ready for work on autopilot, unlocking his filing cabinets and opening the proper programs on his computer once the damned PC finally warmed up, which could take upwards of ten minutes.

  "Can you believe that crazy lady got bagged?" Fred asked with a snort of laughter. "My guess is she pissed off the wrong person without realizing it. Her stench was reason enough to kill her."

  "Was it?" Denton asked absently as he fought with his computer to open up his work email.

  "Ugh, yeah," Fred moaned. "I could smell whenever she had been in the building."

  Marla slipped into her jacket and grabbed her purse. "What were you doing near the classrooms?"

  Fred grinned. "There are so many depressed eighteen year old girls just waiting for my smile to cheer them up from a bad grade. What do you think I was doing?"

  Marla snorted and brushed by him as she walked to the exit. "You're gross. See you in a few nights, Denton," she added with a wave over her shoulder.

  Fred left a couple of minutes later and silence descended on the office. Denton tried to focus on his work, but he kept getting distracted. He didn't care that a student he had met was dead. He honestly didn't. She wasn't a person he had liked, and he had seen worse deaths before. It happened and he didn't care to dwell on it. Denton was more worried about the police deciding that he was a prime suspect before they even interviewed him. That they had left the dean's office so suddenly despite the confirmation of his alibi wasn't exactly reassuring. Hopefully the pack's lawyer would clear things up, and Denton wouldn't have to worry about the cops again.

  Work the rest of the night was as boring as usual. Happy thoughts of Orion did filter through to help pass the time. It wasn't too long before the clock finally told him it was time to go. Denton put away his files and shut down his computer before heading out for his walk home.

  *~*~*

  Welsh arrived right on time. Denton climbed into the passenger seat and gave him a nod hello. The car pulled away from the curb and into traffic.

  "I'm supposed to tell you that our lawyer believes the police shouldn't be bothering you again." His voice didn't hold any hint of accusation or anger, which made a tiny knot in Denton's stomach unravel. He hadn't been particularly worried—werewolves had a propensity for being a little wild, and sometimes laws were broken and a fix required—but it was good to know he wouldn't have to face an irate Beta Vough.

  "Thanks," Denton replied.

  The rest of the ride passed quickly. Welsh lamented at length about the baby beginning to teethe, which for a baby werewolf included the loss of furniture legs and bloody fingers. It was Welsh's job to keep the baby from chewing on anything expensive, and he had endless stories of his time babysitting. Denton didn't have to do more than nod occasionally to keep the conversation going.

  Orion wasn't waiting for Denton when Denton walked to the kitchen table to begin setting up for their lesson. He could smell Orion, though, and the scent was very fresh. In fact, the chair Orion had sat in last time was still warm. Denton didn't buy it when Orion casually strolled into the kitchen; there was something a little too focused in Orion's step for him to have been busy with something else until he had heard the car in the garage. The way Orion refused to look directly at Denton hurt a little bit, but Denton caught the first shy peek when he plunked a set of notecards they were going to use to make flashcards down in front of Orion.

  The entire lesson continued in that vein. Orion studied and he learned. It wasn't hard for him to pick up the SAT words they were using to form sentences that would eventually evolve into an essay for one of Orion's classes. He asked insightful questions, took copious notes, and put together his flashcards without complaint. They even moved on to math with barely a grimace. Yet throughout it all, Orion continued to either be totally focused on his notes or shyly glancing up at Denton. There was no way for Denton to misconstrue Orion's body language. It was like Orion had a first crush and was trying to figure out how and why his feelings were erupting so strangely. The poor pup probably didn't have any idea about mating bonds or the magic involved.

  When Welsh reappeared and the lesson was over, Denton reached out to pat Orion's hand. Orion's skin was soft and warm. The heat of blood pumping through his body made Denton's heart, which had been beating slowly throughout the lesson, give an extra jolt. Orion flinched back from Denton's touch, but he cradled his hand to his chest like it was something precious, not like he was disgusted.

  "You're doing really well," Denton said gently, trying to catch Orion's beautiful brown eyes with his own. He failed, but Orion remained in the kitchen while Denton gathered his things. "I'll see you in a few days," Denton added as he followed Welsh to the garage.

  "Bye," Denton heard Orion whisper.

  Denton hid a grin as he buckled his seatbelt. Welsh started the car and pulled out onto the long driveway. They were silent until the car reached the road.

  "You're going to need to go slowly with Orion," Welsh began. Denton wanted to assume he was talking about Orion's studies, but something soft in Welsh's voice told him otherwise. "He's a good kid, but he's had a hard life. He was bounced from foster home to foster home as a kid, but even though he was able to hide his wolf from them, he was still too wild for those human homes to handle. He ended up getting sent to this city to a last chance foster home for difficult kids.

  "One of our wolves works at the local high school. She was able to sniff him out, but by the time we were able to follow up, he had dropped out of high school and was preparing to run away from home permanently. He's a zeta wolf because he was forced to suppress his wolf side in order to survive among the humans, but when Beta Vough adopted Orion three years ago, he swore he would figure out how to heal Orion's wolf side too. It's been slow going, teaching him how to be a happy human and wolf, but if you mess h
is head up with mating rules, it could set him back again. The pack won't allow that to happen."

  Denton had to pause to take that in. The truth was, he didn't know all that much about Orion, nor did Orion know anything about him. It was the worst possible point to start a relationship from. Without the aid of magical forces beyond their control, they might never have noticed their connection. That was what was so great and terrible about mating bonds. He knew the person he bonded with was perfect for him, but Denton couldn't yet say why. The learning curve was so steep, and the pain from terrible mistakes while the bond grew was always a factor in the stories from the few other couples he had met.

  It was the main reason he had wanted to let Orion come to the realization of their bond on his own. Their continued meetings would ensure they started to get to know each other, and hopefully their relationship could grow from there. Still, Denton didn't want to hurt Orion or set him back on his recovery from a dark and difficult childhood.

  But … "He makes my heart beat," he said aloud. It really was that simple, something that Denton couldn't fight against. It was every vampire's dream to hear that thump-thump again, to feel alive and—to put quite candidly—real. He wasn't just a magically animated corpse, a short step up on the living dead scale from a rotting zombie, if his heart was beating.

  Welsh sighed. "Yeah, there is that. Beta Vough and Alpha Carter noticed during the first tutoring session; a vampire's beating heart isn't hard to miss with hearing as good as ours. They'll probably want to talk with you about it sometime soon."

  Denton nodded with a grimace on his face. He wasn't looking forward to a confrontation with Beta Vough. It wouldn't be a pleasant experience for him, Denton could guess that already.

  The car pulled up outside of Denton's apartment and Denton unbuckled his seatbelt.

  "I'll be back in two nights," Welsh said before Denton could open the car door. "Think about what I told you before you see Orion again."

  "I will. Thanks." Denton got out of the car and headed into his own apartment for a late night snack and some reading before bed.

  *~*~*

  The next evening was cool, signs of autumn fast approaching as the leaves began to change color in earnest and the temperatures dropped. Denton was wearing his jacket for form's sake only. He was already dead, so conserving body heat wasn't exactly a concern for him. What was a concern was the curiosity of regular humans disrupting his life with awkward questions he couldn't answer.

  Denton headed straight to the school, wondering how much work had piled up during his night off teaching Orion. It wasn't that his coworkers were lazy, although Fred did have a few bad habits that Denton would love to put an end to. Still, the hours were long and often very lonely. It was actually better to have something to do rather than twiddling his thumbs in boredom.

  "Denton Jacobson!" someone yelled from behind Denton.

  He was just about to start walking up the three steps that led into the administration building. He turned around to find the same police officers from the other night approaching him at a fast walk.

  "We just want to ask you one quick question," Officer Roke puffed as they finally reached Denton. A hint of foreboding washed through Denton as Officer McMin's hard stare intensified as his partner continued to speak. "Can you tell us your whereabouts last night between the hours of nine and ten-thirty?"

  His whereabouts last night? Denton repeated in his head. Had something happened last night too?

  "I was tutoring again, as my schedule stated," Denton replied carefully. "I thought the family's lawyer had cleared up any confusion."

  Officer Roke spluttered for a few seconds, but Officer McMin bailed him out. "We're just trying to clear up our loose ends," he said smoothly, although his stare didn't abate in the slightest. "You understand it's highly suspect for a lawyer to get involved, especially considering that a student you disliked, as well as both of your coworkers, have been attacked."

  Denton froze in place, knowing he was forgetting to breathe normally as he stared incredulously at the officer.

  The officers were both watching him expectantly as they waited for an answer. He finally gasped in a great whooping breath so he could speak. "What happened to Marla and Fred?" he forced out. "Are they okay?"

  Suddenly, Officer McMin's eyes softened and he shook his head with a snort. "Damn," he sighed, which made his partner's shoulders slump slightly. "You really had no damned idea something had happened."

  "What happened to Marla and Fred," Denton repeated sharply, his voice rising as fear for his friends took root. Death happened. Denton had killed and had seen people murdered brutally. But he hated it when someone he actually liked was hurt. It was one of the ways age took its toll on vampires. By spending too much time with humans, a vampire's immortality began to weigh them down. The constant loss as people they knew died from age or infirmity was a form of torture, one that Denton would have avoided at all costs if he hadn't needed to pay for his apartment and his food. In another ten years, when it started to become clear that he wasn't aging as the humans around him were, he would need to move on. He could leave behind his current life, knowing that his friends would live on until their end came but that he didn't have to personally experience it.

  Having it shoved in his face was both startling and painful.

  "Fred was shot in the back about an hour after we concluded our interview two nights ago," Officer Roke explained gently. "He was in critical condition at the hospital for exactly three hours before his family insisted he be moved to their private physician's care. We have since been unable to get in contact with the family for further information."

  That wasn't too surprising to Denton. Were creatures needed special care that a human facility wasn't prepared to offer. Fred would have been moved somewhere safer, but whether he had survived the subsequent twenty-four hours would have been nice to know anyway.

  "Marla was hit by a car in the campus parking lot just after nine o'clock last night," Officer Roke continued solemnly. "She sustained compound fractures to both her legs and a concussion, but was able to roll to safety before anything worse could occur. She is expected to make a full recovery."

  "As someone is clearly targeting your coworkers, we would like to offer you the option of protective custody," Officer McMin said.

  "I'm already late for work," Denton said shakily. The news that his coworkers had been purposefully attacked was definitely shocking and he wasn't sure how to process it just yet. He knew that staying with the officers wasn't the way to handle it. "Thank you, but I'm sure I'll be fine."

  "Look here," Officer McMin snapped. "Bravado isn't going to get you anywhere!"

  "Thank you for letting me know about Marla and Fred," Denton said in his politest voice. He turned his back on the officers, hoping he wasn't about to return their suspicions to him, and resolutely walked up the stairs and into the building.

  The dean of student affairs was waiting outside the registrar's office. He straightened his back when Denton stepped into the hallway.

  "Denton," he said softly. "The school wants you to know that our counseling services are always available in case you need them."

  Denton forced out a smile, despite his spinning head. "Thank you for the offer. I'll keep that in mind."

  "Terrible that this is happening," the dean sighed. "You make sure to stay safe until they catch this maniac."

  "I will. Thank you, sir."

  The dean patted Denton on the back with another heavy sigh before ambling off down the hallway in the direction of his office. Denton pushed open the doors to the registrar's office and stepped inside.

  The room was dark. None of the lights had been turned on, nor any of the computers. It looked like Denton might be the first person to use the office that day. He flicked on the lights and then strode behind the desk to turn on his computer.

  Work happened and the hours passed, but Denton didn't remember much of it. He expected that he would find files beginning w
ith the letter S tucked away with the Ms, as well as many other easily avoidable mistakes, but he couldn't quite get his brain to focus. Having his friends hurt so badly was really doing a number on him, but it wasn't just that. What if he was the one being targeted? What if someone was purposefully going after the people he cared for the most?

  Orion could be in danger, and that fear made his thoughts spiral out of control before he could manage to focus on figuring out a solution.

  He ought to give Welsh a call to explain what was going on, but he didn't want to worry Orion unnecessarily. What if his assumption was wrong and it was just some madman targeting people at the university? Actually, if that were the case, then Orion ought to be warned even more so; he was a student too and could therefore be a target.

  It seemed like only a few minutes had passed before the clock began to strike midnight. Denton mechanically began cleaning up and shutting down his workspace. He knew he had to make a decision by the time he got back home. It would probably be better to be safe than sorry: for Orion to know than not. Or at least for Beta Vough to know. The thought actually lessened some of Denton's panic. It would be better to have two heads involved than just his own, and Beta Vough and the pack might be able to offer some thoughts as to how to stop the maniac from targeting Orion.

  Denton's thoughts settled as the decision was made. He would call the moment he got home and could ensure his continued privacy. He closed and locked the doors to the office behind him and headed downstairs and back outside. The night had grown cooler, and Denton huddled in his jacket out of habit as he hurried down the stairs and onto the sidewalk.

  The police were nowhere to be seen, Denton could tell from a brief look around. There was, however, a person sitting on a nearby park bench.