by Mac Flynn
“It’s the changes in your body. They start slow at first, but in an hour things are going to get really interesting,” he warned me.
My eyes widened and my hands trembled. “Interesting how?”
He sighed and averted his gaze from mine. “You’ll change into a werewolf. “ A sly smile slipped onto his lips. “A female one, that is.”
I had to suppress a snort. “At least I have that going for me, but I think you need to have your hmphph-” The end of my sentence was muffled when Orion put his hand over my mouth.
He swiveled his head from left to right. “Quiet,” he hissed.
I yanked his hand off my mouth and glared at him. “Are you trying to hmphph-” the hand was repeated.
“Shut up!” he hissed. His eyes fell on a nearby mouth of an alley. “We’re not alone.”
I followed his gaze and froze. A pair of glistening eyes stared back at us from the deep shadows of the alley. The headlights of a large truck were switched on and blinded us. The silhouette of a man stepped out of the truck and in front of the lights.
Orion pulled me behind him and blinked against the harsh light. “Who’s there?”
The person stalked towards us and moved out of the light. I cringed when he was revealed to be Tom, the burly, unfriendly fellow from the town meeting. His hands were balled into fists at his sides and his lips were curled back in a snarl.
“You made a fool of me back there, Huntley,” Tom growled.
Orion glared at our unwelcome companion. “I thought you did pretty well all by yourself.”
A deep growl rumbled from his throat. I noticed the man’s clothes tightened on his body and tufts of fur poked out from his sleeves and collar. Small stubs of hair sprang from his chin and his combed hair flowed down his back.
“You think you can just get away with doing that to me, and then getting her for yourself?” Tom roared.
Orion stepped back and I scooted back with him. His body tensed, but his voice was firm. “She’s not your kind, Tom, now get back-”
Tom lunged at us. Orion pushed me aside and I landed hard on a nearby snowbank. Tom collided with Orion, and the two men tumbled onto the road. They rolled back-over-back with neither gaining the upper hand until they came to the middle of the street. Tom managed to get on top. He grabbed Orion’s wrists and pinned his arms on either side of his head. Tom sat on his waist and stuck his face in Orion’s face.
To say the battle between men was over wasn’t quite true. Tom was now more animal than man. His clothes were ripped and torn, and fur and muscles poked out. The hands that held Orion down were more like thick claws, and his face was elongated by a blackish-brown snout.
Orion struggled to get up, but he was trapped. The sheer weight of the monstrous giant kept him pinned to the road. I scrambled to my feet, my discomfort for the moment forgotten, and looked around for something to distract the monster formerly known as Tom. I spotted a useful tool in all the white stuff around me.
In a thrice I scooped up a bunch of hard snow, with a little added rock from the road, and formed the stuff into a tight ball. I pulled back my arm and aimed.
“Hey, Ugly!” I yelled.
Tom froze and whipped his head to me. He received a face full of hard-packed ice ball. The thing reared back its head and roared in pain and anger. I scooped up another bunch of snow as he abandoned his prey and rushed at me on all fours. I threw the next snowball, but it merely bounced off his shoulder. A quick escape down the street was foiled when my feet slipped on the snow. I crashed onto my side and flipped over in time to watch as Tom barreled down on me.
A shadow flew into the air behind Tom and landed neatly on the overgrown man’s back. The shadow was smaller and less hairy. It wore the tattered remains of jeans and a plain shirt, and its yellow eyes glistened in the dark night. The new attacker wrapped its arms around Tom’s throat and pulled back. Tom roared and reared up on his hind legs. He flailed and pawed at the shadow, but the shadow dodged and ducked the long, muscular, hairy arms.
Tom’s struggles grew weaker. He tottered from side-to-side before he crashed onto his side on the ground. The behemoth lay still. The shadow stepped off him and turned to me. I got a good look at its long, pointed wolf snout and those jaws full of sharp teeth. Its clawed hands hung at its sides and flexed the strong muscles in those fingers.
I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at the werewolf. “Fine. I believe you.”
9
A grin slid onto the long snout and stayed there even as the thing shed its fur and fangs for the smooth pink skin of a human. A human named Orion. A mostly naked human named Orion. He walked over to the truck and shut off the engine, then returned to stand before me.
“I tried to tell you the truth,” he scolded me.
“Don’t you think showing me would’ve been a little more effective?” I scolded him.
He tilted his head to one side and studied me with that crooked grin of his. “You’re taking this pretty well for someone who just helped a werewolf drop a were-bear.”
I nodded at the prone figure of Tom. He was unconscious, but still transformed. “That’s a were-bear?”
“More or less, but don’t let his ugly side make you think they’re all like that,” Orion commented. He stooped and rolled Tom onto his back. A frown slid onto Orion’s lips as he studied the were-thing. “Looks like he’s sick, too. I guess that explains why he attacked us.”
“Mind explaining your ramblings?” I spoke up.
He stood and shook his head. “Actually, I would. At least right now.” I opened his mouth, but he held up his hand and jerked his head towards Tom. “You really want me to explain right now and risk this guy waking up while we’re standing here?”
I shut my jaws and frowned. “No, but there’d better be an explanation later.”
“Cross my heart and hope to drink silver,” he promised.
I nodded my head at the still body. “So what do we do with him?”
Orion pulled out a cell phone. “We don’t do anything. The cops can deal with him. They’re the only ones with the serum.” He dialed a number and someone picked up the other line. “Hey, it’s Orion. We need someone out here with some serum. Yeah, I know, another one. This one’s Tom. He’s had a good beating so I don’t think you’ll have trouble with him. We’re just a block down from city hall towards my house. Yeah, we’ll wait, just hurry.” He hung up the phone and glanced down at our foe. “Damn it. . .” I heard him mutter.
“So if we’re going to be staying here a while freezing our assets off, mind explaining what happened here?” I spoke up. I swept my eyes over the town around us. “Or even what’s going on everywhere?”
A chill breeze blew past us. Orion wrapped his arms around himself and shivered. “Mind if I borrow your coat during this talk? I left mine in my other wolf suit.”
I took off my coat and held it out to him. Orion reached for the coat, but I drew it back and studied him. “First, tell me what I want to know.”
His shoulders drooped along with his face. “That’s a cruel thing to do to the guy who just saved your life.”
I waved the coat just out of his reach. “Tell me, and it’s yours.”
He sighed and wrapped his arms tighter around himself. “This isn’t exactly your normal small town.”
I rolled my eyes. “That’s not the scoop I’m looking for.”
Orion looked out over the snowy white deserted streets and pursed his lips. “This place was settled a couple hundred years ago. The settlers were drawn to the tree, and it didn’t take long for them to find out what happens when you take a bite of an apple.”
“Werewolves?” I guessed.
He nodded. “And anything else were. Bears, tigers. You name it, someone can be it.”
“Even beavers?”
“Yep.”
“A kangaroo?”
I managed to get a small laugh out of him. “That hasn’t happened yet, but we don’t get too many visitors from
Australia. Anyway, those settlers benefited from the tree. It’s a lot easier to hunt a deer as a werewolf than with a flintlock gun. They agreed to keep quiet about the tree and make sure nothing happened to it. That’s where Armel comes in. He’s the Sentinel, the protector.”
I furrowed my brow. “I heard somebody at the meeting mention some of the people weren’t from here, but they were already changed. How’d they do that?”
He chuckled. “Nothing gets past you ever, does it? Those people were transformed through other means. A curse passed down through the family mostly. The tree called them here.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Why?”
He scratched the back of his head and sheepishly grinned. “To tell you the truth, nobody has any idea. I mean, some people have guessed, but-” At that moment the sounds of sirens reached our ears. We glanced down the street and watched a pair of police cars speed our way. Orion sighed. “I’m saved.”
I half-turned to him and tossed him my coat. “I’m still not done with my questions.”
He wrapped the coat around his shoulders and smiled. “I meant from my death of cold.”
The police cars stopped on the curb beside us and the familiar four men stepped out. The chief walked over to us while his men took care of Tom. He looked from Orion to me. “Well?”
Orion shrugged. “The usual. Viciously attacked for little-to-no reason and stuck in the transformation after he’s knocked out.”
The chief pursed his lips. He glanced over his shoulder and watched his men heft the antidote-injected Tom into one of the cars. “This is getting worse.”
“Any leads on the origin?” Orion asked him.
The chief returned his attention to us and shook his head. “Not a one. It’s like it came from nowhere. We can’t even figure out how it’s spread.” The chief paused and looked Orion up and down. “Maybe you should get some clothes on, son.”
Orion grinned. “I’m well aware of that. Does that mean I can file the report tomorrow?”
The chief nodded. “Yeah.” He turned to me and held out his hand. “I saw what happened at the meeting. I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced. My name’s William Orso, chief of police for the Blessing area.”
I took his hand, but arched an eyebrow. “The Blessing area?”
He nodded. “Yep. That’s what the folks here call the area on account of the tree.” His men slammed the door shut and he half-turned to them. “I’d better be going. Goodnight.” He nodded his head and left with his men.
I turned to Orion. His pink skin was a little pinker than I remembered. I sighed. “We’d better get you-” I winced and clutched my stomach. The pain was back.
Orion was at my side in an instant. He wrapped his arms around me. I tilted my head back and he smiled down at me. “We’d better get you home.”
I snorted. “My home’s on the other side of a mountain.”
He guided me down the street. “Then think of it as a home-away-from-home.”
Orion’s house was a few more blocks down and farther up the hill. His backyard abutted the wilderness of the forest. It was one of the two-floor old-style box homes with a wrap-around porch. He helped me inside and I was glad for the warmth, and the comfy couch in his living room. The long living room stretched into the kitchen at the back. On the opposite side of those rooms was a closed-off door and the kitchen. The stairs divided the house in nearly two with a hallway down the side with the kitchen and shut room.
I glanced around at the walls. They were filled with framed maps and Wanted posters. The largest map hung over the fireplace that stood in the wall opposite me.
Orion knelt in front of the hearth and kindled a fire. He stood and shrugged off my coat to hang it on a hook in front of the crackling flames. He turned to me and his eyes settled on my tense form. “How’s your stomach?”
I rubbed my stomach and winced. “Could be better.”
He walked over to stand by my side. “You should get out of those cold clothes.”
I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, and shook my head. “Not until you tell me what’s going on with these guys trying to kill me.”
Orion sighed and took a seat beside me. Heat radiated off his warm body and drifted over to me. I took a deep breath and inhaled the scent of him and his house. It smelled like lemons. I shook myself and found him staring at me with a strange look in his eyes.
I frowned. “What?”
He grinned. “Has anyone ever told you you smell sweet?”
I leaned away from him. “No. Now what about this Sickness? Is it what I have or was that apple poisoned by a witch?”
He leaned back and sighed. His eyes watched the fire consume its food. “You don’t have the Sickness, at least I hope not.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Isn’t there a way to tell besides the person acting like a crazed murderer?”
He shook his head. “No. Well, other than the sick person not changing back to their human form when they’re knocked out.”
“And that stuff the police keep putting into them? What’s that made out of?”
“Wolf’s Bane mostly, along with a few other herbs like garlic.”
I stuck out my tongue. “Sounds like something that would scare away any legend.” I winced and grasped my stomach tighter. “Okay, this is getting annoying.”
He pursed his lips. “Mind if I ask you something?”
I frowned. “That depends on what it is.”
He scooted closer to me. I scooted farther from him. “What did your apple taste like?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Like an apple. Why?”
He shrugged. “Everyone’s apple tastes different. I was just curious what yours tasted like.”
“‘Everyone’s apple?’” I repeated.
He smiled and moved closer. The arm of the couch stopped any further escape on my part. “You don’t think you’re the first one to try one of those, do you?”
It was my turn to shrug. “I guess not, but how special is this tree, anyway?”
Orion smiled and shook his head. “There’s no other tree like it in the world.”
“Good.” I stood and shuffled around the arm of the couch. “Otherwise, the world would be crippled with bad stomach aches.”
He followed me and grasped my shoulders. “Let’s get you to bed.”
I shook my head. “I think I need to worship the porcelain goddess for a while.:
He guided me up the stairs. “Believe me, you’ll want the bedroom.”
10
Orion led me upstairs and to a bedroom. One whiff of the place told me it wasn’t the guest bedroom. There was way too much musk in the air. “I think you took a wrong turn.”
Orion released my shoulders and stepped back into the hall. He grasped the knob and smiled at me as I half-turned to him. “Just try not to wreck too much.”
My eyes widened as he slammed the door shut between us. “Hey!” I rushed forward and grabbed the knob. Locked. I slammed my shoulder against the door, but it didn’t budge. There wasn’t even a tremor. “Let me out!”
“It’s better for both of us if I don’t,” he argued.
“It won’t be better for you when I get out of here!” I warned him.
The voice that replied to me sounded deeper and more gravelly. “I can’t. You’ll understand in a few minutes.”
I pounded my fist on the door. “How about you open the door and explain it to me now?”
This time there was no reply. I growled and turned around to press my back against the entrance. The room was well-lit by the windows. I rushed to them and looked out. They showed the backyard where I saw a snow-covered garden with a small orchard of skeletal trees. The sky above me was clearing and shimmered like crystal. The partially-full moon shone in all its glory.
My gaze stuck on that shining orb. All the frantic thoughts of escape and fear were swept aside as I focused only on that beautiful ball in the sky. My pulse quickened, and there was a stirring in my body that I’d nev
er felt.
It wasn’t an unpleasant sensation. On the contrary, it was actually pretty damn good. I felt like a warm blanket was wrapped around me. The longer I stared at the moon the greater became the sensual emotion.
I pressed my palms against the glass and groaned. The heat inside me increased ten-fold. The chill from the window did nothing to stop the warmth, and I was glad for that. I reveled in the delicious heat that consumed me in its strong arms. My body tensed and tightened as a hot pleasure ran through my very being.
I stumbled back and grasped the tall foot of the bed. My chest heaved up and down as my eyes remained riveted to the shimmering moon. The heat inside me caressed my body and pooled between my legs. I was on fire with a lust for I knew not what. All I knew was that I didn’t want it to end. I wanted it to keep going, to fulfill a promise I didn’t quite know or understand.
I wanted the moon to take me and make me its own.
That thought caused a fire to penetrate the deepest depths of my body. I leaned back and groaned as the cascading light from the moon touched and caressed me. My body shifted and expanded. My pants tore open at the seams to make room for large thighs and thicker muscles. I panted for breath as my breast swelled and pushed against my shirt.
The more of my skin was revealed the more the moon stroked me with its pale heat. I grabbed my shirt and tore it open. It ripped down the middle and revealed my swollen, heaving breasts. They filled my bra and the tops spilled over. I growled and tore at more of my shirt until I was half naked. My pale, naked skin relished the touch of the moonlight, and the moon rewarded me with more wonderful, sinful bliss.
I crawled backwards over the foot and onto the bed. The moon shone completely on my body as I writhed atop the covers. I tore the remains of my pants off me and lay naked beneath its unblinking gaze. My muscles stretched and firmed. My fingers lengthened into claws that cut into the sheets beneath me.
“Oh god,” I groaned.
The desire inside me grew more demanding. I rubbed my legs together, but the friction between my thighs only worsened the ache deep inside me. My body craved more of this delicious torture, and yet it begged for completion. The moon promised me something wonderful, a change, and I hungered for that change. Every part of me strained for more heat, more lust, more light.