by Cynthia Hart
I looked at Hem through the bars. His frame was hunched as if he’d sunken in on himself even more. I had to get him out of here.
“That kid with the gun has the key on him all the time,” Hem said. Alfred? Shit.
I looked around, thinking wildly for a moment. A thought dawned on me, and I reached through the bars and touched Hem's knee.
“I’ll be back,” I said.
I crept back out the room, down the corridor and through all the doors I’d left open. In the front desk drawer, I palmed the gun. It was heavy in my hand, the metal cold and menacing. I didn’t like guns, but I knew how to handle them. When you grew up surrounded by forest you learned how to handle yourself with a gun.
I checked that the clip was full, put on the safety and made my way back to Hem’s cage.
“What are you doing?” Hem asked.
“Move to the side as far as you can,” I said, waving my hand.
“Jesus, Alice,” Hem said when I produced the gun and aimed at the lock. I was careful to point it as far away from Hem as I could. I winced, ready for the blow, and turned my head to the side. I pulled the trigger, and an explosion echoed around the room. I fell back, the gun clattering out of my hand and onto the concrete floor. My ears rang and adrenaline shot through my veins, pushing up my heart rate, messing with my breathing.
With a creak in the deafening silence that followed the cage door swung open.
“Don’t touch the sides,” I said as Hem carefully crawled through. As soon as he was outside the cage, he straightened. He looked like he hadn’t eaten for months.
“The silver…” I whispered, reaching up my hand and tentatively touched Hem’s chest.
“It’s okay. I just need to feed. I’ll be better once I have blood in my system.”
I jerked my hand back and gasped.
“I hunt animals, Alice.”
I swallowed hard. Of course. Hem wasn’t the killer.
“We have to get out of here,” Hem said. “Rub down that gun, so your prints aren’t on it. Put everything back the way it was.”
I nodded, and he helped me. We cleared everything up. Aside from the ruined lock and the broken window, everything looked as if no one had been there. Even the drawer handles had been rubbed down.
When Hem and I climbed out through the broken window again, he already looked a bit better. The further away he got from the silver the more his strength returned.
“Good luck,” I whispered.
Hem nodded, the movement almost invisible in the dark.
“Thank you,” Hem nodded. “For everything. I owe you my life.”
I nodded, too. Hem hesitated just a second as if he wanted to say or do more, but then he disappeared into the night without a sound. I turned around and did the same, melting into the shadows until I was home.
Chapter 9
I woke up from a hammering on my door. I scrambled out of bed, confused. My head ached dully with the lack of sleep, and I groaned. My eyes were gritty.
I pulled a robe around my body and stumbled to the front door, feeling like I’d been ripped out of my calm, peaceful sleep to chaos. When I opened the door, Bob stood in front of me looking pissed.
“What?” I asked. I knew exactly why he was here and I went into a panic.
“The werewolf escaped,” he said through gritted teeth. “I don’t want you to panic, though, but you need to know.” He held up his hands like he was going to physically calm me. He was mistaken my alarm for fear.
“You’re telling me personally?” I had to make it sound legit. “How did he escape?” I added.
Bob shook his head. “I think he had someone on the outside. We have no idea what they’re capable of, but I think one of his own came for him. I won’t go into detail and scare you more, but it was messy.”
I frowned. Messy? Right.
Bob cleared his throat. “I wanted you to know. I’m going to get Alfred to stand watch here in case he comes for you. I don’t want anything happening to you.”
“Alfred and his silver shot?”
Bob nodded. “You won’t have to worry about a thing.”
Again, he took my horror for fear. I wasn’t scared of Hem. Instead, I was shocked that they had done what they had to him. And now they were stationing Alfred with a shotgun at my house.
“We’ll get him,” Bob said. I doubted it. Hem would be long gone by now – they wouldn’t find him anywhere near my place, and there was no way he would let himself be caught again. If I knew anything about the wolves I’d been reading about, it was that they learned from their mistakes. It was weird to think I knew that much about Hem because of books I’d read, but there it was.
“Thank you,” I said. “At least, I’ll be safe.”
I hugged myself, trying to play the part of disconcerted victim.
“You call if anything’s wrong, you hear? Even if Alfred is here, don’t hesitate.”
I nodded. A moment later, Alfred got out of the truck. I hadn’t realized he was already here. He nodded a greeting to me. He held that shotgun in the crook of his arm, pointing it to the ground.
“I need to make a few rounds and then a public announcement. You are safe now.”
Something dawned on me. “I’m going to Dana’s farewell today. Is Alfred coming with me?”
“No, he’ll stay at the house.”
I nodded. So, it was, then. I watched Bob walk away.
“I’m going to patrol around here and in the garden,” Alfred said when Bob’s truck pulled off. “Don’t you mind me. I’ll be sure to keep you safe and watch your property when you’re gone.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “Thanks, Alfred.”
Two hours later I was dressed and ready to go. Dana was leaving, today. Josh had come to the Moon Festival, and the plan had been to take her back with him. I hated the idea that she was leaving, but there was nothing I could do.
When I arrived at her house, her mother opened the door, looking somber.
“Alice, dear,” she said. “If you couldn’t persuade her to stay, no one can.”
I hugged Mrs. Watson, rubbing her back.
“She will be totally fine. Josh is a good man, he’ll look after her.”
“Is she blubbering on you?” Dana asked her mom. I smiled at my friend.
“I would be blubbering, too, if I thought it would change anything. But, you’re set on leaving me so, what can I do?”
Dana pulled a face and looped her arm through mine.
“Come on, let’s not think about the sad stuff. Everyone’s here, and it’s the first bit of fun we’ve had since… you know.”
I nodded. She was referring to the Moon Festival and everything that had gone wrong. And I tried – for her sake – to enjoy myself. She was moving on. She was going to move to Arizona and get married and build a life for herself. Wasn’t that the dream? Getting away was what everyone wanted. I was the only one that couldn’t do it, of course. I had no reason to.
Of course, that had been before Hem had arrived. I imagined what life with him would be like – wild and free. Wasn’t that the kind of life to make for yourself?
When the sun was on its way to the horizon most of the guests had gone. I was left with a few others. Dana had to go to Dunfair with Josh to get a bus to the closest big city where they would get a plane to Arizona. She hugged me just before getting into the car.
“I love you!” she cried out. “And my only wish for you is that you find your happiness the same way I had.”
She held onto me tightly. A lump rose in my throat, and I couldn’t say goodbye. Instead, I let her go and waved until the car turned out of sight.
I wasn’t sad that she was leaving. Yes, I would miss her, but I felt like everyone I knew was moving on to a better life, and I stayed behind with nothing to show for a life I had fought for every day.
I made my way home. Alfred stood in front of my door with a gun.
“Hello, Alfred,” I said. I didn’t want him around.
I wanted to mourn the loss of my friend and the loss of my own life in peace.
“Nothing to report,” Alfred said. I smiled wanly at him.
“Thanks.”
I unlocked the door and closed it behind me, leaning against it. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
“Hey,” a soft voice said right in front of me, and I jumped.
Hem stood in front of me, looking like he always did. I grabbed his arm and yanked him away from the door and down the passage.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed. “Are you set on getting caught again?” I moved, looking at the few windows I could see from the passage. “How did you get passed, Alfred?”
Hem shrugged and grinned at me like it was a game. I took a deep breath and blew it out with a shudder.
“What are you doing here?” I whispered again, a little more relaxed this time. Hem was completely at ease with his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall. That same feeling that always came with him filled the space around us, and I breathed in, filling my lungs with it. I had come to associate it with him, with the thrill of the unknown.
“I couldn’t leave without seeing you again,” he said.
“You barely know me.”
Hem nodded. “I know. It’s not the way it used to be back in school. But I know what I feel around you. Wolves don’t choose their mates; their magic chooses it for them. You’re not a wolf, but there’s something about you… my power has never been this intense until I met you.”
He swallowed. I blinked at him.
“There’s also the added fact that you saved my life.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. What was he talking about mate and power and choosing for him?
“Come with me,” he said.
I froze, shocked.
“What?”
Hem took a deep breath. “Come with me,” he said again. “I know you can be happy here, and if it’s what you choose, I’m not going to force you to come with me. But I want you to. You deserve more than the life you’re living here.”
The life of a werewolf? I wondered. The dangers in the forest with rogue wolves, the dangers of the full moon, the magic that weaved and changed like the ocean? As if Hem knew what I was thinking, he nodded.
“I know I’m not offering you the fairy tale Dana is no doubt chasing.”
“Do you know she left?” I asked.
Hem nodded. “It’s selfish of me to ask you to come with me, but there it is. I want to be with you. I want you with me. I feel… real. When you’re with me.”
I blinked at him. He was asking me to give up everything I had here – the place I grew up, the house that had belonged to my father, my job, the people I knew and loved.
A knock on the door ripped me out of the spell.
“Alice?” Alfred called.
“I have to go,” Hem said. “If you want to come with me, come to Dunfair tonight. I’m staying in a hotel until morning, and then I’m headed home. If you don’t come, I’ll take it as a no. If you come…” He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead against mine. The power around us grew. There were so much more ways to be intimate than sleeping together.
“Alice?” Alfred called again.
Hem planted a kiss on my lips, pushed a note into my hand and stepped into the living room, and when I rounded the corner, he was gone. I had no idea how he did that. I walked to the front door and opened it.
“What is it, Alfred?” I asked, trying not to sound annoyed. On the inside, I was reeling. I felt feverish, my mind running at a hundred miles per hour.
“Can I check the house?” he asked. “I found footprints outside your kitchen window.”
I nodded and stood back, letting him in. He could search the whole house. He wouldn’t find a thing.
Chapter 10
I lay in bed, awake, feeling like I’d been run over by a bus. I wasn’t going to go to Hemming. He had written down the name of the hotel and his room number on the note. It lay crumpled at the bottom of my wastebasket. I wasn’t going to give up my whole life to jump head first into the unknown. Not with a werewolf who less than a week ago I hadn’t even known existed.
It was ridiculous. I couldn’t call it love – it had been too short – and lust wasn’t a reason to go after him.
Although, lust felt different. I had felt lust before, and with him, it wasn’t that. It was… magic. It sounded idiotic, but I didn’t know how else to explain it.
When Alfred had found footprints outside my window, he’d searched the house and then called Bob. Both were out there now, scanning the area, waiting for Hem to come back. I could have told them, though, they wouldn’t find anything. Those footprints hadn’t been coming, they’d been going.
And I was left behind. I always was.
I tossed and turned in bed, the darkness feeling like a thick blanket forced over my head and I struggled to breathe. The whole house was dark, the only light filtering in through the open curtains from the moon that had once been full.
This was my life. This was what I had created for myself. This was…
What was it? I had no idea. This wasn’t anything worth living.
The clock on my nightstand told me it was midnight, and suddenly, I couldn’t lie there anymore and wait for a life that would never come, to find me. I rolled out of bed. I left the light off. I didn’t want Bob or Alfred to know I was up.
In my closet, I found a duffel bag I’d used at school. I threw clothes in – something of everything – and packed my toothbrush, hairbrush, and mascara as well as shoes. I grabbed my wallet, a hair band, and got dressed. Jeans, sneakers, a hoodie. When I was done, I was breathing hard, the adrenaline surging through my body now that I knew what I was going to do.
I tiptoed through my dark house. I took one photo of my dad and me off the mantle, and that was it. I didn’t take anything else. I looked around, breathing in the scent of what my life used to be, and walked to the back door.
It unlocked quietly and slipped open. I listened into the dark of the night. Bob and Alfred were talking in hushed tones that came from the side of the house. I was careful not to make a sound as I closed the door again. I walked to the kitchen window and stepped in the dirt, leaving a smaller print next to where Hem had left a bigger one. I smiled at the thought of them trying to figure it out.
I ran across the yard, hunched over like a burglar, and made it to the back wall without anyone seeing me. I glanced back at the sleeping house before I slipped over the wall into Mr. Preston’s house, and then through her garden to the next road. I pulled out my cellphone and called a cab. It would cost me an arm and a leg to get to Dunfair now, but I had nothing to lose.
I started walking. I wasn’t scared – something about the freedom I had just embraced made me feel light and invincible.
By the time I reached the fork in the road, the cab had waited for me as I’d instructed. I got in the back and gave him the piece of paper with the hotel name on it.
I walked through the hotel doors at two in the morning. The trip had taken a while. It had cost me, too, but I didn’t mind. I walked to the front desk and asked for the room number.
“It’s really late,” she said.
“He’ll be up.”
She eyed me before picking up the receiver and dialing the room number. She mumbled into the receiver and a moment later, nodded at me. I smiled at her and walked to the elevator, riding it to the third floor. When I stepped out, Hemming stood in front of me, his eyes like mercury in the night.
“I was scared you wouldn’t come,” he breathed.
“I couldn’t stay away.”
Hem looked at me, those eyes boring into my soul. He cupped my cheeks, pulling me toward him and kissed me.
I didn’t have a lot of time to notice the room. The door opened with a key card that Hem had to swipe three times before he got it open without breaking the kiss. He shut the door behind us and pushed me up against the wall, pinning me with his body. I gasp
ed into his mouth and was greeted with a mouthful of the most intense power I had felt so far.
Hem picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. His hands found my breasts, his erection pressing right up against my lips, driving me crazy even through my jeans.
I hadn’t meant to come here and fall right into his bed. It just happened. It felt like everything with him worked that way. Somewhere at the back of my mind, a little voice screamed at me. He was a werewolf.
I shoved it away. I didn’t care. With him, I felt alive. For the first time in my life, I felt like I wasn't sleep walking.
Hem carried me to the bed and lowered me, crawling over me, covering me with his large body. He tugged my hoodie up, and it took a team effort to get it over my head. When I was just in a tank top and jeans, having already kicked off my shoes, Hem pulled off his own shirt.
His skin rippled in a wave over his body. I touched the smooth skin, remembering what the fur had been like when I’d seen it in the square.
“Are you afraid of it?” Hem asked like he didn’t already know the answer.
I shook my head and looked at him. His animal slid behind his eyes, very much present with us in the room. I wasn’t scared, at all. I couldn’t explain it, but I wasn’t afraid.
Hem didn’t say anything else. He leaned down and kissed me again. I fiddled with his buckle and undid it, unzipping his pants. He stopped only to help me get it down his legs before he kicked it off. He wasn’t wearing underwear and his cock sprung free, hard and proud.
We made quick work of my pants, too, and then we were both naked. Hem hovered over me again, moving like he was liquid despite his size. I shivered, the magic crawling on my skin. I reached up and put my hands on his cheeks before sliding them down his neck and onto his shoulders.
My body flooded with heat that pooled between my legs and I was ready for him the way I had been before. Everything about Hem made me want to surrender myself to him.
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed, and I felt him at my entrance. I gasped and breathed out when he pushed into me, my breath turning into a moan. Hem nuzzled my neck with his face, and I tipped my head back, leading him to the most vulnerable part of me. I realized it was a submission of sorts – it was primal, in a way I couldn’t begin to imagine – and Hem made a growling sound at the back of his throat. I shivered, the sensation of him inside me, the magic, and the animalistic behavior a rush.