Wolf-Crazy

by Palmer, Linda

  Sam had clearly heard enough, judging by the color of his face. "Melita, what is this?"

  "I… It's…" Her cold eyes shot icicles at me. "You recorded a private conversation?"

  "Answer my question," said Sam.

  "Darling, I know that sounded horrible, but I can explain."

  "Please do."

  Melita touched his face. "You've worked so hard to get where you are. I was simply trying to help Zeke understand how much we have to lose if the media--"

  "I don't give a rat's ass about the media, and you know it."

  I risked a peek at Zeke and saw the beginnings of a gleeful grin. I hoped that my elbow in his ribs reminded him this wasn't a happy time for Sam. Zeke got the hint and instantly sobered.

  "Well, maybe you should. If being governor is even what you want. Sometimes I wonder." Now she took his hands in hers. "I admit I got a little carried away. Zeke has always pushed my buttons, just as I've apparently pushed his. But surely you agree that we've all got our roles to play, and--"

  "Roles to play?" Sam freed his hands and scooted his chair back a few inches, clearly appalled. "This isn't a prime-time political melodrama. This is my life. Mine and Zeke's. If I'm elected governor or even if I'm not, it will be because of who I really am, a 'small-time county sheriff' with the good of his state at heart."

  Melita flushed scarlet. "You wouldn't be where you are today if it weren't for me, and you know it! Or maybe you don't." She stood, tossed down her napkin, and scooped up her purse. "Maybe it's time for a healthy dose of reality. Good luck with the rest of your campaign and with finding a new campaign manager. You're going to need both." After sending me a go-to-hell look, she stomped out of the restaurant.

  I'd never been so happy to see anyone's swaying backside.

  Sam shook his head, clearly still stunned. "Zeke, I--"

  "Excuse me, please," I said, jumping up and darting into the ladies' room. If there was ever a time when those two needed to be alone, it was now. When I peeked out again ten long minutes later, I saw Zeke sitting alone at the table. I hurried out. "He didn't go after Melita did he?"

  "Nah."

  "So what'd he say to you?"

  "Not much beyond a lot of apologizing. He said he needed to think, but would be calling me soon. I believe he knows the truth now, and that's all that matters. Er, are you hungry?"

  I shook my head.

  "Good, because I'm not, either, at least for tacos. Let's get out of here."

  Zeke checked to see if we owed for the drinks and chips, but his dad had already taken care of it. Though I expected him to drive me straight home, he detoured by the neighborhood playground where I'd found him that night.

  He parked his car; we got out and walked to the swings. Glad I could still fit in one, I kicked off and set mine in motion. Zeke laughed at me, as carefree as I'd ever seen him. I abruptly stopped my swing and went to his. Carefully, I straddled his lap so that we sat nose to nose.

  "If these links don't snap it'll be a miracle." He glanced up toward the bar from which our supporting chains dangled. I took advantage of that to nuzzle his neck with my lips. Zeke let go of the chains and wrapped his arms tightly around me. We began to kiss, slowly at first and then wildly. It was like he couldn't get enough of me or me of him. Zeke trailed his mouth down my cheek to my earlobe. I tipped my head to the side to make it easier. With a chuckle, he pushed my blouse aside to kiss my collar bone. I leaned back, giving him access to any of me that he wanted. And he wanted. Oh yeah. Even inexperienced me knew that. But he played it smart, which was probably a good thing though it didn't feel that way at the time. "We'd better go."

  "Why?"

  "Because I'd really hate for our first time to be on a swing in a public playground."

  Mmm.

  Zeke set me on my feet and got to his. Hand in hand, we walked to his car. When he dropped me off at my house a few minutes later, he seemed oddly thoughtful and quiet considering his victory. But lost in the afterglow of his kisses, I didn't think much about it.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Thursday at school was just another day. I loved that we'd gotten into a normal rhythm so quickly. Walker had to be a culture shock after more than a year of crime, but Zeke seemed to be handling things well. I felt sure his dad's knowing the truth had a lot to do with his happier mood and hopeful outlook.

  Zeke told me that Sam called late Wednesday night and said all the things he couldn't seem to say at the restaurant, which included an offer to drop out of the governor's race if Zeke wanted him to. Zeke did not. Sam apologized for being blind to Melita's manipulating; he even asked his son to come back to Cheyenne, news that rattled me. While I wanted those two to make up and be happy, I didn't want my boyfriend to move away. Zeke had told Sam he wanted to finish up at Walker, thank goodness.

  When Zeke called me after he got off work that night, he reported that Valerie had been approached by Rick again, but had sent him packing. Zeke also said that Valerie was so unnerved by the whole thing that she'd decided to move back home for awhile. Since she hadn't actually started classes, that was apparently doable. I'll admit I thought it was a good idea, too. I didn't like Rick at all and trusted him less. I also had questions where he was concerned. Was he one of Larry's outside contacts? A man without a conscience still taking orders from a criminal?

  When I voiced my concerns, Zeke tried to reassure me. "Yeah, Rick's pissed, but he's also a criminal for hire whose main motive for anything is a paycheck. Why waste time on a personal vendetta? I'm not only the son of a high-profile gubernatorial candidate, I'm the son of an ex-sheriff with friends still on the force. Messing with me could draw attention and compromise his worth as a mercenary."

  "Good to know," I said, relaxing a little. "Mom is wondering if you have time on Saturday for another session."

  "Damn. I was hoping she'd forget about those now that school's started."

  "Obviously you do not know my mother."

  Zeke groaned. "Fine then. Saturday morning it is."

  Friday at school, Maggie invited me to her house that night for pizza and a movie. I told her I'd come for a couple of reasons. I'd missed her friendship during the summer--she always went to drama camp the first two weeks in August--and Zeke would be working anyway.

  So I drove to her place around five, stopping on the way to get the pizza. As we set up on the coffee table in her basement, she read out titles. "Beastly?"

  "I've seen it." And Alex Pettyfer just thought he had problems.

  "Footloose?"

  "Old?"

  "The new one isn't out yet."

  "Um…not so much."

  "Red Riding Hood?"

  "Amanda Seyfried?"

  "Yep."

  "That one." I'd been dying to see it, and now the remade fairytale about a girl and a werewolf seemed particular appropriate.

  We opened the box and got a piece of the Hawaiian pizza I'd ordered without sauce since we both hated chunks of tomato. Maggie and I were compatible that way. Neither of us ever talked during movies we liked, either, which is why I always enjoyed watching them with her. While I might whisper on occasion, I never missed important dialogue. Naturally, I waited until the credits rolled to say, "Thanks for keeping me updated about Mr. Carson. Is he still treating Zeke okay?"

  "Yeah," said Maggie, reaching for the remote control. She turned off the movie and began to clean up our mess. Naturally I helped. "He's stopped being rude. Now he just ignores him. That's a plus, if you ask me. I'd love it if he pretended I wasn't in the room." She sat in silence for a sec. "I can't believe Zeke was kidnapped. Not that I doubt his story or anything. But when I read about stuff like that in the papers, it feels as unbelievable as this movie."

  "So you don't think the girl and her werewolf lived happily ever after?"

  Maggie snorted. "How could they? He's got paws."

  "One night of the month. He's fine the rest of the time."

  "You can say that again." We both laughed. Shiloh Ferna
ndez, who'd played Red Riding Hood's beau/werewolf, was, indeed, fine. "Still, it could be scary loving something that wild. What if he lost it and turned on her? She might end up as his lunch instead of his lover."

  "But that was the whole point. He didn't come to her until he was sure he could control himself."

  "Yeah." She agreed with a wistful sigh.

  I gave our silly conversation a lot of thought on the way home, remembering how Zeke had stayed away from Ridge Rock once he escaped the gang. He'd waited for the cure. Did that mean he might've hurt us if he hadn't? Or was he simply wanting a fresh start free of old curses?

  ****

  Zeke got to our house around ten on Saturday. He and Mom went straight into her office. Though I'd half expected to be excluded this time, I wasn't, so I wound up sitting on the love seat next to him.

  Mom sat at her desk. "How's school?"

  "Great. It's good to be back."

  "And work?"

  "Boring, but I get all my homework done."

  "Have you been thinking about New Orleans much?"

  "I never think about it. I'm done with that now. I've moved on."

  "No more shakes?"

  "No, ma'am."

  "Is there anything in particular you'd like to talk about today? Anything that you've tucked into the back of your mind to avoid thinking about?"

  "Er, no."

  "Are you sure?"

  "Yes. I'm really okay now. I swear it."

  For several long seconds, Mom studied him. "Then I think this will be our last session, at least for a while. You know you can call me if you need to."

  "Yes."

  "And if anything out of the ordinary happens--bad dreams, more shakes, flashbacks--you'll let me know, right?"

  "Of course."

  "Then we're done for now. Skylar, your dad has finally agreed to go to Santa Fe Friday night. Why don't you have a friend sleep over so you don't have to stay here alone?"

  "Okay."

  Zeke kept his cool until we exited the office. Then he whispered, "Yeeees!" We shared a silent high five.

  "This calls for a celebration," I said. "Why don't I fix us an ice cream cone?"

  "Make mine strawberry and chocolate again, and let's eat it outside."

  "Okay." I led the way to the kitchen. Zeke didn't stop there, but headed out to the deck, where I found him sitting a short time later.

  I handed him his cone. "Smell any werewolves?"

  "No, why? Are you worried about one showing up?"

  "It's always possible. I know what you said about Rick having no reason to haunt us, and I'll admit it makes sense. But he's one creepy dude."

  Zeke captured a pink drip with his tongue. "Tell me about Santa Fe."

  "International Psychology Society conference. Starts Friday night and lasts through Sunday morning. Apparently Mom's bullied Dad into going with her. I think your dad's going to be there, too."

  "He did say something about a trip this weekend. I didn't know he'd be traveling that far, though. Who are you going to have over?"

  "You."

  Zeke winced. "I'm not sure that's what your mom had in mind."

  "Then she should've been more specific." I licked my ice cream. "Well…are you going to sleep over or not?"

  "Sleep, huh?"

  "Yes, unless I can talk you into something else."

  Zeke didn't respond for a couple of seconds, and when he finally did, he was very serious. "You know I want you, right? I mean, I don't have to actually say the words, do I?"

  "It would be nice to hear them every now and then."

  "I want you, Skylar. Every way I can have you, and probably some ways you've never even heard of. What I don't want is for us to rush just because we think it's what we're supposed to do. Does that make sense to you or am I way off here?"

  "You make perfect sense, unfortunately. Er, what ways do you know about that I don't, and why do you know them, anyway?"

  "Geez, could you cut me some slack here? That was a figure of speech."

  "Just checking."

  Zeke left not long after that. He and his dad were meeting halfway between Cheyenne and Ridge Rock to have lunch. For once I didn't tag along, even though invited. The pair of them needed time alone, and I'd promised Mom I'd get groceries. As I started out the door, the phone rang. Caller ID told me it was my brother.

  "Hello, Dax."

  "Hey. Is Mom home?"

  "Yep. I started toward her office. "How's Harvard?"

  "Hard. How's Walker?"

  "It's okay."

  "Seen Zeke lately?"

  "Moments ago, why?"

  "How is he?"

  "Doing very well. In fact, our mom the psychologist released him today. He'd had some sessions with her. Don't know if you knew that or not."

  "Mom told me. That's fantastic." I heard the relief in Dax's voice. "So what do the kids at Walker think of him?"

  I told him about Sally and Mr. Carson. "But Dad's been amazing, so everything is okay now."

  "Hm. Has he found himself a girlfriend yet?"

  "He has, actually. Me."

  "Huh?"

  "Yep. Zeke and I are together now, but don't worry. He moved out, so neither of us will be sneaking down the hall. And speaking of love lives, how's yours? Got a girl I need to know about?"

  "What I've got is a test on Monday, so a girl is out of the picture, at least for the moment. I do have my eye on this one chick, though. We'll see how it plays out."

  Glad he'd downshifted from protector to big brother, I handed Mom the phone. "Harvard wants to speak to you."

  ****

  The following week dragged by, probably because I couldn't wait for Friday night to get there. My harried mom asked if I'd found someone to stay with me. I told her that I had. Rushed and still wrangling Dad, she didn't ask who, and I didn't volunteer the information. They left around noon on Friday, which meant I went home to an empty house. But that suited me fine.

  I immediately went to work in the kitchen, marinating steaks, peeling potatoes for fries, and buttering a loaf of French bread for baking. Next I meticulously set the table right down to candles, our best plates and cutlery, and even napkin rings. My plan? A cozy dinner followed by some cuddling in front of the TV before we went to our separate bedrooms.

  Bummer, right?

  Well, it was for me. While I agreed with Zeke's principles in theory, part of me still hated to waste our weekend alone. We might not get another chance like this, and I'd loved him so long that sex seemed like a normal next step. Too bad my love was still new to him.

  Zeke got there around eight-thirty. I showed him the steaks and pointed to the back door. He went outside to light the grill. When he didn't come back in immediately, I experienced the zing of déjà vu and quickly followed to check on progress. I found him sitting in one of the patio chairs, staring at an almost-full moon. The fire in the grate had been lit.

  "Ready for the steaks?"

  "Oh, um, yeah." He jumped up and took the cake pan I held.

  "Is everything okay? Not smelling any werewolves are you?" I smiled to keep things light, but my heart was definitely beating a little harder than normal.

  "Nah, but the moon is definitely calling my name." He picked up on my anxiety a little late. "I was joking."

  "Not funny."

  "Sorry. I'm really tired. Long week."

  "We could skip the steaks."

  "No way. I'm starved, which takes precedence over tired." Using the tongs I handed him, he placed the steaks on the hot grate. They sizzled; the aroma of beef filled the air. I went inside to make a salad and fry the potatoes. Though I busied myself with grownup things at the moment, I had a flashback to a time when I cooked on a plastic stove and served an imaginary meal to my baby doll. I'd pretended I was a wife and mother, busy in her kitchen with a husband and child to feed. It made me laugh to realize I'd imagined Zeke in the husband role that far back.

  "What's so funny?"

  I jumped and whirled ar
ound to find the star of my youthful imaginings right behind me. Only he wasn't a little boy anymore. He was a man. My man. "I was just enjoying the moment. I, um, like cooking for you."

  "And I like eating what you cook." He hugged me. "We're well matched that way."

  Zeke released me and stepped back.

  Since the moment seemed right, I asked a question I'd had on my mind for a while. "Would you have come home if the witch hadn't cured you?"

  "No."

  My heart twisted inside my chest. "Why not?"

  "I couldn't risk hurting anyone I loved."

  "So when you're a Were, you don't have Zeke thoughts?"

  "Actually, I do. It's like me stuck in a CG body. My thoughts, my actions, but a werewolf's super senses and strength."

  "Then why would you ever think you could hurt someone you loved?"

  Zeke handed over the cake pan I'd used as a tray. I washed it while he watched in thoughtful silence. "You're right. That wasn't it. I guess I couldn't bear the thought of keeping a secret like that, assuming I even could. And if I ever got the nerve to 'fess up, how could anyone believe me or, if they could, how could they not be afraid?"

  "I believe you. I'm not afraid."