Black Heart: Wild On (24 page)

            I caught up with her quickly, tapping her on the shoulder. Dane trailed close behind.

            "Miss?"

            "Hello? Can I help you?" she said.

            Her eyes rolled past me to Dane, and her eyes widened slightly and her nostrils flared. She subtly sucked in his scent, and her aura changed dramatically. She was excited, and it wasn't sexually. A speculative look bled into her gaze.

            "Yes, what pack are you?"

            I think my question actually annoyed her. She really only had eyes for Dane. What was the werewolves' obsession with him?

            "Black Moon, why?"

            She looked me over, then sniffed the air, followed by a look of distaste spreading across her face. Did vampires have a distinct smell?

            "Then you know my friend, Timmy Saxon?"

            "Sure, why?"

            Her aura changed again. She was more guarded, worried. I don't suppose it is good to have a vampire looking for you.

            "Is he here?"

            "Why? You aren't answering why?" she said. Her eyes flashed. Her aura changed, filling with anger and more fear. "Who are you?"

            "I'm Sable. I grew up with Timmy, and I heard he joined your pack," I said. "I haven't seen him in months, maybe last summer."

            "Does he know you're a vampire?" she said.

            "I don't know," I said. "Does that matter?"

            "Last time I spoke with him he didn't like vampires," she said, rather snottily.

            "Last time I spoke with him, he didn't like werewolves, either," I said. "Go figure."

            "My friend would really like to meet up with her old friend," Dane said. When did he become so smooth? That girl was ready to slide right out of her panties and into his arms with the first word. He graced her with a secret, sexy smile and her aura went wild with desire. "What's your name again, sweetheart?"

            "Tami Jo," she said. She managed not to giggle. Just barely.

            "Would it be too much of a bother to get Timmy for me, Tami Jo?" he said. "I'd really be grateful."

            "No problem! I'll go get him now," she said, all perky and helpful. I was starting to not like her. "Don't go anywhere."

            Tami Jo bounced happily into the crowd. Bounced! She was on cloud nine.

            "What just happened? Do you have magic or something?" I said, watching him warily.

            Dane seemed so pleased with himself. I'd never known him to be a ladies' man. More of the quiet, confident type. Women came onto him first.

            "I kind of picked up that she might be interested in me," he said.

            "Duh. You think?" I said, and shook my head. "She's coming back."

            I didn't see her, but I did feel her body. I never lost contact with her since our conversation began. She only went to the other side of the bonfire before returning. She didn't return alone.

            "Sable!" Timmy cried.

            "Timmy!"

            We ran to each other, and he swept me up as I threw my arms around his neck. He actually swung me around. Like in the movies where lovers finally reunite after he'd been away at war or something. We hugged fiercely, neither of us even trying to kiss the other. We were good friends, but not that close.

            "My God, I heard you'd been Changed, but it never really sank in until just now. You're a vampire," Timmy said, thankfully amazed rather than repulsed.

            "How can you tell?" I said.

            "You smell of blood," he said. "Vampires have a very distinct tang to their scent."

            That's when I noticed his aura, and coldness infused my body. I was too late. Timmy had a werewolf's aura, but I'd never seen him while I was a vampire, so didn't know what his aura looked like originally.

            "Really?" I said, managing to keep my composure for once. "I haven't noticed, and my sense of smell is pretty darned good, too."

            "Start paying more attention, you'll pick up on it. It's subtle, but there," he said.

            "Really? Like a werewolf's aura, like a normal persons, just slightly different," I said.

            "What's an aura?" Timmy said.

            "You're Sable Hart?" a distinguished looking man said.

            He looked fiftyish, with graying temples and slicked back hair. I think I found the tux wearing man in the limo. At the moment he was wearing jeans, barefooted, and no shirt. He had a very hairy chest.

            "Yes. And you are?"

            "Piers," he said. "Piers Rainier."

            "He's the leader of the Black Moon Pack," Timmy said.

            "So, you're the one causing all the trouble?" Piers said. He didn't look pleased.

            "Probably. But you'll have to be more specific," I said, grinning. "I'm a real rabble rouser." I glanced around. "There's about a dozen vampires here tonight who'd like to see me dead. Most of them are on council."

            "And you came?" Timmy said. "You never were the brightest monkey in the tree."

            Dane gave him a curious look. I grinned.

            "Speak for yourself, wolf boy," I said.

            "You may think it all fun and games, but there are some pretty powerful vampires asking around about Timmy," Piers said. His fangs began to grow, top and bottom. It made me wonder just how much control an alpha wolf had over his morphing. "You've put Timmy and the pack into extreme danger."

            I narrowed my eyes at him. He wasn't laying the blame for this on me. No sirree.

            "I beg to differ," I said. "I'm not the one that snatched Timmy right from under his wife and child's nose. I'm not the one that grew fangs and threatened his family, and then led him away."

            "It's none of your business."

            I stepped past Timmy and jabbed a finger in Piers' chest. Yeah, I was pissed.

            "Timmy's wife thought vampires took him, since you showed fangs," I said. "I hunt and kill rogue vampires, so Timmy's family called me in to find him."

            "You made it sound like we were after the vamps money," he growled.

            "You took my friend," I said. "What kind of idiot kidnaps a man and doesn't think his family will come looking for him?"

            "You need to learn respect," Piers said.

            "You need to
earn
it."

            Piers started morphing into a wolfman. So did Tami Jo and most of the others around us. Timmy panicked.

            "No!" he cried. "She's my friend!"

Chapter 15

            Dane and I both reached for pistols we weren't carrying. Talk about feeling naked. I was about to sprout wings when Timmy half-morphed into a wolfman and roared.

            "No!" Timmy cried. "Calm down, dammit."

            I gawked at him. Timmy was alpha. Only alpha werewolves could shift into a wolfman. Gabe could do it.

            "How are you already a werewolf?" I said. "The moon isn't up yet."

            "It's up," Piers said, looking at me like I'm stupid. I get that a lot. "It's just not over the trees yet."

            "An alpha's first shift happens as soon as the full moon clears the earthly horizon, trees and other obstructions be damned," Tami Jo said. "Everyone else shifts when they first see the full moon."

            I looked at Timmy, halfway between man and wolfman. He looked more embarrassed than anything. His family was not going to be happy, and I suspect they'll lay part of the blame on me. Just because I'm a vampire.

            "You need to call your family," I said. "One simple phone call would've resolved this crap a long time ago."

            Timmy started shifting back to full human. "I-I don't know what to say, what to tell them." He glanced at Piers uncertainly, "They're not going to like anything I have to say. In my family's eyes I am now evil."

            "Join the club," I said. "Can you imagine how my family reacted to me becoming a vampire?"

            Timmy chuckled. "Actually, I do know. I was there to witness some of it. Which is why I'm sure my own family will react the same way."

            I sighed gustily, understanding completely. It would be hard, but avoiding them would only make it worse. But before I could voice that thought, more trouble arrived.

            "I should've known Sable would be the cause of this commotion," Jeff Howell said.

            Jeff, Vanessa, Henri, and Rod were standing behind Piers. Jeff glared at me hatefully, while Vanessa and Henri looked curious and Rod looked eager to see blood spilled. I forced myself to calm down, not wanting to put on a show for those bloodsuckers.

            "Bite me, Jeff," I said.

            "Any time, Sable. Any time."

            "In your dreams, fang boy," I said.

            "More like a dark fantasy," Jeff said, then he turned to Timmy. "So, this is the infamous Timothy Saxon. Sable’s boogie man."

            "What?" Timmy said, turning curious eyes to me.

            "Remember? Your wife and parents thought you were kidnapped by vampires," I said, shrugging. "So I put a fire under the feet of all the vampires whose accounts you worked on."

            "Oh my God!" Timmy said. "Are you crazy?"

            Shrugging with a sheepish grin, "Maybe."

            "It works for her," Dane said. He turned to Piers. "But it’s your fault."

            "My fault? How do you figure that?" He looked offended. His pack mates surrounding us weren’t particularly pleased by the accusation, either. "We did nothing wrong. Nothing."

            "Wrong, furball," I said. I think a couple of them growled at that. "You ran Timmy off the road with his wife and child in the car, threatened
them
, and then you and your girls exposed long, frightening fangs for his wife to see. Most people associate fangs with vampires. And thus this whole shebang started. Thanks to your heavy-handed tactics."

            "Is that the proper usage of the word shebang?" Dane said.

            "What are you, an English teacher?" I said.

            "No, but it is my first language," he said.

            Our little exchange brought everyone up short. People were just gawking at us. I suppose they expected us to be frightened, quaking in our boots and such. They were probably right, but sometimes I think people become vampire hunters because there is something just not right in their head or psyche. I’ve been accused of having a screw loose more times than I can remember, and that was just counting the times before I started hunting.

            "So, Timmy, I take it you aren't being held against your will and there's no going back after being bitten," I said. I frowned at him. "So let's get back to Charlotte and your parents? You have to talk to them."

            Timmy froze, all vestiges to being a wolfman vanishing in his deep blush. His aura displayed his embarrassment even more. He couldn't look me in the eyes anymore.

            "I told you. I don't know what to say to them," he said. He half morphed into a wolfman. "How do I explain
this
?"

            "Alpha," I said. Not a question. It was obvious. I turned to Piers, who was looking upon Timmy with pride. "Why Timmy? Why did you have to ruin the lives of so many people?"

            "He's alpha," Piers said, as if that explained everything.

            "That's obvious. But why? He was a perfectly happy, productive member of society. A happily
married man
, with a very young child," I said, with rather more heat than I intended. "You bit him, and now he's a man on the run. His family is miserable. His child may never know his father."

            "No, I would never abandon them completely," Timmy said.

            "Completely? What does that mean exactly?" I said, eyes narrowing. Childhood and family friend or not, I would find it obscenely hard to support anyone just abandoning their family for another lifestyle.

            "A young wolf needs time to gain control of his body and mind," Piers said. "Timmy is still discovering what he can do, learning to control his superhuman strength and abilities."

            "I could easily seriously injure Charlotte or Trey," Timmy said. "My, um,
condition
makes my moods swing violently sometimes. I'm quicker to anger, and more violent in that anger."

            "He is better and safer among his own kind," Piers said. I didn't care for the superior air in which he said that. "His pack will take care of him."

            "Pack? Take care of him?" I said, turning on Piers. "You mean the pack that
bit
him? The pack that
forced
him into becoming a werewolf? Is that the pack that is going to take care of him?"

            "Sable, it's not like that," Timmy said.

            I whirled on him. Timmy stepped back, almost going into a fighting stance. I eyed him narrowly, thinking how terrified and worried Charlotte was, his parents were. Did he understand what they were going through? Did he care?

            "Then tell me how it is," I said. "Did you seek a werewolf out?"

            "Well, no," he said.

            "When you were first approached, did the idea of being a werewolf appeal to you?"

            "Uh, no."

            "At
any
time prior to being bitten did you want to be a werewolf?"

            "That's not a fair question," Piers said.

            "What's not fair? He either wanted to be a werewolf, or you forced it upon him against his will," I said.

            "Few people want to be a werewolf," Piers said. "The social stigma and all."

            "Oh, great, you're whining about social stigma to a vampire," I said. "I'll cry a big tear for you later."