Taming the Wolf (3 page)

It’s almost dark outside as we leave The LoveSick; the streets are full of pedestrians: pretty ladies in heels and dashing men of all ages rushing in the streets toward their awaiting dates, while the couples stroll together more leisurely, enjoying being close.

After a few steps, Jared’s hand searches for mine. His is warm and strong around mine—it’s the first time I’m actually feeling small and fragile near another person. It’s not a bad feeling. I also feel like I’m worth a million bucks, the way he makes sure I’m comfortable, not tripping on the pavement… he is very protective of me, even in the tiniest gestures he makes, like slowing his pace. I love how he takes the left side, moving so that he’s between me and the road.

We’re not talking much. The atmosphere is electric, full of possibilities. I’m really enjoying this date—even the bad start is not enough to taint it.

As we walk by a narrow side street, he suddenly pushes me toward it. There, as we’re mostly out of sight, he crowds me against the wall. Jared’s hands find my waist, and he bends to kiss my neck. “You smell
so
good,” he breathes against my ear, sending waves of desire down my spine.

I cannot move or react for a moment, completely stunned—in a good way. I have a hard time breathing. And thinking. I just want more of his touch.

I put both my hands on his face, making him look at me. I’m mesmerized by him—the way he moves so deftly and confidently, his good looks, his scent—but I know this is not just physical attraction, because I’ve fallen in love with the way he talks and banters with me… but
damn
, there is something animal in the way I feel about him. A raw need, an urgency.

As I’m realizing I’m ready for anything he’ll ask of me, he kisses me softly once, and draws back. “You’re really something, don’t you know?”

“Well,” I say, looking at my feet, “I know why I feel so strongly about you. But I’m wondering what you could possibly find in me that’s so special.”

“You don’t see yourself clearly,” he scolds sweetly. “I was falling head over heels for you as soon as I heard your first joke. I love the way we fit, like puzzle pieces—the synchronicity we seem to have.”

“I love that about you too,” I admit, feeling kind of light-headed that we’re confessing our feelings for each other so quickly.

His face becomes serious all of a sudden, all sweetness gone.

“They’re yours, babe. The brains, the heart, the whole body. Yours for the taking, if you’ll dare.”

“I— I—“ I babble.

“What’s happening, gorgeous? Not sure you want the whole package?” he teases, smirk reappearing at the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t call me that…”

“What? Gorgeous? Why not?” Jared asks, dazed. “Is there some kind of law I’m not aware of that prohibits me from calling you by an adjective that applies to you?”

“I don’t deserve— I’m not gorgeous. I—”

“I love a pretty girl who’s not aware of her beauty. I’ve always dreamed of meeting one. If you’ll let me, I’ll teach you to see both your inner and outer splendor. In the meantime, please just trust me when I say that you’re radiating everything any man could ever wish for.”

I feel myself blushing again from all that unmerited praise.

“I love how shy you look… Can I be completely forward with you? Right now I’m wondering if I can make some of that go away… possibly in a very hot and sexy way.”

Wow, girl. Take him up on it.

I have no time to think about my answer, because Jared’s head jerks to the side, and he straightens his body, alert. I have no idea what’s going on, but my guess is nothing good. My fuzzy feelings of wellness shrink from damn hot to icy cold in zero-point-three seconds.

I don’t see anything—the little street is considerably darker than it was a few minutes ago, with the sun setting behind the buildings. My instinct would be to go back to the more populated street just a few meters away, but Jared takes my hand and makes me hurry in the other direction.

“What’s happening?” I say, starting to get out of breath.

“We need to get going. NOW.”

I rush at his side, trying unsuccessfully to match his speed.

We’re in the middle of the dark street when Jared stops abruptly, catching me in his arms and stopping me to go forward. My heart is beating at two-hundred miles per hour—whatever Jared saw, or sensed, I’m taking it seriously.

Jared looks around, and notices a fire escape ladder a few steps from us. It’s pretty high, so there’s no way to reach it.

“You need to go up there and then find a way to escape through someone’s apartment,” he says. “Quickly.”

“But— It’s way to h—”

Jared frees his hand from mine, bends his knees and jumps up, grabbing the end rung of the ladder. His weight is enough to make the ladder go lower to the street, and as he touches ground, he immediately makes me grab it.

“Get up there, now, and don’t stop. See how easily I yanked the ladder down? You’re not safe up there. Don’t stop until you’re on a crowded street!”

I climb on the bars as quickly as my high heels allow. When I arrive at the third floor, I look over my shoulder, back down to the alley and realize Jared is not following.

“What are you doing? Come quick!” I call, worried to death about the invisible threat I don’t fully comprehend but I realize Jared has no intention of following me up the ladder and to safety.

Frozen in place, I see that he’s positioned himself in the middle of the street, looking alternatively toward both ends. His posture exudes anger and aggressiveness. I squint to try and make out what he sees… and I finally see something. A man, at the end of the street. Well, I assume it’s a man, I can only see an imposing shadow.

“Jared!” I cry, “Get on the ladder!”

“Let the ladder go back up, Paige. And run. Please trust me on this.”

On the other side of the street, there is another silhouette—it’s close enough now that I can distinguish it through the shadows. Both of them are gigantic—way bigger than a person could actually be. Frightened, I scramble off the ladder and onto the balcony of a third floor apartment, letting go of the ladder. I clanks back up as soon as I’m not applying any weight on it.

I’m such a coward. I should want to be down there with Jared, and face with him whatever is coming our way… but I’m chicken shit, and Jared doesn’t seem to be afraid at all. I remember Jared commanding me to run away, but I can’t… if I can’t be down there with him, I at least need to know what’s happening. What if something happens? What if he needs medical attention, and no one reports him being beat up—or worse?

And then I have a genius idea. I get my phone out of my pocket and dial nine-one-one. An operator answers after a few rings, and asks: “Nine-one-one, what’s your emergency?”

“I’m on the street perpendicular to Fourth Street, and there are two guys cornering us. Please send someone immediately. Please! Please! I’m so scared!”

The two guys are almost at Jared. As they get closer, I can see better their features… and what I see makes me incapable of uttering another word.

“Ma’am? Ma’am?” calls the operator on the other end of the line.

The guy on Jared’s right… that’s Toothless Guyv. I recognize him now. Except… his face is distorted, and he looks so much bigger than he did at The LoveSick. He still has a clear lack of front teeth, though, so I’m pretty sure I’m not mistaken.

On the other side of Jared, I don’t see as clearly… but I hear a growl that chills me to the bones.

“Go, Paige!” shouts Jared, right before Toothless’s partner takes advantage of the situation to jump on his back.

I don’t think I’ve screamed as loud in my life, ever. I screech “Watch out!” but way too late—he’s already biting on his exposed shoulder. The attackers are both unbelievably fast and… well, I don’t know if I can believe my eyes at this point, but I’ve seen enough horror films to be certain those are lycanthropes. Their faces are elongated, one of them has huge teeth sprouting out of their mouths, and they’re getting furrier by the second. I look up to check the moon’s state but it’s nowhere in sight—it could be the full moon, but I’m not sure the horror film lore really applies to real live werewolves.

Werewolves. I can’t believe I’m even considering they exist. Though, after being stabbed by Cupid’s arrow, I find myself more open to believing in the unbelievable.

“Ma’am? The police are on their way,” I can hear the operator say. “Can you find somewhere safe to hide and wait for them?”

“I— I—” is all I can stutter before I’m interrupted by the huge body of one of the werewolves, crashing into the fire escape’s metallic rail before falling back into the street. I shriek and drop my phone in surprise—it breaks into two pieces as soon as it lands on the pavement. Jared threw him away, with the strength of a demigod, and is now trying to fend off Toothless Guyv’s attacks.

The situation is critical, at least from my vantage point. Toothless Guyv is keeping at it, clawing Jared’s arms with his huge, terrifying paws. He’s more a lupine than a man now, though he’s still humanoid and not real wolf-like. And Jared… Oh my God, Jared… he’s evading them the best he can, but he’s just one man against two paranormal forces of nature.

I have no idea what to do to help him, I know my hopeless crying is wasted, no one is coming to help. I almost go down the ladder twice, but I’m too afraid to do it and freeze as I realize I’m not going to be a great help—and might even worsen the situation.

Once again, one of the werewolves jumps on Jared, and bites his shoulder. This time, he doesn’t let go. The other wolf closes in too, claws ready.

Jared lets a wounded cry, and doubles size unexpectedly. He already looked as big as the others, now he towers over them. I rub my eyes in wonder… could he…?

I freeze as I see him grabbing both his opponents and inflicting damage with what looks like… what’s that—a paw? Toothless Guyv and his companion look angry—even angrier then they were before— but they are starting to back away now. Jared lets out some kind of howl—pee-in-your-pants scary—and both the werewolves groan in response.

Jared is still evolving, into a darker wolf than his aggressors. Even though his pelt is growing, thickening, filling out, I can still see the huge wound on his shoulder Toothless Guyv inflicted. It’s bleeding profusely, wetting his fur.

Another lunge from Jared makes both the other werewolves run for cover—not before he bites Toothless Guyv again—grim, hard, quick as lightning. They yip with pain, and they run away from the scene on four limbs.

Before I can compute what happened right in front of my incredulous eyes, Jared drops on the ground like a stone. I let a desperate cry out, and climb down the ladder at once.

The fall of the ladder, even with my weight on it, seems to take forever, and I want nothing more than to be by Jared’s side as I descend back to Earth… yet, at the bottom of the ladder, I freeze. Jared is… gigantic. Furry. I can hardly see his shape in the very dim light coming from a street-lamp a hundred meters away. I look around, wondering if anyone witnessed the fight, but no one is looking through the windows… as if the area was a forsaken place, while in the next street people were buzzing around not even ten minutes ago.

I take two steps toward Jared. His back is moving quickly with labored breaths—I can hear the air whistle through his lungs, as if he had an asthma attack.

And then I notice a tremor twitching his spine, and hear a faint yelp coming from him, and I forget all about caution. I walk up to him and crouch down not too far. If he’s heard me, he doesn’t show it. I see his shoulder, and it doesn’t look pretty. The amount of blood coming out of the wound is pretty nasty. I don’t feel good—the smell is awful, like rust and salt, and is overpowering Jared’s usual mountain fresh scent. I force myself to breathe through my mouth.

“J— Jared?” I whisper, not knowing what to do.

He turns his muzzle toward me slowly, and it’s the stuff of nightmares. He has fur all over, and fangs that are so big they can’t be contained in his mouth. His hands—his beautiful, caring hands, the very ones that patched me up, the very ones that made me feel like I was in heaven—his sweet hands are now paws, hairy, with huge claws that look deadly.

I recoil and fall back on my behind. The only thing that stops me from jumping up and running away are his eyes, locking with mine—his sweet, hurting, beautiful brown eyes. Even now he’s transformed, they still have those green specks that I like so much, and that black rim around the pupil I noticed when I first met him. Those are the eyes of the man I love—the man who saved my life just now. There is no doubt in my mind that huge, frightening beast in front of me is Jared.

I can’t bear to seem ungrateful. And I’m really worried about his wound. I kneel near him, wincing a little because of my injured knees, remembering him telling me not to be Cinderella—and beat myself up mentally for daring to think about that when Jared is so much more hurt.

Jared doesn’t move, he just stares at me—the only sound breaking the silence in that dark alley his difficult breathing. I lift a hand, slowly, cautiously, and lay it on his flank. My fingers almost disappear in his furring. I caress his pelt tentatively, and Jared’s eyes close. His breathing slows down too, quieter, more regular.