The Legend of the Werewolf (6 page)

"She's a werewolf. He's a human. I'm
sure she can handle it."

"He's human as far as we know," Bill
muttered. "I don't like it."

Gordon turned to Westley. "You’ll be
master someday, what do you think?"

Westley took one look at her and
smiled. "She'll be fine."

Though she dreaded facing Mike again,
she was glad Westley knew well enough to get some time away from
her. Between spending time with Westley and making unwanted wedding
plans, guarding Mike was nothing.

The three men in the room stared at
her, waiting for her to make her next move.

With a start, she realized they were
waiting for her to leave.

Laughing, she backed out of the room.
"Oh, uh, okay then, I'll just go and make sure Mike's getting
settled. Right."

She ran out Gordon's house, across the
yard, and back to the cabin. Brock wasn't outside the door, which
meant he went inside with Mike.

Her hands shook on the doorknob. The
silence chilled her but she forced herself to open the creaking
door.

Mike and Brock were sitting across from
each other, Mike on the couch and Brock on the chair. Both had
their arms crossed over their chest as they glared at each
other.

Either they didn't notice when she
entered or they ignored her. "Hey."

Their heads shot up to her at the same
time. Brock smiled and stood. Mike glared and didn't
move.

His steel blue eyes were cold on her. She
was suddenly very aware of everything around her, as if her senses
had become more heightened—more heightened for a werewolf, that
is—from the clothes she wore to the perfume she chose to wear that
night.

He might be pissed but he was still
cute as Hell.

Too bad if he's the first wolf
it means he's taken
. Anne shook the thought from her head and sat down in the
spot Brock vacated.

"You are to watch him?" Brock
asked.

Mike glared hot pokers at her, melting
away her lusty thoughts.

She cleared her throat and forced a
smile. "Uh, yeah. Yes. I am going to be taking care of Mr. Carter
during his stay."

"Captivity," Mike muttered, tapping a
finger impatiently on his arm.

She ignored him.

"Alright. I'll ask Gordon if I can watch
him too."

Despite his size and a voice worthy or
Andre the Giant, Anne occasionally forgot how innocent he really
was. Always willing to please, to protect.

"Thanks, Brock. I'll call you when I need
you."

Brock hesitated. He tilted his head a
fraction to see Mike behind him. Still sitting. Still angry but
harmless as he grumbled to himself with his arms crossed over his
chest.

Touched, Anne reached her hand out and
clasped Brock’s wrist. Her fingers didn’t even reach halfway around
since it was as thick as her upper arm. “I promise. You’re the
first I’ll call if I need anything.”

A tiny flicker in Brock’s lips told her
he was smiling. Hearing that she trusted him must have brought his
spirits up. He’d probably be glowing for a few days.

Brock moved his hulking mass around her
and ducked under the door frame.

He left the cabin and she was
alone with
him
,
breathing in his anger. Though, she wasn’t any good at sensing
emotions, she could feel the rage coming off him in
waves.

She took a deep breath and stuck
her hand out. "So, I think fresh starts are always a great
idea
, and
since we haven't officially met, I'm Anne Hart."

“Not Antoinette?”

She pursed her lips but didn’t take
back her hand. “No.”

“
Not Annie, either?”

“No.”

Without taking his eyes from her
face, he took her hand and shook. “Shame. I think it suits you,
that name.” He crossed his arms again. “
Officer
Mike Carter. I suppose I should thank you
for not saying anything."

"Look, I'm really sorry about
this—"

"As you should be," he hissed. "I will
have people looking for me."

She was quick to agree. "Your family,
right. If it comes down to it, I'm sure Gordon will let you call
them."

"How generous of him."

Anne sighed. She wasn’t going to be
able to talk nicely with him in this mood. "Let me show you to your
room."

She was shocked when he got up and
followed her to the one other door in the cabin without
complaint.

Thankfully, the tiny cabin had been
cleaned when it was used for the Stevens' during Moon Night,
leaving it free of spider webs and the smell of damp sheets.
Though, there was a tiny layer of dust and the queen bed took up
most of the space, it was usable.

She walked around the bed and ran her
finger over the layer of dust on the wooden bed frame.

She’d have to get this
cleaned.

"Bathroom’s kind of tiny but I think it'll
work for you," she said, pointing across the small room to the
adjoining bathroom. "Not that I think you're going to be here long
enough to get used to it or anything."

Standing in such a tiny room, Mike's large
frame dwarfed everything around him. There was barely enough room
for him to walk beside the bed. He nodded towards the bare
nightstand resting beside the bed. “No phone?”

Great. One more thing to make him feel
isolated. “Ah, most people have cell phones, so there isn’t a need
to have a phone plugged into any of the cabins.”

“Except for the main cabin, I’ll bet.”
Mike said.

She smiled and nodded. “Of
course.”

He turned his head up and sent her a
lecherous grin. "If you wanted to get me in bed you only had to
ask, Princess."

Anne tensed, shocked with his words and
hating the nickname he used. "What?"

"Cramped space, the door shut, all alone.
Just you, me, and the bed. I’ll admit, the first time I pictured us
rolling around on one of these, we were still at the stage where we
had yet to learn each other’s names."

Body stiff, Anne turned her head and saw
that, yes, she had shut the door. Why’d she do that?

She looked back at him. He leaned
across the bed, his hands fisted on the quilt and a promising glint
in his eyes. The bed was big enough for the both of them and then
some.

She groaned. Oh God. She felt something
like this when she saw him in that bar, but not nearly as strong.
He leaned over in a way that screamed for her to do the same and
kiss him.

She wanted nothing more than to have a
go with him. To feel his hands and mouth on her body. For him to be
rough with her.

It had been so long. God knew Westley
would never touch her, bless him. But, if she and Mike were to be
found out...

One kiss
, she thought,
just to see what he's
like
.

She leaned across the bed, sticking her
knee up on the mattress for the extra balance and shivering with
pleasure when he moved to meet her halfway.

Pounding feet banged through the house
before the door slammed open.

Anne and Mike jumped away from the bed
like teenagers caught by the parents.

Brock panted like he ran all the way
across the ranch. Anne's lust replaced itself with panic. "Miss,
I’m sorry, but a man named Hadrian is at the gates and he’s asking
to see you and the guest."

FOUR

Mike never heard of worse timing in his
life. An interruption when he was in the middle of doing his thing
with princess girl was one more reason to despise the man out to
kill him.

He marched out the little cabin
intending to face him, fists clenched and jaw set. He was going to
make that weasley little man see that Mike wasn’t his missing wolf.
Then arrest his ass for attempted murder, along with the murders of
countless others.

Annie trailed behind, unaware of his
thoughts. "Brock, is it safe?"

"Very safe." He nodded, having
collected his breath. "Everyone on this ranch is speaking with
him."

Charging down the dirt road that led to
the gate took less than two minutes. And, indeed, Bill, Gordon, and
Westley stood around Hadrian in a half circle on the other side of
a wooden gate, denying him entrance to the ranch.

With all that power he held inside of
him, Mike didn't know how they were expected to fight him off
should Hadrian become hostile.

The little man in black had a vein popping
out of his forehead as he argued with Gordon, spittle flying and
arms flailing.

Mike smiled. Perfect. Maybe he could see
what was going on in that brain of his before he noticed his
arrival.

Clearing his mind, Mike concentrated on
Hadrian's thoughts and pushed. It felt like trying to shove through
a stuck door. After a few moments, he was inside.

His thoughts
swirled in a hazy and violent
twister. A thousand different images flew around his head,
arranging themselves properly before scattering into hysteria
again.

Mike saw himself again. Through
the haze of anger and bloodlust, he saw the beautiful, ethereal
woman hand him the round stone.

Love shone in her eyes and
Mike’s vision turned red. A pillar of white light reaching up into
the sky encased her.

He grabbed her face and
crushed their lips together. She wrapped her arms around his neck
and sighed when their mouths separated.

"From now on," she said,
licking swollen lips, "I will not answer his calls, only
yours."

Mike didn’t feel any
happiness at the revelation. Only more hatred and enough acidic
rage to burn holes into the scene.

H
e knew, without a doubt, that he wasn’t
seeing his own memories, but Hadrian’s.

Mike’s double clutched his
fingers around the rock. "I wish I could go with you."

"You are aware of the price of
that. You still have many years left."

The pillar swept Luna up
into the night. She smiled and waved, disappearing into the sky
towards a perfectly round moon.

Hadrian stepped out of the
forest and into the clearing. Men with medieval armor and swords
surrounded Mike’s double on all sides.

Their metal weapons gleamed
in the early light of dawn.

Not me. Not me.
He thought. This was
someone else he was looking at.

As if sensing his presence, Hadrian's
eyes found Mike’s.

As though he was bodily picked up and
thrown out, Hadrian’s mind closed off to him.

Shit
. He’d stayed too long. Didn’t
matter. Hadrian’s stare didn’t scare him and neither did the show
inside his head.

He glared back at the warlock. He
wouldn’t be moved by this man.

“
I found you then, just as I have
found you now,” Hadrian taunted. “Come with me and I shall spare
the people here.”

Mike didn’t move. Even as Hadrian held
out his hand as though expecting him to come.

Mike wasn’t stupid. And he wasn’t about
to negotiate. Now that Hadrian had found him, he’d never leave
these people unpunished.

Looks like he had to stay after
all.

For now.

“You’re out of your mind if you think
I’m going near you to do anything other than snap cuffs on your
wrists.”

How did Hadrian find him? Mike didn’t even
know where he was. Since he’d been unconscious after Annie
clobbered him and brought him here, as far as he knew he was on a
ranch in California near his hometown.

Hadrian frowned and lowered his
hand.

Gordon shook his head. "Come down here,
the both of you. We all need to talk."

Hadrian rubbed his long nose before
addressing Gordon, loud enough for Mike to hear before he joined
the group. "You know my demands. I want my property and my servant.
The boy as well for his ruthless attack on me. Then, I shall be on
my way."

Westley tensed.

"What?" Mike whipped his head between
the two men. "If you want to play your game with me that's fine,
but he has nothing to do with it."

"I can defend myself," Westley
snapped.

Gordon's body shook at the demand, his
eyes could've burned holes into Hadrian had he the Magic to do so.
"Asking for the rock is one thing. I'm not even considering giving
you my son."

Hadrian shrugged his shoulders, his eyes
landing on Annie. A long, Grinch-like smile formed on his lips.
"The girl then, or the other boy. It matters not to me but I will
have my satisfaction for being attacked by that beast. If you allow
me the girl I can assure you she will be returned when I am
through." He licked his lips.