The Wolfs Maine (12 page)

"Ava! Oh my God I have been so worried!"  Jaci came running through and jumped right on the bed with me.  Lena was calmer but came right to my side.  I looked over to see that John was smiling then he bent down and placed a kiss on my forehead.  "Spend some time with your friends love. Michael and I will be right down stairs."  He turned and winked at me once more before walking out of the room and down the stairs. 

Once Jaci and Lena were sure he was out of an ear shot the questions began. Jaci was first to speak.

"So, how is he?" 

"Jaci!"  Lena wasn't amused. 

"Avalon, first and foremost; Are you okay?  We haven't heard from you in so long."  I looked at my two best friends, two women that have been by my side since we were kids and decided to tell them everything from the beginning.

"I am fine you guys. I promise, but this is very long story so get ready. I know it's going to sound a bit crazy but bear with me." 

I proceeded to tell the girls everything from the first night I met John to how John and Michael are shape shifters as well as my parents and now myself.  Then I tried to explain why I asked them to come here. I told them all about Nicholas and how he killed my aunt and now is after them all to get back at me.  Jaci was the first to speak as usual. 

"Are you kidding me?  This is nuts! Are you sure you haven't hit your head one time too many on that headboard?"  I had to laugh, leave it to Jaci to bring it back there. Lena however wasn't speaking. She hadn't said one word. 

"Lena, are you alright? You don't have to be scared, we are safe here."  Lena looked up at us with tears in her eyes. 

"I thought I was the only one."  Jaci and I looked at each other. 

"What do you mean the only one?"  Lena wiped the tears from her eyes. 

"I thought I was the only shape shifter. I never realized there were more out there.  I thought I was weird.  I had no idea there were others. I mean that's just not something you start a conversation about you know?  And now for my best friend to be one as well, it's wonderful."  Now I had tears in my eyes as well. 

"No Lena, you are not alone. You've never been alone."  She just broke down in my arms.  It was like a revelation for her.  I could not imagine going through all of this alone.  I thank God I had John and Michael with me.  Jaci looked like she was about to come unglued.

"No fucking way! How did we not know this?"

"I just learned how to control it. I changed when I was a teenager, my parents didn't even know.  I thought I was strange.  My parents just thought I was sick for a few days and for some reason controlling it came pretty easy to me."  I couldn't believe it.  My best friend had been a shape shifter all this time and we never knew.  At that moment John walked back in. 

"Welcome to the pack Lena. Now if you girls are finished catching up we need to go downstairs and talk about Nicholas if you don't mind."  I don't know why I kept forgetting about Nicholas.  I was just so happy being surrounded by everyone I love that I forget my ass of an
ex-boyfriend is out for blood.  We follow John downstairs to where Michael is sitting. We all take a seat on the couch and listened as John explained. 

"Michael has been trying to hunt Nicholas down with no real success.  He will get a lead on him in one place and then thirty minutes later he'll be somewhere else. He rarely sits at home. This is going to take more than just one man.  I've called in a few of our friends to help us track him down.  We are beginning to have suspensions that Nicholas may be a vampire."  Jaci just about jumped out of her skin. 

"I knew it! I knew there was something up with that bastard!" It didn't make sense to me. 

"John, wouldn't I have known if Nicholas was a vampire?  I mean come on we were
together for years."  I said questionably.

"Ava Hun, you didn't know any of us existed so why would you have thought anything about Nicholas? Even if he was acting weird, you probably chalked it up to him being tired or just strange. I bet if you thought about it you might realize there were a few things that were weird that can be explained now, if he truly is a vampire. If he is then he is much more powerful than we first thought. This is why we need to act on this now.  Michael and I will go out with a few more people and try to find him, you girls can stay here and our friend Andrew will stay with you."  That's when I jumped off the couch. 

"The hell you say we're staying here.  There's no fucking way we're staying here while you go hunt down Nicholas. I have changed, I can help now."  John jumped up as well and walked me over to the bar where we could talk alone. 

"Ava you just changed. You don't even know how to turn willingly yet or how to control it. Besides, if anything were to happen to you I would die. Now that I finally have you I can't imagine life without you."  I was defeated.  There was no way he was going to let me go.  It was probably safer this way anyway.  Although the thought of him battling Nicholas again tore me apart, I mean look at what happened the last time.  Nicholas almost killed him so I can understand him not wanting me to go.

I walked back over with everyone else and sat back down.  It was settled, the love of my life and his friends were going to go hunt down my possibly vampire ex-boyfriend; and Jaci, Lena, and I would hang around the house with a babysitter. Joy.  Why did I feel like a teenager who had been grounded? Then we heard a knock at the door. 

"That must be them. Let’s go check out the eye candy because if they look anything like John and Michael I'm going to be in eye candy heaven!" Jaci blurted out. Jaci's
mind was always in the gutter.

John opened the door and let them in, introducing each one as they entered.   The first guy to walk in had jet black hair with green eyes, something I had never seen.  He was tall and lean. He wasn’t as muscular as the others but not skinny.  He had a five o'clock shadow that most women love.  The man must have loved black because that's all he was wearin
g, black t-shirt, black jeans, and black boots. 

"This is Victor."  The name suited him. 

The next guy to come through the door was very much blonde hair and blue eyed.  He was a walking Abercrombie and Fitch model.  He was a tad shorter than the rest but cut.  I mean you could see his abs through his Ralph Lauren polo.  He looked like the type of guy you hope to see at the beach. 

"And this is Andrew.  He will be staying with you girls while we look for Nicholas."  Andrew bowed slightly but when he came up his eyes were locked on Lena. 

"I'm happy to be here and no worries.  I will make sure nothing happens to any of you. I'm sure we'll be bored more than anything."  Right now, that was a comforting thought.  John came over and kissed me goodbye and a subtle smack on the butt and whispered in my ear. 

"I will be back before you know it and everything will be fine.  You and I will begin our much long overdue life together."  Then John and his friends were gone. 

"So what do we want to do?"  Jaci is going to be the hard one to keep still.  She's used to eighty hour days in the ER not sitting around the house.  Suddenly we heard a noise and couldn't place what on Earth it was.  Andrew was standing in the living room with a remote in hand while this huge flat screen just started dropping out of the ceiling. 

"You girls could have a movie night or a show marathon and I make a mean martini."  I did not know if Lena noticed the slight wink Andrew just gave her or if she would even care.  She has never been the one to jump into things with men. I realized it could be because she always thought she was weird but now that she knows there are others like her that might just get her to open up a bit.  Jaci was already going through the TV guide app on her iPhone. 

"Oh you guys! There's a Sex and the City marathon on right now! Aces. Give me the remote sexy!"  Jaci grabbed the remote out of Andrews’s hand which he gladly handed over and she plopped down on the couch where Lena and I soon followed.

Andrew went and hung out behind the bar.  He brought us all kinds of different martinis.  He had Cosmos, Apple-tini's, Sky blue martinis, and the list went on and on. T
hey were all different colors, pink, blue, green, just every color you could think of was sitting on this platter.

We drank and
watched our marathon for hours.  Actually Jaci and I watched our marathon.  Lena however, was over at the bar with Andrew talking.  They would make a cute couple if it went that way.  I felt my phone vibrate and saw it was a text from John. 

‘No luck tonight. That bastard is smart. I hope you’re having a good time. We are headed back now. See you soon my love.’
 

I just could not help my smile every time he text me or called me or looked at me. 

"Hey everyone!  John just texted Ava!"  Jaci was giggling like a school girl. 

"Thank you Jaci." 

"So what did Mr. Hottie say?"  She was definitely drunk. 

"He said they had no luck tonight and they are headed back now."  I was so happy he was on his way back but the other part of me was upset that they had not found Nicholas. 

I know I won't be able to rest until I no longer have to worry about that man or vampire if he is one.  John is right though, the more I think about it the more his weird behavior is starting to make sense.  The strange times he would come home, the temper, the barely eating anything even though he always made me make dinner every night, and he definitely was paler than most. I just thought it was because he was rarely out in the sun ever. 

All I wanted now was for John to be here and wrap his arms around me.  I have no idea how I have existed so long without him.  Suddenly we all heard a loud thump at the door like someone or something ran right into it.  All four of us jumped. 

"That was weird." Lena looked worried but Andrew just laughed. 

"It
was probably a stray animal that just ran into the door."  You could tell we were all unsettled now.  There was no relaxing anymore.  Then we hear it again only harder this time.  Jaci jumped up. 

"Okay. What in the hell is that? And don't tell me an animal." We hear it again and again but this time it wasn’t just at the door.  It sounded like it was traveling up the side of the house. 

"Oh my God did you see that?"  Jaci was turning ghost white.  I put my arm around her so hopefully she would calm down. 

"What Jaci?" 

"I thought I saw someone in the window."  It was that very second
that someone came crashing through the window, glass and wood flying everywhere. 

"Nicholas!" 

I couldn't breathe.  I couldn't believe my eyes. He looked completely different.  His eyes were blood red and he was definitely even more pale than normal then he flashed his teeth. 

"So it's true!"  He looked at me eye to eye, so close I could feel his breath in my face. 

"What's true my dear?  That I am a vampire? Why yes it is true. Did your boyfriend warn you about that?" I'm sure I was ghost white right about now.  What was I going to do?  John wasn't here.  "Nicholas no! Why are you doing this?"  Nicholas grinned at me and yet it was enough to scare even more.  He looked like he was out for blood.  My blood. I felt cold all over.

"Well sweetheart, you betrayed me and I don't take kindly to my wife shacking up with some guy she hardly knows. I spent so much time taking care of yo
u."  Now scared went to pissed, cold went to hot. 

"Taking care of me? Are you kidding me?  You treated me like a prisoner!  I couldn't do anything! You wanted a maid and a chef, not a wife! You work all day every day even on the weekends!  The last time you touched me was, hell I can't even remember. You have done a lot of things Nicholas, but taking care of me was not one of them.  Oh, and stop calling me your wife and sweetheart. The last thing I am
to you is your wife.  I have never been your wife!  Just because we live together for years does not make you my husband!"  That struck a chord. 

"Reg
ardless of your feelings, a girlfriend is supposed to stay loyal!  Especially a live in girlfriend is supposed to cook and clean her house for her boyfriend and be there for him when he gets home from work.  A real girlfriend is supposed to stay home and not go out doing God only knows what around town!  You are mine!" 

I looked him right in the eye, I knew what he was there to do and now I wasn't scared anymore.  I could feel the anger boiling inside me like a fire trying to bust out.  If I didn't know any better I would swear my eyes were blood red. 

"Oh my God Ava!"  I could hear Jaci screaming, but all I could think about was that beautiful white wolf John told me about.  I knew my body was not the same anymore.  I was no longer lean, normal, black hair, hazel eyed Avalon anymore. 

Now I was a strong white wolf ready to defend myself and my family.  Lena and Andrew were right behind me and had changed as well.  It seemed like the wolf was a popular choice in these situations and why not?  Like John said the wolf is a very misunderstood animal.

Chapter Eleven

Nicholas was not fazed at all by seeing me transform into a wolf.  It is as if he knew I would someday.

"Haha. My dear Ava, you finally became like your parents.  I had been waiting for that for a long time." I had no idea what he meant by that but I was growing increasingly angry.  I felt myself snarl making him aware of my impatience.