Werewolf Dreams (11 page)

Ava followed Cyrus and jumped up on the rock, lying down next to him. She closed her eyes and let the warmth from the rock and the sun turn her toasty and warm within minutes.

“Cyrus, tell me something. Why was your dad so shocked yesterday that I wasn’t my father’s wife? Why is everyone so surprised that I’m his daughter?” she asked, shading her eyes with her arm.

Cyrus smiled and leaned back on his hands, scanning the trees and rocks surrounding the cottage and beach. “Well, everyone just assumed that if your dad was married, that he’d have picked a werewolf like him. And when we mate, we stick together. A mate would never let his wife or husband leave for three months without coming too.”

Ava nodded. She could understand that, but still. “Yeah, but hello, I’m eighteen!”

Cyrus grinned at her and reached over to follow the pattern her wet hair was making on her shoulder. “We don’t age like regular people do. Your dad for instance could pass for early thirties or even late twenties when in fact he’s what, forty three? You could very easily pass for a werewolf of your father’s age.”

Ava knocked his hand away and frowned. “Great, I look old enough to be my own mother. That’s not freaky or insulting at all,” she said irritably.

Cyrus laughed and leaned over on his side to look at her better. “You’re fishing for compliments now. We knew your father had married, but he never told my dad that he’d gotten a divorce. I think my parents assumed that he’d just run into another group of werewolves and met his mate there. And then to hear he’d divorced. Well, that’s just not heard of here,” he said simply, staring at her face as if he were memorizing her.

Ava cracked an eye open and stared at him. “Seriously? You have got to be kidding.”

Cyrus leaned over and traced her lips with his finger, making her shiver and stare.

“Not really. When you’re mated, like I told you yesterday, you need your mate. You think of every minute you’re not with your other half as torture,” he said watching her.

Ava gave up and turned on her side to look at Cyrus. “
Which brings me back to your parents. Like I told you this morning, there’s no way this,” she said pointing back and forth between them, “is going to happen. Mommy and daddy don’t approve. And to be honest, I don’t either,” she said, trying to smile in a
let’s just be friends kind of way
.

Cyrus smiled at her slowly, showing his teeth. “You’ll be glad to know that I had a nice long chat with my parents after you left. It turns out that they’ve had a change of heart.”

Ava frowned at him and bit her lip. “
Why?
What did you say to change their minds?”

Cyrus moved closer to her and looked up as if he were trying to remember something. “I just reassured them that you and I
pretending
to be mates would save them a lot of headaches. I told them about the way Ben, Jake and Tom were treating you yesterday. They both know your dad would tear this town apart if anyone dared to touch you. I’m the perfect solution. When you and your dad leave at the end of summer, then that’s that,” he said, looking calm and logical.

Ava looked away from Cyrus and pursed her lips. It actually was a good solution. She hated the idea of having to deal with men like Ben every time she wanted to leave the house. But Cyrus scared her. Not that he would hurt her, but that he’d get past all of the walls she’d put up around herself to protect her heart. She didn’t know if it was worth the risk.

“We’ll be together all the time anyways Ava. Don’t make it into a big deal,” he said lightly, as he played with her hair again.

Ava snorted rudely and inched away from him, coming to the edge of the rock. “Picking mates is a big deal.”

Cyrus nodded his head and leaned back, resting his head on his hands as he closed his eyes. “It is. But it would all be pretend, so no worries,” he said casually.

Ava frowned at him suspiciously. “Then why do I feel like I’m jumping from the frying pan and into the fire?”

Cyrus opened his eyes at her and laughed. “Because you have a very suspicious mind. Now just get used to the idea of enjoying your summer with me. Besides, I can teach you about werewolves. I can even help you through your first change.”

Ava sighed and lay back down. “I’ll think about it,” she said finally. She felt Cyrus move, but kept her eyes shut, ignoring him.

“You know, you could always change your mind too. Like if you ever want to make things real between us. No pressure or anything, but if you decide not to leave at the end of summer, I’d be fine with that,” he said softly, his voice sounding very close.

Ava licked her lips and shook her head. “Nothing could tempt me to stay Cyrus. No offense.”

And then he was kissing her. Ava’s eyes flew open in surprise as Cyrus slowly and methodically kissed her so thoroughly and expertly that she forgot to push him away. When he pulled back a few moments later, she was surprised to find that her hands were in his hair.

She glared at him and hopped off the rock. “Why did you kiss me?” she demanded, standing with her hands on her hips.

Cyrus sat up and watched her with a grin. “Well, you said nothing could tempt you. I wanted to prove you wrong,” he said and then stood up on the rock. He jumped in the air, did a tight flip and landed smoothly on his feet in front of her.

Her mouth hung open in shock as he walked past her and toward the cottage. “Stay close to the cottage Ava. I need to tell your dad about the blood on the rock. It looked fresh,” he said and then disappeared inside.

Ava let out a shaky breath. She’d never in her life been kissed like that before. She wasn’t surprised to find that she had enjoyed it.
A lot.
Even more reason to keep Cyrus at arm’s length. He was probably the only man on earth who
could
convince her to stay in his freaky little town.

After Cyrus and her father came out of the cottage, there was no time for any questions. Her father drove them back to the house, looking silent, grim and determined. Within an hour Tobias and four other men she had met the previous night headed back to the lake, leaving her standing on the front porch with Cyrus.

“They looked so serious. What will they do?” she asked quietly.

Cyrus put his arm around her shoulder as they watched her father’s jeep and two other cars disappear from sight. “They’re going to track. They’ll be changing into their wolf form. I hope they catch him this time,” he said fervently.

Ava pulled away from Cyrus and turned to look up at him. “You could have gone with them you know. I’ll be fine on my own until your mom gets back.”

Cyrus shook his head. “Until you’ve chosen a mate or you
r father is here to protect you, you’re stuck with me. So have you decided to go along with our plan?”

Ava rolled her eyes and looked away. “Look, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t think it’s a good idea. At least with you it isn’t. I’m not exactly very experienced at handling men.
Especially men who keep trying to
kiss me
. So I’ll go ahead with this pretend mate thing, but um,
just not with you
. Let’s find someone a little less . . . you,” she said lamely, smiling at his stormy expression.

“You’ll pretend to be the mate to another man. Just not me?” he asked softly, moving to stand right in front of her.

Ava nodded her head firmly. “Yes, that’s what I’m saying. I’d feel comfortable with someone kind of smaller, maybe nerdy even. Why don’t we go into town and I’ll check the guys out and pick someone right now?” she said smiling hopefully. Her plan was brilliant. If she could pretend to be with some nerdy skinny guy, then Cyrus would have to give her space and she’d be protected from guys like Ben all at the same time.

Cyrus laughed. “Okay, I’ll agree to that. But there’s one thing you should know about werewolf men. If a man see
s a woman who has picked a mate and they’re not married, he can challenge the other man to a fight. In wolf form of course, so we can heal faster when it’s over. And whoever wins the fight, wins the girl. Just keep that in mind when you pick your pretend mate,” he said, his eyes looking devilish.

Ava squared her shoulders. “I will. Thanks for the information. Let’s get it over with then,” she said walking down the stairs.

Cyrus fell in beside her, careful to keep a respectful distance between them. “Just out of curiosity, why do you want some nerdy guy instead of me?”

Ava glanced at him and then looked away quickly. With the light shining down on his bright hair, and his sunglasses on, he looked so
good
, she had to stop herself from reaching out to him.

“Because I don’t feel nervous around nerdy guys.
I can relax. Nerdy guys don’t reach over and kiss you until your brain turns to mush. Nerdy guys don’t make you want things you shouldn’t,” she said primly, moving further away from him.

Cyrus nodded his head as if he saw her point. “Yeah, well nerdy guys can’t protect you from them,” he said nodding toward Ben, Jake and Tom wrestling around in the park.

Ava watched the three shirtless men try as hard as they could to bring each other down and tried not to cringe in fear. They were violent and merciless and obviously having a good time. It was clearly for entertainment as there was a crowd of admiring people surrounding them cheering and egging them on.

“Holy crap,” she muttered, looking away from the violent wrestling match.

“You might have to face it Ava. I’m the one guy who
can
protect you. I can go up against those guys any day. And once they know you’ve picked me, they would offend my whole family by challenging me. Not that they’d win.”

Ava sighed, feeling like she was being pressured into a corner. “Don’t forget about Zoe now. She ripped my hair out last night. If I chose you for my
pretend
mate, she’d challenge me in a heartbeat for you and then
I’d
be dead. You don’t want to see that, do you?” she asked with a sarcastic smile.

Cyrus
brooded and led her across the street to the pharmacy, opening the door for her. “Girls can choose their mates, but if a man says no, then its no. It’s not exactly a fair system. Zoe won’t be an issue. On the other hand, if a man chooses a mate, sometimes it doesn’t matter what the girl says. If a man chooses a woman, unless another man steps in and challenges him, then she has to go with that man. It’s a pretty old fashioned custom. Nowadays, the parents are usually involved and it’s a more civilized process, but sometimes, tragically, women are forced to be with men they don’t want to be with,” he said simply, shoving his hands in his jean pockets.

Ava shook her head back and forth, her mouth open in shock and horror. “That is barbaric Cyrus! It’s like the Middle East or something.”

Cyrus agreed. “It is. Things need to change around here and when I’m the leader I’m going to make sure that never happens again. I’m going to make sure that women can say no. I want to make sure women are safe.”

Ava blinked in surprise. “Wait, isn’t my grandfather the leader right now? Why would you be next?”

Cyrus smiled at her and took off his sunglass as he walked to the back of the pharmacy. “Because your father doesn’t want the job and he never had a son, so it falls to the next man in line, which would be my father. He says he’s too old to take on challengers although he probably could to be honest, but he’s too laid back and easy going. He’d hate it. So it falls to me.”

“Oh wow, so when your parents were all,
she’s not good enough for you
, they were thinking of you being the next leader. If I’m not a good enough mate, then . . .”

Cyrus turned back and looked at her, “Then I’d be challenged for being the Alpha until someone took it from me. Strong offspring and strong genetic lines are kind of important when picking the next leader.”

Ava’s eyebrows rose up and she shook her head. “Which means Zoe
is
perfect for you and you’d have perfect werewolf children,” she said softly, wondering why she felt so crushed.

Cyrus turned back, making her stop in her tracks as he tilted her chin up with his hand and got eye to eye with her. “She’s not for me. She doesn’t call to my blood. She’s
not my other half
. I’ll take on every challenger from now until I’m a hundred, but I won’t pick a woman I can’t love,” he said, his face twisted into a look of fury and desperation.

Ava put her hands on his wrist and pulled his arm down. “You’re not mad at me Cyrus. You’re mad at your society and their stupid rules. Come on, let’s just forget it,” she said, as she noticed people turning and staring at them.

Cyrus noticed too and turned away from her, walking silently to the back of the building where his mother was working behind the counter. She was talking to a man and putting a bottle of medication into a white bag for him. Ava glanced around the pharmacy and smiled as she noticed it had the same old fashioned feel as the rest of the town. There were posters of older movie stars as if the town of Paskell was stuck in a time warp. She walked over to the book section and noticed the best selling books were from at least five years ago. Her eyebrows lifted as she saw a People magazine that had come out at least a year ago. She glanced around the pharmacy and noticed there weren’t any aisles filled with medicines There was mostly just shampoo and soap and lotion and brushes and cosmetics.
Why have a pharmacy with no medicine?
she wondered to herself.