Werewolf Dreams (16 page)

“Put me down Cyrus,” she commanded, but he just kissed her again.

“Come on, let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving and exhausted. When my dad found me, I was half way across Canada. Poor guy had to go straight to bed. He’s not used to running so long and so hard.”

Ava’s mouth opened in surprise as they walked up the steps to the house.
“Oh. Because he
um
, and
you
were um,
wolves
at the time?” she asked.

Cyrus glanced at her before opening the door for her, looking at her with patience.
“Yes Ava, we were in our wolf form.”

They passed Patricia on their way out the front door.
His mom held him tightly in her arms before looking at him sternly. “Next time something upsets you, don’t just take off like that. Promise me,” she said, shaking a finger in Cyrus’s face.

Cyrus grinned repentantly and nodded.
“Okay mom. Tell Dad I love him, and thanks for finding me. He’s a little worn out,” he said sounding guilty.

Patricia grimaced and hurried into the house to check on her husband.
Ava grinned at Cyrus’s pained expression and put her arm around his waist naturally as they walked down the stairs and headed toward town.

“I guess maybe you should have a little faith in me, huh?” she said under her breath.

Cyrus heard her loud and clear though and pulled gently on her hair as he smiled down at her. “This coming from the girl who told everyone over and over again how much she wanted to go to California for the summer.”

Ava shrugged and looked away.
“I’m a girl. I’m allowed to change my mind aren’t I?”

Cyrus laughed tiredly as they walked past the park.
She was grateful to see just a few families throwing Frisbees or eating picnics. No sign of annoying macho jerks anywhere.
Perfect
. They headed automatically for Connor’s Pub and sat at a back booth this time, not wanting to a make a statement like they had yesterday. Ava sat close to him, holding his hand as they looked at the same menu together.

“Well, isn’t this cozy?”

Ava felt Cyrus squeeze her hand as she looked up to see Zoe standing by their table, staring at her with pure hatred. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck lift up in reaction to the threat.

“Hey Zoe, what’s going on?” Cyrus said in a relaxed voice even as his eyes narrowed at her, warning her to back off.

Zoe switched her gaze to Cyrus and her whole face changed. Ava felt her heart go out to Zoe as she could plainly see that the poor girl was head over heels in love with him. Ava had to look away. Loving someone and not having them love you back could only be torture.

“Cyrus, how could you do this to me?” Zoe whispered sadly, letting her head fall into her hands as loud ugly sobs filled the pub.

Ava nudged Cyrus in the arm and he got the hint and stood up, pulling Zoe into a hug.

“Zoe, I told you last year that we were only friends and that’s all it could ever be between us. Come over to the bar and let me buy you a drink while you calm down. Ava, go ahead and order for me, okay? I’ll be a few minutes,” he said looking at her with guilty eyes.

Ava nodded silently as Cyrus led Zoe to the bar, patting her back miserably as she laid her head on the bar and cried her eyes out.
Every customer in the pub had stopped eating and drinking to watch the confrontation, but as she just cried silently, everyone eventually went back to their meals and conversations.

Ava felt sick to her stomach and wasn’t sure she could eat now but when Yvonne came by to get her order she ordered the supreme nachos and a steak for Cyrus.
Yvonne glanced at her miserable face and sat down opposite her.

“You look like you just kicked a puppy,” she said with a smile and a pat on her hand. “Don’t feel too bad for that one.
Everyone knew she had it bad for Cyrus, but he was just being nice to her. He wanted to be her friend. Her home life hasn’t been so great and she doesn’t have very many friends. But he had to know this was coming. Honestly,” she said with a roll of her eyes.

Ava nodded, and glanced at Cyrus who was talking quietly to Zoe and handing her napkin.
“Men can be clueless about stuff like that I guess,”

Yvonne laughed and nodded readily.
“You wouldn’t believe the crush I had on Cyrus last summer. I thought I would die I was so in love with him, but it wasn’t to be. I’m glad it’s you he picked though. He’s a great guy.”

Ava frowned wondering if everyone in town was in love with Cyrus.
“Um, so are you dating anyone new now?” she asked hoping that her cousin had moved on.

Yvonne sighed happily, her face blooming into a big grin.
“Check him out,” she said pointing to a large red-headed man standing at the bar watching a soccer game. He must have felt her gaze though because he glanced back at her and winked, making her cousin blush bright red.

“Isn’t he gorgeous?” she said, sighing happily.
“Everyone calls him Big Red, but his name is Trent. He told me just last night that he wants to pick me as his mate. I haven’t told my parents yet, but look at the ring he gave me,” she whispered ecstatically as she held her hand out for Ava to see.

Ava’s mouth fell open at the huge diamond weighing her cousin’s hand down.
“You have got to be kidding me! Is he a millionaire or something?” she whispered back, holding her cousin’s hand in hers as the light reflected was blinding her eyes.

Yvonne swished her long brown hair over her shoulders and admired the ring on her hand.
“Well, no, of course not. His family owns the grocery store down the street though. He’s five years older than me, but I have to admit there’s something to be said for a mature man. I’m sick to death of immature idiots like those guys,” she said with disgust as Ben, Jake and Tom walked in, laughing loudly and jostling each other. “I gotta go check on my tables. I’ll bring your food out as soon as it’s ready,” she promised, frowning worriedly as the three men stood at the bar.

Ava started to scoot back into the shadows but stopped when Zoe jumped up from her bar stool and slapped Cyrus as hard as she could on the face, before screaming
a few foul profanities and running past Ben, Jake and Tom and out the door. Ben nodded to Jake and he turned around and followed after Zoe.

Ava’s mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide as Cyrus stood up, ignoring all the cat calls and rude remarks and walked with dignity back to her. She shut her mouth and winced as she saw the red hand mark on his cheek.

Cyrus sat down next to her and shook his head as he smiled ruefully. “You know that saying,
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?
It turns out that saying is very true,” he said, rubbing his cheek.

Ava scooted closer and touched his face gently.
“She put a lot of muscle into that slap.”

Cyrus nodded, looking even more tired.
“She sure did.”

Ava rubbed her hand up and down his back.
“Do you mind if I ask what it was you said that set her off?”

Cyrus sighed and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her closer.
“I think it was the fact that I told her that even if you hadn’t chosen me for a mate, that I would have chosen you. I told her I had very strong feelings for you,” he said, looking down into her eyes.

Ava sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist.
“I’m so sorry Cyrus. Look, let’s just eat and then get you home and put you to bed. You look so exhausted you could collapse,” she said worriedly seeing the lines of fatigue around his face.

Cyrus nodded his head.
“I promise tomorrow I’ll feel much better. We’ll do something fun.”

Yvonne brought their drinks, nachos and Cyrus’s steak over right then and Ava watched with a smile as he devoured everything he possibly could.

“Should we order another steak? Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Ava said, feeling bad as he scanned the empty table for more food.

Cyrus laughed and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
“Nah, let’s just get out of here,” he said, motioning to Yvonne for the check.

Ava held Cyrus’s hand as she watched Ben, Jake and Tom look their way before walking out the door.
She frowned and watched them walk past the pub window. And for a second, her eyes connected with Ben and she felt a ribbon of fear snake around her heart.

“Cyrus, I have a bad feeling about those guys,” she said quietly as he took his wallet out and threw some bills on the table.

“What? You mean Ben and those other two idiots? They’re all hot air. Come on, let’s go,” he said standing up and holding his hand out for her.

Ava stood up and took his hand, but stayed where she was as he tried to pull her toward the door.
“Cyrus, listen to me. I think we should call your mom, or my grandfather to come get us. I don’t trust those guys,” she said again, pulling on his hand.

Cyrus shut his eyes and rubbed his hand over his head tiredly.
“Sweetheart, we don’t need to call my mom to come pick us up. We’re right here in the middle of town. There’s no way they’d try anything and even if they did, everyone would see and stand as a witness to your grandfather about it. They’d be dead. Come on honey, let’s just get home. I’m about ten minutes away from collapsing,” he said pleadingly.

Ava could see the exhaustion rimming his eyes and so she nodded and followed quietly after him, but no matter how logical he sounded, she couldn’t get the sick feeling of dread out of her stomach.

They walked silently, hand in hand down the street, each lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the pharmacy they crossed the street to the other side, hurrying as an old white SUV turned a corner.

“Cyrus!” they heard someone yell down a side street.

They both turned their heads to see who was calling Cyrus’s name and saw Grayson, the man she had met yesterday, standing in the middle of the road, looking fearful and upset.

“Hey Gray! I’ll talk to you tomorrow buddy. I’ve
gotta get home,” Cyrus said with a smile and wave as he kept walking, pulling her with him.

“That’s the bad thing about living in a small town.
Sometimes it takes an hour just to get to your front door because so many people want to stop and talk,” he said with a tired laugh.

“That is so . . . ,” she said and then stopped as Grayson yelled out Cyrus’s name again.
But this time, he sounded as if he were in pain.

Cyrus stopped and turned around immediately staring at Grayson, as he stood completely still in the middle of the road. As they continued to watch, they could now see that someone was standing behind Grayson, crouched down.

“Cyrus,” Ava whispered. “It’s a trap. It’s Ben, Jake and Tom. They’re setting you up. You can’t go. You have to call for help first. You’re too tired to take on all those guys at once,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off of Grayson.

Cyrus nodded his head. “You’re right.
But I don’t have time. Listen, you’re a fast runner, right? I want you to run as fast as you can back to the pub and get Yvonne’s dad Kurt and her boyfriend Red. Get them and bring them back here as fast as you can. Can you do that?” he asked, scanning the streets for any other danger that might jump out.

Ava nodded and dropped his hand as she turned and sprinted back for the pub, running as fast as she could.
Three minutes she burst through the doors and ran right up to the red headed man she’d never even met before. “Red!
Please
come help Cyrus. Ben and his friends are holding Grayson and hurting him. They set up an ambush. Please help him,” she begged, pulling on his arm.

The big, burly red-headed man stood up immediately and glanced at Yvonne’s dad, Kurt.
They shared a dark look and nodded, “Show us where,” he said and followed her quickly out the door. The two men ran with her as she sprinted back to the road she had last seen Cyrus walking down.

“
There!”
she said pointing, as the two men flew past her. She turned the corner and gasped in horror as she saw Grayson’s still body lying in a pool of blood and Tom and Jake holding Cyrus by the shoulders and arms as Ben pulled back his arm before letting it fly into Cyrus’s face. She screamed, knowing that Big Red and Kurt wouldn’t be able to reach him in time.

But Ben must have heard her, because he paused for a second in his brutal attack as all three heads swiveled in her direction.
Cyrus took advantage of the opportunity and pulled Jake and Tom’s bodies together so forcefully, that their heads slammed against each other’s, making them howl in pain. They both fell back, holding their heads as Cyrus lunged for Ben, grabbing him by his ankles as he turned to flee after seeing Red and Kurt bearing down him. Ben slammed on the ground so hard, his head bounced. But she didn’t see what happened next because someone put her in a brutal headlock from behind and started dragging her backwards as she fought for breath.

As her lungs began to ache and the panic faded, something inside of her took over and suddenly her mind was clear.
She used the hard, muscular arm around her throat to anchor herself as she flipped her legs up, propelling her body straight up and scissoring her legs around her assailants head. She squeezed with all her might, using every muscle in her legs to crush the person’s neck. The person let go of Ava’s neck and fought to pull at the legs strangling her. Ava sat straight up, grabbing the person’s head before kicking her legs free and pushing away as she jumped a few feet backwards, landing lightly on her feet.