SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE: Protection of the Wolf (Paranormal Shifter Army Navy Seal Protector Alpha Wolf Romance) (Fantasy Military Action Adventure Urban Werewolf Romance Short Stories) (2 page)

Elizabeth awoke to the sound of birds. For a brief moment she felt at peace. Then she remembered where she was, and the night before. She sat up straight, scared. The house was quiet but without a window she could not tell if it was sunrise or not. She stood next to the door listening. She could hear nothing at first but then she heard the faint sound of feet. Then a human sounding sigh. She was not sure if she should try the locks but she felt she had to, right or wrong. She unlocked one of the locks and waited. After a moment she heard Kurt’s voice.

“It’s safe for now. You can come out. I imagine you have to use the bathroom,” he said. He was right about that and she un-bolted the dead bolt and the second door lock. As she went out she looked down the hall and could see him sitting at a table near the front door. He gestured to the door a few feet away and the other side of the hallway.

“That’s the bathroom, help yourself,” he offered. Elizabeth needed to. When she was done she had to think a minute about what to do. Kurt had looked awful sad sitting out there alone. She knew nothing about what she had happened except what she had seen in movies, but was sure that was not right.
A werewolf!
That was a bit out of her league. Then again, she thought, so was whatever was going on at work. At least she knew what this was. Or did she? She needed to find out what was going on so she could make an informed decision.

Elizabeth opened the bathroom door and went down the hall slowly. He saw her coming and stood up. He was just wearing pants, no shoes, with dirt on his feet. His hair was a wild mess, but it usually was. She could see scratches on his arms and chest. She stopped a few feet from him.

“So, uh morning,” she said hesitantly.

“Morning. Sorry about last night. In my defense I was not expecting anyone.”

She shrugged. Not sure what to say, as usual.

“Yeah well, about that, uh sorry,” she said. “I thought maybe you could help me, uh,
you’re a werewolf!
”

She couldn’t help herself, it just came out. He nodded agreement. Still looking sad and resigned.

“Yes I am. The only good thing about it is no one would believe you if you told them. I am sorry for scaring you so bad last night,” he answered and walked over to a counter with what looked like a kitchen on the other side. It was then that she smelled coffee and saw the cuts on his amazingly muscled back.

“Coffee smells good. Oh damn Kurt, you’re injured!” she said. He looked back at her and shrugged.

“Not the first time. Want some coffee before you go? I am assuming you want to get the hell away from here,” he said. Elizabeth nodded and went over and stood next to him as he reached for the coffee pot.

“You’re not scared?” he asked.

“Not right now. Right now you are my neighbor Kurt. Last night was something else. I don’t think you would hurt me, otherwise you would not have protected me last night right? It wouldn’t make sense. Mm, this is good coffee. Strong, but I am going to need that. Thank you.”

He continued looking at her with a tiny smile on his lips.

“You are a very logical person, aren’t you?” he asked. She shrugged.

“Yes, I am I guess. I understand numbers and math better than people. People are confusing. For instance my boss and the big guy in the suit. I knew something was up and figured I might be in danger, so I left work and it turns out I was followed. I don’t know what is going on except it scared me. I saw you driving away and, I don’t know, I thought maybe you could help so I followed you. I almost could not catch up because my car is wimpy but then I made it. Oh, you left the gate unlocked last night. I locked it for you,” she finished in a rush. Proof once again, she told herself, I have no business speaking to other people.

He nodded as if he followed what she said.

“That lock never catches right and I was in a hurry. Thanks. About your car, it may be a little slower right now. I am not in control of what I do for three days a month. I can promise to get it fixed at no cost. It is a plus of working at an auto shop,” he told her, looking nervous. It took Elizabeth a moment to realize what he’d said.

“My car?” she said and ran towards the door. She went out on the porch and stopped staring in shock. The tires on her little car were slashed, the doors were open and stuffing was strewn all over the place. She hardly noticed that his car had flat tires as well.

“I looked at it, it seems somehow I got tangled in the wires and the ignition harness is torn out,” he explained softly from behind her.

She felt tears come to her eyes. She had worked hard for her little blue Beetle. It had been a major landmark, her first car. Now it was in shreds. She wanted to scream at him, but logically he had not known what he was doing. She stood there and cried, not knowing what to do. It started a flood of emotions. He put his arm around her and she turned and cried on his chest. Her whole life was destroyed, she thought over and over. He walked her back inside as she slowed the flood finally and began hiccupping. He got her some water.

To distract herself she sat on one of the kitchen counter chairs and looked around. It was a nice cabin. A little bare of furniture, but that made sense considering what had happened to her car. He handed her a glass of water and she sipped on it. It did help loosen her throat. She tried to figure out what to do, but she came up blank.

“I don’t know what to do now. I guess I am safe from the people in the city for now. I can’t see how they could find me here, but can I be safe here?” she looked at him. He sighed in response.

“Yes, I can set something up. I usually lock myself up, but you came at exactly the wrong time so I had to lock you up instead. If you have to stay we can set it up so that you have out here and I have one of the other rooms. Why exactly did you come again?” he asked.

She went through the story and he sat next to her as she showed him the pictures on her phone. She was glad she had kept her bag with her in the room. Sitting next to him was starting another problem. She found herself getting turned on. He was an extremely handsome man. He said he had seen the big guy in the suit before and she nodded, leaning against him. He smelled amazing, wild, reckless and fun. She turned to look at him and he was looking at her. There was spark in his eyes that immediately caught her eyes and she couldn’t look away. It was something animal that a part of her responded to. She put a hand on his chest and inhaled his scent. It seemed to fill her with a wildness of her own. It was something foreign to her, yet deep down familiar. Her usual logical thinking went out the window and she leaned forward and kissed his chest. He shuddered and his arm went around her tightly.

“Are you sure about this Elizabeth? Once I start, I won’t be able to stop. Not at this time of the month,” he told her. She giggled and kissed him again. He shuddered again, as if holding back something primal.

“Then don’t stop,” she told him. Her voice had achieved a low sultry tone she had never heard out of her mouth, but she could not stop. In the back of her mind she knew this was a mistake; they hadn’t even dated yet! It was immaterial to how she felt though and she reached up to run her fingers through his wild hair and stretched to kiss his lips. He bent forward to make it easier and suddenly, with a quick movement he swooped her up in his arms and they kissed each other wildly. He was carrying her and she did not care. She just had to taste him and satisfy her feelings, her needs! She had not been with a man but twice in her life and that was years ago. She had a vague, fleeting thought that she must have pent-up sexual frustration to respond like this, but the thought disappeared as he lay her down on a bed.

She quickly took off her blouse and t-shirt while he worked on her pants. Soon they were both naked and reaching for each other once more. He had a growl to his voice that sent shivers of pleasure down her body and sparked a responding growl of her own. His lips went to her large breasts and she arched her back. It felt so good! She ran her hands over his muscular back and side, letting her hands travel down to his nether regions finding a swelling member of his animal needs. One of his hands found her wet opening and she cried out with pleasure and a growing need for more. She was completely out of control now. Her desires and lusts were propelling her forward as they kissed and rolled across the big bed. Nothing had ever felt so wild and good like this, and she wanted more.

“Oh, yes! Yes! That’s it, oh yeah right there!” she called out in her passion. He plunged down into her with a force of lust that exploded an orgasm; it seemed like a tsunami of physical feelings that was overwhelming her and carried her away. When it slowed and came to a halt they were both gasping and trying to catch their breath. When they were finally breathing normally again, she did not want to move. She was curled with one of his arms around her and he was playing with her hair.

“I would apologize for this, but you seemed as eager as I was. For three days, even when I am my normal shape, I still have the wolf somewhere close by. You kind of walked right into it and I did not think ahead. I am still in shock over you being here,” he explained.

Elizabeth realized that he was both saying he was to blame and refusing to apologize for it since she enjoyed herself. She would have had something to say about that, but she
had
enjoyed it. The pheromones, or animal instincts, whatever he was giving off was not the culprit. Her mother’s last bit of advice to her was always to be honest with yourself, or you could not be honest with others. She had honestly wanted and needed the wildness they had just shared together.

“Okay then, you said if I stay up here there is a way to keep me safe. You did not seem too safe last night,” she pointed out. He grunted in response.

“True, but now I know you will be here. I will show you,” he said. Then he sat up and rolled off the bed, grabbing his pants. She got up and reached for her clothes and got dressed. Now that it was over she found herself embarrassed by her nakedness. Once dressed she followed him out of the second door in the hallway and went to the first one.

This room had blankets spread out and a low table with huge chrome-looking bowls on top. The door had three dead bolts on it, unlike the room at the end of the hall. She realized he did lock himself in. A question occurred to her as she realized something.

“How do you lock yourself in? If you have the keys, I mean. Can you not work keys in that uh...state?” she asked. He smiled slightly.

“I don’t know if I can or not. I slide them back under the door before the change happens just to be sure. I have a string with a magnet that, in the morning, I slide under and I can get the keys to get me out. I keep that up there,” he pointed to a high shelf.

“A magnet is not something I would be able to understand how to use in that uh...state,” he said, smiling.

“I suppose it would be difficult to slide a magnet after the keys, under the door, for a wolf anyway,” she said. He nodded.

“It has worked so far. Normally I prefer not to wander from the cabin. We are not in a populated area but you never know. I do not want to hurt anyone if it can be avoided,” he finished.

Then a phone rang. They looked at each other.

“It’s not mine,” she told him. He frowned.

“I should not be getting any calls. Whoever is calling is lucky to get through. Reception up her really sucks,” he said as he walked out the door. She followed him into the living room and he pulled a phone out of a bag. His eyes widened.

“What’s up man? I know you wouldn’t call if it was not an emergency,” he said and then paused. She hated listening to only one side of a conversation.

“What do you mean?” he said softly.

“What the hell!” was his second response. This was followed by a long pause as he listened and looked at me with a resigned look on his face.

“Okay, thanks man. I hope you are not putting yourself in danger telling me this. I owe you... Nope, I haven’t seen her, just a neighbor… OK, see ya,” he finished. Then he hung up the phone and shut it off. He turned and looked at Elizabeth.

“We may have some problems, the one you call the Big Guy in the suit showed up at my work. He is the guy I told you I had seen before in your picture. I always figured he might be shaking down my boss for protection. If my boss didn’t complain and no one else seemed to mind, it was none of my business. I guess it sort of is now. My buddy was in the store room and overheard a conversation with the boss and the big guy. It is not good Liz,” he said.

“I don’t go by Liz,” was Elizabeth’s automatic response.

“Sorry, I prefer short names in times of trouble. Easier to shout in a fight,” he said. She shrugged then sighed. She hated shortening her name.

“In an emergency you can call me Beth. So what was that call?” she asked becoming nervous again.

“The guy from your work had gone to your apartment like you said. He couldn’t find you so he asked around. The guy at the deli told him he saw you run out to your car with a bag. He then told them he saw
me
run out with a bag. The assumption is that we are together and that you either asked the local Navy SEAL for help or we are shacking up,” he told her. She sighed thinking to herself that both assumptions were true.

“At least they don’t know where we are. I can do some research online about the file and see what I can come up with about them. I don’t suppose your friend would be willing to tell what he heard to the cops?” she asked. Kurt shook his head.

“I wouldn’t ask. It is bad enough we are in danger, you know what I mean?” he said. She nodded understanding. So she got her phone out of her bag and plugged it in. It had reception so she immediately Googled information about the file.

“I am glad the cells are working. You said your friend was lucky he got through?” she commented.

“Yeah. The tower is along the highway so we can get good service. Sometimes there is interference that screws the signal though,” he said. Elizabeth nodded. As she worked another thought came to her.

“Does anyone know where this place is?” she questioned.

“I never told anyone. It was my grandad’s place. When I realized what had happened to me, I came up here and set it up as my personal hideaway. I don’t want to have to tell anyone. You found it by luck and being sneaky,” he teased.

“Hey, I was panicking. I am not a Navy SEAL, all used to danger and werewolf stuff. I am an accountant with low to no social skills. Call it blind luck; I don’t know how to be sneaky. Even the guy at the deli saw me leave,” she finished absently as she continued taking notes and following links on her phone. He snorted but did not respond. He went to the fridge.

“Want a sandwich? I have ham, beef and some turkey,” he said. Her stomach rumbled audibly at the idea. He laughed and she told him how she would like it. He worked in the kitchen leaving her alone while she worked on her phone. She took notes and searched with her phone. By the time he set a sandwich and a beer in front of her, she was done. As she ate she showed him.

“Ok look at this, one umbrella company after another leading back to – ta-da! – the Zambino crime family. Now we know for sure. Besides, this means they are definitely shipping things on the side through my boss’s warehouse. I don’t know if they are forcing him or if he is a willing participant, but this should be enough. I mean these financial records are...” she was interrupted.

“How did you get financial records on your phone?” he asked reasonably. She felt a slight blush.

“I uh, I guess, I, um, hacked them. Phones are just as good as computers if you know how to use them. Especially since I had our company records here to work off of,” she told him.

“I am impressed. It makes me wonder though. Could the mob find out about this place if they had someone who could do what you do?” he asked worriedly. Elizabeth was immediately worried; she had not thought of that. She got back on her phone and it only took a minute.

“This is a public site. It does basic searches on families and names,” she told him. She slid the phone over to Kurt and he scrolled through the page.

“Shit, there it is. Ok then I have some work to do. Nice job Beth,” he called her. He then leaned down and kissed her cheek.

“If they are going to come they are going to get hurt getting here,” he said.

She did not know what he meant and finished her lunch while he went back into the bedroom. She scrolled down the phone while she ate and saw that it had his record on it. His military record. It was impressive, even to someone who did not know much about it, like her. She backed out of the site and cleared her phone. Then she put it on airplane mode to charge faster. He came out with a pack of things that clanked, and he had a gun on his belt.

“The house itself is pretty secure. I have metal sheeting in the walls and the glass is high impact. The doors are heavy duty as are the locks, so the cabin is good,” he told her. She thought he was trying to reassure her and it was working. He continued.

“I am going to set a few traps and use some brush to hide the gate. Just in case. I can’t imagine them being so quick they will be here tonight. From what I have heard mobsters are not as smart as accountant hackers,” he said the last with a grin. She blushed a little but smiled. Then he left.

He sure was focused when he decided on something, she thought. After a little while she decided to take a shower. She got cleaned up and put on some fresh clothes. She dressed in red leggings, blue jogging shorts and a white tank top with a light sweat jacket over it. It was comfortable and one of the few things within reach when she was frantically packing the day before.

Elizabeth did more research on the mob and found out about the big guy in the suit. She saw his picture. He was rumored to be a lieutenant for the mob with a long list of possible dead bodies following his history. It was scary stuff, so then she switched to more information about the mob’s financial history. They really were not that good at hiding their tracks from the feds. It amazed her they hadn’t got busted yet. She ended up spending several hours playing around online and by mid-afternoon when Kurt was not back yet she decided to see what was for dinner. There was plenty to choose from, so she started preparing a big meal.