The Legend of the Werewolf (4 page)

Body tense as a bow string, he sat back
down. "So, Annie," she frowned when he said her name, "how long am
I to be held?"

“
Don’t call me that. Only a few
people are allowed to call me that.” Then her blue eyes quickly
turned apologetic. "And, please, don't think of this like that.
We're not trying to hold you against your will."

He continued to clench his fists on his
knees, forcing a mask of calm to remain on his face. "Then let me
leave. I'll even go the extra mile and not press
charges."

She shook her head. "It's kind of
important that you don't leave, at least for now,." sShe amended at
his snarl. "I just need to ask you a few questions. Then, if
nothing adds up and that guy doesn't show up, you're safe to
go."

Ah, she was talking about the magician
man who tried to blast him into his next life.

He leaned back, folded his arms and
crossed his booted foot over his knee. "It almost sounds like you
think keeping me here is going to protect me. I was handling myself
fine."

Her soft face, which had been so
emotional, turned to rock. "Which part about being held down do you
think is fine?"

"Look, I have no idea who that guy was.
He saw me and attacked. That's it."

"You don't know his name? Nothing about
him at all?"

“
If I didn’t know better. I’d say
you were the cop in this room.”

“Just answer the question.”

He opened his mouth, then blinked when
part of his memory came up blank. "He said his name was Hadrian …
something," he added reluctantly.

She raised a delicate eyebrow at him.
"Thought you were a cop?"

Mike clenched his teeth. "I
am."

"Wouldn't knowing his last name be kind
of important? Aren’t you trained to remember that kind of thing no
matter what?"

He couldn't believe her. He wanted to
wrap his hands around her tiny, pretty neck and strangle
her.

"I'm sorry but having my skull bludgeoned
with a rock makes a few things blurry. I'll remember it
eventually." He wasn’t about to remind her that he’d been buzzed
from his drinks as well.

Annie nodded. If she was sorry for
attacking him, she didn't look it. She tucked a strand of that
thick, curly hair behind her ear.

It would be so much easier to hate her
if she wasn't so damn gorgeous. "You wouldn't be keeping me here if
you didn't think I could do something for you. Does this guy owe
you money? Did he wrong you or your pack? Threaten you?"

Her face became hot. Bingo. He hit the
nail on the head.

He smirked, righted his legs and clasped
his hands together. Leaning forward, he became a cop again.
"Alright. What he do? I'll call a colleague of mine back home. If
he's hurt anyone you can file a report and I'll find and arrest
him."

"It'd be a hard thing to do considering
how far away from home you are. What would you do if another cop
pulled you over and saw him in your back seat in
handcuffs?"

Damn. He hated how this kept coming up,
more so that everyone had valid points.

Outside of Griffon City, he wasn’t cop. In
fact, his badge was as good as an accessory on a Halloween
costume.

It was one of the reasons the Shepard’s
were so hard to catch. As hunters and killers of just about
anything paranormal, they knew perfectly well to stay away from
Griffon City and its police force contained there.

Griffon City couldn’t be found on any map.
Anyone on a road trip, anyone normal, always wound up driving right
by it without realizing it. Technically, the city didn’t exist to
normal people. And, if it didn’t exist, then neither did its
laws.

"I'll think of something," he
hissed.

“
Don’t bother. Even if you were a
real cop,” he bristled, she ignored it, “I doubt he’s still in our
realm.”

Now he blinked. “Excuse me?”

“The Shadow Land. It’s where he goes
since his monsters can’t come out in the daytime.”

She couldn’t be serious.

"That stone, the one he had with
him? Do you know what that was?” She looked around, ignoring
his
are-you-crazy
stare. “Crap, I think my Grandpa took
it."

Guess she was serious. "I remember what it
looks like, and no, I've never seen anything like it. I was going
to ask you and your friends what it was when you hit me in the head
with it." He gingerly scratched the area, wincing at the tender
lump he found there.

Her face went red again and she ducked
her head. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd agree to come if I
asked."

"Ask anyway." Life would’ve been so much
easier if he just rented a room back at that bar and got her up
there to bounce around on the mattress with him before that freak
Hadrian made his entrance. Being kidnapped was a real mood
killer.

"Have you ever heard of the legend of
the first werewolf?"

"Does it have anything to do with why
you're holding me against my will?"

She nodded, running her tongue over her
teeth. "Kind of, yes."

He sighed. "Alright, yes." Working as a
cop in a city filled with witches, warlocks and other creatures
that supposedly didn't exist, meant he needed the basic knowledge
of their histories and origins.

He wasn't an expert, but he'd heard the
story. "Some poor guy falls in love with the Moon Goddess. Since
she could only come to earth on a full moon, an evil sorcerer
decided to change him into a raging wolf on those nights so they
could never be together."

"It's like that, yeah," Annie said,
clearing her throat. Her face became a deeper shade of red with
every breath she took. "Anyway, uh, this might not make any sense
to you, but I think that man who attacked you, Hadrian, did it
because he thinks you’re Luna's lover."

A half-laugh bubbled from his throat
before he realized she wasn’t kidding. He stopped and stared at
her, his mouth gaping open. "You're out of your mind."

She glared, ocean blue eyes flashing.
"If I'm right, it means he's the sorcerer from the story and you're
the reincarnation of the world's first werewolf."

THREE

They were crazy, the whole lot of them.
And he was leaving. Snatching his Stetson from the coffee table,
Mike secured it on his head and made for the door.

"Where are you going?" Annie grabbed
his arm and spun him around.

The force of her strength shocked him.
Damn, he needed to stop seeing her as a small woman and recognize
her as the powerful werewolf she is. Especially, if he had any
intention of making it out of here.

She said they were on her pack master's
ranch. How many more werewolves were around him aside from the
giant outside?

He grabbed her hands and extracted them
from his person, trying, but failing, to ignore how gentle and soft
they felt against his calloused skin.

Fuck. This wasn’t what he needed right
now. "Listen, no offense or anything, but you're as crazy as that
guy who attacked me if that's what you think. You and this entire
pack. I'm leaving, and you're not going to stop me."

Her eyes brightened like a neon blue
sign. She bared her teeth at him.

Maybe he shouldn’t have said
that.

"I'm not crazy and it's not a stupid
story."

"I never said—"

"That's what over half the werewolf
population believes, you know that? It's not just a story to them.
It's the story of our existence. How we came into the
world."

"That's
fine
," he said, interrupting her rant. "But
that doesn't mean
I
believe it.
I'm
not a werewolf."

"You don't need to be!"

A knock sounded on the wooden door behind
them just before Brock's voice came through. "Princess? You
alright?"

"Fine,." sShe called, glaring at Mike.
"Just arguing. I’ll call you when I need you."

He raised a brow at the nickname,
remembering before he passed out that the kid with the blood-red,
spiked hair called her that as well.

"That some kind of joke? Everyone here
thinks you're a princess so you have to get what you
want?"

"Screw you. You have no idea what's
going on here." She stopped, her cheeks coloring. "And that's not
the point."

"Then what is the point?"

"You're insensitivity to an entire
culture."

"Well, when that culture decides to kidnap
me, I draw the line on where I hand over my respect."

Anne fisted her hands in her hair and made
a half-screaming sound.

Then, in an impressive show of
self-control, she released her hair, collected herself and breathed
easy. "You still don't get it. If you are who I think you are then
your life is in danger. You should be thanking me. He's been
hunting you for a millennia."

Mike stopped himself from saying
anything else. The memory of Hadrian's crazed monologue returning
like a punch in the gut.

His talk of always being the same. A
thousand years. Then Mike’s visions; the sight of himself, wearing
strange clothes.

In one vision, he stood in front of a
beautiful woman. The next was of him dying...

“I’ve had visions, but—”

She cut in. “What did you say?
Visions?”

There was no way this was possible. He
shook his head. "There's been a mistake. I want to talk to your
pack master."

“Don’t backtrack. You said you were
having visions.”

He crossed his arms. He owed her no
explanation about what went on in his head. “So what?”

“I heard you muttering to yourself
about dying back at the bar.” Her eyes grew round. “I bet they were
memories.”

Likely. He usually did see memories
when he had his visions. But were they his or Hadrian’s?

Mike’s lips thinned. “I still want to
see your pack master.”

She nodded, crossing her arms. "Fine.
We can talk to him later since he’s probably sleeping
now."

"Like I care." Mike slammed the door
open and walked out.

His eyes were immediately drawn to Brock,
who stood leaning against the wall, knee bent so his bare foot was
flat against the brick. He stared off into the purple and pink
East, as though waiting for the sun, before making contact with
Mike.

The man smiled. Mike couldn’t tell if
it was meant to be pleasant or threatening.

Worn jeans and a loose, orange, plaid
button shirt didn’t hide the guy’s ‘roid muscles.

If Annie was so strong with her small
size, this guy must be a tank.

Annie stormed out with him. "You don't
understand. I already woke him up and he was mad enough at me then.
If you demand to see him after he just got back into bed, he'll
come after me."

Mike looked at her and saw the genuine
panic in her eyes.

Every pack had different laws when it
came to their own specific group. Did he stumble into one of the
more violent ones? "He wouldn't hurt you, would he?"

Her face became pained. "No, but I've
already made him mad today and I'd like to not do so
again."

"So, then, tell him you couldn't keep me
away. Where is your pack master?" hHe asked Brock since he couldn’t
get an answer from Annie.

With a thick finger, he pointed straight
ahead. "In the main house."

Mike turned, and, sure enough, there it
was. Hardly a little cabin like the one Mike had just exited, but a
stylish two story house made from logs with hanging lanterns still
glowing on the wraparound porch. Embarrassment suffocated
him.

Great work,
officer
.
"Right, well, there're some lights on, so I guess I won't be waking
him."

"No, wait, please." Annie ran ahead of
him, but he refused to stop so she was forced to walk backward just
to face him.

Brock trailed behind, seemingly
unconcerned.

He couldn't help but sympathize with
her paranoia. Wolves were known to go so far as to treat their pack
master's like Kings in some instances.

There was a great amount of respect for
the werewolf who could lead a pack towards peace and happiness
without letting the general population know of them.

Being rich enough to own a lot of land
for privacy was one of the main causes for such peace.

He wished his actions wouldn’t cause
her such discomfort. But he couldn’t sit around and wait. "Calm
down. I'm not going to start any trouble. I'll be polite, ask a few
questions and then be on my way."

"Might be for the best," Brock
said.

Mike looked behind him as the man shrugged
his gigantic shoulders. "It will seem like a peace offering, show
that both sides mean no harm."