Night Howls (11 page)

“He is right. I know you guys are mates and all, but up until now, I hadn't seen the deep connection most mates have sparking between you two,” Jonas adds.

I look over at Alex and ours eyes lock. I don't think I feel anything different, but I know that we have grown closer lately. Hell, I actually touched his penis earlier today, so that is a huge improvement from the path we had been on.

“It is starting to feel more natural. We have both gotten over the shock of the situation and have slowly learned more about one another,” Alex says not looking away. His eyes look different to me for some reason. There is something in them that I am afraid of. I am worried that my eyes are reflecting back the same emotion and I don't know if I am ready to admit it, yet. “Don't worry. We both know where we stand.”

“Says you,” I say and get up to go to my room. I think I need a little alone time. I don't understand how I can be in love with two men.

Chapter 13

Phone call home

I know that the guys can still hear everything I do, but the walls of my room offer me a little piece of mind. In situations like this, where I am confused out of my mind, I have Sebastian walk me through things. I am not sure he is the best person to contact right now because he is, in a way, part of the problem.

With him out of the picture for this case, I take out my phone and call the only person I can think of that might have some insight. I know this whole love business was supposed to eventually happen, but isn't it cheating on one of them to feel this way about the other?

I am sure I wouldn’t like it if I walked in on them kissing some other chick. I cannot believe they feel any different about the situation. It is really creepy how well they get along and actually encourage each other to spend more time with me. That is wrong, right? I need something or someone to help straighten up all these thoughts.

“Hey Sweetie,” my father says answering his phone. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Over the past few weeks, I have started to really get to know my father. Between Uncle Walt's tales and mostly email correspondence with the man himself, we have built a relationship that people might actually confuse as father and daughter. Ones that have actually known each other their whole lives and not less than a year like we have.

I think we have the market on weirdest introduction. Most daddies meet their children just after the mom gives birth, but for us it happened when I was sent to kill him. As one can tell by him speaking to me now, I decided against carrying out the assignment.

“I am confused, Aaron. I don't understand why I have to have two mates,” I say as I collapse down on my bed.

He laughs. Not in a mean way, just a soft chuckle of a father dealing with a confused teenager, which is exactly how I feel. “I don't know that you were ever specifically meant to have two mates. I knew that once things got activated the wolf part of you would probably want one, but I don't think anyone expected you to also get stuck with a vampire one.” His deep voice is having a calming effect on me. I can picture him reading me bedtime stories and feeling safe cocooned next to him. Something that never happened, but it is still causing that reaction.

“Is it wrong to have strong feelings for both of them? I know I used to want to kill Alex, but now I think I would fight to the death to protect him from harm.” There isn't really any thinking about it. If a succubus were stalking after Alex, I would want to kill her just as much as I do the one after Sebastian.

“That is a normal mate reaction. It is good that you are feeling that way. It won't take away from what you already felt towards Sebastian. Your heart was made to love them both. Trust me; it is big enough for the job.”

“How do you know for sure? Does it have something to do with the third part of my genetic makeup?” I ask and start to pet Clyde who has wandered into my room to join me. He takes up more of the bed every day. I hope that since it is king size he will never outgrow it like the Suburban.

“Your mother's species does have the capacity for a great amount of love, even if she doesn't. She is an exception to their normal way of life. For that reason, she is actually hunted by them.” Great. Mom is a rebel and everyone in the world hates her. No wonder I feel like an adolescent that cannot make up her mind. Crazy is preprogrammed into my genes.

“What is she?” I ask knowing it is still not time for me to know. With the hints I have been getting from him, I still have no clue on what she could be. I have not found a paranorm species, yet, in my research that covers the clues. Maybe she is some weird hybrid herself.

“Soon. Just a little over a month now. You have been learning the other parts to you and this third part is going to be even harder for you to understand. It will require changes in your life and it is best you have totally come to terms with your other parts before you take the changes on. With your connection to Alex growing, I think you will be ready in time,” he replies. I still hate the fact that the men in my life think it necessary to be mysterious when they talk to me. I am rarely able to get a straight answer out of anyone. One of these days, I am just going to stop talking and see how they like it. Remember, I am in a moody teenager mood, so it makes sense to me.

“Enough talk about how messed up I am. How has your week been going?”

“Boring as usual. As you know, the place I am hiding is outside the normal world and I don't exactly fit in here. I am grateful they let me stay, but sometimes I wish they were a little more civil about it,” he answers.

He won't tell me where this secret location is, even though Walt and Jonas know. I don't know what he expects me to do with the knowledge, but it kind of sucks being left out of the loop.

“Sometimes I wish my life could be just a little bit more boring. Jake is in trouble with the Collective because the human girl he had been fornicating with turned up dead. I am working undercover to try to find the real killer before they swoop in and try to take him.” It sounds much more exciting than it really is. Tracking people down is what I do and I don’t imagine this case will be any different than the hundreds of others I have already done.

“That sounds like fun for you. I am sure you will get everything figured out and thwart the evil villains' attempt to take him,” he says in a dramatic voice reminding me of my earlier thoughts of him reading to me.

“Tell me a story, Daddy,” I say curling up with Clyde. I never got the chance to act like a little girl and I always hear it is never too late. I wish I had some footed pajamas that I could slip into to complete the moment.

“I am sure Walt has told you a lot of my best ones, but did he ever tell you about the time he dared me to steal the family crest from our father's office?” he asks. I have heard the story, but I want to hear his version. I am thinking Walt only has part of the story and he tends to exaggerate just a little.

“No, why don't you tell me about it.”

“Well, it happened many years ago, when I was twelve and Walt was only eight. We were always getting into trouble and trying to find something to dare the other one to do in hopes they would get caught. How little boys' minds work is beyond me these days. Anyway, in our father's office hung our family’s crest. It was an original that had been around for centuries. Other than my mother, and maybe us kids, it was my father’s most prized possession. This was back when we still ruled the wolves, so our family name meant everything.

“Being young and stupid, I accepted the bet and started to make plans for my great caper. My father spent most of his day in the office, so finding the perfect time was rather difficult. I finally got an opportunity late one night. I carefully snuck down the stairs making no noise. Well, I thought I was being quiet. It turned out I didn’t need to worry about it. When I reached the office door, my father was sitting at his desk, in the dark, waiting for me.

“He said, 'You still have a lot to learn, my boy. I heard about your little dare within minutes of it being made. Every night for the last week, I have pretended to go to bed and then made my way back here through a secret passage and waited for you. I am guessing you at least planned a little since you didn’t appear the first night.'

“I looked at him surprised that he didn't do something to just stop the dare in the first place. I even told him that I was happy that he didn't seem upset. He told me that he had to let me be a kid for as long as I could. Things were changing and the easy life we had been living would come to an end soon. We sat and talked for a while and I learned some of the inner workings of the greatest man I ever knew that night.

“I am sorry you will never be able to meet him. When he was killed, a dark curtain fell over the paranorm world. Sorry about that, I am getting away from what I was trying to say. I didn't mean for our story to turn glum. I am sure you were really looking for a story about fairy princesses,” he says and the emotion in his voice almost brings tears to my eyes.

“It was a perfect story, Dad. I want to hear all about Grandpa one of these days, even the parts that are sad.”

Uncle Walt's version of the story was quite different. There was no sit down and long conversation. Dad ended up having to dust his father's office for a week because he accepted the foolish bet. As a young kid that was not something he relished. Walt told of him taunting Dad while he did his dusting and eventually Walt ended up getting his own punishment for harassing him.

“You don't know how happy I will be when we can finally be together as a family.”

“It is something I look forward to. Why can't you just come now?” I ask.

“There are a couple of reasons and they haven’t changed since the last time I told you. One, I am afraid your mother may be keeping tabs on me and I don't want to lead her right to you. I have a feeling she will find you on your birthday anyway, but I want to keep her at arm’s length until then. The second reason for me staying here is passage in and out of this world is tricky. There are many levels of red tape that I had to get through to be assured an entrance and exit passport. My passport has an exit date stamped into it of January 19
, so until then my hands are tied.” Two days before my birthday and a week before the fabled Wolf Moon. It still feels like an eternity away.

“I hate red tape,” I say wishing I had a giant pair of scissors to cut through it.

“Me too, Sweetie. It sounds like you have a case to handle tomorrow for Jake, so you should probably get some sleep. I will see you soon, love you.”

“I love you, too, Daddy. Good night,” I reply hanging up the phone. I don't know how much he really helped me with my problem, but I like hearing his voice.

“Love, just wanted to say real quick that everything is still good here and I am sorry I didn't call earlier. We have both been busy, but I did want to tell you to sleep tight. No nightmares are allowed,”
Sebastian whispers through my mind.

“I will have Clyde chase them away. I am really spent, so I will call you in the morning,”
I reply and feel him disengage from the active conversation. There aren't a ton of hellos and good-byes in my world. We say what is needed and move on.

Chapter 14

A new lead in the case

Happily, I make it through the night without dreams of she demons. The alarm is going off, so I expect it is noon. I am supposed to be on the set at three, but there are a few things I wanted to look into before I get there. Delaying my appearance as long as possible is only a happy side effect.

Becoming more aware, I smack the alarm to shut it off. Clyde has been replaced in bed with a very warm Alex. There will be no repeats of yesterday's morning interlude, but it feels good to have someone holding me close right now. For a girl that hated being touched, and still does by most people, it is strange to welcome his embrace.

“What are the tasks you want to get done before your acting debut?” my overgrown puppy asks.

“I need to do some research on the girl, see if she had any enemies that could have hired this out. I want to get more information on the movie series itself, as well. It has been mentioned that it is struggling, so that might have had something to do with the death,” I tell him as I shimmy out from under his arm and make my way to the bathroom to take a shower.

The hot water feels really good against my skin this morning. I choose a rather fragrant-less shampoo. I don't want my nose to be confused when I go around sniffing things later today. It is bad enough that, after only having the humans around for a short time, the air in Night Owl City is getting the decay smell I experienced in D.C. a month or so ago. When I got out of my car yesterday near the set, it frightened me how quick it is happening. I hope that once they hit the road things will go back to normal.

“I think everyone should be with you today,” Alex says handing me my towel as I step out of the shower. I grab it from him and wrap it around me. I don’t rush through the process in shock that he would dare sneak a peek at me without clothes. About a month ago, it would have been a different story. Maybe not the shock part, but I would at least threaten him with some kind of bodily harm.

“That is a good idea. We need to make sure Jake is safe in case Frank and his goons show up again.” I dry off and then use the towel to wrap my hair up.

I give Alex a quick kiss on the cheek as I move past him to get to my closet. I decide jeans are the way to go for the day. I want to try to blend in as much as possible. If I am going to need to change for the movie at some point, I probably shouldn't carry all of my knives. Not knowing what they will want me to wear, I stick with my thigh sheaths. They should be covered no matter what they stick me in.

To top things off, I grab one of my standard black tops and my boots. Feeling more ready for the day, I go back to the bathroom and take care of my hair, a simple ponytail will do. They will probably want to do some real styling on the set. I am told I have a natural beauty, supposedly from my mother, and I have never bothered with makeup for personal use. I do own some for when I am undercover, but since I am undercover as myself, I don't think it is needed.