ROMANCE: The Bad Boy Meeting (24 page)

By Rachel S William

Towards me. My heart pounded in my ears. I was fucked.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

These things weren’t supposed to be real. I’d been walking home from work after closing up when I noticed the man fallowing me. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks, but nope. The guy’s bones were shifting.

My cell phone still clutched in my fingers, but it wasn’t any use. I couldn’t bring myself to dial a number, and even if I could I’d be dead by the time they came to get me. I swallowed dryly. My free hand reached into my purse as the big dog- no wolf- approached me.

My fingers curled around the small can I kept on my keys. I’d never thought I would actually use the dog mace on a dog- no wolf- but I was glad my mother had convinced me to buy it. Mom. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I wasn’t going to see her again. I wasn’t going to be able to tell her I loved her, or hear her loud laugh that annoyed the hell out of me.

A dry laugh passed through my lips before I even realized it. My hand slipped from my purse. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

The wolf snarled, his lips rising to reveal teeth that could chew through me easily. My hand shaking as I readied myself.

He advanced towards me, the chain necklace still around his neck glinting; it had been the only thing to remain after he’d changed.

I raised the can of dog mace to his head and sprayed. Run.

The wolf let out a yelp, but it turned into a growl as I rushed past him. I felt fur touch my thigh. Oh god.

With my body in over drive I could hear his teeth snap behind me.

I managed to make my way to the end of the alley before another wolf appeared from the left.

I screamed as I stepped back, for a second forgetting the other wolf was behind me. I stumbled, my left foot stepping on my right. I fell.

Oh god. This was it.

The new wolf approached me, a snarl escaping him.

He lunged.

I screamed again, covering my face with my arm in some lame attempt to save myself. I had no more mace left. I was utterly defenceless.

It felt like forever that I held my arms over my face before I heard a wolf yelp. I forced myself to look towards the noise. The second wolf stood between me and the other.

“Quick.” Fingers curled around my wrist.

My heart jumped into my throat as I turned to see the man who had spoken to me.

He wore a leather jacket and jeans with a hat. He gave me a soft smile as he pulled me to my feet easily. I opened my mouth and tried to say something. But my voice refused to work so I just let the man pull me from the alley way and onto a main street. His arm hooked around my waist to keep me up, but I didn’t mind.

His body wasn’t warm like I would expect for a man his size, but I felt safe with him.

“Are you okay? Did he bite you?”

“I’m… I’m fine. I just… I think… I’m…” I wanted to tell him that’d I’d seen a man turn into a wolf but I didn’t want him to think I was nuts. I wasn’t nuts, was I?

“Good.” He spoke quietly as he turned down another alley and face me. His eyes were gentle as they ran over my body. He slipped out of his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It felt like it hadn’t even been worn.

I pulled it close to me none the less.

“He’s dead.” Another male voice came from the other end of the alley.

Before even realizing it I’d moved behind the man who saved me. I eyed the new man coming down the alley.

“You had to kill him?”

“Well he wasn’t really fighting fair.” He was shirtless; he shrugged casually making his muscles move. My mind tried to process what was going on. “I did try not to kill him.”

I looked from this man to the one I stood behind. The shirtless man had some scrapes and a couple bite marks, as if he’d been fighting a… wolf. I gasped, raising my hands to my mouth.

I’d seen it once already tonight; it wouldn’t be crazy to say I’d seen it again.

The two men stared at me. The one who saved me raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“He… he’s… a…” I stammered but I couldn’t bring myself to say the word.

“Yes.”

He said it so casually.

“Are you… like his master or something?” What was the deal here?

The two men laughed. I felt my cheeks burn, as stupid as it was.

“Of course not!”

“I don’t let anyone call themselves my master, let alone a blood sucker.”

Blood sucker? I felt my heart drop into my stomach. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. My body reacted before I even realized it, trying to flee.

His fingers grabbed my wrist.

“We’re not going to hurt you.” He promised. “But I can’t let you go. Not while you’re in this state.”

“This state? What do you mean you can’t let me go? What are you going to do with me?”

“Well, first we’re going to head back to the hotel so Kyle can put some clothes on.” He eyed the shirtless man. “Then we’re going to get some food in you and some rest. I’m Dean by the way.”

His fingers loosened against my wrist but I didn’t pull away from him.

Female. Young, vanilla, strawberry. Her scent. 

I raced towards her. The familiar scent filling my nose. I tried to ignore the lust the filled me- it wasn’t right. I tried to tell myself again and again but the wolf side didn’t want to believe it. I forced myself to run faster, maybe that would take my mind off her.

Normally I could control it, but when I changed it was a different story. The wolf didn’t care about hurting Sarah or Dean. I did. I wasn’t the wolf side of me.

Focus. Keep running. That’s all I had to do.

My toes curled under the fuzzy blanket. “Should we be worried about him?”

“No, I’m sure he will be fine.” Dean read his book beside me. My legs stretched out over him as I glanced up. My eyes rested on my boyfriend’s strong jawline, then moved up to his soft lips.

“I don’t know… he seems to be having a rough time.”

“He’s just having a hard time finding someone. Once he finds someone who can tolerate him and his… qualities he will be fine.” That was just it. I let out a sign. Kyle was a great guy. He deserved to find someone who would treat him right. It wasn’t fair that he couldn’t find someone who would accept his wolf side. Dean finally looked up from his book. “Are you worried he’ll find someone nice?” He raised an eyebrow.

I wasn’t sure if he was actually jealous or not.

“Of course not!”

Why would I be jealous? I mean sure, we’d had an odd kinda thing a few years back but they were friends, no they were best friends.

I pushed myself up. “I’m just worried. He’s been running a lot these past few weeks.” I padded over to the window of the place we were renting. It was nice. Lavish but nice, but I guess when you’re dating a vampire he’s got a lot saved up.

“Relax babe, he’s fine. This is about enjoying your birthday.”

“I know.” I pushed myself away from the large window. “But I can’t help worrying about him.”

Dean pushed himself up from the couch and padded towards me. His soft lips touched mine. “He’s going to be alright.” He pulled away from me and straightened himself. “But we shouldn’t talk about this anymore.”

I knew what he meant. He was saying that Kyle was going to be back soon. “Alright.” I reached up on my tippy toes and kissed him. “Thanks.” I knew he was trying to make me feel better but I still worried about our friend.

“Go get dressed; we’re going out for a little while.”

“Alright.” I nodded and headed for the bedroom.

Dean liked to make a big deal out of birthdays, odd for someone who has had so many, and really there was no point in my trying to object. He’s drag me out if I wanted to or not, and truthfully I wanted to- for the most part.

When I entered the bedroom I wasn’t surprised to see a box on the bed. I padded to it and lifted the lid. A soft laugh escaped me as I pulled out the shoes I’d been eying for months. A simple black sparkly pair of stilettoes. I grinned as I slipped out of my clothing and padded to my suitcase.

I heard the front door open as I pulled on my best dark skinny jeans, a black deep V halter with a little bling and padded back to those new shoes. I grabbed my leather jacket, slipped my stiletto switch blade into my pocket and took a deep breath. I grabbed my purse, reapplied my red lipstick and slipped into the new shoes. I headed for the bedroom door.

“You should go clean up; we’re going to head out.”

“Alright, I’ll just be a few minutes.”

My fingers curled around the handle and stepped out of the room. My eyes locked on the man in front of me. His muscular frame, his short brown hair messy, and his green eyes locked on mine. I was suddenly aware of the fact that my boobs were popping out of my shirt. I took a deep breath, my eyes trailing down his body to the tribal tattoo partially covered by his jeans.

“Hey.” I stammered. Okay maybe there were still some odd feelings for Kyle. Not real feelings, just lust… I think.

“Hey,” He looked me up and down. “You look great. New shoes?”

“Yea.” I nodded. “So,” I turned to Dean. “Where are we going?”

“Just out to dinner and drinks.” He smiled looking me up and down. “You look amazing babe.”

“Thanks.” My cheeks burned as the two men stared at me. Dean stepped towards me; he closed the distance between us, kissed my cheek and made his way into the bedroom. I turned to Kyle. “Are you coming with us?”

“Of course, unless you two want a little alone time?”

“Don’t be silly.” I forced a smile. “You’re always welcome to join us.” I let innuendo seep through my voice. Though I still found Kyle attractive, and my feelings were no longer there for him I was a flirt. And he lapped it up.

He grinned. “You sure you want to say that to me? I might take you up on it.”

I heard Dean snort. He came over to us, his arms wrapped around my hips and pulled me against him, my butt slamming against his pelvis. “You two had bother better be careful what you say.” His teeth grazed my neck playfully. “I’ll leave both your feeling my affects for days.” I swallowed dryly as the mental image of my boyfriend and our best friend flashed into my mind. I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face, so I turned away from them in hopes that they wouldn’t see it. I made my way over to the door. “Are you guys ready to go?”

Kyle raised an eyebrow. “I was going to shower, but just let me put a shirt on.” Dean fallowed me towards the door. He touched the small of my back and pulled the door open for me.

“I have to admit, that was actually very fun.” I said as we left the restaurant. The moon was high in the sky by now and there weren’t many people out. I hooked an arm around Dean as we made our way down the street. “Where to now?”

“Where do you want to go? There are a couple movie theaters that would still be open, or we could hit a club.”

I shook my head. “No.” I’d already had a little bit too much to drink and I wasn’t going to get trashed tonight. I reached out and grabbed Kyle, pulling him closer and hooking my arm around his. “We could go see what movies or on, if not we can just head back to the house.”

Dean nodded as he led us towards the movie theater. The dry heat of the night made me regret wearing my jacket, even if it was fake leather. “Are you sure you don’t want to see if there is anything else we can do? It would be a shame to spend your birthday at the house.”

“You mean the house you rented for my birthday? The one right by the lake with the hot tub and all that?” I grinned. “But no really, you know I won’t mind if we just head back to the house.”

After five years of traveling together Dean knew me better than anyone in this world. He should have known I wouldn’t mind staying in for the night.

Something shrilled behind us.

My heart slammed in my chest. What the fuck was it? I turned to where Dean and Kyle were already staring. “What was that?” I whispered.

It came again. My pace picked up as I realized what it was. A woman screaming.

Before I realized it Dean and Kyle were running towards the sound. I chased after them; though they were both a lot faster than me what else was I supposed to do? Sit there and wait for them to come back? Fuck no.

They turned left down an alley way. I made it there 30 seconds later and turned after them. They were nowhere to be seen. Fuck.

The knife from my pocket slipped out easily. I could feel eyes on me, I just couldn’t figure out where they were coming from. I made it to the end of the alley still without sight of them. I looked left, nothing. Right. Yes. There was Kyle running. Dean was much faster. I took a deep breath and fallowed him, thankful Dean had bought me heels I could run in. I clutched the knife close to me as I watched him turn right again. I made it to where he had turned in a couple seconds, turned and skidded to a stop.

I stared past the two men I knew and at the one I had never seen before. He was tall, with hair that fell down his back and he wore a long black coat. I swallowed dryly as he pulled away from something, no someone. She let out a breath.

“Help…” She whispered.

My heart raced as he turned his attention to my boyfriend and my best friend. He looked them up and down then his eyes locked on mine. My plus quickened.

He grabbed his victim by the hair and dragged her towards Dean. “I like your toy.” I heard him say. He threw the girl he was holding backwards. She gasped as she hit the wall and fell down. She’d lost too much blood. I stepped forward without even realizing it. Dean grabbed me. He stood in front of me. His eyes locked on the other vampire.

“Leave. Before I kill you.”

The other vampire laughed. “Your idol threats don’t worry me.” I could see his fangs were fully extended. I grabbed Dean, silently trying to tell him that we needed to leave. Kyle came to stand in front of me as well. He stared at the vampire. Dean turned to me. “Sarah, go back to the house.” I opened my mouth to protest but the vampire cut me off with another laugh.

“Do you really think you and your mutt can stop me from getting to her? I just want a taste.” He licked his lips. “I’ll even share the girl I found on the street. You can have as much of her as you would like.” He stepped towards me.

Dean put a hand out to stop him. That was when everything went crazy.

Both vampires had their fangs drawn; the werewolf had joined in the fight and was hitting the vampire who wanted to eat me.

I knew I was supposed to run towards safety but I didn’t. I ran towards the girl lying against the wall. I picked her head up as her eyes flickered open. “I…”

“Shh. It’s okay.” I glanced down at her blood stained neck. Though the bites were small they blood still trickled down them. “It’s going to be okay. Let’s try to get you up, okay?”

She gave me a weak nod as I grabbed her arms and lifted with my legs. She was lighten than I had worried she would be. I easily wrapped her arm around my neck and led the way to the opening of the alleyway.

I turned just in time to see Dean thrown against a wall. He struggled to get up as the vampire punched Kyle in the face. I winced sure I’d heard the sound of his jaw popping out of place. My heart stopped as the vampires eyes locked on mine.

“Come on.” I whispered to the girl. She stared at the vampire, her body frozen in fear.

A whimper escaped her.

I looked around. Kyle was on the ground. The vampire kicked him several times before advancing towards me. Dean pushed himself up but it did him no good. The vampire threw him against anther wall easily.

As he advanced towards us I guided the girl down onto the ground. She stared at the beast coming towards us, her body trembling.

“It’s going to be okay.” I whispered. “As soon as you get the chance to, run. Go to a main street and whatever you do, don’t look back.” She nodded, her body shaking. “Good.” I pushed myself up and forced myself to face the vampire as he stopped in front of me. He took a deep breath.

“Even your fear smells beautiful.”

I looked around. Kyle still lay on the ground and I couldn’t even see Dean. It looks like I was in this on my own. I held the knife tightly in my hand. I braced myself for whatever would happen next- promising myself I wouldn’t go down without a fight.

“Hey!” A female voice called from ahead. She was short, or maybe it was just the fact that she was jumping from the top of a building? She landed between me and the vampire, a sward drawn and ready to use. She turned to me. “Get her away from the fight.” She ordered.

I opened my mouth to protest, to ask her who the fuck she thought she was but then it occurred to me who she was. A hunter.

In all my life I’d never met one. We tended to avoid them as much as we could but for once I was thankful that they existed.

I bent down and pulled the girl back into my arms. She looked from me to the woman holding a sword. I wasn’t sure how much more of this she could take and I didn’t want to drag her unconscious body out of here.

Kyle was pushing himself to his feet. He limped towards the vampire as the girl spoke. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are but you are not allowed to take an unwilling victims blood.”

He lunged towards her, she dodged as we stumbled back trying not to get caught in their fight.

“Three girls,” Please seeped through his voice that sent a chill down my spine. “A vampire and a werewolf. My dinner will be very nice tonight.” 

The girl in my arms whimpered. I held her tight against me as I saw Dean appear. Kyle approached the vampire as he was about to lung towards the hunter again. Kyle reached out and grabbed him. Dean was at his side in a matter of seconds, each man holding one of the vampire’s arms so he couldn’t move. The girl glanced from Dean to Kyle then to me and finally to the vampire. Her brow furrowed a little as she raised her sword.

I pulled the girl I was holding tighter into my arms, tucking her head into my chest so she wouldn’t see what was about to happen.

In one swift movement the vampire was decapitated. But the tension didn’t leave anyone as the body fell to the ground. The hunter stared at us, her sword still at the ready. Dean and Kyle stared at her, unsure of if they could trust her or not. They took two slow steps back.