Werewolf Dreams (6 page)

As she popped a cherry tomato into her mouth she closed her eyes in pleasure and took back everything she’d said about socializing to her father that morning. Her father had been totally right. She would save all of her socializing for college in the fall
when she had all of her friends around. She’d help her father out here, figure out his big secret and then say good bye to this town as fast as she could.

She frowned as she lay her plate on the ground and lay down on the bench, crossing her ankles and closing her eyes as she remembered what Tobias had said about her. He was probably right now going from group to group, warning everyone about how she wasn’t good enough to date anyone in their precious little cliquey town.

She felt her muscles bunch up automatically and her blood begin to rush and she sighed, knowing she had to keep better control of her body and emotions. For some reason ever since she got to this place, controlling her emotions had gotten twice as hard.

“Your father is looking for you,”
said a voice directly above her.

Ava groaned and opened one eye. Cyrus was standing above her, staring somberly down at her.

“I’ll come back in in a minute. He can suffer the joys of socializing for a little while longer without me,” she said, her voice laced with irritation.

“So cruel and yet so young,” Cyrus said, in a mocking voice.

Ava kicked her feet off the bench and slowly sat up, tweaking her dress back into place and smoothing the dress over her long tanned legs.

“Look, I don’t associate
let alone have conversations with players like you. You’ve relayed your message now toddle back to Zoe,” she said, picking up her plate and glass before standing up.

Cyrus frowned at her, as if h
e were hurt. Ava averted her eyes and breezed past him, ignoring him and already thinking about how to get out of the rest of the party.

“Not so fast,” Cyrus said softly, snaking a hand out and grasping her elbow firmly. “I think you should e
xplain that last comment. Why did you accuse me of being a player?” he demanded.

Ava shook her head and smiled as if she’d just caught a toddler trying to grab an extra piece of candy. “You almost had me in a puddle of longing up in my bedroom two hours ago and now it turns out that you already have a
girlfriend
. I’m pretty sure you’re only supposed to have one of those,” she said with a sneer and moved to walk away, but couldn’t seem to go anywhere.

Cyrus pulled her back toward
him and removed her plate and glass from her hands before pushing her further back towards the tree. When she felt her back come in contact with the hard bark of the tree she pushed back. “Stop pushing me around,” she said in a low angry voice, “Like you said, I need to go find my father,” she said, just now realizing how alone she was with him.

Cyrus grinned and moved in closer. “Zoe isn’t my
girlfriend or my mate,” he said simply, staring at her mouth again. “Now let’s talk about me turning you into a puddle of longing. I find that much more interesting,” he said, his voice sounding low and warm as he placed both of his hands around her waist.

Ava pushed Cyrus’s hands away and shook
her head in disgust. “Answer me one question first. Does
Zoe
think you’re her boyfriend or mate whatever?” she asked, studying his expression carefully.

Cyrus sighed in frustration and turned around, putting his hands on his waist and saying what she thought sounded like a couple curse words under his breath.

“Yes, she’s convinced we’re mates. I happen to know we’re not though,” he said in a cold furious voice.

Ava’s eyebrows rose in surprise. He could have lied to her and denied it, but he was telling her the truth. And it was just like she suspected and backed up what she had overheard Tobias talking about earlier. Zoe was the one who would destroy the house if she thought Ava had any thoughts about stealing her mate.
Yikes.
Not worth it.

“Good luck with that,” she said with a touch of real sympathy as she snuck out the back way and around the tree landing on a different path that wound its way around the edge of the yard before heading back to the house.

“You’re hard to hold onto,” Cyrus said, joining her a few seconds later.

Ava moved away from him and walked on the very edge of the path, not wanting to be found standing too close to Cyrus in case Zoe came looking for him. “You’ve got that right.
You on the other hand
, already have someone to hold onto. Stay away from me Cyrus. I like my face the way it looks. I don’t look forward to reconstructive surgery if she corners me in a jealous rage. She looks like a WWE Wrestler,” she said with a wince, wondering if she had to scream for her father if he’d hear her in time before Zoe’s fist broke her nose.
Probably not.

Cyrus grabbed her arm again, bringing her to a stop next to a row of Rose bushes in different hues of yellow. “Zoe and I are
just
friends. I keep telling her that, but she’s having a hard time accepting the way I feel. Maybe when she realizes that my heart belongs to someone else, she’ll be able to let go,” he said, looking at her with a half-smile.

Ava blinked in surprise at the wistfulness she heard in Cyrus’s voice and kicked a rock in her way. “Look Cyrus, you and I just met this afternoon. If you need someone to help you w
ith your love life, look somewhere else. I hate drama with a passion and I definitely don’t go in for love triangles,” she said moving purposefully away from the tall dangerous looking man.

Cyrus moved faster then she thought was possible and stood in front of her, blocking her path. “But what about that puddle of longing I dipped you in? Don’t you want to explore that? Aren’t you just a little curious?” he asked, moving closer to her and putting both hands around her
neck before caressing her shoulders lightly.

Ava shivered at his words and blushed in embarrassment. He was going to keep bringing that up.
Why hadn’t she just kept her mouth shut?
She pushed his hands away and shook her head. “That puddle of longing dried up as soon as I saw Zoe. Sorry, but I don’t work that way. Don’t get me wrong, I do think you’re very attractive,” she said and then blushed when his eyes lit up and he moved in closer. “
But
I think I’m mature enough to know a sticky situation when I see it. Maybe someday when you work out your issues with Miss Amazon you can visit me at college.
Until then .
. .” she said, letting her words taper off as she saw a group of three men walk toward them on the path.

Cyrus stiffened
as if he knew who it was already. He turned around, blocking her from view.

“Hey there Cyrus.
Who is that hiding behind you?” a deep amused voice said.

Ava’s eyes widened as she sensed every muscle in Cyrus’s body tense as if they were in danger. She felt her own heart beat speed up in reaction and she reached out a hand to touch Cyrus’s back nervously.

“Hey Ben. How’s it going Jake? Hi Tom,” Cyrus said unenthusiastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ava grimaced and knew she wasn’t the type of girl to hide behind anyone. She stepped out from behind Cyrus and stood beside him, as the three men walked purposefully toward them.
All three men had super short buzz cuts. The man in the middle had a goatee and an earring in his right ear. The other two men kind of faded a little at the edges as the man in the middle seemed to take up too much space. He was bigger and stronger looking than the other two and by the cocky grin on his face, she knew this guy was trouble. The man in the middle grinned triumphantly as he spotted her and elbowed his companion to the right.

“See there, now I knew Zoe would never lie to me,” he said, grinning
right at her in a way that made her want to wash her hands and watch Little House on the Prairie re-runs.

The man he elbowed stared at her with a wry grin on his face. “Now I’m going to have to disagree with you Ben. Zoe said she was a puny, unattractive little thing. She might be small, but I think she’s kind of pretty in a toy doll kind of way,” he said with a
leer as he looked her up and down in a slow and obvious way that made her skin crawl.

Ben rubbed his chin with his hand as he shook his head.
“Yeah Jake, you’re right. I think Zoe got it wrong, but then Zoe isn’t exactly a man. Ava honey, I’m not used to girls as little as you, but I have to admit I’m curious now. Why don’t you come out with us tonight? We know how to have fun,” he said and then grinned as his two buddies laughed uproariously.

Zoe felt anger claw its way up from her bones and she narrowed her eyes at the three men. No one had ever talked to her that way before.

“No thanks. It turns out I like men, not little boys whose idea of a good time is using women as objects or
toys
. Grow up loser,” she said and moved to walk around them when Cyrus grabbed her hand and pulled her firmly to her side.

Ben’s mouth hardened and his eyes went cold.
“Hear that Tom? She likes men. That leaves you out.
And I know
you didn’t just call me a loser sweetheart. Why don’t we go somewhere just the two of us where we can discuss better ways you can use that mouth of yours besides talking back?”

“
Watch your mouth Ben
. Her father is Harry Paskell. Do you really think he’d like the way you’re talking to her?” he asked, glaring at the men in disgust.

Ava bit her tongue and stepped closer to Cyrus. She didn’t know these men or what they were capable of but if he was already throwing her father in their faces. They had to be bad news.

Ben crinkled his forehead and frowned at his feet before looking back up at Ava with a pleasant smile on his face. “We haven’t said one thing that’s been disrespectful Cyrus. You know us. We’re always perfect gentlemen,” he said and got a roar of laughter from his friends.

Cyrus looked Ben up and down and shook his head in disgust. “Stay away from her. She’s off limits to you,” he said tightly and then pulled her with him as he stepped forward to walk around the men.

Ben held out a hand and blocked Cyrus. Cyrus immediately dropped Ava’s hand and turned to face Ben, clenching his fists and staring him in the eye. “Is there a good reason that you want to stop me?” he asked softly, baring his teeth.

Ava swallowed nervously and glanced around the large back yard for running room. There was so much testosterone in the air she was about to choke
from it. It was almost as if she could smell it.

Ben smiled wickedly back at Cyrus and pretended like he was dusting something off Cyrus’s shirt for him.
“Looks like the crown Prince of Paskell is staking a claim here. I think Zoe would sure be interested to know that. What do you think Jake?”

Cyrus moved so fast
, Ava could barely make out a swish of color and then Ben was laying on his back on the grass with Cyrus standing over him.

“Don’t threaten
me. You know what happened last time,” Cyrus said, glancing at Jake and Tom whose eyebrows had shot up in surprise. Ben sprung to his feet, breathing hard and looking red in the face.

“Yeah, well things have changed since then,
haven’t they? I’m no longer seventeen years old. Any time you want to give it a go, I’ll be more than happy to spill your blood,” he said, glancing at his friends with a glare.

Cyrus laughed and turned his back on Ben as he walked back toward her. “Stay away from Ava or it’ll be your blood on the ground,” he said, reaching out and grabbing her hand and pulling her away from the trio of men now staring silently after them.

She waited to speak until they reached the back patio. “
Holy crap!
What was that all about? Who are those guys and why are they acting so weird and macho?” she demanded, pulling her hand out of his grasp.

Cyrus glanced at her and back at the path they had just come from. “Guys like that
are the reason your father left town so long ago. If you’re smart, and I think you are, you will stay as far away from them as possible. When you’re in town, never go out alone. Always have an escort. This isn’t Bellevue Washington Ava. The moral code is a little different here. Some of the men here will look at you and won’t think. They’ll just act. Remember that,” he said frowning at her.

Ava rubbed her suddenly chilly arms and glanced behind her nervously. “I know Karate and I’ve taken self-defense classes. I can take care of myself,” she said, hoping she was right.

Cyrus closed his eyes as if he were in pain and moved to stand in front of her. “Things are
different
here Ava,” he said, grasping her arms in his large, warm hands. “What you know about men, doesn’t apply here. And there are some men that can’t be stopped by karate or a kick to the groin.”

Ava looked up into Cyrus’s icy blue eyes and felt vulnerable.
“And what about you? Are you like that? Are you some out of control macho guy?” she asked softly.

Cyrus looked deeply into her eyes and reached up a finger to run down her neck. “I’m as far apart from men like that as you can get. But you’re not even safe from me,” he said, watching curiously as she swallowed nervously.