Sapphire: A Werewolf Love Story (8 page)

The General stands up and walks over to the window
which faces the woods where we run.  “You’re suggesting going against our
nature, the natural instinct to be as one with your intended.  You’re foolish
to even consider such a ludicrous thought.  One day, when you’re making love to
her and your wolf overpowers your man and bites her…what will you do?  That is
the main reason we have the rule in place.  The pack in Texas has several
unmated females if you’re lonely.”

“Sir, it has nothing to do with loneliness, it has
everything to do with her staying human.  I’m not biting her.”

“I’ll do it for you, but she needs to come here and
we can do it in a controlled environment.”  He finishes off his beer and sets
it on the table.

“No, I don’t want her to be one of us.  She’s good,
she’s rowdy but good.  I sense her essence in every move she makes, and she’s
not ready to be a werewolf.”  I reach over and pull out another beer for him.

“Call it off.  You can’t have both worlds, you’re
either going to bite her or you’re going to let her go.  If you don’t mind, I
have a conference call with the Council.” He stands and walks over to his desk.
He picks up the phone and starts dialing without another word to me.  It’s one
of his quirks, finishing a conversation abruptly.  Dolly says it’s because he
has so much going on in his head that he doesn’t want to clutter up a
conversation with unnecessary words.  So much for having a long drawn out
conversation. 

I’ve never felt so much anger towards my alpha before
now.  There’s no use in arguing with him, and I can’t go against him.  I storm
out of his office and head outside to go for a run.

“Want company?” Dolly yells out.

“Do I have a choice?”  I snap through gritted teeth.

Dolly doesn’t flinch; instead, she glares at me.  I
hold the gaze for about fifteen seconds, until I cede to my alpha female.

“Go shift, I’ll meet you in the clearing,” Dolly
commands.

The one time I want to run alone, I get stuck with a
partner.  I take off my clothes and step out of the pool house and shift as I
enter the woods.  I make it to the clearing in time to witness Dolly
terrorizing a squirrel.   She doesn’t typically eat small prey; the squirrel
doesn’t know that though. 

The woods are filled with different aromas. 
Everything from wild flowers, to a carcass of a deceased animal lingers in the
air.  The redolence of wolf is on every leaf, every stick and every cubic
foot.  Each member of the pack smells different.  Every so often, we’ll pick up
the scent of a hunter that has wandered into our woods. It doesn’t happen as
much as it did a few years ago…the General bought up all the acreage in the
surrounding area, to lessen the contact with humans.

Dolly and I run for an hour before heading back to
the farm. 

Meet me by the pool after you get
dressed.

Will do,
I
reply.  Wolves have a way of communicating when we’re in wolf form, we can’t
read minds, which is good.  If they only knew what I was thinking half the
time, they wouldn’t invite me to play in werewolf games.

Dolly is the kindest woman I’ve ever known.  She
took me in and accepted me regardless of my heritage.  She’s always the one to
temper a situation; her easy going attitude catches other
weres
off-guard after a battle.  She can whip half the guys in our pack with her eyes
closed.  Last year she went on a hunting expedition with me and a couple from
the Dallas pack.  I thought their alpha was going to crap himself when he
watched Dolly take a rogue and flip him upside down and take a hunting knife to
his throat.  She means business.

She is sitting at the patio table with two unopened
beers.  I sit on one of the wrought iron chairs and Dolly slides a beer over to
me.  “Thanks,” I say, and take the bottle opener from her to pop the top off
carefully.  The last time I did it too fast; the top of the bottle neck broke
off, leaving me covered in beer.  “Look Dolly, I know you’re going to sit there
and tell me how the General has my best interest in mind.  It doesn’t matter,
it isn’t
her
best interest.  Being a werewolf your entire life is one
thing, but biting a human to satisfy your own needs is not acceptable.” 

She looks at me with sadness in her eyes.  “Parker,
no…I’m not going to tell you those things, you know the truth.  If it makes
anything better, most humans do well with being bitten.  We can better care for
her out at the farm if you change your mind.”

“No!  Not happening!  What don’t you understand about
I’m not biting her?”  I shout louder than I intended.

“Watch yourself Beta!” A voice behind me says.

I turn around to see the General approaching from
the house.  He’s right, I can’t talk to her in a tone I use when angry.  I
lower my eyes and tell Dolly I’m sorry.

“Spend a week courting this girl; if after a week
you still don’t want to turn her, you will have to walk away.”  The General says
as he takes Dolly’s hand and pulls her to him.

~~~~~~

What do I do now?  I’m not biting her, now or ever. 
She’s too important to me to shatter her world.  A tapping on my bedroom door
brings me back to reality.  “What do you need Oakley?”

I slide my leather bound journal into my desk drawer
as the door opens.  Oakley is the pretty boy of the pack.  His chiseled features
and expensive wardrobe make him look like a magazine advertisement.  He’s a
good sport about the relentless teasing we do of his primping time in the
bathroom.

“Rumor has it that you found your mate.  How did I
miss out?”  He sits down in one of the two corduroy lounge chairs in my sitting
area of the room.  The fancy pillows that go with the chairs were Dolly’s idea,
I toss them in the corner most of the time.  I don’t understand the reason to
have pillows that serve no purpose.  Dolly swears it brings out my softer
side.   It isn’t as though I care about my softer side when I’m sitting around
reading a book. 

“You didn’t miss anything.”

Oakley picks up the Art of War book off the
ottoman.  I read it last week and forgot to toss it in my book donation box.  “What’s
going on Parker, you’re not usually this quiet about your conquests.”

My wolf growls at the comment.  “She’s not a
conquest.  It doesn’t matter anyway, I refuse to turn her.”  I pull my cleaning
kit out for my rifle.

“You’re not planning on doing something with that do
you?”

I shake my head back and forth.  “Yeah, I do.  I’m
going hunting with the General tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot.  Sorry…I mean, I know you’re
pissed off.”

“Do you have a reason to be in here, or are you
doing Dolly a favor?”

Oakley stares at me for a second before answering in
his southern twang.  “You can be a dick sometimes.  Despite your dick-attude,
I’m here man if you want to talk.  I can’t say what my decision would be if I
fell for a human too.  If you feel like running later, let me know.”  He
crosses the room and lets himself out. 
Shit!
I think to myself.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. 

I HOPE YOU MADE IT HOME OKAY.  I HAD A GOOD TIME
THIS WEEKEND. XOXO S

I stare at the message, my heart tightening in my
chest at the thought of never seeing her again.  One week?  I’m not going to
turn her, so do I continue to see her despite the fact we’ll never be
together?  I should let her hate me now, if I spend much more time with her,
I’ll give in to my wolf.  It goes against every fiber of my being, and for
that, I won’t drag her any further into the lie.

“FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!”  I yell and throw The Art of War
at the wall. 

SAPPHIRE

Tuesday evening

“What happened around here?” Ruby asks as she plops
her duffel bag next to the washing machine.  “Did you kill someone or
something?  It smells like you bleached the place down.”  Her Converse shoes
make a squeaky sound as she walks into the kitchen.  “You totally did something
naughty around here.  You’ve never cleaned this well for no reason.  Tell me!”

I try to quit smiling but can’t, no matter how hard
I try.  “We had fun.”  I tear  my chicken finger in half to cool it off.  “You
can stare at me with those puppy-dog eyes, but I’m not telling you anything. 
You’ll have to judge him yourself.”

Stone’s footsteps on the stairs remind me that my
brother is in hearing distance.  “What’s going on in here?  You both look
guilty as hell.”  It’s not as though he hasn’t heard us talk about boys before,
but this is different.

I fiddle with the rhinestone belt I bought last
week. “Brother, some things you don’t want to know…trust me,” I say and glance
up at his face.  “You’re a lovely shade of red.”

“Our pure-as-snow sister here had a boy stay over
while we were gone,” Ruby announces.

I hide my embarrassment by fidgeting with my phone
volume; it isn’t as if I’m not old enough for an overnight visitor.  Mom would
object though.  Twenty-two is still a child in her eyes.  “Both of you - stop,
it’s my business.  When I’m ready to introduce him to mom, I’ll have him come
over and you can judge for yourself.

A loud rumbling noise outside gets our attention.
“Squee!  It’s here!  Ya’ll are going to die, come outside and I’ll show you.” 
Ruby jumps around in excitement.  She’s always been full of life, the one to
demand attention when she enters a room. 

We follow Ruby through the garage to the driveway.  Parked
in middle of the driveway is a candy-apple-red motorcycle and a leather clad
man.

Ruby’s face lights up as she runs over and gives the
guy a hug.  “Everyone, this is Melvin, he built this bike for me!”

“What the hell?”  Stone says as he walks over to the
bike.

“Holy shit Mel, it turned out gorgeous.”  Ruby rubs
her hand along the sleek red chopper.  “The paint job is wicked awesome!”

The bike is painted with smokey looking skulls with
wisps along the tank.  “Wow!  When did you buy a motorcycle?” I ask trying to
hide the sarcasm that is lingering at the tip of my tongue.  The chrome pipes
and spokes are sparkling in the sunlight.   I can’t help but be reminded she
borrowed fifty bucks from me last week, and she can afford to buy a bike?

“Mel and I worked out a deal.  I’m going to model
for his shop at all the bike conventions; in turn he built me a bike.  He’s
taken me out riding a few times - ohhhhhh, I’m freaking out!”

“You’re going to ride this bike?  Mom is going to
have a cow when she sees her baby girl on a motorcycle,” I say and shake
Melvin’s hand.  An SUV pulls up, rock music blaring through the rolled down
windows.

“I’m nineteen and pay my own bills; I can decide
what I drive.  Hey Jack and Junior,” she yells out to the SUV. 

I stay around until things die down outside.  As Stone
and Ruby take turns riding the bike through the neighborhood, I sit and think
about Parker.  I can’t get him off my mind, every moment we had keeps running
like water through my brain.  The memories bring a smile to my lips and a
tingling between my legs.   The touch of his strong hands running down the
length of my body or the way he made me scream with pleasure.  I’ve never gone
out with anyone that has sparked so much attention from my soul.  

Surely it won’t hurt to send him a text telling him
our time together was hypnotic and I look forward to another night soon.  I
check my phone a dozen times before I go to bed, the very bed I was tied to
twenty-four hours ago…no reply.

A few days have gone by, and no texts from Parker
made me realize that I was just a one night stand.  In our case, a three night
stand.  How do I always fall for the wrong guy?  I’ve never had a serious relationship;
I’ve never met a guy I’d want one with.  How fucking dumb of me to believe we
had something on a deeper level.  Aren’t I freakin’ good enough for anyone? 
I’m turning into the girl I said I’d never be…desperate.

KNOCK KNOCK

I sent the text after a couple of drinks.  I swear I
should have given my phone to Ruby to hold before I started drinking.  Drunk
texting is so degrading…but there I was… Mother F R what the hell!

It’s been three days since Parker left the house and
my heart has shattered into shards of glass.  Ruby went so far as to have the
shaman from our tribe come out and talk with me.  I don’t believe in all that
paranormal stuff.  She tells me a long drawn-out story about him having secrets
and I should steer clear from.  Don’t we all?  The fact is, I believed a man
when he promised me his heart.  Like the town idiot, I sit in waiting for his
reply to a stupid text message.  How incredibly stupid.

~~~~~~

3 days post Sapphire

PARKER

1:00 am Saturday morning

My phone buzzes on my nightstand alerting me to a
text message.  KNOCK KNOCK 

I sit up in bed and stare at my phone…two words, one
meaning, and I’m sure she is second guessing everything I said about not being
a one-night stand.  The tightness in my chest is almost too much to bear.  I
throw my head back and bang it against my headboard hard enough to make it
smack into the wall.