Sapphire: A Werewolf Love Story (9 page)

7:00 am

When I was at Sapphire’s house, I had a chance to
find the bag with her clothes from the night she was attacked.  I cut a small
swatch from the shirt she had on that night.  The General agreed to let me
focus on finding the man, and bringing justice to right the wrong he did to
her.  In five minutes I’m meeting up with five pack members to help me find the
guy.

Down the hall towards the family room I hear
whispers about the meeting and how I’ve been an ass for a couple of days. 
Yeah, I’ve been an ass…because I don’t want the love of my life to be a
werewolf…so I gave her freedom. 

The family room is equipped with a pool table, big
screen TV and a bar loaded with sodas and alcohol.  Pru is at the pool table
practicing her combination shot.  She’s a nice girl with Irish looks.  She
might be nice and sweet, but she can kick some serious ass.  Like her mother,
she’s protected within the pack.  Some werewolves have a special gift, unlike
the rest of us who are only weres.  Pru is a shaman and has lucid dream walks. 
Not everyone knows about the extent of her gifts, but they’re all aware they
must watch out for her.  It pisses her off that we’re all so protective, but
lately she’s been more mature about us watching out for her.  In my opinion,
she’s our best tracker, and will be one of the fiercest werewolves in the
country before she’s old enough to drink.

“Hey everyone, stop gossiping and let’s get down to
business.”  I look around the room, to assure I have everyone’s attention.  “I
have a swatch of fabric from a human that was attacked and left in the middle
of a parking lot unconscious.  The General has given me forty-eight hours to
dedicate to this hunt.  We’re going to split into two teams.  When you find
this person, I want you to contact me and take him to the warehouse.”   We have
a place for interrogations in downtown Oklahoma City.  “I have maps for
everyone up here.” I take a stack of papers and wave them in the air.   “He
must be alive and alert; you’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.  No
one is to go wolf on him.”  Going wolf is shifting and scaring the person to
death.  “Pru, you’re with me.  Everyone else, I want you to figure out your
team leader.  You’ll visit businesses, residential areas, and walk or drive,
whatever it takes.  I have two items of the girl’s so you can distinguish the
difference.  This guy is a predator and as far as we know, he’ll be armed and
dangerous.  Don’t touch the fabric - I have them in a bag so you can sniff it
and pass it around.  I don’t want any misunderstandings.  Pru, here, smell
this,” I say as I hand her the two plastic bags.  “Oakley, while we’re out, I
want you to be in command here at the farm.  You’ll be in charge.  If anyone
has an issue, take it up with Oak.  Can I take your truck Oakley?”

Oakley reaches in his front pocket of his jeans and
pulls out a set of keys and tosses them to me.   Pru and I unlock the gun cabinet
and issue out handguns to all of the guys going out with us. 

“No witnesses!”  Pru yells out.  “Parker, what’s
this all about?”  Pru says as she loads her revolver, leaving one chamber
empty.  “Who’s the victim?  Does she know about us or something?”

I shake my head back and forth.  “It’s a friend of
mine that was attacked, that’s all you need to know.”

She rolls her eyes and slides her gun into the
holster under her skirt.  “You can be such an asshole sometimes.  I was just
asking.  It isn’t as though rumors haven’t already been flying all over the
farm.  You’re asking us to put our life and reputation on the line.  We try to
police supernaturals, not humans.  This could go sour and put us into trouble
the Phelan Pack doesn’t need.  So don’t play coy with me asshat!”

“We’ll talk in the truck; bring clothes in case we
don’t come back tonight.  I need to find this guy as soon as humanly possible.”

“Humanly….ha ha,” Pru replies and tucks her hair
behind her ear.  I once thought I saw a tattoo there, but she was twelve and
I’m sure it was a fake one.

“Park, for crying out loud, I’m a wolf, I need to
eat.  We’ve been at this for seven hours straight and I can’t smell anything
but dinner.” Pru complained as she climbed into the truck.  “A girl needs a burger
now and then.”

No matter how much I wanted to deny myself food
until we located the asshole, I couldn’t deny the alpha’s daughter.  A hungry
wolf is dangerous.  As humans half the time, we’re able to control our urges,
but we have to keep our blood sugar steady.  “Burgers it is…send a text to
everyone and have them meet us at Sander’s Burgers.”

The parking lot is bare; the dinner crowds are
already gone for the night.  It’s fine by me, we will be able talk more openly
without an audience.  We draw attention when we walk in as a group.

Pru’s hand is on the door when she comes to a stop
and turns around to me.  “Get back beta,” Pru growls.

No sooner were the words out of her mouth and it hit
me. The scent is undeniable and is lingering everywhere.  He has been here,
multiple times.  “Prudence, move out of my way.”  Her hands go up to my chest as
she pushes me back.  “I’m not playing with you, step aside.”

“I told you to get back.  Don’t make me pull rank on
you.”  Pru says through gritted teeth.  “Let me go in and check it out.  You’re
too pissed to be rational.”

“Find him,” I demand.  I stretch my neck to the side
to pop it and crack my fingers to loosen up my hands.  He’s going to fry.  My
wolf has stirred and he’s clawing to come out.  I head over to the truck to get
supplies for securing him in one of the cars.  Pru must have sent out a text
because everyone pulled into the parking lot like their ass was on fire.

Jax comes running over to me to find out what the
plan is.  “Do you want us to go in and grab him and bring him out here?” 

He is smaller than me but he’s fast, strong and
crazy as hell.  “We’ll go in together.  Pru is casing the place for us.  You
and I will check the employee parking lot to figure out if his scent is prevalent
back there.”  His stench is everywhere. There are three cars in the back lot. 
We close in on a red ninety’s model Honda. 

“He works here boss.  You want me to grab the guys
and we can wait for him to get off work?”  Jax asks as he fidgets from foot to
foot.

As luck would have it, the back door opens and one
of the cooks steps out with his cigarette dangling from him mouth.  I flash a
knowing look to Jax and he looks up and sees a camera.  Without hesitation he
pulls out a 9mm and shoots the camera.  The cook didn’t even flinch.  Even a
deaf person would be able to feel the vibration.  I zero in on him and realize
why he didn’t jump, he has earphones jammed in his ears. 

“What a dumbass,” Jax says and shakes his head. 

The guy doesn’t notice us as we approach the door. 
Just about the time we’re going to sneak in behind his back he sees me.  I hold
my finger up to keep him from screaming.  The fear in his eyes made me feel a
little guilty, not enough to stop me, but guilty.  I reach over and pull his
ear-bud out of his ear, “don’t scream, we’re not robbing the place.  Where’s
the guy that drives that Honda?”

“Ah…hem, ahhhh well… he’s wa washing the da da
dishes,” the guy stutters.

“Send him a text and tell him to come out back to
show him something in the parking lot.  Don’t say why.” I watch him send the
text out.  “What’s his name?”

“Pedro.”

“Good, now go smoke around the corner and everything
will be fine.”  I know he won’t say anything to anyone.  I smell the pot he has
in his pocket which means he doesn’t want to talk to the law.  “If I find out
you post this on Facebook or contact anyone, I’ll be here for you next time.”

“Ya ah yes sir.”

“Park, you want me to shoot him when he comes out?” 
Jax asks.

“No, we’re taking him with us.  Another thing, don’t
call me Park or I’ll castrate you.”

Jax looks at me like I’ve lost my mind but doesn’t
say anything.  Through the door that’s propped open by a brick, I hear someone
rapping as they approach.  We’ll see how good his mood is once he’s faced with
a pack of werewolves.  There’s only one set of footsteps which will make our
job easier.  The less human involvement the better.  Oakley’s truck pulls up to
the door at the same time Pedro steps outside.  Jax grabs him from behind with
his arm around his neck.  Pru hops out of the truck and walks over with a syringe
and sticks it in his arm.  Within seconds he is limp and unable to stand.  We
lift him up and get him in the bed of the truck.  Oakley has a leather cover
over the bed to help with gas mileage, it will also hide Pedro from being seen.

“He’ll be out for the next hour, we won’t have
traffic to deal with so we should be able to get everything set up before he
awakens,” Pru says.  She has her auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail making
her look like a young girl.  Time is going so fast, and she’s grown up to be a
strong warrior.  I find it hard to believe that a few years ago she was playing
with dolls and chasing her tail on our outings.  She’s serious about her
position in the pack, and fulfills her assignments without being coaxed. 

“Is my hair covered completely?” Pru asks.  We all
have masks to cover up who we really are.  It was the General’s idea to have
them look like the eighty’s movie Teen Wolf.  We had a laugh when the masks
came in from California.  A master costume designer made them for five thousand
each.  Dolly wanted us to wear them to find the guy, but I explained it would be
strange if we wore them in public.  Jax reaches over and tucks a piece of Pru’s
hair up under the mask.

“Throw a glass of water at his face,” I say to Jax. 
We tied Pedro to a chair and placed it in the middle of the warehouse.  Many
years ago, this place was a bread factory.  The owner ended up selling his
business to a major company.  Rumor has it that Dolly has their cinnamon roll
recipe.   “Sleeping beauty has been out long enough.”  Jax fills up a bucket of
water and pours it all over him. 

Pru walks over and seductively whispers his name in
his ear.  Pedro opens his terror filled eyes. 

“Where am I?”  Pedro demands.

Pru reaches over and grabs his earlobe between her
fingernails and pinches.  He flinched away but couldn’t escape the pain.

I walk over to stand directly in front of him. 
“You’re about to face the most terrifying day of your life.”

“What the fuck you talkin’ about bro?”

I fill my lungs with air and concentrate as I
exhale.  Spittle flings from his mouth as I slap him hard.  “Don’t call me bro
asshole.”

I concentrate on the pack members; knowing that me
being violent causes their wolf to go on guard.

“Why am I here?”  Pedro is short, pale, and talks
with a peculiar Mexican accent.  He’s the polar opposite of what I’d expect
someone named Pedro would look or sound like.  “I paid Ray back.”

The dirt bag has other enemies.  My kind of
criminal, one with many enemies.

“You’re here because of what you do to women. 
You’re a lowlife, and I should kill you right now, but I’m not going to.  No,
I’m going to watch you suffer and if I feel you don’t suffer enough, I’ll do
some more.   First, I’ll start by removing your shirt.  Isn’t this what you do
to women, remove their shirt to humiliate them?”

Pedro shakes his head back and forth.  “Listen here
dick, I don’t know what you’re talking about.  You’ve got the wrong person.” 
He looks around the room trying to convince everyone that I am wrong.

I cock my head side to side to pop it.  “Remove his
shirt,” I say to Jax.  In a split second, Jax has sliced the t-shirt with a
pocket knife.  Droplets of blood appear all the way down his chest from where
the knife slit him.  “Oh look, you’re bleeding,” I state the obvious.  “How
many girls did you leave for dead with their shirts undone?”  He looks up at me
with utter fear.  My wolf is clawing to get at him for harming Sapphire.  He
sits in silence too long and I backhand him hard.  “I expect an answer…HOW
MANY?”

Pedro has gone so pale he looks dead.  “I didn’t
hurt them.  I promise, I just wanted to see their bra.  I love their bras. 
Don’t kill me please,” he blubbers.

“You. Have. Not. Answered. Me!”

“Three, it was three.  I promise I didn’t do anything
else.  I didn’t rape them or touch them in any way.  I swear!”

“You’re lying!  I can hear your heart racing.”

“I didn’t hurt them, I promise.  I only did it to
see their bra.  I’ve always wanted to see a real girl in her bra,” his voice
quivers as he talks.  “Please don’t kill me.  I swear I will never do it
again.”

I pop my knuckles and turn my back to walk away. 
“Princess, you stay here and guard him.  Rip his throat out if he as much as
moves an inch.”

The guys and I go into the office for a minute to
talk.

“You can’t kill him boss,” Jax says to me.

I look up and shake my head in disbelief.  “No, I’m
not going to kill him, he might wish he were dead but he won’t die today.” 
Everyone nods their head in approval before turning around and going back into
the room.

Pru looks pissed off as we approach the two of them.