Werewolf Me (15 page)

“Mine,” Murphy growled as he came hard inside her.

“Yes. I am yours.”
I have found my home.

“You know Elspeth.”

“She’s my grandmother.” Why had she gone with Gil? One moment she was about to say no and then the next she was sitting in a house, perched high on a ridge in the middle of the Australian bush with two people who looked at her with an interest that was confusing. Joan turned to glance at Gil. He just winked as if amused her confusion.
He suckered me in with the whole “answers you seek” thing.
How did he even know I craved knowledge of who I am and why I feel this mad stirring within me?

“I knew Elspeth.”

Joan focused on the woman who introduced herself as Bess. Although aging, Joan was knew she would have been quite the bombshell in her youth. “Really? And Gran was not completely sozzled when she mentioned werewolves?”

“Your gran was as smart as a whip.” Bess smiled at Joan as if to put her at ease. “How is Elspeth?”

“She passed away a year ago.” Joan swallowed hard. No matter how much time passed she still felt the ache keenly. Elspeth was one of the few people who ever really understood Joan.

William leaned over and patted her hand. “I’m sorry. She was a good woman.”

“She was—um—a little odd at times.”

“Yes.” William acknowledged that with a smile. “She was but we liked her.” He traded glances with Bess. “Why are you here?”

Two things struck Joan as interesting. One, William and Bess were very much in love. That was sweet. And two, she didn’t feel threatened. It was almost like she was with friends. Joan hadn’t been this comfortable in years. Generally, she was reluctant to tell anyone anything but with these people she felt safe.
Or I am losing my mind? Either way it doesn’t matter. I am out of this paranormal business after this
. “There’s this man called Absolon.” She felt all three sets of eyes glued on her.
Okay, clearly they know him
. “He came to see me and offered me a bucket-load of money if I hunted down a werewolf.”

“You’ve taking up your grandma’s calling.” Bess nodded in approval.

Joan looked sheepish. “It’s more of a failing really. I’m hopeless at it.”

“Everyone finds their place eventually, dear.”

“Anyway I came here and now I not sure what I’m supposed to do. Last night I went out and followed the wolves.”

“Yes, we know,” Gil replied, his eyes never leaving her face.

“You followed me?” That seemed impossible for she’d always felt this man the few times he had been near her. It was almost eerie the way she knew when Gil was around.

“Sort of.”

“Well, um, anyway, I only found Truro naked and alone.” Joan waved her hand to cut off their questions. “It’s a long story but she said something that made me realize how insane this whole idea of mine was to charge out here in search of something that I have no idea what to look for let alone try to hunt.” Truro loved her man.
How can I, even if I had a clue, harm that?

Bess exchanged glances with Gil. “I’m sure you’re here for another reason.”

William held out hid hand. “May I look at the dagger please?”

Joan felt no reason not to show them. After all they had known Elspeth. “Sure.” She unbuckled it and handed it over. That’s when the first flash of pain shot through Joan’s body. She saw blood-red, her skin burned and she felt a surge of wild anger lift her to her feet. Joan staggered slightly and slapped at the hands Gil reached out to steady her with. “Get away!” Her voice roared, the sound of it hurting her own ears. Joan looked at the three people in great suspicion.
They are my enemies
. But she didn’t know why. Joan wanted to hate them. The rational part of her tried to reason with the madness tearing through her veins. “What the hell is going on?” Her blood was rushing through her body at an alarming rate. Her heart was pumping time as she backed away from them, breathing hard. She wanted to kill the two men.

William dropped the dagger on the floor and kicked it to her. Bess looked at him in alarm. Gil jumped up to defend the older couple. Joan snatched the dagger up ready to attack. But the oddest thing happened. Suddenly she felt a cooling wave of calmness wash through her body. “What is happening to me?” Joan sank down to her knees shaking.

“You are most definitely Elspeth’s granddaughter.” William went over to Joan and offered her his hand so she could stand. “Did your gran ever speak of your ancestors?”

Joan’s legs were wobbly as both men helped her to a chair.
This was so embarrassing
. Yet she only saw compassion in their eyes. “Yes, some.” Joan tried hard to catch her breath.
How did I go from wanting to kill to wanting to apologize?
“But none of what Gran said made much sense. It was something to do with someone who used to destroy things.”

“People actually,” William clarified. “Take another couple of deep breaths and relax and I’ll tell you about it. Oh, by the way, we’re werewolves.”

Joan was gobsmacked. “Great. I’m related to a madman.” Some nutcase relative of hers, centuries ago, was called the Destroyer.
And lucky me, I have his blood in my veins.

“Yes,” William confirmed, his eyes kind on hers.

“And my reaction to you is a genetic thing?”

“Legend has it the Destroyer became as he was when his family was attacked and killed by werewolves. And no, like all races, not every werewolf is peaceful nor is every human.”

“True but not everyone turns evil as he did.” The whole fact they were werewolves barely made Joan blink. Her own heritage made her ill.

“Some people always have evil within them.” Gil sat close at her side, concern on his face. “You don’t though.”

Joan wanted to believe him. “How do you know?”

“I just do.”

“So Absolon got me here to do what? Go all postal on you the minute I was away from the dagger?” What a sick bastard he was. Joan would have killed them and been jailed for it and he would have walked away scot-free.

“He is a desperate man who wants revenge. I believe he also senses what we know about you.”

Joan looked at William. What more was there to know? “And that is?”

“You’re part of our clan,” William told her.

“I’m not a werewolf.” Sure there were weeks when she didn’t wax her upper lip but she was a busy woman.

“No, that’s not it dear,” Bess responded, nodding at her confusion. “I do understand what you are going through.”

Huh?
“Then how can I be a part of your clan?” Joan looked at Gil, then Bess then William for answers.

William was left to explain it. “Every fifty years our clan calls soul mates to it to strengthen the clan.”

“Soul mates? Like in those dumb-assed romance books?” Joan preferred real life to fantasy. Fantasy got people in trouble. “That’s all a load of soppy crap meant to make people buy a bunch of stuff to entice ‘the one’ to them, when in reality he or she never existed outside of a soap opera.”

Gil grinned at her words. “You sound like Truro.”

Maybe I misjudged the women
. “Wait a second.” A crazy thought struck her. Truro loved Murphy despite the whole werewolf thing, which had to have thrown her for a loop. “Murphy is Truro’s soul mate.”

“Yes.” William’s gaze turned to Gil.

“Oh no, fucking way.” Joan jumped to her feet. “I’m not here for this or for him and for love.”

Gil was not perturbed. “Then why are you really here?”

The sound of gunshots waylaid her answer. “The natives are restless.” William sighed. “That will be some of the locals shooting anything the moves in the hope of bagging a wolf. Absolon was most smart in having those men attacked. If we run scared then we are weakened.”

“You’re not going to let that prick win, are you?” The thought of Absolon killing these people—er, werewolves—was abhorrent to Joan.

Bess nodded her head in satisfaction. “Spoken like a true clanswoman.”

William looked at those who stood before him. They had gathered at the home he shared with Bess. His lover, new friends and his clan members. Their survival was everything to him. “We have to think of a way to trap Absolon.” It was not something he was happy about but it was something that had to be done.
I always knew this day would come along.
“There is great risk to us all if we do not act.”

Truro shrugged her shoulders. “Everything in life is a frigging challenge so why not this?”

William admired that Truro was gutsy and she understood the situation straight away. She was a risk taker. Anyone who wandered aimlessly around the countryside as Truro had for so many years was. Murphy was lucky in his soul mate. She had the strength to deal with what life brought her. “Well said, Truro.”

She, in turned, pushed at Murphy. “You’re crushing me, wolf man. I’m perfectly safe. We’re just discussing a plan.”

Bess and William exchanged amused glances. He understood the fear that Murphy had. To lose your soul mate was like losing yourself.

“Tru’s not going anywhere, Murphy.”

Truro stiffened at Bess’ words. “Not going anywhere.” She was the woman who had spent her life picking up and moving on. Sure, Ludlum had been somewhat of a rest for a couple of years but Truro always knew she would move on. It was what she did. Putting down roots and being a part of something was foreign to her.

This is all to do with the love thing
. Truro tried to listen to what William was saying but it was virtually impossible because her thoughts were about the man she loved at her side. Love. It still made Truro wonder what the hell had happened to her. One day she was alone and the next she was part of a couple and people were talking soul mates and togetherness.
I’m not sure I’m ready for that.
Murphy was amazing. He was gorgeous. He was everything a woman could want in a partner. But Murphy was the forever kind. Truro was not sure she could match that. He answered to the call of the wild. She answered to the fear of staying still.

While she was falling out-of-control in love with Murphy, that was different from knowing whether she would stay or not. Love was a crazy passion that didn’t always last and nothing was ever written in stone when it came to romance. It was about feeling and needing and living for the moment. There were no guarantees that moment would last. Long-term and commitment were not concepts that Truro was ready to contemplate just yet. Nothing in her life had ever been steady and reliable and being with a man, let alone one who was a werewolf, for life?
I cannot even begin to fathom that
.
So I won’t. I’ll avoid the subject altogether.
Already Truro began to feel the tension ease in her shoulders. Avoidance was excellent for relaxation.
Yes, that’s it. Help out with the evil man versus that werewolf problem and then move on.
To where Truro wasn’t sure. The pitfall of avoidance was refusing to plan or acknowledge the future, which meant she was flying blind.
But I am good at that
.

Truro gave herself a mental shake. She had to focus. These people—er, werewolves—needed help. Kick bad guy ass and then think about running. She looked at William. His piercing, intelligent gazed was focused on her. Truro felt like he knew what she was feeling.

“So we have to formulate a plan that allows us to destroy him before he destroys us,” William said.

Truro had the strangest feeling that he was reiterating for her sake when she’d been spaced out thinking about Murphy. She cleared her throat. “Okay, well I have to say that’s pretty obvious. Sorry but I thought being mystical werewolf types you’d come up with something a little more cunning than that.” Truro wanted this all sorted out so she could concentrate on what she should do or not do about Murphy. Having strange men like this Absolon running around threatening things was distracting.
Okay, I know it’s not all about me but it sort of is.

William smiled. “Rest assured, Truro, I have the safety of this clan uppermost in my mind. What I’m thinking is we let Absolon think he has turned Joan to his cause.”

Okay. Truro knew this meant the dagger thing. Gil had told her what had happened. She wouldn’t have minded seeing the highly contained Lara Croft go a little nutso after losing her knife. Truro looked at Murphy. He smiled and reached for her hand.
But then we all have our weaknesses
.
Can I walk away and leave him? Hurt him? Hurt myself?
Truro blew out a deep breath.
One problem at a time, woman
. Truro moved her gaze to Joan. “Are you okay with this?” It seemed to be asking a lot of her. After all, she had stumbled into this werewolf thing just like Truro had. Both of them were out of their depth.

Joan nodded. “I kinda feel like this is my fault.”

“It’s not.” Gil was adamant on that score.

“Besides, the sooner I get it sorted the quicker I can go back to my real life,” Joan told them, or more to the point, told William.

Truro looked from one to the other.
Oh yeah, this is going to be a messy courtship.
While Truro was confused, Joan was plain militant.
Good luck with that, Gil.

Bess clapped her hands together. “Let’s all focus shall we?”

“So you want to use Lara here as the bait.” Truro smiled at the eyeroll from Joan. “How does she sucker the bad guy into believing that she wants to kill werewolves?” In Truro’s experience, people who held grudges, especially fifty-year-old ones, were the sort who planned for any eventuality. “Do you take the knife from her and wait for her to go mad?”

“Yes.” William’s was simple and to the point.

Bess was a little more forthcoming with information. “What Joan has is like an addiction. She has to fight it to overcome what she feels. Joan could hand the dagger over to us for safekeeping. “

There were a lot of “coulds” and “shoulds” and “possibilities” in this evolving plan. “Uh-huh, and then she goes all postal when confronted by you guys? How do you know what she’ll do?” Word was she had been pretty scary last time. “’What if someone gets hurt?”

“We won’t.” Gil sounded certain of this fact.

Joan was less so. “You may.” She stroked the dagger at her side.