Ember's Curse (Prime Wolf) (10 page)

"How did it go with Tegan?" I asked, while running my fingers through his silken locks. God, I loved the feel of his hair.

"It went as well as expected," he said, pulling my hand down to his lips. He then kissed my knuckles one by one. The feathery slide of his lips across my skin made my knees weaken. I took a breath to steady myself. Would I ever get used to this?

"Linda fawned all over her daughter until she was sure she was okay. But after that…well, let's just say they were still arguing with each other as Milo and I left."

Talking about Tegan and her mother made me think about the dynamics between my own mother and me. I could just imagine the shit storm I'd have to deal with if she knew about the dangerous situations I found myself in on a pretty regular basis, especially recently.

I can't wait for you to meet my mother,
I absently sent to Collin via our special path.

I'm actually not looking forward to it,
he sent back.

I released my hold on his belt loop and pulled back far enough to where we were standing a few feet in front of each other.

"Why is that?" I asked.

My hand went straight to my hip and I gave my first ever girlfriend death glare. Collin threw up his hands and waved them in front of his body. His eyes got big and round and he stumbled for words.

"I didn't mean it like that...at all," he said. The tone of his voice was soft and very convincing.

"You've been in my thoughts, my mind, and memories. So I know for a fact that you know exactly what my mother means to me," I said, jabbing my index finger into his chest. Not hard enough to hurt, just hard enough to get my point across.

I watch as a myriad of expressions ran across his face. His dark eyebrows creased in on themselves and he said, "I have a feeling that no matter what I say right now I'm still going to be in the dog house."

"Just tell me why you would say something like that. Why wouldn't you want to meet my family?"

He took the two steps that were between us and guided me over to the couch. He sat me down and took a seat on the coffee table in front of me. "I never said I didn't want to meet her Love, I'm just a little nervous that's all."

He got up and paced across the small living room. His legs were so long it only took him four or five long strides to make it to the other side.

"You're right. I do know how important she is to you. So tell me this. How am I going to explain to her that, in the little time you've been with me, in my care, you've been shot at and attacked more than once?" He continued to pace faster now and he kept running his hand through his hair. "For Christ’s sake Ember, you were laid out on the damn pool table half dead just a few hours ago."

And there it was. He had been slowly falling apart inside and I didn't even know it. What a lousy girlfriend I was shaping up to be. Of course, all the danger we had faced tonight would get to him. I had just assumed he was handling everything extraordinarily well...too well, now that I actually thought about it.

"I'm trying my hardest to sit back and take everything in stride," he said, "and truthfully, I can to a point. The thought of explaining all that to your mother? It just scares the crap out of me."

I got up and walked over to Collin. I opened my arms to him and he collapsed into me. We were both just exhausted from all the crazy shit that had been happening to us and it was beginning to show in spades. He gave me a squeeze and buried his face in my hair.

"Can I just steal you away?" he whispered softly into my ear. "I have a ranch in Montana that I would love to whisk you off to, away from all this madness. We could make love all day and night and just forget about rogue werewolves and vampires."

"I'll tell you what. As soon as we find the assholes that are causing all this crap we will run to your ranch and spend some time just me and you. How does that sound?"

"Like a dream come true," he said while capturing my mouth with his. With a long, hard kiss, he showed me just how much he really liked that idea.

***

One would think that after dealing with finding my best friend half dead in a pool of blood on my apartment floor, or being attacked by minion assassins with the end result being that my body was riddled with silver bullets, I'd be warranted some sort of down time. A little nap maybe? Well, in my case, you'd be dead wrong.

Now, to add icing to my shit cupcake, I had to find a decent dress and make myself presentable enough to attend a party. A party, mind you, that was planned in the first place to celebrate the joining of two packs, with yours truly being the peace offering they had in mind.

"I wonder if it would be considered in poor taste to bring a date to my own engagement party," I said aloud, more to myself than to anyone in particular.

I guess I would find out. Just as soon as I squashed my size C boobs into a dress made for a smaller size B.

I took a rather hard look in the mirror at myself. Harper had blow dried and then straightened my hair to almost an inch of its life. It now hung over my shoulders and flowed down my back in long, dark, silken strands. She paid just as close of attention to the application of my makeup. She said I looked marvelous. I thought I looked a bit clown-like. But what would I know? I’ve never been a big fan of makeup. I blew a stray strand of hair out of my face and resigned myself to actually looking like a proper lady for the night.

"Stand up straight and suck that tummy in. I'm going to get you in this dress, even if it kills you," Harper said.

I did as ordered and stood up so straight that I was almost on my tippy toes. Harper worked the dress' zipper for what seemed like forever, and then finally a long "zip" sound indicated that it slid home. I let out my breath and settled flat on my feet. The fabric encasing my breast was really tight, but the rest of the little black dress fit me perfectly. I turned around to get a better view of the lace backing. The translucent material traveled from my shoulders and teasingly stopped at the dimple in my lower back, right before revealing my derriere. I couldn't remember ever wearing something so risqué.

"Where am I supposed to hide my weapons?" I asked Harper. She was rummaging through her closet looking for what she called the "piece de resistance." She looked like a mad woman throwing everything around. I had to duck out of the way of a black combat boot. I feared for my life.

"Here they are!" she exclaimed. Harper held up a pair of black leather boots triumphantly. They had a killer heel that were at least five inches long. I forgot about my weapon dilemma and now focused on a more important problem, a life-threatening one to be more precise. How in the hell did she expect me to walk in those?

"You have got to be kidding me," I said, backing away from the offending death traps. "I will fall and break my neck!"

She walked over to me, and with a firm shove to my chest, pushed me onto the bed. Before I had a chance to say anything, she knelt down in front of me and proceeded to shove the boots onto my feet. This time, the zippers slid into place easily, all the way up to the top of my knees. We apparently wore the exact same shoe size, so the shiny stiletto boots fit perfectly.

"Stand up," she said, patting my leg and moving herself up and then to the side, out of my way.

"Nope!" was my clipped reply.

"You get your scrawny ass up and work those boots like a diva. I didn't just spend two hours turning you into a masterpiece of epic proportions for nothing."

Shit, she was right. A lot of time and effort went into getting me ready for tonight. It was pretty much all her doing. I owed it to her to suck it up and take it like a woman.

"Okay, then. But if something happens to me, tell my mom and Collin that I love them, and that it was entirely your fault."

"Deal. Now, up on your feet," she said with a small laugh.

I slowly settled my body into the boots but as I stood up, my limbs began to shake from the unfamiliar shift of balance, or more correctly, lack thereof. I couldn't help but silently yearn for my comfortable, worn in low-heeled shoes that sat just a few feet away from me; they mocked me with their known comfort. After several minutes and a bruised up and twisted ankle (thank God for werewolf healing), I was moderately good at keeping myself upright and moving.

"Do you think Collin will be on his best behavior like he promised?" I asked. She had just finished putting on her own makeup and was now in the process of picking out a clutch to match her silver dress. I wobbled back over to the bed and rewarded myself with a few minutes off my feet.

"Oh, I don't know. How do you really expect him to act, considering?" she said.

I had to give it to her, she did make a shit ton of sense. How much did I really expect him to take? He was going to be walking into a pretty fucked up situation with me. His position in the Adelphi would probably temper him some, would most likely keep him from killing anyone…I hoped.

I looked down at my dress and then at my freshly polished nails. They shined a brilliant red that matched the shade of lipstick I was wearing. I dabbed my bottom lip and smeared a little bit of the makeup between my fingers nervously. How had I ever let Harper talk me into getting all dolled up like this? Who was I trying to fool? I knew exactly why I agreed to do this and all signs pointed to a certain green-eyed Alpha male.

 "So how are you adapting to being someone’s old lady? We never thought the day would come," she asked, shooting me a quizzical look.

I wiped the lipstick off my fingers with a tissue and smiled. I kept my gaze toward the floor, not exactly sure how to respond.

"It's all so surreal, these feelings."

My eyes closed as I conjured up an image of Collin holding me close. Shivers overtook my body from the delicious thought.

"He makes me feel whole, like a missing piece of me has been restored, made right again."

Harper wagged her eyebrows and grinned. "He must be putting it down pretty hard in the bedroom to have you talking like that."

"Yup," I said laughing off the subject. "That has to be it." I got up and headed for the door. "Let's get this over with. I want to show up, give Tommy my reasons for declining the proposal, and leave without bloodshed."

Harper looked at me and shook her head. "Oh, honey. Possible blood shed is the only reason why I'm going." A sly smile blossomed on her face. "And if Tommy happens to run into the sharp end of my fangs, well...shit happens."

***

I stood just out of sight behind the entryway to the living room where Collin and the guys were waiting for me and Harper. I had no clue why I was so nervous to let him see me all dolled up, but I was. I smoothed the nonexistent wrinkles from my dress and took a deep breath. My first heavily heeled step into the room was flawless, not a wobble in sight. I gave myself a mental pat on the back for not tripping and making a complete fool out of myself, and then entered the room. When I finally brought myself to look at Collin, I suddenly knew that all the poking and prodding Harper did to me with her torture devices was well worth it.

"Wow, you look...just, wow!" he said uncrossing his legs. He tried to set the video game controller down, but didn't watch what he was doing. It skipped off the corner of the table and bounced to the floor. The stumble didn't faze him at all; he just kept his rapt gaze on me. It made me feel beautiful in a way I'd never felt before.

"I see you boys had no problem making yourselves at home with my PlayStation," Harper said, walking into the room behind me. Her long nylon covered legs carried her over to the couch. She bent over, snatched up the fallen controller, and proceeded to kick Nathan's ass in Tiger Woods golf. I had plenty of hours of experience in the same humiliation he was about to be exposed to. The knowledge made me chuckle.

I very carefully walked towards the kitchen; I had made it into the living room just fine without twisting my ankle or breaking my neck in these boots, but still, why take a chance?

Before I could enter the room, I was stopped in my tracks by an overwhelming feeling of anxiety. The tip of my boot was only inches from where Harper laid at the brink of death just hours before. There wasn't a trace of evidence left. The floor was so clean that it was like it never happened, but I knew better than that. The images of her beaten and bloody body assaulted my mind and I reached over and leaned on the counter to steady myself.

"Ember, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?" Collin asked. He rushed to my side and grabbed me around the waist. "I knew it was too soon for you to come back here."

"I'm fine," I said, shrugging out of his hold. "Really, I am."

I looked around my apartment. Other than the place where she had laid, it still felt like home. I opened myself up and sent my feelings and thoughts to Collin. He received my messages immediately and smiled in relief.

I'm glad you’re okay,
he sent back to me.

Like I said, I'm alright. It would take a lot more than that to run me out of my territory.

It really would take a whole hell of a lot more than what those sorry sons of bitches did, to cripple me. All they accomplished was to piss off a very mean she-wolf.

"Alright lady and gents, let's go crash a party," I said, grabbing my keys and purse off the counter.