Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (320 page)

“We’re okay,” I said as I stood. I kept a hand on Clay’s head. “The dog was as big as Clay here but had dark grey fur.”

“Doesn’t sound like any dog from this neighborhood, but I know there are some big dogs a few blocks away. Do you want me to call the cops?” The man started toward us.

I picked up Clay’s loose leash and nudged him to get him moving.

“Nah. I think we’re fine,” I said taking a step back. Too late. The man had gotten close enough that the pull had him. I saw the interest in his eyes.

After a few moments reassuring him that neither of us suffered injuries and that police involvement was no longer necessary, I grudgingly gave him my phone number just in case anyone had called the cops and they showed up. Clay remained quiet and unusually calm throughout the conversation.

Crisis averted, we hurried home. I didn’t talk. Instead, I concentrated on scanning with my second sight. I pushed to see further than ever before, and it drained me. My legs grew heavier with each step. I tried not to let it show.

While I scanned, so did Clay. His eyes missed nothing, and he constantly scented the air.

The sun cleared the surrounding rooftops, and its bright rays lit the sidewalk. My hurried walk degraded to a plodding step somewhere along the way, and it took us much longer to get home. No further sign of that weird light reappeared during the rest of the walk.

Because I watched my shuffling feet as we retraced our steps to the back door, I didn’t see Rachel standing on the porch.

“There you are!”

My hand flew to Clay’s thick mane at the same time my heart skipped a beat. The scare distracted me from my second sight, and it snapped closed at my loss of focus. I struggled to reopen it but a sudden pain in my head stopped my attempt. I’d done too much.

“Nice morning for a walk,” she said, moving toward us to pet Clay.

I unclenched my fingers from his fur, not wanting her to notice my death grip. She fingered one of his ears. He shook off her touch. She laughed and bent to kiss the top of his head. He endured the kiss but rolled his eyes at me. Some of my tension melted at their antics. He appeared more relaxed, too.

“I made a call this morning and can get him into the vet for his shots,” she said as she tugged the leash from my loose grasp. “I figured after the way he acted last night, we should have him current...just in case.”

It took a moment for what she said to click. My stunned gaze dropped to Clay. He calmly met my eyes, not giving any indication what he thought of her announcement. I looked back at Rachel. I didn’t know what to say.

“You okay, Gabby?” She looked at me with concern.

No. Not okay. What had started as a nice thank you breakfast for Clay had turned into a dog fight. And now she wanted to take him to the vet? He didn’t deserve that. Besides, after the attack, would he be willing to leave me? Wait. Could a vet figure out he wasn’t really a dog? I tried to contain my panic.

“Uh, I didn’t budget for it,” I blurted, hoping at the very least to put the visit off until I talked to Sam about the risks.

“Don’t worry.” Rachel untangled his leash. “I can cover it for now, and you can pay me back.”

“Let’s all go.” The words popped out of my mouth before I thought about it. What good would that do? Did I think I could block the vet from touching Clay? Rachel would definitely know something was up, then.

“No offense, Gabby, but you look like hell. I think you’d be better off with some quiet time. Don’t worry; we’ll be fine.” She tried to pull Clay toward the garage again, but he didn’t move with her.

Instead, he nudged me toward the back door, almost knocking me off balance. Rachel tugged on his leash and scolded him, but he ignored her and stayed focused on me.

“Would you mind giving him your standard pep talk? I don’t know why he only listens to you. I’m the one that feeds him treats.” She handed the leash over to me. I rubbed my forehead still unsure what he wanted me to do.

“Is it safe for you?” I breathed in his ear as I bent to give him a hug.

He snorted, which I took as a yes. Did he want me to stay here, then?

“I’m so sorry about this. I’ll need to call Sam and let him know what happened.”

I straightened, looked him in the eye, and smoothed the fur on his head. “It’s your choice.” I dropped the leash and stepped back.

He gave me a long look as Rachel moved to open the car door. He sighed then followed her.

“The control you have over him is weird but cool,” Rachel said as he jumped into the back seat.

Control? I didn’t have any control over him. He only listened when I threatened to kick him out of my room or leave him behind.

“Yeah. Just don’t be gone too long. He’ll get upset.”

“The vet’s just a few minutes from here. We should be back soon.” She climbed behind the wheel, closed the door, and rolled down her window.

I couldn’t believe we were actually doing this. What did a vet usually check for? Shots...Age...Neuter... Crap, crap, crap! The engine roared to life.

“Just don’t have him neutered! Or anything that involves blood or blood work. It’s expensive, and I promised him he’d keep his jewels.” Oh how I wished those words back when Clay started to make an odd coughing noise. I could only assume it was his version of laughter. I really needed to start filtering what I said.

Rachel swiveled to check on Clay. “Maybe we should have the vet check his lungs.”

“He’s fine. Think cost,” I said from the deck as she backed out of the driveway.

I went inside and immediately called Sam to let him know about the attack. He assured me of my safety, but I wasn’t worried about that. Paul and Henry had long ago educated me in regard to challenge etiquette. A challenge questioned Clay’s right to me. If present, I needed to stay near him to show my support of his right. Fleeing rejected him. Though rejecting him sounded tempting on the surface, doing so would put me back into the eligible pool. I didn’t want that.

Sam said he would let Elder Joshua know about the attack, too. He also felt certain the challenger wouldn’t try again anytime soon given the extent of his injuries.

A werewolf’s tough hide deflected many things that could damage human skin. What it couldn’t deflect, it reduced in severity. A knife could still cut a werewolf, for example, but not lethally like it could me. On top of the nearly impenetrable skin, nature also threw in a phenomenally fast healing process. A shallow cut would knit together in less than an hour, with no scar visible in less than a day. However, injuries from another werewolf tended to take twice as long to heal. Still faster than a human’s, however.

Talking to Sam helped settle my nerves. Though the werewolf’s odd light still bothered me, I couldn’t bring it up. I’d never shared the details of my ability with Sam. However, I did almost bring up the vet visit. Only Clay’s willingness to go had me keeping it to myself at the last minute. I felt guilty enough and didn’t need to add a lecture to it.

Before I hung up, Sam reminded me that challenges weren’t unheard of and that I had no reason to worry, yet. I agreed, and neither of us said what I already knew. Challenges occurred when more than one werewolf became interested in the same potential Mate and the potential in question didn’t have a preference. So, the challenge was my fault.

A
n hour and a half later
, I had showered, scrubbed the kitchen floor, and vacuumed every room in the house in an effort to keep myself awake.

At the sound of Rachel’s car in the driveway, I ran through the house and out the back door. Rachel parked the car in front of the garage and smiled at me. I leaned over the porch railing in an effort to see into the back of the car. I spotted Clay lying on the back seat with his head down. He didn’t look up at me.

Rachel opened her door.

“How’d it go?” I said, trying to sound indifferent.

“He took it like a champ.” She opened the back car door for Clay. He lifted his head and stood with obvious effort. Then he hopped down with care and pathetically climbed the deck steps to my side. I stared at him for a moment.

“What’d they do to him?”

Rachel shook her head and closed the door.

“He wasn’t acting like this when we left. I swear. I think he’s hamming it up for you.” She patted Clay’s head with a laugh.

He accepted the pat with a defeated grunt, stopped hobbling, and started to walk with his usual gait. I heaved a relieved sigh. He looked up at me and winked. I quickly checked to see if Rachel had noticed, but she had already walked away from us and into the house. I shook my head at him before we followed Rachel in.

“So what shots did he get?” I poured some orange juice from the refrigerator and took a drink to keep myself busy. Clay eyes never left me.

“Just rabies. The vet had a hard time determining his age by his teeth, but thought him to be in his prime.”

I choked on my juice.

“That’s great,” I managed to gasp out as I glanced at Clay.

A small smug smile curled his lips. I needed to find a nice way to tell him his wolfie smile looked creepy.

“Hey, while I was waiting for him, Peter called. He said he had a good time last night and hoped Scott hadn’t ruined his chance by coming on too strong. He’s never seen Scott act in any way but smooth. He naturally thinks Scott’s falling hard for you.”

Both Clay and I gawked at her. I know my jaw had dropped a little and wondered if Clay’s had done the same.

“I’m just repeating.” She held up her hands with a laugh at my expression. “Anyway, Peter said Scott’s already been bugging him about getting your number to set up another date. Given what you told me, I said no, that last night was just a friendly get together and that you were seeing someone else.”

Clay’s gusty sigh of relief competed with mine. We’d been through enough today. Okay, fine, he’d had to go through all of it while I just stood by. But still...the stress of it, along with the overuse of my sight, wore me out.

Looking down at him, I realized how much I didn’t mind having him there. We’d at least become friends of sorts. But I worried I treated him unfairly by allowing him to hang around. Would that mislead him to think our relationship might grow to more than friendship? I hoped not. If he ever thought I asked too much, he could always walk away.

“You know, sometimes that dog creeps me out with how human he acts,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “Anyway, I’m going to meet up with Peter for another try at a date. We’re going to see a movie, and this time, I’m not asking you to come with.” She had a huge smile on her face as she walked past us toward her room.

“Thank you!” I called to her retreating form.

T
he rest
of the weekend passed in a blur of studying. Whenever Rachel left to meet Peter, Clay and I would sprawl on the living room floor. I would read my books while he read his, and I turned his pages. We didn’t talk much. He seemed content just to lie by me.

Because of Clay’s sensitive hearing, we always moved back into my room before Rachel could get from the car to the door.

“I bet I’m looking for a new roommate before the next semester starts,” I said to Clay when I heard Rachel come through the door late Sunday night. He didn’t have much to say one way or the other.

On Wednesday, I realized I hadn’t done my laundry in days. My meager wardrobe lay in a mashed pile in the corner of my closet. With a sigh, I plucked out a semi-clean shirt and the jeans from the day before. After I dressed, I grabbed what I could from the remaining heap and ran downstairs to cram it into the washer. Clay watched me from the top of the stairs. If I didn’t leave now, I’d arrive late for class. I threw in the detergent, ran up the stairs, and nearly plowed Clay over on my way out the door.

When I pulled into the driveway that evening, there was a service truck parked in front of the house, and Rachel’s car already sat in the garage. Baffled, I watched her hurry out the back door. She wore a wide grin.

“You are brilliant!” she said as soon as I opened my car door.

“What’d I do?” I took my bag loaded with library books out of the front seat and closed the door.

“There’s a hot repairman working on the washer in the basement. Thank you for breaking it.” She linked her arm through mine and walked me to the house.

“I didn’t do anything but throw in a load of laundry before I left,” I said quietly as I glanced at the open basement door.

Clay sat in the hallway, staring down the stairs. When he heard me, he turned his head to watch us.

“Hey,” Rachel said. “I’m not blaming...I’m just thanking.” She continued to grin.

“I thought you were into Peter,” I whispered.

“I am. It doesn’t mean I don’t window-shop. Go down there and flirt with him and see if we can get twenty percent off our bill.”

“I will not,” I huffed with a laugh. I moved away from her and got myself a drink of water. “It’d be safer to send Clay down there to learn how to fix it than me trying to get us a price break.”

“If our dog starts fixing things, we’re hitting the road and making some money,” said Rachel.

We both heard the heavy tread on the basement stairs at the same time. Rachel’s face lit with anticipation while I eyed the door with dread. Was it too late to run past and hide in my room? With Clay so close to the door, I’d probably trip on him, and the repairman would find me lying at his feet.

Then, I saw the guy. Denim hugged his long, lean legs, and a snug shirt displayed his biceps and abs to perfection. I knew better than to stare; he would take my attention as a come-get-me signal for sure. But with a body like that, a girl had to look her fill. When my eyes finally met his, he smiled broadly and flexed.

Well, that just ruined the whole window-shopping experience. A conceited hottie. Their vocabularies didn’t include the word no, which made it difficult to fight them off. The situation called for a retreat. I turned to Rachel.

“I have to go pick up my ring before Clay gets here. He’d be heartbroken if he found out I bent a prong on the setting already. Plus, my hand feels naked without it.” While I spoke, I held out my left hand dramatically and gave it a wistful look. Maybe it was over doing it, but I wasn’t sure he’d get the point otherwise.

“The dog?” the man asked with a puzzled look at Rachel.

A nervous laugh escaped before I could stop it. “We named the dog after my fiancé. He has a good sense of humor and likes the dog, too.”

I bolted out the door and got back into my car. Clay hadn’t been fast enough for a change, and I had to leave him behind.

Not knowing what else to do, I went grocery shopping and took my time to read the labels of the different orange juices the store offered. Even after the drawn-out shopping trip, I had to drive past the house three times before the truck finally disappeared.

When I staggered in through the back door laden with groceries, Clay sat waiting for me in the kitchen. I set down the bags and peeked around the corner to look for Rachel. When I didn’t see or hear her, I spoke to Clay in a whisper.

“You better keep reading the books I bring home. You can be our repair guy. It gives me the willies that he knows where I live.”

Clay nodded his head in agreement...which Rachel saw as she walked into the kitchen. She paused mid-stride, her eyes wide.

“Did he just nod?” she demanded.

I acted natural. “Yep. I’ve been working on it with him. He caught on really fast. The nodding isn’t bad, but his smile can be a little scary.”

Rachel stared at us for a moment then shook her head.

“You’re weird, Gabby, but in a good way. Anyway, it was one hundred and twenty-five dollars to fix the washer. I covered your half. With the vet bill, you’re up to one hundred, minus the burger and drink from disaster night.”

Ouch. “Okay. I’ll run to the bank after class tomorrow.” I chewed my lip for a moment. My pathetic savings couldn’t take these kinds of unexpected hits. Life was more expensive than I’d anticipated.

I turned to unpack the rest of my groceries and noticed Clay watching me closely. Not wanting to draw Rachel’s attention to him again, I ignored his look and finished up so I could go study.

O
n Friday afternoon
, Rachel rushed in through the back door while calling my name in a panicked tone.

“In here!” I said as I jumped up from the bed.

We nearly collided as she flew through my bedroom door at the same time I tried to leave it. I caught her by the arms.

“What’s going on?”

“Peter broke and told Scott he had plans to go to dinner with me tonight,” she panted.

I stared at her. She ran through the house to tell me she had a date? I really didn’t see how I qualified as the weird one sometimes.

“So...?”

“Peter’s coming here to pick me up, and Scott’s coming with. Gabby, I don’t think he’s going to take no for an answer tonight. Peter can’t shake him.” Her emphatic expression told me the degree of insistence Scott had used to accompany Peter.

I groaned, flopped back on my bed, and forgetting about Clay, landed on him. He didn’t even twitch, but I still reached back to pat him.

“Sorry, Clay.” I froze mid-pat then bolted up right. “I’ve got an idea! Rachel, if you have any clothes that would say I’ve been dating a guy for a while, can I borrow them?” I didn’t want to spend any money unnecessarily.

“Sure, but who are you dating?”

Rachel moved out of the way as I rushed from my room. I heard Clay hop down from the bed to follow me. I grabbed shoes from the closet. My plan could work. I just needed to convince Clay. They both trailed behind me as I struggled to slip on some shoes while I walked to the kitchen. It wasn’t easy. I almost tripped twice and covered most of the distance hopping instead of walking. I grabbed my car keys.

“I’ll let you know when I bring him home. Come on, Clay,” I called, holding the door open for him. With a baffled glint in his eyes, he followed me.

I rushed to the car and waved for him to hurry. I had the doors slammed closed and the engine rumbling seconds later. Clay studied me as I careened out the driveway and took off in the direction of the shopping district.

“You’re here to keep me safe, right?” I took his grunt as a yes. “Then, I need you to be more than my dog.” I risked a glance at him. He tilted his head at me clearly confused. “I need you to put on your skin. Be my date tonight. Please?”

I sounded desperate, but I didn’t really care. The thought of Scott cornering me gave me shivers. His normal personality probably qualified as nice, but I’d seen how the obsession had worked on others. Scott’s fascination with me had obviously advanced. Yet, if Clay were to run interference as my date, it could permanently dissolve.

“You took a shower today, right?” I expected the harrumph he let out. “Do you know what size you wear? Shirt, pants, shoes?” Unhelpful, he continued to stare at me.

Given what he’d worn when I first saw him, he probably didn’t know. It made my work a little bit more difficult, but I would manage.

I found an open spot and careened into it, slamming on the brakes at the last second. Only Clay’s good balance kept him from falling out of the seat.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes,” I said as I rushed out the door.

Inside the store, I tried to remember how he’d looked as a man. Hairy. Dirty. Tall. Well, taller than me. Had he seemed thin or chubby? I couldn’t remember. His jacket had obscured most of his shape, and I’d been distracted by the whole “hey, I’m your Mate” thing.

Usually, when I shopped on my own, it didn’t turn out well. However, my crazed sprints from rack to rack held most of the men I encountered at bay. So, I scoured the clearance racks and guessed at sizes while trying to stick with safe styles.

Panting for breath, I raced to a register. I bought Clay a linen pant and shirt set, the largest brown foam bottomed sandals I could find—I could always cut the foam down to size—and a few other essentials.

Then, I ran out of the store. Clay was standing on the seat. He just stared at me as I opened the car door and tossed the bags at him. They landed at his feet.

I started the engine and tried to think where I could take him to get dressed. Somewhere he could walk in as a dog and out as a man. I couldn’t think of a single place that allowed dogs in changing areas. I’d just have to try to pull a fast one on Rachel. I put the car in gear and drove it as if I’d stolen it. I made it to the house in record time.

Rachel was already dressed and standing outside by the back door when we got home. She had a stack of clothes in her arms.

“Where’s the date?” she said as her eyes searched the empty car. “They are going to be here in fifteen minutes.”

I waved her back into the house. “He’ll be here in a few minutes. I hope.”

We followed her in, and I paused to toss the bag of new clothes in the bathroom for Clay. I really hoped he’d help me.

“Let’s go in my room, and you can help me pick what to wear,” I said to Rachel.

“Really?” she said with an excited smile. She’d already noticed I liked my privacy and usually left me alone. But, I expected the opportunity to dress me would distract her from noticing that Clay hadn’t followed us from the kitchen or, later, his absence.

“I need something a little tropical, or hippie-ish,” I said as I closed the door and started to undress.

Rachel set the clothes on the bed, her expression filled with suspicion.

“Who is this guy? Why do you need to dress like a hippie?”

“He’s a good friend, and he didn’t have much notice to go home to change. Because I’m cheap, I got him some clean clothes from the summer closeout racks.” I spoke a little louder for Clay’s benefit. I wanted him to know why I purchased what I had.

Rachel looked up at my sudden surge in volume. Clearly, my weirdness had just increased a level. I motioned to the pile of clothes to distract her. She began to rifle through them, searching for something to fit my requirements.

“He’s got longish hair so I think he might look like a hippie in what I bought.” At least, I thought he might still have longish hair. It’d been months since I last saw him. “He was just behind me. I told him he could use our bathroom to change.”

“How good of a friend is he?” she asked.

I smiled. “Well, we’ve slept together.”

She surprised me by not saying anything. Instead, she held up a few options. I picked a flowing, knee-length, cream skirt with a light yellow, scoop-necked top and hurried to get dressed.

“You do know that the best way to appear like you’ve been dating a long time would be to look like you don’t care how you look, right?” she asked.

I rolled my eyes at her, gave the skirt one last tug to straighten it, and studied myself in the mirror. Dressing up was a gamble. It might send the wrong message to Scott even with Clay present. Maybe I should follow Rachel’s advice and dress down. But then Clay would look out of place in his clothes.

“That looks great on you,” Rachel complemented as she scooped up the rejects.

Worried Clay might need more time, I stalled by asking her how I should fix my hair. I didn’t own any make-up to apply.

“So what’s the guy’s name?” Rachel watched me closely.

“Clay,” I admitted reluctantly. Since I’d asked a huge favor of him, I couldn’t lie about his name.

“Shut up,” she said with a laugh of disbelief.

“Not lying,” I said, holding up my hands in the mirror. “He talks as much as the dog, too. So don’t bother trying to make conversation.”

I figured I’d pushed our time limit and turned to let Rachel inspect me. She smiled her approval then dashed to her room to ditch the extra clothes. We crossed paths in the living room as she went to look out the picture window, and I went to find Clay.

The door to the bathroom remained firmly closed. I tapped on it.

“Do you need help?” I whispered.

Unfortunately, Rachel overheard and started sniggering behind me. Apparently, there was nothing to see out the window. I tried to shoo her away with a wave, but she shook her head and leaned against the hallway wall to watch.

“Please hurry, Clay,” I begged.

The door opened. I took a step back to avoid the cloud of steam that rolled out. Clay stepped out with it. Stunned, I stared at him. I hadn’t seen him since the beginning of the summer. Well, excluding that brief look at his backside. I’d been too shocked to notice the rest of him, then.

He still looked scruffy. Between the beard that concealed his cheeks and entire neck, and the full mouth-covering mustache, I still couldn’t see much of him. His damp hair hung in limp, wavy strands in front of his eyes and covered the top portion of his face almost down to his nose. Yet, clean and dressed in the clothes I’d forced onto him, he looked amazing.