Lycan Alpha Claim (#1): (BBW Shifter Romance) (Brief-Bites Novelette) (6 page)

“
Doctor!” I yell into his
face.

He smiles benignly.

I itch to slap him, and he knows it.

“
Final Enforcement, you weak
man,” I seethe.

“
Talyn,” Patty says in a timid
voice at my elbow.

“
You can insult me all you
like,
Doctor
Phisher.” His tone of
voice tells me how much he doesn't want to acknowledge my
status.

But he will. I've earned it. Especially
today.

“
Yet the facts are what they
are. Do not take matters into your own hands. Further, an unknown
assailant attacked Jamie Duncan—yet, somehow
he's
not a problem?”

Cochran shakes his head then taps his thumb
to his pulsepad.

Cochran's silent for a few seconds as he
communicates into his device.

Then he turns it around for my
perusal. “Both Miss Hershey
and
Jamie Duncan have thumbed their unique memory signature into
the police record.”

He steps closer. Uncomfortably so.

I don't give an inch.

He notices, looming over me. “Is this the
man who attacked Jamie Duncan?”

There he is, in living pulse color. The
stranger.

His eyes are green in the
colored rendering from the short-term memory fragments the pulse
device sucked from the two witnesses
ʼ
brainwaves.

Sometimes I loathe technology.

I glare up at Cochran. “His eyes are
blue.”

I walk to my office and slam the door,
ending his inquest. He moves to the outside of the wood and says,
“We'll be in touch, Doctor Phisher.”

I don't reply.

I pluck my pulse from my pocket and contact
Final Enforcement. They'll find my stranger, and maybe do something
about Duncan.

I get my message sent even with my fingers
quaking.

Talyn

I drive my car home like a zombie. Go
through the motions of feeding Pooky (who doesn't care that I'm
half-dead and stupid; the miracle of cat ownership), and take off
my blood stained mess of an outfit. I hesitate between the laundry
hamper and the trash.

I pitch the gory clothes
inside the separator. I don't even recycle them. I pulse the part
of the separator labeled
solid waste,
and listen to the whir and grind as it evacuates the chute of
the proof of my day.

I open my freezer and snag a pint of ice
cream. I plop down on my couch with a spoon stuck in a Ben and
Jerry's carton of Chunky Monkey and sigh with bliss.

At least some things remain the same.

My hair hangs in wet strands from a
scorching shower, Pooky has taken up residency at my feet and the
flush comes and goes like a malfunctioning stoplight. My female
bits are crying out for attention of the male variety, but they
sort of ache too.

I'm a mess and Cochran rubbed
me the absolute wrong way.
No pun there!

I give a vicious stab and swirl inside the
container.

And Final Enforcement left me a canned
message about a rep coming by to see me in the next twenty-four
hours.

“
Pfft!” I pierce the ice cream
again with my spoon, swirling the slowly melting pint of goodness.
“That dumb butt wouldn't know a crime if it bit him on the ass,” I
mutter.

Pooky meows her assent.

I stroke her behind the ears and she moves
her paws back and forth, purring.

“
Cats should rule the world,”
I say absently.

The doorbell rings.

I toss my head back on the couch and
groan.

Can't I just lick my wounds in private?

Apparently not.

Pooky appears affronted, and scats to jump
on top of the fridge. I look at her with longing. That'd be
wonderful. I want to disappear? Fine, a leap on top of the fridge
takes care of all my ills.

Instead, I sigh, setting my now-melting ice
cream on my glass topped coffee table. I walk to the door, and
disregarding the peephole, I swing it wide.

Arden stands there blinking rapidly behind
his old-fashioned owl glasses. Too cheap to get his peepers
lasered.

Him
I'm glad to
see.

“
Hey Talyn, I got your
sample.” He swings up the baggy with the canine chunk I sent via
post chute.

“
Oh!” I say, slightly giddy
for anything positive to grab onto.

His face falls. “It's really
not
that
great of news.”

I deflate. “Oh,” I repeat in a completely
different tone.

I open the door wide, swinging my palm to
indicate entry.

He enters, taking in the small living room.
His eyes light on the pint of B&J.

He puts his hands up underneath his chin and
does a fake puppy dog pant and beg.

“
Okay, you jerk—but you can't
have the Chunky Monkey.”

“
Ah-huh.” More owl
blinking.

I jerk a thumb toward the kitchen. “You know
where it's at.”

Arden walks to the kitchen and begins
rifling around in my silverware drawer. I listen to him not finding
a spoon and he opens up the dishwasher, grabbing a clean spoon. He
hunts in the freezer and I give a little groan when he comes out
with the Cherry Garcia.

“
Dick,” I say, but I'm
smiling.

He points the spoon at me. “And
you—Counselor Phisher—are very unprofessional.”

I laugh. “Off the clock, Arden.”

His smile is soft. He knows me. We've been
friends since high school. Different paths—kindred souls.

I watch him consume half a
pint. I give a lustful glance at his slim figure. He eats twice
what I do and doesn't deign to work out. I shake my head.
Some people.

“
So,” I say, licking my spoon
and recapping my pint.

“
So—you're right, Sherlock
Holmes—canine.”

“
Don't go all Latin on me,
Arden—just give me the skinny.”

He laughs. “Haven't heard that one in
awhile.”

I hold up my palms, my long-sleeved shirt
cuffs of my pajama top sliding away from my hands. “I'm getting
old.”

His face changes to one of concern, his eyes
latching onto my arm. “What?”

“
Your wrist. What happened,
Tal?”

I glance away then look back. “It's a long
story.”

He leans against the sofa back, crushing the
carton of ice cream in his hand. “I've got time. I always have time
for you.”

A hot tear rolls unbidden, and definitely
uninvited down my face.

“
Hey. It's okay.” Arden
doesn't move to comfort me. He knows better. He just
waits.

Finally, I tell him.

When I'm done his face is grim. “Well,
there's no way in hell that these things are related but I'm not a
big believer in coincidence either. Because statistically—there's
no such thing.”

I swipe at my eyes. “Yeah.”

“
So I'm going to give it to
you straight. Final Enforcement's got a big time rep as being a
sort of—how can I put it nicely—a last resort,
and
they have a few vamps fanging around
there.”

He cups his chin. “And this tooth?”

“
Tooth?” I repeat stupidly,
still coming down from the mess of retelling my day.

“
Fang,” Arden
corrects.

“
Okay, so—how did a wolf tooth
get in my house?”

“
Let's do an Occam's razor on
this.” He lifts his shoulders. “The most simple answer is usually
correct.”

I huff and feel my face redden. “I'm not a
dumb ass.”

He nods. “Let me just say the words. This
creature would've had to be inside your home, right?”

Of course
. “Yes.
How
did
a wolf get in my house? And
better yet—why—and no damage?” I shake my head at the lack of sense
the entire thing makes.

“
No.” His light brown eyes
meet mine. “Wolf-
like
.”

“
What?” My jubilant mood at
seeing Arden disintegrates, the ice cream beginning a slow reverse
churn in my stomach.

“
If that tooth is indicative
of size, and I assume it is, this is a nearly seven-foot creature,
which has wolf characteristics.”

I'm holding my breath.

Arden continues, “And the other
characteristics are canine. So no. Not really wolf.”

My breath releases in a rush.

“
What is it?”

“
We know that vamps exist now
so it got me thinking—”

I cover my mouth with both hands, guessing
through my fingers, “Lycanthrope.”

The word pounds the silence inside my house
to dust.

Talyn

“
Say something,
Talyn.”

I feel like a fish chucked out on a sand
spit. Gasping and squirming.

I open my mouth to reply and the doorbell
rings.

Arden and I jump at the same time. I give a
nervous laugh, and he bounces to his feet. “Let me get that.”

I stand as well. “Don't play protector.
You're a lab geek, not a super-hero.”

Arden gives me a crooked smile. “Let a guy
pretend, Talyn.”

Someone on the other side of the solid wood
door pounds with a fist. A women's voice yells, “Final
Enforcement.”

Oh good
. “I'm expecting
them,” I explain to Arden as I rush to the door.

I swing it open and blink.

A tiny woman stands in front of me, picking
her nail with an illegal switch blade.

I swallow hard. “Identification,
please.”

She turns to face me, and
flicks her flashing badge with a finger.
Narah Adrienne,
age twenty-four, One citation—Exonerated, 2022, vampire hybrid,
Level 10 proficient.

I feel my eyes widen, and back up a step.
The whole vampire thing still gives me pause.

Adrienne moves in, giving a small shiver as
she crosses my threshold. “Seen enough?” Her voice is as tart as a
lemon.

I nod, remember who the hell I am, and
straighten my spine.

“
I'm Enforcer Adrienne,
assigned to case number,” she recites in a bored voice,
“1001.”

“
Nice to meet you,” I manage.
“I'm Doctor Talyn Phisher.”

“
I know,” she says, sharp eyes
taking in my home. She spots Arden, narrowing her golden-green gaze
on him.

Arden had backed up when he read Adrienne's
badge. Her body is a deadly weapon. Not her weapons.

Her.

“
Who are
you
?” she shoots at him, her voice like a
club.

“
Arden,” he replies quietly.
“Who are you to the client,” she rephrases, walking around me and
going straight for him.

He retreats.

A ghost of a smile rides her lips.

“
He's my friend. He was here
for a visit. Can we get down to the brass tacks, Enforcer
Adrienne?”

She spins. It's so fast a movement I can't
track it. More like a blur. “Brass tacks, huh?”

I'm unnerved and determined not to show it.
I nod. “I think there's something stalking me.”

Adrienne flips long corn rows of platinum
hair over her shoulder. Her inked body is lithe, sensuously
muscled. Not from artificial time in the gym, like what I do just
so I'm not a complete flab monster—but from her daily job.

“
Something?” she asks, but not
like she's really listening. Her catlike eyes flash to mine like
twin suns washed by emerald. “Tell me.”

I blink. Seems like I've been doing a lot of
that lately.

I recount everything. The blue eyes
appearing. The creep from the gym, the stranger who I believe to be
the mysterious blue-eyed man appearing—and beating the hell out of
Jamie Duncan. When I finish with the way Cochran dealt with
everything, Adrienne gives a low chuckle.

I frown. Cochran wasn't even vaguely
amusing.

Her finger runs along my sofa table. I
notice she's strategically placed herself between my front
entrance, and the French glass doors leading to my small patch of
back yard. She wants both exits in sight.

“
What's your confidentiality
policy?” Arden asks suddenly.

She cocks a pale eyebrow. “Are you speaking
for Dr. Phisher?”

“
Talyn,” I say.

She gives a tight chin dip in
acknowledgment.

“
No, but I
was
wondering.” I look at Arden and we exchange a
look of understanding.

“
I don't tell anyone
anything.” Narah Adrienne doesn't over-explain things. She's a
fact-stater. It makes me curious as to her background.

I'll pulse Google her later.

She cocks her head, eyeing me. Her eyes
glitter like peridot jewels. I can't see fangs, though I'm ashamed
to admit I have an almost freak show-act curiosity about vampires.
Reality pulsevision just isn't enough.

Arden holds up the baggie with the
canine.

Narah tracks it with eyes like a predator.
She snatches it before he can take his next breath. We
simultaneously gasp.

Adrienne ignores our reaction.

“
Where's the original piece
that this came off from?” Her eyes light on me with new
interest.

Maybe I'm not some quack after all.

I walk to the junk drawer and slide it
open.

I step back, sucking in air.

The tooth.
It's
gone.

Enforcer Adrienne must see my panic and
she's by my side in a blur of pale flesh before I can form a
question. “What is it?”