Shadows of the Moon (Black Wolf Agency Book 2) (3 page)

“A
werewolf
?” she whispered with tear-filled eyes. “I was bitten by a
werewolf
?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Marcus
was
sorry for having to tell her. He knew too well what it was like losing a part of yourself, when you finally realize the true meaning of what has happened to you. And you find that your life is forever changed.

“How do you know this? Maybe you’re wrong. Maybe it was just a crazy man.” She went over the different possibilities in her head. She had never considered the possibility it was a werewolf. This was just crazy, and if it was true, what did that mean for her?

“I’m not wrong, and I know because I’ve seen that type of bite before; the bite that was on your neck. Don’t you wonder how you miraculously healed so fast?”

Selene stared at him for a moment, deep in thought. ‘
Really? Me? A werewolf? Am I dreaming? If so, I wish someone would wake me up now because this is really starting to piss me off.
’ Then, when she snapped back to reality, she noticed how long she had been staring at him. She looked down and blushed. Yes, she did think he was handsome, but honestly, come on, with all that was going on, flirting with him should be the last thing on her mind at the moment.

Marcus wished they had held their stare a little longer. There was no denying it; he thought she was the most gorgeous woman he had ever met. For a few seconds there, he let his mind wander, imagining what it would be like if he could call her his own. However, even though he had seen her early the morning before, he had literally just met her. How could he think these thoughts already?

“So,” she began, tearing him away from his thoughts and back to reality, “you say you’ve seen a bite like mine before. Where have you seen it? And how do you know it was from a werewolf?” There, she said it again: werewolf. Just the fact that she was saying that word sounded crazy to her. ‘
They didn’t exist. Okay, in the movies but not in real life. Right?’
she thought.

“This may sound crazy to you, just like everything else probably has since your accident. I was bitten, too once.”

She looked at him, wide-eyed in shock. Half of her believed what he was saying and sympathized, while the other half of her thought he was just bullshitting her. “When?”

“When I was five.” He could see her struggling with trying to believe in what he was saying.

“So, you’ve been a… werewolf… your whole life?” she asked slowly, not believing the words coming out of her mouth. This was getting to be too much for her.

“Yes, and like you, this was forced upon me. I never would have chosen this life for myself.”

“Me either,” she sighed, looking down at the ground.

Marcus slowly reached out and gently tucked one of her long, brunette locks behind her ear. When she looked up at him and smiled, he could have sworn he was stepping through the gates of heaven.
‘She’s so beautiful,’
he thought.

Then, they felt themselves being drawn closer and closer together until their lips were within a couple inches of each other. It was like they had no control over their own bodies, the pull was so strong.

A shrill scream pierced the silence and they both jumped. Marcus took off in the direction in which the scream came, signaling to Selene to follow him. They followed the main path a couple hundred feet, and off to the side, they spotted a woman standing over a man. Marcus rushed over to him to feel a pulse, but he knew the instant he looked at him. The man was dead.

“Not again,” whispered Marcus, standing up. Selene rushed over to him and grabbed his hand. He was happy she felt comforted in his presence, even though they had just met.

Selene stared at the body; she couldn’t take her eyes off the wound on his neck. That must have been what her wound looked like. Then, her voice shaking in fear, she asked in a whisper, “Is this what would have happened to me if I hadn’t escaped?”

“Yes, I’m afraid so,” he answered honestly. This man was just murdered, too, which led him to believe he’s still in the park somewhere. Normally, he would chase after him and try to catch him before he killed anyone else, but Selene was with him. He felt an obligation to protect her. Well, not just an obligation; he really liked her and hated to see her get hurt again, or worse: killed. “Let’s get you home, Selene.”

“No, I can’t stay there. I don’t feel safe being home alone with this killer on the loose.”

“Alright, I have another idea. Come with me.”

On the way back to Selene’s apartment to pick up a few of her things, Marcus called the police department and made an anonymous report of the murder. He didn’t need them to know he was still involved in this. He was supposed to be on vacation, after all.

When they arrived at Selene’s apartment, she quickly gathered a couple changes of clothes, her cosmetic bag, and a few other essentials, and packed them into a tote. Then, as Marcus suggested, she called her boss to let him know she wouldn’t make it to work tomorrow because she was sick.

They walked down the street to where Marcus’ car was parked and hopped in.

“That’s convenient,” she said, referring to how close his car was parked. He started the car and began to drive. To where? She had no idea.

“Well, to be honest with you, I was keeping an eye on you.” He looked a little sheepishly at her as he spoke.

“Because of the killer on the loose?” She knew this was probably why, but a girl could always hope.

“Yes, mainly that, and also to make sure you didn’t tip off the public about your supernatural abilities.”

“Ah, I see. And what makes you think that’s your job to keep an eye on me and make sure I behave myself.”

“Because it is.”

“Stop being so cryptic, Marcus. Just tell me what’s going on. Really, I just found out that I’m a werewolf, among other things. If that didn’t put me into a serious state of shock, I don’t know what will. And frankly I’m getting sick of the run around. Trying to pull answers from you is like try to pull teeth. Geez, spit it out.”

“Okay, okay,” he chuckled. “I’ll tell you, but you have to promise me you’ll keep it a secret. You must tell
no one
.”

Selene looked at him. He had a very serious look on his face. She didn’t know him very well yet, but she knew him well enough to know that he wasn’t the type of man to mess around with when he’s wearing that look. “I promise.”

“Ever since I was a young boy, my father has been running a secret, underground agency. I had no idea any of it existed until just recently; when he revealed to me that he is planning to retire soon. He asked me to spend some time there and see if I’m interested in taking over his position. It is called
Black Wolf Agency
, named after me, because I’m a black wolf when I assume my other form. Basically, what we do is monitor supernatural activity in the city and eliminate the problems before they become noticeable among the human population.”

“So, if I became a problem, you would have…”

“No, no, we wouldn’t have done anything to you. You’re just an innocent who doesn’t know any better, kind of like a child.”

“Oh, I’m a child, huh?” she said, glaring at him, the corner of her mouth turning up in the slightest grin.

He looked back at her, knowing he was just digging his hole deeper with everything he said. “I didn’t mean it that way. Trust me when I say, definitely not that way.”

Then, she burst out laughing, and he couldn’t help but laugh along with her. “I’m just messing with you, Marcus. No, really, I understand what you meant about me being a
child
. I’m new to this werewolf business. I need to be taught what’s right and wrong by someone apparently. I thought it was awfully weird how I was just flying right by those people in the park who were jogging at normal speed.”
‘Gosh, I really am taking this all in stride. Maybe I do need to be locked up in the nut house, but I guarantee it would be a first for being calm,’
she thought.

“Yes, and there are ways to manage that. Now that you have these abilities, you’ll find it quite frustrating to be around humans. Between your superior strength and speed, you may grow impatient very quickly and find it difficult to not use your abilities in front of them.”

“Inferior humans,” she said with a playful, evil laugh.

He chuckled. Not only was she beautiful, but he loved her personality; what he had seen so far, at least. “Exactly. Imagine hiding your abilities from your own mother for your entire life. Now,
that’s
difficult.”

“I can imagine, but why would you have had to do that?” she asked, curious of everything about him.

“My mother was human. My dad didn’t think she would be able to handle the news about werewolves existing. And never except the fact that her son was one. After several years of hiding it from her, it started to get a bit easier.” Marcus said with sadness in his voice. There was a part of him that would always blame his nature for not being close to his mother.

“I sorry for bring that up, Marcus. You look so sad when you were telling me.” Selene was mad at herself for bringing the sadden look to Marcus’ amazing eyes.

“It’s alright. Even though I’ve learned to live with it, sometimes it still bothers me.”

Just then, Marcus parked the car and opened Selene’s door, helping her out. She smiled and blushed. She couldn’t remember the last time a man had been so polite to her.

Then, they crossed the street, walked a short distance, and made their way down an alley to an old, shabby building. Selene had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, but what she didn’t know was that this was the agency Marcus had told her about.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. This is the safest place in the city for you right now, believe me.”

“Sure, I’ll take your word for it,” she joked. Well, half-joked. This place really did give her the creeps. But she followed him into the building anyway, making their way through the second door and then to the black and white, checkered floor. She followed his directions closely, stepping only on the white tiles until they made it to the last door.

When they stepped through the doorway into the main room, Selene couldn’t believe her eyes. The place was huge. After being nearly startled to death by the troll in the cage in the corner of the main room, she was greeted by Giselle, the magical fairy.

Giselle had seen her early Saturday morning when she was brought in, unconscious, so she recognized her, but she seemed surprised to see she was back.

“Am I really looking at a fairy right now?” said Selene, staring straight at the fairy, who was only a few inches from her face.

“Yep, that’s Giselle. She’s a sweetheart,” Marcus said affectionately.

Selene turned her head to look at him. She didn’t understand why she had the urge to smack him. She surely didn’t have any reason for feeling jealous.
Did she?

Then, right on cue, Giselle flew closer to Selene’s face and softly kissed the end of her nose, giggling as she flew away to dust the top of a high shelf.

“This place is out of this world!” Yeah, and if Giselle would’ve kissed Marcus on the nose, she would have knocked her out of this world.
‘Where in the hell was this green-eyed monster coming from? I have no say on what Marcus does,’
she thought.

“Well, out of
your
world, or what used to be your world. You better get used to all of this. Now that you’re a werewolf, there’s never any going back to your old life.” said Marcus, leading Selene to one of the back rooms. Inside was a comfy looking bed, small kitchen, a couch, an HD TV, and even a small bathroom. “Make yourself comfortable.”

“This is nice,” she said, thinking, ‘
Wow, I’m going to be staying in a studio apartment inside a secret supernatural agency? This is so unreal.
’

“I recommend staying here until we catch the murderer.”

“No, wait, what if that isn’t for a week, or month, or even longer? I have to go to work.”

“Well, when you go back to work on Tuesday, I’ll escort you there and have one of the agents stay there and monitor what’s going on until you get out. I’ll be there to pick you up.”