The Legend of the Werewolf (20 page)

Fanny and her pack of she-wolves
dragged Anne away while she was too drunk on shock to do anything
about it. By the time she came out of her stupor her make-up had
been done to perfection.

Anne had to blink a few times before
she realized that the china doll she was staring at in the mirror
was herself.

No one actually brought pretty dresses to
the ranch since it was assumed they wouldn’t be needed. And even
though she hadn’t changed her clothes for the wedding, even though
getting married was the last thing she expected to happen, Anne
thanked her pack mates and said with all honesty that she didn’t
think she’s ever looked better.

She only wished she felt as happy as
she should’ve been.

Just like that, she was a missus
and she barely remembered saying
I Do.
To escape one marriage she entered another, yet
for some reason the all-consuming panic that usually came whenever
she did something monumentally stupid didn't show up.

Shock,
she thought as she stood between her
new husband and the door to her pack master's truck, who was going
to give them a lift back to the ranch.

She turned her eyes up to Mike, her
husband, her old man, her hubby. Okay, calling him that didn’t make
her feel better.

His eyes were scanning the roads and shops
around the church. Anne didn't know if that was any better than
when he kept his head down the whole drive here. Even after the
little ceremony ended, he still did nothing more than offer a weak
smile to the men who wanted to slap his back some more and offer
cigars for his marriage.

"This is Sunset Valley," he
said.

The jingle of Gordon's keys stopped
when he looked up at him. "It’s what the sign said when we got into
town hours ago. Took you that long to read it?"

Mike's face twisted into a snarl. He
was going to say something they were both going to regret if she
didn't intervene.

"This is the town where I found you. Do
you know it?"

The snarl left his face as he looked at
her. "My family lives here."

Anne's mouth dropped. His family lived
here? Here?

He’d said something about them when
they first met but she didn’t think they’d be so close. They didn't
even get to come to the wedding.

Even Gordon replaced his annoyed visage
with something more sympathetic. "I'm sorry, if we'd known they
could've come."

He gave a low chuckle. "Don't worry,
they wouldn't have showed."

Anne cocked her head. "I don't
understand."

He turned and walked in the other
direction. "You don't have to."

Anne ran after him. "Hey,
wait!"

Gordon was right on her heels, though
his expression said he was there reluctantly.

Gordon grabbed his arm yanked him to a
halt. "It's safer if we get back to the ranch."

The tiny hairs on the back of Anne's
neck stood up. Silence followed Gordon’s order to Mike. Every one
of her pack mates still in the parking lot stopped what they were
doing to watch.

The wind became as still as they all were.
Gordon lost control, Anne could see it now. Because of what Mike
was, the pack viewed him as their leader now.

Gordon must be pissed.

Mike yanked his arm out of Gordon's
grasp, not an easy task considering he was being gripped by a
werewolf. "The entire reason why I came back here was to see them.
I don't care who you are or how many people you're in charge of,
I'm not one of them. Get the Hell out of my way."

There was no shocked gasp, no one
stepping forward to enforce Gordon’s order. Everyone just watched,
bodies tense and fists clenched.

Whether from anger or confusion, Anne
couldn’t say.

The poor guys. Must be hard being torn
between loyalties like this.

Mike gave Gordon his back and continued
walking. Anne couldn't believe it.

A thrilling rush raced inside her like
a rapid river. No one just disobeyed like that, arguing a point was
one thing, but this...

Mike really was in charge.

She ran after him again, grateful when
Gordon didn't call her back. Then again, she was Mike's wife now.
Practically second in command of the pack.

Niiiiice
. "Hey, hold up!"

He kept walking, not bothering to look
at her when she caught up to him. "I'll go back with you.
Eventually. I just need to take care of something."

"I'm not going to try to stop you. I
want to go with you."

He barely glanced at her. "You don't
have to do that. It's the middle of the day. I don't think Hadrian
will attack."

"He attacked Chris when it was the
middle of the day."

"Chris was at a disadvantage because he
didn’t know what kind of enemy he was up against. I know the
dangers. I'm keeping my mind open. Trust me, I wouldn't be doing
this if I thought it would put my family in danger."

"Well, it's good that you thought this
through, but that's not why I'm coming with you."

He looked at her, a dubious spark in
his eyes.

"To meet my new in-laws." She
grinned.

She watched the muscle in his firm jaw
clench. "Fine. Don’t let them know you're a werewolf."

He stomped ahead and she had to catch
up again. "What? Why? I mean if they know about psychics and
everything—"

"No, they don't know about everything," he
interrupted, "and what they do know about they're not comfortable
with."

The words said and the ones that weren't,
kept Anne from opening her mouth again. If Mike's family wasn't
comfortable with what they knew about, did that mean they weren't
comfortable with him?

He stopped suddenly, looked around and
cursed.

“What is it?”

“Everything’s different from what I
remember. Haven’t been here in a while.”

She couldn’t help the tiny smirk. “That
how you walked into a bar without realizing you’re in your old
hometown?”

“Shut up.”

She raised her hands and stepped back. His
voice didn’t hold much venom so her little catty grin couldn’t be
helped. “Was only saying.”

He looked at her, shifted his feet and
adjusted the Stetson on top of his head. “Sorry. Listen, if you’re
coming with me you’re going to have some walking to do.”

She shrugged. “That’s fine. Where does
your family live?”

“
Elizabeth. Last I heard, my old
man sold his ranch but I imagine the family still lives out in the
open, away from town.”

Elizabeth was the new street that
connected to the small two lane highway put in about five years
ago. It was possible his family lived on it. “I know where is.
We’re going the wrong way.”

Sunset Valley was small enough that
getting to Elizabeth didn’t take too long at all. Anne hoped that
Mike’s family didn’t live too far outside of town, though.
Otherwise, she was going to suggest going back to the church to get
a ride.

Elizabeth was indeed a long stretch of
road and only some of it was new. It was put in to act as another
way in and out of the small town, mostly just to connect it to the
other little towns and ranches around it.

Anne could tell when they were leaving old
Elizabeth by the way the grey road turned dark and new. It was like
stepping out of the black and white Kansas and into the colorful
Oz.

A line of asphalt separated the old
from the new. Even the paint in the middle of the stretch was
bright with youth. The little square houses, all of which needed
either a new coat of paint or brand new roofs, turned into two
story mini mansions with arched windows, new bricks and siding, and
connecting garages.

As they walked farther and farther toward
the edges of the town, there weren’t any more houses on one side of
the road, as if they hadn’t been built yet.

Only one side of the road was decorated
with nice, new houses, while the other was a long stretch of
field.

Sunset Valley was small and didn’t
bring in much money. Whoever decided to build these houses probably
thought they’d be a nice touch for people who wanted to live in a
quiet area and commute to the city.

Going by the kiddie pools, swing sets
and mini vans, it had been a good idea.

Anne smiled. She hoped to one day have
a few pups of her own who would laugh and play on a swing
set.

“
No, no. This can’t be right,”
Mike muttered, turning his head about, searching for
something.

Anne didn’t see anything wrong with the
picture. They weren’t even outside of the town yet. “What’s
wrong?”

Mike stopped walking. “This is the
house.”

It was still a relatively new house, but
there was no garage and, going by the slightly thinner shape, Anne
was willing to bet there weren’t as many rooms inside. It was also
the last house before the long stretch of road took over. Other
than that, the only noticeable differences were the rose bushes
that framed the red door.

“
I didn’t think they…the least I
expected was they’d still live in a place that had a barn in the
back.”

Anne didn’t know what to say to that. He’d
told her that his family sold their ranch. Judging by his
expression, it was obvious he’d expected they had downgraded to
something smaller rather than move to a suburb.

“Maybe it’s just a temporary place?”
Yeah right. Because people just moved in and out of houses like
these all the time.

Mike didn’t seem to think so either and
shook his head. They moved up to the walkway and stood in front of
the door.

Mike straightened his shirt and
adjusted his hat. He was about to raise his hand to knock when a
women opened the door first.

She had the face of a woman who would
have been pretty had she not been spending her days chasing around
toddlers instead of taking care of herself.

The boy in her arms looked like he’d
been skating in spaghetti and he finger-painted tomato paste on her
cheek and clothes. The bags under her eyes suggested she needed
fifteen hours of sleep, and the way her dark blonde hair fell lank
against her shoulders said she needed a hot bath first.

At the sight of Mike her eyes went wide
and all traces of fatigue left her.

Mike's eyes were just as wide as hers
as they stared at the child in her arms.

Without taking his eyes away from the boy,
he said, "Hi, Kim."

"Michael."

He raised his hand to point at the
child, who stopped smearing his mother's face with pasta sauce. "Is
he—?"

"Mine, yes. Don't know why you're
asking though."

Anne wished she knew what the source to
all their stress was. They behaved as though they hadn't seen each
other in years. Wait, Mike had said no one in his family was
comfortable with him. Did his psychic powers cut him off from his
family? Is that why this woman looked at Mike with such
distrust?

Kim didn’t move out of the way to allow
Mike and Anne entrance, nor did she attempt to greet him in a
friendly manner. Her brown eyes, however, did move pastsed him to
stare at Anne.

Mike turned and stared as well, as
though he’d forgotten Anne was with him. "Uh, Kim, this is my wife,
Annie."

"Oh." Kim reached her hand out and Anne
shook it.

Kim only allowed one pump before
letting go.

"Annie, this is my little
sister."

Anne prayed her shock didn't
show on her face. This woman did
not
look younger than Mike.

"Can we come in?" Mike
asked.

Kim glanced behind her, as though
searching for an excuse to either keep him out or let him in. Anne
wished she were the psychic so she knew which was which.

"I guess it's okay. Mom and Dad are
out." She stepped out of the way of the door but continued to eye
Anne and her brother with distrust, as if daring them to
enter.

Mike cleared his throat and stepped
inside. Anne hesitated, tension crackled the air inside the small
house like electricity and she didn't want to get
blasted.

Mike took his shoes off and looked at
her, still outside. "You coming?"

She sprinted past Kim, idiotically happy
that he wanted her with him. "Right behind you."

Kim shut the door and the light from the
sun vanished, leaving only the dim bulb above their heads. Anne’s
body went on alert. A small space like this made for the perfect
opportunity for a shadow to strike. It would be a weak shadow, but
still …

"Shall we go into the kitchen?" Mike
asked. He grabbed Anne’s hand and yanked her into the next room
without an invitation.

Anne breathed again when the cramped
space was behind her. The kitchen was on the far wall of the house,
right in front, so there were windows on two walls that allowed the
light to stream inside.