The Legend of the Werewolf (33 page)

“
Whoa.” Bud’s eyes wide and mouth
open.

Mike pulled her close and looked at the
stone walls. “Then we’ll destroy this place and set them
free.”

He looked her in the eyes. She sank into
their blue depths and knew he would help them. Even if some of them
had tried to kill him.

"Your grandfather is waiting to take us
back, we need to go. But, first…” Mike jogged in the opposite
direction of the exit, right to where the moonstone fell when
Westley tackled Hadrian.

When his fingers wrapped around the orb
it glowed brightly enough to penetrate the cloth. He grinned before
rushing back and taking Anne's hand. "We can't leave behind the
evidence, can we?"

Anne grumbled and stared down at the thing
with animosity even though it had protected her from the shadows.
"I guess not."

Luna gave that rock to her grandfather as
a gift, but it cost him nothing but trouble. Anne wouldn't have
cared if the thing smashed into a million pieces as she took Mike’s
hand and dragged him through the castle doors, past the courtyard,
and out the stone gates in her impatience to see Bill alive and
well.

Despite the wall-like appearance of the
high flames, an open path had been left for them to safely walk
through the burning black forest. Not a single spark touched her
gown or hair, another little thing she was sure she could thank Bud
for.

When he showed her his gift she didn't
think he was anywhere near this strong. Her only discomfort was the
heat.

A
t the center of the clearing, highlighted
by fire, stood Bill. She forgot all about the heat as she saw him
leaning against a thick wooden stick, using it as a cane. His pale
face lit up when he spotted her.

Westley and Chris were already with him,
waiting impatiently on either side of the older man. Hadrian lay,
still unconscious, over Chris's shoulder while Westley had an arm
wrapped around Bill's torso. As though he were afraid the older man
would collapse without his support.

He shifted the stick to his other hand and
held his free arm open to her. She let go of Mike’s hand and ran to
him, only to skid to a halt five feet away.

She couldn't tackle him with a hug like
she wanted if there was a risk she would hurt him.

As though reading her mind, he handed
his stick to Westley and opened both arms. "Does an old man get a
hug for his trouble?"

She cracked. Anne launched herself into
his arms, sobbing. "I thought you were going to die."

Bill rubbed her hair the way he used to
when she was little, her face leaning into his chest, absorbing the
comfort.

She sensed, rather than saw, the grin on
his face. "I'm immortal, remember? It would take a lot more than
that to kill me."

"I hate to be impatient," Mike
interrupted. "But can we get out of here before Bud loses control
of the fire?"

Anne turned. The color of Bud's face had
indeed changed to an unhealthy orange with the stress of having to
focus his powers for so long on more than one thing at a
time.

"We can come back later for you to bring
down the castle," Chris said, touching his hand to Bill's shoulder.
Mike, Westley and Bud did the same. Since it appeared as though
getting in and out of the shadow world relied on keeping physical
contact, Anne did not release Bill from her hold.

"When we do come back, this fire will have
burned out and there'll be no trees left," Westley said. "It'll be
easy enough."

Bill closed his eyes, concentrating on
getting them back to the real world. Anne was overcome with a
tingling sensation that appeared like a fuzzy blanket just under
her skin before the bright flames disappeared.

***

Hadrian couldn't move his body but his
eyes and ears remained open as the filthy beasts carried him off to
wherever they pleased, like he was a sack of animal
feed.

It was undignified!

He wanted to shriek as they walked
directly into the forest of flames. Aside from being too hot, the
licking fires never reached out to take them.

Though his vision was upside down from
the way he stiffly lay over the monster's shoulder, he could see a
path opening before them, greeting the trespassers and allowing
them safe voyage.

He tried to summon his shadows to
rescue him, called out with his mind and ordered them to come. All
refused.

They could not come near the
fires.

Cowards. Weak, pathetic,
monsters.

He would deal with them later, destroy
them for their arrogance in assuming the right to disobey. Then he
would transform Edward into a shadow instead of merely killing him,
just as he should have done a thousand years ago.

The little fool would return to his
rightful place as Hadrian's servant and pet. There would be no
escape.

They finally stopped to greet an old man
in a circular clearing that even the fires had yet to touch, the
grey grass remaining un-charred under him.

"Where's my granddaughter?"

Ah, yes. The old beggar in wretched
garbs Luna begged him to spare. Hadrian puzzled over why Edward
would bring him. Surely his age would put him in no position to
offer aid to his companions.

"She's coming. I just had to get out of
there. Don't worry about him, totally harmless." The wolf-monster
said, patting Hadrian's stiff back. He teetered like a log over the
shoulder of the dragon.

His stomach rolled when it appeared as
though he would fall face-down on the ground below. The dragon
adjusted him over his shoulder to prevent the likely fatal
incident.

"I never thought I'd stand so close to
him again without him trying to blast me."

Hadrian's sharp attention focused on
the man's words. What was that?

"I wanted to kill him, was this close,” he
measured a small space between his thumb and forefinger, “to ending
his miserable existence, but Annie and Mike want him arrested.
Annie said she feels sorry for him." The wolf-monster scoffed the
last part.

"Michael is not the law outside of Griffon
City and you're pack master now, if you wanted to, you could have
ordered Antoinette to stay out of it. There would have been nothing
she could have done," the dragon reminded him.

"Yeah, but I can't do something like
that. Not to her at least. I think that's why I know I can't be a
leader. Not if I'm uncomfortable giving orders."

"If you ever decided to, you would make an
excellent pack master."

Hadrian heard the footsteps of his love
rushing to greet the old fool. When Edward demanded to leave,
Hadrian's blood stopped flowing.

The feet of Hadrian's captors shuffled
towards the old man so that they might touch him.

Hadrian did not understand. Why would
they put their hands on the old man? Edward was the one with the
power to travel to and from the Shadow World.

With the power required to take them
through the worlds, the spell on Hadrian weakened.

With effort, he twisted his head to
look at the old man whose eyes were closed and could not look back
at him.

Him
.
He
was the one who brought the monsters to his
door?

The shape of the jaw, the thickness of the
grey brows. Hadrian knew that the blue eyes he'd hunted for a
thousand years would rest underneath those closed lids.

"You!"

EIGHTEEN

Anne sighed when the heat of the inferno
Chris made of the Shadow Forest left her skin. Like a light being
switched off, it was suddenly gone, replaced with the chilled air
of the real world. Or, perhaps, it only felt chilled because of the
contrast between temperatures. Either way, it was good to be
back.

The ranch looked almost exactly as she had
left it. The only difference was the fires had finished themselves
off and were now smoking helplessly against the things they had
burned. Fences were destroyed, trucks were upside down and
scorched. One of the cabins was even missing its’ roof.

Another difference was that the pack
wasn’t scattered about, naked and helpless. People crowded around,
their bodies still, frozen, as they waited for the group who just
appeared out of nowhere to make the first move.

Westley and Chris were the first to
step forward. Chris all but chucked Hadrian in the dirt at the feet
of the pack.

"We got him!" Westley
called.

There was a pause as all eyes stared
down at the man-log.

M
ass cheering broke out amongst the crowd.
The people rushed forward to greet their pack master, his
companion, and even Mike and Bud before surrounding both herself
and Bill.

Hugs and handshakes were exchanged.
Kisses were planted on cheeks and backs were slapped as the pack
congratulated their heroes.

Male wolves pounded their right fists
over their hearts to Westley and Bill, both of whom took the
attention with a grain of salt and a blush.

Anne allowed herself to be torn from
Bill only so she could get to Mike.

He looked down at her and smiled. "Hey,
Princess."

She ignored his jab since she obviously
looked like one in the ridiculous gown she wore.

"Hey, yourself." She hooked her fingers in
the collar of his shirt and pulled his lips down to meet hers. The
cool air invigorated and awakened her senses. Relief and happiness
swelled inside of her now that she was back where she belonged.
With Mike.

She abruptly released his lips. His
brows came together in confusion.

“I love you,” she said. She didn’t care
if admitting it only after she knew he felt the same made her a
wuss. She had to say it.

Those same brows shot up like rockets.
“I…didn’t say anything because I thought what we were doing was
just a fake.”

She licked her lips. “Not entirely
fake.”

His eyes half lidded as he watched her
tongue moisten her lips. He lowered his head in an attempt to kiss
her again.

She put her hand up before his mouth
could touch hers. "Stay with me."

An eager grin touched his face as he drew
her body close to his. She could feel his skin tightening beneath
his clothes as the blood rushed to his primary brain.
"Tonight?"

Anne fought to keep from giggling like an
idiot school girl. "That too, but I mean every night. Stay with my
pack. Don't leave." She despised how the last part came out as if
she were begging, but if that’s what it took then so be
it.

Mike's hands didn't falter around her
waist. He gripped her tighter and Anne easily detected the
reluctant embarrassment rolling off him without the red tinge that
brightened his cheeks. "Uh, I've been meaning to talk to you about
that."

A spark of fear ignited. Those were
never good words. "About what?"

"Remember how we lied and said that we
bonded by accident?"

Anne wished she knew where he was taking
her with this. How could she forget that day? It was the day she
got married. "Yes?" Her reply sounded more like a
question.

Mike stared into her eyes, his
brow knit together in concentration.
It wasn't exactly a lie
.

Anne gasped. The clear cut sound of his
voice when he didn't even open his mouth passed over her like a
shiver. He was a mind reader, he could read most everyone’s
thoughts. However, he could not speak them through his psychic
channel. If she could hear him then it meant only one
thing.

“I figured it out when I felt you were
gone.”

“
You…but…really?”

Mike chuckled and kissed her before she
could sputter anything else.

***

Mike kicked in the door to their room,
carrying Anne bridal style. With the gown, she felt like a bride
too.

She screeched in laughter when he
collapsed on the bed with her the second it was in
sight.

She didn’t get her dream wedding, but
being carried over the threshold by her husband was definitely part
of the fantasy.

In everyone's eagerness to meet Bud and
finally give Chris the recognition he deserved as a hero, no one
seemed to notice when she and Mike latched hands and slipped off to
be alone.

His lips landed on hers and despite the
corset she wore with the metal frame that sucked in her stomach and
waist, his hands burned through the tight thing as they travelled
up and down her midsection.

She threaded her fingers through his
hair, moaning softly. "I've wanted you to do this to me since the
second I saw you."

Mike growled in her ear. "I've pictured
doing this to you at around the same time and haven't stopped
since."

Abruptly, he sat up and stared down at her
with a puzzled expression.