Wolf Lake (Werewolf / Shifter Romance) (3 page)

I turned to him with a hot glare complete with ketchup-red cheeks, and he laughed. "All's fair in love and war," he teased.

"Then this means war," I returned. I grabbed the plate, but he grabbed my wrist and snatched the dish from my hand.

He held it out in opposite me. "I think we've each had enough of your hot dog," he countered.

"Not with you having the upper hand," I protested. I dove for the plate, but he deftly twisted me around and I landed in his lap. He dropped the plate and wrapped both arms around me as I struggled to free myself from his delicious grip. "Let go! I must avenge myself!" I insisted.

"You forget we're not alone," he reminded me.

I froze. The picnic. The people. They were still there, and as I looked around I realized we, in our garbled clown makeup, were the center of attention. I sheepishly smiled at them and sank down in Will's arms. "You couldn't have reminded me sooner?" I growled.

Will chuckled. "And miss all this fun?" he teased.

"Uh-huh, so now what do we do? Perform for the children?" I asked him.

"Actually, the water looks very inviting. We could wash ourselves there," he suggested.

"I guess." I hadn't done much more than test the water with my fingers. A little splash sounded tempting. I tried to stand, but his arms held me on his lap. I turned to him with a frown. "Do you mind letting me go?" I wondered.

"I'm quite comfortable," he countered. He pressed me harder against his firm chest and my ketchup highlight was nearly out-redded by my blushing.

"But I'm filthy and so you are, so let's stop this teenager stuff and wash up," I insisted.

Will sighed. "Very well." He released me and we walked away from the gawkers down to the edge of the lake.

The empty long dock and boat launch were on our left. The fisherman had reeled in their lines and pulled out their boats for the day. In front of us was the cordoned-off swimming area where several families with their young children played and splashed around one last time before the sun set. I turned and led Will to the right away from the noise and bustle of the other residents to the very end of the cordoned-off zone. The waters there were calmer, and I knelt down and looked at my reflection in the water. It was a good thing I wasn't afraid of clowns or my face would have scared me back to my cabin. I quickly drenched my face and washed away the evidence of our fun. Will did the same with his makeup.

"Do you have any family?" Will spoke up.

I glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "Parents," I replied.

"No siblings?" he wondered.

"No, why?"

"Have you a great attachment to your parents?" he asked me, ignoring my question.

I shrugged and turned back to the water. It was cool and clear, and I could see a few shells laying among the pebbles and sand. I picked one up and picked at it. "They're okay, but we don't really talk, not since I moved out a few years ago," I revealed. I snorted, but it wasn't really from humor. "I guess long-distance relationships don't really work for them. They live clear across the country and didn't really like it when I decided to move so far away. I think maybe they thought I was running away from them."

"Were you?" he mused.

"Maybe. I was at that trying age where the world was against me and any sort of authority that didn't pay me was using me," I commented.

"I can't imagine you as a rebel," he replied.

I fell back onto the sand just above the wave line and toyed with the shell in my hand. "I thought I was, but thinking back I guess I just wanted a life a little more exciting than the one my parents had."

"What do they do?" he asked me.

I snorted and smiled. "My dad's a teacher and my mom's into helping the community. You know, one of those busy-bodies who knows everything about everyone," I told him.

"So you're from a small town?" he guessed.

"Born and bred," I replied.

"You seem to have matured quite quickly in just a few years," he commented.

I tossed aside the shell and turned to him with a teasing smile. "That was out of necessity. People really weren't going to pay me to scowl at them all day, so I learned to smile. That got a lot of jobs as secretaries, and I climbed the big, old corporate ladder to end up as Mr. Trimble's secretary."

"And the tale ends with you happily ever after, or does it?" he wondered.

"Well, it doesn't end with me out on the streets living in a cardboard box that I share with a couple of alley cats, a mangy dog, and a toad that just happened to hop in," I countered.

"But what if that toad happened to be a prince?" he teased.

I snorted and looked out on the shimmering lake. "Then I chose the wrong path and need to invest in cardboard box realty," I joked.

"But what if your prince came hopping by without the need for you in a cardboard box?" he persisted.

I frowned and turned to him with a confused expression. "I'd say I wouldn't see him coming and accidentally run him over with my car."

Will choked out a laugh and fell back onto the sand with a grin on his face. "That would be a rather unlucky prince," he mused.

"Yes, a messy end to a short courtship," I agreed. I lay down on my stomach beside him and looked over his smooth, youngish face. "So what about you?"

"What about me?" he returned.

"You have an immaculate conception or did you sprout from a cabbage patch?" I asked him.

"Neither. I had a set of very nice parents, but they passed away a few years ago. Heart and blood illnesses runs deep in both sides of my family," he replied.

"And no siblings?" I wondered.

"None."

"No girlfriends? No close friends?"

"I trust no one but Vuk and-" He paused and looked away.

"And who?" I persisted.

"Darlings!" a voice rang out behind us.

Chapter 4

I turned and sighed. It was Olivia who interrupted our little chat, and this time with company in the form of a middle-aged couple. The wife wore a simple ensemble shorts and a white shirt, though around her neck was an extravagant diamond necklace. The man was in the same sort of attire, and in one hand he held a short leash attached to which was a large black labrador. The dog wagged its tail at me and drooled. We hastily stood and each of us slapped a smile on our faces.

"There you two are! I was afraid after all that commotion that you'd run away before the fireworks and disappointed me!" she scolded us.

"We wouldn't think of it, Olivia," Will replied.

"Good! Now William, Grace, I would like to introduce you to some of my oldest and dearest friends, the Dodson's, Nicholas and Priscilla," she told us, gesturing to the older couple. "Nick, Priscilla, this is William Campbell and Grace Stevens."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Mrs. Dodson greeted us as we daintily shook hands.

Mr. Dodson wrinkled his manicured mustache. "Campbell, eh?" the boisterous Nick Dodson mused. "Not the family that owns the old cabin across the lake?"

"The one and only," Will replied. Will leaned forward to shake the man's hand, but the labrador intervened. Actually, to put it truthfully and scientifically the beast went ballistic.

The lab lunged at Will, who was saved from a nasty bite on the hand by the dog's short leash. Olivia screamed and jumped into Priscilla's arms as Nick pulled with both hands on the leash and dragged the fierce beast back. It bared its teeth and snarled at Will. For his part he had a firm, stoic expression on his face and wasn't at all bothered by the dog's violent outburst.

"I'm so sorry, old chap! He's never acted like this before. Heel! Heel, Hercules!" Mr. Dodson ordered him. The dog sat at his master's side, but continued to bare his fangs at Will. Dodson frowned at his rude pet, and his eyes flickered between Will and the dog. "That's strange. He's usually so friendly toward people," he commented.

"I must smell like a cat," Will joked. The couple and Olivia laughed, but I was disturbed by the dog. Its eyes were narrowed and it watched Will like an enemy. Will gently tugged on my arm and broke my thoughts. "What do you say to some dessert before the fireworks?" he suggested. By this time the glow of the setting sun on the horizon was faint and people started lighting lanterns to keep away the encroaching darkness. The dark surface of the lake was like a forbidden mirror. Look long enough and it would drag you into its depths.

I smiled, more to hide my unease than because I felt happy. "That'd be great," I agreed.

"If you'll excuse us," Will told our fellow cabin folk.

Olivia stepped away from her friend and unruffled her feathers. "Oh, yes, of course, but don't leave until the fireworks are finished," she reminded us.

"We won't," Will agreed. He led us away to the table loaded with desserts, but neither of us had any appetite so we stood a few yards off close to a thick tree. When Will spoke his voice was low, but relaxed. "You're bothered by the dog," he commented.

"That dog looked like he wanted to rip you to shreds," I whispered in return.

"I'm afraid I have that effect on most animals," he revealed.

"Have you tried changing cologne? Something not quite as eau de threatening?" I teased.

He chuckled. "Would you care to go shopping with me for my personal articles?" he wondered.

"No. You shop for your own underwear," I replied.

Our little back-and-forth was again interrupted by Olivia, but not directly. While we talked men had prepared the fireworks display by setting out long, wide pieces of ply board on the beach and erected small, angles chutes made of plastic piping. The boxes of fireworks were places behind them and the men produced lighters. Olivia stepped onto a pile of the fireworks boxes and waved her hands over her head.

"Attention! Attention, everyone!" she bellowed over the crowd. The cabin folk ceased their conversations and turned to her. "We are ready for the fireworks, so if you would please seat yourselves on the grass we can begin!" The crowds meandered their way to the edge of the sand, and sat down on the grass and blankets.

"Shall we?" Will invited. I turned to him and the smile died on my lips. Even in the weak light of the propane lanterns I could see his face was ghastly pale and there was a hint of sweat on the surface.

"Are you all right?" I asked him.

"Quite all right," he assured me.

I looked over his tense facial muscles and wide, dilated eyes, and thought I'd never seen such a bad liar. "You don't look all right," I insisted.

Will wiped the perspiration from his brow and smiled at me. "Perhaps the episode with the dog affected me more than I thought, but I just need to rest a while." He guided me not to the beach, but to the edge of the park closest to our cabins. There we plopped down on the cool grass and waited for the dazzling lights.

I noticed Will fidgeted, and his hand kept diving into a pocket of his jeans. "Are you sure you're all right?" I persisted.

"Yes, quite-" His affirmation was interrupted by the sudden firing of a large, whistling rocket.

It flew into the sky and burst into a thousand tiny sparkles of red and white. The crowd oohed and aahed. The fireworks men, encouraged by the crowd's admiration, went to work blowing up all the cases of fireworks. Six rockets were shot off at once and Roman candles were lit on the beach in front of the cabin folk.

I would have enjoyed the show if I didn't have Will by my side looking worse and worse. He twitched and his breathing changed from even breaths into small gasps. His hand remained in his pocket, and his bright eyes, almost glowing, looked at me with a steady and uncomfortable consistency.

"I'm getting a doctor," I told him. I tried to stand, but he gently grabbed my wrist and pulled me back down.

"I have had these attacks before, and it's nothing a doctor can help with," he told me.

"Do you know what's wrong with you?" I asked him. He looked like he was creeping toward death.

"It is an-an illness that comes over me on some nights. You can consider it an allergy of sorts to the night," he replied.

"Then shouldn't you be in some sort of UV room?" I suggested.

He chuckled and shook his head. "It hasn't worked, I've tried. Besides, I wanted to be out here with you to give you this." His pocketed hand pulled out a small gold locket attached to a golden chain. He took my hand, turned it over and set the locket in my palm. "I would like you to have it as a sign of our-well, our friendship."

"I-I can't accept this," I protested. It was a handsome piece of craftsmanship with a hunting scene etched on the cover. A few precious stones were used to dot the eyes of the horse and the man as they chased some unseen beast.

He pulled back and softly smiled at me. "I would dearly like you to have it," he insisted.

I pursed my lips, but glanced down at the gift. There was a tiny clasp on the side that, when I released it, opened the lid. In contrast to the golden exterior, the interior of the locket was made of silver. There is an emblem of a wolf etched onto the right side with a full moon on the left. I glanced up at Will. "Did you get this after your wolf attack?" I wondered.