Beautiful Creatures Series

Chapter 16: 14

It was almost 6:00 AM when Stanton came into the house quietly, trying not to wake her, but Aurora had been up all night wondering where he had been. “Where have you been?” She demanded as he closed the door. “Why are you, Hummingbird?”

“Why am I up?” She was stunned by the question and the state in which he was in. “Why are you covered in blood?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not mine,” he said, making his way to the washroom, where he peeled off his bloody clothes.

“Not yours? How’s blood, is it?” He didn’t answer as he threw his clothes on the floor and started the shower. Aurora watched him get in and stand under the water, letting it wash the blood away. “God damn it, don’t ignore me. Whose blood is it?” Stanton just shot her a look, and she knew exactly who’s blood it was. “You went back for him, didn’t you?”

“He deserved what he got,” he told her, taking the body wash from the edge of the tub.

“You killed him?”

Stanton washed the blood off his face and then turned to face her. “Not the first time and probably won’t be the last.”

“It’s murder.”

Stanton turned off the shower and grabbed a towel as he got out. “Don’t give me that self-righteous tone. You have killed people too.”

“To protect myself.”

“Bullshit!” He yelled at her making her jump. “You’ve killed people because you lost your temper,” he pointed at his face. “Look… look what that fucker did to me. I can never get my eye back and why because he was afraid that I would give his punk ass a beat down for insulting my girl. I did a public service killing him, one less asshole in the world,” he snarled as he found some clean clothes and got dressed. Aurora watched as he pulled his boots on. It looked like he was leaving again.

“Where are you going now?”

“Work,” he snapped. “The bills don’t pay themselves,” he opened the door and stormed out, slamming the door behind him so hard a picture fell off the wall, and the frame shattered upon impact with the floor.

Oh… that man.

***

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Aurora,” Aster said as she brought a big bowl of popcorn to the coffee table. Aster had the day off. She had left her assistant in command of her bakery in Aspen, claiming that every once and a while, even the boss needed a day off. So, she had invited Aurora over to rent a movie with the girls. “I’m sure they were careful. It’s not the first body the pack has disposed of.”

“Am I the only person who thinks what they did was wrong?” Aurora asked.

“You said yourself you wanted to kill the guy,” Aster pointed out as she sat down on the couch.

“I might have wanted to, but I didn’t.”

“You’re saying you have never killed anyone?” Charlotte asked from her place on the floor where she was sitting cross-legged and picking at the popcorn.

“I have but only in self-defence,” both women stared at her with the same expression, the one saying they weren’t buying her answer. “Ok, maybe 50% self-defence – 50% anger,” both women laughed. “What?”

“Yeah, we have heard that you have a bit of a temper,” Charlotte giggled.

“Temper? Who said I had a temper?” She demanded with annoyance.

Aster snickered. “Oh yeah, I can clearly see that’s not true.”

Aurora laughed despite herself. “Ok, maybe I might have a very small anger issue,” she said, reaching for the popcorn. “I’m just worried. Stanton got hurt.”

“Stanton’s a big boy. I’m sure he will be fine,” silence filled the room when the news came on. Charlotte had been browsing the rentals, but in the background, they could still hear what was playing on the TV. The anchorman was talking about a body found in the river earlier that day. “Charlotte, stop skimming. I want to see this.”

Charlotte exited the rental’s list, and now they were watching the video coverage of the police retrieving the body. The station flashed a file photo of the victim they had gotten from the family. Aurora recognized the victim immediately. It was the man from the restaurant last night. His name was Rupert Dickson, and he was a son of a Colorado State Senator. “Oh shit,” Aster gasped and looked at Aurora. “Please tell me that’s not the guy?”

“That’s the guy,” Aurora confirmed. “This is bad, isn’t it?”

“This is really bad,” Charlotte confirmed.

“You better bet that Senator is going to want his son’s death investigated,” Aster said. “Were there a lot of witnesses that saw the altercation last night?”

Aurora nodded. “The place was packed.”

“Stanton is going to be the very first suspect, then you,” Aster explained.

“But the TV says they believe it was an animal attack,” Aurora pointed out.

“They are still going investigate,” Aster said.

“That’s not the real problem. A dead Senator’s son was killed by wild animals and found floating in a river. That’s going to make national news,” Charlotte pointed out.

“So.”

“It’s going to draw hunters,” Aster clarified.

Even Aurora understood that would be a bad thing. “We are screwed, aren’t we?”

“Royally,” Aster said, taking out her cellphone. “I have to call my father.”

***

Stanton sat outside in the driveway staring at the door. He knew he had to go inside, but he didn’t want to face Aurora. Not after he yelled at her earlier that day, he had been so angry about the way things were playing out, but it wasn’t Aurora’s fault. That girl was a frustratingly gorgeous magnet for assholes. He couldn’t blame her for the way others treated her. Life with Aurora would be an ongoing fight, not with her but with every other man walking this planet. Now that he only had one good eye, he would invoke more fear than he already did.

Turning his head, Stanton looked at the bouquet of white and yellow roses lying on the passenger seat of his SUV. He picked the bouquet up and got out of the vehicle. Taking a deep breath, Stanton closed the SUV door and made his way inside. He walked inside to find Aurora standing over the stove.

She was dressed in nothing but a pair of pink lace boy shorts and his favourite football jersey with the right side slipping off her shoulder and her hair swept up in one of those sloppy buns. In one hand, she had a frying pan and, in the other, a spatula. Some hard rock playing on the iPod speakers as Aurora danced like no one was watching.

The sight brought a huge smile to Stanton’s face. He still couldn’t believe that this was his life or that she was his girl. He never wanted to lose this, but he didn’t know if he could hold her. Aurora had a wild spirit.

Stanton cleared his throat to alert her to his presence. Aurora placed her pan down on a burner that was not on before she turned around and looked at him with relief. It was a look he had not expected. She rushed over to him and framed his face with her hands pulling him down so she could kiss him hard. Then she pulled back and slapped him across the face with an angry look. Stanton was both excited and confused.

“Where the Hell have you been? I have been calling you all day, and you have been ignoring me,” Aurora snarled. She was right. He had been ignoring her calls because he hadn’t known what to say to her. Still speechless, he offered her the flowers he had brought. She glanced at flowers and smiled. “They are beautiful.”

“The white and yellows mean I’m sorry,” he explained.

Aurora shot him a playful grin. “How do you know that?”

“Google,” he snickered.

“Aww, you cared enough to look it up,” she said, returning to the cupboards looking for something to use as a vase.

“I’m sorry I ignored your calls. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I just didn’t know what to say. I needed some time to think,” Stanton said as he took a seat at the small kitchen table while she placed the flowers in an unused water pitcher. “Dinner smells good.”

“I was making homemade gnocchi, stuffed with cheese, and pan-fried in brown butter and sage,” Aurora said as she plated the food that had been cooling in the pan. She brought both to the table, placing a bowl in front of him. It looked like restaurant quality, and it smelled divine.

“Hummingbird, you spoil me,” he said, taking up his fork. He was dying to taste it.

Aurora took the seat next to him. “Have you heard from Gordon?”

Stanton found that to be an odd question. Gordon had called a few times that day, but Stanton had not answered because he hadn’t felt like talking to anyone. He had every intention of calling his pack leader back later in the evening. “I think he called once or twice, but I didn’t answer,” Stanton was getting a bad feeling. “Is there something going on that I should know about?” Aurora was silent, but the look on her face told Stanton she had something she didn’t know how to tell him. “What is it, Hummingbird?”

“The man you killed….”

“Let’s not talk about him. It’s over. Let us leave it in the past.”

“It’s not over.”

“Yes, it is. Just let the issue die with him.”

“Stanton…” His name, he always knew bad things were coming when she called him by his God-given name. “He was Jack Ludwick, the only son of Colorado State Senator Stephen Ludwick. The Senator is demanding the police investigate his son’s death. You killed someone extremely high profile.”

“Oh shit,” Stanton thought about his situation. Well, it was no big deal where the police were involved. After all, the Coroner’s report would conclude Jack Ludwick was torn apart by animals. There was no way his death would be pinned on him, so let them investigate it made no difference. However, once the investigation and cause of death were made public news, it could very likely attract Hunters. His temper might have just screwed the pack.

“The police…”

“Shh,” He shushed her as he reached out and took Aurora by the hand, pulling her out of her seat and into his lap. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about the police. They are not the problem.”

“And the hunters?”

“Well, they might be a problem. I’m sure Gordon is on it. He’ll likely have patrols in the woods and on the roads. If anyone suspicious shows up, he’ll know, and they will be dealt with,” he wanted her to feel secure. He understood that after the life she’d lived, it would be hard for Aurora to trust anyone, but he hoped she trusted him.

“You really think it is no big deal?”

“It will be fine,” he lied.

“But Aster says the pack is royally screwed.”

“Aster worries too much. Gordon has got this in hand. He is the pack leader; after all, it’s what he does,” she still seemed worried. “And if he fails for any reason and they come for us. I will protect you or die trying.”

Aurora smiled as she caressed his face and gazed deep into his good eye. “We will protect each other.”

Stanton smiled. He loved this mad crazy woman. Why she loved him, he would never understand. He believed she would fight and kill for him. In the wild female wolves would crouch low with their heads under their mate’s snout. It looked as if the female was cowering, but in truth, she was protecting her mate by putting herself between the threat and her mate’s jugular. He had no doubt Aurora would put herself between him and any threat. Aurora was fierce, but he wasn’t built for no soft-ass woman. He needed a badass woman, and as luck would have it, he had found exactly that in Aurora.

***

Lewis Wright sat on the foot of his motel bed, cleaning his weapons as he watched the news. There was a story on the nationwide section of the news talking about how some Colorado State Senator’s son had been torn apart by animals in Aspen. When they described the state of the corpse and where it had been found, Lewis put down his guns and turned up the volume to better hear the information.

Of course, they would not show the body of the deceased, but they were showing the crime scene photos. Somehow the man was found floating in the river, but his home showed signs of a struggle and everything was covered in blood. It was when he saw a shot of large paw prints in the blood that Lewis knew exactly what had happened. Wild animals did not break into a locked house, kill someone savagely, and then dispose of the body miles away in a river.

This was not an animal attack. This was a werewolf attack and judging from the numerous paw prints in the blood. It was more than one. More than one werewolf meant there was a pack. There was a pack of Lycans in Aspen. Well then, he might as well pack his bags because come morning, he was headed to Aspen.

***

A sound startled Aurora out of her sleep. Years of sleeping on the street had left Aurora a light sleeper. It was almost like sleeping while not actually being asleep. She lifted her head from her pillow. The

house was dark, and with no moon in the sky tonight, no light came through the windows. The place would be pitch black to human eyes, but she could see more clearly than humans.

She looked at Stanton as he slept beside her undisturbed. The sound of the door handle jiggling drew her attention back to the door. Never taking her eyes off the door handle, which had stopped moving, Aurora tossed back the covers and got out of bed. Slowly she walked toward the door. Her eyes fixed on the handle. There was someone outside. It was the middle of the night. Who could it be at this time of night?

Coming to a stop at the door, she waited, and when she saw the handle jiggle slightly once more, Aurora jumped. Trying to keep calm, she reached one hand to the door handle and used the other to unlock the deadbolt. Whoever was on the other side of that door was about to have a really bad night. Her fangs descended, and her eyes began to glow, then Aurora threw open the door and growled.

There was no one there. Aurora stepped out onto the porch and looked around. There was no one at all. So, who had been jiggling the doorknob? Aurora stepped down the wooden porch steps. She began to sniff the air trying to pick up on a scent? She couldn’t smell anyone she shouldn’t smell. There was no one.

Confused, Aurora turned around to come face to face with Stanton, whose face was cut up and bloody with torn flesh all over his body, leaving nothing but bloody mangled flesh. He was so close she was sure he was going to fall on her. Panicked, Aurora screamed from the shock. Stanton coughed up blood, which struck her in the face. She looked down to see his arms were folded over his lower abdomen, literally holding his guts in. His arms fell away, and as he dropped to his knees, he sputtered the word… “Run!”

As he fell dead at her feet, a man dressed in black stepped out of the shadows with a blood-covered machete in one hand and a gun in the next. He lifted the gun, pointing it at her and then fired.

Aurora screamed and shot up in bed. The sudden disturbance jerked Stanton out of his sleep. He looked up at Aurora. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Aurora looked around, surprised to find herself in bed. It had been a nightmare. Aurora looked at Stanton. “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. They both laid back down, and Stanton held her close as if he thought he could banish her dreams. It was a dream, she told herself, yet she still had an awful feeling that something horrible was coming.