Wolf’s Bane

Meanwhile, in another apartment a few minutes away from the Alpha’s suites…

“Mommy, is daddy gonna come live with us?” asked the little girl as she dressed up in her PJ’s, then grabbed her stuffed wolf toy.

“Soon, baby, but not right now.”

“Yeah Myrrh, he’s got a lot of important things to do, to make us safe. That’s what he told us before we went flying in the eli-kop-ter, right, Mama?” the boy asked as their mom tucked them into bed.

“Yes, Victor. He promised to keep us safe.”

“I hope he also promised to keep himself safe… he will be safe, right Mama?”

“I hope so baby girl, I truly, TRULY hope so…” answered Alicia as she kissed her little girl goodnight.

+++

“Huh? I don’t remember washing this… and what could it be doing here on a no-laundry day?” Diwana looked in deep thought at the items that were hanging on the clothesline beside the house. “And, from here, I could swear that it’s Eron’s blanket and bed sheets, and I don’t recognize this pair of jeans as any of the kids’ clothing… but why would he be washing them?”

She was on her way to check some of the plants that she recently planted in her backyard, which she was nursing like babies and visiting every evening when she saw the laundry line. Even now, as she approached it, she still could not believe her eyes.

“It’s dry,” she said, touching it. “And it definitely doesn’t smell like our laundry soap.”

Di embraced the soft blanket, sinking her face on it then sniffing deeply a new but now familiar smell…

It was the same scent that helped her sleep when she found a certain fluffy towel in the hallway.

“Why is it that, just by this, I feel so comfortable, and even s… huh?”

The widow was midway through her thoughts, while still hugging her new renter in her mind, when a certain sensation tickled her back. She immediately identified it as a sense of danger which wiped out the good feelings almost instantly. As she looked around, the world around her started to look dark. It was as if all her senses were shutting off and shutting down everything.

Except that unidentified presence which seemed to be producing that unsettling feeling.

In this state of internal darkness, she could barely hear the sound of the wind among the trees or the voices of her kids agreeing on their tasks inside the house, but clearly, the rustle behind some of the bushes echoed in her mind. Along with that, the same sensation that she felt the last few times that she went to her secret place in the woods was now overwhelming her.

And though it was now a stronger feeling, she felt it was the same kind of threat.

She started getting dizzy with the changes that her senses were suddenly showing. True, it may be similar to what she would feel then, and she had been feeling that a lot lately, but it was not as strong as it was ever before when it didn’t feel more than a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Di took deep breaths trying to concentrate on the source of her strange fear, then her eyes suddenly focused on a certain spot that was the only place her eyes could see in the darkness. It was quite far, several meters away, which is why she could not recognize anything out there among the wooded edge of the forest.

Her thoughts: Diwana, there’s nothing there… Just the natural movement of the branches…

Or was it really so natural? Was it truly the wind, or a small hungry squirrel looking around for food?

“Why is this happening to me again?” she murmured to herself, trying to keep her knees from buckling. “I haven’t felt this strange feeling for quite a while. And why has it grown extremely stronger now…”

But then, as soon as the weird occurrence in her mind began, it was over. Or maybe it was being overpowered by two familiar voices that were getting louder and feeling closer by the second?

“Eron,” she whispered to herself, and without letting go of the blanket in her arms, she turned towards his voice.

And ran to him…

“Whoa,” The Charmer said in surprise, feeling how Di’s smooth soft arms wrapped around his slim waist tightly, and without even thinking, he immediately embraced her back.

His heart started pounding loudly in his chest, seeing how distressed Diwana was.

“Diwa, what happened?” he asked, as the man that was walking by his side smirked.

Nice, more proof to my theory… Jack thought, going back in his memory to a few minutes before.

+++

“Well, if you want to talk to her about it, go ahead…” Jack said, passing another set of tools to Eron. “And I really don’t know if I’m of any help to you, bro, just saying.”

“Yeah, I’ll do that… But what the hell do you mean, dude? Here I was thinking about hiring you as my pretty assistant and you say that?” Eron replied to recover from his surprised mood then smirked teasingly at his companion, making Jack chuckle.

“Sorry bro, I don’t look good in a dress.”

“Oh, so you tried already? Bro, whatever your preferences are, it’s okay, I promise, I won’t judge you, you can tell me,” Eron laughed.

“No, I haven’t tried, I just happen to like how a dress suits THE LADIES’ curves, and I have no curves at all. Man, seriously, you keep telling me I’m not your type, but then, your jokes leave me wondering each time.”

Both laughed aloud before diving back into fixing the wrecked motorcycle.

“Dresses, huh? Is that a kink, Jack?”

“Nah, just the clothes I like the most on a lady. They look sweet and feminine, and more often than not, very sexy…”

“Yeah, I think that fits the definition of kink,” Eron said jokingly, but suddenly the smile disappeared from his face… “Oh, damn! I forgot to pick a few things from the clotheslines!” he exclaimed, finally remembering that he had been so entertained with his Scorpia and Jack that he completely forgot the improvised laundry that he was supposed to sneak out and get back inside as soon as the sun was up.

And, too bad for him, it hasn’t happened… yet.

“What are you talking about, bro? I don’t see the problem… or you’re worried that a certain lady will see your underwear?”

“Nah, I don’t even wear any,” he said, blushing at the thought of his landlady finding his bed sheets and asking him what happened to them that they were hanging outside if he had been there for just one night.

But his boss and friend of course would notice his face getting all red…

“Why don’t we go get it? I could use some fresh air, and can also cover for you if we’re asked what we’re doing around, or whatever,” Jack offered. “In exchange, I want to hear the full story of your laundry, though…” he added a smirk that made Eron even more uncomfortable.

“Seriously!? And what could you be possibly thinking about what could have happened to me so I would actually do laundry recently?”

“I don’t care about the laundry, but I’m thoroughly entertained by the fact that your face is between a beet and a tomato in the scale of redness right now,” Jack answered while he laughed some more. “And it’s YOU who I couldn’t believe would possibly have any kind of shame… Oooohhh, except for when it’s about Diwana… Come on, what Did you do, Eron? Haha!”

“Just shut up already, bro, I’m not telling you anything! You’ve had enough fun with your own imagination already… Damn you, Jack…” Eron added, still smiling but obviously deeply embarrassed. “I’m going to get my be- uh… my laundry. If you want, you can stay here and wait for me to get back.”

“Are you crazy? I have to see this story all the way to the end,” Jack teased some more to Eron’s amusement despite his awkwardness about his washings, since his employer wasn’t exactly like that when they first met.

“Well, it’s a good time to be open and make jokes, Jack… I’m definitely a bad influence to you, bro,” were Eron’s thoughts as they both walked out of the garage and towards the clotheslines beside the house.

“But seriously, if you need to take whatever you hung out there in plain sight and then run, I’ll cover for you, bro.”

“Uh… thanks, Jack, I guess.”