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From Protector of the Grey House:

“What’s going on?”

“Natalia’s looking for Vincent. I didn’t know where he was. She didn’t believe me, and I showed her the screens. She said her rooms were missing and they are.”

Rebecca frowned, then a memory clicked in. “Oh, he’s…”

When she didn’t finish, Charlie turned around to look at his wife. “What?”

Rebecca shook her head.

Charlie’s mouth dropped open. “He has a secret room?”

“No, and you don’t know anything. Get out of the chair and let me take over.”

Charlie moved but watched his wife closely. He wanted to know more, but shook his head and turned back to look at the monitors. Rebecca typed quickly and brought up Natalia’s room. The human could be seen walking through her sitting room and into her bedroom.

“There was something off about Nat.”

Rebecca turned to glance at Charlie. “Tell me quickly. I’m still trying to decide if we need a human. We may need to wake Joseph.”

He glanced sharply at his wife. “Why?”

“Tell me about Natalia.”

He shook his head. “She was real fidgety. Seemed agitated.”

“Ok?”

He placed his hand on Rebecca’s shoulder until she turned and looked at him. “Have you ever known her to fidget? When she’s agitated, or angry she shows it with anger. I don’t have a memory of her ever acting nervous,” pain flashed across his features, “not even toward me after I bit her.”

From Protector of the Grey House:

Although Vincent didn’t need to, he took a deep breath. After all these years he still felt that a deep breath was the best way to calm himself. He closed his eyes and felt as his chest rose and fell unnaturally, felt the tightness around his scar as the skin stretched. He placed his right hand over the scar and smiled. He could heal the scar but didn’t want to. It was a reminder of one of his greater moments. He had gained Joseph’s undying loyalty and the scar in the same instant.

Fifty years after Vincent’s change, Joseph had been ordered to kill him by their benefactor. According to Gautier, young Vincent was too flamboyant and public with his abilities. To weaken him they trapped Vincent in his room. After five days Joseph came to him. offered false friendship to get close, and staked him. When Joseph stumbled into him, Vincent felt the wood pierce the skin and part his muscles. Vincent did not turn to dust.

The saga of Charlie and Natalia (cut scenes) is done. I hope you enjoyed it. Back to showcasing pits from the third novel.

From Protector of the Grey House:

A yowl of ecstasy emanated from the creature far below. Whatever the ghul was, it would feast well today. Natalia looked up as the scream stopped. Edwin stood just to the right of the doorway and stared at her. One of Edwin’s men held an exhausted Charlie up. The unlikely pair moved to the left, into the room to the far wall, which allowed two more to enter the room. This left two outside the small room. She held Edwin’s gaze, and wondered if she could kill him. Her epiphany of earlier came back and she voiced her opinion.

“You were planning on killing him.”

He held her gaze. “Once a traitor, always a traitor.”

“What happens now?” She wanted to jump across the oubliette to fight Edwin, but She couldn’t jump that distance from a standing position. Though the werewolf looked exhausted, Natalia was sure he was acting, but was not sure why.

“Vincent likes you, doesn’t he?”

She stayed silent.

“I wonder how he would look at you if I changed you. Would he still love you if his greatest enemy changed you?”

She didn’t even try to hold back her laughter. “Don’t flatter yourself. You were nothing but an effortless distraction. A piece of lint on his fine suit, needing nothing more than a swipe to brush your existence out of his mind.”

Hello, this is it. The last of Charlie and Natalia’s relationship that isn’t in the trilogy. In the trilogy, there is more to their story, but not a lot. The trilogy is more about Natalia and Vincent. But there are elements. I decided not to have Rebecca or Vincent too jealous of Charlie and Natalia, as I don’t understand jealousy. I have felt if very rarely in my life, for that I am glad. The people in the trilogy are who they are meant to be with, and no ill issues arise from their previous relationships. Don’t you wish life was like that?
On a better note: the edits for book 2 & 3 are back in my hands. Book 2 needs cover work done and I need to finish reviewing book 3. Hoping to have those out to you very, very soon. Thank you for your continued reads. Have a great one!

From Charlie and Natalia:

He slunk home to Natalia two days later, and she was beside herself with anger and fear. She clung to him, yelling profanities and swearing to kill him herself. He collapsed in her arms and they fell to the floor. Neither was able to speak for a long time.

When they finally spoke, Natalia was first. “You were the only disappearance this month.”

He heaved a huge sigh of relief, and tried to catch his breath. Weight lifted from his chest. “Oh, thank god.”

“What happened, Charlie? Where were you?” She sounded frightened.

They were leaning against the hallway wall, close to the door. “When I woke up I felt lost. The Marin hills have become my second home.” He paused, then looked Natalia in the eyes. “I haven’t dreamt in three months. It’s like a part of me is missing, Nat. I can’t take it anymore.”

“You’re thinking about going back.” She sounded pissed.

“I have to Nat, it’s a part of my existence.”

“You’re going to risk your life for a dream?” Her voice cracked. She heard her voice, knew how she sounded and pulled back into herself. She closed her eyes and listened to her inner voice, blocking out all else, including Charlie. He was saying something to her in an irritated voice. She heard the hate there and felt her anger dissipate. There was no use for these emotions, especially since he wasn’t hers. She stopped his words with a soft kiss.

Charlie stopped mid-sentence to accept her kiss. They parted and he looked into her face. He saw that she had come to a decision, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what it was.

“Nat?”

She placed a hand on his cheek. “I don’t want you dead, but I’m not going to lose you to my own stupidity. If I tell you not to go and you go, it’ll cause problems. You’re my lover and my friend, but we have no true hold on each other. We knew it would end one day, but I think I forgot for a while.” She stood, held out her hands to him. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.”

“What the hell was that? What do you mean, end one day?” He felt his world crumbling away bits at a time.

“I mean I’m not going to fight with you. There’s no point. You’re still your own man, and I’m still my own woman.” She closed her eyes and took a shaky breath. “I don’t want you to go back to the Park, but I’m not going to argue with you about it. I care about you Charlie, but in the end,” she opened her eyes and gave him a sad look. “I’m not your wolf. If you need to find her in your dreams until you find her in human form, I won’t stop you.”

The words were buzzing in his ear. His head was spinning with hunger, anger and confusion. He felt her slipping away faster then ever before. She was walking away now, down the darkened hall to the kitchen. His sight narrowed and she seemed to be falling away from him. He tried to stand, but not having the strength, he crawled on hands and knees. He was breathing heavy, trying to sort all her words out. They were coming back in a maze. He reached the entryway to the kitchen and used the door jam to stand.

Staring into the over bright kitchen, he saw Natalia standing by the sink. He noticed for the first time that she was wearing her robe. His sexual frustration got the better of him and he tried to stumble over to her. Chasing creatures down and ripping their flesh apart usually helped to subdue some of his animal needs, but it ignited others. Just another part of the horrid frustration that came with being a werewolf.

Hearing his progress across the kitchen, Natalia looked over at Charlie, concerned. She saw the look in his eye and her own breath became heavy. He had looked at her this way before on many occasions, and it always made her wet. The look in her eye matched his as she untied the terry cloth robe and let it slide to the floor.

Keeping eye contact, he paced toward her, trying to calm down. It was no use. He grabbed her roughly, clawing her back with his jagged nails. She cried out from the pain, but forgot it when he jammed his tongue down her throat. His tastes ran rougher around the full moon, which meant she was expecting it.

He pulled his head away and groped her, squeezing one butt cheek and one breast firmly. He snarled at her and her eyes went wide. The sound was far from human, but it excited her. Nearly growling, he turned her around and pushed her into the counter. The Formica chilled her, making her think of their experiments with the ice. Charlie pressed into her, hard, and her hands went to the wall above the sink for balance. She heard his jeans unzip and felt them fall as the coarse fabric brushed past her legs.

He guided himself in and cried out as her muscles tightened around him. His hands grabbed her lower arms for balance as he relentlessly stroked in and out of her. The confusion was still eating at his mind, but she was now in full focus. He had not slept well in three months, and in his nearly unconscious state, dream melded with reality and he suddenly knew why he hadn’t found his wolf.

Because she didn’t know she was one.

A cry ripped from his throat and his control snapped. He turned Blitzkrieg, stuffed his arm into her mouth to stop her screams, threw his snout down to her right shoulder and bit down hard. He could feel her scream trying to escape through his sinewy arm, but wouldn’t let it. She flailed a tiny bit, then stopped and became stock-still. The realization of what he had done gripped his human brain when he tasted her warm blood on his tongue. The salty copper slammed him back into human form. He let her go violently and threw himself away from her into the kitchen table, which skidded back and hit the far cabinets hard. Charlie fell to the floor. Natalia sank to her knees as she screamed and cried.

He stared in horror at the blood running down her shoulder, back and arm. He turned his head to the side and threw up.

 Natalia huddled close to the cabinets, eyes shut tight, refusing to look at Charlie. When she did open them, she saw black. The abyss that had threatened to swallow her on two other occasions was before her again. It threatened to chew her up and consume her existence. She closed her eyes again, carefully, and started to breathe slowly. She had gotten through worse situations; she could handle this.

Slowly, feeling seeped back into her conscience and she realized how much her shoulder hurt. Tears came to her eyes as she tenderly touched the bite area. She opened her eyes and saw her hand was bloody. She stood, focused on cleaning up the wound. She grabbed at the robe and held it in front of her, trying not to get blood on the white cloth. Natalia took a few steps and stood over Charlie, who was curled into a ball, pants still gathered at his ankles. There was a puddle of bile to his right, but at least he was in human form. She prodded him with her foot.

“Get up Charlie, I need your help.” Her voice was hard and determined. He did not move. Her voice grew louder. “Charlie! Get up and help me!” Still no movement, so she kicked his legs. “GET UP, DAMMIT! FACE ME!”

He uncurled, somehow missing the puddle. He slowly sat up, pulling his pants on, but his head was down. He was avoiding looking at her. “I’m sor-”

“DON’T! Don’t insult me by trying to apologize. You’ve wanted to do this for a while. Now get up and help me clean the bite! I won’t be able to reach all of it.”

He looked up at her and saw the set determination on her face. He had seen it once before, when she had faced him down in the alley. He had thought of it as her ‘ready’ look. Ready to face everything that came along, no matter the odds. He wasn’t going to fight it, especially when she was right.

Charlie hung his head again and tried to get up. He stumbled and she held her left hand out to him. He looked up into her face, trying to read around her ready look. He couldn’t, so he took her hand and allowed her to help him up. Once he was standing, she turned and headed to the bathroom. He followed like whipped dog.

She already had the rubbing alcohol out and was reaching for gauze wrap. He took it out of the medicine cabinet for her and told her to sit on the edge of the tub. She complied. He took a washcloth, wet it and carefully wiped away the blood drying on her torso and arm. Next, he took the alcohol and, with a nod from her, held the plastic bottle over the wound and carefully let the liquid trickle over the bite. She cringed, but that was it.

He sopped up the excess liquid with a clean washcloth and started wrapping her shoulder. He had to go under her arm to get to all of it, but at least it worked. Their eyes never met, and other than instructions, they didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until they were sitting in the living room, he on the couch and her on the window seat, that she said anything.

“Why Charlie?”

He stared at her open mouthed for a moment, then simply shook his head.

“Did you think I was her?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you honestly think I am? Or were you simply afraid of losing me?”

He hung his head. “…losing you…”

“So you did the one thing that was certain to drive me away? You know I need to be human, Charlie.”

Something occurred to Charlie and some of his pain broke away. “Why Nat? Why do you need to be human?”

“TO FIND MY MOTHER’S KILLER!”

He was undaunted by her anger, and his voice was calm. “When was the last time you tried to find him?”

The question stopped her cold. When was the last time she tried to find Donald? She had no clue. “You still shouldn’t have tried to change me Charlie. I wasn’t ready.”

He shook his head, knowing he had hit a nerve. He wanted to pursue it, but didn’t have the energy. He didn’t want to fight her; he wanted to be in bed, loving her. Except he had blown it, and knew it. “So where do we go from here?”

She turned on the seat to face him. She stared at him for a few minutes before realizing that her shell was cracking. She didn’t want to be angry anymore. She wanted to erase the past half hour, but she couldn’t. She wasn’t willing to go back. “I’m still hurt and angry. I want time to myself. You’re going to leave. You will not call me or contact me in any way. I will get a hold of you after the next full moon. I’ll let you know then what’s going on.”

He went to her and knelt in front of her, placing his head on her knees. “Please Nat, I know what I did was wrong, but don’t make me go.”

She stood and he followed her to the front door. She took his head in her hands and gave him a deep, soft kiss. He gently hugged her to him, mindful of her hurt shoulder. She returned the hug, but let go before the embrace became too intense. He let go reluctantly.

“Charlie. You betrayed me. There’s no coming back from that.”

He started to speak, thought better of it, shrugged and plodded on, knowing he was using a poor excuse. “You know I won’t do it again.”

She tensed with anger, saw his sheepish grin and sagged as the anger left. “Charlie,” she sighed heavily. She wanted to say something more, but she didn’t know what to say. The simple fact remained; she didn’t want him to leave, but all her fears had been realized when he had bitten her. She took a deep breath. “Werewolves are unpredictable, even in human form.” She looked in his eyes. “I’m afraid of you now, Charlie.”

He hung his head again. He understood. “You’ll contact me after the full moon. Right. Ok. Bye.” He turned and left, unable to face her anymore.

She watched him leave, hoping she would see him after the full moon, hoping that the hunters had stopped.

                                                            *****

He woke on the beach in Marin County. It had been a glorious full moon, filled with dreams of his lady. She had been yelling the whole time, but he had grinned through it all. Everything else was a blur.

Charlie sat up and turned quickly to the side when he heard something land in the sand next to him. It was a backpack. He spun himself around and relaxed noticeably when he saw Natalia sitting with her legs drawn up to her chin. She was wearing a tan trench coat, and hiking boots. He couldn’t see anything else, but knew she was not naked under the coat. The look on her face said everything.

“How’d you find me?”

“You’ve described this place enough, Charlie, it wasn’t that hard.”

Charlie knelt in the sand and opened the backpack. There was a pair of underwear on top of the pile of clothes. “When you said you’d contact me, I didn’t think…”

“I thought it best. I’ve done a lot of thinking Charlie, and wanted to talk to you about my decision.”

He pulled on the underwear, the t-shirt, then sat in the sand. “Can you just tell me if you’re a werewolf?” He looked at her with sadness and hope.

“If I were a werewolf, we’d be having sex right now.”

Her frankness floored him, as it always had. “Seriously?”

“If I were a wolf, I could take you on; I wouldn’t be afraid of you.”

“And because you’re not?”

“I can’t have you in my life anymore, and you need to find your lady wolf.” She watched as he put on his jeans, surprised at her restraint. “I have your clothing in my car.”

“So that’s it?”

“It has to be.” She stood when he did and walked with him to her car. She had apparently called Dan, who was leaning against his car, his arms crossed. Dan said nothing and got in his car when the two appeared. Charlie grabbed the two bags of clothing, placed them in Dan’s car, then turned back to Natalia, who was now leaning against her car. He hesitated, then touched her cheek. She closed her eyes at his touch and brought her hand to his. She opened her eyes and let him see the pain and sadness she was feeling. He pulled her to him and kissed her. Her arms went around his neck. They held each other for a moment then she pulled away. She gave him a blank look, turned and climbed into her car. His heart ached as she sped away, as did hers. Both wondered if they would ever see each other again; both doubted they would.

Second to last chapter to share. I hope you’ve enjoyed this!

From Charlie and Natalia:

The moon was streaming in through the window, glinting off Natalia’s black hair. They were sitting on the window seat, in a now familiar position. Charlie’s back was to the wall; she was sitting between his legs. His arms were wrapped around her, her head leaned back on his shoulder; their cheeks were touching. He kissed her neck, feeling light and euphoric. Neither had had to work; they had spent the whole day in bed.

It was three days to the full moon. Over the past year the werewolf had been able to control himself well enough around Natalia that he only had to stay away for two days before the actual full moon and two days after. It cut his time away from her down to five days. He was willing to try for closer, but Natalia was not. She didn’t want to risk being ripped apart by a snarling beast. He concurred and stayed away.

Charlie turned his head a bit and rubbed his lips and nose in her soft hair. He took a deep breath, smelling their scent mingling in her dark strands. He started to nibble at her ear, but she pulled away, giggling.

“Charlie, stop. Every inch of me is sore.”

He breathed into her ear. “There has to be some inch that isn’t.”

She groaned, half with pleasure, half with ache. He laughed softly in her ear, kissed her lobe and stopped. He was rather sore as well, and didn’t yet have enough energy to convince her. She settled her head on his shoulder and sighed. A familiar feeling stole over him, shaking his tranquility. He closed his eyes and breathed deep until the feeling passed. His hold on her tightened for a couple seconds then went slack.

“What’s wrong, Charlie?”

“Nothing. Just, I don’t know. It’s like I’m losing you.”

“To what? To who?” Her voice was gentle. They had had this discussion before and it was always the same. He felt like she was slipping away, even though she had no reason to. They both knew their relationship was going to end, but neither of them knew or cared when that would be. Natalia was content to be with Charlie. He made her feel alive, made her feel normal, especially when she was talking about Slayers and vampires and her meetings with them. However, the disquieting feeling kept coming, and she was worried.

“I don’t know.” He tried to get up to pace, but Natalia held on to him. When he settled back down, she turned, tucked one leg under her and let the other dangle over the edge of the seat. She took his head in her hands and stared in his eyes.

“Charlie, lover, we both know this isn’t forever. If we’re splitting soon, we need to let it happen. I love being with you; you make me feel like…” she closed her eyes, sighed, opened them again. “Like the world is not as dark and ugly as I know it is. But I’m not what you want; you want a werewolf. I wish things could be different, but they’re not. You want a werewolf, and I don’t think I want to be one, even if I could. We can’t change what we are. So let’s just enjoy this.”

She watched as his mood changed, and a slow smile appeared on his face. “You always know what to say to make me feel good.” He brought her closer, giving her a soft kiss. He pulled away and stared in her eyes, not saying a word. He gave her a hard hug and buried his face in her neck and hair, inhaling her fragrance. He was still sore, but he was coming back to life. He growled in her ear and swept her up in his arms.

“Charlie, I’m still sore!”

“Won’t be in a few minutes.” He was right.

                                                            *****

“She’s right, you know, you have to let it happen.” The sun was rising in the west again, but by now Charlie was used to it.

“I love being with her.”

“But do you love her? Can you love her?”

“If she were a wolf…”

“But she’s not.”

“She could be.”

“Don’t go there Charlie. You’ll regret it.”

He turned and realized he could see right through her. “Wait, where are you going?”

where the sun sets…meet me there, Charlie…

                                                            *****

He woke, the sun in his eyes, sand under his back. He could smell the seaweed and salt. The full moon had passed and he was in his usual place, on the beach in Marin County. It was daybreak and he was aching. There were scratches all over his body. The worst was on his chest. It was deep; there was blood and sand drying in the wound. He sat up carefully, wincing at the pain. He groaned as his head threatened to split open with each beat of his heart. He leaned forward and threw up into the sand between his legs. Mostly liquid, some random chunks of meat, some fur, but no fresh blood. So the fight he had been in had left him with superficial wounds only.

Then why did his head hurt so much? And why did his stomach turn with every breath? Charlie didn’t know, but leaned forward again and gagged. There was nothing in his stomach now, so it was mostly dry heaves. He breathed out carefully, then took slow, deep breathes, trying to control, everything. Eventually, he was able to get his stomach under control and looked around.

“Crazy.” There was a set of clothing lying next to him. Long sleeved top, pants, socks and shoes, all in black. There were even a pair of underwear, but he left those alone. There was sand all over and in everything, so he shook the clothing out. Everything was a little small, and ripped, but Charlie didn’t care. It was a set of clothing and he hadn’t had to search for it, as per usual. He just hoped Daniel was available.

Dan picked up on the third ring and told him he’d be out shortly. Daniel dropped him off at Natalia’s, kidding with him the whole way out.  Charlie let himself into the house going to the bathroom first. He liked to shower before joining Natalia in bed. His head was under the water when he felt cool air hit his back, then soft familiar hands were touching him. He turned and took her in his arms. They kissed as the water stung his back. The water ran cold before it was turned off.

Dried off and dressed in robes, they sat in the window seat, sipping orange juice with ice and munching on toast and jam.

“So where’d you get the outfit?” Natalia asked between bites.

“It was next to me when I woke up.” He was kissing her neck between bites of toast.

“The whole thing?”

“Yeah.” Munch, munch, kiss.

“Was there anything unusual about it?”

“Other then the fact that it was there?” Munch, munch, kiss.

“Yeah, like dust or anything?”

“I was on a beach, it was kinda hard to tell, Nat.” Munch, munch, kiss. “What are you getting at?”

“Do you remember anything?”

“Nope. Unless I feel I should, like waking up in town, I usually just leave it to dreams. What’s up lover? What are you thinking?”

“A set of black clothing with some rips in them? The gouge on your chest? Sounds like you fought and killed a vampire.”

He snickered. “Cool.”

“Don’t like vampires?”

“Don’t hate or like them. They’re kinda like other werewolves. Sometimes they’re useful; sometimes they get in your way. But I’ve never killed one before.” Charlie seemed bored with the topic, so Natalia let it drop. Having read a great deal on both creatures, she wondered why a vampire would chase a werewolf. There were Slayer accounts of vampires hiring werewolves, but not many. For the most part, the two creatures stayed out of each other’s way, like Charlie said.

Her breath hissed in as something icy touched her neck. She sighed as Charlie traced the top of her shoulder with the ice between his teeth. He followed the same path back up to her ear and crunched the melting ice as his lips moved to her ear. “I’ve got an idea.”

She heard ice clink on glass and felt the cool wetness on her opposite shoulder. He ran the ice down the middle of her chest, and down her belly. By the time his questing fingers reached her trimmed hair, the ice had melted, but his fingers were still slightly chilled. His fingers felt downright frosty when his hands slipped past her clit and into her heat.

She groaned, disappointed as he pulled his fingers out. Charlie handed her the glass with the ice, picking her up as he stood.

A breathless word escaped her lips. “Where?”

“Bedroom; more space.”

She laughed as he carried her in.

                                                            *****

Two days later Natalia was pleading with Charlie. “You can’t go back there, Charlie, it’s too dangerous.”

“Nat, I’ve gone there for the past five years, this is the only weird thing that’s ever happened.”

She laid the large book she was holding down on the kitchen table and started flipping through it. “A full set of ripped clothing beside you is not weird, Charlie, it’s alarming. When you told me, something tickled my brain. It’s taken me two days, but I finally found it.”

She was pointing to a hand written paragraph in a leather bound book that seemed to be falling apart. Charlie took his feet off the table and leaned forward. The words were tiny, and not in English.

“Nat, I can’t read this.” He looked a little frustrated with the whole conversation.

“Sorry. It’s in Romanian. It’s a Slayer’s journal. She stated that the werewolf problem in a neighboring village has been diminished. ‘The local citizens are thankful, and we are loath to tell them the truth: it was not our doing. We were there, yes, but the vampires came to hunt them. When they killed a wolf, they simply left the creature to rot. When a wolf changed, they threw the body in a cart. My colleagues and I did not know the men were vampires until Josiah walked up to introduce himself. One reached out, grabbed him and drank his blood. The body was tossed into the cart with the rest of the treasure. The two of us remaining did not feel we had enough power to over take them…’ She goes on about their failure for two pages, like she’s apologizing.”

“So you think someone was hunting wolves to find werewolves?” He looked slightly concerned.

“No, I know they were.” She threw a paper down on top of the book. The front page showed pictures of two men. They looked younger then Charlie, about 18 or 20. “They disappeared the night of the full moon. Then there’s this.” She opened the paper to the sixth page. The main story was about a pack of wolves found dead in Golden Gate National Park, also on the night of the full moon. There were no suspects.

Charlie looked up at Natalia. “Ok, you’ve scared me. But Natalia, I have no where else to go.”

She sat in the seat closest to him and took his hands. “There’s time to find a new place.”

He gave her a pained look. “But the dreams.”

She moved to his lap and gave him a frightened look. “You. Could. Die.” She kissed him softly on the lips. “Please, Charlie.”

His resolve broke and he hugged her hard. “Ok. We’ll look for a new place.”

She kissed him hard. A minute later, she was straddling him, and a minute after that, Charlie was carefully placing the ancient book on the floor to make room on the sturdy kitchen table.

                                                            *****

He was running alone. She was nowhere to be seen. He ran to the edge of the cliff and looked around. She was gone and so were the sun and the moon. There was nothing, but him and the beach and the ocean. And soon, the ocean was gone, too. He yelled a name, but no sound escaped him. He was suddenly falling. Everything had been taken away.

                                                            *****

He woke, scared and alone, in a forest four hours north of San Francisco. It was his third full moon in this area. He hated it. As far as he could tell, he was the only wolfish creature in the area. But the stories in the paper were clear. Wolves were being hunted and people were disappearing on each full moon. The first time had been the worse with two disappearances. Each full moon after only one person had disappeared. Last month, no one had disappeared, but Natalia had begged him to give it one more month. As he stood and looked around, he hoped no one had disappeared this time.

Trying to listen for telltale signs of civilization, he headed downhill. He was naked, as usual, but he had parked Natalia’s borrowed car in a secluded area and there was a set of clothing in it waiting for him. If he ever found the spot he had parked in. He felt his anger taking over, making his control unwind. He leaned against a tree and took some deep breaths. He was letting his fear turn into anger because he didn’t want to face it.

He hadn’t dreamt of her in three months, and it was causing him to cling to Natalia. He knew his dream woman was not Natalia, but they were connected somehow. He looked up and stared off into the dense forest, trying to see past his emotions. The end of it was that he had grown used to seeing his lady wolf, and now, she was gone. Thus far, all the disappearances had been men, which meant she wasn’t among the missing. She was just absent from his dreams. He felt the loss in the pit of his stomach.

Then Charlie realized he didn’t even know if she ran in those hills. He tried hard not to find the wolves in the hills, as he didn’t want to kill his brethren. He had encountered a pack on two or three different occasions, and somehow managed not to kill them. He also encountered a werewolf in Blitzkrieg form on occasion, but didn’t know what happened to it. His memory was never clear during his rage. Charlie growled as his thoughts strayed back to his lonely dreams. He didn’t want her to be gone. He balled his hands into fists and slammed his fists into the tree in an effort to subdue his frustration. It didn’t work. Rage uncoiled and his scream turned into a howl. He was off like a shot, wearing his Blitzkrieg form.

Couple more chapters, so a couple more days and you’ll have the entire story!

Natalia stood in front of the mirror, checking herself out one more time. She and Bethany were going to a club in the Castro district. She was wearing a tight pair of low-rise jeans that tied up each side, and an off white crop top t-shirt that showed off her shapely hips and belly. Her hair was down but she had sprayed her black hair with silver glitter hairspray. Bethany would be there shortly to pick her up; she was glad to be ready.

Her phone rang and expecting it to be her friend, she headed for the door as she answered.

“What’s up?” A shiver ran down her spine. It was Charlie. They had spoken on the phone several times since the full moon, but had been unable to meet. It gave her plenty of time to think about whether or not she really wanted to be with him.

“Charlie. How are you?” Her voice was seductive as she made her way back to her bedroom.

“It’s the new moon. I wanna see you.” His usually joking voice had dropped two octaves; his own hunger was coming through. Natalia had her hand on her closet door. Her forehead was resting on the door, and her eyes were closed.

“I’m going out to Nightlife with a girlfriend.” She paused, considering. Her heart started pounding. “Do you know where it is?”

There was a pause on Charlie’s end. “Yep. My apartment’s near there.”

“Really? That’s convenient.” The closet door was open; she was looking for an outfit she’d bought recently but never worn. The doorbell rang. “Charlie, my friend’s here, I have to go.”

“Have a good time tonight.” His voice was dripping with suggestion.

“I hope to.” She hung up and ran to the front door. She invited Bethany in and ran to the bedroom, asking for five minutes to change.

“But you look great! Why do you need to change?” Bethany sounded perplexed.

“Just wait!” Natalia hurriedly changed and came out in three minutes. She was now wearing a short black skirt and matching long sleeved crop top. The top was mesh, so she was wearing a white bikini top under it. White high heels completed the outfit.

“We’re going to the wrong place for you to try and pick up a guy.”

Natalia smiled and led the way to the door. “Maybe I just want to look sexy.”

“Yeah, right. What are you planning?” They were at the car, and Bethany was unlocking the doors.

Natalia calmed her voice and hid all her emotion. “Nothing. Can we just go?”

Bethany let it drop and changed subjects. After Marnia’s death, it took Bethany a long time to talk to Natalia. The younger girl gave her friend time to heal and then persisted in contacting her. Through all Natalia’s troubles, they remained friends. Bethany gave Natalia a glimpse of the life she could have had, if Donald had never transformed it, and Natalia made sure Bethany did not know how scary the world really was.

Even with the CD playing in the car, they heard the music coming from the club. At the club, the car pulsated along with the music. Bethany turned the keys over to the valet, and the ladies headed to the entrance. Natalia normally didn’t like going to dance clubs, but Bethany insisted. The club owner was a friend of the family and it was his birthday. He wanted his friends there. Natalia agreed simply to stop Bethany from pleading. Now, with the possibility of Charlie showing up…her breath caught as her mind lingered on the last kiss he had given her.

Bethany caught her arm. “So do I look ok?”

Natalia nodded as she looked at Bethany, who was dressed in a knee high purple dress. It was slinky, but not really tight. She wore matching heels and held a clutch purse. Bethany looked pretty good, but Natalia was sure that the catcalls were for her. She smiled at the line of people waiting outside the door and followed Bethany inside. The bouncer waved them in after checking the guest list.

Inside was chaos. The club was three stories high. The main floor was a large dance floor with a bar on two sides. The third wall had tables and sofas, which were set up to view the dancers. The stage was set up at the fourth wall. Bethany had told her that sometimes there was a band, but today, there was a DJ. The music he played made the club throb like a heartbeat.

The second floor had individual rooms, all of which had open balconies. The occupants could have privacy, or enjoy the festivities. The third floor had private rooms, which were accessible by invite only. Bethany led her to the bar, where she ordered them both drinks: Long Island for herself and cola for Natalia. They mingled with the crowd until they found Josh, the owner and wished him a happy birthday. Natalia was looking for Charlie the whole time.

Bethany, wanting to spend some time with Josh and his friends, excused herself. Natalia, wanting to be where Charlie would find her, stayed on the dance floor, joining a group of friendly girls and getting carried away with the music.

                                                            *****

Charlie watched Natalia from the second story, absolutely fascinated. Her outfit begged for his attention, or perhaps his touch? The sparkles in her hair teased his eyes and she was wearing white high heels. They were the same height, normally, so now she was taller. He wondered how tall women had the audacity to wear high heels. It wasn’t fair to men of average height. His slight annoyance was just a cover for how he really felt, but it kept him from running down the stairs and abducting her.

He watched her dance to the pounding music, enjoying the sight. She seemed to be having fun flirting with whoever caught her attention. Oh, yeah, she’s trouble, he thought as he let his eyes follow her. Charlie left the room, wanting to watch from a closer location. Once at the bar, he realized he could not see her as well as he wanted. Frustrated, he gave up and walked to her.

Natalia felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around, a big smile on her face. “I was wondering when you’d show.”

“I was watching you.” He grabbed her and dipped her, giving her a deep kiss. His hand was at the hem of her skirt, touching more skin then fabric. He whipped her back up, but didn’t let her go.

“Hello, lover.” She drew out the words, enunciating carefully, like a grownup teaching a child a new sentence.

Charlie leaned in and nuzzled her ear. “Shall we make that true?”

She looked back at him, showing him her craving. “Now would be good.”

“My place is close.”

“How close?” Her hands were entwined in his hair, and she was pressing herself against him.

“Close enough.” His breath was coming hard. “We could go upstairs.”

“I want privacy.”

“My place then.” They let each other go, reluctantly. Natalia took time to find Bethany and let her know she had found someone, promising to tell her friend all about it later.

The walk to Charlie’s place took twice as long as it should have, as they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. When they arrived at his apartment, she stumbled on the steps. She was trying to walk up the steps backwards while making out with Charlie. He was kissing and caressing her, unable to keep his hands off her. When she fell he was on her in an instant, pressing her into the mostly carpeted, narrow wooden steps. He slipped one hand under her skirt, unable to control himself anymore. He pulled back from the kiss and gave her a disbelieving look.

“You’re not wearing underwear.” He sounded like he approved, but was also slightly annoyed.

She laughed and arched into his questing hand, causing his thumb to slip into her. He groaned as burning wet surrounded his thumb. A wild look came into his eyes. She wondered if he had the same look the night of the full moon. She shuddered wondering how he would be in bed. She was eager to find out. Natalia pulled him in for another kiss and ground into him. He grabbed her up, slinging her over his shoulder. Her surprised cry turned into pleasure as his hand slipped under her skirt.

Charlie was stronger then he looked. To him, she was light as a feather. He carried her up the stairs like a trophy. He dug out his keys as they reached the top of the steps and unlocked the door to his bachelor pad. Kicking the door shut, he didn’t bother with the lights, but went straight to the bedroom where he threw her onto the bed. After pulling off his shoes, Charlie stood at the end of the bed breathing deep, staring at her like a hungry man regarding his feast and wondering where to start.

Natalia propped herself up on her elbows then decided to tempt him further. She sat up and pulled off her mesh top and threw it at him. She did the same with the bikini top, then lay back down and arched her back. She brought one leg up, then bent her leg, bringing her foot to her head. Her skirt slipped up to her waist in the process, exposing her completely.

He curled his lip and let his breath out slowly, clenching his teeth. He was trying to control himself and she was making it rather hard. When she did the splits, while on her back, he gave up, unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans and threw them off. He wasn’t wearing underwear either. He dove onto her and rested her leg on his shoulder. His tongue plunged into her mouth as she grabbed him and guided him in. He thrust deep into her and made a satisfied sound.

Natalia’s fingernails dug into his back as he moved in and out of her. She bit her lip, holding back her cries. She raked her nails across his back causing him to cry out. Determined to hear her voice, he quickened his pace. Although she did shudder when she came, she never uttered a sound.

Charlie was lying next to her, combing her long black hair away from her face, brushing glitter onto his hand and bed. She was facing him and looked satisfied, but he was not.

“You didn’t make a sound.”

“Did I need to?”

A good woman never says a word; never utters a sound, George reminded her sternly in her head.

Charlie’s hand ran through her hair and then down her back to bring her closer to him. “I’ve been with enough woman to know what I like. I like to hear woman cry out in pleasure. Have you ever screamed for a man, Natalie?”

It suddenly annoyed her that he was saying her name incorrectly. She had never corrected him before, but now, “It’s Natalia, with an ‘a’, not Natalie.”

“Natalia.” He drew her name out, and it rolled over her skin. “You’re avoiding the issue.”

“I don’t remember Charlie.” She didn’t want to talk about George; didn’t want to think about it. Didn’t want to think about how quiet she had been with Matt. She started to pull away. Charlie wouldn’t let her.

He kissed her softly, taking his time, pleasuring himself in the feel of her lips and tongue, tasting her. Natalia hesitated, still disgruntled then gave in, letting her hands roam his body. His hands caressed her back, stopping at her skirt. He pulled away to unzip and pull it off. Every movement was performed slowly. Charlie caressed her skin at every opportunity and kissed every inch he touched. Her skirt off, he regarded her naked body. She was shapely, toned, and tanned.

Starting with her toes, he kissed and nibbled his way back up her body to her lips then started down again, going over her chin, and down her neck to each nipple. He took extra care to give each breast the attention it deserved, then kissed his way down her belly to her clit. He slowly licked, nibbled and sucked until he could hear her groaning.

Natalia let out a small groan involuntarily and her eyes flew open. She tensed and her eyes darted around the dark room, searching for George. Charlie’s tongue brushed against a particularly sensitive spot and she couldn’t help it. She moaned a little louder. Though she was still terrified of retribution from a long gone man, the man between her legs was rewarding her moans. Natalia’s hands went to his shaggy hair, gripping tightly as he continued to coax moans from her lips.

Though she tensed and readied herself for a blow each time she made a noise, her mind was slowly letting that association go. Each time she moaned, Charlie rewarded her with a new touch, a new caress. As she neared orgasm, the ghost of George faded. Charlie quickened his pace and, her whole body thrashing, Natalia came and cried out, no longer fearing the trucker.

Charlie wiped his face on the sheet before joining her fully on the bed and encircling her in his arms. She was still shuddering, whimpering a little. She grabbed him and gave him a long, deep kiss. Natalia did not want to explain the ‘thank you’ that was threatening to spill from her lips. She didn’t want to explain that he had saved her from George.

Charlie accepted the kiss and returned it with the same vigor. He smiled to himself when she didn’t pull away from her own flavor. When the kiss ended, he pulled her closer and held her until they fell asleep.

                                                            *****

He was dreaming. And in the dream she was running with him. They were on all fours; the wind was streaming over their fur. It was nighttime on the hills near Marin. When they reached the beach, he turned to her. She was naked and in her human form. He looked down and realized he was as well. She turned from the sunrise and smiled at him.

“She’s lovely, Charlie, but she’s not really yours.”

“I know. But that doesn’t change how I feel.”

“Be careful. You might end up doing something stupid.”

He sighed and tried to see the woman besides him; she was obscured by the sunlight. He frowned. “The sun rises in the east, not the west.”

“We aren’t where you think we are. And you have no idea who you’re sleeping with.”

                                                            *****

The dream dissolved as he felt something wet and warm sliding up and down his developing erection. Something soft was tickling his belly and thighs. He grew harder and came fully awake. His hands entwined in her hair as he relaxed and then tensed as she took him fully in her mouth and bit him gently at his base. He moaned as she sucked harder, quickening her pace. He came faster then she did, but not with as much force.

Natalia bit his inner thigh as he became flaccid, then slowly kissed her way up to his lips. She kissed him lightly, biting his lower lip as she pulled away.

“Hello.”

“Hi.” He was grinning.

“I was hungry.” The teasing in her voice made him laugh.

“Did you eat enough?” His hands were holding back her hair.

“Quite. But I’m a different kind of hungry now.”

He grinned wider, grabbed her and rolled her onto her back. “So you woke me up to find the kitchen?”

She narrowed her eyes and gave him a sly smile. “You object?”

“Not in the least.” Charlie got off of Natalia and helped her up. He led the way to the kitchen apologizing for the mess as he turned lights on. There were small piles of clothing everywhere, and lots of opened envelopes and catalogues scattered about the place. There were dirty dishes on every counter space in the small kitchen, and in the sink as well.

“You didn’t have time to clean up?”

He shrugged. “One of my flaws. What do you want?” He opened up the fridge.

“What do you have?”

Charlie moved out of the way. There was an almost empty half-gallon of milk, a quarter of a loaf of bread and some scattered leftover boxes. “Not much. Pizza?”

“Sounds good.”

He looked around for his cell, remembering it was in his jeans, on the bedroom floor. He jogged into the bedroom and came back while talking with the pizza parlor, trying to put on his underwear. “Yeah, and the usual too, Tony, thanks.”

He hung up and looked over at naked Natalia, who was leaning against the kitchen counter. Her arms were crossed, and she was staring at the floor, a pensive look on her face. He walked over and offered her a button up shirt. He had to say her name three times in order to get her attention. “I ordered an everything and a cheese; breadsticks and cola, too. Ok?”

“Yeah.” She sounded rather distracted as she pulled on the shirt.

“What’s up, lover?” All joking was gone, but he enjoyed being able to call her his lover.

Natalia blushed at the word, suddenly feeling very young. “I had a weird dream.”

“Me too.” Charlie paused as he led her into the living room. He sat down the long way on the sofa and pulled her between his legs. “You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

“It was dark. I was in some kind of cave. There was something else in there with me, but I didn’t see it before something else killed it. Then I was alone, but I could hear someone calling my name, and I felt safe. I was in a dark dank cave with no way out, but I felt safe.” She laughed. “Then you showed up, and then,” she shook her head. “I don’t know. Something happened, I’m not sure what. What was yours?”

He sighed. “Since I came to San Francisco, I’ve had the same dream almost every month. I’m running with a female wolf in the hills across the bay under the full moon. We get to the beach, change and make love.”

“Sounds wonderful.”

“This time the sun rose over the ocean when we reached the beach. She warned me not to get involved with you, that you weren’t mine. I pointed out the sun was rising in the west and she said I didn’t know who I was sleeping with. And that we weren’t on the west coast.”

“Seems like we’re both having doubts.”

“Do you regret this?” He squeezed her, wondering if he were having doubts.

“No, but…”

“But you’re not sure you should get involved with a highly unpredictable werewolf.”

“Pretty much.”

“Why did you sleep with me tonight?”

“The night that I cried in your arms the first time? I fell asleep thinking of you. It’s been the same every night since. And, oh god, the dreams I’ve had about you.” She leaned her head back on his shoulder and laughed euphorically. He squeezed her breast firmly, pinching her nipple. She arched her back and moaned.

“You’ll have to tell me about them when I have more energy.”

“Kay.” She stretched, rubbing against him. “Do you regret this?”

He snorted. “You’re kidding, right?” He turned her head and kissed her passionately. “I’ll never regret being with you, but I know this isn’t forever.”

“I’m not looking for forever, Charlie, but why do you think that?”

“You’re not a wolf.”

She pulled away to look in his face. “That’s it?”

“Yep.” He paused looking sadly at her. “I want a woman who understands what it means to be a werewolf. And not from reading about it, but because she is one.”

“Fair enough.”

“This isn’t bothering you?”

“Should it?”

“I don’t know. It’s just weird, talking to a woman frankly about being a werewolf. I don’t have to lie; I don’t have to be as careful.”

“Gee, I wonder how it is, being able to finally tell someone the truth about yourself?” Sarcasm dripped from her voice, then became curious. “But what do you mean, you don’t have to be as careful?”

He gave her a sheepish look. “With other women, I have to give a reason I can’t be with them around the full moon, obviously. And then there’s the whole sex aspect.”

She turned to face him and gave him a quizzical look, misunderstanding him. “Don’t expect me to let you change into any form of your animal self while we’re having sex.”

“No, that’s not it.” He gave her a wolfish smile. “My tastes run, well, they’re not your average ideas. And most woman are not willing to, indulge.”

“And you think I will?” Her voice was a teasing challenge. There was a twinkle in her eye.

She was still facing him. He sat up quickly, invading her space and forcing her to lie down on the couch. He leaned on his arms, and hovered over her. There was hunger in his eyes. “You haven’t backed away or made fun of anything I’ve done so far.”

“Made fun?”

He shook his head. “Most women don’t like being dipped.”

“You’re kidding.”

“Too old fashioned.” He raised himself up and let his eyes travel the length of her body. “And you didn’t wear any underwear tonight.”

“How do you know that was for you?”

“It’s a gay club; you weren’t gonna pick anyone up, and you invited me out dressed in the sexiest thing I could possibly have hoped for.”

“Could mean I’m a slut.” Her hands were caressing his hairy chest.

He shook his head. “I haven’t met a lot of smart sluts.”

One hand followed the trail of hair to his underwear. She let one finger steal under the band, and moved her hand back and forth, tickling him. His breath sucked in.

“You really should stop that. Pizza’ll be here soon and I’m really hungry.”

Her questing hand slipped around to his back and the other went to his neck. She gently pulled him down to kiss him. He let her feel his full weight as he slid his arms under her back. She arched into him to give him easier access. He pulled away after a moment, breathless, a look of yearning deep in his eyes. There was a similar look on Natalia’s face.

“There’s also the simple fact that you look like you’re going to devour me whenever you look at me.”

She smiled devilishly, proving him right. “I like devouring you.”

His eyes narrowed and his breath caught. He opened his mouth to speak, but someone knocked on the door and called his name.

“Charlie! Pizza! Hurry up man! You’re my last delivery!”

“That was quick. They know you?”

Charlie extracted himself from her and went for his wallet. “The place is around the corner. Been ordering from them since I moved in.”

Natalia sat up, grabbing a blanket off the floor. The couch was in direct view of the front door. The delivery guy yelled again and Charlie yelled back. He opened the door a second later and handed the guy some money without even looking as he was handed three pizza boxes, and a liter of soda. The delivery man, a young kid in street clothes, started counting the money.

“Man, don’t worry about it, just go. If it’s not enough, I’ll pay you tomorrow. If it’s too much, I don’t care.”

“Yeah but-” he looked beyond Charlie and saw Natalia. His jaw dropped as she waved. He snapped his jaw shut, nodded to Charlie, turned and left. Charlie shut the door, smiling wide. He brought the food to the coffee table and set it down on the various bits of mail cluttering the wooden top. He glanced over at the couch and forgot about the food. Natalia was lying back, on her side. The shirt was mostly undone and the blanket was nowhere to be seen. Her shapely legs were stretched out, and she was slowly rubbing her legs together. He looked into her eyes. Her intent was clear.

“Hungry, Charlie?” Her voice was too seductive for him to resist.

They had to reheat the pizza before they could eat it.

More to read! There are six chapters total. They are rough drafts, by the way. There will most probably be errors.

Charlie and Natalia:

The cute guy came by two days later. Natalia was in the middle of writing a hard section of code when the doorbell rang. It was mid-morning and she was still in her fitted cotton pajamas. She wasn’t expecting anyone, so thinking it was the mailman, she saved her work and hurried to the door. She bit her lower lip when she looked out the peephole.

She opened the door for Charlie, who was standing on the top step holding Styrofoam food containers and a brown bag. “Hungry?”

She cracked. He was too cute. A smile spread across her face and she moved out of the way to let him in.

“Sorry I didn’t call, I didn’t know your number.” He was placing the food on her kitchen table, while she brought out plates, cups and utensils.

“We have to fix that. Something happened and I wanted to talk to you about it.” She was talking into the fridge, not letting him see her face. The rustling of containers stopped.

Charlie tried not to see too much into the statement, but he had been thinking about her nonstop the past three days. It was tough to wait, but he did not want to come off as a stalker. He was watching her as she continued to rummage in the fridge. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“Yeah.” No emotion came through.

He leaned against the table and crossed his arms. A smug tone crept into his voice. “Because you needed someone to talk to, or because you specifically wanted me?”

She pulled herself out of the fridge holding milk and orange juice. She looked in his eyes for a second before looking away. “We’ll go with the first.”

She missed the large grin, but heard it in his voice. He had seen the truth in her eyes. “Kay. You want bacon or sausage?”

“Bacon.” She sat at the table, letting him divide up the food. He had bought two pancake breakfasts with eggs benedict and American potatoes. There were two sides of bacon and sausage and even a little container of syrup. It was from The Silver Spoon.

He sat down across from her and looked at her expectantly. When she didn’t say anything, he picked up his fork and poked her with it. She woke from her daze and blushed. A grin broke across his face. “What were you thinking about?”

He watched as she visibly pulled herself together and hid her thoughts. “I won’t tell you.”

“So what will you tell me?” He started in on his pancakes.

“Can I tell you all of it?” She was picking at her food. It was good, but her stomach was turning with nervousness.

He paused with a forkful of food halfway to his mouth. “Yeah. I’d be honored to listen.”

His voice was kind again, and she suddenly wasn’t ready. She shook her head. “Not yet. Let’s eat first.”

“Whatever you like.” His voice was encouraging, even around the mouthful of food. She chuckled and began eating. It was good food and she didn’t want it to go to waste. Since Charlie ate all the leftovers, nothing was thrown out.

After breakfast, they sat in the living room sipping decaf. Natalia liked the taste of coffee, but had had enough of caffeine thanks to Zechariah. Charlie preferred to stay away from any form of stimulant, especially three days from the full moon. He had a hard enough time controlling himself normally and Natalia was enough of an emotional boost. They sat in the same spot as the first night he had come: he on the couch, her on the window seat.

“Shouldn’t you be laying on the couch?” He was trying to make light of the situation.

She snorted, hugged her knees to her chest and tried to figure out how to start. “The Slayer you wanted to snack on? I knew him. He drugged me and locked me in a closet in order to make me a Slayer.” The story snowballed after that.

At the end of her tale, they were both on the window seat, their coffee mugs on the table. Charlie was leaning against the wall; Natalia sat between his legs, leaning against him. She had finished a while ago, and they had been quiet for just as long. She had cried a little, but most of her pain had been released when he had been here the first time.

Natalia felt safe, and wondered why it bothered her. Charlie was resting his chin on her shoulder; their cheeks were touching.

“Nat, there’s something I need to ask you.” He pulled away, withdrew inside himself, tensed.

“What?” She tried not to clutch at him, not wanting to appear needy.

“Did you ever sleep with someone other than your boyfriend while you were high?”

“I…don’t know.”

He took a slow breath. “Did you end up with something I should know about?” He paused then stumbled on, unsure of how to proceed. “Because, see, if you let me, I’d like to sleep with you, and I’d like to know how careful I should be.”

            She started laughing softly. There was a hint of hysteria to the sound, though. His voice had been so sheepish, so hopeful. Her laugher turned to tears, as the absurdity of it all crashed in upon her. She had just been talking about vampires and Slayers and the craziness of the world to a werewolf, and he was worried about catching an STD. She felt his arms again, reassuring, caring, strong, human. She calmed down and answered.

            “I did, but penicillin took care of it. It’s been a while since I’ve slept with anyone, but I still get tested, Charlie. You don’t have anything to worry about.” She paused. “Do I?”

            “I can’t be near you around the full moon.”

            She pulled away enough to look in his face, wondering if there was something more than the obvious. “Because you’ll turn.”

            It was the first time she had seen him look ashamed. He shook his head. “Yeah, but that’s not all of it. I changed into a blitzkrieg once, while having sex. She died.”

            He looked away from the complete fear in her eyes. He expected her to pull away, but she didn’t.

            “What happened?” There was no fear in her voice, but he knew better. She wasn’t hiding the emotions on her face.

            “It was six months after my sixteenth birthday. I had been having these crazy dreams around the full moon. I had a girlfriend and she was trying to help me, but you know how it is. If someone isn’t involved, they just don’t understand.” He swallowed, and she saw the tears shining in his eyes. “She decided that I just needed some company on the night of the full moon, and came over as a surprise. We sat in my room and talked, but by the time it got really dark, I was pacing like a caged animal. She thought sex would help me, and I figured what the hell? Couldn’t hurt….”

His eyes were closed and his tears were streaming down his face. He pulled away from her roughly to get up and pace. Natalia watched him, her back against the cool glass. “In the morning, I woke up in my bed surrounded by blood and body parts. I don’t remember what happened.” He hung his head. “I lived alone at the time; I ran away from my foster parents a few months earlier. After I puked, I cleaned everything up, threw everything in the trash and left town.”

His eyes opened and he slowly lifted his head, unsure of how Natalia would react. He understood she had every reason to throw him out and never speak to him again. She wasn’t saying anything at the moment, but she was masking her emotions. He ran his hands through his hair then sat on the coffee table, waiting for her to say something.

All of Natalia’s fears and doubts had surged through her mind when he started his tale. It showed her all she had wondered and worried about, but kept hidden from herself. She had been willing to separate the wolf from the man in order to have someone around who understood. But realistically, she had to take all of him. If she was going to continue being around him, she knew she had to accept the risks. She had read enough about werewolves to know that they were always unpredictable, but even worse around the full moon.

She looked away from him, unable to confront the naked emotions. She was silent for a moment, then stood and walked to him. He stood as well and they looked each other in the eye. She placed a tender hand on his cheek, which surprised him.

“I…” But she didn’t know what to say.

Charlie saw the look in her eyes: there was no fear, only a hope of understanding. His mouth dropped open a touch and his eyes grew wide. When she did not pull away and stayed silent, he took her in his arms and kissed her gently. He tightened his hold on her then started kneading her shoulders, and her arms, slowly working his way down to her fingertips. She leaned her head to one side as he nuzzled her neck. He bit her ear lobe, then breathed into her ear. It sent shivers through her body. She gasped as his hands went under her shirt to caress her stomach and move his way up her torso.

Natalia moved away forcibly, stumbling a bit as she sat on the window seat.

“Sorry.” He was breathless, and looked worried. “Did I go too far?”

She was leaning with her arms crossed trying to catch her breath. “Charlie, how much control do you have this close to the full moon?”

 “Not much.”

Natalia sighed and looked at a spot on the wall. She had looked up the phases of the moon on a web site and knew how close the next full moon was. “We’re not going to do this today. Your s

tory proves we shouldn’t. Also, I’m still not too sure…”

Natalia paused, and Charlie took her hand, pulling her close. His hands went around her back as they stood up. He held on to her tightly and kissed her deeply. Her arms went around him and held him tight. They pulled away a moment later, breathless.

“You’re not sure you should get involved with a werewolf.”

“Yeah.” She was biting her lower lip and her eyes were closed. His hand went to the back of her neck and started massaging gently. The hand on her lower back pulled her tighter to him and she felt him through her thin cotton pants. Her eyes flew open and he saw her hunger as he ground into her.

“I should let you go, shouldn’t I?” It was a bare whisper.

“Yes!” It came out a breathless cry, full of need.

Charlie gritted his teeth, still wanting her, knowing he should let her go. His fingers curled into her back and she whimpered. Her eyes showed her naked need. He wanted to take the look away. He felt something familiar uncoiling within him and he growled. There was nothing human about the sound.

Charlie recoiled. His legs slammed against the window seat and he sat down hard. His breath was coming hard and fast. His left hand was gripping the edge of the seat, his right, the corner of the wall. His hands were white from the strain. Natalia backed up and watched as Charlie, eyes wide open, took a huge breath and let it out very slowly. His next breath was just as deep but not as violent. His hands relaxed slowly with his breathing and he closed his eyes. Soon, he was breathing normally. His eyes opened as he let go of the seat and wall and examined each for damage.

“Bad, bad idea.” He was whispering, but she heard him.

“Seems like.” She was breathless, but her voice was not as freaked out as it should be.

His eyes traveled up and down her body and he felt it again. A hunger so primal it was hard to withstand. He stood up, pushing his way past her. He needed out.

“Um, I really have to go. I’ll call you in about a week.” He started toward the front door with Natalia following him.

“Wait.” She was still breathless, this time from nervousness. His attitude reminded her of the creature he could become, and she wanted him out for the time being. But he was forgetting something. “I…still don’t have your number.”

He cracked a smile and started to laugh, making him look human. When he pulled out his phone, the entire animal demeanor was gone. He flipped open the cell and waited. She rattled off her number as he typed.

“Call me when the moon wanes.”

Charlie put the cell away then grabbed her and dipped her. She threw her arms around his neck for stability. He brought her close for one last kiss. It was deep, long, hungry. He brought her back up and released her. One hand groped behind him for the doorknob as the other caressed her back.

“Gotta go.”

“Call me.”

“Count on it.” He was out the door.

Natalia watched as he ran to the end of the walkway then carefully opened the gate and walked out. She closed the door and leaned her head against it, cursing herself for her desires. She wanted the werewolf, which could mean serious trouble.

                                                            *****

Natalia spent the next four days distracting herself with work. Charlie spent the next four nights thinking of Natalia. He kept away from her and asked Daniel, who knew Charlie’s nature, to hold on to his cell phone. If he didn’t have his cell, he couldn’t call Natalia. If he couldn’t call Natalia, he couldn’t convince her to let him come over. If he couldn’t see her, he couldn’t make a bad mistake. Charlie liked Natalia. He did not want to hurt her. Instead he concentrated on the full moon.

The werewolf discovered some time ago that the Golden Gate National Park across the bay in Marin was the perfect place to rage. No one visited late at night and there were many places that people never went. He ran the hills in human form, thinking of how she had felt and smelled and looked. Eventually, the thoughts a whirlwind in his mind, his primal form ripped through and he was no longer thought, no longer idea, but form and motion. All he knew was the feel of the wind, the smell of the salt, fresh flowers and other animals. The wolf came upon a herd of wild rabbits and took care of his bloody needs.

                                                            *****

Charlie woke up on a beach. It was early morning and no one was around. He stood up and realized he was naked. It was the usual drill. He spent an hour looking around the beach for lost clothing. Nothing fit, but at last he found something. All he needed was something that would get him to a pay phone, where he could call Daniel.

Two days before the full moon, Daniel would drive him out here and drop him off. Whenever Charlie came to, he would find a payphone, there were several in the area, and call Daniel for pick up. When Daniel hired Charlie, it took one cycle of the moon for Daniel to come to his new hire and tell him he knew his secret. Although his boss and friend was human, he had werewolf blood running through him. His whole family was werewolves. Daniel had been given a choice when he turned 18: get bitten and be a werewolf or not get bitten and live his life as a human. Charlie and Daniel both knew that even without the bite there was a possibility Daniel would change, but the possibility was slim. Daniel had opted to not being bitten; not wanting to deal with the problems werewolves encountered every month.

Charlie was curious about Daniel’s family, but the rest of the family lived in Montana and out east somewhere. Daniel was never clear on where. It was also hard to talk about what he was without revealing too much. Charlie liked having a boss who knew what he was, but he didn’t want to tell the man what he had done in his life. Werewolves rarely wanted to reveal that much of themselves to anyone who wouldn’t understand completely.

Charlie started off along the beach, trying to remember even the slightest detail about the previous night. Nothing was coming. Even his dreams of the female wolf, usually clear upon waking, were a blur. Charlie started running, feeling the salty air, listening to the pounding of the waves. His thoughts strayed to Natalia, and he nearly stumbled. She was a mistake, pure and simple. He nearly changed just making out with her. What would happen if she actually were to sleep with him? He shuddered, not wanting to contemplate the possibilities.

He could stay away from her, but the fact was, he didn’t want to. Charlie could feel her against him, even this far away. He took a deep breath and smelled her shampoo over the salt tang of the sea. He stumbled to his knees and gripped the sand, digging deep. He leaned forward, keeping his breath steady and his mind clear. Slowly, his brain started to function normally and he was able to get up.

Charlie took the next path he could find up to the hills and followed it until he hit concrete. Two miles away he found a payphone and called Daniel, who was having a work crisis. He apologized and told Charlie he couldn’t pick him up. Charlie hung up and cursed softly. He knew he’d have to walk back to the city. He didn’t keep his wallet on him on these monthly excursions, which meant that even if he could find a cab, he couldn’t pay for one. Public transportation was out for the same reason. The possibility of Slayers made hitchhiking a terrible idea, which left walking. It took him a good two hours to get home. He was exhausted when he reached his apartment. Not even bothering with taking off his found clothing, he fell on his bed and slept for twenty-four hours.

Upon waking every muscle hurt, and he felt dehydrated. Charlie rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. He wanted to be with Natalia and wanted to know if she felt the same about him. He reached for his cell phone, and realized he didn’t have it. Daniel had it. He slapped his head, rolled over onto his side, and sat up. He got up slowly and headed for the shower. He was under the water for a solid hour letting the hot water sting his flesh and relax his muscles.  He dressed then used a pay phone at the corner pizzeria to warn Daniel he was coming over. At least Daniel didn’t have a work crisis today.

As soon as he had his phone, he called Natalia. She had to finish working on a program and didn’t want him to distract her. She turned breakfast down, but promised to call him when she was done.

“But I want to see you.” His voice was slightly pleading.

“Charlie, I have work to do. Don’t you work?” Natalia had to squash her feelings. She did want him to come over.

“Yeah, I have a security gig.”

“You’re a security guard?” She was a little surprised.

“Ye-ah.”

“How does that work with the full moon?” She was genuinely interested.

“My boss is a friend and the owner. He knows what I am and gives me time off when I’m at my worst. Are you sure I can’t come over?”

“I’ll call you when I’m done.” Her voice was firm.

“All right, if you insist. Bye.” He sounded dejected, but hung up.

Natalia went back to work, trying not to think of him. Charlie went home and thought mostly about her.

Hello again! Here’s more of Charlie and Natalia. There are a total of six chapters. Yes, I’m sharing them all!

From Charlie and Natalia:

Natalia had just taken off her shoes when she heard the doorbell. Thinking that Zechariah somehow eluded the police again, she grabbed the sharpened samurai sword off the wall and went to the door. Looking out the peephole, she saw the back of a man with shaggy brown hair. He was wearing a white t-shirt. She ripped the door open and gave him a nasty look as he turned around. She didn’t bother hiding the sword. He gave her a huge grin.

“Hi!”

“What do you want, Charlie?” She was using the sword as a cane.

He sobered and ran his hand through his hair. “You owe me an explanation.” She blinked twice and started to close the door. His hand stopped it. “Can’t we just talk?”

She stopped trying to close the door. “Why?”

“Ten years ago, when I turned sixteen, I found out I was a werewolf. I didn’t have anyone to talk to about it for the first five years. Do you have anyone to talk to Natalie?” His voice was calm, and soothing with a tinge of pain.

Natalia sagged as her free hand went to her face. “No.” It was a whisper. “But what would a werewolf know about my pain?”

He placed a hand on her arm and pulled the hand away from her face. His eyes and voice were kind. “Why don’t we find out?”

She invited him inside and brought him to the living room, where he sat on the couch and she sat at the window seat. She placed the sword on the seat next to her, within reach. Natalia sat staring at him, arms crossed. He lounged on the couch, getting as comfortable as if he were at home. She gave him a dirty look as he slouched and laid one arm across the back of the couch. He was really cute. She scowled, and he grinned.

“Nice place.”

“This is ridiculous. There’s no point to you being here.”

He shrugged. “Why don’t you talk to me? Let’s find out if there’s a point.”

“Fine. Where should I start?”

“Why didn’t you try and forget what happened?”

She started visibly shaking. “Forget? And how was I supposed to do that? How exactly am I supposed to erase the memory of a Blitzkreig shaped werewolf with his snout buried in a man’s stomach? How about alcohol? Does that work? And what about when you’re so messed up you don’t notice a vampire has fed on you and all your friends, what then? More alcohol?” She had gotten up and walked over to Charlie. She was now leaning over him, one hand on the armrest and one on the back of the sofa. Her face was inches from his.

“And what about when he killed my mom and tried to rape me? How I am supposed to erase the memory of his teeth sinking into her neck and taking her life. Huh Charlie? Got any good ways to erase THAT day from my memory? Because if you do, I’D LIKE TO KNOW!”

Tears were streaming down her face. Her teeth were clenched and her lips were pulled back in a snarl. Charlie, floored beyond words, reached up and wiped her tears away. She threw herself back from the couch, as if his touch hurt her. Her legs bumped the coffee table and she fell to the ground. He was by her side instantly, holding her. She screamed into his shoulder, frustration, rage and pain flooding her mind and body. Charlie held onto her for a long time, rocking her back and forth, whispering soothing words into her hair.

It reminded Natalia of when Matt had held her trying to comfort her. She preferred Charlie’s touch. It was sincere; it was real. She melted into him and let her pain show. She cried for a long time, mourning her mother; mourning herself, wishing she didn’t know the truth, glad to finally have someone who understood.

Charlie took it all in. He knew where she was coming from. The first time he had told anyone who understood, he cried for three hours straight. Natalia cried for an hour. She shuddered a few times, but didn’t let him go. By the time the tears subsided, Charlie was leaning against the couch, and she had her head on his chest. He rubbed his lips on her hair and tried not to think about how wonderful she smelled, and how wonderful she felt against him. He held her closer and kissed the top of her head.

Natalia could hear his heart pounding in his chest. It had been a long time since she had been with a man, and Charlie was definitely a man. He had strong muscular arms and a wonderful musky odor. Her breath caught when she felt his kiss, and she pulled away. He almost didn’t let her. She persisted. “We can’t do this Charlie.”

“Why not?” His hand was on her cheek caressing her skin softly with his thumb. He swallowed hard, trying to stop his feelings. Her hand was high on his thigh; it was exceedingly hard to concentrate.

“Not today.” She hung her head. “This is a bad day.”

He grinned mischievously, letting his hand trail down to her shoulder. “I could help release whatever other feelings you’ve been holding in, make this a better day.”

Natalia did not want to have sex with this man tonight. It was still the anniversary of her mother’s death. Not a good day to sleep with a near stranger who was also a werewolf. She gently extracted herself from him and the floor and stood up. He followed suit. “Please leave now, Charlie.”

He stood and went to her, placing his hands on her cheeks. “Did I help?”

She leaned into the gentle touch and her eyes closed. She answered almost reluctantly. “Yes.”

He pulled her to him. “Will you let me come back?”

She almost said no, but it had felt wonderful to talk to someone and not have to change the story or pretend it didn’t hurt. “All right.”

He continued caressing her cheek, fighting the temptation to kiss her. “I’ll see you in a couple days.”

He pulled away, this time taking two steps back. She led him to the front door and let him out. Natalia locked the door and leaned against it. She heard him walk away then turned from the door and went to bed.

                                                            *****

Natalia’s landline woke her, but for an instant she just laid in bed with a smile on her face. She wasn’t sure why the smile was there and couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. The answering machine kicked in before she moved, but the familiar voice on the machine grabbed her attention.

Needing to talk to the person on the other end, Natalia grabbed the phone on the bedside table, and sat up. “Detective Langley? It’s Natalia, what’s going on?”

She first met Detective Langley when the lady officer questioned her about Zechariah and why he locked her in his closet. The detective gave Natalia her card, asking her to call if she saw Zechariah again, promising to contact her if they found him without her help. This morning she was calling to tell Natalia that last night an anonymous tip led to Zechariah’s capture. There were some things they needed to talk to her about, so she agreed to go to the station house later in the day. Natalia got up slowly almost surprised he hadn’t gotten away. She felt the worry float away and sagged with relief. She took a long shower, letting the water slowly wash away her stress.

It wasn’t until she was eating a quick breakfast that she realized why she had been smiling when she woke up. It wasn’t because of Zechariah being caught. Last night’s simple dream slowly drifted back to her, making Natalia smile. Charlie had been waiting for her at her door when she came home one day. He was leaning against the door, one knee bent with the foot resting on the door. He had his hands in his jeans pockets and he was looking at her, giving her a huge grin. His brown eyes were reflecting kindness and something else she hadn’t been able to identify.

The dream ended before anything had actually happened, but the small glimpse of him made her feel good. She closed her eyes and shook her head, trying not to grind her teeth. The last thing she needed was to get involved with a werewolf. She had learned through her research that werewolves were unpredictable and often mean, especially around the full moon. Werewolves were prone to killing sprees at their worst and had short, quick tempers at their best. She didn’t need that kind of impulsiveness around her. Natalia finished her breakfast and got going. She wanted to get the Zechariah problem over and done with.

                                                            *****

Three hours later Natalia was sitting on the beach in Aquatic Park listening to the steel drums behind her, staring out at the bay, watching the ships slowly coming and going. Zechariah Haynes had been turned over to another law enforcement agency. Detective Langley hadn’t been clear on which one. Zachariah was wanted for a myriad of crimes, but was also wanted as a witness. Drugging her, locking her in a closet and killing a cop meant nothing next to whatever it was he had seen. She was pissed beyond words. Her good mood from this morning was gone. She wanted a drink badly, and didn’t want to talk about it with Vanessa. She wanted to talk to Charlie.

Natalia had never told Vanessa anything close to the truth about anything that had occurred in her life. She kept everything rather normal; stress from work and family and friends. She didn’t want to lie anymore. She needed to talk to someone who would understand, but he left without exchanging numbers. She had no idea how to get a hold of him.

“Crap.” It was barely a whisper. In a way, she wished she had never told Charlie anything. Facing the world on her own was easier then wanting to depend on someone she couldn’t even get a hold of.

“Screw this!” Her voice was louder. She grabbed a small piece of driftwood and threw it as the ocean. She stood up, brushed the sand off her jeans, grabbed her sandals and left the beach. She had code to write for the new game TechnoArt was putting out. They expected her to have her part done in less than two weeks. She had barely started it. If she worked every day, she would get it done in time. She wouldn’t get her work done sitting around wishing she could talk to a cute guy.

I’ve had trouble sleeping this week, which makes me forgetful, well, more than usual. This means I forgot that I was going to share more of Charlie and Natalia’s past this week. Well, it’s still the same week! Here is more of the odd couple. Enjoy!
ps: this is not heavily edited. There will be mistakes and references to things that are no longer in the book.

Cut scenes from The Grey House:

As the months progressed after the Zechariah incident, Natalia found herself calling Vanessa, her sponsor more and more, until she was calling her every day. She had not needed to call her in a long time, but the Zechariah situation was bad. The police could not locate him, but kept assuring Natalia that he would be found. Natalia knew better. People like Zechariah were found when they wanted to be found. She was feeling restless and paranoid. Vanessa suggested a part time job dealing with the public to reconnect with the better world. Natalia was skeptical at first but relented after a week of pacing her house like a caged tiger.

Natalia knew she could call up TechnoArt and start commuting the two hours to work each day, to sit in a cubicle and stare at a computer screen for right hours. Working on site at her full-time job meant she wouldn’t have time for research. Natalia wanted a part time job that didn’t take up too much of her time. She applied for and got a job as a waitress in a gourmet diner not too far from her house. The Silver Spoon was family run, and located in North Beach, not far from the financial district and China Town. The owners were friendly and for the most part, so were the customers. She enjoyed the job: it made her feel normal.

A few months after starting, her boss called her in the early morning, pleading for her to come in. Normally Natalia didn’t mind going in on a day off, but today was the anniversary of her mother’s death. She had told the owner, Susan why she needed the day off, and it was Susan that called her pleading that if there was anyone else to call, she would have. Natalia went. She had been contemplating a neighborhood bar when Susan called; so figured going into work was probably a good deterrent.

It was a horrible idea. It was halfway to the end of her shift, and all she wanted to do was cry. It had been a harder day then usual: customers were crabby, the coffee makers were turning coffee into sludge, and the usual cook was out sick. And she couldn’t leave when Susan originally told her because two more people called off. In total she would be working an eight-hour shift when Susan had promised to have her out in three.

Natalia crept out the back door on a ten-minute break. The kitchen door was propped open, so she could still hear the chaos. Looking down the alley she could just see the park across the street and the church beyond. Maybe she should go pray for her mom after work. Churches were peaceful, and in the middle of the week, not usually crowded. Something fell in the kitchen and Susan started yelling. Natalia looked down the alley again and wondered why she was so damned responsible. She didn’t need the job; she could just walk away. But she couldn’t do that to Susan. She took a deep breath and walked back inside, being careful of the spillage.

                                                            *****

The end of the day did not come quick enough. An hour ago, a regular asked her out for drinks, and that sounded rather nice to Natalia. She declined quickly and stayed away from him. She did not want to give in to temptation. When her shift was over she changed from her pseudo uniform of black skirt and white shirt to jeans and baby tee in the bathroom and walked out the kitchen door, into the fading sun. It was six o’clock and had been a very long day.

Once outside, she headed for the church. She needed peace, and didn’t want to go home. Crossing the well-lit park, she looked around, out of paranoia, for Zechariah. Halfway through the park, she noticed someone watching her. He was leaning against a tree, hands in his jean pockets. His shirt was stark white and fit tight on his chest. His hair was shaggy brown and hung down over his ears. He was watching her intently. She hoped it wasn’t one of Zechariah’s buddies.

Natalia continued on to the church and hurried inside. She sat in one of the benches along the back wall of the narthex. There was a basin for holy water, which made for great cover. She waited ten minutes and when her watcher didn’t come in she calmed down and went to one of the front pews. She knelt and repeated the prayer that Pastor Martin had said the night Marnia died. Natalia had committed it to memory almost accidentally. Once done, she sat in the pew and listened to the soft echoes of the nuns praying close to her. Feeling out of place she got up, lit a candle and left.

The world outside had gotten darker. She breathed deep and looked around for her watcher. No one was around. Feeling silly, Natalia decided to walk home. It wasn’t that far, but it was almost all up hill, so it was great exercise. She had walked a block when she heard some suspicious noise coming from an alley. Unzipping her backpack Natalia pulled out the garlic coated silver dagger Judith had given her. She pulled both straps of the backpack onto her shoulders and crept closer, spying two men further down the alley. One had his back to her and was dressed in a suit. He was spouting scripture. The voice was a dead give away. She quietly and quickly called 911, telling them where to find Zechariah Haynes. She hung up then looked at the other man. The other man was her watcher: same hair, same outfit. And this time, she recognized him. She tried not to gasp as she looked around for a blunt object.

                                                *****

The man had ambushed Charlie while he was watching the waitress cross the park. He started in on the holiness of the Word of God and Charlie humored him. After two minutes, it dawned on the Man of God that he was talking to a Hellspawn, and things took a turn for the worse. Giving up on the waitress, Charlie headed for Union Street, knowing there was an alley or two he could lead the Slayer down and take care of the situation.

The woman still held most of his attention though. He had seen her in the restaurant. His boss had suggested it, saying it had the best steak in San Francisco. Daniel was right. Had he not seen the waitress on the other side of the restaurant, his meal would have been perfect. He was not in her area, so he couldn’t start up a conversation with her. And when he asked his waitress for the woman’s name, it did not trigger any better memories. Natalie looked very familiar, but he had no idea where from.

Charlie waited for her in the park, wanting to follow her home. He needed to know who she was. But now the Slayer had him trapped in an alley. He was supposed to trap the Slayer, not the other way around, but the waitress still captured his thoughts. The guy was still spouting off about the devil and cleansing the world of sin.

“I will send you back to your Hell! I will not allow you to live another moment! You are responsible for the evil in this world and must pay for it! GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES AND PRA-AY FOR FORGIVNESS, DEMON SPAWN!” He was gesturing with one hand and the other was behind his back. Charlie didn’t like when crazies hid one hand. It usually meant trouble.

It was nighttime, so he could get away with changing and gutting the man. Only problem, he was too far from home with no change of clothing. He could lie.

“Look, I don’t know who you think I am, and I don’t care. Why don’t you just go back to the church and leave me alone. I may not be a pillar of the community, but I’m not a demon spawn or whatever it is you think I am.”

“I can smell the devil in you, boy! It is a sin to lie in the face of Go-od! Kneel down and PRA-AY for forgive- ugh.”

The Slayer fell forward. There was a loud clatter on the ground as a revolver hit the concrete. Standing behind the Slayer was the waitress. She was standing like a baseball player after a successful hit, except for the dagger in her mouth. Looking him dead in the eye, she dropped the piece of board she had used as a bat, took the dagger out of her mouth with her right hand and held it at the ready by her left side. The blade was facing toward him. He had no doubt she knew how to use the silver dagger.

“Hello, Charlie. Haven’t seen you in a while.” Her voice was dead cold.

Charlie looked from the Slayer on the ground to the knife to the deadly beautiful woman holding it. “Who are you?”

 “You spend three weeks in a silver cage and you forget the woman who saved your life?” Sarcasm dripped from her voice. “I’m heartbroken Charlie, simply heartbroken.”

Charlie’s jaw dropped. The woman in front of him was not the girl who saved his life. He stared at her, wondering how much someone had to go through in two years in order to become that hardened in that short a span of time.

Natalia assessed Charlie; trying to determine how much danger she was in. Was he a threat? He had not been the first time they met and she just saved him again. She looked him up and down, realizing that she did not fear him, mostly due to his smile and kind eyes.

“I called the police Charlie. They’re on their way.” Her voice had gotten softer.

What she was saying finally sunk in. “Why did you call the police?”

“Long story.” The sirens echoed in the background. “Are you going to stick around and talk to them?” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm.

He did not answer. “You’re not going to kill me, are you?”

She sighed heavily, exasperated. Her guard came down for a second. “I’m not the Slayer, Charlie. He is. I have no reason to kill you.”

He stepped closer, very curious now. “So what are you?”

Natalia stared at him for a moment. “I’m me.”

The sirens were getting closer. Charlie narrowed his eyes at Natalia. “Are you going to be here when the police arrive?”

Natalia grabbed her backpack and put the knife away. “Not if I can help it. Are you?”

“Nope.” He gave her a wolf’s grin, waiting for her to leave.

She looked at him, “What are you waiting for?”

The grin got larger. “I’m not leaving until you tell me what the deal is between you and my late night snack.”

She gave him a dead look, then allowed her features to soften. “Fine, get arrested. Not my problem.”

Natalia turned and left the alley. Charlie looked at her retreating form unbelievingly. He shook his head then followed her out, not wanting to be found in an alley with a passed-out Slayer.

At the head of the alley, he slunk low, trying not to be seen by the fast approaching squad car. He saw Natalia as she ran up the hill, and decided to follow.

The werewolf followed her home, being careful not to be seen. She did look around a little, but seemed to mostly ignore her surroundings. After a mile or maybe two, she went into a one-story house on Green St. He waited to hear the front door slam and jumped the fence. It was full on dark and there wasn’t much in the way of streetlights. He strolled up the walkway wondering what he was doing. Taking a deep breath, Charlie rang the doorbell.

From Protector of the Grey House:

“No word from your spies?” He aimed the question at Anthony’s reflection.

“No sir.” Anthony told him about having her followed when she did not return after the second day. Vincent was angry, but not surprised. He took the information in stride and asked for any information. Unfortunately, Wayne had not reported for four days.

“Still don’t understand why you had her followed.” Mierka was aggravated, which was rare for her. It showed the men in the room how angry and worried she really was about the situation.

“Calm yourself Mierka, he was only doing his job.” Vincent turned from the window, regarded the only silent one in the room. As always, Joseph kept his opinions to himself, until he had Vincent’s ear only. Since he wondered at his loyal friend’s thoughts, he caught Mierka and Anthony’s gazes. “Leave us. Go train. We’ll join you shortly.”