The Hungry Wolf Ch. 04

"Not today." He saw Eva open her mouth to speak but beat her to it. "Ordinarily, that would be my responsibility, but given recent events he told me to take the day off."

"I see." She concentrated on her sandwich and fruit, hyper-aware of the way Damien's thigh brushed hers as he moved. She barely tasted her food, concentrating on keeping herself from climbing on to his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and just breathing him in. Everything in her screamed for her to do just that -- everything except her reason.

"Would you mind taking me to Tony's? I'd like to get something out of my car," Charlie asked him, putting her sandwich down.

"Of course," Damien smiled. "We can go whenever you're ready."

"Thank you," she picked her sandwich up again, but found her appetite was suddenly gone, her hunger pains replaced with butterflies. She put it back down and glanced at Damien and Eva's plates. They had both already finished. "I'm done."

"You didn't eat much," Eva said with a frown, noting her barely half-eaten sandwich.

"It was a really big sandwich," Charlie said with a shrug. "I'm full."

"But you barely at half?" Damien asked, eyeing her closely.

"I know. It was delicious. Just too much."

Damien seemed to think on that for a moment. "Alright. Are you ready to go?" Damien asked, standing up and holding out a hand to Charlie. The move seemed tentative, sweetly so, and Charlie debated with herself briefly before taking it and sliding off her seat.

"I should help clean up," Charlie said, letting go of Damien's hand and picking up her plate.

"No, you shouldn't," Eva said with a smile, taking the plate from Charlie. "I think I can manage a few dishes on my own."

"Sure?"

"Absolutely. Go."

"Thank you, Eva," Charlie said, impulsively giving her a big hug. "For everything."

"No thanks necessary."

"Eva," Damien said, giving her a nod and placing his hand on Charlie's back, gently leading her to the door.

"Bye," Eva called after them, watching them leave. She hoped Damien knew what he was doing. More importantly, she hoped he had the sense to ask for help if he didn't.

Charlie and Damien made their way to the garage in silence, his hand resting on her lower back with the lightest of touches. She was torn between wanting to push it away and wanting to step closer to him and nudge his arm around her firmly.

She compromised with herself and did nothing.

They remained silent as they got in to Damien's truck and he drove them off the ranch. Damien kept glancing at Charlie out of the corner of his eye; she was facing forward, her hands laying on her lap and a small smile on her lips. Damien scented her, breathing deeply to see if he could get a read on her mood.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Charlie asked, turning her head to look at him.

"Doing what?"

"You keep flaring your nostrils and taking these big breaths. Why?"

"Ah, you noticed," he said, giving her a rather sheepish smile.

"Hard not to notice you trying to Hoover up all the air in the room."

"I'm scenting you." He cleared his throat.

"You don't remember what I smell like?"

"Oh I do. I remember exactly what you smell like," he said, his voice deepening. It sent a thrilling tingle down Charlie's spine. "But sometimes there are...other scents that I can pick up on."

"Other scents?"

"Yeah. I can tell when you're angry, scared...aroused."

"It changes the way I smell?"

"It doesn't change it..." Damien trailed off for a moment, thinking of how to explain this to her. "It's like a layer on top of it." He ran a hand through his hair, knowing he wasn't explaining it well but powerless to find a better way to.

"So, kinda like when something smells really bad, and you spray air freshener to try and get rid of the smell, but it only makes it smell like whatever stank plus air freshener?"

"Yeah." He smiled at her briefly before frowning. "I mean, you don't smell bad," he amended quickly.

"I know," Charlie laughed quietly. They were quiet for a few moments before she spoke again. "You know, you could ask."

"Ask what?"

"What I'm feeling. Instead of trying to sniff it out."

Damien was quiet for a moment. "What are you feeling?"

"Mostly confused." She cocked her head, her brow creased. "I mean, there's hurt and anger in there, too. But mostly I'm just confused. It's a lot to get my head around. The last thing I expected to find in my move was boyfriend, a boyfriend that happens to be a werewolf in a tiny town I had no business in. Not to mention a whole damn ranch full of werewolves. I was passing through -- that's all!" She sighed, the sound at once weary and amused. "I just wanted to get to Seaside and get a job. Maybe a cat."

"A cat?" Damien looked at her frowningly.

"Yeah. You know, furry, purrs, uses litter boxes, doesn't like mice. In the Tom and Jerry cartoons, it's the tall gray one."

"We don't do well with cats." Charlie laughed softly at that as Damien pulled in to Tony's.

"They're wolves, too, aren't they?" she asked, looking at the three men staring at her.

"Yes."

"Your Aunt and Uncle?"

"Yes."

"Is everyone in town a werewolf?"

"No."

She thought on that for a moment. "They know I know."

"Yes."

"Alright." She opened the door and hopped out of the truck.

"Hey Charlie! Hey Damien!" Tony said with the same friendliness as before, walking over to them and wiping his hands on a rag before stuffing it in the pocket of his coveralls. "What brings you here?"

"I want to get some stuff out of my car," Charlie said. She was surprised at the depth of her relief at finding him exactly the same.

"You got it, come on," Tony said, motioning for them to follow him. The phone rang, and Carl jumped to answer it, still staring at Charlie. She looked over at Leo to find him staring at her, too.

"Mr. Dimeo? It's the Al- it's your brother for you," Carl said, holding out the phone to Damien.

"Thank you, Carl," he said, walking over and taking the phone from him.

"How are you holding up?" Tony asked, his voice low.

"As well as can be expected," Charlie said, giving him a smile. "Sometimes I think this is a weird psychosis I'm suffering, sometimes I think I've wandered into a really weird episode of Wild Kingdom, and sometimes I think I should just relax and roll with it." Tony gave a quiet chuckle at that. "But it would be a bit less weirder if people I never met didn't know me by name and people like thing one and thing two over there didn't stare at me."

"They don't mean anything by it, Charlie." He opened the hatchback and stepped aside. "They're curious."

"Curious? About me?"

"Yes. They want to know about you."

"Why?" She shuffled around some totes and boxes until she found the one she wanted, putting it on the ground next to them.

"Because you're someone new. And you're not the same as us." He closed the hatchback and leaned against it, arms crossed over his chest. "Everyone is going to be curious about you. Everyone wants to know about you."

"That's not intimidating at all."

"Don't be intimidated, Charlie," Tony said with a smile.

"You know, in the last 24 hours I got a boyfriend for the first time in 15 years, was confronted by his ex -- again -- found out that not only are werewolves real -- the scary monster from the bad 50's films and children's nightmares actually exist -- but said boyfriend is a werewolf, and that he wants to make me a werewolf, too. Then I find out that everyone else I've met is also a werewolf and they're all really curious about the new human in their midst. So yeah, nothing to intimidate there."

"Exactly," Tony said, laughing, surprising Charlie into laughing too. "Nothing to worry about."

"Right."

"Look, if you need anything -- a sympathetic ear or just a friendly voice -- go ahead and call."

"Really?" Charlie looked at him closely as he nodded. "That would be great. I mean, I talked to Eva, and she's great-"

"Yeah, she is."

"-but she's also married to Damien's brother. Might be less than objective." He gave a laugh at that.

"I'm not likely to be any more unbiased, and I won't tell you anything, answer any questions you should be asking Damien. But I'll let you vent all you want."

"I really appreciate it, Tony," the relief obvious on her face.

"Always happy to help a friend. New and old," he said, cocking his head towards Damien as he approached.

"New and old what?" Damien asked, walking up and picking up the box at Charlie's feet.

"Friends," Tony said, smiling at Damien's growl.

"Is this everything?" Damien asked Charlie. She nodded her response, feeling a bit shy suddenly. He shifted the box under his right arm and placed his left hand on her back. "Ready?"

"Alright," she said, giving him a small smile. "I'm sure I'll be talking to you soon, Tony," she said with a wave as she let Damien lead her towards his truck.

"You bet. And good luck," he called back, laughing at the scowl Damien shot him.

"What did Darian want?" Charlie asked as he opened her door.

"Just the trouble with the fencing." He put her box in the back seat and walked around the front of the truck. "I need to go to the Lowe's in Hood River if you don't mind," he said, climbing in the truck.

"Not at all. How far is it?"

"About 20 minutes or so." Damien backed up and head back towards the highway.

"Really? I didn't realize this was so close to the Oregon border." She was quiet for a moment. "Does this mean you no longer have the afternoon off?"

"Not at all. This will keep until tomorrow morning, I'm sure."

"Okay."

"I was thinking -- I mean, since we're going to be there anyway -- if you would like, maybe we could go to a movie or something?" He looked over to see her watching him with an odd look on her face. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Nooo" she said, starting to giggle.

"What?" Damien asked again, smiling at her mirth.

"Did you just ask me out on a date?" she laughed.

He thought for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I did." She started to laugh a little harder, and he shot her a puzzled look, making her laugh a bit harder still.

"I know I've been off the grid for a long time," she gasped when she finally got herself under control, "but doesn't it usually go dating then sex and not sex then dating?"

"Oh, I see," he said, smiling at her. "You know, I'm not really sure myself." He grinned when she laughed again. "Would you?"

"I think maybe -- maybe today is not a good day to sit in a dark theater and not talk?" she said, looking at him.

"I didn't think about that," he said quietly. They were quiet for a few minutes. "What about dinner?"

"Why don't you take me to a supermarket, and I'll make you dinner instead?"

"Hmmm...I don't know...sharing my time with you with random strangers in a restaurant, or having you all to myself in my home? That's a hard call to make, dolcezza."

She smiled at his using the pet name he gave her again. She looked at him closely, noting he seemed a lot less carefree than he did the day before. "Damien, I have a confession to make. I wasn't, um, I mean I..." she trailed off, chewing her lip a bit, trying to figure out how to proceed. "What is it?"

"Do you remember when you asked why I left Santa Fe?"

"You said it was because you felt claustrophobic, it was too far from the ocean."

"That's not the only reason. That's not even the main reason."
"Keith?"

"Uh huh."

"He knew you moved to Santa Fe?"

"Yeah," she said, eyes on her lap. She reached over and took his hand and laced her fingers with his, and he was sure she hadn't even realized she'd done it. Damien glanced at her, smiling, but didn't speak. He gave her hand a brief squeeze. "I mean, stupid right? I don't know that he would have gone to Santa Fe looking for me. Probably not. But -- but I couldn't be sure. So I decided the best way to beat him would be to avoid him." She shrugged, a small smile on her lips. "Anyway, I just thought, you know, with everything that's happened, you know...I didn't like feeling that I'd been dishonest."

"How does he know you'd moved?" he asked, his wolf leaping at her need to be honest with him.

"His sister. She found me somehow. The first time he was up for parole."

"She contacted you?"

"Showed up at my doorstep."

"Why?"

"She wanted me to appear at his parole hearing. To talk to the parole board on his behalf."

"You're joking."

"Not at all."

"That's...that's..."

"Ballsy?"

"Bullshit was the word I was going for."

"That, too," Charlie said with a soft laugh.

"What did you do? What did you say to her?"

"I got angry. Really angry. Swore at her. Threatened to kick her ass if she ever showed up on my doorstep again. Told her I was going to go to the parole hearing and testify against him."

"Did you?"

"No." She was quiet again, absentmindedly rubbing at her bottom lip with the thumb of her free hand. "I am too cowardly, I suppose. Too afraid to confront him. Even in the relatively safe environment of a prison."

"You're not a coward." He gave her hand another gentle squeeze and she smiled a bit.

"I feel cowardly. I mean, not all the time. But sometimes, when I think about my actions, I feel like the biggest coward on the planet."

"You're the bravest person I've ever met." Charlie gave a slight laugh at that and shook her head, but Damien pressed on. "You are. You were abused, horribly abused, and yet you stood up to him. You stood up for yourself, and said 'he should be locked up and this is why', and he was. That must have taken a superhuman amount of courage. You divorced him, gave up everything you knew and started over by yourself. You could have hidden, you could have played the victim, but you didn't." He lifted her hand and laid the back of it against his cheek. "You came out the other side of all you've been through with your humor, compassion and mind intact, and the most incredible thing about it is you don't think it's incredible -- you're incredible -- at all."

"Thank you," she said, making both their hearts ache by gently pulling her hand out of his. "Soooo...what would you like for dinner?" she asked, forcing a light tone as they pulled in to Lowe's.

"Well, meat is always good." He forced a smile. "You know, carnivore," he said, pointing at himself.

"Right," Charlie laughed as they got out of the truck, the sound soothing Damien a bit. "So, not a lot of vegans in your family, huh?"

"Not too many, no." They went in to the store and made their way to the contractor's desk. Charlie stood by as a pretty young woman with auburn hair and green eyes greeted Damien. It was obvious they knew each other, and Charlie was surprised by the stab of jealousy that hit her when the woman flirted with him. Damien seemed polite, but beyond uninterested in flirting back. Not that that didn't keep Charlie from feeling a nearly overwhelming urge to rip her arm off at the shoulder and choke her with it every time she touched him. Instead, she busied herself with reading the pamphlets and credit card application forms strewn along the counter, her ear tuned to the conversation. Damien simply set up the delivery and shot down all her attempts at small talk, making Charlie dance inside.

"All done," Damien said, putting his hand on her lower back to lead her towards the exit.

"Off to the market?" she said.

"As promised, dolcezza." She looked up at him and smiled. They went to the market and Damien followed Charlie around with a basket, teasing her as she picked through meats, fruits and vegetables until she found exactly what she wanted. Their banter continued on the ride home as both relaxed a bit, losing some of the tension that had cloaked them since the night before.

"I'm going to have a shower," Damien said, dropping the bags and the box she'd gotten out of her car on the counter by the sink.

"Hey, before you do, could you do me a small favor?"

"I'd do anything for you," Damien said, giving her an incredulous look.

"Could you show me how to work your stereo? I see it has an ipod jack. Or -- even better -- you can just plug in my ipod and hit play? It's already set to random."

"Absolutely," he said, smiling and holding his hand out as she fished the device out of her pocket.

"You sure you don't mind?" she asked, handing it over.

"Not at all." he kissed the top of her head on impulse before turning and heading out of the kitchen.

Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer' began to play as Charlie started to make dinner. She sang and bopped along with the music as she worked, losing herself quickly in the task at hand. She was really skilled in the kitchen, and soon the aromas of roasting herb-rubbed chicken thighs, potato galette and applewood bacon filled the kitchen. By the time Damien came downstairs, Charlie was slicing asparagus and singing along to The Pretenders.

"I don't think my kitchen has ever smelled this good," he said, walking up behind her and looking over her shoulder as she tossed the sliced asparagus in the pan with the chopped bacon. He reached over her and grabbed a piece of bacon out of the pan, popping in his mouth.

"Hey! No picking," Charlie laughed, pushing his hand away. She turned around to face him and her mouth went dry almost instantly. He had on a pair of well-worn button fly jeans, the top button open, and a t shirt tossed over his shoulder. He was barefoot, and Charlie wondered to herself why she found that so unbelievably sexy. She'd never had a foot fetish -- she always considered herself a hands and lips kind of girl -- but there was something about this man barefoot in jeans that made her want him to throw her down and just...take her.

"I've got to have a quick word with Darian," he said, his voice lowering as his nose picked up the scent of her arousal.

"Okay," Charlie husked, turning around and moving towards the sink. "This should be done in about 10 minutes or so."

"I'll be right back," he said, smiling as he caught the slight blush that pinked her cheeks. She nodded but didn't say anything as he left the kitchen, concentrating on peeling some pears. She put them in to poach in some simmering moscato and vanilla before busying herself with plating their dinner. By the time Damien came back -- thankfully with his shirt on, Charlie thought -- the plates were on the table, the pears sliced and cooling, the wine was poured and she felt she had herself under control again.

Damien quickly retrieved what he had bought from where Darian had stashed it for him and, after acknowledging both his well wishes and warnings, walked slowly back to his apartment. He felt nervous, ridiculously so, and tried to cover it up. He praised her efforts as he sat at the table, noting with some unease that she had seated them on opposite sides of the table from each other. They ate in near silence for a bit, the only sounds Damien's groans of pleasure as he attacked his plate. Charlie smiled, pleased he was enjoying the meal so. She took a sip of wine and sat back in her chair, gathering her courage.

"I have a lot of questions," she said at last. Damien looked at her and nodded his head for her to continue. "First off -- when did you know I was your mate? How did you know?"

"When you introduced yourself and shook my hand."

"Wait," she said, her brows creased, "you threw my hand down, like you couldn't stop touching me soon enough."

"I was shocked," he said with a shrug. "I was not expecting to find my mate -- a human, no less -- on the side of the road with a blow out. I reacted purely out of surprise."

"How did you know?"

"It was in your scent, your voice, your touch," he waved his hand about. "It was everything about you."

"Aren't you afraid you might be wrong?"

"I'm not wrong."

"You could be."

"No." He smiled at her. "You felt it, too, didn't you. You even mentioned it to me, how you had no fear of me at all, even though you thought you should. That's because something inside you recognized me as the one you were meant to be with. It's why you knew it was me at the Moon. It's why you felt compelled to open up to me so completely. It's why you knew what I was thinking last night when I was my wolf."