Charlie Pt. 01

Four creatures turned to me, but not Luke. He was fighting with both creatures now. Four of the things, like man-wolves, started towards me. Werewolves. Real live werewolves. This was real. I got over my disbelief quickly when I realized they were coming to kill me. David shoved me under the bar in a cubby hole and slid the counter shut, then screamed seconds later.

I heard shouting and yells and screams, bodies hitting the counter hard, then the door slid back five inches before it was stopped by something slamming into the bar. There was so much blood! I wanted to stab at the furry limbs I could see, but I wasn't sure whose side they were on. All I could do was wait.

A clawed hand reached in for me and I knew it wasn't friendly the way the fingers were slashing and trying to find me and kill me. I stabbed that hand as hard as I could with the wine opener and the clawed hand closed around my hand, the claws digging into my wrist. I screamed in pain and fear, then yanked my hand free as the hand was yanked back from the outside. The hand took my wine opener with it. I pushed back to the corner, shoving cups in front of me as I held my bleeding wrist. It didn't seem like too bad of a scratch but it burned! It burned so badly! It started to feel like my hand was in acid.

"Luke!" I wailed, shaking. "LUKE!" I screamed again before the pain made me black out.

I opened my eyes to an overwhelming feeling of nausea and pain. "Luke?" I whispered to the dark room.

"Hush now child," a kind woman's voice said gently. I felt a cool cloth on my head, then something greasy being wiped on my head with a finger. She seemed to be writing something, making symbols. "You're looking pale child," she said more to herself than to me.

She could see me? "Am I blind?" I asked fearfully, my stomach still churning.

"Not forever child. Rest now."

"I am going to throw up."

"Open your mouth," she said, pulling on my chin. She put something sour on my tongue, then pushed my mouth shut. "Suck on that a minute, but be still. You are doing just fine. The worst is behind you. If you live you will be just fine. Sleep now child."

If I live? The thought was distant as I drifted off.

When I woke again, I was sweating. The heat was stifling and I was closed inside of something solid and very warm.

"Luke?" I asked, my voice a hoarse whisper.

The warm mass that was enclosing me moved and I realized it was a human. It disappeared and a light came on. It was Luke and he looked half terrified as he came back to the bed and looked me over.

"Angeline!" he yelled, climbing back into the bed and pulling me up into his lap. He stroked my hair and looked me over and I stared up at him. He seemed to be fine, I couldn't see a single wound on him.

"You're alive," I whispered, my voice still hoarse.

He snatched up a cup of water and held it up to my lips as a large older woman came waddling in. I drank thirstily, my hands gripping the cup as she looked down at me.

"Well now," the old woman said nodding. "Now we wait."

"For what?" I asked, my voice still hoarse.

She smiled and looked at Luke who was still looking down at me, looking me over. "Keep her close now, boy," the woman said. "If she turns out to be..."

"Thanks, Angeline," Luke said quickly.

Angeline snorted and turned to leave.

"You're alive," I repeated, reaching up to touch his face.

He turned his face to my hand and rolled his face against it, closing his eyes and sighing deeply. "I was so afraid," he whispered.

"Why? I'm a troll, remember?"

"Shut up," he laughed. "What the hell, Red? I knew you a few fucking hours. How the hell did you worm your way into my heart so deeply so fast? And what the hell made you think you could step up to a whole pack with a corkscrew?" he asked, laughing again.

"No one else was helping!"

He chuckled again. "I told them not to because I didn't need it. I could have ended it without bloodshed for my boys when I killed Gene and his beta. Even Link would have backed down. What they would not do was back down to a human female," he said with a smirk.

"You could have taken them both?" I asked a little awestruck.

"Easily," he chuckled. "Why do you think my pack was standing back at their ease? He was not a true challenge, Link had probably convinced him he was going to swoop in and help. What he didn't know is that Link is a coward. All talk and poison and no heart."

"So what happened? Is David ok?"

"He lived. The whole pack lived. Link has been banished."

"I saw you... you really are a werewolf. I saw all of you. It was crazy!"

He smiled, almost sadly. "Red... " he sighed, frustrated. "Yeah. We are. How do you feel?"

"Tired. Sore. My arm doesn't hurt anymore though. Wow, it's healed? How long was I asleep?"

"Too long," he growled leaning in and nuzzling my neck. Every hair on my body stood on end and I felt things pulling in me down low.

"Oh!" I whispered, surprised. Part of me said I shouldn't be up for what he had in mind, but my body said I definitely was. His body said he was too and I wondered how I could read his wants so well just by him kissing my jaw. The thought fled and I pulled him closer, kicking the blankets back and wrapping my legs around him. His movements were urgent as he pulled me lower and flipped me, shoving my legs apart. He bit down into my shoulder and knew this time that it meant something. Him showing his ownership, his control of me. Holding me down, making sure I can't fight or get away, though it was only symbolic for me. When he shoved into me, I let out a half wail of need and shock, surprised at the feelings that were trying to overwhelm me. The rush of the need made me break down in tears, my emotions going haywire as he took me. His need was a crazed thing as he growled and held me against him as he thrust wildly. My reaction was sharp and immediate as I came, hyper aware of his pleasure. He made a mewling noise in his throat as I came and he bore me down trying to ride me out. He could not, he came almost as soon as I started coming down, panting gulping air.

"What... what was that?" I asked, my voice shrill. "What just happened?"

He rolled to his back, pulling me with him and breathing heavily. "We... we can feel each other. Feed off of each other. It... heightens everything."

"How? Why?"

"You can't fathom any reason?" he asked, chuckling.

"I'm alive. You thought I was going to die? From a scratch? Is it because a wolf scratched me?"

"A wolf didn't scratch you," he said with an amused snort.

"Sorry, a WEREwolf. Are you trying to tell me I am a werewolf now?"

"Do you doubt it, Red?"

"If I am you can't call me that anymore."

He chuckled again. "No, Red. You already have a new nickname among the pack."

"Am I going to like hearing this?"

"Your own fault, you're the one who charged a pack with a corkscrew."

I sighed but smiled. "Why do you feel so amazing? Like I could live in this spot in your arms forever?"

He kissed the top of my head and squeezed me.