Werewolf Queen

Jaq took Ariel to the dance floor and I watched him have his fun. Richard tried for another dance but Jed and Brent scared him off. I loved my body guards. Marcus sat next to me rubbing the small of my back. It calmed me. It made me wish Brent and Jed hadn't come.

"Cheer up chickadee." Marcus said.

"I can't. I can't get drunk, we got a trap waiting for us outside, and a friend of mine smells so good I want to eat him and the only thing stopping me is your hand on my back. How can I have fun when I don't know how this night will end?"

"I know some ways but your mate would want to smash my head in." He smiled at me. "Or you could challenge the biggest toughest he-man here to a drinking contest and win some money." He said.

"That's cheating." I said.

"Yeah but only we know." He winked at me. "Maybe after so many shots you can get drunk even if it lasts only for a little while."

"All right. Find me the biggest toughest he-man in the bar and I'll out drink him." I said.

Jed and Brent gave me disapproving looks and I flipped them the bird. At least one person was trying to make my night go better.

Marcus went over to the DJ and told him something. I glanced back to the dance floor and then to the exit. My breath caught in my chest and the world spun.

"Alright!" The DJ announced. "We need the manliest man in the house! We have a competition. Whoever can out-drink Jade Woods wins $500 and all shots paid for. Please clear the dance floor!"

The dancers moved off the floor and two bouncers brought out a table and two chairs. I went to the table and sat down but my eyes never left the exit.

"I'll accept the challenge." Richard said and went to the table along with two other men. The other two were big guys thinking this was easy money. I wasn't a tiny girl but I looked like a sap compared to them.

"Jim, Jack, Jonny Red, Johnny Black, or Jose, all my favorite men, pick one."

"Jack." The two said. Richard nodded in agreement.

"First one to fall out of their chair or pukes loses."

"And if we lose what do we owe you?" Richard asked.

"Nothing, I just wanna have some fun." I winked at him as five shots were put in front of the each of us. We took our turns doing the shots and five more were placed.

"Feeling it yet sweetheart?" The big guy on my right asked? His speech was already slurred. He would be the first to go.

"I'm just getting started baby." I said and downed the next five shots. The three men just stared. I glanced back over to the exit. My heart hammered again.

The three men took their turns and the DJ brought trashcans and placed them next to us. Always easier to get rid of a trashcan than it is to clean up the dance floor.

"Looking a little green there honey." I said to the one on my left.

"I'm fine." He said.

I looked at Richard. He could always hold his liquor. He would probably end up in an alcohol induced coma before he gave up. I just had to listen to his heart and breathing. If any faltered I would throw the game. The other two were almost gone already, they weren't a problem. I'd give them five more shots before one of them hurled.

Sure enough two shots into the third round the one on the left hurled. He had to leave the table. The one on my right was slumping in his chair but he finished the five. Next round he was gone. He fell out of his chair and passed out. He was still breathing which was good but he wasn't getting out of here without help.

"You okay Richard?" I asked.

He nodded his head. He was wobbling in his seat. I was feeling good but I wasn't drunk. Five more shots were placed in front of us. He gave up on the first one and hurled into the trash can.

The crowd stood their quietly not knowing how to react that a woman beat three men and could still walk. I glanced over at my men and winked at them and they nodded. Mustn't make the crowd think something was up. I fell forward and feigned unconsciousness. The crowd applauded.

Chris let Brent take me to the back room to get better.

"Are you done showing off now?" He asked.

I went to the door and peeked out to the exit once more.

"Why do you keep looking at that woman?" He asked.

"I know her." I said. "I know there is a trap outside, but can you please take me out there? I will fight all the fuckers off, I just have to talk to the woman." I said.

"Who is she? Is she worth the risk? She is wearing The Enlightened insignia."

"If you love me you will take me." I said.

"All right." He sighed and I put my arm over his shoulder and acted drunk. We walked back out to the bar and Brent motioned for the others to follow him. As I thought the woman followed.

As soon as we were outside I let go of the men and turned to face her. She had the same blonde hair I had and the same eyes and figure. But I had too much Jim in me to look just like my mother.

"Why?" I asked.

"I can't explain right now. You are one of them then? I just thought it was a rumor." She said quietly.

The men had given us what privacy they could and they faced the other Enlightened members. The good news is we were evenly matched in number. The bad news was I didn't know what kind of weapons they carried.

"Yes I am one. And you're one of the enemy."

"I am not your enemy Jade. I will never be your enemy."

"As long as you fight on their side you will be the enemy." I told her. "You don't know what it did to us!" Tears flowed down my face.

"I'm sorry." She said.

"No, if you were sorry you would have never done it. I won't tell him because it would kill him. He lost you. You were his everything."

"I know." She said quietly.

"Then why mom?" I heard Brent gasp and turn around.

"I'll explain later." She said and went around to her team. "Leave them alone for now. We do not want to cause a scene here." She said and went to their SUV.

Marcus

I drove home as Brent sat in the backseat with Jade. So many emotions came from her. Anger, happiness, fear, hatred. So glad I wasn't a woman.

"I need to run. I just need to be alone. Pull over." She said.

"I'll come too." Brent said. "I'll stay back a ways."

"No. What part of alone don't you understand?" She asked. "Pull over Marcus." She demanded.

I pulled over to the side of the road and Jed got out letting her out from the middle. The only thing she took off was her boots. She ran a ways as human and then I saw her change. It was so fast that if you blinked you missed it. She was damn fast.

Brent explained things on the way home.

"Her mother had died a couple years ago of cancer, or so they thought. The woman tonight is her mother. Jim and Jade believed that she had died. They had mourned her and they had almost healed. You never truly heal from losing a mother or wife but they were in the process. They were doing great. Jade had stopped her anti depressants before she was changed. Jim stopped secretly drinking every night. This would kill Jim emotionally if he knew. If not physically. I know Jade knows but she is in denial but Jim's days are numbered because of his heart. I know, Marcus, you have heard the arrhythmia of his heart beat. I let Jade come back because it could be days to years before something happened and she'd want to be there."

I kept my mouth shut but what I was thinking was; you didn't let Jade do anything. Jade does what she wants when she wants. That's who she is. It would eventually kill her some day but at least she is living the way she wants to.

It was a little before dawn when she came into the door. She grabbed the robe by the door and put it on. She walked up the stairs without a word and went straight for the bathroom. I was sitting on the couch alone flipping through the channels. Everyone else decided to go to bed. Well Jed and Brent did. Jaq decided to leave for the pack in New Mexico. Jed told him what to say when he got there to Darla. He didn't want the drama right now.

I sighed and went upstairs and knocked lightly on the bathroom door. She didn't answer but I went in anyways. She was sitting in the tub just letting the water hit her. Her eyes were closed and she hummed to herself quietly. She was in her own little world.

I sat on the toilet lid and waited for her to acknowledge me. She never did. I took off my clothes and turned off the shower and put the plug in and ran a bath. She never once opened her eyes. She just sat there, her legs curled to herself and hummed. If werewolves could go into shock this was it. I climbed in behind her and put my arms around her. She leaned back against me and sighed.

"You don't have to be in here." She said quietly.

"I know." I told her.

Brent

I stood outside of the bathroom listening to Marcus and Jade. They didn't talk much but I knew it was time to leave for a while. She needed to figure things out on her own. And as for being mates, we would always find each other. Mates never lost one another; only through death did that happen.

She needed to grow as a wolf and I saw now I was holding her back. I feared too much for her life that I would always be in the way. Marcus was closer to her in age that maybe they could grow together. She would find me when the time was right.

Jed backed out of the driveway and I saw Jade open the curtain from our room and look down. She blew me a kiss and waved. I waved back and sighed.

"You sure you want to do this?" Jed asked.

"No. But she doesn't need me right now. I wish that Derek never came to this town. I wish that she would have had a life as a human instead of the responsibility of saving a mythical race from extinction. I didn't realize until now how much is on her shoulders. That if she and Marcus fail we will all die."

"And don't you think that you're abandoning her in her time of need?"

"If she needs me, I'm just a phone call away."

"All right, last chance, I'm not turning around." Jed said and looked at me.

"Let's go home." I told him.

Jade

25 years passed before I saw Brent again. I was 51 and still looked 24. Over the years I watched my old class mates become parents and even grandparents. My father now lived in a nursing home, which was his choice. He was 76 now and frail. He had turned down the offer to change into a werewolf on many occasions.

Marcus stayed with me and became my constant companion. I never did get that kiss. We had moved to my dad's house and I took my old room. I changed the basement into two extra bedrooms just in case a pack member came by and needed to crash for the night. The sad thing was, I saw Darla and Jed in the 25 years that I didn't see Brent. They begged me to go back with them, but I stayed. I stayed for my dad. His heart was giving out and I wanted to be there.

I was sitting at dad's bedside when a nurse came in and gave him his medicine. I was sitting in a rocking chair making him a crochet blanket. Something I had picked up over the years.

"Is this your granddaughter Mr. Jim?" The nurse asked.

"No." He chuckled. "She's my daughter. Beautiful ain't she?" He sounded so frail.

"Just curious...how old are you?" The nurse looked at me.

"51." I answered. "I know you'll ask. Special diet, lots of exercise, staying out of sunlight, and running. Lots and lots of running."

My dad chuckled again at my little joke. He started coughing and I got up and brought his glass of water to him. The nurse left after she made sure he swallowed his pills.

There was a light knock on the door and I glanced up. Dad started hacking again and I gave him more water. My mom stood there still looking the same as she did all them years ago. I sighed.

"Is this a dream?" My dad asked.

"No Jim." She said and came into the room. "Jade will you give us a minute alone?"

"No." I said.

"Yes you will." Dad said.

I sighed again and got up and went out the door and closed it gently behind me. Across the hall I saw Brent. "You brought her here?"

"No. We just happened to show up at the same time."

I'm sorry, but this is the end. I never got to finish this. Maybe if someone could throw me some ideas...