Her Perilous Wolf by Julie Steimle (best e book reader TXT) 📕

lips. Selena’s usually neat makeup was a little smudged. Rick let out a quiet gasp.

They exchanged looks.

“What’s that?” Vincent sat up, gazing over the selection of chopped salad vegetables, refried beans, guacamole, and cheeses. His stomach rumbled in reply.

“Make-your-own taco salad,” Selena replied, grinning at him. But she peeked to Tommy with a wider smile. “Normally I’d add ground beef, but I think this time around we can leave it out.” She winked at Audry in particular.

But then Selena’s eyes trailed to Rick. Audry could see Selena’s expression falter a smidge with a hint of a sigh. But it was not there for long as Selena peeked back to Tommy.

Rick grinned wide and with a nod at her.

Selena blushed, winking.

Audry looked to Rick. “Wow. You’ve got that mastered.”

“What?” Rick said, looking to her, cheeks going pink again.

Kissing him on the cheek, Audry said, “Nothing.”

He eyed her sideways. “Oh… don’t say that. It’s always dangerous when a woman answers ‘nothing’—and coming from you, that really scares me.”

Audry smirked at him. However, she led him by the hand to the couch, sitting down. Darth climbed up also, aiming to get on their laps.

“No!” Selena pointed at the dog. “Down!”

Darth ducked back—but so had Rick, both equally wincing from the ear. Darth hastily hopped off the couch with a whimper, paws to the ground again. Rick looked like he would also, but he glared at Selena instead, poking a finger in his ear.

She nodded with a smile to Audry. “You train him right off, and don’t give him an inch.”

Rick growled. “Is that advice about me or the dog?”

“Yes,” Selena announce perkily.

He rolled his eyes.

Audry put her hand on Rick’s head, gently stroking it. His hair felt like fur, exactly like the wolf’s.

He gave her a side look. “Are you petting me?”

“Does it make you calmer?” she replied, smirking.

Sighing, he quietly debated his answer, then with another sigh he chuckled and nodded. “Yeah… oddly.” He closed his eyes. “But only because it’s you,” he amended.

She kissed him on his cheek. “I feel the same.”

Together, gathered around the coffee table, everyone took a plate and assembled what Selena called taco salad, demonstrating for them all how it worked. She even had sour cream and sliced black olives. When all of them grabbed a fork and sat down to eat, there was silence for a moment, each one enjoying nourishing, if not utterly delicious, sustenance after a tough day that wasn’t even over yet. But once they had consumed a satisfying portion from their plates, conversations resumed. And new ones started.

“Selena,” Rick broached the most pressing one, “Can Audry stay with you for a few days?”

“Only if she leaves the dog with you,” Selena replied frankly. She looked to Audry. “Sorry. I’m not a fan of dog hair on my stuff.”

Rick huffed. “Then why ever did you like me? I shed all the time.”

Selena shrugged. “Which is how I know I hate dog hair.”

He tossed up his hands. “Ok. Fine. I can take Darth.”

Audry smiled. He had remember the name. She swelled with increasing fondness for Rick, linking her arm in his. He was the kind of guy who remembered important details.

“His name is Darth?” Tommy looked to Audry while Rick grinned at her. “Why?”

“Doesn’t his coloring make him look like Darth Vader?” Audry gestured to Darth who had perked up at his name, happy to be included. She had been feeding him some cheese, watching his hungry eyes on the rest of the tray. She knew she would have to request some meat for him or he would go nuts soon. It wasn’t fair to eat in front of him like that. And she noticed that Rick was feeding him the corn chips.

As everyone nodded in agreement about Darth’s coloring, Rick continued. “This is also in a bodyguard capacity, Selena. I need you to protect Audry for a while, if that’s ok?”

Selena perked up a bit. “What happened?”

Peeking to Vicky first, Rick then looked to Vincent, “Do you mind if I let your sister in on our secret?”

Sighing, Vincent shook his head with a peek to Michael. “It depends on how deep Michael intends to get in with my sister.”

Vicky colored. “What?” She glanced to Michael. “I can date who I want.”

Vincent nodded though he looked to Michael also. “I know. But there is a lot more going on here than just us helping out Audry.”

Audry nodded also, stiffening. “Vicky, there is a lot I have not told you about… well, Rick.”

Vicky looked to Rick, then glanced to Michael.

“Oh no!” Selena stood up, looking directly at Rick. “Not here! I told you. I don’t want dog hair in my apartment.”

Rick lifted his hands. “Then what do you want me to do?”

Michael, who had been blushing from embarrassment at being called out for hitting on Vicky, cleared his throat. They all looked to him.

“Ok.” He rose. To Vincent, Michael said, “I have not told her any more than the usual. But,” and he peeked to Vicky, “I will make absolutely sure no harm ever comes to her.”

“That’s a given,” Rick said with a dry look.

Michael smiled at him appreciatively, nodding.

Vincent raised his eyebrows.

“What do you mean, you haven’t told me any more than the usual?” Vicky leaned away from Michael, naturally wary of those words. “Is this a game?”

“Oh no,” Michael said in earnest, panicking. He could see her already taking offense.

“What he means is,” Rick interjected on his behalf, “He has been keeping secrets for me, for my safety.”

“That I can’t know?” Vicky was confused.

“That hardly anyone knows,” Audry explained.

Looking to her cousin, Vicky said, “But you know?”

Audry nodded. “I am one of the few who do know, and only recently.”

“You remember Troy, right?” Vincent asked her, hoping to move this conversation along.

Vicky stiffened a little. “The vampire?” Her eyes quickly flickered to Rick, perhaps looking for signs of vampirism on him.

Vincent smiled. “Yes. You know how improbable that is. Vampires in our midst? Well… You’re not going to believe this but—”

“Before you tell her,” Selena interjected, “can I say something?”

Looking to her, Vincent and the others nodded.

Selena said with a smile to Vicky, “Do you know all the rumors about Rick and his family?”

Rolling her eyes, Vicky nodded. But she colored, peeking to Rick. “Yeah.”

“I can tell you which ones are true and which ones aren’t.” Selena smiled with a peek to Audry. “But I think your cousin can tell you the same as me. And you can ask Rick directly—even about the weirdest ones.”

“Are you saying they are true?” Vicky laughed incredulously, glancing between them.

All of them shrugged. Selena said, “Just ask about each one. Rick can tell you the truth. If you want it, get it from the source.”

So, still nervous about it, Vicky turned her full self to face Rick. She drew a breath, thought of the questions that had been pressing on her mind, then asked, “Uh, ok… um, did you really join a cult one summer?”

Rick raised his eyebrows as that had been her first concern, thought about it, then shrugged. “In a manner of speaking, yes. Ask me about the weirdest one you’ve heard, though. Don’t dodge around it.”

“But it can’t be real,” Vicky exclaimed, looking to Audry again with a modicum of panic. “You said it was just a rumor. I mean, come on. There is no way he is a werewolf.”

Audry nodded. “I know what I said. But, uh… it was before I realized it was not a lie.”

Vicky looked to Rick then to Audry again. “You’re playing me.”

Vincent shook his head then poked Michael who had been watching Vicky quietly, his eyes reflecting uneasiness, possibly even fear that she would reject it all, including him. It was not his usual self. Michael glanced back to Vincent then sighed. “We’re not playing you. We could even show you if Selena did not hate dog hair so much.”

“Wait,” Rick said with a nod to Selena. “I can show her without shedding any hair.”

Leaning away from him, Vicky’s mouth went dry. Rick beckoned her a little closer. But he took Audry’s hand and set it on her cousin’s.

“Don’t be scared,” he said. “I’d never hurt you.”

He then made his human eyes change shape to that of a wolf—his gray irises expanding so that hardly any white showed.

Vicky jerked back. Vincent caught her so she would not fall off the couch.

“Rick’s my wolf,” Audry explained, still with a hold on her cousin’s hand. She pulled out her silver bullet out from under her collar. “The hunters who shot the wolf with this had Rick’s name inscribed on it.” She showed her cousin.

Vicky took the bullet in her hand and read the name Deacon on it. She then looked up to Rick whose eyes took back their human shape again. He was taking off his shirt also, unbuttoning the first layer, then pulling off the white tee underneath, raising his arms to show Vicky all his scars. Seeing the improved not-as-much-so-Frankenstein level of surgery that stitched his skin back together, Vicky stared at them but did not get close. She recalled all the stories she had heard about Rick, including the wolf attack in Germany, but also the stories Audry had told about her encounters with the wolf.

“The world is full and bigger than you realize,” Michael said. His voice had taken on a tense if not worried tone. “All the supernatural things that exist in myth and legend are most likely real in some form or another.”

Looking to him, eyes wide, Vicky swallowed. “Are… are you like that? You know, a werewolf or a vampire?”

Michael chuckled painfully and shook his head. “No. But I am, uh, also scarred. I was spirited away into another world just after I had finished my freshman year of high school, and I was lucky to escape. We tell people it was a cult who kidnapped us because no one would believe the truth. But it changed my life forever. Remember when I told you I was part of team of eight gifted individuals known, funnily enough, as the Holy Seven? What I didn’t tell you was that I was chosen as a warrior for, uh, God.”

She stared.

“However, I came here, to New York, to help your brother Vincent because we were worried for your cousin who had just found out Howie—uh, Rick—was a werewolf. And that’s the truth.” He looked abashed.

That was a mouthful. Audry stared at him, realizing he was concerned Vicky would not like him anymore.

Vicky was staring at Rick scars again. “How did…?”

Rick pointed to the big claw mark on his shoulder. “That one was caused by a demon I fought off in high school.”

“There are demons!” Vicky quickly looked to Audry and Vincent.

 Audry nodded while Vincent cringed. “A demon had attacked me in Kenya. It’s the reason I got sick and had to come home.” She showed the bite mark on her hand again.

“That’s a snake bite,” Vicky said, “You had said it was a snake bite.”

Shrugging, Audry replied, “He was man before he became a snake. I couldn’t tell you everything. You would have thought I was crazy.”

Both her cousins drew in breaths.

“Most demons don’t attack you unless you see them,” Michael interjected, eying Audry.

“Then why did one attack Audry?” Vicky demanded angrily.

“I can see them now,” Audry answered with a shrug.

Rick took her hand. “I am so sorry.”

She shook her head. “For the last time, it is not your fault. He was angry and a poacher, and he lashed out at me. Just because he knew about you does not mean he would not have attacked me if he didn’t.”

“A poacher?” Michael stiffened. “Are you saying there are demon poachers in Africa?”

Audry nodded in earnest. “Yeah. Our group killed about three of four of them. They called them amazimu, or cannibals. One was a werejackal. One was a werewolf—Chinese. And then the snake man. His name was Wang Ruyi. I am never going to forget that name.”

“Wang Ruyi?” Michael turned to Rick with open worry. “That