Lucy's Wolverine (Lilly Town Shifters) (3 page)

Chapter 5

              “Come back and visit soon,” Lucy said to Lexi as she walked her out to her rental car.

             
“I will, and you come visit me. There’s a new club that just opened. I want to take you there some time.”

             
“We’ll see. Maybe when things slow down some.”

             
“Lucy, look at who you’re talking to. I know you. Things never slow down. Just come visit some time, okay? You can take a few days off. Maybe when you’re between books?” she asked.

             
“I’ll try. How about that?” Lucy said with a smile.

             
“All right, I guess that’s better than nothing. Make sure you go back to the bar and talk to Mike. He’s hot and has a thing for you. I can tell, I have the eye,” Lexi said pointing to her eye.

             
“Okay,” Lucy said, laughing at her sister’s antics.

             
“And that means you’ll never go back. Please, see him again for me. You need a life. You need to get out of this house. You need more companionship than your characters.”

             
“But that’s what I have you for.”

             
“Lucy,” Lexi said, chastising her.

             
“Okay fine. I’ll get out more, I promise.” She purposely didn’t say where she would go.

             
“Good, now do some things that I would do and have some fun,” she said with a smile, and hugged Lucy goodbye.

             
“I love you,” Lucy said, releasing Lexi.

             
“I love you too,” she said and got in her car.

             
Lucy walked back into her house and looked around. This was the first time in a week it had been quiet. It was way too quiet to work and she had a lot of work to do. Time to fix that. Going to her computer, she turned on her favorite music station and blasted it as loud as the computer would go. Sitting down in her chair, she opened her document and started typing away. She wouldn’t have ever gotten there if it hadn’t been for Mike. He’d saved her novel. Okay, she probably would have gotten there on her own eventually, but he’d helped her get there sooner. Time to stop thinking about Mike and to start thinking about the Fey. She needed to get some work done.

***

              “Paul, I have a flight leaving in an hour. I’ll need you to pick me up from BWI Airport,” he said into the phone.

             
“Yes sir, I’ll be there,” Paul replied. He was always so obedient. That was one of the reasons he was promoted so quickly. It was hard finding people who didn’t always question orders.

             
“Good. I want this wolverine problem taken care of.”

             
“Yes sir.”

             
“I also don’t want anyone knowing what’s going on. Everyone thinks wolverines are extinct and I want to keep it that way.”

             
“I understand, sir,” Paul answered.

             
“Good,” he said and hung up. Sitting back in his chair, he read the file from when he shot the wolverines fifteen years ago. He didn’t want to make any mistakes. He had to take this one out. There was no room for error. This was going to be taken care of; he was going to see to it.

***

              Mike had been keeping an eye out for Lucy for days, but there was no sign of her. He was wondering if she couldn’t stand him and was keeping her distance, or if she just didn’t want to see him. Maybe he shouldn’t have ogled her like he did.

             
“Mike, why don’t you just stop by and see her?” Bill suggested. Mike wondered if maybe he was brooding and getting on Bill’s nerves. It was in the man’s nature to be more patient, but lately he seemed to be snapping at him.

             
“I don't want her to think I'm a stalker or anything. I want her to come in and see me because she wants to see me.”

             
“You said she was a writer, right?” Bill asked.

             
“Yeah,” Mike sighed. He had a feeling he knew where this was going.

             
“Didn't your mother ever lock herself in a room for long periods of time so she could write?” he asked.

             
“Yeah,” Mike grunted. He knew Bill was right. Bill was always right.

             
“Don't you think she's probably in book land right now, not ignoring you?”

             
“I guess she did give me a copy of her book.”

             
“And you read it in one day. I know,” Bill said, as if repeating Mike for the hundredth time.

             
“That means something, doesn't it?” he asked.

             
“Yes, it means she's a nice person. I think you should go over there and see her. Say you wanted to tell her you liked her book in person or something. You did like her book right?” Bill asked. Mike had a strange feeling Bill was getting tired of hearing about Lucy and her quietness.

             
“Yes, I liked the book. It was one of the best books I've ever read.”

             
“Are you saying that because it's her or because you really liked it?” Bill asked. It was a valid question, even if it made Mike sound like a love-drunk teen.

             
“I thought the book was really good. I'll admit, it's not something I would normally read, but it was good. Yes, I think I like it more because she wrote it, but I'm not going to lie – it really was good.” Mike was thinking he might be over-analyzing it some. He was talking in circles just to get one sentence out. That wasn't like him.

             
“Okay. Well, go tell her that. Maybe not in those words, though.”

             
“I'm going to come over as some crazed fan who's turning into a stalker. Why can't she just come into the bar?”

             
“Because Basil said her sister went back home,” Bill said.

             
“What? How would Basil know?”

             
“Because he's the alpha and knows everything that happens in this town,” Bill said with a ‘duh’ tone.

             
“I guess that makes sense. The man is the sheriff.”

             
“Mike, get your ass over there and talk to her or shut the hell up. I'm tired of the brooding,” Bill said, and walked away.

***

              Lucy stretched for the hundredth time in the past few hours. She'd been at her computer all day working on her book. The story was finally progressing well and she was happy with it. But she was getting stiff from sitting in the same position all day. Getting up, she decided to make some dinner. She loved to cook and was getting good at it. She could spend all day cooking. It was relaxing to her. It wasn't that day, though. Her thoughts kept coming back to Mike: his soft hands as he took care of her arm; him helping her figure out her book; him offending her but not meaning to; his blue eyes and black hair; the off-tattoo on his arm. He was sexy. She shook her head and started chopping some onions. It wouldn't help her writing if she chopped a finger off. She needed to concentrate if she was going to get dinner. She had to.

             
His strong callused hands popped into her mind as they smoothed the band aid down on her arm and as he helped her into his truck. No. She couldn't keep thinking about him. She needed to think about what she was doing. It wasn't working, though. Instead, she moved to her computer and turned the volume up and started singing at the top of her lungs and swaying her hips to the music. Before long, she was jumping up and down as she danced, and singing off key, but having a blast. It was something she needed to just clear her head, and it worked.

***

              “Good, you're on time. I was afraid I'd have to wait," he said to Paul. "Any more word on the wolverine?”

             
“No sir. I've been keeping an eye on the papers and talking to the locals. They say it doesn't come out very often, but it’s never bothered anyone, so they leave it alone. They think it escaped from the circus or a rare animal collector.”

             
“Do you think they'll miss it when we kill it? Is it going to cause any problems?”

             
“I don't think so. The locals notice it, but that's all. Everyone's afraid to approach it. Honestly, they'll probably think it just moved on,” Paul said as he held open the door of the airport. The man was trained: that was something he was very happy about.

             
“Good. Then this should be an easy in and out. Any signs of it now it's been found out?”

             
“No, none that I've seen. I haven't seen it out, but I just saw it a few days ago so that's nothing unusual. I haven't heard anything around town either.”

             
“Good. I want to do this on my own. I need to fix my mistake, so I want to keep this quiet. I don't want anyone to find out. I also want to be the one to take the shot. You observe only,” he said. He's told Paul to keep it quiet, but he's found with some of these men that he has to keep repeating himself, otherwise they'd forget and it'd be published in the papers. Paul was a good soldier and wouldn't say anything, but he was afraid the one time he didn't repeat himself would be when someone forgot, thereby fucking up his whole plan.

             
“Sir, with all due respect, I don't think that's a good idea. You know how vicious these animals are. Let me call in a team to help. I'll hand pick everyone, making sure they are good men who can keep their mouths shut.”

             
“No,” he yelled, as he got in the car. He’d made the mistake in the first place; he was going to be the one to fix it.

             
“Yes, sir. I'm sorry sir.” That's what he liked to hear.

Chapter 6

              “Paul, any sign of him?” he asked quietly through his walkie talkie.

             
“No sir,” he got back. Fuck! They had been searching the woods for days and hadn't found so much as a paw print. This fucker was hard to find. He was starting to believe the wolverine didn't exist. He refused to fail, though. He would find it. He would kill it. He would skin it and use it as a fur rug.

             
“Are you ready to head in, sir?” Paul asked. He looked at the sky and saw it was getting dark. He didn't like being out too late, when it was hard to see. He would be opening himself up to an attack. He had learned that the hard way and had the scars to prove it.

             
“Yeah,” he said, and walked to the SUV.

***

              Mike was feeling cramped in his apartment and needed to run. He couldn't hold it in any more. Thoughts of Lucy kept taking over and no matter what he did, she won. It had been days since he’d taken her home that night, and all he could think about was how she looked when she closed her eyes to clear her mind. How she looked when she licked her lips. How she looked in that sweater. He had to clear his mind and get her out of it. If she didn't want to have anything to do with him, then fine. Now he just needed to get her out of his head. Mike parked his truck along the road near the woods and removed his clothes. When he shifted, he felt his muscles stretching and it felt wonderful. He didn't know why he hadn't done this sooner. Sniffing around, he scented a rabbit. Time for a fun chase. Following the scent, he found where the rabbit was hiding. Then it took off with him following behind it, enjoying the play.

             
When the rabbit went into a hole in the ground, he started rolling around, then jumped up and started playing with anything that moved: a branch swaying in the wind; a leaf blowing by; a dragonfly as it buzzed past him. He was having fun just being himself. Whenever he went out with Bill, the man just wanted to lounge in the Sun, never wanting to play.

             
By the time Mike got tired of jumping around and chasing animals, he found himself at Lucy’s house. He guessed his thoughts of her never really left, but merely got pushed to the back of his mind. He could see her through her window and he knew he really shouldn’t be there. It wasn’t right to watch her like this, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. There was something about her. Lucy was sitting at her computer, which wasn’t surprising. That’s where he’d always found his mother if she wasn’t around. She moved and stretched her shoulders. She must have been there for hours. Bill was right: she was lost in her world of books. She did have a major breakthrough the other night. When his mother had one, she either had her notepad with her or was sitting at her typewriter. Lucy was moving around, swaying or something. He couldn’t figure out what she was doing until he saw her lips moving. She was dancing in her chair. It was odd, but no one ever said writers were sane. It didn’t matter; it was actually kind of cute.

***

              He was walking back to the SUV when he heard something. It was small and something no one would think of, but there was something about it that drew his attention. “Paul, I heard something. I’m going to check it out,” he said into the walkie talkie.

             
“Roger,” Paul answered.

             
He went to where he thought he might have heard the sound and saw the biggest wolverine he’d ever seen. It seemed distracted, otherwise it would have known he was there. Looking in the direction it was looking, he saw a house. Pulling out his binoculars, he saw a woman sitting at a desk. The animal was after her for some reason and he wasn’t going to let it complete that task. Taking aim, he sighted the chest of the wolverine. He wanted to make sure it was a kill shot, and as it wasn’t moving, he could take extra care to make sure it was a good shot. He squeezed the trigger.

***

              Mike watched Lucy as she danced in her chair, swaying and bobbing her head to whatever she was listening to. She was so cute, as she would really get dancing before suddenly stopping, probably to get something important down. He took a few steps into her back yard, wanting to get a better look. She was so beautiful and carefree. She stopped moving and hunched over her desk. At first he was afraid she’d seen him. It wasn’t every day you saw a wolverine at your back door. But she seemed intent on what she was writing, then popped back up and started dancing again. Mike could just imagine walking into the room to find Lucy doing just that, and him wrapping his arms around her as he kissed her neck and began swaying with her. Taking another step, he willed that fantasy to come true, but he knew it couldn’t, at least not now. But he wanted it to, and he was going to do everything he could to make sure it did. There was something about Lucy that made her special.

             
There was a loud bang before a sharp searing pain in his side. He’d never felt anything like it before and hoped he never would again. It was debilitating. He fell over and curled into himself as best he could, hoping it didn’t happen again and hoping to relieve some of the pain, but it didn’t help. The pain was starting to get worse, like he was being burned from the inside out.

             
Lucy. He had to make sure nothing happened to Lucy. He couldn’t let her get hurt. She couldn’t feel the pain he was in right now. She was his Lucy. Trying to move, he was able to get up on one leg, then two, but at length fell over. The pain was too much. How was he going to help her? How was he going to save her? He couldn’t lose her now that he’d just found her.