Ravished by Wolves

Revised and re-vamped from a previously published title, The White Wolf’s Curse.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Dark Carnival

Rowan Wood

The Vampire Chronicles Book One

The Vampire Chronicles Book Two

Romancing the Stone

Rise of the Wolf Clan

Raiders of Vampyra

Oath of the Dragon

Ninth Orb

Ja’rael’s Lioness

When Night Falls

Chapter One

Amber
walked as quickly as she could, given the crippling effect her high heels had on her feet after a long day at work, to the nearest of four tram benches and sat on the side nearest the light to wait. It took fifteen minutes. Fifteen excruciating minutes during which Amber tried her best not to look at the people around her.

It’s surprising how hard it is not to stare when the people around you keep talking to themselves.
At one time
only
crazy people did that. With that new phone accessory out, though, it was hard to tell when someone was talking to themselves and when they actually had a blue-tooth on and were holding an honest to God conversation. She kept telling herself that there were other sane people about, that she couldn’t possibly be the only one, but she didn’t honestly believe a word of it.

When the tram finally arrived, she noticed that only a few people got on. Most of them continued to sit or stand where they were, talking, twitching and trying not to look at each other. She was glad most of them stayed where they were. She had always had lunatic magnetism
and she had been afraid they might all pile on the tram at the same time. Worse yet, that they might all get into the same car she was getting on. She hurried to the furthest car, wincing in pain, and got on by herself.

Great. Company.

A man was sitting on one end, so she sat at the other end near the doors that lead to the next car. She pulled her long black hair down from behind her ear, coving the side of her face exposed to the man and trying unsuccessfully to hide behind it. The tram started off with a jerk that almost sent her out of her seat, but she threw out her feet and managed to stay in place. She noticed that the man had turned to look her way and now sat staring. She tried hard to ignore it, but he got up and moved to the middle of the car.

Don’t make eye contact, don’t make eye contact! They see that as a welcome, try not to look.
It was impossible not to, the way he was staring at her. Specifically, he was looking at her legs. She’d always been proud of how shapely they were, but this was one of those times she just wished people wouldn’t notice. She unconsciously clenched them together; sorry now she had worn the short black skirt instead of the long black slacks
. Damn fashion and all the shit it gets you into!

He stayed in place and after a few minutes, she dared to rest her eyes and tried to sit as straight and rigid as she could. The temptation to lean her head against the back of the seat persisted, of course, but she knew she shouldn’t do that in a public place. It was nasty.
There’s really no telling how many people have already done that. How many of them had lice?
The horror of that thought was almost too much to stand. The windows had head and hand grease all over them. The seats smelt like piss and stale sweat. Her stomach roiled at the thought.
And of course this is a dry clean only skirt!

Amber
’s mind started wondering and she knew she was starting to nod off, in spite of her best intentions. The rhythmic movement of the tram always did that to her. She started awake, though, when she felt something at her arm.

She turned sharply to her right just as the man who had been at the other end of the train plopped down beside her, muttering to himself. She could tell he was a homeless man.
I feel bad for people in that situation, I really do, I just don’t want to sit beside people like that. Is that really bitchy of me not to want to sit by a crazy person?
A voice that sounded suspiciously like her mother’s told her it probably was, but that was fortunately a very small voice she could easily ignore.

The man reeked of cheap beer, but he probably would have stunk anyway. She could tell by the filthy clothes he wore that he had not bathed in a very long time
, and the clothes would likely fall apart in the washer if her were ever inclined to use one. His stench was so overwhelming it brought tears to her eyes. She turned away and covered her nose with the collar of her shirt, ignoring the fact her lipstick was probably staining it, breathing in deeply and trying her best to hold her breath.

Maybe he’ll get off at the next stop.
She looked up at the map, looked down at her watch, and figured the time difference in her head.
Only three more minutes. Maybe he just moved over here so he could get off more easily. People do that sometimes.

Amber
covered her mouth and nose with the back of her hand, trying without success to breathe through the pores in her flesh and fighting the blackness that was already seeping in at the corners of her vision. The tram stopped, and the hope that at first leapt into her heart that the homeless guy would get up and go so she could breathe and not have to move, died a quick death. No one got into the car she was sitting in. The man beside her didn’t move to get off. The doors closed and when the tram moved again, the jarring motion of it sent the homeless guy right into her side before slamming her into
him.
She felt sick at her stomach.
No way around it. I have to get up and move.

Amber
hated that too, of course. Aside from hating to seem rude, it always seemed to further draw their attention when she got up and moved. Sometimes, they would follow her no matter where she went and she ended up having to get off the tram and wait for the next one to come along. It was so late now, though, that she knew she couldn’t do that. Not unless she wanted to walk home in the dark; in her high heels or bare-footed.
No, maybe he’ll stay here. Maybe he won’t follow me into the next car.

It seemed like they had territories, like there was a rule against them going into each other’s cars. Many of them would stay in the car she found them in, even if they had followed her all over it. The problem was she never knew if the maniac in the next car was better or worse than the one she was currently dealing with and she hated having to risk it.

It’s impossible to get up and leave a tram car without being obvious about the fact that you just don’t want to be near the only other person in it.
There was just no valid excuse to comfort herself with. Her mamma would have been horrified at her lack of good manners. She had worked so hard to instill a good, strong sense of guilt in her, and Amber did feel horribly guilty about doing it even as she got up and pushed the button so the doors would open and set her free, but the air in the next car over seemed so much easier to breathe! Better yet, a quick look around assured her that there was no one else in it.
A private car. Thank God.

She sat down in about the middle of the car so that if the bum followed her, she could more easily move up another car. She kept glancing at the shut doors and praying they wouldn’t open again.

God, I am such a bitch! Maybe he just wanted a little human contact. Just because he was staring at my legs doesn’t mean he was planning anything.
For some reason, the news cast she had watched earlier about the most recent woman to disappear from the city came to mind. They didn’t even know exactly when she’d gone missing. The same went for all of the other women in the recent string of disappearances. No one had noticed. They were mostly either single women without families, or just plain poor. She was not sure which was sadder, the fact that no one cared enough about any of those women to notice when they were gone, or that she was in that boat as well?

No. I’m not in that boat, not any more. Christine would notice.
Her co-worker was bound to notice. They’d worked together for years now. They were good friends.
Not really the kind of friends that go out together,
she corrected herself
, but still friends
. Of a sort.

Maybe
she wouldn’t notice today, or any time this weekend, but she’d notice Monday, right? Yes, she would have to notice then. I always come in to work, even when I’m sick.
It was comforting to know she had
someone
who cared, if only because of the extra workload, and Amber tried hard to relax.

The tram jerked and squealed as it came to a stop
. Oh thank God. Just one more stop and I’m home
! No one got on, but
a tall white man walked into her car from the car she’d vacated and sat three seats down from her. He wore a black suit with a white dress shirt and a red tie.
A normal man. Running away from that bum too? I guess he had to work late like me.
Relief flooded her at that thought.
Another normal person? What are the odds? He’s actually kind of cute too.
She glanced down at his hands. They were large and powerful- a lover’s hands.
No ring on his finger, so he isn’t taken. A workaholic perhaps? Could be. He’s awful late at the office. Maybe he doesn’t have anyone waiting for him either?
Amber tried hard not to stare at the muscles his shirt accentuated instead of hiding.
He doesn’t really look like he belongs in a shirt and tie….

“Hi.”

That startled her and she wondered how long she had been staring. She hadn’t even noticed when the tram started moving again.
Did he notice? Of course he noticed! Oh my God, is that drool in the corner of my mouth? I’ve been drooling! He must think he’s the only sane person here!
Amber struggled to find something intelligible to say and settled with a weak ‘hi.’

“First time on the tram?”

“Umm, no. I ride it sometimes.”

The man nodded his head and looked somewhat uncomfortable.
Idiot. No way he’ll want to talk to you now.
She tried to think of something to stir the conversation back up but kept coming up empty-handed. She settled for looking down at her sore feet and was startled her when he spoke again.

“So, where are you off to this time of night?”

“Oh, I was just on my way home from the office. Looking forward to the weekend.”

She crossed her legs and tossed her
hair back, grateful now she’d worn the black skirt after all when his eyes went to her legs and followed them up to her face.

“Ah, so you like to party?” He turned a bit in his seat to face her.
He really doesn’t look like he belongs in that suit….

“
Ya. Well, sometimes. No. I mean, I’m not really the party type. Not that I don’t know how to have a good time, just not tonight.”

He gave her a quizzical expression and she was suddenly embarrassed for her habit of running at the mouth every time she got nervous.
She took a deep breath and tried to relax, but it was hard to do that the way he was looking at her. Maybe the skirt wasn’t such a good idea after all?

“
I’m… I’m actually a bit of a homebody. I thought I’d watch some old movies. You know, that sort of thing.”

“That so? Well, I guess if your husband doesn’t mind….”

He’s hitting on me!
She turned a bit in her seat and put on her best demure look. It had been months since her last date and this man looked like a fairly good candidate. Still, she couldn’t seem to shake the feeling that something was wrong with this whole scenario.
It’s the tram. Everyone seems crazy when you’re on the tram at night.