Temptation (Journal of the Wolves of Spruce Hollow) (12 page)

She was currently camped out in the basement with him and would stand in front of the new Were, clutching him around the neck and crying, every time we tried to work with him. I suppose our methods probably seemed harsh and aggressive to her, but we were Weres for cripes sakes, not a bunch of woman at a tea party.

It was frustrating as hell.

Griff had suggested that we take a kinder, gentler approach in working with the new Were but my patience was nearing it’s end of it’s shelf life.

I had never been away from Aspen for this long before and I was worried about her. Caver had been watching her and calling me daily with updates on what she was up to and so far, she had been a good girl, just going to school in the mornings and then going back home when school was out.

I was glad as it took some of the stress off me knowing she would behave if I wasn’t right there on her back all the time.

“Yeah, so?” I replied in an irritated tone. Unless Aspen had been running around naked at the bus stop, I didn’t really think that was a piece of information I needed to interrupt my work for.

“So, she was talking to that Justin Myers kid. You know, nice looking, star wide receiver, tall, well built. She looked pretty smitten and giggly with him. I couldn't hear what they were saying above all the other kids talking at the bus stop, but I just thought you might want to know,” he replied smugly. 

“Thanks Caver. Keep me informed if you see anything else,” I said. “Will do boss.”

Justin Meyers, huh? Great.

I shoved my phone into my back jeans pocket and left the front walkway to sprint out to my truck that was parked in the driveway. Fishing out the tranquilizer dart gun from the locked weapons chest in back of the truck, I checked it to see if it was loaded, then cocked it back and took the safety off.

It was time to go home.

I jumped down out of the truck and very calmly walked back to the front door, where I met up with Griff and Kuno who’d both decided to come outside as well to get some fresh air after being cooped up in the basement. I knew they were feeling the strain too.

“Pack up boys, we’re going home,” I said as I stalked passed them.

They both shot me twin bewildered looks as they took in the set of my jaw and the fact that I was carrying a loaded gun with the safety turned off.

“Uh, what are you up to Roan? He still hasn’t managed to phase back into his human form yet.I thought we were going to try and work with his family? You’re not going to do something rash with that tranquilizer gun now are you, buddy?” Griff said, his face concerned. 

“What do you propose that we try next, Griff, have everyone hold hands and sing Kumbaya? Screw that, I’m done with this shit. We’ve been here long enough, spinning our wheels and getting nowhere. I’m taking that little fucker out.”

They followed at my heels as I calmly opened the door, made my way downstairs and unlocked the basement door. The snarling male Were in the corner raised his head and lunged towards us, while his mildly deranged mother jumped up from her perch on the couch and tried to grab him.

I raised the gun and shot him twice in midair as his mother screamed that I was killing him.

“Let’s load him in the back of the truck, boys. We’re getting the hell out of here.”

                ***

I
was excited.

No, excited was an understatement, I was jubilant and floating on air.

Being invited to the Dam party tonight was the single most exciting thing that had ever happened in my very limited social life. Ever.

My existence was generally pretty predictable and always strictly controlled and overseen by Roan. It was hard for me because while I never felt like I fit in with the other kids in the pack, it also made it nearly impossible to fit in at school and have human friends because let’s face it, unless they lived with a pack of Weres as well, we really didn’t have very much in common.

I did have one human friend though, and as luck would have it, also happened to be my best friend. Her name was Sorcha. And I loved her like a sister.

Sorcha was easy to be with, she never questioned the way I lived and therefore I never had to lie to her about my secretive life on the acreage. She just accepted me for who and what I was and therefore, Roan allowed and tolerated her presence in my life.

Tonight, I felt intoxicated with the power to actually make my own decisions for once. Normally, I wasn’t ever allowed to go out on dates with boys and even when I was out with Sorcha, I still had an early curfew.

Roan always said that there wasn’t anything good going on that took place after dark.

He was a tyrant, I tell you! It was bad enough that we lived in the middle of nowhere and exciting, teenaged entertainment was hard to come by but how could I ever do anything remotely fun with Roan’s strict parameters keeping me in line all the time?

But I had none of Roan’s rules keeping me down tonight, now did I? Since both Roan and my mom were away, all bets were off and I was free to do whatever my little heart desired!

And, like the teenaged girl that I was, my heart desired Justin Meyers and going to the Dam party with a bunch of other teenagers.

I couldn’t think of one single thing that sounded more fun than that.

Two hours later, I was ready to go. I was buffed, puffed and glittery with shimmery body lotion. I had straightened my naturally curly hair until it hung down my back like a shiny strawberry blond curtain. My nails were painted with “Pink Shimmer” nail polish and I’d even put on makeup, which I normally never wore because Roan always said that “nice, young girls don’t wear makeup because it makes them look trashy”.

I checked my reflection in the mirror and the girl staring back at me didn’t look trashy, she looked smoking hot and could easily have passed for a nineteen or twenty year old girl.

Wow, maybe I could even get into a bar?

One thing’s for sure, I’d gone all out in the makeup department with plumping lip-gloss, tons of mascara and black eye liner. I’d always been told that my eyes were my best feature and I’d used tons of makeup to play them up nicely. The eyes gazing peering out of my small face were smoky and mysterious looking, just like I’d seen in fashion magazine at the drug store in town.

I was beaming with my efforts and had chosen a tiny black lace top over a tiny black tank top and black bra with tight, low-rise jeans. I felt like a beautiful, dark princess.

Justin was going to be blown away! This wasn’t the same Aspen that he knew from school, the Aspen standing in my bedroom was a sexually charged dynamo, drunk on her own freedom!

I was waiting in the living room, talking to Sorcha on the phone when I heard a vehicle pulling into the driveway promptly at eight-thirty on the dot.

“OMG, he’s here!!” I exclaimed enthusiastically into the phone. 

“Please just be careful Aspen, I’ve heard a lot of stories about those Dam parties.” 

“Oh Sorcha, don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I get back if it’s not too late, okay?” I said as I got off the couch to meet Justin at the door.

I smiled, wondering if Justin was as excited as I was? The doorbell rang and I paused for a moment, suddenly overcome with uncertainty. If Roan or my mother found out what I was about to do, I would be dead meat for sure. I could just imagine how long I’d be grounded for. And then I’d be plagued with Roan’s incessant lecturing and angry looks for weeks, months even. Lord.

Justin rang the bell again, snapping me out of my reverie and I swallowed hard. I didn’t care; it was worth whatever punishment Roan would dish out if I got caught. I pasted on a smile, grabbed my small, silver sparkly clutch purse and answered the door.

“Wow! You look really great Aspen. Wow!” Justin said as his eyes roved up and down my body appreciatively. 

“Thanks, you look really nice too Justin.” I said as I lowered my eyes and flashed him a shy smile.

Justin smelled delicious and looked so hot with his blond hair, American Eagle shirt and jeans. Honestly, he probably had the best hair of any guy I knew, well maybe except for Roan, he had pretty great hair too, all tousled and spiky looking. It was pretty sexy.

Justin was standing there, gazing at me with his thumbs lazily hooked in his pockets. He looked pretty hot, causing my wild, teenage hormones to scream “Sex, sex, sex”, as I took in his perfection.

Even though most kids my age were hooking up in the back seats of cars, I was still a virgin. And unless I lost my virginity at school or on the back of the school bus, there really wasn’t any opportunity for me to lose it while under Roan’s watch. I swear, I’d be a virgin until I walked down the aisle, if he had anything to say about it.

Justin’s arms were ripped from working out and still lightly tanned with a honeyed summer glow. I wanted to reach out and gently run my fingers up and down his arms and then tangle them in his hair as we kissed passionately.

Instead, we stood there staring at one another like two adolescent fools.

When he broke the tension and shot me a megawatt smile at me, I was overcome with the urge to eat him whole. He was perfect and beautiful and we were going to have a great time tonight. Nothing was going to stop me.

                ***

T
he Dam was the local high school party place. It was far enough outside of town and deep enough in the woods that local parents and the police didn’t venture down there very often. The police usually raided it once a month in the summer and tried to cut down on the underage drinking but it didn’t stop anything, it merely delayed it and the kids were back at it again the next night.

The Dam, was just that, a small water dam that had been constructed back in the 1960’s to stop the river from flooding low lying parts of Spruce Hollow every spring when the melting snow and ice made the river swell higher than was normal. It had been used for decades by generations of local teenagers and it was considered a rite of passage to attend a Dam party at some point in high school.

As far as party spots in the woods went, the Dam was pretty well equipped as somewhere along the line, some forward thinking teenagers had brought in a number of picnic tables up there in the backs of their trucks, so no one would have to sit on the ground. A large circular fire pit had also been built with a number of large rocks piled almost knee high with seating built around it.

The Dam also boasted many secluded spots off the beaten dirt path in the woods, and was a known makeout spot for teenage couples. Over the years, more than a few teenage girls in Spruce Hollow had lost their virginity back at the Dam.

We drove along in Justin’s black Jeep Cherokee, joking around and making sidelong glances at one another.

“Did you have your Jeep at Sabre’s Auto body recently? I saw one there that looked just like this one.” 

“Uh, yeah, I did. I was getting the winter tires put on. Have you ever laid eyes on the dudes that work there? There are three of them and they’re like these enormous, hulking gear heads that work on cars. They’re pretty scary, you should see them.” 

“Oh really? Wow,” I tittered nervously.

The last thing I wanted was for Justin to be made aware of the connection between “these enormous, hulking gear heads” and myself. As far as I was concerned, the less he knew about Roan and vice versa, the better off I was going to be in this whole situation.

As we drove on, I found myself wondering what Justin was thinking or what his expectations were for tonight. Hopefully, they were in line with mine, as my agenda tonight involved overwhelming excitement at simply being on a date with Justin, exhilaration about going to the Dam, nervousness at the prospect of my first alcoholic drink and joyfulness at the possibly my first kiss.

This was more than an exciting experience, it was life changing! I was actually being given permission to grow up! Of course, that permission was being given by none other than myself, but I wasn’t being such a stickler for details.

I felt so naughty and alive to have done such a daring thing behind Roan’s back. What he didn’t know wasn’t going to hurt him and I certainly wasn’t going to tell him about my little adventure to the Dam, that’s for sure.

Sometimes Roan still treated me like a little kid, not a teenaged girl with her own maturing wants and needs. Most of the time, it was useless to even try and tell him how I felt about anything because he was the boss of the universe, apparently. And therefore his word was the law.

But not tonight it wasn’t, so suck it Roan!

We turned off the main road onto a well-traveled dirt road. It had rained quite a bit lately and the dirt road had big ruts cut into it from the tires of frequent visitors from the teenage population of Spruce Hollow. The deeper, water filled ruts made the Jeep and my boobs bounce up and down as we drove over them. I didn’t know if I should cover my chest or hold on to the seat to keep from bouncing. It seemed useless, either way, as the road ahead of us appeared to go on for quite some time.

The Jeep was lurching and bouncing around like mad. It was a good thing that Roan had installed new tires on it. We drove like this in the dark woods for some time, bouncing and maneuvering until the road ended and we finally pulled into a large clearing. It was large, some hundred or more feet across and it’s longest end, and was filled to brimming with all manner of vehicles with 4x4 capability. Trucks, Jeeps, dirt bikes, atv’s, you name it. If you could slam it into “four low”, it was parked here in the clearing. Justin pulled into a space at the end, between two trucks, and we both got out.

“Where is everyone?” I asked curiously, as I hopped out of the Jeep and tried to avoid falling into one of the water filled ruts.

There were only a handful of kids standing around the clearing talking, yet from the sheer number of vehicles parked here, there must be a hundred kids or more running around the woods somewhere.

“We’re not there yet, silly girl,” Justin said as he smiled at me, “Come on, it’s awesome,” he said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards a wide path at the edge of the clearing.