The Violet Hour (The Violet Hour Series) (14 page)

“
Totally
away?” I questioned.

“I’ve noticed people can sense something’s not right when I’m near.  We were designed to be killing machines.  It’s a natural instinct for others to be wary of us, something they don’t even consciously realize.  No different than the fear you feel if you’re around a bear or a shark.  You may have never seen a bear or shark attack in your life, but you know something’s not right and you avoid being alone with one.  Although,
maybe
that’s a bad example,” he smirked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you’re sitting here with me now.  I’m holding your hand.  I’ve taken you to dinner…or at least tried.  Maybe
you
wouldn’t be afraid of a bear or shark,” he joked.

“I’m not afraid of you,” I said with hesitation.

“Good, I don’t want you to be afraid of me,” he said softly but matter-of-factly. 

“Have you ever killed anything or anyone before?” I asked.  I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the answer, but the question spilled out.

“I have.”

“What?”  Surely I didn’t want to know, but my brain was on vomit mode, spitting out whatever it was thinking.

“Well, I’ve killed other animals.  And, other werewolves.”

“Other werewolves?” I whispered slowly enough that I drew out each word.  He didn’t reply. 

“The Elder warned my parents that no one was to ever know we were werewolves.  We weren’t alone and if discovered, we’d have to answer to Xavier, an older, more powerful European wolf, and his pack.  But, the Apache woman already knew we were in danger because your mother and father knew our secret.  She refused to leave the ranch until the matter was resolved.  So, she cursed Kevin and Michelle…”

His voice went on, but I didn’t hear the words.  I was lost again as soon as he said ‘Michelle.’  My mother could have lived
forever
. 

“Was my mother killed by werewolves?” I asked boldly, interrupting Luke mid-sentence.

Luke tilted his head and stared.  I had either missed by a mile or hit a home run, but couldn’t tell.  I started to go numb, fearing the latter.  I felt light-headed, sick to my stomach.

“Are you all right, Logan?” he asked frantically, locking his eyes on mine.

“What time is it?” I asked faintly.

I couldn’t hear Luke’s answer.  The last thing I remember was the grey sky.

Andrea Wells – The Violet Hour

Chapter 15

I violently thrashed against the force of being shaken.  The icy sensation of horror jolt through my veins as I stared up at Luke crouching over me with his hands in a death-grip around my shoulders.  He didn’t say a word as I watched three wolves surround us in the grass.  Luke watched the wolves move in on us, I tried to scream, but my voice was trapped.  He knew I was trying to scream, because Luke looked down at me as if in pity.  He began violently shaking me again, his hands sliding up to my throat. 

I abruptly opened my eyes to see Kate leaning over me, her hands on my shoulders.

“Logan, are you okay?” she asked frantically.

“Where’s Luke?” I demanded.

“He left for town with your dad; he probably won’t be back for another hour.  What happened, sweetie, are you okay?” she asked, anxiously.

“I had… a… bad dream…” I trailed off as I turned to look out the window, rubbing my head.  Kate took her hands off me and I felt someone at the door.

“LUKE!” I screamed, knowing it was him before even turning around. 

He threw his arms around me as tears filled my eyes. 

“It’s okay, I’m here now,” he mumbled into my hair.  Behind Luke, I faintly heard Kate explaining to my father I’d just woken.

“What happened?” I asked. I felt disoriented – what day was it and why was I in bed fully dressed? 

“You passed out on the porch,” Luke paused, “…again.  And, I carried you to bed.  You seemed to have snapped out of it, but you said you felt nauseous, so Kate brought you a little food and water.  You had a drink and just drifted to sleep.”  He frowned.

I didn’t say anything.  I didn’t remember any of it, but I did feel nauseous.  I leaned into his chest, ignoring the audience.

“What was the dream about?” my dad asked.  It was the first time anyone had dared to ask about my night terrors. 

“It was similar to the dream I have every night, only it seemed more real this time,” I choked.

I sat up when no one said anything.

“I know I’ve told you this before, but stick close to our house, okay?  I don’t want to scare you, but you know things that could get you killed.”  And with that last detail, everything slowly started clicking.

“Alexander was the guy who came up to us after the parade, right?” I asked looking at Luke for confirmation.

“Yes.”

“And, he’s a werewolf?”

“Yes,” Luke answered without hesitation.

“Do, you mean to tell me he knows that
I
know you’re all werewolves – and now he’s trying to kill me?”

Everyone looked at each other.

“Tell me!” I snapped.  “I’m sick and tired of everyone asking me to trust them but only giving me pieces to the puzzle.  Since I already know
what
you are, someone needs to fill in the holes of this story.  If I’m in danger, I deserve to know what I could be dying for!”  The words flowed freely, pushed along by weeks of pent-up anger.

“No one is going to let you get hurt, Logan!” my dad interjected.  “Do you know where Jack and Jesse are right now?  They’re protecting you.  We all take turns patrolling the property day and night.  They’ll have to get through all of us before they ever lay a hand on you.”

My dad looked to the floor and sighed deeply.  It almost appeared as if he was in physical pain.  Kate put her hand on his back as if to soothe him but he shook off her hand and stalked out of the room.  She looked at me with worry as we listened to my dad stomp heavily down the stairs, slamming the front door.

“He will make sure everything is okay, Logan.  Please trust him.  He’s only upset because he wouldn’t wish this upon anyone, especially not his daughter,” Kate pleaded. 

She rose without another word, and lightly walked out of the room, likely to go comfort my dad.

I pulled my knees to my chest to rest my chin on them while tears spilled through my closed eyes.  When he wiped a tear from my cheek, Luke gave me a reason to open them.    

“Please don’t worry.  I swear on my entire life to protect you.  And trust me… that’s a long time,” he tried to joke.  I cracked a slight smile that faded as quickly as it came.

Luke pulled his legs onto the bed and brought his knees into his chest, resting his chin on his knees too.  His face was directly in front of me as if a mirror image.  Our toes were overlapping and our noses were nearly touching.  He took that deep recognizable breath while I held mine.

“Logan, I love you.  I don’t expect you to say it back to me now, but I have from the moment we met.  I would never let anything happen to you.  I’ve waited my entire life to meet someone like you and now I’ll do whatever I can to not lose you.”

His voice was shaky and low.  His sweet breath rolled across my face and my senses were overpowered. 

“Breathe,” he whispered.

I swallowed a gulp of air and leaned close to his lips, gazing deep into his eyes. 

He closed his eyes and pressed his lips deliberately against mine.

The kiss was soft and slow, but the longer we kissed the greater I thirsted for more.  I leaned closer to him, pulling him tight against me and ran my fingers lightly along the exposed skin of his neck.  I felt him shiver and he pulled away quickly, putting distance between us.

“I have to take care of a few things in the barn, I’ll be outside if you need me,” he stuttered softly.

“What if I need you now?” I asked.

He chuckled devilishly and pecked my cheek quickly, not allowing himself to linger too long.  A mix of disappointment and happiness washed over me when he closed the door behind him.  Though I wanted him to stay, I wanted him to go.  I needed time to clear my head.  I usually didn’t have a weak stomach or react to things so transparently, but then again, no one had ever told me they were a
werewolf
before.  He’d given me
so
much to think about that my brain was about to give up. I needed time to let it sink in. 

As I propped myself against the window I reached for my copy of
Romeo and Juliet
.  I was ahead in class still, but we had a test Monday morning.  More importantly, reading would help me not think about wolves.  Just as I opened the book, my phone started buzzing on the nightstand.  I reached for it but didn’t answer when I saw Lindsey’s name highlighted on the screen.  I let it roll to voicemail.

“Logan?  It’s Lindsey.  Look, I know you’re screening your calls and I’ve said I’m sorry over and over again to your voicemail and I’m sure you haven’t listened to any of them, but I’m saying it again.  I’m sorry.  I miss you and we need to talk because I want to come see you for your birthday.  Call me back.  Please.”

She sounded slurred and genuinely upset.  I missed her too, but was not about to let that overshadow what she’d done.  I certainly wasn’t going to let her come to Wyoming either.  There was too much going on and her drama was the last thing I needed.  I deleted her voicemail like I had every other and placed my phone back on the nightstand.

I started reading and a few paragraphs in, my phone went off again. I rolled my eyes when I saw it was Brody calling instead of the other normal suspect.  What a joke!  She probably called him, or better yet, they were probably together.  The thought angered me enough to pick up the call.

“Hello,” I answered.

“Hey, it’s Brody.  What’s up?”

“Not much, just doing homework.  What about you?” I asked casually, waiting for the truth to come out.

“I’m on my way to lunch.  What are you doing right now?” he pried.

“Working on homework, like I just said.  What do you want, Brody?” 

“I just called to see how you’re doing, that’s all.  Have you made any friends yet or met any guys?” 

“I have met some guys…and some girls.  They usually come in either one form or the other,” I hissed, not realizing until I said the words how untrue that statement really was.

“Jeez, you don’t have to get testy.  I just haven’t talked to you today and wanted to see what the deal was.  You were on your way to a high school football game last night which isn’t something you normally do… so I thought I’d check up on you.  Don’t get angry at me for caring, Logan,” he snapped.  I knew him better than that.

“Did
Lindsey
call you?” I pressed.

“No, what makes you think that?”

“Because she just called and I didn’t answer.  Then, magically, you call a few minutes later.”

He didn’t respond.  She must’ve been with him.

“Brody, look… I told you I am not going to play games with you or her.  You and I can be decent and have a normal conversation, but what goes on – or doesn’t go on – between Lindsey and I is between us.  And don’t call me when you’re with her.”  I hung up before he could respond. 

Now that my reading had been interrupted twice, I decided to give up before I ruined the chapter.  I tossed the phone back onto my nightstand as it started vibrating again and pulled open the top drawer, grabbing the notes Luke had written.  It seemed like there was one in there for every day I’d been in Wyoming.  I read through each one again.  Some of them he’d written while we weren’t speaking.  Some of them were short, some quite longer. I carefully put the notes back, my heart a flutter.

“I need fresh air,” I muttered to myself, grabbed my Chanel purse and headed downstairs. 

“Where are you going?” Kate questioned when I walked into the kitchen.

“Into town to do a little shopping.  I’ll be sure to stay in public places,” I said, hoping it was good enough for her to let me out of the house without an escort.

“Well, be careful.”

“I will.”  I sighed with relief – I definitely didn’t need Kate hovering over me the rest of the afternoon.

I hurried out of the house before she changed her mind.  When I opened the garage, I noticed my car had been recently washed.  I tapped the unlock button and grabbed the door handle.  When I opened the door my heart jumped up into my throat.

“You didn’t think I’d let you go into town alone, did you?” Luke said slyly.  My heart hammered its way back down my chest, while I tried not to pass out.

“You scared the crap out of me, Luke!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.  But did you really think your dad was going to let you out of the house that easily?  He’s been preaching to stay inside or take someone with you wherever you go for weeks now.”

“I wasn’t worried about it and neither should you,” I spit, short of breath.  I couldn’t believe after fainting earlier he thought surprising me was funny.

“I
do
worry about it, Logan.”       

I slid into my seat after he got out and escorted me to the passenger side.  I smiled as he sat in the driver’s seat, waiting for me to fasten my seatbelt. 

“Where are you taking me?” I asked, after we’d driven in silence nearly the entire way to town. 

“Wherever you’d like, but I thought I could get you something for your birthday since it’s this Wednesday.  Tell me what you want and it’s yours.”

“I don’t need you to buy me anything.  My step-father gave me a substantial amount of money before I left.”

“I know, I’ve seen all the stuff you have, I carried it all upstairs, remember?  But, that’s not the point.  I’d like to buy you something nice.  I
want
to buy you a gift.”

I gave up, flattered by his gesture.  Brody never bothered to buy me gifts because he knew I could and would buy what I wanted when I wanted it.

“So,” I said, shifting the conversation.  “Where does your money come from?  You obviously don’t work.”

“Saving and reinvesting.  If the bank only knew I’ve been a customer for a hundred or so years, they might give me a better interest rate,” he kidded. 

“And my dad?”

“Same.  Your parents and my parents really did have money invested in silver and the ranch.  When my parents died, my brothers and I inherited their fortune.”

“Then, why don’t you have your own place, fancy cars and trucks and all of that?”

“I’ve done that before but I’m sort of in a different phase right now, I guess.  I love this area and just want to fit in.  My parents passing really brought me closer to my brothers. The comfort and familiarity of being grounded and close to home is good for me.  One day, I want to share that with a family of my own.”

My heart fluttered and I allowed myself a quick peek at him.  He was waiting for my eyes and smiled when he caught my stare, leaving me wondering if he could sense the mixed feelings racing through me. 

“I’ve seen a lot of places in the last hundred years, but I like Sheridan, Wyoming the most.  We all do, actually.  It offers everything we need to be happy.  I wish we could stay right here forever.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” I asked.

“Well, when you never age, people eventually start to notice.”

“People never noticed my mother,” I offered.

“They did, but in Hollywood that’s normal.  She never looked older and they blamed it on plastic surgery.  Same thing with your father, people around here just think he’s aging gracefully with the help of scalpels and needles.”