Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (20 page)

“
That is brilliant
.
I
must admit that I am rather fond of
your blonde hair, it does not fit you
in the least
, a
nd that is what makes it work…if that rubbish made any sense at all
.”

I will admit, it didn’t make sense
even to me.

Jay Dee shook her head, giving me a look I had been getting often from her on this little holiday, the remind-me-again-why-I-have-not-staked-you-yet look.

“What would you like to do now, or do you have to work?”
I asked, desperately trying to change the subject.

“I’ve already played hooky from school, I may as well call in to work
as well,” she
said
with a shrug. “
Why, what did you have in mind?”

There
are
so many options but which do I choose?
There i
s no way in hell that
she would
let me take her shopping.

“Would you like to meet me mum, not me biological mum,
however
she is
the only mum I have and know,” I offered. “
I think she will
fancy you…I will make lunch,” I quickly added the latter.

Her lips twisted into a
contemplative pout before she laughed. “I’d like that very much, Mr. Ashton.
”

My boss…uncle,
didn’t care that
I called in
to work
.
He assured me that we didn’t have anything on the books to do anyway
, and that he would have most likely sent one of us home early
.
He promised to call
my parents
to let them know that I was safe, and was just having one of those days.
Uncle Joe
was human; he
married
my dad’s sister who
was
a werewolf
, so
he was pretty
easy going about
that type of stuff
.
His biggest argument with my parents
was
to just let me be a girl, to be a kid; he
felt
that
I was
being forced into a life I
didn’t
want and
was not entirely
ready for.

Usually I’d argue with him and side with my parents, but at that moment I was feeling that Uncle Joe was right, and my anything but stable breakdown that morning was testament to just how not ready for the world I truly was.

Tanis sang loudly with the radio
as he drove
.
He wasn’t b
ad, but his Britney Spears sing-
over was five octaves lower than his normal voice and it made him sound
like a
strange pre-op transsexual or drag queen
with his balls tucked much too tight
.

It was hilarious to say the least.

I
knew that Tanis was only
doing it to cheer me up.
He threw his dignity out the window while we waited for the first ferry
. H
e told me of some of his exploits from when h
e was younger, and they always ended the same way;
in utter embarrassment.
Most boys would
have done
whatever it took to bury the type
s
of stories that he was telling me in order to save face,
but each had me laughing, and
I was rather confident
that was what he was trying to accomplish.

Not many would have done that…no one would have done it.

The drive to his house seemed exceptionally long due to the
unfamiliar area
and my nerves
.
Once he had turned onto the long winding driveway
,
which
was bordered by thick woods on both sides,
making it exceptionally scary and horror movie’esque,
I
started to get even more nervous
.

“Your mom…
I mean, she isn’t going to try t
o sample me or something, right?
” I nervously asked.

Tanis roared with laughter, nearly driving off the road in the process.
“No. But
tell me
something
, Duckie, why would you ask that about me mum
yet
you have never asked that about me, and
we have been together a lot as of late
?”
he asked, overly amused.

I scrunched my nose up while I thought about it,
chewing on my bottom
lip
in the process
.
“
It’s only been twenty-four hours,” I countered, trying to stall for time.

He cocked an eyebrow, looking over at me with an amused look on his face.

“Whatever,” I snorted and he chuckled. “
I trust you, as strange as that is for me to say.
And since I don’t know your mom,
I’m apprehensive.
Besides, when you take someone home and your mom or dad
doesn’t
approve, the worst they get is kicked out of the house with the warning to never return or they’ll be running on three legs.
With vampires it could be different.
Is she going to chase me out of the house with her fangs?” I
asked before making
fangs with m
y fingers in front of my mouth.
“Get out
! G
rrrr out,” I hissed, attacking his shoulder with my finger fangs.

Again
, he roared with laughter.
“Oh my god.
You are going to h
ave to do that to me mum. She will think it is bloody
brilliant!”

“Ha ha, no.
You didn’t answer my question.”

“I hate to point this out to you, Duckie, but I do not
think you
actually
asked anything,” he pointed out.

True, I hadn’t.

“Howeve
r, I will humor you, funny bird,” he said. “
She
will not
chase you out
of the house
with fangs, stakes, holy water, crosses, or silver bullets
.” He laughed again
.
“I think that
she will
find you amusing,
just
as
I do.
She is
a very easygoing person who is filled with more love and compassion than ten
vampires
put together.
She is
amazing;
you will
love her.
Everyone does,” he
assured me with a smile.

There was warmth in his eyes and expression as he talked about his mom.
I wonder
ed
if I
looked
the same when talking about my parents or brother.
I
hoped I did.

When the trees thinned, their
house
came into view and I cringed
;
three
or
four
of my house could have
easily
fit into it.

It
was
a magnificent
home
wit
h three stories of cedar, stone
and glass, a large six-car garage, and a wraparound porch.
It
fit
into the natural b
eauty of the Pacific Northwest and
it
was un
like anything I had ever seen before.

It was
honestly
beautiful
and beyond words
.

Add another thing to the
long
list of problems with try
ing to pursue this sexy vampire
:
he’s out of my league on so many levels that it’s not even funny.

“
What has you gutted now
?”
Tanis asked
when I
hadn’t made
any attempt to get out of the SUV
once
he parked it in the front of the house.

“Just noticing something,” I whispered.

“What?”
he anxiously asked.

I laughed once, humorlessly.
“
Mr. Ashton, you
are way out of my league.
You’re fancy French cheese with a n
ame that I can’t even pronounce
and I’m government cheese that’s comparable to Velveeta’s ugly redhead stepchild.”

Tanis laughed.
“
Duckie,
I have no idea what in the
bloody
hell you
are
going on
about, but let me show you around.”
He was around to my door before I registered that he had even gotten out of the SUV, and he offered me his hand.

Reluctantly I took it
and reveled in its temperature and velvety soft texture.
To my surprise, and relief, Tanis
continued to hold my hand as he escorted
me up the front steps and through the large double glass doors that marked the entrance.

“Mum,
I am
home!” he called out, pulling me through the large slate foyer.

My eyes wandered around the area taking it all in; soaring twenty-four foot ceilings, a large gla
ss and wrought iron chandelier marked the center of the expansive foyer with a matching
spiraling stair case that wrapped along one wall. There was a library to the left
and a formal sitting room to the right, both
adorned with leather furniture and breathtaking woodwork and light fixtures.

“Hello, Son,” a woman called
said
from the top of the staircase
. “What is
this?
You
have
brought company?” she asked
as she effortlessly floated
down the stairs at a human pace.

The woman wasn’t what I was expecting
, to say the least
.

Instead
of a pale, older-looking woman, that looked, well, to put it bluntly,
like a vampire, I found myself staring at a
slightly shorter than I, young
er
, dark-skinned Tunisian beauty.
I couldn’t help but stare
at her, she was beautiful
; light green eyes, thick black hair
that hung to the top of her hips in a single braid, long, thick lashes, dark skin that was flawless, she appeared to be in her
mid-thirties
, if that
. S
he was wearing a bright teal, silk
sari
that
si
nuously wrapped around her body
, showing her amazing figure.