Successors (26 page)

If the werewolf fell for her bait, she would assume that Vince had given in and was sneaking off for a tete-ta-tete.

She turned into the park and waited by a big metal statue of some man that must have done something important to earn him a big metal statue. A brief thought crossed her mind as she looked up at him: He probably never had to deal with werewolves in heat.

“I wasn’t going to follow you,” a woman with a thick French accent said behind her. Cori turned in time to see her approach. The lanky French woman looked like she had just stepped out of a business meeting with her dark gray skirt-suit and black heels. “I’m Leona.” She grimaced as she looked Cori up and down. “You’re a good deal shorter than him, and your smell is distinctly human, undoubtedly female… and you’re blond.” She brandished her hateful appraisal of Cori’s efforts, despite them being adequate enough to lure her out.

“Why
did
you follow me?” she asked.

Leona shrugged apathetically. “You seemed to want my attention. I hope this wasn’t a lame attempt to help Vince escape. He isn’t that stupid, is he?”

“No, I wanted to talk to you alone.”

Leona laughed. “Please.” She turned to walk away.

“Wait.” Cori jumped in front of her, removing her hat. “I need to speak with you.”

Leona blinked as if she couldn’t comprehend what her eyes were showing her. “You have no say in this.” She pushed past her with a firm shove that Cori sensed was restrained.

“He is mine!” Cori yelled after her. Leona turned back. Cori suspected that her ego was just as contentious as Vince’s.

“
That
is what makes it oh, so sweet.” Her melodic tone draped her words with a pinch of conceit and a handful of ardor. “We females feel it is our duty to choose werewolves that are content in their lives. We like to disrupt that.”

“You just enjoy being a bitch?” Cori regretted the insult the minute she said it, but Leona didn’t flinch at it.

“It’s hard to explain, since I doubt you know the entire truth about werewolves.” Leona moved to an open bench and sat. She crossed her finely chiseled legs that had no need for panty hose. Cori hated leggy women; pure jealousy, of course. She wasn’t particularly short, but she certainly fell on the side of chicken legs. “We feel it is our obligation as women to break up the relationships between human females and male werewolves.”

“Obligation? You’re telling me you’re doing me a favor?”

“How long have you been with Vince?”

“About six months.” Cori wasn’t sure if she should be honest, but she got the feeling Leona might smell a lie… literally.

“Then yes, I am doing you a favor.” Leona patted the bench for her to sit. “You should break up with him before the one-year mark.”

“Why, because you want him?” she asked.

Leona guffawed, losing her enigmatic facade. “God, no, I only want his fertility. Truth be told, female and male werewolves can’t stand each other. We are the fracture of the same creature. That doesn’t mesh well. One always has to be submissive in a relationship, or it doesn’t work. Our males rarely appreciate that privilege like human men do. Human men rather enjoy it.”

Cori decided to sit with her to force the camaraderie even further. She could smell the pungent perfume on Leona. It was a wonder she could smell anything beyond herself. “He says he can’t stop you. Is that true?”

“You doubt his honesty?”

“No, I just doubt myself. I don’t mind being the submissive one, but I don’t want to be the naive one.”

Leona smiled at her and nodded. “As I said, we are not male and female like other animals, we are the same animal. Our procreation is as vital and irresistible as water is to you. He told you that once I have chosen a mate, I can’t change my mind?”

“Sort of,” she said, doubting it still.

“Well, I can’t. For whatever reasons, hormones, whatever, I can’t pick another. His scent is all I crave. I won’t even eat again until I’ve had him.”

Cori looked away from her. The suggestion of this woman having Vince made her ill. “There is no way that you would be able to leave him alone?”

“Short of you putting a silver bullet in my chest.” Cori jerked back to face her. Leona laughed. “I was certainly not suggesting you try. I would likely kill you before you got it near me, but even so, werewolves have few penetrable areas. Besides, silver is more of an irritant than a guaranteed killer.” Leona tipped her brow. “The best you could do is make me severely ill.”

“Would that allow you to leave Vince alone?” Cori asked it sarcastically, but she was actually considering this as an option over planned cheating.

Leona lost her levity. “You really think you have a chance against me, don’t you?”

Cori sighed and leaned back on the bench. There was something easy about speaking to a woman that she knew could kick her ass with her pinky. There was no tension, no question of what to do or say. She was powerless against her, so she might as well just be honest. “I don’t mean to insult you, but I need you to understand how important Vince is to me.”

“I can see that six months is already too long for you.” Leona stood up, dusting off any particles the park bench may have left on her designer skirt. “You know, if you went to jail for murder, or
attempted
murder, Vince wouldn’t be here waiting for you.”

“Of course he would.”

“No, I promise you, even a few years in jail and you would be without the very man you were defending. You can certainly ask him why, but I doubt he would tell you.”

“You’re just saying this to put distrust in our relationship.” Cori stood.

Leona returned to her and leaned in closely, nearly rubbing cheeks with her. Cori got another whiff of her perfume and the underlying musk that it was masking. “There is already distrust there, or you wouldn’t have come to see me.” As she leaned back, she raised her hand to cradle Cori’s chin. Once again, knowing the woman’s strength, she didn’t resist. “As a werewolf, I find kindred spirits far more often in women than men. So, let me say with candor that you will only be hurt by staying in this relationship, but if you do stay with him, I wish you the best of love…. and strength.”

Cori was held hypnotized by her words. Leona leaned in and pressed her lips against hers for a tender kiss, a gentle gesture that was as confusing and cryptic as the rest of their conversation. Leona was gone long before Cori truly felt her absence.

Disappointed by their meeting, but satisfied that Vince was without options, she shook off her daze and returned to the apartment.

49

When she arrived home, Vince was still asleep, so she put his coat back and went into the kitchen to make something to eat. She decided on dessert instead of an actual meal and started making cookies. It was a nice benign task that took her mind off… everything. Plus, any benign task that emptied your mind
and
resulted in sweet chewy goodness was a good thing.

After the first tray went into the oven, she stuck her finger in the batter to take a taste. She raised her finger to her mouth but before she could eat it, a firm grip simultaneously grabbed her waist and her wrist. She squealed and fought for her delicious bite.

She was no match, of course, and her finger found its way into a different mouth. She giggled as he took the opportunity to not just eat the dough, but suck her finger. She couldn’t help but blush at his suggestive play.

She turned around and smiled at him. He smiled and drew himself close to her, letting his face tower over her. “How thoughtful of you to make me cookies.”

“These aren’t for you. They’re all for me.”

“Are they? I bet I could convince you to share.” He kissed her forehead. “That’s one of your attractive qualities.” He kissed her nose. “You always offer so much of yourself to me.” He kissed her lips, a rich, deep kiss that made her instantly forget everything that was keeping her away from him.

His lips ripped away prematurely. He took a half step back and looked over her with panic in his eyes. He sniffed her neck and face.

“What is it?” she said, surprised that he would break away from a kiss, especially such a heated one.

“You met with her today?” He looked at her, deadly serious. His eyes flashed with anger and concern.

Cori’s heart skipped a beat, and she felt instantly hot in the face. She licked her lips, no longer confused by the sweet gesture. “Calm down.”

“You did!” He turned and punched an innocent wall. The drywall was no match and cracked.

“Deposit, hello!” she reminded him.

He turned back to her and frantically searched her body for cuts, bruises, and bites.

“It was a civil meeting. She wasn’t violent, nor was I.”

“What did you discuss? Me?”

“What else would we speak of? Without you in the mix, we would never have crossed paths.” Cori defended against her manhandling with the back of a wooden spoon. One pop was enough to bring him out of his search.

“I don’t want you speaking to her.” Vince put up a hand, now smudged with chocolate, his parental finger wagging in her face.

“Vince, I already did.”

“Why did you speak to her?” He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her, apparently to make the stupidity fall out of her.

“To verify your story and make sure there was nothing I could do to stop her.”

“Verify!” His hands were up, his hands were out; eventually he folded them in prayer before his face to keep them still. “You didn’t believe me?” His eyes were angry, but his voice faltered on the accusation.

“I trust you with my life, Vince. I am still practicing on trusting you with my heart. As strange as it sounds, I came closer to that conviction today. Speaking with her helped me understand what you are up against. She is a mean and spiteful creature and she won’t do either of us any favors.”

“I…” He seemed to struggle not to yell. “I could have told you that.”

“You did tell me that, but seeing it in person has helped. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, but I must be as honest with you about my concerns as you have been with yours. You asked me to make this decision. I had to get firsthand knowledge.”

Vince nodded at that, but his mouth tightened. “I don’t want you to see her again. I don’t trust her not to hurt you just to spite me. Male and female werewolves don’t mesh well socially.”

Cori nodded so he knew she wasn’t ignoring him. “I understand that concern, but I think it’s unwarranted, at least for the moment.”

“For the moment? What does that mean?” Vince rubbed his face, barely containing his angst. With their deposit at stake, he tucked his hands under his arms.

“I just mean our meeting was civil. Thus far I have nothing to fear from her, and clearly I have nothing for her to fear. Though I very much wish I did.”

“So you’ve met her. You understand. You… believe me.” Vince backed away from her and took a few calming breaths. “Cori, what do you want me to do?”

“I’ve thought about that.” Her eyes glazed over and she licked the back of the wooden spoon.

Vince paused. “And…?”

She looked at him in mid-lick. She couldn’t avoid saying it out loud any longer. “I would prefer for you to give in to her. Just let it be over with, and after a lot of hot showers, I’m sure I will turn the other cheek, and we will go on as before.”

Vince looked disappointed, but his body relaxed. It may not have been the answer he expected from her, but it was an answer, and that must have been a relief to him. He moved a little farther from her, as far as the tiny kitchenette would allow without simply leaving the room. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and leaned on the upper cupboards.

“This is why I’ve led a mostly one-night-stand lifestyle. I never wanted to put anyone through this. I shouldn’t be putting
you
through this! I should have left you! It would have been for your own good. You would have hated me and moved on.”

Her chest ached with the words he was saying. She shook her head. “No, I would have been so bitter I never would have spoken to a man again. I’m happy to be with you, Vince, more happy than I ever thought possible. I understand dating a werewolf is difficult, but I will take on that burden, and you must release it. I have chosen this just as much as you.”

Vince moved to her and knelt before her, hugging her body. “I promise I will make our life together as wonderful as possible, outside of these horrible moments.”

“I know.” She pet his head all the while staring off into nothingness, thinking about her conversation with Leona, and wondering how many more horrible moments there would be.

50

Long legs entered the café. Leona’s lean figure was adorned with another power suit, this time a solid black skirt-suit. The skirt was several inches shorter than any respectable employer would allow, and the white satin shirt she wore under her blazer offered a clear view of her small but perky cleavage. Cori couldn’t help but feel self-conscious in the woman’s presence.

She looked down at her jeans that were stained with Vince’s paint. Her chicken legs were a sad consolation prize. No matter how much Vince said otherwise, there was no way he couldn’t enjoy being with Leona.