To Live and To Love (Black Wolf Agency Book 1) (5 page)

“So, when did you two meet?” asked Yvonne. With the way you’ve been moping around here lately, who’d of thought that you found someone special? It was more like someone close to you had died.”

“Um,” he began, not quite sure how to reply to that one. “Actually, I met Kate here in the city a while back, when I was on vacation leave. I hadn’t seen her since. Then, last night, she came back, and we decided to rekindle our relationship!” If his aunt only knew how, she would probably blow her top. Considering, also, that she carries a gun. That’s a double whammy. “Apparently she missed me as much as I had missed her.”

‘
Well, it’s sort of the truth,
’ he thought. If things went well, he would probably feel compelled to tell Yvonne the whole story later. He cringed at the thought. How would he explain that he had fallen in love with a vampire over three hundred years old, who had not only died at his apartment a year ago, but had been magically brought back to life by him last night? Luckily, he was in charge of the magical artifact department, or he would have a hell of a time explaining why he took the Resurrection Amulet home with him last night if anyone discovered it was missing. He cringed just thinking what his Aunt would say to that. He would have to sneak it back into its resting place as soon and nonchalantly as possible.

“She must really like you,” said Yvonne, winking at him.

“I don’t just like him, Yvonne; I love him,” said Kate, kissing James on the cheek.

“My, you have the most beautiful French accent!” she said to Kate, making her smile again. Then she addressed James, “I bet you’re glad you took that vacation a year ago, or you would’ve missed out on meeting such a charming young woman!”

“It was one of the best things I’ve done in my life,” he said, smiling at Kate.

She smiled back, her eyes sparkling with happiness.

It was pretty late by the time James and Kate were able to leave
Black Wolf Agency
. She was very happy they had gotten to spend the whole day together. He told her the work he had to do that day would have normally seemed like a snooze fest, but with her there, he had greatly enjoyed the day. Hearing him say that made her so happy. She was a little worried about him being in the field though, as a human he would be more apt to getting injured.

“So, what shall we do tonight?” he asked, grinning at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. Yeah, he knew exactly what he wanted to do, but hey, he was a gentleman, so he would leave it up to her. And if her idea wasn’t the same as his, it didn’t mean he couldn’t change it.

“Hmm, I don’t know,” she said, grinning back at him while grabbing his hand and squeezing it softly. She knew exactly what was on his mind. “I can’t think of anything. Perhaps you have some ideas?”

He stopped walking, smiled, and pulled her close to him as he said, “I can think of a few things.” He leaned in and kissed her. Here was yet another reason why he loved this woman; they always seemed to think alike.

“Mmm, that’s nice,” she said, still smiling at him. “I don’t know if I will ever get enough of your kisses.”

“Me either. I think we better be on our way. Don’t you?” he said, kissing her again. She nodded and smiled, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight, as she gazed up at him.

About halfway back to James’s apartment, Kate thought she heard strange noises behind them, but James hadn’t seemed to notice, so she thought nothing of it. Perhaps it was a leaf blowing along the sidewalk.

Then she heard it again, and this time it was louder.

“What was that?” she asked James, not seeing anything when she whirled around to check if there was anything behind them.

“I don’t know. I didn’t hear anything,” he answered.

“There’s someone following us. I heard them twice and now I can smell them,” she told him. There was an odd smell that hadn’t been there a moment ago. It was a musky odor that seemed familiar, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“We better keep moving,” he said, grabbing her hand. She hesitated, but decided that hurrying back to the apartment was their best bet.

Upon reaching an alley, Kate remembered this would be the most dangerous part of their trip. It was very dark and dreary in this particular alley and there never seemed to be any people around. After they left James’s apartment that morning, he had explained to her that taking this route saves about five minutes of walking. Places which were far worse than this had never frightened her in the past. However, with someone, or something possibly following them that night, the thought of being in that alley definitely frightened her.

They hurried as fast as they could down the alley, and about halfway, they were both startled by the sound of several rapid thuds on the ground behind them. They turned around, and James glanced at Kate for a second, noticing the horrified look on her face as she stared into the darkness. Then, they stepped backwards out into the moonlight, and so did their stalker.

It was like nothing James had ever seen before. The beast that was approaching them mostly resembled a wolf, but was larger in proportion and had a far more frightening appearance. It resembled the pictures of the Dire Wolves James had read about a long time ago. At the time, he thought it would’ve been terrifying to encounter one of those, if they weren’t extinct. And now, they were face-to-face with a similar, but far more fierce creature as it bared its large teeth and snarled at them.

“Hell, the one time I don’t have any weapons on me,” said James, the nervousness apparent in his voice. Even though he hadn’t seen a creature like this in person before, he was fairly certain it was a werewolf. Though he knew very little about werewolves, he did know that they were notorious for hunting down and killing vampires, and would be able to destroy anything else in their paths, for that matter. Damn it, he had not gotten to them in his training yet. It figures.

“I’d say we should run, but even with me carrying you, we would never make it. I’ve seen these things run. They are fast.” Kate explained.

“When did you see-?!” he started to say, but at that second, the creature lunged at Kate, cutting off the rest of James’s sentence. James quickly jumped between her and the beast, but before he could react, after pushing Kate out of the way behind him, he felt it sink its teeth into his arm. Kate had been right; the beast was fast. He tried to fight it off, but it continued to attack him, yanking on his arm and whipping him around like a rag doll. His only thoughts,
‘Hey, this is definitely going to be the end of me. I’m going to be ripped apart by a creature I’ve just seen for the first time, while with my vampire girlfriend, who probably won’t make it out of this alive either. This could possibly turn out to be a shitty day.’

Then, out of nowhere, the beast was thrown backwards away from him, and Kate stood her ground between the two of them, snarling at the beast with her teeth bared.

“No, Kate!” he yelled desperately.

“Run, James!” she yelled to him, but he couldn’t. He was frozen in place, not in shock from what was happening, but afraid for her life. He knew that being a vampire and possessing superhuman strength and speed, she was probably capable of taking down the beast, but he never wanted to take that chance. He quickly tried to think of any possible way to help her, but everything happened so fast.

The wolf lunged at her, but she was too quick for it. She disappeared just before the beast was able to sink its teeth into her. Reappearing, she leapt upon its back, grabbed its head with both hands, and twisted hard, brutally snapping its neck. The werewolf flopped to the ground, lifeless.

“Kate! Are you alright?” asked James, rushing over to her. She quickly got up and grabbed his hand, holding it tight as they stared at the beast for a moment, both of them breathing heavily. As they came down from their adrenaline high, the dead animal slowly took the form of an ordinary-looking, male human, dressed in shabby clothing.

They looked away from the dead man in front of them, and as their gazes met, they each let out a sigh of relief. At that moment, they were simply thankful to be alive.

“That was a close one,” said James, a little winded. ‘
Another comment to write in the ‘
James’s Diary of Silly Comebacks
’. Shit, a freaking werewolf.
’ What the hell was he going to tell the cleaning crew? He had to call it in; he would hate it if some small kid happened upon the dead body. But he had to get Kate home, in case there were more werewolves out there. That was his first priority.

“Yes, it sure was. Do you recognize that guy?” Kate asked hopefully

James wondered if he had missed something on the Wanted Posters in the lounge. “No, not at all.” James’s eyes met Kate’s, and he could tell she was still worried. She grabbed his arm, pulled up his jacket sleeve, and stared at his wound, horrified.

“He really did bite you!” She studied the wound closely to see how deep the teeth marks were. Judging by the amount of blood there was, no arteries had been punctured, even though a couple of the teeth marks were close to severing a main artery in his wrist. “Everything happened so fast, I didn’t see whether or not his teeth punctured your skin through the sleeve.”

“Yes, but I’m fine,” he insisted. “It’s not bleeding badly. I’ll be okay.” At least, he hoped. “It’s you that I’m worried about.” He played it off like it was nothing, but he had a hunch what a bite from that creature would do to him.

“I’m fine. He didn’t bite me. However, when he bit you, he may have…” she started, unable to finish her sentence. “There’s only one way I can save you from this. I’ll have to suck on the wound to try to get the contaminants out of your blood before it’s too late.”

“Uh, what are you talking about?” James said and pulled his arm back.

“They have an enzyme in their saliva that can change you, and since he broke the skin with his teeth, you’re in danger,” Kate frantically explained.

“Well, screw me sideways, are you kidding me?” James asked, looking from his arm to her face and back again. He felt a little sick.

“James we don’t have time to talk about this. It’s either I try, or we take a chance.” Kate said briskly.

“Go ahead, I trust you,” he told her. He was more afraid of what was in his blood, than what she could do to him.

She pressed her lips to the bite on his arm and, without using her teeth, she sucked on it. Only a few seconds later, she jumped back, hissing loudly, her fangs bared.

“I couldn’t do it any longer. I’m afraid I’ll kill you,” she said, closing her eyes in shame. She just couldn’t bring herself to tell him how good his blood had tasted to her, or how hard she was fighting, at that very moment, to keep herself from drinking more.

“Did you get all of it?” he asked, still worried. He couldn’t help but think
, ‘Gosh, could this get any worse?’

“I believe so, but only time will tell. I’ve done this once before and was successful then, so your chances are good.” God, how she hoped she was right.

“That’s good,” he sighed in relief. “In all my time working at
Black Wolf Agency
, I’ve never seen one of those creatures before. Is he what I think he is?” He knew what the creature was, but how he wished Kate would tell him differently.

She sighed, walked up to him, and wrapped her arms around his waist. Then, while looking into his eyes, she answered his question. “Yes, he’s a werewolf.”