Chapter 4 - Not human?

ANNA COULDN’T SHAKE the feeling that she had to run, but it made sense after the injuries she sustained. It was clear that she didn’t injure herself, according to the doctor, but what happened to her? Who would have injured her so badly and then left her for dead? She could feel that there was more that Collin and his family weren’t telling her, but since she was a guest in their house, she didn’t want to push her luck. As they were walking down one of the garden paths, she noticed someone disappearing behind a tree and she was once again reminded of her previous thoughts about this being some kind of cult.

“What religion are you?” The question was out before she could help herself and her eyes grew wide as she looked at Collin. “I’m sorry!” She gasped. She had no idea if she was someone who didn’t beat around the bush or not, but that was really way overboard!

“It’s okay,” Collin laughed, putting her at ease. He looked ahead and pointed at a bench under a tree. “Shall we sit down?” He asked and she nodded and she could see that he was thinking things through before answering her. “I guess you can say that we are spiritual and not a specific religion.” He looked as though he was finding it incredibly difficult to explain and she suddenly wondered if she was right! They were a cult of some sort! “We keep to ourselves mostly. Farming our land and taking care of each other. We are one big happy family.” He smiled. “But some of us do go out into the human world to work.” His last comment made her frown.

“Human world?” She tilted her head to one side. Oh, fuck! Did she just end up with the only group of vampires in the entire world?! Anna’s mind spun out of control and she jumped up. She was about to make a run for it when she realized that vampires couldn’t walk in the sun. Besides, they weren’t real! Wow! Her mind was really gone! She sighed as she sat down. “Sorry. My mind is all over the place.” She picked at her nails. Her mind really was all over the place, but did she hear him say “Human world”?

“It’s okay. To answer your question, yes, I did say human world, didn’t I?” He laughed. Collin was cursing himself on the inside. He had to be more careful of what he said around her! What would he have done if she ran away from him thinking he was some kind of monster?! “I see it this way.” He waved his arms out in front of him. “The people out there are human, but the people here at home are family.” Damn that sounded really stupid, didn’t it?! His wolf agreed and he felt like a real idiot, but when she nodded as if she understood, he breathed a sigh of relief.

It wasn’t like she had just asked him the easiest question! He guessed, if he looked at it from her point of view, it would look really strange. A group of people living in a rural area like that. There was no real town or anything. No way for them to make a living. It was also too big to be a farm of some kind, so he could see how she could think that possibly they were a bunch of weirdos. He didn’t think about that when he offered to take her outside!

“If you are worried about your safety,” He hesitated. “I can promise you that you are safe.” He smiled, trying his best not to sound like a serial killer.

“Yeah, I guess a serial killer or leader of a cult would say that.” She laughed and a bolt of lightning rushed through him as he wondered if she had perhaps heard his thoughts. Could it be possible that her wolf was trying to communicate with him?! He was still frowning when she turned to look at him again.

“Okay, so you are not a cult, and I don’t see any strange graves, so you can’t be a serial killer. What do you do around here?” She smiled and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“I am the leader of the pack.” He grinned for a split second and then it hit him that he did it again! Dammit! FUCK! But as soon as she burst out laughing, he had to smile.

“Okay, so you are a pack of wild wolves, living in this beautiful place and nobody ever noticed?” That question hit him right in the damn gut! What was it that the doctor told him? If she asked him outright … Could he tell her? Should he deny it? He would hate for her to regain her memory and then be angry at him because he lied to her …

“Yup, that is right. We are wild wolves who spend our evenings howling at the moon around a bonfire and then we go out and hunt for sweet, innocent young girls who want to join us.” He winked and she burst out laughing. He loved the sound of her laughing. Anna couldn’t help it! He was so damn funny, telling her that they were wolves! Werewolves weren’t real! If she was going to believe something like that, it would be that vampires were real. Not werewolves …

Something tugged at the back of her mind and she felt a little dizzy. She gripped the end of the bench and Collin suggested that they should probably go back inside. She had been through a lot and she agreed, but as soon as she stood up, the world started to spin around her.

Before her legs gave out, Collin caught her and when he picked her up, she breathed in his coffee scent. It really made her feel as if she was at home. As if he was her home. Was she meant to go through this horror so she could meet her wolfman? She teased him about it as he carried her inside and they were laughing so much that her tummy ached by the time they got back to her room.

She hadn’t seen much of the house, but it looked huge from the outside and she asked if he would take her on a tour later. He hesitated for a moment but quickly agreed, which she found odd, but she didn’t pay much attention to it. The fresh air had really done a number on her and soon after he put the music on, she fell asleep.

***

COLLIN WAS PACING in his room when his mother appeared to ask how the walk went. He told her and he hated that she was laughing at all his mistakes.

“Don’t worry son.” She tried to comfort him. “I’m sure that as soon as her memory is back, things will go better.” His mother rubbed the sides of his arms as she always did and he breathed in deeply. Collin knew that she was probably right. He told her that Clara wanted to take a walk around the house, and asked if she would arrange that nobody was around when they did that.

They still had to protect her from her own kind which was driving him insane, but until she regained her memory, he would do everything in his power to make her happy and keep her comfortable. He didn’t want anything to scare her and, at the moment, she thought she was human. Leah asked if there was any sign of her wolf yet and Collin shook his head. He had been trying to reach her wolf, but there was still no sign of her.

“It will take time, son. You will have to be patient.” Leah tried to comfort him as best she could. She wanted Clara to get out of the room more, but she couldn’t arrange that she had dinner with the pack. The possibility that Clara would find something out was very huge, but Collin didn’t agree. As soon as his mother suggested Clara join them for dinner, he thought it was the best idea she had ever had.

She could see the people who lived there and maybe, just maybe, a pack dinner would jog a memory. Leah wasn’t convinced, but if her son wanted their guest to have dinner with them, she would make sure that the pack behaved. Maybe Collin was right. Maybe some time with the pack was all that Clara needed. That reminded her that Clara still hadn’t chosen a new name for herself and they were still calling her Clara. If they were going to introduce her to the pack, she was going to need a name, and she told Collin not to push, but to make sure they had something to call her later that evening.

***

ANNA WOKE UP feeling refreshed and quickly washed her face. Collin wasn’t in her room, which was strange, and she had just switched off the music when he walked in with a huge smile on his face.

“You have been invited to have dinner with us.” He grinned and she frowned.

“Dinner with your family?” She tilted her head to one side.

“Hmm, yeah sort of, but before we go, I need to know what you want to be called. I can’t very well introduce you as my future wife without telling everyone your name, now can I?” Anna laughed at this as she thought about it for a moment.

“Ann. Call me Ann.” She winked as he held out his hand.

“Pleased to meet you, Ann.” He winked as they shook hands before he held out his arm for her. “Would you like to join us for dinner?” He tilted his head to one side and she had to admit that he was incredibly charming as she nodded.

“I would love to.”