"It says here I have to inspect the work before signing the receipt. So let's go inspect my new bed. Come on, Damien, that means you too."The delivery guys were sweating now. They didn't want to be this close to him. They followed the pair into the bedroom. She looked at the room and noticed that there was decidedly less walking room inside now. However, the bed was huge and very inviting. She walked over to the headboard and grabbed it, shaking it to see if it was loose. Nope, rock solid. She did the same to the footboard. It was rock solid as well.Then she surprised the delivery guys, and herself. She leaped up onto the mattress and started jumping up and down on it, just like she used to do when she was a kid. She didn't hoot and holler this time, but she was grinning from ear to ear by the time she was done. She hopped down, and still grinning, took the clipboard back from Asher and signed it."Yep, you guys did a great job. I always wanted a big bed when I was a kid and now I h
Yes, dear."Don't take that tone with me."Elena was getting ready to be pissed when she looked at his face and realized he had just been yanking her chain."I'm sorry Damien; I just don't want anything bad to happen tonight. I want to go to sleep in that wonderful new big bed tonight and not have to worry about anything but what to wear tomorrow for work."I know, me too. Well, the part about sleeping anyway. I'd look really silly in one of your dresses.She started laughing at that image."Thanks, I needed that. Okay, I'll stop stressing out and we'll eat in about an hour. How's that?"Damien nodded. They walked out to the living room and did their favorite thing, snuggled up together on the couch. She flipped the channel over to watch the local news. She wanted to see if anything concerning her had showed up on yet. Thankfully, there wasn't. Just some more stories about the local crops doing well with the nice weather they were having. Some local student had found another dinosaur
"This is great, where'd you find this stuff?"Glad to be talking about something she liked, she smiled."I get it off the internet. None of the local places will carry it. It's imported from England, and yeah, it's pretty darned good. The only thing I like better is their Oatmeal Stout, but I only drink one of those on very special occasions. It packs a wallop and it's just a little heavy. One bottle and you feel like you just ate a meal."She did like talking about her favorite beer. She watched as Mark took another sip and smiled. Another convert."Oh, I'm sorry Mark, where's my manners. Mark Lockhardt, this is Damien; Damien, this is Mark Lockhardt."She sat back and waited for the two 'men' to size each other up. Mark looked at her like she had lost her mind, but then looked at the wolf sitting at the table eating. Damien stopped eating long enough to look at Mark, swallowed his bite of chicken, and looked him right in the eyes and grunted. He went right back to eating his chicken
Elena nodded and looked back at Mark, who had been watching the two of them carefully. He gave her a strange, confused stare, and then he looked over to Dagomarus. Damien raised an eyebrow as he looked into Mark's eyes. Mark saw the expression and thought, Holy shit! It's waiting for me to ask a question. It's sitting there thinking and acting like a person! No, this can't be.He squinted, calculating what the threat with this thing could be. He denied it to himself that it was that smart. No animal on four legs was that smart. He needed to test this and make sure he wasn't reading too much into the expressions and the antics. This had to be some kind of trick. He tried to think of what he could say or do the make his test valid. Then he had it."Elena, you called him Damien, right?"Mark looked right at her. She nodded."Yes, his name is Damien."She wasn't sure what Mark was up to, but she knew he was planning or thinking something. Mark nodded."Okay. Did you give him that name?"M
He thought about what she said. If it were true, then his whole belief structure, science, and reality would take a serious hit in the shorts if she were telling the truth. There is no way this is happening, but, what if? That little cloud of doubt in his head made him wonder if he wasn't getting sucked into her delusion too far. Well, if it's true, then what? What if I don't hear anything? Does that mean I have to report her to the psychologist? This was getting deep. There were serious ramifications for pushing things this far. Well, I asked for it, so I'll go through with it."Yeah, I want to hear what you hear. I really have to know. There's no other way, Elena. Either I hear it and believe everything you've told me; or you have had a psychotic break, and nothing will happen and we'll go from there."Mark watched for her reaction. She nodded at him, understanding his logic."Yeah, I know how you feel. What would make you believe that the voice you hear is his and not something you
He slowly got himself under control, breathing deeply and splashing more cold water on his neck and face. He stood up with the cold washcloth on his neck and looked at Damien. The wolf still hadn't moved, just stared at him. He looked out the window and Elena was standing there looking at the window with her arms wrapped around her chest, and she looked worried. He waved to her that he was okay. Then he turned back to Damien."Okay, so that freaked me out. I guess I can understand why tom went nuts and wanted to shoot you."He heard a growling noise coming from Damien and his face went white."I didn't say I agree with what he's done, I just said I understand it."The growling stopped."Okay, I believe you now. Tell Elena to come back inside, I need to sit down and drink another beer."He stumbled over to the table and sat down. He lowered his head to the cool tabletop and breathed in deep. He heard the front door open and close. He didn't look up when she walked back into the kitchen
She pointed to the easy chair across from the couch to Mark and he carefully sat down with his coffee cup. She curled up into her favorite corner of the couch and Damien curled up with her. When they were all settled down, she turned on the stereo and left the volume low."Look, Mark, I know we've thrown a lot at you this evening, but I needed for you to understand enough for you to see why Tom is behaving that way."Mark smirked and looked at Damien. Elena saw the looks they traded."What?"Mark looked right at Damien."Did you tell her I said the same thing?"Damien shook his head. Mark didn't quite believe him, but Elena's reaction to his smirk left him with enough doubt to think maybe he hadn't. Mark thought some more about it and realized he had accepted the 'communication' thing enough to just automatically assume that little remark had been passed along with the other things that had been said in the kitchen. He considered what had transpired and decided he was comfortable with
"I now fully understand why you fell in love with him. He might be on all fours but there's a man inside that body. I get it. It completely blows my sense of reality, but I get it."Romani quidem artem amatoriam invenerant.Mark looked at Damien."What was that? Latin? You speak Latin as a first language?"Vah! Denuone Latine loquebar? Me ineptum. Interdum modo elabitur. Sorry, yes, that's Roman Latin. The first thing I said translates as 'the Romans invented the art of love'. The second translates as 'Oh! Was I speaking Latin again? Silly me. Sometimes it just sort of slips out'. To answer your question, Mark; yes Roman Latin is my first language. I revert back to it when I'm stressed out."Oh, okay. But I think I have first dibs on being stressed out right now. But you're still all right in my book, Damien. Romans invented the art of love. That's rich!"Mark was laughing, trying not to spill his coffee. Elena was looking at the two of them and getting a little irritated. She could o
"I forgot to eat dinner last night and camping always gives me a huge appetite. I'll burn it all off before the day is over. Well, maybe. You have brought some horses but when I go camping, I'm always on foot. So I normally hike ten miles in one day when I go out.""Oh, okay. Yeah, I'd eat that much too if I was going to hike ten miles."Gab just sat there and grinned as he sipped his coffee. Marcy and Elena finished their breakfasts almost simultaneously. They washed their plates and cleaned out the skillets. Gab doused the fire while Elena and Marcy drank their coffee. She watched Gab as he saddled the horses. She was still nervous about this exercise. She didn't know if the horse they would try to get her on would stand still enough for her to do so. She went through her calming exercises in her head, trying to still her nervousness. She figured that if she didn't feel nervous, the horse would be calm as well.They finished their coffee and went over to where Gab was waiting for th
This was the truth, so she knew her voice wouldn't detract from her excuse. They both stared at her a few seconds; and then at each other, they shared a look together before they turned back to her. Marcy was the first to break the silence."I'm sorry to hear that. Again, I didn't mean to embarrass you."Gab was looking at her, and she could see that he was mulling something over in his mind; finally he shrugged and grinned."Well, I guess if you're willing to forgive our lapse in manners, then I'm willing to forget about it and just enjoy the weekend with a new friend."Elena smiled and let out a big sigh of relief."Thank you. I'm sorry too, I should have warned you, but it slipped my mind in all the excitement and rush to get out here."They all smiled their relief at the averted social faux paux. They started chatting about the next day's plans and Gab reassured Elena that she would be just fine around the horses. Eventually they all yawned, Marcy first and then the other two in s
Elena blushed again and she saw Marcy shoot a look at Gab that was a mixture of surprise and annoyance. Goob just grinned and shook his head. He had wanted to surprise his wife with his new friend, and it had worked."I surprise a lot of people, Marcy. So don't feel embarrassed about it, you should have seen Goob's face when I shot that rifle for the first time and just grinned at him like a kid at Christmas. He didn't know what to say or do for a minute there."Marcy laughed and nodded, immediately taking to Elena's easy-going personality and humor."Yeah, I've managed to do that to him a couple times myself. Let me just get the rest of the food into the cooler and then we can hit the road."Marcy went back into her kitchen and Elena waited with Goob."Okay, Elena, we're heading for a friend's ranch and the roads are almost non-existent once we get into the higher elevations. Here's a radio for you to use so we can stay in contact if we get separated. It's got a 12-mile range out on
Damn, but at least with this one I can clean the outer shell of any accidental blood stains and re-proof it with a can of repellant. Hopefully it will pay off in the long run. If I go out every month and ruin a cheaper bag, I'd be spending more than this in four months time.The next morning she was happy when she went to work. Yes, I'm leaving but Rhoda won't be there to ruin my mood anymore. Charlenne proved herself to be as smart as Elena thought she could be. She had no trouble getting her acquainted with the software, but she needed to find some inspiration with the graphics layout. That's where natural talent comes in, you are either inspired or you are not. It's an artist part of the job, and this was where Charlenne had the most difficulty."Honestly, Elena, I've never thought about art or graphics. Can I take a class or something?""Well, yeah, you can. However, this is where you need to let your imagination flow and try to feel for the client. Find out what they are looking
"It's got a custom ladder sight and the wood has been reworked and reinforced to take the recoil of that brutal cartridge, they hand rubbed five coats of Tung oil into it."She really didn't know about the wood finish, but the ladder sight was neat."Okay, sold."He smiled and nodded. He got out the paperwork for her to fill out and he called in her ID and information and the NCIC check came back clear. He put the sling kit on the rifle and slipped it into the carry case and handed it to her."I do have one more favor to ask, if you don't mind?""Miss Brandt, anything for the lady who can shoot a Rossi .454 Casull and smile."Elena laughed."I need to find somebody who can teach me how to hunt and skin the animals. I want to go hunting so I can fill my freezer with good meat. I want to be able to do that myself.""Miss. you just went up three notches on my respect scale. I would gladly teach you how to do that. My wife goes hunting with me and I know she would love to have another wom
He smiled at her confident response. Well, what the hell? Why not?"Okay, so you won't need a scope or at least a big one.""No, no scope. My eyesight is perfect.""Okay. Any preference on caliber or action?""Nope, that's where I need your expertise. I've never hunted before, but I really want to learn.""Okay, great. Well, in that case, um, have you ever shot a rifle before?""No, but I'm an expert with a H&K Tactical .45 ACP."His eyes widened again and he started laughing."Okay, I had that coming, sorry. Well, if you don't have any preference on action or caliber, I'm not sure where to start. How about I show you a couple of standard hunting rigs and you tell me if it's something you might be comfortable with, okay?""Yeah, that'd be great."He reached back on the rack behind him and pulled off a bolt-action rifle with standard iron sights. He handed it to her with the bolt open. She hefted it and put it to her shoulder. She looked at the bolt and then slid it forward and down, l
"There you go mark, all your troubles are answered. It's my resignation. I quit."Elena turned, went to her desk and gathered up her things before heading for the door. Rhoda had just heard her announcement and she was pissed. She had wanted to get Elena into trouble and here she was walking out before that could happen. She had hoped to get her fired, but by quitting, Elena still held the high ground."Elena, wait a minute. Why?""Well, mark, I have had it with that little bitch over there. I was in a perfectly happy mood when I came to work today. But when she jumped me three seconds after walking in and implied that I was trying to get her fired because I wouldn't let her finish the interview, which by the way, lasted over two hours yesterday. Then she had the gall to grab me physically, which I told her was a really bad idea and to not ever do it again. Since I was planning on it anyway, that just put the icing on the cake and instead of in two weeks, I'm out of here today.""She
"Me moving in with you, silly. I still want to keep this house. It's paid for, thanks to dad's life insurance policy. So all I have to pay for is the taxes and homeowners insurance. I will need it for the down time after my monthly trip into the woods.""Heh, the way you keep saying it like that, you make it sound like you have a bad case of the monthly cramps, not, well, you know.""See, even you can't say it out loud. It's like if we don't say it, it won't be true. Yes, Marie, once a month my PMS goes all to hell and I turn into a werewolf.""Yeah, okay. I guess maybe because I haven't seen you like that, it really hasn't sunk in.""Trust me,. Until Damien teaches me to control the shift, to become aware inside myself when I've shifted, you don't want to be anywhere near me. I killed and ate someone who was near me last time.""I'm sorry, Elena, I didn't mean to bring that up.""No, that's okay. If I keep these thoughts inside, it'll make it worse. I do know how you can make it up t
Elena nodded that she had and took it out of the fridge for her. She finished cooking her bacon and eggs. She then smothered honey-butter on her toast. Marie watched her in awe and still wondered how she could eat so much. When she wiped up the last of the egg yolk with her toast she popped it into her mouth and hummed contentedly. She sipped her coffee and felt the rush of caffeine hit her system. Marie sipped hers and smiled, Elena had been right, it was very dark and very rich but it wasn't bitter at all."Well, now that I don't have the raving urge to fill my mouth with eggs and bacon, we can talk. I saw that look, and I'll eat that for dessert, now hush. I want to run an idea past you, but I don't want you to feel pressured in any way. I'm thinking of quitting at the Acantha and trying to find something in Helena."Marie beamed and snickered."You're trying to see if I want you to move in with me, aren't you? Well, the answer is YES! I would love it if you would move in with me."