He could obviously tell when she was lying, so this made it extra tough on how to proceed. Well, according to one of her professors in psychology, the best lies are 95% truth. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly."Okay, but I need to know, how much trouble am I in? Are you going to arrest me for what I was doing last night?"Elena was so frightened that she started trembling. She knew that if he wanted to, he could arrest her right now and there was nothing she could do to stop it."I thought about it, believe me. It was a complete and utter shock to me to see that. However, I also believe that what a person does inside their own home, as long as nobody gets hurt, is their own business and it should stay inside the home. So, that being said, since that is your choice to do that, I'm not going to officially do anything about it."He took a deep breath and sighed. He had just told her he was willing to break the law for her. He was skating on thin ice right now and whether she
"My friend literally scared the piss out tom . Not figuratively, literally—he wet his pants and ran. My friend didn't attack him, didn't do anything but stare at him, but that was enough. Tom ran away scared shitless. I imagine that his male ego didn't take to well to that display and that's why he acted out."She met Mark's gaze head on, not looking away; trying to believe her own words--which weren't a total fabrication—and found it relatively easy for her to do. Mark chuckled, shaking his head."Okay. Yeah, I can see that happening. Your friend is huge and if I had to stare right into that, I guess I'd be more than a little intimidated myself. Knowing that he took on a grizzly and tore it apart, yeah, I'd be scared shitless too. Okay. So, tom freaks out and goes running off. What did you do then?""I knew that when he freaked out and ran off that I was in deep trouble. So, I packed up all my stuff and left."She left off several details, but that wasn't really lying, so it didn't b
He didn't like the fact that he was risking his career and even jail time himself if he allowed her to file the sexual assault charges against tom. Then it dawned on him, she wouldn't have to file them to get the restraining order. He suddenly smiled and sighed with relief."Okay, here's the deal. Don't press the issue of the sexual assault; just tell the judge that you misunderstood his intentions. However, it's the truth about those two guys with guns, and they did try to prevent you from going home and tom put them up to it. You can truthfully tell the judge that he attempted to kidnap you at gunpoint, although by proxy, and that makes him just as guilty.""As for the shooting last night, tell the judge the truth; well, almost the truth. Don't tell him that you have a wild wolf in your house, which would be a crime. Tell the judge you have a half-breed wolf/dog mix and that you got it from a friend who couldn't take care of an animal of that size. That is legal, and you will be cov
"Well, I guess I better get back to work. Uhhmmm, look, Elena, I meant what I said about being friends. If it would be okay, would you mind if I stopped by your house when I get off shift tonight around 7 o'clock?"His expression was one of slight embarrassment for having invited himself to her house, but he wanted to talk to her some more about this whole situation and he wanted to do that out of uniform and away from the courthouse. She eyed him suspiciously for a second, but didn't detect anything in his voice or manner that said he had ulterior motives. Then she decided to send him a clear message."Yes, that would be okay, as long as you don't mind the fact that my boyfriend will be there."She managed not to blush too deeply this time when she said it. He snorted and gave her a lopsided grin."I'll say it again; Elena, you've got balls of steel. And, yeah, I sorta figured your 'boyfriend' would be there too. I don't mind if you don't. How's that?"She grinned."Okay. I'll see yo
"Damn, I guess I never would have thought it possible; but after this past year, with that Letterman thing, I guess it shouldn't surprise me that it was only a matter of time before the big bad world found its way to our little corner of heaven. You know, thinking about that case; when people get wind of this, there's going to be a lot of talk. You won't be able to hide in a town this small. Do you have any idea what you are going to do if it blows up and gets crazy?"She hadn't thought that far ahead yet. She was just trying to get through that day, not next week. She thought about the media circus that surrounded the Letterman thing and went pale."Whoa! You okay? I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted you to know that the shit is going to hit the fan on this one if the big news outlets get a hold of it. They'll try to tie it to the Letterman thing and milk a few points out of it for ratings.""Christ, mark! I never thought of it like that. I was just worried about little ol' me,
"Yes, Master. I am yours until death. I will only serve you, my Master. I am your slave."Elenw had a tear in one eye, and it slowly rolled down her cheek as she said the last phrase, completing the ceremony.Ahhhh, my Mistress! How you taunt me! There can only be one, and you were the first. I relinquished all power to you, my love. I cannot be what you ask."You have to do what I command, do you not?"You know I do, my Mistress."Then I command you to take what is rightfully yours. I may not have formally recognized you as my master; but if you look into my mind, you'll see the truth of what I say. You are, and always will be, my Master."Damien thought about what she said, and then did as she asked. He carefully slipped into her mind and looked into her deepest feelings. There he saw what she was talking about. It was true; she had considered him her master. So, his ceremony wouldn't have changed that. He slipped back out of her mind and looked at her, lying at his feet waiting. Th
She turned to find damien smiling at her."What? Did I project again?"Maybe a little, but I'm also smiling because I love to hear you giggle and laugh. That is the sweetest music I've heard all day.She smiled broadly for him and her throat got a little tight."Oh, damien, that is so romantic, no wonder I fell in love with you."She went over to him and hugged him fiercely. He grunted and hooked a paw around her waist and hugged her back the best he could.They went out to the living room and curled up on the couch. They were both dozing off when they heard the delivery truck pull up in the driveway. She got up and went to the front door.Do you want me to hide in the basement?She looked over at him, grinning."Nope, I want you by my side while these guys are in the house."She waved him over and she put her arm over his shoulders, hugging him to her ribcage.As you wish, my love. It is my pleasure to stand by your side."It's not just my wish, damien, I'm yours, so you are here to
"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
"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."