They both started laughing. They laughed until they cried. Then they just cried. They hugged and cried together. When the emotional release finished pouring over them, they stood there looking at each other. Marie had an idea."I think I know what I need to do, but I need to have your permission first.""What? Why do you need my permission to do anything?""I need it because I have to go find someone. I have to go find him. I won't do it unless you say it's okay. I love you too much to lose you just because of this.""Oh. I see. Yes, you can try to find him. I think I know what you are planning and it doesn't include that. You're going to go see if he can fix this aren't you?""That's precisely the reason, but I wanted you to know everything that I was thinking and planning. We are a couple now, marie. That means you have the right to put your foot down if you think I'm screwing up or if I am going to do something that might hurt you.""Thank you, my sweet Elena. I approve of your pla
He gave her an evil look but let go of Marie's hand. Marie tried to hide a giggle."Back to business. What the hell happened?""I'm sorry Elena, really I am. Yeah, he was labeled as dangerous, but the guards figured that since he was only dangerous to wolves, they didn't take him all that much more seriously than as a standard trustee. He jumped one of the guards at meal delivery time and he escaped. We haven't found him yet. We did confiscate his guns, so you shouldn't worry too much. His two cohorts in crime are still behind bars and their guns are in our possession as well."He tried to smile, but it wasn't very convincing. Marie looked at Mark for a second then at Elena."So, the guy that shot out your window and tried to kill Damien is loose?"'Yeah, and I really didn't need him running loose either."Mark was looking at Marie and then back at Elena. The look of surprise was written all over his face. Elena grinned."Yeah, Mark. She knows. She knows everything. She hasn't seen Da
Elena was shivering and she was holding onto Marie. Her vision had returned and she was almost back to normal now. She looked up at marie and found her looking into her eyes, very worried. She smiled."That was close, Elena. Too close. I think if I hadn't calmed you down, something very bad would have happened."Elena breathed deep and sighed. She hugged Marie and rested her head on her shoulder."You're the friend, aren't you?""Yes, Mark. Although, if I were you; I'd try real hard not to piss her off again. Get my drift?""Yeah, I get it. Sorry.""So, you think you can find him?""I don't know, Mark. I have to try."They had spent the previous hour telling Mark their plans and what they had found out that morning. They left out the love affair, just explaining to Mark that they were close and left it at that. Marie didn't like Mark, at all. She couldn't believe that Elena had been friends with him.Although, he had kept his fixation on her a secret, so she couldn't really blame Elen
"I built it from the money that I got from the insurance for my parent's accident. I needed something to get me through a tough time and music helps. I wanted the music to sound the best, so I built this. If you think it looks impressive, just wait; it gets a whole lot better when you hear it.""Now, about what I am going to do for you. I did this for Damien, for different reasons, of course, but I am closing that off today. So, I want you to have everything he had, and then some. That way, you can never feel jealous again.""Really, Elena, I'm not jealous of you and him.""Maybe not, but I want to do this for you."Elena slowly took off her clothes, doing a little strip tease as she did it."God, Elena, you are really trying my will here.""Trust me, my love. You will get what you want afterwards. Now, I have to ask you to do one more little thing. Ah-ah, no touching, yet. I want you to listen to the words of this song. I chose it for Damien because I thought it was close to what I
"Then there's that werewolf sense thing he told me about. Evidently werewolves can feel each other's presence from a distance and they feel like they have to stay away. However, I think Damien is smart enough that if he senses me, he'll come for me. He'll know that another werewolf is in the area and he'll put it together that it's me.""Okay, I can see that. God, I hope this works. I hope you won't be gone that long, because I'm going to be counting the hours while you are away.""Don't screw up your own life, marie. You have to go back and teach your classes. No, don't argue with me on this one. If we are a couple now, and I am stuck with this, working for your brother isn't going to be an option. I have some money stashed away, but I didn't win the lottery. I have to work to pay the bills and have a savings account. You can't lose your job; we may have to depend on it for a while. I hate to be a killjoy, but we do have to be realistic.""Yeah, I hate it, but you're right. So when a
"But not really, Hollywood can never get it right. All this does is slow the sound down and redirects it. When you are using it like this, it is very difficult for anyone else to tell what direction the shots are coming from and the sound that does come out doesn't go very far. It's a loud whoosh, not a bang. The caveat to this is; you have to wait until after you pull it out of the holster to put it on. Next, are the sights. I assume because you asked for this you do know how to shoot?""Yes, Mark, I do. One of my previous boyfriends taught me to shoot. He left me because I turned out to be better than he was, and it burned his ego.""Oh. Okay. The sights are zeroed at twenty-five yards. See this button on the side? That's the internal laser sight. You push that button and it's on, push it again, and then it's off. Last is the ammunition. This is Federal Hydra-Shok 230 grain +P Jacketed Hollow Point ammunition. It's the best at stopping things, fast.""I have the magazines full; ther
They met back at her house just after eleven and they brought most of the stuff inside. Elena packed her largest backpack with cold weather clothing. Marie questioned her about this since it was over 70 degrees today."It's obvious you've never been up in the high mountains camping. It's warm during the day, but at night the temperature drops to freezing or below. I might end up above the tree line or even the snow line, I just don't know, so I have to prepare as if that's where I'm going.""Oh, okay. What are those brown packets you put in the side pockets?""Those are some MRE's I got off the Internet.""MRE's?""Yeah, Meals Ready to Eat. They have their own heat source and even if they taste like crap, they have tons of calories and carb's for energy when you need it.""I can think of one MRE that tastes great and has no calories.""God! Don't you ever get enough?""Nope. Not when it comes to you I don't."Marie caressed Elena's butt and kissed her cheek.They ate a light lunch and
She followed the scent for a few yards and found the source. A large pine tree had a slightly darker stain on the base of the trunk. She looked around her again, but nothing changed in the sounds, and so she knelt down and sniffed the stain. Yes, it was Damien's scent, and it was newer than the ones inside the cabin. So, he had been here since we left that night. She felt something click inside her head and she knew this was a territorial marking.Something else came over her; she had the sudden urge to pee. Without really thinking about it, she loosened the holster and her pants and she squatted over that spot and squirted two pulses of urine over his mark. Then the urge was over and she was just squatting next to the tree. She shook her head at what she had just done and pushed aside the strange feelings. She pulled her pants back up and reattached the holster to her thigh.She looked around and sniffed the air, trying to pick up another marking scent. Nothing. She tried to think ab
"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."