Page 18 of Camp Dire

She jumps and turns to me, her face morphing into one of surprise. “You…brought my stuff here.”

I nod but don’t say anything. I wait.

“That’s…what happened to Doyle, wasn’t it? Those guys helped move the body. Cleaned up the scene.”

“It’s better that way.”

“Why?”

“There are people that would hunt us, try to kill us. Or worse. They would try to use us so they can find a way to be just like us.”

She frowns and tilts her head like she might be trying to understand but just can’t figure it out, so I move around her to sit on the bed.

“You saw that man out there.” She nods. “He was human, Piper.”

“H…how did he…? He didn’t seem…”

“There’s a myth that if you kill thirteen innocent, pure souls and drink the blood of one of my kind you can become like us.”

“Thirteen? I thought you said there were only seven?”

“We caught him over two more dead bodies.” I finally can’t stop myself any longer and reach for her. She lets me take her hand and I use it to pull her closer to me so that she is standing between my legs.

“That only makes nine, Merrik.”

“He must have started way before he found our little town because as soon as we found him, he started changing.”

“Changing?” Her hands land on my shoulders as I run mine up under the edge of her gown and the back of her legs.

“I thought it was just a myth but…there are a lot of things we don’t understand about our own damned…species. When we started seeing him turn into that bastardized version of one of us we pretty much knew…the myth was real. He had a list with him that laid out exactly how to do it. Humans can turn into…wolves if they go through the ritual which includes killing a wolf and skinning it, murdering thirteen innocents, and drinking the urine of a wolf…not one of us but a full, normal wolf.”

“Oh my God! Is this…I think I’ve heard of this. Wasn’t it like a German man who said he used the pelt of a wolf or wolf pee or something?”

“I think it was found in Germany and France.”

“And he…actually did it. He turned himself into…that thing out there.”

I nod. And then ask the question I’ve been putting off until now.

“You tried to help me.” She nods. “Does this mean…you might be alright with being my mate?”

She brings her fingers up to trace across my cheek. “I realized while that thing was at the front door that I felt…safe with you. Even when you were trying to chase me down, I never for a second though you would hurt me. Or let me get hurt. I…I’ve always…I thought…you wouldn’t want to be with someone like me.”

“A human?”

“A loser who doesn’t have any roots, barely has enough sense to keep herself afloat, and carries everything she owns in a couple of bags.”

My mouth tilts up. “You are not a loser. You are a smart, sexy woman who happens to be my mate and the woman I love and want to spend every waking moment with until eternity. And then beyond.”

The look on her face is one I will hold in my mind forever. It’s a mix of shock, surprise, and underneath all of that…hope.

“You…you love me.”

I make sure to stare deep into her eyes so she can read every emotion, every feeling, before nodding, “I do. I love you.”

“But…you don’t even know me. How do you know I won’t make your life miserable? Or that…fate fucked up. You only think you love me because this stupid mating thing makes you think I’m something I’m not. What’s going to happen when you find out what kind of mate you’ve been saddled with?”

I reach around her legs and pull her so that she loses her balance, and I can more easily put her where I want her which happens to be right in my lap. “Sweetheart, I knew before we met that you belonged to me. I smelled you on Annie right away and wanted to find out who she was around. And afterward, everything you did screamed how right you were for me from the way you were with the little kids and how fiercely you stood up for Ralf. But, baby, I especially knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you were made for me when you put yourself in front of those kids that night Doyle came after you.”

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