Love Immortal

Chapter Two

Chapter 2

Julian looked around the small messy living room. His gaze scanned over the haphazard piles of women’s magazines on the coffee table, the open face-down book on the beige couch to his left, and the bookshelves filled with DVDs that stood either side of an old television and its stand in front of him. He moved to the window on his right and checked the street in both directions. The area was silent save the sound of distant traffic but it didn’t soothe him in the slightest. Three werewolves. It couldn’t be coincidence. The one by itself or the two together he could dismiss, but two separate attacks left him worried. He needed to get Lauren to safety as soon as possible. For that to happen, he needed to tell her why monsters were after her.

And then he needed to get her to believe him.

He stared up at the ceiling, sensing Lauren in the bathroom above. She had been there a while, her feelings in disarray and her fear running through his blood. She was still fragile but he couldn’t allow her to be alone as she needed to be. He couldn’t risk her attempting an escape, not now that he’d found her.

He’d never resorted to kidnapping her before, but he was beginning to consider it if he couldn’t convince her to come with him of her own free will.

There was a first time for everything, or so they said, but countless centuries had passed since he’d experienced such an event. At his age, it was almost impossible to find something he hadn’t done before.

He walked up the stairs, his footsteps dulled by the thick carpet and his focus fixed on Lauren, monitoring her feelings in case they grew worse. His duty now was to ensure her survival and to protect her. Being in her home would reassure her and make it easier for him to explain things, but now that she was somewhere safe, she wouldn’t want to leave, and they had to get away from this place before other werewolves came. He considered knocking on the white bathroom door and then continued down the hall, giving her some privacy. She would come out soon enough and if she didn’t, he would go in and get her. He paused on the threshold of her bedroom.

Her soft scent lingered in the air, warm and comforting, filling him with a sensation of need he had long forgotten. He shook it away. He needed to get some clothes and things together for her. Having some of her personal belongings might ease the transition and make things less confusing and painful for her.

It was always difficult for her to believe what he was going to tell her, and this time he didn’t have the luxury of years in which to break it to her. He wasn’t sure how long it was until her awakening but it was close.

In a small wicker basket on her chest of drawers, he found something that would answer that question. Her passport. The date of birth in it revealed that it was one month to her birthday. He was cutting it close.

Julian pocketed her passport and then looked down at her bedside table. The books stacked there were all about swords, fighting, and history. The movies near the small television opposite the end of her bed were mostly tales of hit men, martial arts and horror films. Her instincts were there. He wondered if she knew why she liked these things. There were another two shinai propped up beside the wardrobe next to the television. She had been courageous to attack the werewolf with such a flimsy weapon. It had surprised him enough that he’d kept back and watched her rather than intervening as he should have. He had never seen her so brave before the awakening.

He found an empty backpack in her wardrobe and crossed the room to a pile of ironed clothes on the wooden trunk under the window. They were recently washed so had to be clothes that she favoured. He packed some of them. She would feel better for having a new pair of jeans to wear and a clean top. He lifted a top off the pile and held it up. The sight of the small black camisole made his heart beat hard and he couldn’t stop himself from imagining her in it. It had been a long time since he’d seen her in such revealing clothing and even longer since it had affected him. He reined in his feelings and shut them down, reminding himself of his position and his duty.