Verity
The internet proved less than helpful. I could read all sorts of werewolf lore, learn the most effective methods for hunting them, or participate in a forum filled with people who claimed to be werewolves. Their status as legitimate shapeshifters seemed suspect at best, and none of them, werewolf or not, were like me. Nothing online when searching for psychic werewolves seemed to fit either. Maybe I wasn't using the right keywords because I had no idea what those words should be. Whatever the case, I came up with nothing but dead ends.
Thus concluded my naïve opinion that everything could be found on the internet. There must be another source of information besides the information superhighway. Maybe a backroad? A tunnel? A dirt path? I rolled over on my bed and stared at the ceiling of my bedroom. The field of white calmed my nerves but did nothing to alleviate the inevitable problem I faced. I only knew of one person who could help me.
Alek Sinclair.
I hated being reliant on him. He was too secretive, and too good at lying. And, being completely honest with myself, too damned attractive. Getting close to him raised all kinds of flags. Yet, I couldn't think of another solution. Alek had information. Alek probably knew of other people with information. It sucked, but Alek seemed to be the gravel road that I needed.
My doorbell rang. Flora entered and handed me a tiny plant in a hand painted ceramic pot. "My hen had chicks," she said. "Give it a good home."
"Not likely. I kill poor helpless things."
"This one's not helpless. It's strong. A survivor, just like you." She took it back from me and placed in on a window ledge in my kitchen. "Have Alek take care of it."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because he loves houseplants. Has a bunch."
Houseplants. He didn't seem like a houseplant type guy. "How would you know that?"
"It's called friendly conversation. Something I've had with him a time or two. You should try it."
"We converse all the time."
"I said friendly. Banter that's over fifty percent insults and hardly any flirting does not qualify."
"Are you saying you're flirting with him when you converse?"
"Relax, Verity. I'm aware he's off limits."
"Yep. No sleeping with the enemy."
"You're so dramatic. All he's ever tried to do was help you."
If only she knew the truth. I held my tongue in that regard and aimed another slight at him. "Okay, the help then."
"Stop calling him that. No one should be called that. I don't like that privileged bitch side of you. And if you think that's why he's off limits for me, you need to do some serious self-reflection."
"I was joking. As for reflection, I've done plenty of that lately."
"Verity, about that..."
"Oh, hold on." I got out my phone. "I meant to text him. I need his help."
"Isn't it his day off?"
"He'll respond."
"Not if he wants to maintain healthy boundaries."
I texted him in all caps so that he'd be more likely to take my text seriously, ergo proving my friend wrong.
Turning my attention back to Flora, she seemed hesitant to continue her train of thought. "We just got back from our trip late yesterday, so I didn't expect to see you so soon. Why are you here? Weren't you supposed to visit your mom today?"
"I had lunch with her." Flora bit her lip. "I suppose now that I've had a day to process our trip, I thought I should check in with you."
"I'm fine. Still waiting for Janene to make up her mind about the tour. Other than that..." I'm a psychic werewolf with abilities that seem to be unique in the world. "It's just life as usual."
"How can that be? The whole Chip thing, with all his weird friends... Alek shot several of them. And yet, when I asked the two of you if you'd were going to call the police, neither of you saw the need."
"Like you said, Alek shot several of them. You really want to tell the police that?"
"He was defending you. Doing his job as your bodyguard."
"That's our take. Maybe if they located Chip, he'd say something different. Who are they going to believe?"
"Probably you. You're famous."
"Do you want to risk Alek's freedom on my fame?"
"Wow, maybe you care about him more than you think." Her face brightened. Flora was always bubbly when playing matchmaker. "As for Chip..."
"Ugg!" I pulled my hoodie over my head util it covered as much of my face as possible. "Can we talk about anything besides Chip please? You want tea?"
"Sure. But as for Chip."
"What did I say, Flora?"
"Just one more thing and then I'll leave it alone. You don't... you no longer feel any sort of pull towards him, right?"
I busied myself with filling the tea kettle and bringing my selection of teas down from the cupboard. Such an odd way for her to put it. "Why would you ask me that? He tried to kidnap me."
"Your perception of him was so skewed at first though."
"I wouldn't say that."
"I mean, if you had to say which man you now feel more for, would it be Chip or—"
"Let me stop you right there." I placed my tin of teas in front of her. "The only choice I'll be making is between Oolong and Green. Change the subject. Now, please."
Finally getting her to move on to the more benign and less infuriating topic of domestic politics, we had almost finished our tea when the front door flew open.
"I'm here! What's happened?" Alek stormed into the kitchen, face red, breathing hard. He stared at us with eyes as wide as a bug. "Is it Chip? Was he here?"
Flora nearly dropped her mug. "He was? Verity, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because he wasn't here." I glared at Alek. "Why would you think that?"
"I got this text from you." His hands shook as he took out his phone and showed both of us my message to him.
"You sent him a message in all caps?" Flora clucked her tongue. "That's your bat-signal! Why would you scare him like that?"
"I called you to," Alek said. "You didn't respond."
I looked at my own phone. Two missed calls from Alek. None from Janene. "Look at that. I forgot I had it on silent."
Running his hand through his hair, Alek walked in a small circle in front of us. "Fine, so you're not dead or in Chip's clutches. What did you need my help for? It's my day off."
"Yeah, Verity. It's his day off." Flora punched me playfully in the shoulder. "You should respect that."
"I didn't think you'd respond so quickly, or in person." Now that he was here, though... I had important matters to discuss. "Flora, it's been real. Thanks again for the cactus."
"It's a succulent. Am I being kicked out?"
I handed her her purse and walked her to my door. "I have some... private things to discuss with Alek."
"Oh," she said, winking. "I hope it's a productive and thoroughly satisfying discussion."
She was going to believe what she was going to believe. Where her mind was going, though, was safer than the truth. "Trust me, I'm going to get everything I want out of him."
I closed the door on her giddy face, then headed back to find that Alek had followed us as far as the living room.
He stared at me, his lips a straight line. No dimples. "You had me really worried, Verity."
"I swear, that was not my intent." I pointed to the couch and we both sat. "I do need your help. Maybe it's not the I'm about to die kind of help, but it's still important."
"All right, what is it?"
"It's me. Whatever I am. I want to understand it."
"How can I help with that? I don't understand it myself."
"No, but you know who might, don't you?"
He stared off to the side. "I'm not sure. That's a shit response, but it's the truth. I wish it weren't. I want to have answers for you."
I tipped my head back until it rested on the couch. If he was going to avoid eye contact with me, I wasn't going to try so hard to pretend I cared about his conflictions. Everything he knew and wouldn't tell me, he did to protect himself, at my expense.
"If you can't help me, no one can," I told him. "I don't understand what I am or why Chip is obsessed with me. I don't know how much danger I'm in. I don't know where to go from here."
I closed my eyes to attempt to keep the tears in, but it was no good. They slid out anyways, snaking their way down my cheeks and to the back of my neck.
Silence filled the space between us. When he placed his hand over mine and gave it a squeeze, I couldn't decide whether to pull it away or squeeze him back.
"You're not out of options, Verity. Please stop crying. I said I don't know who to talk to... but I might know where to look."
Opening my eyes, I turned my head to face him. "What do you mean by where?"
"I'll have to show you. But the thing is, if I'm going to take you there, you'll need to trust me."
I groaned. "Not this again."
"But more than that, I'll need to trust you. This isn't easy for me. It'll be dangerous. For both of us."
"But you're willing to do it anyways?"
"If it gets us answers, yes." With the hand not holding mine, he caught one of my tears on his thumb and brushed it away. "Before we go though, I've gotta run an errand. Alone."
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Author's Note: Sorry for the delay! I pride myself in consistent updates, but all of that went out the window when COVID struck. I'm on the mend now, but there were three solid days when I was too sick to do anything. So... this chapter is brought to you by Covid-19 fog brain. I hope it lives up to your expectations!
Getting back to the story... okay, I gave you a cliffhanger in the last chapter, only to find out that... oops, not exactly an emergency situation. BUT, Verity does need answers, and it seems, Alek has a lead. Or that's what he claims. What do you think that lead will be? And what do you think the errand is that he needs to run?