Spencer sat in his office chair and wheeled it close to the corner recliner so he could sit close to me, holding my hand as we spoke.
"I haven't figured everything out yet, Lenny, but I'm happy to say that I went ahead and met with my colleague while I was already in the area and should be able to come Friday now. Whoever is behind the disappearances and murders in the other town is very skilled. It must be the Cavaliers, but for some reason, there were things I couldn't quite reconcile with their usual habits and indicators. It could be a Cavalier gone rogue. I'm not sure. I'm still trying to figure it out, like I said." I smiled at him and nodded, still so happy to be with him.
He got a nervous look on his face as he continued, "We really need to finish our conversation we started Sunday evening, but it's something that needs more time than just before class. I want to tell you everything about me, Lenny. Would it be alright if I came by your cottage tonight so we could talk?" I gave him a huge smile and laughed.
"You know I would love to be with you, Spencer. I've missed you so much these last few days; I can't even describe it!" He looked so pleased to hear it too. He gave a breathy laugh and smiled at me again. We just looked in each other's eyes, enjoying being reunited. His cellphone ringing cut the quiet.
And suddenly, I stiffened with dread—Wednesday morning. I leaned away from the phone ringing on his desk. I could see the tension in him as my anxious eyes met his. He drew in a breath and pushed his chair back to this desk, reaching for the phone. I saw him hesitate for a split second, but then he answered the phone, bringing it to his ear.
He stared down at his desk as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. After a few seconds, his eyes raised to meet mine, appearing absolutely haunted. I had never seen a look like that on him before, and it was disturbing. My vision had given me nothing about what the phone call would be about, only that it would upset him. And he was.
************
Spencer closed his eyes after looking up at Lenny. His colleague ended the call on the other end of the line, and Spencer dropped the phone from his face. He took a moment to steady himself before he opened his eyes to look at Lenny. She had known. She had been right. He was going to have to leave again. She was worried, looking to him for answers.
"Lenny, I have to go back to that town again, right after classes are over this afternoon. I'm so sorry. It seems I'm going to miss tomorrow night's show after all."
"It doesn't matter if you miss it, it's ok. What's really upsetting you?" I knew there was something more. That haunted look had not been about missing a silly performance.
He took a breath before plunging ahead, saying, "Your vision. A wolf went missing last night and hasn't been seen since. I have to go help look for him. I must see what else I can discover about the attacker." A frustrated sound came out of him as he rubbed his hands over his face. "I'm sorry, Lenny, I guess I won't be coming over tonight either."
"It's ok, Spencer. Really. We can talk this weekend, ok? I'll set aside the weekend for us to spend together, discussing whatever you need to." He heaved a heavy sigh and nodded, accepting my words.
***********
He was so disappointed. I stood up and came to him, moving in-between his legs, hugging his head to my stomach. He sighed in disappointment and comfort at my closeness, wrapping his arms around my thighs and snuggling up against me. I gently caressed his brow, sweeping his hair to the side, stroking him lightly over and over, trying to comfort him. I saw his eyes drift close at my touch.
I let him rest against me for a minute, then whispered, "I love you, Spencer." He sighed again and turned his head to look up into my face. His hands traveled up my body to my waist to hold me there while he looked at me. His striking eyes were soft pools of liquid gold as they looked at me with love.
I framed his face with my hands. The sight of the ring on my hand, resting on his face, made me smile. I belonged to this wonderful man. He smiled and kissed my stomach through my shirt before laying his head against me again.
The sound of the schedule reminder chiming on his computer announced the start of his study hour, where students could come to him for questions. He turned to look up at me again, and I bent down and kissed him, showing him how much I loved him. He reached for me just as the auditorium door opened.
He sighed, whispering, "You're so lucky we're not alone, or I'd put you on my desk and kiss you till you moaned." He then released me so I could back away from him to a working relationship distance.
"Professor Shaw?"
"Yes, come in," he answered the girl in the doorway.
"I have some questions about our assignment. Our essay on Brownies." I smiled at the girl and excused myself as she went and sat down in the chair before his desk. I flashed him a smile with a lingering glance as I stepped out of his office, and he smirked before turning to the student sitting in front of him.
I worked at my desk the rest of the day, only stepping into his office here and there to file a few things while he lectured in the afternoon. I watched the clock with dread, knowing it would take him away from me at the end of the day. That hour came too soon.
***********
Spencer closed his office, gathered up his things, and met Lenny at her desk. He was going to drive her to the Barrett's for the night. She had agreed to spend one more night there while he was away. He held her hand in between shifting his jeep as they crossed Forêt Mystique, a tightening in his chest at leaving her again. He had to go, though, or they might never know.
He got out and walked around the jeep to help her out when they arrived. They shared an embrace and a passionate kiss before he walked her to the door to say 'goodbye' for the night.
"I'll be out of cell range while I'm gone, so don't worry when you don't hear from me. I already shut it off to not waste the battery anyways, so just know that, ok? I'll be back late tomorrow night, I hope. Otherwise, I'll come to you at your cottage this weekend as soon as I'm back."
She nodded her understanding, concern crossing her features. He held her and kissed her once more by the manor's front door.
"I love you, Lenny, and I can't wait until you know everything about me. I can't wait to marry you." Another quick peck, and he walked back to his jeep.
He got in the jeep and started it up, watching her until she finally turned and walked into the manor. He turned and drove off, looking back to see her waving at him from the front porch. He would return as soon as possible to tell her the truth and keep her safe.
He turned his eyes to the road as he drove home, where he would leave his jeep and clothes. He swallowed with the dread of having to go find the body of the wolf that had been murdered. They would look in the forest where there were aspens. He began speculating if the body they would find would be the same wolf from the previous nights.
************
I reached for the door handle to enter the mansion, and my gifting flared up with such an intense sense of dread and foreboding as Spencer drove away. I turned back and ran to the edge of the porch, waving and trying to get his attention, shouting his name, but he was too far away. Something was brewing, and I couldn't even warn him.
I clung to the pillar on the manor's front porch with my right arm, watching his red jeep get smaller and smaller as he drove away. Something awful was going to happen because he had left. Fear and dread returned, gripping my heart. My left hand flew to my face to contain the sob that broke free. My eyes pricked with tears as the jeep disappeared from view.
"Nadya?" Cassius was there, touching my shoulder. I turned to look at him, and he could hear everything in my mind. He pulled me to his chest to hold me, my hands resting there. My eyes landed on the ring on my finger, and I started to cry.
**********
Spencer pulled his jeep into his garage and turned off the engine, closing the door to the garage. He entered his house and walked around the corner. A man stood there, waiting for him. Spencer's thoughts had been so focused on Lenny that he hadn't sensed the man before coming around the corner and starting at the sight of him.
The man turned to look at Spencer with a stern gaze but didn't say anything. Spencer's thoughts turned to the murder that had just happened in the other town, and his pulse sped up a little with dread as he looked at the man.
"What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd wait for you here so we could run together, searching for anything on the way." Spencer nodded at the man, and they started stripping down to transform into wolves.
The two Professors from rival colleges ran through the woods, heading toward the general area where the wolf had been seen last, smelling and seeing what they could along the way. Spencer took the lead, and they began searching anywhere they knew of an aspen grove, smelling for the wolf that Spencer knew to be dead.
They approached the town that was the center of the issues, still searching. They would have to possibly search the surrounding woods on all sides, and it was going to be a very long night and day.
Once night took hold, they discreetly started combing the town, searching for any signs of the missing wolf or anything else they could pick up. They searched through the night and into the next day. Evening was closing in on Friday, and they had come up with little.
Suddenly they picked up a trail. It was old, but it could still give them clues about the two visitors Spencer had had the other night. It brought them to a back alleyway full of old trash cans, garbage, and dumpsters. An old stack of area newspapers was thrown to the side of the dumpster, covered in scent.
Spencer walked up to the stack. Resting on top was a folded-up newspaper. He stuck his nose in it to get a better whiff, and the paper slid down and unfolded, showing an article about the local colleges' activities, including the pep rally bonfire. Spencer's eyes landed on a photo of Lenny dancing with the tambourine. Inwardly he smiled; he hadn't realized she had made the paper.
Hmmm. The college. They hadn't checked there at all yet. Spencer jerked his head for his colleague to follow him to the campus there. The man had been on vacation the last couple of weeks, trying to deal with the problems going around town, and hadn't been there to sense anything.
They ran across town, and there it was. A fresh trail. It was the same human scent and several wolf scents. The wolf ones branched off, so Spencer stayed with the human scent that was the same as the other night. It led him into the forest and seemed to swing around to pick up one of the wolf's trails, going deeper into the woods.
The two wolves ran along the trail as fast as they could fly over the forest floor, tracking the scents. Death was in the air, and Spencer's gut clenched as they got closer to the horrible odor that raised his hackles. An aspen grove came into view, and he knew the wolf's body was there.
The two wolves ran into the underbrush of the grove and quickly found the body that had been lightly covered with leaves. The wolf had been stabbed to death and left to rot. The scent of the human trailed away into the woods, but he ignored it for a moment as he examined the body and area. The signs were the same as the other murders, but this body wasn't the wolf from the other night at his place. That wolf was still running around out there.
Spencer turned to the human scent trail and began following it into the woods. It crossed through the woods and then broke free out onto a highway. It went along the road for a short distance before it disappeared again; another vehicle. Spencer stopped where the car had left and looked down the dark highway.
The dead wolf wasn't the same wolf that had beenwatching them the other night. The human from the other night was, without adoubt, the murderer. And then Spencer's mind realized where the highway he wasstanding on led. He raised his eyes to the dark road that led directly to ForêtMystique. Lenny.