In the Loup Box Set #1: Werewolf Shifter Romance

Chapter 5

5

Stephanie was laughing when she stepped out into the cool night air. She tilted her head up and sniffed the breeze which blew passed her just then. It smelled like the bitter scent of the pine trees along the mountains. She wrinkled her nose, though, when the smells of trash and sewer from the city interfered with the natural scents. With some disappointment she slipped into her vehicle and drove home. The light inside the house were still one when she suddenly spotted something moving in the yard.

It looked like the next-door neighbor’s dog, the one they refused to keep chained up in their back yard. The creature was sniffing around the center of the grass, and she suspected it was up to no good. She stopped the car in the driveway and rolled down the window to glare at the offending pooch.

“Get the hell out of here!” she growled. She hung her arm out the window and made to shoo it.

The dog didn’t even turn around to look at her as he assumed the position. She threw up her arms in frustration as the pet deposited a large load of processed food on the lawn. Then for good measure the dog kicked its hind legs, setting dirt and grass all over its marked spot. The neighbor’s pooch glanced her way, as though to mock her efforts, and then it leisurely trotted back to its own home.

Stephanie sighed and slid the car into the garage. Then she stepped the main portion of the house and tossed the car keys on the counter. She was surprised to find the couch unoccupied and her husband now at the dining table. He was munching on a bowl of cereal. Probably his dinner.

“Where you been?” Bob asked through a mouthful of milk. “I was getting a little worried.”

“I just went to check up on some things at the office,” Stephanie vaguely explained. She sat down with him at the table. Here was the big talk they needed to have between them. “So about when I left…” she began, but he cut her off.

“Yeah, I know what you’re gonna say,” he interrupted. He looked up and smiled at her. “And you’re right. I should have noticed you more and made you some dinner. It would’ve been the least I could do for your long trip.”

“Well, I’m sorry for yelling at you like that,” she apologized. She was glad he was taking responsibility like a man. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper.” She leaned back and shrugged. “I guess maybe I was just tired from that overnight stay at the lodge.”

“You know, I got your message about that, but you were a little vague about why you needed to stop,” Bob spoke up. He pushed aside his empty bowl and leaned forward. “Want to tell me about it?”

“To be honest, I haven’t been feeling well since that animal attacked me,” Stephanie admitted. Just thinking about it made her blood run cold, but also sent a shiver of excitement up her spine. Those dark, glowing eyes of the beast she had literally ran into still captured her attention. Her husband noticed the heated look on her cheeks.

“So what exactly happened there?” he persisted. “Was it a dog or a cat?”

“I’m not really sure,” his wife informed him. “It was so dark, I swear the thing was a wolf. It was just that big.” She held out her arms to exaggerate the size. “And it had some big teeth on it, too.”

“Interesting,” Bob mused. “So that thing attacked you?”

“Well, there might have been two of them,” Stephanie sheepishly added. “But it happened so fast, I’m just not sure anymore.” It was true. The few days that had passed had bungled her memory a bit, and she still wasn’t sure if maybe the lights and her foggy brain hadn’t played her for a sucker the entire episode. “But I know something scratched me, and I just felt bad enough that Chuck decided we needed to stop off at the lodge for the night.”

“So it was Chuck’s idea?” her husband nearly interrupted, so quick was his question.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to stop, but he insisted, she explained. “I figured it was pretty nice of him to do that, and kind of surprising,” she admitted. “I mean, he’s pretty tight with the office’s wallet.”

“So you two got beds and just slept there like that?” he questioned. Stephanie wasn’t sure she was liking where this was going, and she was reminded of Chuck’s warning not to let him run over her.

“No, we had to get the same room to save some cash,” she bluntly informed him. “And Chuck slept on the floor all night, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

“I wasn’t meaning anything like that,” he defended himself. She wasn’t sure she believed him, and he could see that in her expression. “I was just wondering how trying it was for you. You look better now, though,” he noted as his eyes studied her face. “Picked up some food to eat on the way to the office.”

“Actually, Chuck bought me a Chinese dinner,” she coyly explained. She inwardly smirked as a ghost of a frown passed across his lips. “But then he’s nice like that. Always caring about other people’s feelings or how they are doing.”

“I see…” Bob mused. He got her second meaning, but he seemed unperturbed by the shot. Her husband stood up from his seat and stretched. “Well, perhaps we should both get some rest,” he suggested. “Another day, another chance, right?” He pointedly met her eyes with his own. Apparently that was his way of asking for a second chance. She wasn’t buying it.

“I think I’ll stay up for a little bit longer,” she surprised him by saying.

“I know you slept through the afternoon, hun, but maybe a little more would help,” he insisted. He actually stepped up beside her chair and gallantly offered her his arm. There was a wide smile on his face, but she didn’t care for the look in his dark eyes. “Mind if I escort you, my lady?”

“I said I wasn’t going,” she stubbornly countered. Then she sweetly grinned at him, as though to excuse her persistence. “But I’ll join you in a little while, okay, honey?”

The smile on his face nearly fell off, and the real look beneath the facade was almost frightening. Stephanie’s open eyes could see the truth in him now, and it worried her to know she’d never seen this side of him before. Unfortunately her knowing the reality of his personality made him a little more reckless, because now he was himself nervous about slipping up. Not enough, though, to have him trip up badly.

“Well, maybe I’ll stay up with you, then,” he suggested. Stephanie didn’t like that idea one bit.

“No, that’s fine,” she hastily replied. She just wanted some time to be alone, and maybe if she waited long enough, he’d be asleep when she went upstairs. Also, she really wasn’t that sleepy. The nap had really done the trick. “You just go get some rest and I’ll be up later.”

“All right,” he grudgingly agreed. He looked tired. “But don’t stay up too late.” He knelt over and planted a soft kiss on her forehead. When he pulled away, he was glad to see she was smiling. “And wash that wound before you go to bed.”

“Yes, mom,” she laughed.

“Night, hun,” he said his goodnight as he patted her gently on the shoulder.

“’Night,” she returned.

Stephanie watched him ascend the stairs with that smile on her face, but the minute he was out of sight it slid off. She leaned over the table and cradled her head in one of her hands. This was going to be a painful process until one of them gave in to the other’s personality. She’d been living in his oppressive and selfish shadow for the entirety of their marriage, she figured it was his turn to give a little. The young woman sighed and shook her head. She knew that was probably not going to happen, at least not soon. Maybe not at all.

Stephanie frowned when she noticed his bowl was still on the table. She rolled her eyes, pushed back her chair and picked up the serving dish to take it to the sink. For all that cleanliness, he really was an unconscious pig. She was just putting the bowl into the sink when something hit her. She stiffened and leaned over the sink as she suddenly felt a flash of heat rush through her body. Her left hand gripped her other arm where the wounds lay. Her heart was pounding and her breaths came out in quick, deep gasps. Wildly she turned and looked around the room. She needed air. The house was stifling her.

Stephanie pushed off from the counter and stumbled through the living room to the sliding door at the back of the house. She instantly felt better the moment the door slid open and a breath of night air blew onto her. The grin on her face was wide and full of joy as she stepped outside. There was a patio poured from concrete, and she stepped out onto the end where it met the green grass. She was disappointed to find the moon was obscured by a few loose clouds, but the night was still bright enough she could see shadows of objects.

One of those objects was moving. The neighbors who owned the dog also had a cat, and the fiendish feline was prowling the top of the wide fence between the two properties. Stephanie liked cats much more than she liked dogs, so she slowly approached it with the intention of giving it a good, gentle petting.

“Hey, Fred,” she cooed the kitty’s name. She was only a few yards from it, and the cat had stopped to turn at her. She reached out her hand to stroke that smooth fur coat. “You out for some hunting?”

Stephanie was prepared for the cat to merely jump out of her reach to the other side. What she didn’t expect, however, was for the small beast to arch up and viciously hiss at her. She pulled her arm back as it swiped its clawed paw at her, and then it made a dash over the side. The young woman was stunned at the cat’s violent behavior. It wasn’t the friendliest feline, but that was downright hostile.

Stephanie sighed and turned back to the house. The mood was ruined. Even the night didn’t offer any further comfort for her. She went back inside and upstairs to find Bob sitting up in bed with the nightstand light on and a book in his hand. He smiled at her as she entered the room.

“That didn’t take long,” he wondered. He frowned at her sad face. “Something wrong?”

“No, just tired I think,” she lied.

She got dressed for bed and slid beneath the covers without another word. Her husband, still sitting up in bed, glanced at her still form. Her back was turned toward him, so she didn’t see the dark, pensive expression which passed over his face. Then he shut off the nightstand light and they both went to sleep.