Disclaimer: Do I look like a filthy rich TV-boss? No? Well, then I guess I don't own BWOC!
Thanks to the two wonderful girls who made my day by reviewing: 66Witch and Animegirl1129. I hope you'll like this chapter, too!!
4. Chapter
Lori was already well into her third cherry beverage and listening to one of Merton's outrageous but funny stories when Tommy suddenly flinched. She frowned, but Merton beat her to question him what was wrong just as the jock jumped up and proceeded to run outside, his friends in tow.
As soon as they were out of earshot from others he explained "I've heard someone scream, I think it was a girl, only a few crossroads from here. We've got to help her. "
While the three rushed along the streets, Tommy had to fight hard against the urge to simply wolf out to be faster.
However, Merton had hammered it into him almost non-stop these last days, no wolfing out, no matter what circumstances. He only prayed that they weren't coming to late to save the unknown girl from whatever danger she was in.
In a back alley they finally found her, crouched behind a dumpster, shirt torn open and shaking with fear; her first reaction at their approach was to jerk back.
"Hey, its o.k., we won't hurt you…look, me and my friends were on the party at the factory, but now we're heading home, and heart you scream and thought you might need help." Tommy offered his friendliest smile as he softly talked to her, trying to calm the frightened girl.
She looked at him and recognised Tommy. "You're the Quarterback of our football team."
"Yes, I'm Tommy, and that are Lori and Merton."
"Hi, I'm Laura" She relaxed visibly and even gave a faint smile; everyone knew that Tommy Dawkins was one of the really good guys, the kind that helps old ladies to cross the street safely.
"Are you injured, should we bring you to a doctor?" Merton asked her.
"No, thanks, but maybe you could walk me home?"
"Of course, that's no problem."
So they brought her house up to her porch where she thanked them and returned Tommy's jacket which he had borrowed her to cover herself properly for the way.
Once Laura was inside Merton turned to his friend. "Ok, are you gonna tell us now what's bothering you so much?" Before the werewolf could even think of some excuse, he continued. "And don't think you can fool me, I saw how much you tensed up in that alley."
Tommy took a deep breath and nodded defeated, his posture deflated instantly.
"I could smell something on her, or better, someone - another werewolf." he said quietly.
"Ariel has arrived in Pleasantville."
Lori gasped at his statement, but Merton remained calm, at least on the outside. "We need to inform Callisto the first thing tomorrow."
Next they walked towards Lori's place, the blond bombshell for once not protesting that she could very well 'guard my own ass on my way home, thank you!', a sure sign how deeply scared she was.
Back in the lair, Tommy went right to the telephone and dialled his parent's number.
"Hey Mom, I just wanted to let you know that I'm crashing at a friend's place tonight…no, everything is alright, he just got a bit too tanked so I drove him home…yeah, see you tomorrow!"
He hung up the phone with a sigh; he really hated lying to his family like this.
Usually when he spent the night with Merton in the lair on weekends he simply told them that he was staying at the dorm to go to the library early next morning to study or something like that, but because the dorm was closed due to the semester break his parents now of course expected him to sleep at home again.
However, with the shock of Ariel having arrived in town fresh in mind there was no way he was letting his mate alone tonight.
While Tommy had made his call Merton had already closed the opaque curtains, locked both doors and was now lightening up some candles. Once the lair was filled with warm, soft candlelight he turned around to his beloved, intent to make him relax and forget all his worries, if only for tonight.
Merton embraced and kissed him slow and lovingly, noticing how tensed up he still was. He started to drag him towards the bed.
"You need to rest Tommy; it won't help anyone if you worry yourself into knots, if anything you need to recruit your strength, for you sure will need every bit of it before this is done and dusted."
The taller sighed. "I know…it's just…this is the first danger that I'm not sure I can protect you of. The mere thought that this bastard gets a hold on you is terrifying me." he confessed and pulled his love into a bone crushing hug. "I couldn't bear to loose you!" The werewolf exclaimed fiercely, shivering with suppressed emotions.
"It's ok, I'm here, you won't loose me …"mumbling soothing words and stroking his back, Merton eventually managed to calm his friend down.
With practiced ease he stripped himself and his lover under kisses and gently pushed him down on the bed so that he was lying on his stomach.
Then he grabbed a bottle from his nightstand, massage oil he himself had specially made, for he loved to pamper the jock after a hard football game or monster fight with a relaxing massage, but all the available products were scented way too strong for a sensitive wolf nose.
Before long the faint smell of pine, oak, vanilla and herbage filled the room as Tommy relaxed under the skilled hands of his lover.
Merton had tried his best to find a blend that resembled the werewolf's beloved woods and was masculine enough so the jock wouldn't earn weird glances in the locker room, but he just couldn't resist adding vanilla to the mix.
This particular scent had a very special meaning for both boys as it reminded them of their first time; so it was no real surprise for the Goth when his lover suddenly turned around under him, already noticeably aroused. Merton just smiled and leaned down to him to kiss him, relishing the friction the movement brought to their groins.
Still sitting astride Tommy's lap he kissed him, slow and sensual at first, their kiss soon turned passionate, especially as the upper started to gyrate with his hips.
The werewolf growled appreciative, eyes flashing yellow; already at the verge of wolfing out he grabbed his mate and turned them around so that he was on top, never once breaking their fervent kiss.
Caressing hands wandering everywhere, he soon noticed that Merton had somehow managed to prepare himself while he had been distracted by the wonderful massage, a truly pleasant surprise.
Ever so slowly Tommy slid home, looking deeply into his mate's eyes. Merton's breath hitched, at the feeling as well as at the love he saw shining in his lover's eyes. They kissed again, but unlike before this kiss was slow and gentle, as were the long, sensuous trusts of the werewolf.
Because, even though both boys usually liked it passionate and even a bit rough sometimes, tonight they needed something different.
Tonight they would be taking their time; savouring the close connection to the one they loved above all others. Driven by the fear to loose one another, every touch was more than just tender, an unspoken declaration of love.
Afterwards they cuddled together as close as possible; Merton barely conscious anymore after the long, exhausting day. Tommy, who was dog-tired too, made sure his beloved was tucked in properly and gave him one last lovingly kiss before falling asleep as well.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Early next morning the peaceful quietness in the lair was shattered by Lori Baxter hammering at their door until a very sleepy - and very grumpy - Tommy solely clad in boxers opened her.
Completely ignoring him and the evil eye he was giving her she stormed into the lair and quickly turned on the TV, where his mom was on with breaking news.
"Hello and good morning Pleasantville, this is Sally Dawkins broadcasting live from the park, where two young women were ambushed tonight.
The two girls, who want to remain unnamed, are both students at our university and had been on their way home from a party celebrating the end of term at the local disco 'the factory' when it happened.
A so far unknown male person jumped at them from behind and tore their shirts open before letting up on them. Thankfully, the girls are unwounded, though deeply scared.
As a police spokesman told us, the attacker was apparently wearing a Halloween-mask for the two described him as 'furry-faced' with 'yellow glowing eyes'.
They think that this was just some bloat's sick joke, nevertheless are all young women well-advised not to wander around alone at night, especially in dark, unobserved areas, until the culprit is caught. This was Sally Dawkins, broadcasting live from the crime-scene."
Merton turned off the TV, no one said a word; it was quiet enough that one could have heard a pin drop.
Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore and vocalized the silent question hovering in the air. "Why?" No one bothered to ask what he meant, Tommy, who was still gaping at the dark telescreen just shrugged somewhat helplessly.
Surprisingly it was Lori who came up with a suggestion. "Maybe this princess-chick has an idea why that psycho is after some girls instead of Tommy, didn't you wanted to contact her anyway to tell her he's here?"
"Yeah, good idea, but first I need some coffee."
After several cups of really strong coffee and some old muesli bars for a hurried breakfast Merton turned on his pc and activated the link to the werewolf princess´ computer, about two minutes later her concerned face appeared on the screen.
"Merton, Tommy, what's happened that you're calling that early?"
Tommy didn't beat around the bush. "He's here, Cal, Ariel has arrived in Pleasantville. But instead of searching for me he's attacking random girls, three altogether last night."
Callisto looked worried, though also a bit confused. "Why should he attack some human girls…unless…do you know if he bit them?"
"No, he didn't hurt them at all though he would have had the chance to do so…do you think that maybe Ariel just wants to kick up a breeze to decoy Tommy out of shelter?"
"Maybe, but why is he only attacking young girls? There's got to be something amiss that we can't see right now, a factor that we're missing…"
"Could it be that Ariel is not only looking for the sovereign alpha?" asked a new, soft voice and beside Callisto appeared a friendly looking young man with sandy-coloured hair.
The princess smiled warmly at the newcomer. "Guys, this is Jamie, my mate."
"Hey pal, nice to meet you, I'm Tommy, that's my mate Merton and Lori, a good friend who's in the know, too…look, I really don't want to be impolite but right now we don't have the time for small talk and to get to know each other properly, o.k? So, what do you mean, he's not only looking for me?"
"Well, since Ariel is solely attacking young girls but not injuring them, I thought that maybe he's searching for one special girl - his mate. Although he had claimed Callisto to be his mate, Ariel must have had a vision of his real mate during the Lycanamora ritual; and since none other wolf here in Lycantria had a vision of him, his mate must be a human being, most likely a young girl." Jamie's forehead furrowed in deep thought. "Do you know if there was something those attacks had in common?"
"Hm…they were all at night, in dark, unobserved places, and…the shirts!! He tore of the girls´ shirts, and then he lost interest and simply ran away."
"Yes, that's got to be it! Lycanamora visions often describe salient things, like birthmarks, or scars."
"So he doesn't really want to hurt those girls but is simply looking for the one who matches his vision? Huh…must be one really crazy shrew if she's the counterpart to this lunatic."
"Yeah, it's got to be someone very dominant and combative, who likes to fight and is always looking for trouble…do you know a girl that matches this description?"
"Uhm…" Merton couldn't help but looked asquint at Lori, who wasn't really amused by this.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't notice that look! As if I would ever mate a murderous psycho!" she hissed, then added calmer and purely logical "Besides, I've got werewolf-antigens, and given how much that bastard despises humans he would never mate one he can't even turn."
"Lori's got a point there; I don't think Ariel would ever consider a human worthy enough, in his eyes bitten werewolves are little better than humans, only good for doing the dirty work, but nowhere near being equal. Which is another reason he's so hell-bent to kill you, Tommy." Callisto explained, looking uneasy for voicing Ariel's weird racist prejudices, but Tommy took it with humour.
"A bitten alpha who's peace loving and uses his strength only to help people and is mated to a human…guess I'm really a red flag to him."
They all laughed at that, and after a short talk about how the repairs of the tunnel were progressing, they ended their conversation, feeling a bit reassured now that the initial shock of Ariel's arrival was over.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to the recent events the youth of Pleasantville quickly came up with a plan how to protect the girls respectively how to quieten their worried parents so they won't lock their daughters up, now at the beginning of the semester break when everyone just wanted to party: a home-bringing service.
Whoever girls had no boyfriend to bring them home would be accompanied by at least one strong guy, mostly a member of the football team, to make sure they would reach their home safely.
Since nothing really serious had happened and the police itself thought it had been just a hoax, many girls weren't worried at all but simply wanted use this opportunity to flirt with the jocks, making sure that they would be escorted home by their crush.
Tommy, who had volunteered too, was the most desired candidate; the girls were all but fighting about who would get to be walked home by him.
The first night the plan seemed to work as no further girls were attacked but on the second it failed totally, and in a way worse than anyone had expected.
While the girl was just attacked like the others before and got off lightly with only a few scratches, the guy that had walked with her seemed to have vanished into thin air.
All that the frightened girl could tell was that she had heard a bloodcurdling scream that had ended abruptly and when she looked up again the assailant and the jock were gone.
The police was totally at a loss, but Tommy was terrified to the very core of his being.
For with his keen wolf nose he could clearly smell traces of human blood at the crime scene.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, what do you think? Is Ariel really attacking those girls because he's searching for his mate – or is all this part of a sinister plan?