CHAPTER 9

Wolves, Minions, and Neighbors

(New Orleans)

He got up and fetched the tray from the desk and carried it into the room with him. He set the tray on her nightstand and then looked at the bed and then Gemma and then the floor.

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He went to the vanity and brought the stool over to sit on. He waited until she sat on the edge of the bed. "Things didn't go at all like I'd hoped but I'm glad it's not a secret anymore."

"Are you sure? Because it feels like you've been keeping what you are a secret to… I don't know… make a fool of me… or to see just how far you could take the joke, or something." She crossed her arms.

"The first morning you were here, when you saw me, but you didn't recognize a werewolf when you saw one… Well, it's my fault no one told you, but it wasn't meant as a joke and I would never try to make a fool of you. It just seemed like you were dealing with a lot, and I didn't want to make things harder.

"What do you mean? When did I see a werewolf that I…" She trailed off flustered.

"I'm Sparky. I don't own a dog. Pretzels isn't a dog either. Pretzels is Hardison."

She looked at the bed and at him and then covered her face with her hands. It was obvious that she was remembering the night she'd invited Sparky up to her room and told him all of her secrets. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

Eliot could smell her blush even if he couldn't see it with her hands over her face. "No, please don't be embarrassed. There was a lot about that night that was pretty perfect."

"But I…"

"I won't lie, when you said you were done with supernaturals and that you were scared of the werewolves, I really didn't know what to do. It's the main reason I been…" He searched for the right words.

"Avoiding me?"

He looked down at his hands and nodded before looking at her again. "I… my…." He ran a hand through his hair and blew out a breath. "I'm never gonna be completely human again. I ain't been strictly human for a long time. But I… you…" He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I can't tell if you're trying to tell me something, or not tell me something." She frowned.

"Both." He sighed and looked at her. "I want to tell you some things, but I don't know if you're ready to hear it yet. And I don't want you to be scared. I really don't want you to be scared of me."

"Okay. Can you try to tell me, and I'll try not to be scared."

Eliot blew out a breath and muttered "here it goes." He fixed a look on Gemma. "There's a part of me that's human and a part of me that's wolf. The wolf is usually more instinct and basic urges. But sometimes there's something that perks his interest."

"Like?"

"Like you." Eliot tried for a smile but gave it up for a bad job. "Even before I knew how much I liked you my wolf wanted you. It feels like there's a connection there, between you and me. And I don't imagine you feel the same way."

She shook her head. "I mean I like you and I…I dream about…" Her words trailed to a whisper and Eliot was just able to make out the word "you."

"More than just the nightmare the other night?" He tried to hide his grin. He could smell the change in her scent and see another blush coloring her cheeks. He held a hand out to her palm up. She scooted a little closer and set her hand in his. "I've dreamed about you too."

"Really?"

"Me and the wolf." He was having to fight the wolf back again and a thought occurred to him. "Can I show you something?"

"Okay."

He could smell how nervous she was. "Don't be scared. I'll never do anything to hurt you." He let his eyes go yellow.

She'd been looking at their hands and hadn't seen his eyes change color. "Can you tell me more about this connection you feel?" She looked up at him and blinked in surprise.

"I'm still me." He smiled and gave her hand a squeeze. "There's this thing that happens in werewolf packs. Bonds form between pack members and it allows the people in the pack to feel what the others are feeling."

"And you can feel what I'm feeling?" Gemma frowned.

"No. You aren't in my pack, but I feel a pull toward you that is kind of like that. The other night when you called to tell me you'd had a nightmare the first thing I did was check on my bonds and then I silently called myself and idiot 'cause I know you aren't there." He patted his chest and saw her confused look. "I'm doing a lousy job at explaining this." He huffed and shook his head. "You know what, forget all that. Just know that I more than like you and I want to be a part of your life." He let go of her hand and reached to the side to grab the tray of food. He held it out for her. "It's been a while since breakfast and the shrimp won't keep. Why don't you eat something, and I'll answer any questions you think of."

She set the tray on the bed and held a slice of garlic bread out to him.

"Thanks sweetheart." He took the bread and nibbled at it.

"I love your gumbo." She smiled as she inhaled the scent. After a couple of spoonfuls she looked at him consideringly. "I don't remember if it was a full moon when you were here last."

"All wolves have to shift to their wolf form on the full moon, but we can shift whenever we want to. Last time we were here I spent a lot of time sleeping on the floor or needing to heal and I can do those things better as a wolf."

"Can you show me what it looks like when you change shape?"

Eliot frowned. "I will someday, but not today, okay."

"Why not?"

"Well for one, I gotta get naked to do it, and if I'm getting naked in front of you, I don't want it to be so that I can shift into my wolf."

She blushed and he leaned forward to wipe a breadcrumb off of her cheek.

"You're uhm… you're very straight forward."

"Most wolves are. At least with the people who know what they are. Most wolves can smell a lie and with a little practice it's easy to smell other emotions too. So there's no point in lying."

"You can smell what I'm feeling?" She glanced around the room and then stared into her soup bowl. "Geeze, suddenly I can't remember if I'm wearing deodorant or perfume or…" She fiddled with her hair.

Eliot chuckled and leaned forward. "Don't be nervous." He smiled and his eyes shifted from yellow to blue. "You didn't forget your deodorant, you aren't wearing perfume, and I think you smell amazing."

She started to laugh but bit her bottom lip. She noticed the bandage peeking out of his shirt collar. "I'm sorry I burned you earlier."

"Your kisses were worth it." He smiled. "But don't worry the burn should be gone by tomorrow." He smelled the change in her scent as she thought about kissing him. He picked up the tray of food and sat on the bed balancing the tray on his lap.

"Uhm, you haven't even touched your gumbo." She observed.

He smiled and ate a spoonful. "Yep my cookin' is good but your kisses were better."

She huffed a laugh and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Her fingers brushed around the plate her bowl was sitting on but there wasn't another piece of bread.

Eliot saw her searching and held up his slice of garlic bread. He turned it around so that she could take a bite from the side he hadn't nibbled on.

She smiled and keeping her eyes on him she leaned forward and bit through the toasted crust. He grinned and used a knuckle to brush a crumb away from her mouth.

He took a bite of bread and could feel her watching him. "Do I have butter on my face?" He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand. Her scent had shifted again, and he looked at her face.

"Uhm, your teeth, they…they're pointy."

Eliot looked down and reigned the wolf in. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. It's just sitting this close to you my wolf keeps coming to the fore. Around my pack I've gotten into some bad habits, and I don't suppress the wolf like I used to."

She reached forward to tuck his hair back so that she could see his face. "It was just…new, I guess. Can you do it again?"

He smiled enough that she could see his teeth and he let his canines go to a point.

"Does it mean anything that your teeth and eyes change like that?"

"It means my wolf and I like you and are comfortable around you."

"I like you too. And I liked Sparky." She bit her bottom lip.

"Even when I'm in my wolf shape, I'm still me. The wolf's instincts are stronger but I'm still the one runnin' the show."

"That's why you bought the night light. Because it was really you that I told all my secrets to."

"I'll keep all of your secrets anytime you want to tell me." He finished off his gumbo and waited for her to finish her bowl. When she was done, he started to stand with the tray but she laid her fingers on his arm.

"Can you stay for a bit?" She smiled. "I've been enjoying this." She bit her lip and glanced at him. "I don't want you to go yet."

Eliot set the tray on the nightstand and pulled the covers smooth. He sat back on the edge of the bed and bent forward to untie his boots. He toed them off and then moved to sit with his back against the headboard. He smiled at her watching him. "You gonna just stare, or are ya gonna come sit by me?"

She could feel her cheeks warm as she blushed again and was a little annoyed with herself, but she crawled up the bed and settled in next to him with her head on his shoulder. His arm wrapped around her, and she tucked her toes under his thigh. She could feel a near silent chuckle rumble in his chest and she looked up at him.

"Parker does the exact same thing." He placed a light kiss on her forehead.

She frowned at him. "You and Parker aren't? Are you?"

He smiled and gave her a little squeeze. "No. Parker and I have a very special relationship that comes from years of knowing each other and accepting each other, good and bad. She's more than a best friend, but there's nothing romantic there. Her and Hardison are a mated pair."

"A mated pair?"

"Hardison's wolf and Parker share a bond that is more than just a pack bond. You could think of it like soul mates or a true love."

"You said Hardison's wolf and Parker, does Parker's wolf not feel the same way?"

Eliot smiled. "They couldn't be mated if all parties weren't in agreement. At least I haven't heard of anything like that. But Parker isn't a werewolf."

"So she's not part of the pack?"

"Actually, she's my second. She's the one that's in charge when I'm not around." He leaned his head to rest on hers for a moment. "My pack is a little different and I can't explain how some of it works. Usually a werewolf pack is werewolves only and human mates are not felt in the bonds by the rest of the pack but my whole pack, with the exception of Quinn, were all human when they became my pack." He shrugged the shoulder she wasn't leaning on.

"And Quinn?"

"I brought him into my pack the morning before I found you." He felt her temperature rise just a little and she leaned a little heavier into his side.

"I'm glad you found me." Her words were sleepy.

"Me too." He nuzzled against her hair and let his eyes drift shut.

. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .

Toby was able to circle past Marie Roehl's house about every hour and a half and so far, it had been a lazy day. The first day he'd been expecting, hoping, to see some kind of action but there wasn't so much as a j-walker in the neighborhood let alone minions of the undead. The last couple of days had been much the same.

He'd finished an early dinner in his cruiser nearly an hour ago and felt it was about time for another tour down Marie's street. As he made a right, two blocks down he saw a kid peek at him from around the corner of a house.

Something about the look on the kid's face set off the instinct that most cops past their first year develop. He ran a hand over his duty belt out of habit before he reached for his mic. He stopped before he keyed it. If this was something from the freaky side, he might need backup from that side of the street. He pulled his phone out.

He didn't want to call Eliot until he was sure it wasn't just a neighborhood kid causing the regular kind of trouble that regular kind of kids caused. He drove slowly down the street and spotted a few more people he hadn't seen. There was a man in a torn suit jacket and an older teen that shaded his eyes as Toby got closer. Toby could have sworn that the kid's eyes seemed to glow. He hit the switch and let his siren whoop for a second. The man in the torn jacket and the teen with the creepy eyes hurried away. Toby tapped his phone and called Eliot as he continued down the street.

"Eliot, I think we got minions."

~~o0o~~

Eliot woke with a start at the sound of his phone ringing. He'd fallen asleep with his head resting on Gemma's. Her scent and the feel of her curled into his side had left him with the feeling of having had good dreams but he couldn't quite remember what they were.

The phone rang a second time, and he snatched it out of his pocket and held it to his ear.

"Hello." He sounded grumpy and he knew it but didn't really care.

"Eliot, I think we got minions." The excitement that Toby felt showed through in his voice.

Eliot slid away from Gemma, and he held the phone away as he leaned back to kiss her forehead while she blinked at him owlishly. He whispered sotto voce "Trouble at Marie's I gotta go." One more quick kiss to her lips. "Sorry."

He pulled his boots on and hurried for the door. He turned his attention back to Toby. "How many?"

~~o0o~~

"I don't know." He slowed as he got closer to Marie's house. "There was something about a kid I just spotted and a couple of other folk. And I think I just saw another head behind Marie's house." He flipped a switch and let his siren whoop once more as he parked in front of the house.

"I'll be there in ten."

"Right." He hung up and slipped the phone back into its holster. Taking a look around he didn't spot anyone, so he got out of the car and took another look around. Again, he spotted a flutter of movement at the back of the house. Keeping one hand on his duty belt he approached the house.

Just as he was about to set his foot on the first step, he felt a sudden blinding pain at the back of his head before his world went dark.

. ͽϿ Ѻ Ͼͼ .

Marie had looked out the window when she'd heard the police siren whoop. She wondered what was going on with her neighbors at first but was surprised and concerned to see the officer headed up her walkway. She was passing the living room window on her way to the front door when she saw a man in a torn coat hit the officer from behind. She grabbed the spray bottle and small crossbow that Eliot had left by her front door and ran onto her front step.

The man in the torn coat hissed at her and she stopped, stunned for just a moment. "Hey! You get outa my yard this second!" She yelled and sprayed a mist of holy water as fast as she could all over.

The man in the torn coat coughed and took a step back. A younger man stepped around the side of her house leering at her. "You really think a squirt gun is going to stop us?" He fanned a hand in front of his face.

He took a step closer, and Marie was sure he would attack her next. She started to raise the crossbow, but her finger was shaking on the trigger and the bowstring released with a thwack. She stared at the bolt in the man's leg for a moment before she registered the enraged look on his face. She gasped and tripped as she tried to step towards her door. Her back slammed painfully into the side of the house, and she struggled not to fall all the way down.

Just when it looked as though the man, she'd shot would leap at her, the booming roar of a shotgun rattled the neighborhood. The two men ran for it and Marie let herself slide to the ground.

"No time for that." A middle-aged man carrying a shotgun held a hand out to her. "Let's get this guy inside before those other two come back."

She took his hand and pushed her way to her feet. She heard an engine rev and a moment later Eliot was parking the wrong way in front of her house. He hurried up the walk but slowed when he noticed the shotgun.

"What's goin' on here Marie?" Eliot wasn't going to rush in on an armed standoff. He could hear the steady beat of Toby's heart, so he knew that he was likely to be okay.

"I don't really know." She huffed. "This officer was walking toward my house and two guys came outa nowhere and I tried to scare them off but the guy I shot he… And then…" She waved at the man with the shotgun as she put a hand over her mouth.

Eliot raised an eyebrow at the man with the shotgun.

The man leaned forward with a hand out. "Barry Malespini, from next door."

"Eliot." He shook hands and was able to pick up Barry's scent despite the strong scent of vampire that was still in the air. He recognized Barry's scent from the house on the south side of Marie's property. Barry was human and apparently the kind of neighbor that Marie really needed. "Let's see what we can do for Toby."

Toby's fingers twitched at the sound of his name. Eliot crouched down and gave Toby's ankle a shake. "Hey, Toby, come on man. You with us?"

Toby jerked and curled to his side with a hand to the back of his head. One eye cracked open and he looked at Marie for a moment before closing his eye again. "Freakin' crossbow." He moaned and pushed himself to sitting. Still holding a hand to the back of his head he grimaced at Eliot. "What's with all your friends carryin' freakin' crossbows?"

"Actually that crossbow belongs to Ms. Teo." Eliot smirked.

"Shoulda known." He held a hand out and Eliot helped him up. Toby looked Barry up and down before he held a hand out to shake. "Officer Toby Young. I thought I heard gun fire."

"Heard your siren and Marie screamin' and figured I'd see if I could be some help."

"You can always trust a marine to run toward danger." Eliot smiled and clapped Barry on the shoulder as they headed into the house.

"That was a lot of years ago." Barry shrugged.

"Once a marine, always a marine." Toby tried to smile but his head still hurt too much to make it convincing.

Marie had dropped the crossbow as she made it into the house and Eliot set it in the corner where it wouldn't be tripped on. He pulled Marie into a quick hug and holding her at arm's length he caught her eyes. "You did great. You probably saved Toby's life. It's okay to feel shaky. You'll be just fine."

Marie nodded and with a deep breath she pulled herself together. "I need to check on my boys. I told them if they heard or saw anything they needed to hide in the closet."

Eliot could hear the boys' heartbeats a little fast but steady. "Go check on them. Take your time."