"I'm afraid so," Adam replied.
"I'm guessing this has happened before," I spoke up.
"Oh, just about every other month or so," Agnes answered. She paused on a slip. "Ah-ha. Here we are. We should have a bag in the back. Dad, could you help-Dad!"
Abner started and his rocker rocked a few inches forward. He whipped his head around and his eyes were wide. "What? Where?"
"Dad, could you help Adam find the bag of squirrel food? It's somewhere in the back with the rest of the pet food Doc makes me order," she told him.
Abner frowned, but inched himself from his rocker and shuffled behind us. "Come on, you know the drill, Adam," he commented.
"We'll be back in a moment," Adam promised me, and he followed Abner behind the counter and they disappeared through the door in the back wall.
"So were you needing anything for yourself?" Agnes wondered.
I shrugged. "To be honest we drove down here so fast I can't remember."
Agnes walked around the counter, wrapped a friendly arm around my shoulders, and led me into the aisles. "You might want to think about stocking up. Fall's here to stay and winter is always at its heels here in the mountains," she advised me.
I glanced around the store with its well-stocked provisions and tapped my chin. "Well, I guess I could take a few of all the essentials. I did just get paid."
"And we'll be glad to have you part with your money here," Abner spoke up as he shuffled forth from the back room. Adam was just behind him with a forty-pound bag of squirrel food draped over one shoulder.
Agnes started removing some of the items from the shelves, but had skill enough to turn and scowl at her parent. "Behave, Dad! We're not here to fleece any of our customers."
Abner resumed his spot in his rocker and frowned. "Ya might make more if you fleece those damned city folks," he suggested.
"No fleecing, cheating, swindling, or bamboozling," Agnes scolded him. By this time there was a small pile of canned and powdered goods at our feet, and Agnes scooped the mess up in her arms. I followed her to the counter and Adam leaned the squirrel food bag against the front. Agnes rang up my supplies first and bagged them so fast I got whiplash watching her. "All right, that's eighty-five ninety for the pretty young lady." I cringed, but forked over the dough.
Adam gently kicked the bag at our feet. "How much for the squirrel food?"
Agnes leaned over the counter and squinted her eyes. "A twenty pounder is fifty-four forty-nine, including tax."
Adam glanced at me. I nodded at the bags of food stuff and I pulled my pockets out. Nothing fluttered to the floor except my driver's license. Agnes already cleaned me out of my available cash. Adam sighed and pulled his wallet out as I picked up my license.
Abner's beady eyes watched me. "Better be minding that better, miss. No telling who'll pick it up around here. Ya might not get it back," he warned me.
I shrugged. "I don't know what any of my neighbors would do with it if they found it," I pointed out.
He shook his head. "Ain't the fancy folk I'm talking about."
"Dad, stop scaring the customers. Now you two go out and enjoy yourselves. This nice weather won't last for long," she advised.
Adam smiled. "You can feel it in your bones?"
She snorted and waved her hand at him. "Heavens no. I checked the weather channel this morning and there's a cold front moving in. Might bring some snow with it, too."
Adam hefted the squirrel food over his shoulder and gave a nod. "We'll be sure to stay around our cabins."
Agnes set her arms on the counter and leaned toward us. Her eyes and the corners of her lips took on a decidedly teasing aspect. "Cabins? Still not rooming together yet?" she asked us.
Adam chuckled and gave her a wink. "Not yet."
I grabbed the paper bags off the counter and scowled at the pair. "Time to go," I scolded my companion.
"The boss orders me, and I shall obey," Adam replied, and he led me toward the doors.
"Wait a moment, you two love birds," Agnes called behind us. We paused at the entrance and turned to her. She leaned over the counter and her smile slipped into a frown. "I just wanted to warn you two about those Owens boys. I haven't seen them around for a while and that means they're up to no good."
"They're always up to no good," Abner mumbled.
Agnes scowled at him. "You know they get worse when nobody's seen them. They started a forest fire the last time nobody saw them for a week, and it's been four."
"We'll keep our eyes out for them," Adam promised.
Agnes smiled and nodded her head. "You do that, and you two have fun."
Chapter 2
The food, human and animal, was tucked away in the trunk and we slid into our seats. Adam buckled up, but I ignored the seatbelt and tapped a finger on the steering wheel. He glanced between me and the empty ignition. "Do you wish for me to drive?" he wondered.
"I wish for you to stop being so damned evil," I replied.
He smiled and shrugged. "I'm afraid that's a habit I could never break."
I rolled my eyes and inserted the key. "Uh-huh, and I'm sure you tried really hard to do it."
"For all of a day," he promised.
"Must have been the shortest day of the year," I quipped as I backed us out of the parking lot. We sped on our way, and my eyes flickered over to Adam. He had a pensive expression on his face. "Now what are you plotting?" I asked him.
"How to make a cradle. I haven't made one in a very long time," he told me.
"Don't you think you're getting a little ahead of things?" I wondered.
"No, why?"
"Because I might want a say in this matter."
"Why would you want that?"
"Because I'm the one who's going to have to carry that baby."
"Babies aren't that heavy."
"I meant for nine months."
"That's a very long time. Don't you want to teach them to walk?"
I leaned over the wheel and growled. "I meant I'm the one who's going to be pregnant, bitchy, and having irrational cravings for yogurt and pickles." I paused and furrowed my brow. My eyes flickered to Adam and studied his physique. "Can werewolves even, you know, do it with humans? I mean, you won't break me or anything, will you?"
"The werewolf's instincts will demand I give pleasure to my-ahem, mate, and offspring can be born of the union," he told me.
"But not a litter of puppies?"
"No more than for a human couple."
"Well, that's one comfort," I mumbled.
Adam leaned over to me and a devilish grin adorned his lips. His soft, warm breath tingled the flesh of my neck and his lips hovered over my trembling flesh. "I'd like to know if you play rough."
My eyes widened and I unintentionally turned the steering wheel. The car swerved toward a two-foot deep ditch. Adam grabbed the wheel with one hand and turned it. The right tires skidded into the gravel shoulder and the car came to a stop just inches from the edge. We both leaned against the back of our seats and listened to our hearts thump against our chests.
I leaned my head toward Adam. "Next time you want to get amorous ask me to pull the car over."
Adam nodded his head. "Agreed."
I put the car into reverse and pressed the gas pedal. The right-side tires spun, but we didn't move. I groaned and knocked my head against the wheel. The car horn honked. "Great, stuck. Just what I need, a tow bill," I mumbled.
I heard a door open and turned to see Adam step out. He shut the door and walked the thin line of gravel between the car and the drop-off to the front-right of the car. "Step on the gas when I tell you," he shouted to me as he pressed his hands on the hood above the right headlight. I set my foot on the gas pedal. "Now!"
I pressed the gas and Adam pressed his feet into the ground and pushed. The front right side of the car practically flew off the ground, and with our powers combined the car lurched and slid backward. In a moment all the car tires were back on solid ground. Adam brushed his hands
against each other and slipped back into his seat.
He turned and smiled at me. "We make an impressive team," he pointed out.
I stared at him dumbfounded. "You ever tried bench-pressing to see what you can do?" I asked him.
"Yes, but there weren't enough weights in the gym. I had to settle with knowing I could lift more than a thousand pounds," he told me.
I whistled, or tried to. It came out more as a sputtering spit because I really couldn't whistle. "You should have tried out for the Olympics."
He shook his head. "You forget that werewolves shouldn't draw attention to themselves. That was one of the first of many rules my mentor taught me."
I pressed on the gas and gently steered the car away from the ditch and continued on our journey. "So is this mentor of yours still alive?"
"Probably. He was very old when we first met and knew how to survive."
"So why'd you guys split ways?"
Adam chuckled. "The usual reason for males. A woman."
A touch of jealousy arose within me. I raised an eyebrow and my hands clenched the steering wheel. "What kind of a woman?"
"The kind that could tear a deer apart in under a minute."
I stuck out my tongue. "So I'm guessing she was either a blender or a werewolf."
"When food was at stake she was both, but normally she was a werewolf, yes," he confirmed. He leaned back and his eyes took on a faraway look. "She could hunt with the best of them, and what wit! A man couldn't compliment her rear without receiving a tongue-lashing that left him dazed and confused."
I ground my teeth together. "And a body to match her intelligence?" I guessed.
"That of a goddess," he agreed.
My shoulders drooped. "Well, I guess having that kind of girlfriend you have pretty high standards."
Adam looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Girlfriend?"
"Yeah. You said you guys broke up because of some sort of a threesome," I reminded him.
Adam blinked at me, and I was a little surprised when he burst out laughing. "Threesome?" he repeated.
"You don't have to rub it in. It's bad enough with that whole werewolf perfection you just described to me," I growled.
He shook his head. "She wasn't my girlfriend. My mentor and she became friendly, and I left to give them their own space."
My eyes widened. "Ooh! That! Oh, I thought-well, I thought that-um-"
"That there was a love-triangle and my mentor and I parted on bitter terms?" he guessed.
I slid down in my seat so I could barely see above the wheel. "Something like that," I admitted.
"Nothing that bitter, but I must admit she occasionally caught me by surprise with her harsh words. Her wit was used for the amusement of herself, and if others happened to laugh then the more the merrier," he explained.
By this time we reached the gravel road and I turned us onto Doc's driveway. "You think Doc's eaten alive by now?" I wondered.
Adam shrugged, but the corners of his mouth twitched up. "We may perhaps have to extricate some squirrels from his arms and legs, but he will survive."
In a few minutes we reached Doc's old cabin. The woodland creatures sensed Adam coming and raced for their hiding holes. When the slightly domesticated beasts were hidden Doc himself stepped out onto the porch. The weather was a little chilly, but not enough to warrant the thick wool coat, hat, and snow pants he donned. On his face was a deep frown, and he met us by the car after we parked beside the cabin.
"You were almost too late. I think the squirrels were about to chew through the power lines and cut me off completely," he told us.
Adam hefted the bag of squirrel food from the back of my car, and turned with a smile at his old friend. "I'm sure it wasn't as bad as that," he argued.
Doc scoffed. "You're thinking that now, but when you have that inside I'm going to want some help fixing those power lines. If the squirrels can find them then the winter frost might, too."
"So you heard about the weather channel report, too?" I guessed.
He raised an eyebrow. "Nope. Don't get TV up here. I sensed it in my rabbit."
I blinked at me. "Your. . .rabbit?"
Doc jerked his head toward the cabin. "Let me show you."
Doc led us inside and I was glad the place was once more in one piece. There wasn't a sign of the tussle between Ashton and Adam except for the occasional deep gash in the floor. Doc waved his hand toward a small metal trash can in the back. "Pour it in there like always, and don't forget to get that lid on tight. Those rascals were gnawing and clawing at that thing so bad I made a new latch for it just in case. Chris, come over here."
Doc led me to a row of cages along the right wall near the kitchen. Inside one of the cages was a white bunny with a pink nose and ears. Its booplesnoot moved up and down sniffing the air and its eyes lazily blinked at us as we approached. I noticed one of its back legs was in a splint.
"What happened?" I asked Doc.
"Probably got itself stuck in a rotten log and it hurt itself trying to get out. I found it walking the rabbit tracks a few mornings back. It was easy to catch and bring back here for a little R&R," Doc explained.
I cringed. "Will it be alright?"
He smiled and nodded. "It's just a strain, but that kind of injury puts an animal at the bottom of the food chain. Another couple of nights limping along like that and I might not have had to worry about her. You want to hold her? She won't bite."
"I'd love to!" Her shimmering fur begged to be petted.
Doc slipped him from the catch and I cuddled him against my chest. The rabbit's eyes widened and it stiffened, but otherwise lay still. "She's a little nervous with Adam, but she seems to like you," Doc commented.
"She's very beautiful," I commented.
"That's what I was telling you about. Rabbits are good detectors for winter. This little girl here is changing for the season." He tapped on her hind legs where I noticed there was a few splotches of brown-colored fur. "This rabbit's brown in the summer, but her fur coat changes in the winter to hide her from predators."
"Wow," I whispered. I turned to Adam and found him still at the trash on the other side of the cabin. "You want to pet her?"
Adam smiled, but shook his head. "I don't want to risk getting you scratched because she may try to escape you if I approach," he reminded me.
"Too bad, you're missing out on a cuty," I commented.
He chuckled. "I have had enough interactions with rabbits to be satisfied."
I snorted. "You mean your hunger satisfied?" I quipped.
"Something like that."
"Time to put the patient back in the cage and get that power line nice and protected," Doc spoke up. He took the rabbit from my hands and set her back in her hutch.
"This time I will make sure the power is off," Adam volunteered.
"'This time'?" I repeated.
"Bah, it was just an accident, and you were fine," Doc argued.
"I smelled of singed hair for several weeks afterward," Adam countered.
I raised my hand. "Um, guys? A little info here to help out the clueless girl."
Doc shrugged. "Adam helped me with some wiring a year or so back and I guess I didn't get the breaker switched off well enough because he touched a live wire on the outside of the house and tried out being Superman. Flew back a couple of yards and knocked his back into a tree." Doc paused and rubbed his chin. "Come to think of it, you knocked pretty hard into that trunk. I thought you'd have some broken bones, but you just climbed to your feet and asked me to shut the power off."
"The benefits of being a werewolf," Adam told him.
Doc turned to Adam and scrutinized his physique. "And speaking of those benefits when are you going to give me a chance to make some scientific breakthrough studying you?"
"When science and the world are ready," Adam replied.
Doc sighed and shrugged. "I guess I know a 'no' when I hear one. Well, let's get started with this electrical stuff."
Ch
apter 3
Adam himself shut off the power, the exterior wiring secured inside a metal tube, and the young day grew older. By the time the boys were done it was past lunch and my stomach sounded like a grizzly bear had moved in there for the winter and kept complaining about the accommodations.
The men stepped away from their handiwork and Doc gave a nod of approval. "That should fend off those rascals, at least until another famine occurs." He brushed his hands against each other and smiled at Adam. "Now about that scientific breakthrough?"
"It will have to wait another day, Doc, or Chris will start complaining about a famine," Adam replied.
My stomach chimed in with another grizzly growl, and I sheepishly shrugged. "What can I say? Watching all this work makes me hungry."
Doc smiled and waved us away. "All right, get on with you. I've got enough freeloaders eating me out of house and home without feeding a human and a werewolf."
"Later, Doc," Adam replied.
We climbed into the vehicle and drove down the road toward home. "So how bad was this electricity accident, anyway?" I asked him.
"If I had been human it would have killed me," Adam replied.
I cringed. "That bad, eh? But no lasting effects?"
"Other than the singed smell for a few weeks, none," he concurred.
I blinked and shook my head. "Must be kind of nice being a werewolf," I mused.
Adam turned to me and there was a deep frown on his face. "Please don't go down this road."
I gestured to the bumpy road ahead of us. "But this is the only road home," I teased. My joke fell flat when the corners of his mouth deepened into his chasm of disapproval. "I know, I know, werewolf curse bad, short human life good. You ever think about how we're going to get around that little complication if we do decide to join our parcels together and have pups?"
He faced forward and gave a nod. "I have thought about it many times, and the final answer would always be my continuing life without my mate," he replied.
I scowled at him. "Thanks, that makes me feel real special in your eyes."
He sighed and turned his face toward me. "You are special to me. I wouldn't want to spend a moment of life after you die, but I couldn't live with myself if I gave you this curse," he told me.
"What about the kids? Are they going to be cursed, too?" I asked him.