Chapter 10
PRU
The O’Connell’s were relentless in their quest of taking Abel home. It was getting harder and harder on our Pack to be gracious. We were the hosting Pack so under Pack Law they were in our territory and Patrick really hated being the second Alpha.
Although the O’Connell Pack was the oldest and most feared Pack in the world they weren’t always right. Patrick was ruthless; many would compare him to the Dom of the mafia: well organized and not tolerant on betrayal. They were what humans would call hit men, the Omega’s of the Pack... they would snap your neck in an instant. They guarded Patrick and his inner group like the Pope is protected in Rome. By Pack law, they couldn’t legally take Abel back to Ireland with them, and they knew it. We couldn’t prove Abe was The Great Wolf, and until he shifted we wouldn’t know for certain. We knew he was a supernatural but we didn’t have any proof of his powers. They couldn’t just take him, they could kidnap him but lawfully they couldn’t take him back with them. It was my job to keep him from shifting while they were in town, so distraction was the game plan.
It was harder to do than expected. The O’Connell’s had test after test they gave Abe. They knew the more frustration they put on him the greater the risk of him shifting.
Abe and I sat in front of the TV watching videos of Jeff Dunham, my favorite being Achmed the terrifying terrorist. We had an inside joke calling Patrick “Achmed” and using the infamous line “silence, I kill you”. When I think of the Irish Pack it brings shivers down my spine. We’d finally won the argument, Abel would stay in Oklahoma and they would go home.
One of our guys had heard from a friend that they left someone behind, to keep an eye on us.
A few years ago we recruited Lincoln Allingham, a two time winner of The Abbey Information Technology award and he so happens to be a shifter. With his help our command center became highly sophisticated. We can rival the news stations’ weather equipment and the CIA with the GPS systems we have in place. A large operation like ours has the technology to use GPS on every member, just in case one goes rogue or is missing. A small chip is inserted in the middle of the spine while we’re in wolf form. It sounds more painful than it really is. Everyone used GPS these days so Lincoln was able to unlock the code for every member of their Pack. When one of the codes stayed in Oklahoma while the rest of them left, we knew they left a spy. The spy may have stayed in Oklahoma, but he/she set up shop in Norman and stayed away from our territory throughout his stay. Lincoln ran inventory on all GPS devices daily and the leftover stayed put. Like the saying goes ‘it is better to be informed.’ Leftover didn’t have a chance to sneak up on us. That was reassuring.
I’ve been really tired lately. We’ve worked day and night trying to get everything ready. I am going to be so happy when we can have Abel chipped. We won’t do it until he confirms that he will stay with our Pack. I know he isn’t just any shifter, I knew from my visions he is TGW, no doubt on my part. Either way, we can’t just place chips in a human. Oakley came up with the idea to chip his cell and the car and just to be safe we chipped his parent’s cars too.
I can’t believe it’s already spring, prom is just around the corner. I don’t have any girlfriends to go dress shopping with; it really isn’t my style to hang out with human girls but I think it would be a good thing to take Allie with me. She went back to school but she looked tired all of the time. I have an insatiable appetite, she has a nonexistent one, and lunch is going to be interesting. We went to downtown Oklahoma City and hit some of the dress shops, finding a cute little boutique that specialized in vintage designer labels. I found a beautiful Oscar De La Renta, deep red, with romantic ruffled chiffon overlay. It was simply fabulous! Some girls with red hair can’t pull off a red dress, but the color of my skin didn’t have the red freckles, I had an ivory tone but I was slightly addicted to spray tanning so I never looked pale. Allie came to life inside the store, trying on gown after gown, twirling around like a little ballerina. I loved that side of her, the carefree happy girl who loved fashion. We found a beautiful Matthew Williamson sun dress that wasn’t vintage but the store was the only one that carried his line. I couldn’t help but buy the beautiful dress for her. The way her face brightened with a smile, I knew I did the right thing.
She told me she liked Tex-Mex, she didn’t have to tell me twice, I’m all about some Mexican food. We hit the taco truck that was located near the parking garage where I parked my car. I didn’t want to look like a total grub so I only ordered six tacos, to her one. She was obsessed with a perfect figure.
“I have no idea where you hide your food but you can eat and never gain a pound. If I eat, you see a muffin top when I wear my skinnies.” Allie said as she finished off her diet soda.
“Really? Allie, you’re really skinny, I could never imagine you with a muffin top. Even if you did gain a couple of pounds, it’s okay. Women are beautiful no matter how much they weigh as long as they are comfortable in their skin. Trust me, every guy’s head turns when they see you. You have nothing to worry about.” I couldn’t believe she was concerned about her body image. I think women are attractive at all different sizes. My mother was a little round but she was still what I considered the most beautiful women on earth.
“That’s easy for you to say, look at you, all gorgeous with your super muscular body.”
“Allie, seriously, I work out all of the time. I’m on the track team this year and trust me the coach has it out for me, he runs me more than any of the other girls and Oakley and I’ve been working out together for years. I have a fast metabolism, just lucky I guess. You must be working out too. I saw you the other day when you were at my house. You’re lightening fast.” I was trying to find out if there was something she wanted to tell me but if she has a secret, she isn’t sharing it with me. I can’t quite figure her out. She is fast. She is agile. She is super strong. But she can walk in the sun, and she eats human food, not a lot of food but she does eat. She doesn’t seem repulsed by me or my family so we have pretty much ruled out the vampire virus. Yeah, we are leaning heavily on the theory she had been bitten by a vampire, but one main characteristic vampires have is their allergy to weres. Vampires are allergic to werewolves, everyone knows that.
I had only met one vampire in my life and it was while I was in Ireland, I was just a kid and I’d never heard of them before. I went to a party and this really cute guy had come over to talk to me. I was young but I remember him looking perfect. He had honey-colored eyes and brown hair with flawless skin. I don’t remember his name but I know his eyes watered and he started sneezing after a couple of minutes of us talking. Josie came to check on me to find out why some 20 year old guy was so close to me, always the protector she is. Josie took my hand, apologizing to him saying we had to get back to our hotel. I looked over my shoulder and gave him a little wave and he winked at me. I don’t remember his name, but his honey eyes, I’ll always remember them.
“Prudence, don’t you know better than to talk to strangers by now?” She held my hand, practically running to the car.
“He came over and said hello to me, I had been standing there alone watching you flirt with all of those guys.” I did a dramatic hand sweep referring to the entire room. “Everyone was ignoring me so I didn’t mind the company. I don’t know why you’re in such a mood, I didn’t do anything wrong!” Tears welled up in my eyes but I wasn’t going to let her see me cry. That is one of the first things we have to learn to control, never let them see you cry, it is a sign of weakness, and a werewolf isn’t weak, ever.
“You don’t know what he is, do you? Of course you don’t.” Her tone lightened a little but I could still tell she was rattled by the experience. “Pru, he is your mortal enemy. You need to remember everything you said to him and everything about him, because you want to remember him if you ever see him again.”
I remember thinking to myself, I have a mortal enemy? <
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“What is he?” That was all I could think of to say. I didn’t feel threatened by him, just the opposite.
“He is a vampire, Pru. An honest to goodness vampire. Your father is going to be really upset to know you were talking to one alone. We need to keep that our little secret okay or we’ll both be in trouble.”
We got in the back of the limo and rode in silence to the hotel. I wanted to ask her more questions about him, but I knew we would jeopardize our identity by discussing in the limo. It was hard, not having someone my age to share things with, Josie was cool and a great friend, but she was business and I wanted a friend.
I had so many questions about this vampire man, and how did I not sense he was a supernatural. Over the years I made it my mission to learn as much about vampires, what was truth, what was myth? One fact that was not debunked was the fact weres hate vampires, and vice versa. Very few in history had gotten along but they don’t set out to hunt weres and we don’t set out to hunt them. Our secret is of utmost importance and we serve a purpose amongst ourselves. The one thing that is true, vampires are from Transylvania. Silly sounding, especially when you’re a kid and you think The Count on Sesame Street is the only vampire around. The biggest clans in the United States lived in Louisiana. I’ve never understood their draw to the state but it was definitely the most popular. Werewolves lived in Packs and vamp’s lived in clans, at least some of the movies got it right, just another attempt of finding something positive to say. I wasn’t aware of any contact with the clans, if my dad did have contact, he never mentioned it to me. The vampire in Ireland with the haunting eyes, those clear, mesmerizing eyes, he is the only one I’ve met. I wonder if it is really meeting someone if you never got their name.