Chapter 3

“What was that?” Laken asked her sister Zuri. “You told me no one’s here!” She crossed her arms over her breasts as she looked around the moonlit surrounding of the stream.

Trees, rocks, bushes, grasses and night shadows were all she could spot at the moment. Everything seemed normal as the singing of the crickets, the gentle rustling of the leaves shaken by the gentle breeze and the low sound of the flowing water that could be heard. There was nothing behind the huge rocks where they originally heard the noise as she tried to peer. And yet, she should not have let her sister convince her to take this silly skinny dip in the first place. They were not kids anymore.

“Maybe just some animal that we scared away,” Zuri said, splashing her with water in the face.

She giggled. The two of them played in the water when the breeze shifted direction. She caught a whiff of mixed newly cut grass, unwashed dog smell, sweat and mint. It was too strong for her that she covered her nose. Zuri stopped splashing her with water.

“What is it?” She was obviously concerned.

“Is there a dog somewhere here?” she asked, still covering her nose.

Zuri shrugged her bare shoulders. “I doubt that. We’re miles away from the village. But maybe some stray dog? It’s really unlikely because there’s no food for dogs around here.”

“I swear I just smelled an unwashed dog!”

Zuri sighed, frowning a little. “It’s that bad, huh?” Her sister looked at her with sympathy. “Come on. Let’s go. I think Dad’s looking for us by now, anyways,” Zuri urged her, getting out of the water. The moon shone on her skin that glistened with water. She wrung her hair before putting her clothes on.

Laken also got out of the water. She strode to where her sister was. She wrung the water out of her red-dyed hair, trying not to breathe. She could still smell that awful mixture of odors and God only knew from where it all came from.

‘Or is there something more wrong with my brain? God! I hope not.’

***

Bleidd could not take away his golden eyes away from the petite woman. She had the right curves that played in his fantasies. Her oval face was pretty. She had a pert nose and slightly thin red lips. He suddenly wondered how they would feel and taste. Her breasts were not huge. They were small just the way he liked them. Her buttocks and legs were perfect and shapely. She looked like a goddess that came down from the sky with the moon shining down on her. He muffled a low growl by burying his nose in the ground. His eyes followed the two women entering the treeline from where they appeared some minutes ago.

He slowly and quietly stalked them toward a huge green-colored house in the middle of the forest. It was made of concrete, wood and glass. The windows were made of glass with grill bars. The structure’s cover was made of red roof tiles. And as he breathed, the aroma of homemade baked cake wafted into the air. Aside from it, some mouth-watering dishes were cooked as well. He sniffed some more, wanting to gobble them all.

“Great! You’re just in time for the birthday dinner!” A man’s voice called out from the inside as the women entered the house.

“Yeah, Dad! We just had a dip in the stream,” the black-haired woman’s voice answered.

‘So this is their house?’ he thought. His mouth stretched into a grin. He thought he could come back any time now to visit the redhead. He stood there watching from the French windows as the family had their dinner. He heard them chatting about some normal topic a family could have. They talked about the redhead’s business in Los Angeles and some personal stuff.

“I thought you were going to bring home a man this time,” the man’s voice teased.

The black-haired woman laughed. “Seriously, Dad? Laken? With a man?”

From where Bleidd was, he could not see their father at the head of the table, which had his back to the window. The two women were seated on either side of him.

“Mohegan, a man is so far away from my mind right now. I love my freedom and aloneness. So, butt out with that thought, will you?” the redhead admonished.

‘Hmm. Her name’s Laken.’ He grinned at himself. ‘I like it.’

The man raised his hands, still holding the knife in the right hand and the fork in the left. “Okay. Okay. I was just saying. Don’t be so touché about it. You know that I want what’s best for you. For you two,” he said quickly.

After some minutes, the black-haired woman blew her cake.

“Happy nineteenth birthday!” Laken announced with a smile on her face. “Here’s my gift. Open it!” she urged the birthday girl as she handed the huge gift box with a pink ribbon.

“Oh, a dress and a pair of pumps! I love ‘em!” The younger woman gushed after opening the box. She stood up to give the redhead a kiss on the cheek to thank her. Zuri took the short silk green dress out of the box.

“I love you, Zuri!” Laken said with a smile pasted on her face.

Bleidd could not help but keep on grinning while admiring Laken. He saw the man kiss his daughter and give her a small gift box. Bleidd let out a low whimper when Zuri’s father peered out of the window. He quickly hid himself before he could see his face, or the other would see his. He went round the house, to the back. He discovered there was an open garage with a shiny huge black car. When he heard that the man was coming in the back, he ran away to the woods and toward the stream, back to his own packhouse in Wyoming.

He changed into his human form and put on some clothes, which were where he left them hours ago. He heard some steps coming closer.

“So, you were out for a very long run,” the Native American descent, Makoce, stated. He had dark eyes, slightly dark skin and good-looking with wavy long black hair and well-built body that ordinary humans would die for.

“I went to a birthday party but I never got to eat.” He gave his friend a half-hearted grin. He started to walk toward the house. The other pack members were watching TV and drinking beer in the well-lit living room. “What’s for dinner?” He looked over his shoulder as his best friend followed him toward the kitchen.

“Some steak. As usual. You don’t want it rare, do you?”

“No. Half-cooked. You know that.”

“I prepared it just as you like it.” His friend grinned. He took the plate from the fridge and heated it in the microwave oven for two minutes. The latter put it in front of him, on the round table where he was seated on a stool. “So, where’s this birthday party, huh?”

“Next town.” His eyes dodged his friend’s.

“You were the one who told us not to go running around but you even got to cross the border?” His friend criticized. “And what? To a party? Was there even one? You know that you can’t just do that. You know there’s someone out there who’s after you, Bleidd!”

“It was worth the run,” he said slowly and began to eat, not minding his friend’s chastising him.