The Wolf Code

  It didn’t hurt that he made every view better just by existing.  That was definitely a plus.

“You’re so tense when you lose yourself in thought,” Ty said.  “What I wouldn’t give to know what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours.”

“You don’t want to know,” she said. 

Ty laughed, and this time, he kissed her neck and lingered for a moment before he stood beside her and started rinsing the dishes that she’d washed, then placed them into the large wooden dish rack that someone had clearly custom made for this kitchen.  By the time Ty filled the rack up with what had to be at least fifty plates, the first were already air dry and ready to put up.

The woman she’d helped earlier sidled up to them and gently moved Senora away from the sink.

“Guests don’t do dishes,” the older woman said with a friendly smile.  “The sun is about to set, and I think y’all better get moving.”  She gave Ty a pointed look that dared him to argue.  “You make sure my favorite nephew makes it back here in one piece.  I love that sweet little boy more than life itself.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ty said with a laugh. 

He kissed the woman on the cheek and left the cabin with Senora right behind him.

“Is that Laken’s aunt?” Senora asked.

“No.  She’s mine.”

A giggle bubbled out of Senora without warning. 

“That’s sweet.”  She turned and walked backward as she reached out and grabbed his cheek.  “I’ll make sure her sweet little boy comes home in one piece,” she said, pinching him gently and laughing.

Ty scooped her up off the ground and threw her over his shoulder.  She couldn’t help the squeal that escaped her, even if she immediately pounded on his back and ordered him to put her down.

“You’re playing with fire, and you’re going to get burned,” he warned, setting her down on his front porch.

“I’ll be fine,” she said, glaring at him even though she’d enjoyed the playful encounter. 

But she was on the job, and she couldn’t forget that.  Not now, not ever.

“Are you sure you’ll be fine?”  He leaned in a little, and Senora’s stomach clenched.  “I have a feeling you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but he silenced her before she could speak, his mouth capturing hers as he kissed her passionately right there on the porch that wrapped around his home in plain view of anyone who happened by.  She knew she should push him away, but she found herself leaning into him, opening her mouth to his and tasting the sweet heat of his mouth.  Her arms went around his neck, and she pulled him closer.

When he finally pulled away, she was breathless, his deep brown eyes as hungry as hers must have been.  She scoffed then turned away, but she made no move to pull herself from his arms.

“That was a bad idea,” she said, though her heart wasn’t in it.

“Why?”

“Because we’re colleagues.  The bureau has a strict no fraternizing policy.”

“I’m not in the FBI,” Ty said, his expression confused.

“But you consult for them.”

“Not exactly.”

“Then, what in the world were you doing where Addie’s body was dumped?”

“I was doing my job.”

“I’m not sure I know what exactly your job is,” Senora said with a touch of anger.

“Why are you getting frustrated with me?  I never claimed that I worked with the FBI or anything like that.”

“The Sheriff said you were a consultant of sorts.”

“What did you want him to say?  That I get called up when someone needs to get near a wolf?  Or should he have told you that I was out there to investigate the death of one of our own.”

“What?”

“Addie.  I was out there for Addie.”

“Addie was a werewolf?” Senora asked, shocked.  “So, then Mabel is a werewolf, too?”

“Not exactly.  Mabel adopted Addie after she was found wondering the highway.  No one knew who she was or where she belonged, and she wasn’t one of ours.  Her memory was completely gone, and all she knew was that her name was Addison Wolff.  It wasn’t hard to put two and two together, but she wasn’t happy in the village with us.”

“Did she say why?”

“She didn’t know.  But she could never find peace and would spend the nights rocking in a corner.  When Mabel came to tend to her when she sprained her ankle and wouldn’t let any of us touch her, that was the first time that Addie acted like she wasn’t terrified.  We knew then that it would be better for Addie to live with Mabel, and Mabel adopted her.”

“Did Addie know she was a wolf?”

“I don’t know.  There were a lot of things that Addie couldn’t remember.  The trauma of being kidnapped and held were too much for her delicate mind.  She was so young when she showed up here.”

“How long was she held captive?”

“No one knows.  She didn’t know when she was kidnapped, and she didn’t have many memories of the kidnapping itself.  We think that’s part of the reason that she kept faking her own disappearances.  We thought she was trying to jog her memory the only way she knew how.”

“That’s beyond sad.”

“She was a tortured soul, though she was trying to turn her life around.  I just wish she hadn’t died the way she did.”

“Why didn’t she just become a werewolf and fight back?”

“She didn’t remember anything about herself.   She didn’t know that she could shift, and even when we told her, she didn’t believe us.  The mind is a powerful thing, and since she didn’t believe she could shift, she was never able to.”

Senora was about to comment when a man appeared, his face serious in the fading light of day.

“It’s time,” he said simply.

Ty nodded, then looked at Senora.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

“I sure am.  Let’s go catch us some bad guys.”