Beautiful Creatures Series
Chapter 16: 14

Chapter 16: 14

It was almost 6:00 AM when Stanton came into the house quietly, trying not to wake her, but Aurorahad been up all night wondering where he had been. “Where have you been?” She demanded as heclosed the door. “Why are you, Hummingbird?”

“Why am I up?” She was stunned by the question and the state in which he was in. “Why are youcovered in blood?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not mine,” he said, making his way to the washroom, where he peeled off his bloodyclothes.

“Not yours? How’s blood, is it?” He didn’t answer as he threw his clothes on the floor and started theshower. Aurora watched him get in and stand under the water, letting it wash the blood away. “Goddamn it, don’t ignore me. Whose blood is it?” Stanton just shot her a look, and she knew exactly who’sblood it was. “You went back for him, didn’t you?”

“He deserved what he got,” he told her, taking the body wash from the edge of the tub.

“You killed him?”

Stanton washed the blood off his face and then turned to face her. “Not the first time and probablywon’t be the last.”

“It’s murder.”

Stanton turned off the shower and grabbed a towel as he got out. “Don’t give me that self-righteoustone. You have killed people too.”

“To protect myself.”

“Bullshit!” He yelled at her making her jump. “You’ve killed people because you lost your temper,” hepointed at his face. “Look… look what that fucker did to me. I can never get my eye back and whybecause he was afraid that I would give his punk ass a beat down for insulting my girl. I did a publicservice killing him, one less asshole in the world,” he snarled as he found some clean clothes and gotdressed. Aurora watched as he pulled his boots on. It looked like he was leaving again.

“Where are you going now?”

“Work,” he snapped. “The bills don’t pay themselves,” he opened the door and stormed out, slammingthe door behind him so hard a picture fell off the wall, and the frame shattered upon impact with thefloor.

Oh… that man.

***

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Aurora,” Aster said as she brought a big bowl of popcorn to the coffee table.Aster had the day off. She had left her assistant in command of her bakery in Aspen, claiming thatevery once and a while, even the boss needed a day off. So, she had invited Aurora over to rent amovie with the girls. “I’m sure they were careful. It’s not the first body the pack has disposed of.”

“Am I the only person who thinks what they did was wrong?” Aurora asked.

“You said yourself you wanted to kill the guy,” Aster pointed out as she sat down on the couch.

“I might have wanted to, but I didn’t.”

“You’re saying you have never killed anyone?” Charlotte asked from her place on the floor where shewas sitting cross-legged and picking at the popcorn.

“I have but only in self-defence,” both women stared at her with the same expression, the one sayingthey weren’t buying her answer. “Ok, maybe 50% self-defence – 50% anger,” both women laughed.“What?”

“Yeah, we have heard that you have a bit of a temper,” Charlotte giggled.

“Temper? Who said I had a temper?” She demanded with annoyance.

Aster snickered. “Oh yeah, I can clearly see that’s not true.”

Aurora laughed despite herself. “Ok, maybe I might have a very small anger issue,” she said, reachingfor the popcorn. “I’m just worried. Stanton got hurt.”

“Stanton’s a big boy. I’m sure he will be fine,” silence filled the room when the news came on. Charlottehad been browsing the rentals, but in the background, they could still hear what was playing on the TV.The anchorman was talking about a body found in the river earlier that day. “Charlotte, stop skimming. Iwant to see this.”

Charlotte exited the rental’s list, and now they were watching the video coverage of the police retrievingthe body. The station flashed a file photo of the victim they had gotten from the family. Aurorarecognized the victim immediately. It was the man from the restaurant last night. His name was RupertDickson, and he was a son of a Colorado State Senator. “Oh shit,” Aster gasped and looked at Aurora.“Please tell me that’s not the guy?”

“That’s the guy,” Aurora confirmed. “This is bad, isn’t it?”

“This is really bad,” Charlotte confirmed.

“You better bet that Senator is going to want his son’s death investigated,” Aster said. “Were there a lotof witnesses that saw the altercation last night?”

Aurora nodded. “The place was packed.”

“Stanton is going to be the very first suspect, then you,” Aster explained.

“But the TV says they believe it was an animal attack,” Aurora pointed out.

“They are still going investigate,” Aster said.

“That’s not the real problem. A dead Senator’s son was killed by wild animals and found floating in ariver. That’s going to make national news,” Charlotte pointed out.

“So.”

“It’s going to draw hunters,” Aster clarified.

Even Aurora understood that would be a bad thing. “We are screwed, aren’t we?”

“Royally,” Aster said, taking out her cellphone. “I have to call my father.”

***

Stanton sat outside in the driveway staring at the door. He knew he had to go inside, but he didn’t wantto face Aurora. Not after he yelled at her earlier that day, he had been so angry about the way thingswere playing out, but it wasn’t Aurora’s fault. That girl was a frustratingly gorgeous magnet forassholes. He couldn’t blame her for the way others treated her. Life with Aurora would be an ongoingfight, not with her but with every other man walking this planet. Now that he only had one good eye, hewould invoke more fear than he already did.

Turning his head, Stanton looked at the bouquet of white and yellow roses lying on the passenger seatof his SUV. He picked the bouquet up and got out of the vehicle. Taking a deep breath, Stanton closedthe SUV door and made his way inside. He walked inside to replace Aurora standing over the stove.

She was dressed in nothing but a pair of pink lace boy shorts and his favourite football jersey with theright side slipping off her shoulder and her hair swept up in one of those sloppy buns. In one hand, shehad a frying pan and, in the other, a spatula. Some hard rock playing on the iPod speakers as Auroradanced like no one was watching.

The sight brought a huge smile to Stanton’s face. He still couldn’t believe that this was his life or thatshe was his girl. He never wanted to lose this, but he didn’t know if he could hold her. Aurora had a wildspirit.

Stanton cleared his throat to alert her to his presence. Aurora placed her pan down on a burner thatwas not on before she turned around and looked at him with relief. It was a look he had not expected.She rushed over to him and framed his face with her hands pulling him down so she could kiss himhard. Then she pulled back and slapped him across the face with an angry look. Stanton was bothexcited and confused.

“Where the Hell have you been? I have been calling you all day, and you have been ignoring me,”Aurora snarled. She was right. He had been ignoring her calls because he hadn’t known what to say toher. Still speechless, he offered her the flowers he had brought. She glanced at flowers and smiled.“They are beautiful.”

“The white and yellows mean I’m sorry,” he explained.

Aurora shot him a playful grin. “How do you know that?”

“Google,” he snickered.

“Aww, you cared enough to look it up,” she said, returning to the cupboards looking for something touse as a vase.

“I’m sorry I ignored your calls. I didn’t mean to make you worry. I just didn’t know what to say. I neededsome time to think,” Stanton said as he took a seat at the small kitchen table while she placed theflowers in an unused water pitcher. “Dinner smells good.”

“I was making homemade gnocchi, stuffed with cheese, and pan-fried in brown butter and sage,”Aurora said as she plated the food that had been cooling in the pan. She brought both to the table,placing a bowl in front of him. It looked like restaurant quality, and it smelled divine.

“Hummingbird, you spoil me,” he said, taking up his fork. He was dying to taste it.

Aurora took the seat next to him. “Have you heard from Gordon?”

Stanton found that to be an odd question. Gordon had called a few times that day, but Stanton had notanswered because he hadn’t felt like talking to anyone. He had every intention of calling his packleader back later in the evening. “I think he called once or twice, but I didn’t answer,” Stanton wasgetting a bad feeling. “Is there something going on that I should know about?” Aurora was silent, butthe look on her face told Stanton she had something she didn’t know how to tell him. “What is it,Hummingbird?”

“The man you killed….”

“Let’s not talk about him. It’s over. Let us leave it in the past.”

“It’s not over.”

“Yes, it is. Just let the issue die with him.”

“Stanton…” His name, he always knew bad things were coming when she called him by his God-givenname. “He was Jack Ludwick, the only son of Colorado State Senator Stephen Ludwick. The Senator isdemanding the police investigate his son’s death. You killed someone extremely high profile.”

“Oh shit,” Stanton thought about his situation. Well, it was no big deal where the police were involved.After all, the Coroner’s report would conclude Jack Ludwick was torn apart by animals. There was noway his death would be pinned on him, so let them investigate it made no difference. However, oncethe investigation and cause of death were made public news, it could very likely attract Hunters. Histemper might have just screwed the pack.

“The police…”

“Shh,” He shushed her as he reached out and took Aurora by the hand, pulling her out of her seat andinto his lap. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about the police. They are not the problem.”

“And the hunters?”

“Well, they might be a problem. I’m sure Gordon is on it. He’ll likely have patrols in the woods and onthe roads. If anyone suspicious shows up, he’ll know, and they will be dealt with,” he wanted her to feelsecure. He understood that after the life she’d lived, it would be hard for Aurora to trust anyone, but hehoped she trusted him.

“You really think it is no big deal?”

“It will be fine,” he lied.

“But Aster says the pack is royally screwed.”

“Aster worries too much. Gordon has got this in hand. He is the pack leader; after all, it’s what hedoes,” she still seemed worried. “And if he fails for any reason and they come for us. I will protect youor die trying.”

Aurora smiled as she caressed his face and gazed deep into his good eye. “We will protect each other.”

Stanton smiled. He loved this mad crazy woman. Why she loved him, he would never understand. Hebelieved she would fight and kill for him. In the wild female wolves would crouch low with their headsunder their mate’s snout. It looked as if the female was cowering, but in truth, she was protecting hermate by putting herself between the threat and her mate’s jugular. He had no doubt Aurora would putherself between him and any threat. Aurora was fierce, but he wasn’t built for no soft-ass woman. Heneeded a badass woman, and as luck would have it, he had found exactly that in Aurora.

***

Lewis Wright sat on the foot of his motel bed, cleaning his weapons as he watched the news. Therewas a story on the nationwide section of the news talking about how some Colorado State Senator’sson had been torn apart by animals in Aspen. When they described the state of the corpse and where ithad been found, Lewis put down his guns and turned up the volume to better hear the information.

Of course, they would not show the body of the deceased, but they were showing the crime scenephotos. Somehow the man was found floating in the river, but his home showed signs of a struggle andeverything was covered in blood. It was when he saw a shot of large paw prints in the blood that Lewisknew exactly what had happened. Wild animals did not break into a locked house, kill someonesavagely, and then dispose of the body miles away in a river.

This was not an animal attack. This was a werewolf attack and judging from the numerous paw prints inthe blood. It was more than one. More than one werewolf meant there was a pack. There was a pack ofLycans in Aspen. Well then, he might as well pack his bags because come morning, he was headed toAspen.

***

A sound startled Aurora out of her sleep. Years of sleeping on the street had left Aurora a light sleeper.It was almost like sleeping while not actually being asleep. She lifted her head from her pillow. The

house was dark, and with no moon in the sky tonight, no light came through the windows. The placewould be pitch black to human eyes, but she could see more clearly than humans.

She looked at Stanton as he slept beside her undisturbed. The sound of the door handle jiggling drewher attention back to the door. Never taking her eyes off the door handle, which had stopped moving,Aurora tossed back the covers and got out of bed. Slowly she walked toward the door. Her eyes fixedon the handle. There was someone outside. It was the middle of the night. Who could it be at this timeof night?

Coming to a stop at the door, she waited, and when she saw the handle jiggle slightly once more,Aurora jumped. Trying to keep calm, she reached one hand to the door handle and used the other tounlock the deadbolt. Whoever was on the other side of that door was about to have a really bad night.Her fangs descended, and her eyes began to glow, then Aurora threw open the door and growled.

There was no one there. Aurora stepped out onto the porch and looked around. There was no one atall. So, who had been jiggling the doorknob? Aurora stepped down the wooden porch steps. Shebegan to sniff the air trying to pick up on a scent? She couldn’t smell anyone she shouldn’t smell. Therewas no one.

Confused, Aurora turned around to come face to face with Stanton, whose face was cut up and bloodywith torn flesh all over his body, leaving nothing but bloody mangled flesh. He was so close she wassure he was going to fall on her. Panicked, Aurora screamed from the shock. Stanton coughed upblood, which struck her in the face. She looked down to see his arms were folded over his lowerabdomen, literally holding his guts in. His arms fell away, and as he dropped to his knees, he sputteredthe word… “Run!”

As he fell dead at her feet, a man dressed in black stepped out of the shadows with a blood-coveredmachete in one hand and a gun in the next. He lifted the gun, pointing it at her and then fired.

Aurora screamed and shot up in bed. The sudden disturbance jerked Stanton out of his sleep. Helooked up at Aurora. “What’s wrong?” He asked.

Aurora looked around, surprised to replace herself in bed. It had been a nightmare. Aurora looked atStanton. “Nothing,” she said, shaking her head. They both laid back down, and Stanton held her closeas if he thought he could banish her dreams. It was a dream, she told herself, yet she still had an awfulfeeling that something horrible was coming.