Lupus Femina
CURSED
It's hard to run from a werewolf. M/F (Adult)

Chapter Three: Little Shocks

In which Jake appears and Ellie suffers some stress and disillusionment.



Jimmy was sprawled out on the bed when she finished cooking dinner, her sleeves rolled up and cheese almost dripping off the burgers. "I wonder how much I could benchpress," he said, flipping channels idly. His phone, never far from him at this point, had been dropped by his elbow. Alone in a new town, not yet enrolled in school--still living in hotels--Jimmy considered his biggest problem to be boredom, and Ellie was amazed his incessant attention hadn't caused Brooke--or Bo, for that matter, considering sometimes he switched off to pestering him--to dump his ass.

"Who knows? Dinner's ready." Ellie carried the plates to their little table and sat down. "If you need any supplies for tomorrow night, tell me and I'll run out to the grocery store on the way home."

Jimmy dragged himself off of the bed with a theatrical groan. "Okay, okay....I was thinking just hot dogs or something." He made a face at the salad on the table, an expression which was quelled with a single narrowed look. "Anyway, that comic shop called back."

"Oh, good!" Ellie smiled at him. "It'll give you something to do, at least."

He took a huge, sloppy bite out of his burger. "It'll be good to have a paycheck. Maybe we could afford an apartment."

Ellie hesitated, but finally nodded. She didn't think she'd ever shake the need to run more run more run more, but the shine had worn off their nomadic lifestyle for Jimmy, and she had to admit she was beginning to feel the drag.

Besides...obviously they weren't going to pose a danger to Jake, fleeing and unable to expose him. Surely they weren't important enough to keep pursuing. Ellie pursed her lips and took a bite of her own, reaching for the cheap plastic salad tongs as she chewed. Honestly, they were probably out of danger. If they stuck to the mountains, small towns near more desolated areas, they'd do okay with the changes. It had only happened once since then, but they'd ended up near their car again--and this time with enough clarity that Ellie knew she hadn't harmed another human being, which uncoiled a bolt of fear that she'd been carrying around since she first heard her own bones crackle warningly--either by their own will or a wolf's instinct for safety and familiarity.

They could handle this. Ellie was almost certain of it.

"'S good," Jimmy mumbled through his mouthful. Ellie looked up, jarred out of her thoughts, and smiled at him.

"Thanks, Jimmy. Don't forget the salad."




"Ellie! Order up!"

The steam and cooking food made her stomach rumble pleasantly, but Ellie ignored it. She had to eat more now--she didn't know whether it was magic or metabolism or what. Her acute sense of smell didn't help, either, and the wolf thought almost anything smelled good. Even things that would have made Ellie cringe with her normal senses were generally labeled under interesting by the new animal pulse beneath her thoughts.

One of her coworkers have her a hasty nod as they passed, an older woman with bleached blonde hair falling out of her bun, a warm lined face and a faintly frayed apron. She was carrying bowls of steaming soup. As the doorbell jingled Ellie carefully hastened her step, setting down dishes for a family of four and already reaching for her pad and pen as she turned.

The man was sitting down at a table, his back to her, wearing a dark coat. His dark hair was cut short and she wove through tables to reach him, the hair on the back of her neck was beginning to prickle with something like fear.

She remembered approaching Jake from behind like this--when he was sitting she might kiss the back of his neck, or say something in his ear, and he'd turn to her, sinuous, and grin up at her--

Ellie got, "excuse me sir--" out and then the man turned.

She jolted back, biting back a shriek as Jake's warm, deceptive grin curled at her. Her fingers bit into her pad, and she was lucky the pen didn't snap; she'd done that a few times.

And then a stranger blinked at her, concerned, and said, "miss are you all right?"

"Yes," she said, numbly. "Yes, I'm--I'm fine. You just reminded me of someone for a minute there."

He looked taken aback. She could only imagine what her expression had looked like, and mustered up a smile from some well of endurance she hadn't even known she had a few weeks ago. "Again, I'm sorry. Can I take your order?"

"Are you all right, honey?" The blonde waitress--Anna--hissed at her when their paths intersected again. Her eyes were full of concern. Good lord, Ellie must look even worse than she'd thought, or she'd made more of a scene. Neither thought was appealing.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just--tired, you know." She gave her a crooked smile. "Jumpy. Some bad memories."

Anna nodded slowly, her eyes still worried but looking somewhat appeased. Apparently Ellie had hit the right mix of wry and comfortable. "Well, you get some rest."

And then, thankfully, they separated again.




"Hey, Ellie," Jimmy yelled from the back as she opened the door, shoulders slumped, key gratingly loud in the lock to her tired ears, "I got it!"

"Good for you!" She called back, shutting the door behind her. It rejuvenated her a little, the announcement. They could always use a little extra money.

He appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, looking sheepish. "But I, uh, kinda forgot about dinner."

Ellie rubbed at her forehead. "It's okay. I'm just gonna go to bed." She dumped her coat on the chair and rifled through her purse for her wad of tips. "Here. Go to the pizza parlour or something. My treat."

She took the opportunity to land a smacking kiss on his cheek as he crowded in to grab the money, beaming. "Thanks! Man, it's been so long since we had pizza..."

She laughed and waved him out. "Shoo. Shoo. I'm tired."

He bounded for the door.

Ellie peeled out of her clothes slowly, biting her lip. She took the time to carefully fold them away in the laundry as she ran the day through her head. She'd been tired, and a little worried over the whole 'apartment' thing, and she'd jumped to conclusions and seen something that wasn't there. She pulled her nightshirt over her head, tugging her hair out of its neck, and pulled back the blankets. She hated hotel blankets but they'd have to spend money on new ones if they moved to an apartment.

She slid into sleep turning this peculiar balance of minutiae pros and cons over in her head.




Jake was curled up in bed with her.

She didn't get that often. Usually their schedules were a little too conflicting. He spent rare nights over, and sometimes she spent the night at his place, curled up in his big bed. She loved waking up to Jake in a long line of heat against her back, big hand spread across her belly, head tucked against the curve of her shoulder. It was very dark--neither of them had great curtains, so it must be really early--and she rolled over with a sleepy murmur, nuzzling into his throat. His smell enveloped her, and she relaxed into the reassurance of his presence, curling her body into his.

He made a sound, low and pleasantly rumbling, in his chest. Ellie closed her eyes, feeling the solid warmth of him wake a pleasant little ache between her legs, and sleepily slid one leg over his hip, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. His hand slid up her side, cupping her breast, and she shivered as he drew slow circles around her nipple with his thumb, drawing it into a tight peak.

He smelled familiar. Before her nose hadn't been half as keen, but she knew it well enough for it to still carry back-brain associations with it; happiness, love, sex. And she could feel him beginning to respond, cock hardening against her inner thigh.

Before?

Before he'd gotten her turned into a werewolf and then tried to kill her.

Ellie went wild, struggling, kicking out viciously. His body tightened instantly and he rolled her; she might be strong enough to lift a car one-handed, as she'd mistakenly learned, but she wasn't a match for him. Whether it was experience or simply because supernatural strength was also proportional to form didn't matter much at the moment. He pinned her down, effortlessly. His forearms pinned her arms, hand still buried in her hair, and his hips pinned hers. He was a warm, solid weight above her, fingers of one hand locked around both of her wrists. He bore her down into the mattress, and the smell of him filled her lungs. Ellie stared up, panting, watching as the light peeking through the curtains from streetlamps flashed off of dark, inhuman eyes. His grin was slow and sardonic.

"Hello, Ellie," he said softly, and her heart lurched into her throat.