The fight club was dead. The people given the serum were returned to normal, and thankfully, they didn’t remember what happened to them. They remembered being abducted by Alfie and waking up in what appeared to be a hospital room, but after that, it was blank.
Sadly, the people Wolfman knew - Carol, Jones, and Bert - were gone. He and Avery made sure they had real funerals, and Avery had half the SEA show up to them while he corralled his store patrons into attending. It was the least they deserved.
Avery had taken great relish in bringing her mom in for questioning – though she had to let her go again. Her mom claimed she had no idea the fight club was illegal. No one believed her, but they couldn’t charge her.
Tom Murphy had definitely left town, which was probably for the best. A lot of people were pissed about it, but there wasn’t anything they could do. They had no evidence to arrest him, so they had to let him go.
Wolfman waved to Joe who was currently doing his rounds, handing out food and blankets. Gretchen had amassed a huge amount of money due to her misdeeds, and Greta, being her only heir, agreed to donate it all to the various homeless shelters around the city.
Yep, Wolfman had returned! His mom could do wonders with a sewing machine and had easily patched together his old costume. Though, he had to promise he would call her every half hour when he went out as Wolfman.
Avery also made him check in with her when he was out – making him call her every half hour, too. She said she refused to let him get himself captured while acting like a dick again. She’d put up with a little crimefighting, but only if he was careful. He had suggested that she could be his sidekick – his beast virtually salivated over the skin-tight costume he had in mind for her, but she shot that down pretty quickly.
He was out on his usual route. A few people who spotted him gave him the thumbs up, which he gladly returned. A few women from a bachelorette party wanted a photo with him, which he posed for. His wolf snorted but, frankly, they were drunken rhino shifters. If he didn’t play nice, they might pulverize him. Though, he drew the line when they tried to make him strip and thankfully their limo arrived, so they didn’t push it. A couple had managed to push a couple of one dollar bills into his trousers, so he was actually turning a profit on the night. He bought a candy bar, from a very amused convenience store clerk.
He was just finishing the bar and tossing the wrapper into the trash – because heroes never littered – when he spotted a couple of familiar faces. A couple of the pickpocketing kids who had been terrorizing Los Lobos. In fact, one of them was the little shit who kicked him in the groin.
Before his wolf could stop him, and before logic prevailed, he shouted, “Hey, you, come here!”
The kids saw him and ran, and he confounded his idiocy by shouting, “Stop!”
Like that ever works snarled his beast. He was still smarting from the groin incident and wanted to catch the little buggers and exact some swift justice. Which probably meant dragging them kicking and screaming to either the LLPD or SEA – whichever was closer.
Wolfman let out a small roar – because he didn’t have time for a big roar – and set off after them. They had to be part cheetah because they were nearly outstripping him. He chased them down alley after alley, past the bridge, through a junkyard, down a tunnel, and through a closed industrial plant. By that point, he had no idea where he was, but he wasn’t going to let them go so easily.
They slipped into a disused office through a broken window. It was far too small for him, and due to his beast’s increasing rage, he was feeling pretty strong. He shouldered straight into the door, making it smack against the wall with a resounding thud.
He stopped, peering around the darkened room. His wolf snarled as half a dozen scents assaulted him. Children of varying ages and, what was that? Smelled like…
*
Grrr!
Wolfman snapped awake. His mouth and nostrils burned. Ah yes, smelled like chloroform. Probably was chloroform. It would certainly explain why he lost consciousness and why he appeared to be strapped to a chair.
His first thought? His mom and Avery would be pissed. Avery especially. His mom didn’t know about his mishap with the fight club. If she did, she wouldn’t be quite so sanguine about the whole Wolfman thing. But Avery did, and two misadventures in the space of two weeks might be a bit much even for his serene seductress.
“Ah, you’re awake,” sneered a smooth voice.
“Mostly,” rumbled Wolfman.
His beast was somewhat groggy, but slowly, parts of him were awakening. With a huge effort he looked up to see a well-dressed, yet still slimy looking man. He was a shifter, a possum Wolfman would guess, though he was having a little trouble catching scents at that moment.
“Don’t I know you?” said Wolfman and then as the man was about to answer, Wolfman let out a huge sneeze.
“Achoo!” The man’s eye ticked. Wolfman shrugged as much as the ropes would allow. “Sorry, allergies.”
He looked around the disused factory. Yep, all the dust in this place would be murder on his sinuses. Ugh, not to mention his eyes. He could already feel his contacts itching. He had very dry eyes, and dust just caused them no end of trouble. His mom used to make him carry around emergency eyedrops… also an emergency eyeglass repair kit… also a small first aid kit… except it wasn’t small, it virtually filled his whole backpack. Yeah, he wasn’t so surprised when he got beat up. Everyone picks on the momma’s boy.
He caught sight of half a dozen kids all staring at him with wide eyes. Slowly, it was starting to dawn on him.
“Did you lead me into a trap?”
The man smirked in triumph and opened his mouth to say something.
“Achoo! Achoo! A… choo!” The last one was so profound it required a pause apparently.
The man scowled.
“I am dreadfully sorry, does anyone have a tissue?”
Wolfman looked at the man who was rapidly approaching boiling point and then turned his attention to the kids.
“Anybody? No?”
“Shut-up!” snapped the man.
Wolfman wrinkled his nose. Gross. He really did need a tissue. His wolf clacked his jaws in a half-hearted sort of way. He was starting to wake up a bit, though, honestly, neither of them were unduly worried about the situation they found themselves in. Compared to the man-beast he was facing just over a week ago, this guy was about as intimidating as, well, a real possum. Though, he was slightly nervous about the children. He knew they liked to kick, and being tied up might prove too much of a temptation for them.
“Achoo! Ugh, so much dust,” he murmured.
The man in front of him was starting to turn an interesting shade of puce. But, he took a breath and managed to regain his temper.
“I know you’ve been after me,” he said with an expression nearing a smirk.
Wolfman gave him a baffled look while his wolf gave him a ‘huh?’ “I have?”
“Yes, I knew you’d worked it out.”
“Ah, good for me?”
Honestly, he had no idea. Either this guy was giving Wolfman too much credit, or he had too high of an opinion of his nefariousness.
“Well, it ends now.”
The man smile and something clicked in Wolfman’s memory.
“Oh, I do know you!” he exclaimed, pleased with himself for remembering. He was featured on the news, and his mom pointed him out. “You’re that philanthropist guy – Grant somebody…”
“Grant MacArthur,” he supplied acidly.
“Right – achoo - who adopted a bunch of… ah, kids.”
Wolfman’s eyes roved over the rough looking children. So he adopted them and turned them into thieves. Dick. His wolf was fully awake now and more than prepared to take a huge chunk out of this guy. Hero code be damned – exploiting children deserved some kind of harsh punishment.
Grant was watching him, waiting for something. Perhaps waiting for Wolfman to shout, ‘you’ll never get away with this.’ Which, he probably would have if he hadn’t laid this trap. He must have thought that after all the run-ins that Wolfman had with his young pickpockets, that Wolfman was investigating. Maybe he would have, were it not for the more pressing disappearances.
“Ah, just to be clear, you adopted these kids to get them to steal things?”
The kids shuffled but didn’t say a word.
“Yes, of course,” sneered the male, flinching slightly as Wolfman let out a huge sneeze.
Okay, he’d bite.
“Uh, how much – achoo - do you actually make by – achoo - doing that?”
“Not including the overheads, two grand a week.”
Grant started warming to the topic. Maybe in the same way Winston fancied himself a hero, Grant fancied himself a supervillain.
“Pretty decent I guess.”
He let out an enormous sneeze and was vaguely aware that his eyes were starting to run. He gave the ropes an experimental twist. He was starting to wonder what this guy was planning on doing to him. Did he look like the murderous kind? His wolf huffed. Not really.
“Helps that the kids steal their food and clothes – saves me a lot of money.”
“Achoo – smart,” he sniffed. “Oh, my nose is so bunged up.”
“Now, to…”
“Achoo!”
“Now…”
“Achoo!”
“Now, to deal…”
“Achoo!”
“Now to deal with you!” screamed Grant in a rush.
Wolfman heard the sharp intake of breath from one of the kids. He wasn’t sure what this guy had in store for him, but he didn’t want any of the kids to get hurt.
He muttered under his breath.
“What was that?” snapped Grant.
Wolfman jutted his chin and Grant sauntered his way, leaning over him.
“I said…”
He head butted Grant. The possum shifter let out an almighty squawk, stumbled backward, tripped and knocked himself out when his head hit the ground. His wolf was about to do a victory lap when a lovely scent washed over him making him quiver.
“Nicely done,” called his lovely lady’s voice.
Wolfman chuckled as his beast panted. “I was starting to wonder what was taking you so long.”
Yeah, he had it in the back of his mind that his lioness would start worrying when he didn’t call, and that she could track his phone. He didn’t really think he was ever going to be completely on his own again. Perhaps if he were another male, he’d feel it was an insult to his stubborn pride that his female was so protective. But no, he welcomed it. What male in their right mind wouldn’t want Avery caring about them so much?
His blonde goddess appeared in his eye line. Thankfully, amusement danced over her features. “I can’t leave you alone for a second, can I?”
“Achoo – sorry.”
Her expression turned to mild concern. “Allergies?”
He nodded and sneezed again.
Avery looked around, taking in Wolfman, the kids and the guy on the ground. “What is going on here?”
“Well, that guy on the floor is my arch enemy - The Adopter.” Seemed like a good name for him. “He led me into a trap and was intending on ‘dealing with me.’”
“Oh yes? Want me to untie you?”
Wolfman beamed at his gorgeous mate. “Yes, please.”
*
Avery beamed at the newspaper. “Wolfman foils modern-day Fagin and his gang of pre-pubescent pickpockets,” she read out with pride.
“It’s a little wordy,” murmured Winston leaning over her shoulder.
He was trying to be blasé about the whole thing. He had missed blasé about a mile back and had firmly hit smug pride when she first showed him the newspaper.
“I love it,” she cooed, giving his ear a nibble for good measure.
“Would be better without pre-pubescent,” he argued mildly. “Would be more accurate if they mentioned you.”
Grant MacArthur had been arrested, and the kids had been taken into care. The mayor was so horrified about how the kids had been treated that she personally promised to find them all new homes. The kids didn’t seem particularly worse for wear, though hopefully, the urge to steal wasn’t long term.
“Honey, you’re a star, enjoy it while you can.”
Winston shrugged and kissed her shoulder. Then he plucked a mini donut out of the box and fed it to her. She had woken early, and leaving her sexy wolf sleeping, had ventured out for an enormous box of mini donuts. They were his favorite, and he had definitely earned them. But when she spied the newspaper, she couldn’t resist. Now they were reading the article over and over in bed while munching on the donuts.
These sleepovers could become addictive she thought as she licked his fingers. She could feel her beast, lounging lazily and enjoying every single moment.
His mom hadn’t been too obstructive, though she didn’t really like him sleeping somewhere other than at home. But they were planning on splitting their nights between her apartment and his house. For a short while, anyway, and only when Winston got a lock fitted for his door. They had both made noises about wanting to move in together, but Avery was a little unsure about leaving Aimee. Even more uncertain about leaving Aimee alone with Wayne. So they were compromising, for the time being. As long as they spent all their free time together, it wasn’t such a hardship.
Winston took the newspaper away and carefully folded it. Avery had mentioned putting it in a scrapbook or even framing it, so he was keeping it nice.
“At least it gave me inspiration for my comic book.”
“Oh yes? Don’t you get inspiration from anywhere else?” she teased.
“Well, maybe…”
Avery gave his neck a playful nip, and he dragged her onto his lap. She could taste his smile as she pressed her lips to his.
He hadn’t bothered dressing yet, and naturally expecting this, she had undressed when she returned with the donuts and clambered back into bed.
Winston growled into her mouth as she slid down his eager and waiting length. He gripped her hips as she rocked up and down his hardness. Their coupling was fast and hard, a mixture of skin slapping, grunting, moaning and desperate kisses.
Her lioness purred in contentment. She’d kissed a lot of frogs – once literally when she went on a date with a frog shifter – but she had finally found her mate. He was fun and awesome and the sweetest guy on the planet. She wasn’t exactly romantic in nature, but she was absolutely soppy over her man. He was worth the wait. Hell, she’d wait a thousand years for him. She knew he was special the moment she met him.
Avery wrapped her arms around him as he bucked his hips to meet her frantic plunges. The warmth of her orgasm kindled inside her; she could feel herself reaching for it, readying for her body to burn with exquisite pleasure.
“Mate,” she purred.
Winston froze and roared as he reached his own completion, emptying himself inside her in wild release. His pulsing triggered her own ecstasy, and she shook erratically against him as she cried his name.
“Mate,” he echoed hoarsely, clasping her to him.
Mine crooned her beast. Yes, now and forever.