Chapter 10

“What’s going on?” asked Raven. Benedict shuffled over, escorting her into the store.

“Come in, come in, I will explain everything...”

Cameron was still standing behind the store counter, unable to move. The last thing he wanted to deal with was all of Chelsea’s drama. Cameron realized that he was staring off into space, and the other two were standing in front of him like customers waiting to check out.

“Hi, I’m Raven,” she said, holding out her hand like they’d never met. She had a ring with a big black stone on her middle finger. Cameron, on reflex, went to shake it, but suddenly Benedict started coughing and waved his hands like he was warding off bees. He accidentally knocked Raven’s hand out of the way.

“My my, it’s dusty in here. Mr. Brandon I think you’re doing more harm than good in there.”

Cameron thought, dumbly, that it wasn’t dusty at all. Then he looked at his hand, realization dawning. Duh, skin to skin contact. He had to be careful about that.

“Brandon,” he said, nodding his head. And now he realized that she also couldn’t recognize him thanks to his locket. He wasn’t Cameron, buddy from middle school who has better things to do than play with his old friends, but Brandon, hunky teenager with a mysterious quest. And if he wasn’t Cameron, that meant that she couldn’t be Chelsea. He had no choice but to accept the name she claimed.

“‘Raven,’” he said, trying the name out. “That’s, uh, a pretty name.”

“I was into Poe when I picked it, but most people just make jokes about EDM music. ‘You goin’ ravin’, Raven?’ and stuff.”

“That’s too bad, I like it,” he forced himself to say.

“Why don’t we all go into the parlor and have a little chat,” offered Benedict.

“I have a ton of homework to do Ben...” said Raven.

“And there’s nowhere to sit anymore,” said Cameron.

“Nonsense to both of you. Once you hear this boy’s tale, Raven, you’ll think of nothing else. And there’s still a couple chairs, Mr B. Just bring in that stool.”

Cameron made a show of lifting the heavy shop stool with one hand, which took no effort at all. He hoped he saw Raven’s eyes widen a little as his bicep flexed.

They sat in the book-lined room, which without the couch seemed to be much larger, and Benedict began explaining Cameron’s predicament. He was careful not to be too specific about the exact source of Cameron’s woes or its particular sexual nature. But he also seemed to make it a little too obvious that he was leaving out certain facts, and Cameron could see in Raven’s face that she saw holes in the story. Benedict finished his speech and he and Cameron looked at Raven.

She eyed them both.

“So you,” she pointed at Cameron, “are an unnatural werewolf who turns unpredictably and frequently, and you,” she pointed at Benedict, “think I should help him find his spell ingredients, because you’re too old to find them yourself and he’s too stupid to look them up.”

The men nodded.

“How does this plan not end in me being eaten by the unpredictable frequent werewolf?”

There was a knock at the door. Benedict excused himself quickly and left the room quicker than Cameron thought possible for a man of his age.

Cameron looked at Raven. “I can control it, mostly. At least, I have a lot of warning that I’m getting hungry. And there are ways I can prevent myself from turning, although it doesn’t keep it satisfied for as long.”

“How’s that?”

Yes, how indeed. As Cameron was wondering how he was going to explain this, Benedict poked his head in the door. He wouldn’t be able to avoid the question for long, though. She’d have to know the details soon.

“The new couch has arrived, please make way.”

Raven pushed her backpack to the corner of the room, and soon a new sturdy-looking couch with washable covers drifted into the room with Benedict humming behind it. He guided it over to the wall where the old couch had been and let it drop gently to the floor with a light thump.

“Couch test!” yelled Raven, and she ran over to the couch and began jumping up and down on the cushions. The springs complained, but held. Benedict stood up angrily.

“Now cut that out, girl, this is unacceptable!”

Cameron sat in his chair, transfixed by the effect Raven’s bouncing had on her figure. Not even her baggy goth clothing could disguise her lithe, compact frame, and she was definitely not wearing a bra.

“It looks perfectly acceptable to me,” he said, ogling.

Raven stopped bouncing and glared at him. This only made her cuter.

“Watch it buster,” she said, “or I’ll slap you silly.” She held up her hand dramatically.

Cameron knew he couldn’t let her slap him or else all hell would break loose, so he retreated, putting up his hands in defense.

“Raven, please,” Benedict interjected. “I need to know if you will assist Brandon, or else I need to locate someone else who can.”

Her face became serious, and she nodded.

“I’ll help.”

“Excellent. Now, I am exhausted from the day’s events so I am going to lie down for a while. You two can get acquainted and go over the list on your own. And Raven, thank you so much for your assistance.”

Benedict’s eyes shifted to Cameron pointedly and Cameron wondered what the look was for. Then he got the hint and thanked her as well. The old man bid them good evening and headed off through the lab door, suddenly looking much older and slower than he had just minutes ago. Cameron and Raven listened as he padded off to his room.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, not looking at each other. Cameron didn’t know what to talk about. Cameron’s human stomach rumbled.

“You hungry? We could get some pizza,” said Cameron.

“How about tacos?” said Raven.

Cameron hoped Raven wasn’t looking, because he turned white for a second, recalling their last conversation so long ago. He’d mentioned tacos the day he’d run in to her coming out of the shop. But there was no way she knew who he was, it had to be a coincidence.

“Uh yeah, sure,” he said, and they got up, Raven retrieving her backpack. “But Luis said not to go to the place across the street, they don’t pay the cooks for overtime.”

“Who’s Luis?”

As they walked, Cameron explained who Luis was, and led Raven a few blocks to a place that Luis had recommended instead. He started to fill in some of the details Old Ben had left out, like his new residence in the basement and the normalcy charm, which he explained was for accidental transformations only. Raven seemed to respond well to the new information, nodding whenever a new piece of the puzzle was filled in.

He knew he should be more cautious about going outside and being seen since the morning’s attack, but he was tired of hiding all the time. Lana had said she couldn’t recognize him, and besides, he’d dealt with her easy enough. As far as he was concerned, they were welcome to try again.

The taco place was a hole in the wall that wasn’t well-labeled, just a small unlit sign over a door. Cameron guessed the food was authentic because they were the only white people there. He and Raven ordered and started looking over the spell ingredient list while they waited. The piece of paper was crumpled and ripped from all the abuse it had taken, so Raven got a fresh sheet from her backpack and copied the items onto a new list in purple ink, which Cameron thought was a little cutesy. Then she made a second copy for him to have.

Cameron had never really looked at the list before and was embarrassed to see that some of the items, like dietary supplements, could be bought at any drug store. Raven gave him a hard time about these, but even she started frowning when she read certain items.

Soon the tacos arrived and they both dug in, to their extreme regret. The food was super hot, and when it hit them their eyes went wide. They both drained their glasses and yelled for “¡mas agua por favor!” to gales of laughter from the other customers. They took it easy after that.

As they finished, Cameron noticed that Raven had put numbers next to all of the items on the list.

“So,” she said, and then stopped.

“Yeah?” he said.

“I’ve rated everything on the list from one to three based on difficulty. About half of the list are things you could have bought at any drug store, dumbass.”

“OK, my bad.”

“The twos are things I’ve heard of and know where to find. Like, we can get some of this stuff at the mall. Barf, I hate the mall.”

“And the threes?”

“Stuff I have never heard of.”

“OK, then probably you should--”

“WRONG,” she interrupted. “I’m helping you, so you are going to have to do what I say. Not the other way around.”

Cameron had to admit she had a point.

“So, uh, what do you recommend, then.”

“OK, you should probably go to the store and buy the number one items. Even a dumb jock like you, Brandon, could handle that.”

“Hey, I’m not a dumb jock!”

Raven tilted her head and put on a look of exaggerated curiosity. “No? Hmm. So while you’re doing that, I’ll go online and look up the number threes. Then we need to go and buy the number twos, although we need a car to get those. Do you have a car?”

“Motorcycle.”

“How tough. Do you have a second helmet?”

“No.”

“See if you can get a helmet from somewhere.” She paused, looking over the list again. “That’s pretty much it for this.”

They finished up their food and were surprised at how cheap the bill was. Cameron still had some cash left over and made a big show of paying for both of them, and Raven made a big show of being surprised and smitten. They left the restaurant and started walking back to the shop, yakking and laughing together. Raven tried a couple times to ease closer to Cameron and have him take her arm, but each time Cameron had to back away to avoid touching her. Cameron led her around to the back entrance of the store and awkwardly bid her goodnight.

“Thanks for the help. Really,” he admitted.

“You’re gonna owe me, you know.” Raven smirked.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“Remember to buy your items tomorrow, if I come over here on Saturday and you haven’t done that you’re gonna be in big trouble.” She smirked again and Cameron realized she was coming on to him. It was cute, but it was too dangerous.

“Yeah, I guess,” he repeated.

“You’re not so bad for a dumb jock, Brandon. See ya.”

And then Raven did the worst possible thing she could have done. She gave him a peck on the cheek. Cameron’s stomach sank. He had enjoyed spending casual quality time with Raven and had even almost forgotten how annoying she was as Chelsea. He didn’t want to ruin their semi-professional relationship with his charm. Maybe she did deserve to know more about his curse, but he’d prefer to tell her sometime other than right after they’d fucked.

Now Raven was really starting to get the look, so Cameron acted fast. He reached down and picked her up, throwing her over her shoulder. She let out a “whoop!” of surprise. He carried her through the door and down the stairs like a caveman hauling his mate. It was dark and he had trouble seeing, but he found his cell and dumped her on the couch. He flicked on the dim light, and looked at her across the room.

“Wow,” she said, a new fire burning in her eyes, “And I thought you were avoiding me all night!”

Cameron started pacing back and forth. The wolf inside rumbled with anticipation. Cameron knew it wasn’t a threat though, he wouldn’t need to transform for a couple days at least.

“I’m sorry Raven, you shouldn’t have done that.”

She sat up on the old couch, the springs groaning.

“No? Don’t you like me?” She stretched on the couch like a cat, arching her back. Her loose clothing momentarily outlined her body again, her small breasts high on her chest, her nipples visible in the fabric. Cameron’s dick pulsed.

“Yeah, but...”

She got up and glided across the floor to Cameron, backing him against the wall.

“Yeah, I can tell. I’ve never had a dumb jock look at me like you do, they just think I’m a stupid goth.”

She pressed against him so that her whole body was making contact from top to bottom. She was shorter than he was and had to look up at him. Her breasts pressed against him lightly and he was sure she could feel his hard-on rubbing against her.

Cameron sighed, resigned to his fate. It’s not that he didn’t want to fuck Raven right now, but he was worried she’d get upset when she learned the truth. She was nice and didn’t deserve this. But it was inevitable, so he put his arms around her, leaned down, and kissed her.

It was much more relaxing than with Jess. She’d been in the full throw of the attraction spell and kissing her had been an athletic, violent affair. But Raven didn’t seem to be fully enthralled yet and was kissing him gently, mouth closed. It was soft and sweet and made him painfully hard.

He reached up and caressed her breast, and suddenly she pulled back.

“Hey Buster, way to reach straight for the boob.”

Cameron stopped short. None of the other women had complained about anything he’d done.

“I thought you wanted to...”

“Well, make out, yeah, but I don’t put out on the first date or anything.”

Cameron stood there dumbly. What was going on? There had been plenty of skin-to-skin contact, so she should be all over him. He looked at her again, and she was definitely turned on. Her mouth was open slightly, and her nipples were still hard. Was she somehow immune?

“Raven, don’t get upset, but what would you say if I asked for a blow-job.”

She smacked him.

“I said don’t get upset!”

“I’m not upset, jerk, you just need some sense smacked into you. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

Cameron’s knees went weak and he had to sit on the couch. He wasn’t sure where to start. So much for putting off telling her more of the truth.

“It’s not you, it’s me.”

“Oh that’s a good one,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“No really, I need to explain. Sit.”

He motioned for her to join him on the couch. She crossed her arms and sat at the far end, glaring at him. It was now or never.

“Before, you asked about how I control the hunger without eating people.”

She said nothing.

“The other way is by having sex. If I have sex with someone, the hunger goes away.”

She still said nothing, her arms still crossed.

“Part of my curse, is that if I touch a woman, they want to have sex with me, like, right away. So that’s why I was avoiding you, and that’s why I dragged you down here after you kissed me. I thought you’d been charmed, so I thought...”

“You thought you might as well enjoy it? Some curse.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” he said.

She gave him the finger.

“Raven--”

But she interrupted him. “This ring,” she said, indicating the ring on the middle finger inches from his face, “is a ring of magical protection. It means I can’t be affected by magical spells that other people try to charm me with, including teenage boys who want some easy tail.”

Cameron stared at the ring.

“Oh,” was all he said. Then a thought occurred to him. She had still come on to him and she hadn’t been affected by the spell!

“So before, what you said...” But she saw where he was going with that.

“You ruined the mood, buster. Or should I say, Cameron.”

Cameron stared dumbly again.

“You can...”

“Keep looking at the ring,” she said. He looked again at her middle finger, which was still held up. “You look different than how you used to, but I can still tell it’s you. I wondered why you were walking around instead of dead, killed by a wild animal, but once Ben explained what you were, that made sense. But how come you’re just walking around? What if someone else saw you?”

Cameron reached into his shirt and held up his amulet. He explained its properties. She finally put her finger down.

“Just don’t call me ‘Cameron’ in public, it’s too risky. Stick with ‘Brandon.’ And Raven,” he pleaded. “I don’t have a choice. I need to be able to have sex regularly or more people will die.”

“So rape is better than murder. Wow, you are something.” Her jaw was tight now. She was super pissed.

Cameron tried to resist snorting at this. “Trust me, once they get charmed, it’s not that.”

“I’m sure it looks that way to you. I bet you wanted Ben to get me to help you so you could have a girl to fuck every night you need it.”

Cameron sighed. “The old man thought of you himself. But you know what, yeah, that crossed my mind. But if that’s what I had wanted I would have brushed up against you earlier. I’m sorry, but this is the way it is. If you can’t handle it, Ben and I can find someone else to help.”

“Someone else who doesn’t have protection from your curse, you mean.”

She looked at the ground in silence. She seemed to be weighing her options. Cameron decided the best thing was to stay quiet, letting her decide.

Finally she spoke.

“It was rotten of you, both of you actually, not to tell me everything before I said yes.” She held up a hand so he couldn’t interrupt. “But I’ll still help, on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“Show me.”

Cameron’s mouth fell open. “Uh, show you what?”

“Show me that the women enjoy it. You have to do it, right? So it’s sooner or later. And if they really have a good time, then who am I to judge? Your amulet there means we can go outside right now and pick someone up, right?”

“Yeah...” Cameron’s mouth was still stuck open. So much of what Raven said reduced him to confused silence.

She got up.

“Then let’s go, wolfboy.”

Cameron was frozen on the couch. “Now?”

“Yeah now.”

“But I don’t need to transform ... It’s not...”

“No? I thought you said you could control it. Oh, too bad then. See you around,” she said, and turned to leave. Cameron stood up.

“So you and I,” Cameron said slowly, making sure everything was clear, “are going to go outside and find a hot girl, who I’m going to touch, and you’re going to watch me while she jumps my bones and see if she likes it?”

“Wow,” she said, mocking being impressed, “you’re not as dumb as I thought!”

Cameron shook his head. “Well, if I have to, sure.”

He started for the door, but Raven stopped him.

“Now Cameron, I wouldn’t want you to ruin your clothes by suddenly growing two times your normal size. You should really take them off.”

Cameron made a stupid sound. He just didn’t know what she was going to say from moment to moment. He kind of liked that. But what was she doing with him?

“It’s very simple,” she explained. “That charm means everyone will see you as normal, so there’s no reason you can’t go around naked. And that way, you won’t ruin your clothes. It’s perfectly logical.” Then she crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

Cameron tried to argue that he might not even transform, but Raven was having none of it. She stood there with her arms crossed again, and he shrugged his shoulders and quickly stripped, realizing he needed to man it up and not be embarrassed. If he got nervous she’d notice and only make it worse.

After he dropped his pants, Raven made a big show of checking him out. She smiled wickedly, stuck her tongue out again, and walked out of the door. Cameron followed, fighting not to cover himself.

On the street, Cameron was reminded of walking the school corridors. With his amulet there was no way anyone could see his nudity, but he still felt like people were looking at him, as if on some level they knew what they were seeing. Surprisingly, this didn’t make him feel as embarrassed as when he’d had to strip for Raven. He’d probably never see these people again, so who cared if they got to see his hot bod?

The nights were finally warming up and the sidewalks were filling with dinner-goers. Every so often Raven would point at a woman and ask him if he wanted to fuck her. Invariably she picked the oldest, fattest, ugliest women. Cameron was not amused, worried that she was going to push him into someone. Finally Raven suggested that they go to the park, reasoning that grass would be more comfortable than concrete. Cameron agreed.

When they reached the park, Cameron saw another benefit of being there as he saw a few joggers running around getting their after-work exercise. One was a young college woman, her skinny body slick with sweat and dressed in a minimal outfit of a sports bra and shorts. Her tight ass flexed as she ran. Yes, he’d find someone suitable here.

Cameron and Raven wandered around the park, finally finding an area close to the center with a curving path and a soft expanse of grass. A double-sided bench sat on the side of the path, one side facing it, the other facing the grass. The park lights created creating small pools of soft white light on the path, insects swirling around each fixture. Raven sat on the bench, but Cameron felt the cold metal and decided to remain standing.