Chapter 12

Cameron woke up aching again. The couch, with its piercing springs and short length, made for a horrible bed. Morning light streamed through the small window, illuminating the dust in the air. It had to be 8 or 9 in the morning. By 10, the sun would be high enough that the room only received indirect sunlight.

He sat up on the couch and noticed he was hairy all over. He had partially transformed in his sleep. Since he’d become a werewolf Cameron had learned to sleep in the nude after he’d woken up a few times having ripped through his clothes during the night. It didn’t happen often, just when he was hungry.

Today, Cameron wasn’t apprehensive about being hungry. Before, being hungry meant escaping to a sketchy part of town and hoping his victim deserved what they got. It meant taking a total back seat to the wolf, no questions asked. But now it was no longer something that made him think dark and bloody thoughts. Raven knew his secret and approved of his new method of satisfying his hunger. Now it was something to look forward to. Who would he get to fuck today?

One thing was bugging him, though. When he had fed, it kept him satisfied for at least a week. But his exercise in the park was only four days ago. Was the werewolf getting stronger? Or was having sex not satisfying him as thoroughly? He laughed out loud, realizing what he would have done just a couple months ago to be able -- required, even -- to have sex every four days.

Cameron sat up, pulling the werewolf back inside and making himself fully human again. He twisted his back, his joints popping loudly as they cracked. He reached over beside the couch and re-checked the ingredient list.

Today he would call Raven. He had gone to the drugstore, an Indian grocery store, and even made a long trip to Chinatown in the next city over to get some of the stranger ingredients on the list. The next few items were the ones she’d said they could pick up at the mall together. She would be proud of him, seeing that he’d done his part.

There wasn’t a bathroom in the basement, so Cameron threw on some clothes and marched up the back stairs toward the store. Old Ben didn’t have a phone, so he would have to find a pay-phone nearby to call Raven. He should probably buy a cheap cell phone.

As he neared level with the floor, he stopped. Sara Myers was at the entrance to the store, holding the door open. It looked like she was leaving. She was twisting around, looking back in the store, and the old t-shirt she had on stretched to trace her curves. It looked like she wasn’t wearing a bra and her hair was a mess. What was she doing here?

Cameron waited until she had gone down the front stairs, then continued to the store. Inside, the intern Wayne stumbled out of the back room also looking bleary-eyed. Cameron put two and two together. Nice score, Wayne, he thought. Hope you like giggling.

“Morning Wayne,” yawned Cameron. “Hey, do you have a phone I can borrow?”

“You’re Brandon, right?” yawned Wayne in reply. “What are you doing here so early?”

“I live downstairs, didn’t Ben tell you?”

“Really? I don’t see you much.” Wayne looked puzzled. “And why--” he started, but Cameron interrupted.

“I usually leave through the back exit. I gotta make a call, so can I?”

Wayne mumbled something and then went to the back room to get his phone. Cameron punched in Raven’s number and reached her after nearly 30 seconds of ringing. She was pissed that he had called so early on a weekend but was happy that he had gone shopping. She insisted, however, that she come over and check his work first.

Cameron thanked Wayne for lending his phone.

“By the way,” he added, “who was the babe going down the stairs just now?”

Wayne puffed himself up. “That,” he said, “was my girlfriend, Sara.”

Cameron could have mentioned that he’d had her, but it didn’t seem like the right thing to say.

“Nice,” he said. Wayne smiled.

Cameron nodded and went through the back, through the door marked “lab, do not enter,” which just led to a hallway. The bathroom was on the side of the hallway and the lab itself was through the door at the end. That door had another sign on it, reading “this truly is the lab, truly do not enter!” He still hadn’t yet gone through that door. Not yet, anyway. He turned on the light in the bathroom and showered, his stomach rumbling now and then. He dressed in the same clothes he’d brought and went back down to his cell to wait for Raven.

She arrived toward mid-morning wearing a skirt, fishnet stockings, and a thing that looked like a corset except the ties were just decoration. Cameron realized with a start that this was her idea of dressing up. Were they going on a date? He complimented her, making her blush. Even if straps and leather didn’t really appeal to him, she really did look good.

Raven sat down carefully on the couch, avoiding the most awful spring. She folded her legs under her and checked over Cameron’s ingredients carefully. Cameron waited impatiently for her verdict.

“Pretty good,” she said.

Cameron’s heart sank. “Just pretty good?”

“Well,” she said, holding up a bag of spices, “these seeds were supposed to be whole, not crushed. And these,” indicating another bag, “were supposed to be refrigerated, so they’re rotten now.”

“Oh,” said Cameron.

She smiled, her black lipstick shining in the remaining sunlight. “It’s OK, we’ll fix it later, we can still go.”

“Yes!” said Cameron, and opened his arms and gave Raven a huge bear hug. He squeezed tightly, then jerked back when he remembered the danger of skin contact, then squeezed again when he remembered she was immune to his enchantment.

Raven seemed to understand, and said nothing.

They hopped on Cameron’s motorcycle, Raven using an old beat-up helmet he’d found at a yard sale the day before. His cash supply was running low but it would be enough for whatever they needed plus maybe some new shirts. He was getting much more adept at shifting gears on the bike and they cruised through the tree-lined streets with ease. Leaves had finally burst from all the branches and rustled in the breeze of their wake.

The mall Raven wanted to go to was about ten miles from the store, on the edge of town. It was a typical suburban mall surrounded by parking lots and chain restaurants with nothing to distinguish it from any other. He found a parking spot for the bike near the entrance.

They entered and Raven found the mall directory. Cameron was a bit taken aback by the crowd. So many cute girls from the suburbs were here, all looking so tender and juicy.

Raven was pointing at the directory. “OK, I hate the mall, so let’s make this quick, OK? The candle store has the right type of candles and this store has some of the African imports.”

“I want to get some more shirts if we can,” Cameron said. “Mine are all nasty.”

Raven sniffed. “That’s for sure. Let’s do that first.”

Cameron looked around again at the walking meat market all around them. Summer was really kicking in, and the girls’ outfits were shrinking to match. Jean shorts, tube tops, and other flimsy things were drawing his eyes right and left. It’d been a while since he’d seen so much cleavage in one place.

“Raven, one more thing,” he said.

“What, maybe some pants too? Not a bad idea,” she said, still looking at the directory.

“I’m hungry,” he said, trying to put emphasis on the word.

“Yeah, the food court is ... oh.” She looked up in realization.

“Yeah,” he said.

Raven rolled her eyes. “Well, make it quick I guess. And don’t change, y’know.”

Cameron hadn’t thought about that. He had a lot of control now. He could probably resist the change, especially on this first day of relatively light hunger.

They walked around the mall toward one of the discount stores where Cameron would be able to pick up a pack of 5 shirts for cheap. He was finding it difficult to concentrate because the wolf was pulsing inside him, making itself known. Every time a cute girl passed in shorts he had to stop himself from reaching out to grab her ass. He knew she wouldn’t be angry, she’d be his, easy as that. But he had promised Raven that she would approve his choices.

He was starting to sweat and he ducked inside a high end clothes store to calm down. He pulled Raven along with him. His head was pounding.

“What’s going on?” she whispered.

“Sorry,” he said, “It’s too much. Too many.”

“Oh, my poor man,” Raven said in mock sympathy. “Well, figure out what you’re going to do--”

Raven stopped.

“--Or who,” she finished.

Raven nodded her head at Cameron, who turned around. A salesgirl was approaching briskly. She was a few years older than them, with brown hair and cute sexy librarian glasses and a sleek one-ear headset for talking with the other employees. He admired her slim figure, dressed in a crisp red button-down shirt and a knee-length skirt.

“Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked.

“Yes, there is.” He turned and grabbed a random black shirt from the hanger, hoping that it was at least a men’s style. A dressing room would do nicely. “Can I try this on?”

“Sure, follow me.” The girl smiled. “Elizabeth,” her nametag read.

“Thanks Elizabeth.” He turned to Raven. “How ‘bout I meet you at the next store?” he offered.

Raven shook her head, but also smirked. “Don’t take all day,” she said as the salesgirl started leading him to the back where the dressing rooms were.

“Call me Liz,” she said.

The store was fairly empty. He watched her ass as she moved. The heels she was wearing caused it to sway back and forth nicely. It made him hard and the wolf inside growled. It sounded muted though, not a threat at all.

“Wow, Liz,” Cameron said, still admiring her ass openly, “do you work out?”

“What?” She looked over her shoulder briefly, losing her composure for just a short moment. She probably got hit on by customers all the time. She’d have to have pretty thick skin to work retail. “Are you trying just the one shirt?”

She went behind a podium and fished out a plastic tag with a number “1” on it. Cameron leaned on the podium with his arms crossed. He knew he was wasting time but it was too much fun toying with his prey before he touched her.