Chapter 19

“Please Matt!” she pleaded, as she hugged him tighter and buried her face into his fur.

For long moments it seemed that he would not respond.

But then the noises coming from the wolves whimpered to silence and the fur beneath her fingers began to thin away and warm flesh and bone wrapped around her, as he collapsed to the ground.

He smiled at her wearily for a moment before standing and turning to what was left of the animals.

“Shift back!” he growled. “Shift back now – or die where you lie!”

Slowly they changed into human form, but where overconfident, burly men had been before, now they were wasted and withered and even older than they had been.

“You will leave this place, you will never return, and you will never – ever go anywhere near to Sandra. She is of my pack now, under my protection now, and forever out of your reach ... Do you understand?”

They were so broken now that they barely responded other than to nod.

“Leave here, now!”

He pulled Trudy to him, and watched with hard black eyes as the men silently began to trudge away.

The night was cool, especially when they resumed their human form after the warm fur of their alter egos. It was chilly, especially when they were naked to the elements. Trudy’s clothing had torn away from her when she had shifted, but Matt’s clothes had simply evaporated.

Matt enjoyed the feel of Trudy against him, as she shivered and tried to burrow deeper into his embrace.

He would have loved at that moment to just sweep her up and carry her off somewhere where they could be alone, together.

Unfortunately, he had to keep his senses open and alert to those ... vermin.

He was confident that he had beaten them down to submission, and his senses told him that they continued to move away from, Seline’s home.

But as long as he could still sense them then he had to stay vigilant.

Until his brother arrived, he had to stay on his guard and not let his infatuation with Trudy distract him; and he realised it was probably the hardest thing he would ever have to do!

The front porch was empty but for the small pile of clothing, and Trudy moved quickly to cover her nakedness from the chill of the night and from Matt’s stare, which was growing more and more disturbing by the minute.

She turned away from his smouldering gaze and pulled the dress over her head with relief.

The house was silent when they entered, apparently empty, but heavy with the scent of fear.

“We’re back!” Trudy called out lightly. “And everything is okay.”

The air around them moved and the kitchen door at the end of the corridor was flung open.

“Trudy - Matt!” Seline called out with relief and suddenly they were surrounded by laughing sobbing and anxious people.

It was very late into the night and slowly the girls began to feel safe enough to go to bed and sleep.

Seline, Matt and Trudy retired to Seline’s office, and she offered the two of them a drink.

“You both look shattered,” she observed. “So, you should both turn in after this?”

Trudy nodded tiredly as she sipped her drink, but Matt shook his head.

“I shall stay awake and alert for trouble – until my brother arrives, now.”

“But you are exhausted Matt!” Seline protested.

Matt smiled in reassurance. “This drink is warming and reviving, and a meal will finish the job.

Seline nodded and stood up. “I will ask Marcie to pull something together for you, before she turns in for the night.”

“I could keep you company,” Trudy offered hesitantly once they were alone.

He looked at her for a moment and then smiled gently. “You are done in I think, so go and get some sleep, please.”

She did not argue with him this time – which in itself told of her fatigue.

Matt put down his glass as she came to her feet, and he stood as well.

He pulled her gently into his arms and kissed her slowly and deeply, and Trudy responded with all the love that felt for him.

Finally, he ended the kiss and then simply held her against him, stroking lightly down the length of her hair. “When my brother arrives and I am finally free of my responsibility here, then you and I should go somewhere, where we can be alone and talk ... really talk.”

He felt her nod, and then stepped away from her.

“Go and get some rest now.”

Again, instead of arguing at his ordering, she meekly nodded and left the room.

Although she had agreed to sit and talk with him, Trudy lay in bed wondering and worrying over what he might expect her to say.

The memories of their past were still raw with emotion, and Trudy was not sure if she would be able to simply coolly talk about it.

Where to begin? How much to say? What to divulge and what would only cause harm?

She was exhausted and felt drained, but sleep would not come to her, and as the morning sun began to peep through her curtains, she felt no more refreshed than when she had climbed into this bed.

As she showered and dressed, she felt the tweaks and twinges of stiff muscles and aching joints, and her temper grew more and more sour.

She thought seriously about grabbing her bag and trying to sneak away, and once the idea was there it took root, and became a plan of action – a need, and she even began the process of packing.

A knock on her door had her shoving the bag back into her wardrobe.

“Who is it?” she called out lightly.

“Just me, can I come in?” Seline’s voice sounded amused.

“Yes of course – the door isn’t locked!”

Seline walked in looking fresh and rested and Trudy felt frumpy beside her.

“Didn’t you get any sleep?” Seline asked seeing her tired frown.

“Not much,” Trudy sighed.

“Something’s bothering you?” Seline murmured sympathetically, then she smiled ruefully, “Or someone – I should say?”

“Of course, it’s someone – it’s him – it will always be him – bothering me!”

Seline sighed. “I thought, I hoped that you had both got past all that and moved to a place where you could, at least communicate with each other.”

“Yes, we did – we have, and now he wants us to go off and talk – really talk was how he put it.”

“Wouldn’t that be a good thing though?”

“Maybe, but well I get the feeling that the ‘we really need to talk’, means I really need to talk – to fill in the blank spaces in his memory – tell him what we were, what happened to us...”

“Again, wouldn’t that be a good thing, it would give you a chance to get it all off your chest – once and for all?”

“Perhaps, but I am just not sure how much to say, how much to tell him – where to even begin?”

“No? Well, I am sure it will come to you when the time comes,” She smiled encouragingly and then draped her arm through Trudy’s. “But for now, let’s go and get some breakfast – before the girls all start to come down.”

“What about him?”

“Oh, Marcie gave him an early breakfast and ordered him to go and get some sleep ... Even yours truly decided not to argue with Marcie on a mission,” Seline laughed.

“I must say you are very cheery this morning?”

Seline gave a little grimace. “Jon said he would be coming today.”

“Ah,” a simple little word with a wealth of understanding.

The earliness of the hour really did mean the house was silent, apart from a low humming in the kitchen and the murmur of Marcie talking to herself as she moved around her domain.

The fragrant aroma of coffee and fresh toast drifted up to greet them and Trudy sniffed appreciatively.