Chapter 14

Casey was driving down the highway on her way back to her house in the early morning light. She and Lena had spent the last few hours showing each other how much they loved one another. She was tired and very hungry. She hadn't eaten much before heading out this morning. They had made plans for her moving in, roughly three weeks from now. Finals would be over and Lena's short break before the summer sessions started would be the perfect time to get something disruptive as that done.

Once she got back to her house; she hurriedly went into the kitchen and got out the steaks she had set aside in the fridge and put them in a skillet to warm up. She started unpacking her truck while they cooked. She had to stop on the second trip in and sit down to eat. Her head ached and her stomach was roiling. She finished the two large rib eye steaks quickly and feeling barely satisfied, pulled out a container of beef liver from the freezer. She set it into a pan of hot water and continued to unpack her truck.

She took a quick shower and got dressed before returning to the kitchen to eat the warmed up liver. It had warmed to the point where it was just above body temperature, her new body temperature anyway. She picked up the slices with her fingers and slid them into her mouth. She swallowed them down one right after another, slurping the blood from the bottom of the container after the last slice went down.

She couldn't quite get up the energy to feel queasy or even disgusted with what she had just done. She did what she felt she had to, to give her body the nutrients it needed to survive. She licked her fingers clean and rushed out the door to get to the office in time. When she got to the office, Charlenne was already waiting for her and showed her what she had come up with for the fictitious company logo. Casey was impressed and told her so.

"Okay, Charlenne, you might have it in you to become a graphics designer. Good work for a first try."

Charlenne beamed at the praise and sat up in her chair a little straighter after Casey's compliment. They spent the rest of the day going over what Casey normally did for her job. Charlenne caught on quickly and Casey went to report to Steve on her progress.

"Steve, she's going to do fine. I think if she took some classes in graphics and software, she'll make you an excellent typesetter here at the paper."

"Great, thanks again for helping me out like this. Faith has been making some noise about how I fired her and my reasons for doing so, but I'm not worried about it. Wendy has been talking to a few women at the PTA group and has managed to fix most of what happened last week."

"That's good to hear, Steve. Tell Wendy thanks for me, would you?"

"Yeah, I'll let her know. So, have you found a new job in Helena yet?"

"No, but I have a couple of leads. I might be taking a whole new career direction, though."

Casey told Steve about her weekend, minus a few details.

"Wow! Hunting guide, huh? I would have never in a million years put you in a job like that. You enjoy hunting?"

"Yeah, I think I do, Steve. I've always enjoyed hiking and camping. I just never went hunting before and now that I've started, I've found that I like it. Besides, Goob and Marcy are great people and I like them a lot."

"Well, good luck then! When you officially kick off your business, let me know. I'll give you an excellent rate on advertising and do an article on your new business."

"Hey, thanks, Steve. I really appreciate that. I'll let Goob know when I talk to him next time."

Casey went back and did some final checks on Charlenne's work and left her to finish the day. Casey let Steve know she was leaving early and headed over to Goob's shop. There were a couple of older gentlemen at the counter talking to Goob when she walked in. She waved and walked over to them. Goob was grinning and slapped one of the men on the shoulder when he made a comment under his breath to Goob. Goob nodded to Casey when she stepped up to the counter.

"Hey, Casey, how are you doing today? Your shoulder hurt from that Rossi?"

Goob shot a glance out of the corner of his eye to the pair standing with him, and winked at Casey.

"Nope, not even a bruise. Although; I've been meaning to ask you about some hearing protection while I'm out in the field. That cannon makes a hell of racket when I pull the trigger, especially those hot-load custom shells you gave me."

Casey glanced at the pair of men and then cocked an eyebrow at Goob. Goob was grinning from ear to ear as the two older men just stood there with their jaws slack and their eyes wide open.

"Sure thing, Casey. There's a company that makes an electronic earplug system that allows normal sounds to pass but cuts off the blast from gunfire. I'll order you a set right away."

"Thanks, Goob, I'd really appreciate that. If we're going to be scouting and guiding hunts, I'll sure need something like that in case I have to drop another mountain lion or a bear."

Casey grinned at the pair standing in front of her as their eyes bugged out. ST

"Oh, and that reminds me, you wouldn't happen to have another horse would you? I have a friend who might want to join us next time we go up to that ranch."

"I sure do. I have six horses total; I have a breeding mare and a stallion, plus one more gelding. The gelding is an excellent mountain trail horse like the others we took. I don't like taking the other two because of their temperaments."

"Great, Goob. The next time you and Marcy want to go out, just let me know and I'll call my friend and see if they want to tag along."

Goob nodded and winked.

"Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. Steve said that when we're ready to launch our new business he'd give us a great rate on advertising and do a feature article on it for the paper."

"Oh, that's great Casey; tell him I really appreciate that. It makes me think we can make a go of it after all."

"Yeah, me too, Goob. Have you had a chance to get some inquiries made?"

"Well, now that you mention it, these two gentlemen right here were just asking me about guides and availability for this fall. Right, guys?"

The pair looked at each other, at Goob, and then finally at Casey. One didn't look like he was going to be able to get his mouth to work correctly anytime soon. The other grinned and nodded. Casey could see him working things out in his head, and what he was thinking didn't have anything to do with elk. Casey knew this might be a problem with the way she looked; just being female would get these thoughts from guys like this. Casey thought fast about how to take care of guys like this and it suddenly came to her, she looked at Goob.

"Oh, before I forget again, Goob. I need to ask you about another item for my collection. Sorry guys, but I need to get this settled before we talk business."

Goob frowned but went along.

"Sure, Casey. What is it?"

"Well, I had an accident camping a few weeks ago and lost my favorite set-up and I need to get it replaced. What do I need to get filled out to get a H&K USP Tactical .45 ACP with Silencer?"

Goob's eyes bugged out at her request but he recovered quickly and answered.

"Well, since you cleared the last check with flying colors, you just need to get a new set of fingerprint cards made and your photo taken, and then fill out the Title 2 BATF tax forms and the $200 tax. Once all that clears, I'll order the gun and silencer kit and you'll be set. How soon do you need it?"

"Well, I'll stop over at the Sheriff's office on my way home then and I'll get you the paperwork tomorrow. How long does it take to clear the BATF?"

"Well, after 9/11 the wait time has been about 6 months for clearance. It's getting better though, so you might not have to wait, especially if you have a friend at the Sheriff's office to expedite the paperwork for you."

"Oh, yeah, Deputy Lockhardt would do that for me."

"Great. I'll put out some calls to my suppliers and find one with the factory silencer so they are a matched set, okay?"

"That would be just fine, Goob. Sorry guys; didn't mean to take up your time with my little problem. You wanted to talk about setting up a guided hunt?"

Casey smiled innocently but the pair was staring at her like she had two heads. The one that had been thinking nasty thoughts was not so sure that he wanted to mess with her at all. He finally spoke to her.

"Uh, yeah. Um, we were thinking about an elk hunt up in the higher elevations so we could get a trophy class bull."

"Well, if there's one up there, I can sniff him out for you, and Goob here can get you set up for the hunt."

Goob snickered at her inside joke and grinned.

"She isn't kidding guys. I've watched her in action. Just yesterday she got within twenty yards of a three year old and he didn't even know she was there until she snapped a stick and spooked him for me. I shit you not, she's that good. I've never seen anybody better at tracking and stalking an elk. Plus, she's a crack shot with that .454 Casull carbine."

"Um, yeah, okay. We'll call you when we get ready. Thanks."

They looked at Casey again and then walked out. When the door had shut, Goob started laughing.

"God! I thought those two were going to piss their pants when you asked for that silenced .45! Why'd you do that, anyway?"

"Because the tall one was thinking that if he got me up in those hills, elk was not what he would have gone after and the word 'no' wouldn't have meant shit to him. That's why."

"Oh, fuck, Casey! I didn't even think of crap like that. I guess it's a good thing you spotted it; I didn't see that on his face."

"It's okay Goob. I've had to deal with guys like that before and I learned real quick how to recognize the signs that they're thinking evil things and I had better keep an eye on them. I guess that's going to be the toughest part of our new endeavor, getting a reputation of no-nonsense guides and hunters."

"Yeah, I know. Maybe we can work something out with a couple local guys and show them our stuff and let the word get out that way."

"Yeah, sounds like a good plan to me, Goob. Oh, I wasn't kidding about that H&K either. It might mess up my budget, but I sure would like to have that as a back-up carry piece."

"Sure, like I said, you get the paperwork and I'll get it for you. I'll even do it at cost. How's that?"

"Wow! Goob, you don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do. If we are going to be partners, then I am going to have my partner's back. I have a few suppliers that owe me a favor or two and I can probably get that rig for you at less than normal dealer cost. I'll let you know how much as soon I can."

"Thanks, Goob. Really, I do appreciate it."

They discussed plans for the next trip and then Casey went to the Sheriff's office and got the finger print cards, her photo, and the Sheriff's affidavit for purchasing the silencer. She dropped it off back at Goob's and then went home to cook some dinner.

She sat in her easy chair listening to Mozart's Requiem thinking about what to do about Michi. She didn't like being forced into these situations, but now that it was there, she had to deal with it. Lena is the one I really have to worry about. I don't want to lose her over something this stupid. What about the other dominant that Michi had been serving? Would she go quietly? She hoped so. With both of them being students and hiding what they were on a Catholic campus, the other mistress should choose to hide and not throw a fit or do something stupid.

She truly worried about Lena's position at the college, without tenure she could be let go if this came out. There wouldn't be anything she could do about it either, that nice little legal clause in the school code of conduct about impropriety between a professor and a student would take care of that. If that happened, Lena wouldn't be able to get a job on any campus in the country, no matter how progressive the area might be.

She tried to relax and clear her mind, using the techniques that Dagomarus had taught her. She felt calm and serene after a few minutes and she let her mind float without direction. She felt herself get lighter and she found herself looking down at her body from the ceiling. She just kept floating up and out into the night sky. She watched as the flats gave way to the rolling hills and buttes, the starlight making everything blue.

She floated around the Front Range and into the valleys beyond. She felt the presence of another out there with her. She felt drawn to it and found herself changing direction and floating into another valley. Then she saw him running full out; so fast! She rushed to keep up and followed the other wolf as it raced across the clearing after a buck. The familiar shape of the wolf slammed into the buck and sent it sprawling end over end.

The giant wolf spun around and was on the buck in less than a heartbeat and it clamped its jaws over the throat of the buck and crushed it, killing it instantly. The giant wolf, which she knew was Dagomarus, shook his teeth loose from the throat of the buck and stood over his kill. Then he tensed and looked around, finally looking up and he saw her. His eyes suddenly glowed fiery red and she heard his voice in her head.

Go home, Casey. This is my kill. I will see you soon enough.

She felt a surge of power directed at her and suddenly her eyes popped open and she was sitting in her easy chair with Mozart still playing on the stereo. She thought it had been a dream, but it had seemed so real, and Dagomarus's voice in her head. Whew! That was so surreal, she thought to herself. Maybe my powers from the change in me are coming out now. This was something Dagomarus had never spoken of. Then again, he had lots of secrets and he was very careful what he told me before. Now I know why. There would have been little chance of me believing that was possible without experiencing it first.

Then she remembered why she had tried to relax; Michi. Damn. What are we going to do about her? Casey thought about how she had reacted to the pheromone burst from her and how excited she had been over the power that Casey had shown. I wonder what she's going to do when she finds out what I really am? That's going to be the real test of her control over Michi. When confronted with that kind of affront to reality, most people shut down and went into shock. Goob and Marcy had been different; they had been cajoled and shown the answer slowly and carefully.

I guess I'll figure out what to do about it when the time comes, I just hope I have the chance to deal with it before it blows up in my face. The question still kept coming back to Lena. What would she do? Would she eventually accept Michi into their daily life? Could I? Lena had said she was mildly turned on by watching her dominate Michi there in the kitchen. Would she feel the same way if I were forced to punish Michi for a transgression? She thought about Michi as a person first, she seemed like a nice young woman, meek, but nice.

She was definitely Asian, possibly full Japanese from her looks. She really hadn't paid that much attention to her body. Michi was petite, taller than Lena, maybe by two inches. With that long jacket she had been wearing it was difficult to tell if she had large breasts or what her hips had really looked like. She did remember the hair, though. That was hard to miss; jet black and shiny, right down past her waistline. She had worn it loose and it flowed around her like a curtain. It wasn't full and wavy like Lena's blonde tresses.

Why am I trying to compare the two? Is my subconscious trying to say something? She tried to examine how she felt about Michi sexually. Was there any real attraction? It didn't feel like it sitting in the chair right this second. When she had been there in the kitchen with those pheromones and the musky scent of her excitement in my nostrils, there had been though. Maybe I should just go to bed and sleep on it before trying to analyze this too much. She got up, shut off the stereo and went to bed.

The next morning after setting out her next two meals worth of meat to thaw, she headed off to work. She spent her time this morning teaching Charlenne how to operate the 3-color-separation printer. Once she had that figured out they went on to the old fashioned equipment, the 11 x 14 sheet film camera and the acid etch transfer plates. It was a slow, messy job printing business card this way, but it was cheaper than some of the newer three hundred thousand dollar printing presses.

Casey left for the day at lunchtime, Charlenne was a quick learner and there wasn't enough to do around the office for two typesetters to stay busy. She went over to Goob's shop to hassle him for a while.

She walked in and Goob waved and grinned like a Cheshire cat. There were a few people in the shop but nobody was near the counter. They chatted for a few minutes about camping trip plans and a few other items of interest between them. She excused herself to go home and get something to eat and Goob waved goodbye.

When she got home she changed out of her work clothes and started warming up the skillet for her pork steaks. She checked the beef brisket thawing out in the pan of water and changed out the water to speed up the process. She was just getting ready to throw the pork steaks into the skillet when the phone rang. She cursed and picked up the handset.

"Hello? Hello? Anybody there?"

She was about to hang up when she heard a whimper, so faint that if it weren't for her new abilities she wouldn't have picked it up. She heard something crash in the background and then the line went dead. What the hell? She thought it was just a crank call when it dawned on her who that tiny whimper could only have come from. OH SHIT! She's in trouble!

Casey thought fast and called Lena's work number. SHIT! The voice mail picked up. She left a message for Lena telling what she feared and where she was going. She shut off the gas to the burner and grabbed a handful of energy bars and headed out the door.

She got onto the highway and floored the truck, thanking her mechanic for suggesting that performance chip for off-road use. It wasn't technically legal for use on regular trucks or cars, but who was going to check? Thanks to the relaxed speeding laws during the day she was quickly going 120 miles per hour. Theoretically she could still be stopped for speeding if she was weaving in and out of traffic, but there wasn't anybody out here in the middle of the day.

She slowed down to 80 when she got into some light traffic as she got closer to Helena. She was thinking about Michi and what could be happening after that horrible phone call. She was screeching up to the address that Michi had given her; she drove up onto the yard and jumped out of the truck. She headed for the door and slammed into it at a full run, ripping it off the hinges and knocking it into the room.

She stood frozen for a second in total shock. Michi was hanging by her feet upside down and naked from a hook in the ceiling. Her body crisscrossed with hundreds of bloody welts, and she was trying to scream but the gag in her mouth stopped the sound from traveling very far. There was a tall muscular brunette with a horse crop in her hands, Michi's blood dripping from the end.

The brunette spun around when Casey busted the door in and her eyes went wide in shock. Casey surged forward, growling deep in her chest. She caught the brunette by the neck and picked her up off the floor with one hand. Casey's eyes were glowing bright red and the growl issuing from her throat made the windows rattle. Inside her head she was thinking one thing,

SHE'S MINE, BITCH! HOW DARE YOU!

The brunette pissed and shit herself, and passed out. Casey held her there for a second then dropped her onto the floor.

She turned to see Michi looking at her crying in relief. Casey reached up and disengaged the rope from the hook and held her. She looked around and saw the doorway that led to the bathroom and she carried Michi over to it and still holding Michi in one arm, turned the hot water on and started filling the tub. While it was filling up she unfastened the straps to the ball-gag and carefully removed it from Michi's mouth.

Michi whimpered in pain from her sore jaw muscles and curled up against Casey's chest. While the tub was filling with water, she undid the restraints and slowly lowered Michi into it. There were a few moans and more whimpering but she slowly got use to the hot water against her wounds. Casey smelled the fresh blood oozing from Michi and resisted the urge to lick the wounds.

Casey spotted some bath oil and poured a larger than normal amount into the water. Once she was sure that Michi was going to be okay in the tub, she went back out to the living room and looked down at the brunette. She was still out cold and she reeked of bodily fluids and solids. Casey glanced at the broken door and went over to it and propped it back into the door jamb as best she could. She looked around and found some more rope and tied the brunette's hands and feet.

She went back into the bathroom to check on Michi. She was slowly rubbing the oiled water into her skin with a soft cloth. She looked up as Casey walked in and she smiled.

"Thank you, Mistress Casey. I didn't know if I had been able to get the phone to work before Bekka yanked the cord out of the wall. You saved me, my Mistress."

Casey nodded and knelt down next to the tub and took the cloth from Michi's hands and slowly rubbed her skin. Casey reached over and poured some more oil onto the cloth and rubbed it into Michi's back and chest where the worst of the welts were located. Michi hummed at her touch. She caressed the wounded flesh on Michi's body until the girl had relaxed and had returned to her normal color.

"Mistress Casey?"

"Yes, Michi, what is it?"

"What are you? I saw your eyes and how you picked Bekka up by the neck with one hand. I heard that sound that came from you, that deep growl. Then your voice in my head, I heard you tell her that I was yours."

Casey gazed into Michi's eyes looking for fear, but there wasn't any, just curiosity.

"You aren't afraid of me, Michi?"

"No, Mistress Casey. I am yours and you saved me. Why would I be afraid of you?"

Why indeed? Thought Casey. Well, the girl has a point.

"I'm a werewolf, Michi."

"Oh. Okay. Thank you for telling me, Mistress Casey. I promise not to reveal that to anyone."

"Thank you, Michi."

Casey leaned over and kissed her forehead softly. Michi hummed and smiled serenely, closing her eyes. Casey thought about Bekka in the other room and what to do about her and what she might say about what had happened. Then she smiled; she knew exactly how to take care of this. She explained it to Michi and told her what to say to the police when they showed up. Michi understood and smiled at the cleverness of her mistress.

Casey went next door to have them call the police. When they showed up, Casey told them her story and then took the female officer in to interview Michi. Casey had found an oversized towel to cover Michi up with. The officers took their statements and they insisted that Michi go to the hospital to get her wounds treated. Casey nodded for Michi to do as they asked and told her she would bring her some clothing as soon as she was finished with the police. As the officers were taking photos and gathering evidence, one of the officers came up to her with a frown on his face.

"Miss Brandt, just exactly how did you get inside?"

"I broke down the door."

"Uh-huh."

She saw the look and knew what he was thinking.

"I hike twenty to thirty miles every weekend. My legs are very strong, officer."

"Oh. Okay. You kicked it in."

"Yeah. Plus, after hearing her on the other end of the phone like that, I was in pure panic mode."

"Yeah, okay. I can see that. Okay. You also said she was acting all crazy and yelling gibberish?"

"Yes. She was yelling something about monsters in her head and she was whipping Michi with that horse crop. It was awful."

"I saw that, yes. You don't know why this Bekka would do this?"

"Well, I think Michi had mentioned something about a girl coming on to her in class but had brushed her off and ignored her after that."

"Oh, so there was a history of harassment, then?"

"I don't know if Michi thought it was harassment. Maybe just some girl being weird. You know how strange college kids can be, right?"

"Oh, yeah. We get some real winners sometimes. Oh, one more question. If you live in Choteau, how did you get here so fast?"

Casey blushed and looked at the floor, then up at the officer.

"You aren't going to give me a speeding ticket, are you?"

The officer looked at her and then at the truck and back at her.

"No, ma'am. But if I were you, I'd make sure you didn't do that again. Next time, just call us first. I wouldn't want to have to clean up the mess if you plowed into something going that fast."

He looked thoughtfully at the truck again.

"I'd also make sure I wouldn't get caught with anything illegal under the hood, too."

He looked at her, gave her a sly grin, shook his head and flipped his notebook shut.

"Have a nice day, Miss Brandt."

He tipped his head to her and walked out the broken front door. Casey went into the bedroom of the small apartment and found Michi's clothes. She located a small backpack and folded three days worth of clothes into it. She picked up a pair of sandals and a pair of tennis shoes, stuffed some socks into the bag and left.

When she walked out into the living room the police were finishing up with their processing and escorted her out. They taped the door shut with yellow 'crime scene' tape and then got into their cars and left. Casey backed her truck off the lawn and headed for the hospital.

When she got there and went to the nurse's station they asked if she was family and the look on the duty nurse's face let her know that any bullshit answer wasn't going to fly. She told them no, she was the friend who had rescued the girl from the person who had whipped her. The nurse eyed her closely and then grinned, telling her that Michi was in room 215.

Casey went down the hall and found the room. She stepped inside and found the doctor putting the last bit of tape on the worst of the wounds. The female doctor looked up as Casey walked in and she frowned. Before she could say anything Michi beat her to it.

"Mistress Casey! Thank you!"

Michi reached out to her and Casey glanced at the doctor and then quickly stepped over and gave Michi a light hug. She leaned back and gave the doctor a look that said 'don't fuck with me' and arched an eyebrow. The doctor's eyes widened for a second then nodded.

"Thanks for fixing Michi up, doc. How bad is it? Is she going to have any permanent damage?"

The doctor looked like she was going to object to giving out medical information to a non-family person, but decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to piss this woman off.

"No, there won't be any permanent scars. Just rub some vitamin E into the welts and they should heal just fine in a few days, perhaps a week. The few that broke the skin might leave a fine line scar but like I said, some vitamin E oil should make them go away."

"Okay, great. When can she go home?"

"Well, she's ready to go now. Just fill out the release forms at the nurses' station."

With that pronouncement the doctor left the room. Casey looked down at Michi and smiled.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm much better now that you're here, Mistress Casey."

"It's okay to call me Casey when we are out in public, Michi."

"Okay, Casey. Thank you."

"You're welcome, Michi. Now, I brought you some clothes. I'll help you get dressed so you don't rip any of those bandages off."

Casey opened the backpack and pulled out a loose fitting blouse and a skirt. She had known that any tight fitting clothing would be a bad thing after what had happened. She pulled the privacy curtain around and helped Michi out of her hospital gown and into her clothes. She skipped the bra and panties when she saw the welts up close and after the bruising had started. She hissed between her teeth and shook her head. Michi gave her an odd look when she reacted this way.

"Casey?"

"Yes, Michi?"

"Why do these welts bother you so much? Is it because you didn't make them?"

"No, Michi. It bothers me because I don't like to see anything like this mar that beautiful milky white skin of yours, and I don't like the fact that you had to endure that kind of pain."

"Oh. Casey, you won't whip me?"

"No, Michi. I won't whip you. Let's discus this later when we have some more time and privacy."

"Yes, Casey."

Casey helped her get into the blouse and buttoned it up for her. Michi looked a little disturbed that she would do this, but Casey just gave her a warning glance and Michi stopped fidgeting and let Casey do it. When Casey knelt down to put the sandals on her feet, Michi started to say something but Casey cut her off.