Her Perilous Wolf, Julie Steimle [howl and other poems TXT] 📗

public. Later she was called to the NYPD precinct to identify her kidnappers for the records and to start the legal prosecution. That took half the day. Audry gave a recorded statement of the entire affair, from start to finish, including about the man who had stalked her from the airport, if not possibly in Africa. As it turned out he had gone to Arusha, though he had not followed her into Kenya or among her friends. They said they had plenty of evidence for a solid case against the SRA.

Michael Toms also collected all the information Audry could give him on the Chinese demon smugglers for the Seven to use. And with a great deal more tact than earlier, he arranged for a way to connect with Juma and his organization so the Holy Seven could help them out. If anything, he wanted to make sure Audry’s efforts and sacrifice had not been in vain.

The rest of the time, Audry focused on seeking out a worthy non-profit to work for. Rick stopped by regularly with Darth to take her for a walk. But until she finally got to job interviews, she was mostly indoors doing research in Selena’s apartment.

And yet not even a week into this, Rick’s and Audry’s faces ended up on the front of a society magazine—a telephoto lens shot from across the street. It was of them together at an outdoor café, with Darth sitting with his head in Audry’s lap, but the leash in Rick’s hand. At the time, they had been discussing possible work solutions, and for getting her car back from Idaho, along with her belongings so that he could set her up in the apartment with Selena more comfortably. Vicky was moving out, heading west to work in San Diego at Tristain Enterprises, and Selena had agreed it was best for Audry’s safety that she permanently move in. Selena had plenty of space. Rick had also wanted to make sure their relationship was seen in public, as he decided Audry was actually safer in the public eye due to the plethora of witnesses.

However the downside of being seen with Rick in public so soon came with a phone call. Her cousin, Samantha Lydia, rang her up first thing after seeing the magazine—long before Audry had seen it herself. Her cousin practically shouted before Audry could get out a ‘Hello’.

<< Audry! Whatever are you doing fraternizing with that Deacon man! What were you thinking? >>

Audry stared at her phone, then replied in a similar, yet less shouting tone, “However did you get this phone number?”

Samantha Lydia screeched. << You will not sass me! I am the eldest cousin! >>

“So?” Audry replied wanly, shifting the phone to the table. There was no going in putting it near her ear if Samantha Lydia was going to shout.

<< So? SO?  AUDRY CHANDRA BRUCHENHAUS, YOU ARE SHAME TO THE BRUCHENHAUS NAME! YOU ARE NOT TO BE SEEN WITH THAT MAN, YOU HEAR ME? >>

“I do what I want,” Audry said and pressed END.

Undoubtedly her cousin was stunned on the other end that she had hung up on her, but Audry did not care. It was nobody’s business but her own whom she dated.

Her phone rang again. It was her cousin once more. Audry dismissed it, not accepting the call. Samantha Lydia tried calling two more times before Audry went into her phone and purposely blocked Samantha Lydia’s number entirely. The only reason she had let the phone ring at all was that she was waiting for Rick to call.

Then her grandmother called. It was a day after Selena had showed Audry the tabloid cover.

<< When’s the wedding? >> Grandma Bruchenhaus sounded ecstatic.

Audry laughed. “You saw the magazine too?”

<< I did. When is the wedding? You looked perfect together. >>

Coloring, Audry had to admit her grandmother was one of the best parts of the Bruchenhaus clan. She was a tad pushy, but she paid attention to things that mattered and conscientiously shifted her opinion when necessary.

“Grandma, we’re just dating right now,” Audry said. “He’s just gotten out of a bad relationship, and we both want to take it slow.”

<< Don’t take it too slow, >> her grandmother said. << I’d like to see this merger more than anything. >>

Audry laughed again. “Don’t get your hopes up. Deacon Enterprises really isn’t into mergers.”

This time her grandmother laughed. << I’m not talking business. I’m talking life. He’s a quality young man, steady income, and manages his scandals with dignity. You don’t often meet young men like that in our society. >>

Only her grandmother would look on handling, let alone having, scandals as a positive point. Then again, having been a high society woman for so long, perhaps she knew scandals were inevitable. Good thing her grandmother neither knew nor believed in the truly scandalous things about Rick and his father. She just knew that Rick was eligible and his future was strong.

Audry’s mind went to that. Rick had gone into more detail about his family than he had previously—starting with the French wolf pack, the Loup Garou, and his father’s connection with it. Audry was appalled to hear that Rick had four older sisters and three older brothers, one deceased—all werewolves. He was actually a middle child, though still the heir to his father. Rick had explained the sticky problem with the Loup Garou. When Rick had been in Paris all those years back, he had rescued three of his sisters from the control of the pack, upsetting the pack. The Loup Garou still controlled the lives of the other three—two brothers and a sister. As for his freed French relations, they were not free to declare they were related to the Deacon family as hunters would be on their hides if they did. Yet Rick said, one day it might come out and they had to be prepared for it. It would be a major scandal.

<< … so Audry, you need to hurry it up and find out what his intentions are. You know your cousin Vicky is currently engaging that young man from Tristain Enterprises right now. >>

Brought back to present by her grandmother’s voice, Audry said, “Grandma, Vicky is working there. It’s an—”

<< Don’t be silly, dear. She made good with young Mr. Toms. I overheard your cousin Vincent argue with your grandfather about it, and I do believe it is serious. >>

Audry sighed. Well, if Vincent was defending Vicky’s choice to their grandfather using a personal reason, then apparently it was getting serious. They must have hit it off more than she had realized.

<< Now if only you could find a girl for Vincent. I hear you are living with that young Davenport girl. How about you arrange a— >>

“Grandma, Selena is seriously dating a close friend of Michael Toms’s.”

<< That Indian? Well, I don’t know how that will go over with— >>

“Navajo,” Audry tersely replied, surprised her grandmother knew about Tommy Whitefeather. “And he and Selena are old friends. Honestly, Grandma. She liked him more than she had ever liked Rick.”

Her grandmother heaved a sigh on her end.  << I suppose. But she may eventually bore of that sort of thing, the same as with her last beau. What as his name? >>

“Tom Brown,” Audry ground out. “But Tom’s got a new girlfriend, so I don’t think he cares.”

<< This new one is also named Tom, though, isn’t he? >>

“Tommy.” Audry rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Thomas.”

<< See, so they are the same. >>

“Not in the slightest bit,” Audry retorted, noticing Selena come in from an errand. “Tom was a year younger than her, insanely chaotic and loads of trouble, while Tommy Whitefeather is eight years her senior, in an established job and dependable.”

<< Is she really considering being with a man with a last name like Whitefeather? >>

“Yes, Mrs. Bruchenhaus,” Selena called out with a forceful voice, striding up with a wink at Audry. “I think it would be an honor to be known as Selena Whitefeather.”

Her grandmother almost choked. << She’s here in the room? >>

“She just walked in,” Audry said with a smile to Selena who then headed toward the kitchen, kicking off her shoes on her way. She hadn’t used her special voice at all.

<< Well, this is awkward. >>

Audry chuckled.

And the conversation died after that.

After that, only a few other people contacted Audry to ask what was going on between her and Rick. One was her mother, but only because one of her relatives on the Busche side of the family found out from Genevieve Busche (John and Misty Bruchenhaus’s only married kid) who was married to Owen Busche, their second cousin once removed. Her mother simply asked, << You’re not dating him to please your grandmother, are you? >>

Audry smirked at that one. “No, Mom. I wouldn’t do that.”

<< Your father was stunned to hear about it. >>

Audry sighed. What could she say? They would not understand all that went into this decision. In fact, she was still sorting out her feelings over it. She just knew that she loved Rick, and that what they had was nothing like her relationships with all those previous men. All her self-consciousness was gone. She felt at home with him. That’s not to say that they didn’t still argue, but that she had stopped fighting her attraction to him.

<< Grandpa Bruchenhaus is full of mixed feelings about you dating that Deacon boy as well, though your grandmother is thrilled. She is already planning your wedding. >>

Audry internally moaned. Of course she was. She probably was choosing flowers and bunting. Perhaps she ought to call in and let her grandmother know about all the Deacons’ allergies. Undoubtedly she would want to meet Rick and his father face to face and therefore invite them to dinner. She would most likely uses silver as part of the table settings.

<< Doug is amused, though. But he says to watch yourself around his toxic blood. >>

“I know all about Rick’s blood condition, thanks.” Audry internally moaned. It probably would do her well to inform her mother about his allergies as well.

 << If you were to marry him, your children would have the same blood condition, >> her mother added with nervous caution.

Damn. Already other people were seriously talking marriage. The problem was, Audry was wondering about it herself. Was she really up to it?

Like Rick, she did not date for fun. It was for keeps. She wanted to know—was there more than just attraction between them? Did they have enough to build a solid and happy life together? And was he truly the man she had been hoping for all this time? Setting aside all the werewolf weirdness, Audry needed to know if this was real.

But then thinking on the werewolf weirdness, which could not honestly be ignored—was she truly prepared to handle living with a man… sharing a bed with a man… making love to a man who had to make a kill three nights of the full moon every single month? Never mind that it was natural wildlife he would be killing, and as a wolf? Further, would she be able to handle all those people who would see her as a collaborator with a monster? Those people would want to kill her too. And lastly, how much of him was wolf? And how much of her loved that? And how much of her feared that?

Over dinner that evening, Rick had told her about his blog Anonymous_Wolf when she had asked about the details of werewolfism and what it was like to be what he was. When she heard him, she had cracked up, saying, “That’s you?” She then explained to his stunned face that she had read one of his blogs once, way back when she was at the cabin finishing her Masters’ research. She had been curious, but mostly disbelieving.

“So, you checked out my website?” He still had difficulty getting over that fact. Her tenacity in her research had always impressed him,