Beautiful Creatures Series

It had been a week since Stanton had spoken to Aurora. She had fallen right back into her old survival habits. She had not come back to the Feral. She had not just left him but the pack. It was unheard of for a Lycan to prefer to be alone than to stay in the pack. But she had given up pack life just to avoid him. She had gone right back to working the street right outside the bar across from his work site. He assumed she did so as a way of rubbing it in his face that she could survive without him and that other men were getting what was supposed to be his.

He had thought about going over and thrashing some of the guys that picked her up, but he never got out of his machine. She had left him, and he was going to have to accept her choices, but he found himself distracted during work. And on his breaks and after work, he spent all his time sitting in his SUV across the street watching her. When she would get picked up, he would follow them to whatever sleazy motel they ended up in and simply sit outside in the parking lot, gripping the wheel and fuming about what he knew was going on inside.

One night a week after Aurora had left, Darrell had suggested going out for drinks, and Stanton suggested the pub. They took a seat near the window, and Stanton spent much of his time staring out the window.

Darrell whistled and waved his hand in front of Stanton’s face. “Please tell me you picked this place because of the draft beer and not because you are stalking Aurora?”

Stanton looked at his friend. “I’m not stalking her.”

“You have become obsessed with her.”

“No, I’m just making sure she is safe.”

“That girl survived eighteen years without you. Face its Big Boy. She doesn’t need you. Besides, it’s your dumbass fault she left you.”

“My fault?”

“Yeah, your fault. Had you not accused her of stepping out on you, she wouldn’t have left your ass.”

“You didn’t see what I saw,” he defended himself.

“No, I didn’t. But I know Gordon, there is no way in hell he was making a move on your girl. You had to be mistaken about what you saw.”

“How do you do you describe what I saw?”

“Did you ask her?”

“Yeah, she said she couldn’t tell me.”

Darrell sat back in his chair and waved down the waitress. “I don’t know, man, but you got to be wrong.”

“How come every time there is a fight between a man and a woman, the woman is always right, and the man is always wrong?”

Darrell shrugged with a big smile as he folded his hands behind his head. “Just lucky, I guess,” they both laughed. He had to leave it to Darrell. He always managed to make Stanton laugh. The waitress brought them two beers. She smiled flirtatiously at Darrell and then scowled at Stanton, but he was used to it. Darrell was attractive, and he wasn’t. Women didn’t like him the way they liked Darrell. As the waitress walked away, Darrell leaned forward. “Why don’t you quit with the creepy stalker shit and just go over and say hello to her.”

“She doesn’t want to talk to me.”

Darrell looked out the window, and his smile faded. “Oh, I think you may have missed your opportunity,” Stanton looked out the window to see a cruiser pull up, and the officer got out of the car and approach Aurora. “Looks like she’s getting busted.”

Stanton watched as the cop started getting aggressive. He grabbed her by the arm and dragged Aurora into an alley against her will. “No,” he said, standing up, “I think something a lot worse is about to go down.”

“You want some backup?” Darrell asked, making no move to get up as Stanton headed for the door.

“Nope, I got it.”

“Sick ‘em, Big Boy.”

***

Aurora rolled her eyes when the cruiser pulled up in front of her. She hated when the cops hassled her. The middle-aged officer got out and stepped up on the curb, eyeing her like a dog with a steak. Great, a dirty cop, they were even worse. “Aren’t you a pretty one,” he said, coming close to Aurora. “The other girls that work the street don’t usually look like you.

“I’m not doing anything.”

“Yeah, right,” he said, checking out her leg. “Look at those legs. I should run you in,” he said, touching her hair. “Unless you ask me really nice not to.”

“Not a chance,” she snarled.

He looked up at her with angry eyes. “You think you’re too fucking good for me? You dirty little whore,” he grabbed her arm and forced her into the nearest alley. “If you don’t want to rot in a cell for a few days, I suggest you drop to your damn knees and wrapped that sassy little mouth around my cock.”

Aurora smiled. “Oh, I would if I could find it.”

The officer drew his hand back and slapped Aurora so hard she fell to her knees. As she stared at the ground, her eyes lit up, but he couldn’t see her as he grabbed her wrists and handcuffed her arms behind her back. He grabbed her arms and hauled Aurora to her feet, then slammed her back against the side of the building. His hand around her throat. “You should be nicer to me because I can make your life very hard.”

Aurora’s gaze lifted as she spotted Stanton standing behind the officer with a look of violence on his face. He’d witnessed the whole thing. Aurora started to laugh as the cop glared at you.

find this

not scared

a fact?

standing behind you,” Stanton growled. The cop clanked over his shoulder and then backed up against Aurora, staring wide-eyed at the massive, intimidating man standing behind him. Stanton’s eye began to glow, and he snarled, baring his

shit!” The cop

want play with me?” She growled, drawing the cop’s attention back to her. He jumped

“What the fuck?”

stopping him. “Keys,” the officer took the handcuff keys from his belt and tossed them on the ground at Stanton’s feet. Then

bound hands. “You think

him unlocking the handcuffs. “You know, if you really

tried to

handcuffs. Aurora turned

we

“Who’s going to

that. I had things

By the

snapped back and watched as

you going to do this?” He

gets lonely, falls in love with me, buys me a new wardrobe at a store where I can tell off the snooty clerks, then strut down New York streets with my bags while everyone in the streets breaks into song

well as he could. The sky was cloudy with thick black clouds. It would start raining in another hour or

out for her, but Aurora slapped his hand away, surprising him. “Don’t

again. “All week, I’ve been watching

she snapped

It’s all

her chest.

his back pocket. Aurora watched As

“$300,” she blurted out.

her, surprised. “$300? What happened

“Inflation.”

me,” she looked around, unsure if she

for

What’s wrong with my

cabin,” she said

up at the ever-darkening sky and sighed. She snatched the money from her hand and tucked it into her bra. Great. My SUV is unlocked. Go wait for me while

***

waitress sitting in the chair next to him. He was leaning over his hand on her thigh as he was whispering in her ear and making her giggle. “Nice to see you missed me,”

with a grin. “Oh, that was fast. Stanton,

corrected him.

didn’t really give a shit what her name was. “Um, Annie

just said her

here the backroads,” show her the backroads, that was Darrell’s code for fuck her in a field on the tailgate and then drop her off at her place and never see her again. Darrell would fuck humans, but he never associated with them beyond shallow gratification. Stanton really didn’t blame him. It had to be hard to sustain a relationship with someone who can never know what he really was. “You don’t mind if

her and then practically danced out the door with

watching Darrell as he opened the truck door for the woman he was leaving with. “Cowboy got himself a girl, did

to learn their names, but these girls will drop to

turned to him.

at him. “Oh, this is

***

in first. Aurora went in and looked around. It was a nice enough room. Big bed, and a big tv. She pushed open the

watching her. “I’m going

lot of bacon

taking his cellphone out of his pocket

and turned to look at her reflection in the mirror. She looked away. She’d been unhappy with the woman staring back at her for years. This is not what she thought she would be when she was little. She turned away and started to get undressed. She turned on the shower and stepped under the hot water. She closed her eyes and turned

sobbing. She always cried. Sit in the shower after every john. Aurora would sob with self-loathing. In

herself in the mirror again, trying to make sure her eyes weren’t bloodshot from crying. She didn’t put her clothes on. The man had paid for a

he was changing the channels with the remote. “He had yet to look at her. “I thought maybe we could rent a mo-vi-e..,” he trailed off when he looked at her.

sitting on the foot of the bed. She looked into his eyes as she ran

and all Stanton saw was the sorrow in her eyes. Stanton stood up and took the fluffy white robe from behind the washroom door. Aurora didn’t know what to do as he helped her put it on, and then he stood in front of her and closed the robe, tying it shut for her. He touched her face and then leaned in and

safe with him. Stanton pulled Aurora into his arms as he wrapped himself around her engulfing her tiny frame as if he thought he could protect her from the world. This time instead of pulling away, she melted

go. He reached for his wallet and