Beautiful Creatures Series

When they reached the restaurant, Aurora felt like a queen. The restaurant’s dining room lights were dimmed, and every table had a tea candle centrepiece and wine-red linen tablecloths. The hostess showed them to their table, and Stanton pulled out her chair, Aurora. As she sat down, he slid her closer to the table then took the chair next to her instead of the one across the table so he could be closer to her and they could talk.

When the waitress asked what they would like, they ordered the most expensive thing on the menu. Aurora might have felt bad about the cost of the evening if she hadn’t known that Stanton made damn good money. Besides, it wasn’t like she demanded this kind of pampering all the time but every once and a while, a little pampering was deserved; and the goofy grin on Stanton’s face and the way his thumb traced circles around the back of her hand as he held it told Aurora he was enjoying their night out as much as she was.

They had enjoyed their dinner and the lavage dessert that came after. They drank a whole bottle of wine between them. They sat close, holding hands and whispering to one another. They had been sitting at that table for some time, the world around seeming miles away. It was a perfectly beautiful moment. “You look remarkable tonight, Hummingbird. I can’t wait to get you home and watch that silk fall to the floor,” Stanton whispered to her.

“You say the sweetest things,” she giggled.

“I’ll pay the bill, and we can get out of here.”

“Ok, I’m going to go freshen up, and I’ll meet you at the door,” she said, standing up. After a bottle of wine, she needed a few moments in the ladies’ room. She had been in the washroom for mere minutes, and when she exited, she found herself blocked by a man on his way to the men’s room.

She stepped to the side to go around him, but he stepped in front of her. He was a good-looking, clean-cut business type, but she disliked the sleazy grin he had. “How much?”

“Excuse me?” She asked, shocked. A million men had asked her that question, but usually when she was half-naked on the street. Tonight, she was the picture of class in a reparable restaurant. Why would he ask her that?

“I asked how much?”

“For what?” She still couldn’t believe this was happening.

“To fuck you, Sugar Tits,” he said as he placed his hand on her hip.

Aurora was shaken by this unexpected advance. She could feel panic. She pushed him away, knocking him into the wall so she could get past him. With him out of her way, Aurora made a discrete dash for the door. She stepped out the front door and into the night air. She paused on the sidewalk and tried to catch her breath. She was horrified by what had happened.

“Hey, Hummingbird,” Stanton purred as he wrapped his arm around her, and she jumped, pushing him off her.

Surprised by her sudden rejection of him, Stanton stepped back and looked her over. “What happened?” He asked, his expression becoming hard when he saw the tears in her eyes. “Something happened, don’t tell me it didn’t.”

“I just want to go home,” she barely managed. She didn’t want him to know why she was upset.

“Fine, let’s go,” he said and started toward the SUV. Aurora took a few steps to follow, thinking of the man who had propositioned her. She paused as her embarrassment became a rage. Oh, hell no, he wasn’t getting away with that shit. Aurora turned around and stormed back to the restaurant. “Where the hell are you going?” Stanton asked, following her back into the restaurant.

Aurora pushed past the Hostess, who tried to stop her. She spotted the offensive man at the bar in the lounge, and she marched herself right up to him. He smiled when his friends pointed her out. “Well, look at this. Did you reconsider?” Aurora walked right up to him and slapped him so hard in the face she knocked him right out of his chair and onto the floor. She then stomped one foot down on his throat, the spike of her heel pressed painfully against the hollow of his throat. His hand reached up and grabbed her calves, trying to move her legs, but as a Lycanthrope, she was much stronger than this asshole. If she applied pressure, she could drive the heel of her shoe right through his neck and watch him bleed out.

grabbed Aurora by the arm and pulled her off the man beneath her. He pushed her back a few steps and stood between her and the object of her rage as the john got up off the floor with

the other man growled now

face the man drawing himself

hit the bar as Stanton approached him in a threatening way. “Are you her fucking pimp?” Aurora felt her

the glass and then he turned it on Stanton, who was unconcerned with

pain and turned to face Aurora, both his hands over his face, the broken bottle lodged in his face right into his left eye. “Oh, my God,” Aurora panicked when she saw his other eye begin to glow. His anger and pain consuming him. He was going to change and tear this man apart in front of a hundred witnesses. Aurora grabbed Stanton’s

him to follow her out of the restaurant. Holding on to his arm, she walked him quickly to

the hospital,” she said, opening the passenger door and helping him get in. She was going

he rejected

not the time to be tough. You have a fucking glass bottle

Lycanthrope. Hospitals run tests. They will realize I’m not human.”

“What do we do?”

ordered. “Turn

a parking spot just outside a tattoo parlour. The sign in the window read “Blood Moon Studios” The lights were on inside. Aurora hopped out and rushed around the front of the SUV to open the door and help Stanton out. She took his arm, and they walked to the door and went inside. As the door opened, it chimed,

shocked look when he saw Stanton. “Good God, what happened?” Aurora helped Stanton into the tattoo chair, and Gordon inspected the broken glass spilling out of Stanton’s eyes. The whole site

was defending me, and some asshole

it out,” Stanton

You can’t take it out.

her, “that is the quickest way to get us all killed. Ok,” He said, touching the bottle lightly as he moved around, trying to examine the bottle at all possible angles trying to decide what was the best way to remove it. “If we can get

pop his eye out, can he grow

funny look. “We are wolves, not lizards. We can heal, not regrow body parts,” he inspected the wound once more. “Ok,” he said, getting a good grip on the bottle. He placed his free hand on the wound, doing his best to

held Stanton’s hand as he took a few quick breaths and braced himself. Gordon very carefully pulled. The bottle slowly slid back. It only took a few seconds. The last of the glass was removed from his eye. Gordon placed the broken bottle on the closes counter and

half,” Gordon said as he examined it quickly. “I don’t know if that is going to heal. Give

her bottom lip and hoped it would heal

head. “It didn’t heal right. He held up three fingers in front of Stanton. “How many

“Three,” Stanton replied.

of his injured eye and held

his head. “I can’t see your hand at

bet to say you are blind in that eye. That’s going

and sobbed. She felt terrible that she