Beautiful Creatures Series

Chapter 25: 3

Darrell was sanding down the cabinet door he had been working on when Katelyn returned. She placed the bag of food on the table along with two medium sodas. “I hope Jimmies is ok,” Jimmies was a fast- food burger joint in town. It was non-franchised, but the food was cheap and really great. They had the best burgers, and Darrell really enjoyed the yam fries.

“Oh, my God!” Katelyn gasped as she looked at her computer. “What happened?”

“Something wrong?” Darrell asked, pretending not to know what happened.

“My computer, it is all frozen up,” she said, taking a seat at the table, trying to fix the problem. Darrell leaned against the workbench, eating the burger she had brought him.

Katelyn groaned. She could not fix it, so she was forced to shut the whole system down and start it up again. “Do you know anything about computers?” She asked, hopefully.

Darrell frowned, “I know how to check my email; that’s about it,” he lied.

He watched as she struggled to get everything going again. It took her 20 minutes, but she got the laptop working again. Katelyn searched for her pictures. “No… no… no!” She growled. It sounded like she could not find them. Darrell tried not to smile. He had succeeded in destroying the pictures she had of him.

“Troubles?” Darrell asked.

“I had the most amazing pictures, and now they are gone,” she said with a pout that was just too cute. He could not help but snicker. “What?” She asked, annoyed.

“Sorry, you are just super cute when you pout,” she was smiling now and blushing a little. Darrell knew she was taken, and he should not flirt, but there was something about her he liked. Usually, when he

wanted a woman, he had her, but he would respect the fact that she was engaged. Still, the way she was smiling at him told him were she not another man’s fiancée. She would be his.

The sound of the front door opening broke the moment they were sharing. Darrell quickly went back to work, trying to look innocent. Nigel came into the room. “You are home early,” Katelyn said as her fiancé walked over to the table to kiss her.

As Nigel walked past him, Darrell’s heightened sense of smell caught the faint scent of a woman. It was not perfumed; it was a signature scent specific to one individual. Everyone had one, but it was not Katelyn’s scent. It was the scent of another woman. The only way for that scent to be all over Nigel was during sexual contact. What a scumbag he was cheating on his fiancée.

Some people would say that Darrell was jumping to conclusions, and he had no real proof, but the truth was he did not have to see it with his own eyes, he did not need a confession, his nose was better than pictures. As a Lycanthrope, he could sense things humans could not. This guy was a fool. He had a beautiful sweet woman, and he was screwing around. Nigel did not deserve Katelyn. A smile turned up the corner of Darrell’s mouth. His infidelity changed things; in Darrell’s mind, he was green-lighted to make a play for Katelyn guilt-free. This jackass was about to lose his girl so fast it was going to make his ancestors dizzy.

“My night manager up and quit on me today, so I have to cover the night shifts until I can hire someone,” Nigel told her. “I came home to shower and put on a fresh suit.”

“You are going to be gone all night?” Katelyn complained.

“I’ll be home at 8:00 AM.”

“You are going to work all day and then all night? When are you going to sleep?”

“I’m the manager, Baby. I can do what I want. I’ll just take a quick power nap in one of the empty suites.”

Darrell shook his head and bit his tongue. Wow, this guy was bold. Sure, he had been in bed, but Darrell doubted he was going to be alone and sure as hell not sleeping. He must have snickered because both Nigel and Katelyn turned to look at him. Darrell lifted his closed hand to his mouth and cleared his throat a few times. “Sorry… something in my throat,” he lied, and they disregarded him, going back to their conversation.

“Look, Kate Baby, if I had any choice, I would be home with you, but the hotel pays me a lot of money. I have to do the job they are paying me for,” Katelyn said nothing. She rolled her eyes. Darrell grinned. She was not buying his bullshit either. He had more respect for this girl; she was no fool. Nigel took an annoying step back. “What?”

“What is her name?” Katelyn demanded. Oh, shit was about to go down. Darrell was trying so hard not to appear as if he was listening, but he had been wiping the wrench with his shop rag since Nigel walked in.

“This shit again?” Nigel snapped, indignant with Katelyn for daring to suggest he was doing exactly what he was doing. “You think I’m screwing around?”

“No, I know you are screwing around,” she barked as she stood up to confront him. Darrell leaned against the workbench. He was not even bothering to pretend he was not listening. Nigel looked at Darrell, who made eye contact while he picked up his soda and sipped it like he was in a movie theatre. He was not worried about getting fired at this point. He had a feeling after this fight they would not be completing the project anyway, regardless he got 2/3rds upfront, and his signed and notarized contract clearly said no refunds. So, he was going to enjoy the show.

“Can we not do this in front of the help?” Nigel asked quietly.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Darrell said with a playful wiggle of his brow, “continue.”

“What is the problem Nigel, don’t want people to know you are a cheat?” Katelyn snapped. “Always so concerned about what others think of you. I’m sick of this shit when we got engaged. You promised you would stop,” there was raw emotion behind her anger.

“I’m not doing anything!” Nigel yelled back. “You need to learn to let go of the past. I don’t have time for this,” he growled and stormed out of the room. Katelyn dropped back down in her seat with tears in her eyes, and Darrell felt bad for her. Not only was her man cheating on her, but he had also basically told her she did not mean enough to him for him to even take the time to argue with her.

Darrell heard the door upstairs slam, followed by the sound of running water. He knew Nigel was in the shower. Darrell took the paper napkin from his meal and took a seat next to Katelyn, offering her the napkin for her tears. She accepted it and dabbed her eyes. No tears had fallen yet; she was clearly more angry than sad, which would work to Darrell’s advantage.

“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Katelyn muttered.

“I’m sorry you had to live it,” he said with sympathy as he reached up and brushed her hair behind her ear. “That guy is an ass. You deserve better.”

“I should have left him the first time it happened,” he agreed. Darrell never understood why otherwise smart women would put up with such disrespect.

“You know what you need? You need to go out and have some fun. I cashed your boyfriend’s cheque last week. I say we go get stupid drunk on his dime.”

Katelyn smiled. “I don’t know,” she was not sure if going out with him was wise. After all, she had just had a fight with the man she lived with. Darrell leaned in and folded his arms on the table. He then

rested his head on his arms and gave her wounded puppy eyes. She laughed out loud, and Darrell sat up laughing with her.

“Oh, come on, Baby, I’m c-u-t-e, you know you want to.”

“Have you ever heard the word, no?” She asked playfully.

“No, and I don’t think I’m going to hear it tonight,” he leaned into her, “I’ll sweeten the deal, I’ll pose for revenge selfies, and you can send them to him all night,” she laughed again. “Check it,” he said, leaning back and lifting the front of his shirt to show Katelyn his rock solid six-pack. “Look at that, that’s going to drive him fucking crazy. Go on, touch it,” he offered when she bit her bottom lip. Katelyn reached out and ran her hand over his abs. She seemed pleased. “What do you say we make your old man nuts?”

“Why not?” She gave in.

“Beautiful, just let me pack up my tools and then we can go,” he said, standing up. He wanted to make sure he left the site with all his property because he would probably get a call tonight cancelling the project, and he did not want this lowlife holding his tools hostage. He had some rather expensive tools, and replacing them would cost a fortune.

***

They left before Nigel came back down. Katelyn knew taking off with Darrell was a petty thing to do, but she was so sick of Nigel’s lies and betrayal. She wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. See how he liked it when she stepped out on him. Who better to do it with than this stunningly gorgeous man rocking the down-home southern charm?

Once he had his tools packed, they both hopped into his truck and headed for a bar he said was the best one in all of Aspen, someplace she had never heard of called the Mausoleum. It turned out to be

some little local pub off the main drag. A dingy little dive bar, certainly not the kind of place tourists or even most locals would go into. She sure as hell would have never gone in had she not been with Darrell.

They took a seat at a small table near an old jukebox. Katelyn had not thought bars still had these. The waitress came over, and Darrell gave her five hundred dollars in cash, telling her to keep the whisky coming until they either passed out or ran out of money, whichever came first. Katelyn grinned; he had not been joking when he said they were going to get stupid drunk.

They sat together in that bar for hours talking about nothing at all, music, movies, inconsequential topics that did not allow her to get to know him in any meaningful way. When she would ask more personal questions, he would skillfully redirect the conversation to something that had nothing to do with who he was or any part of his life.

It was strange even though he managed to dodge every question she asked, Katelyn was still having a great time. He was fun, and he had a knack for putting her at ease… then again, maybe it was the endless drinks she had ingested. As it got later in the day, Katelyn mentioned that perhaps they should soak up some of their intoxication with a little food, so he ordered them some dinner from the kitchen. Katelyn was pleasantly surprised. The food here was actually pretty good.

Her phone rang for what had to be the twentieth time that evening. Katelyn looked at her phone, which sat on the table between them as it rang. Nigel’s name and picture on the screen. Katelyn sighed; she did not want to answer, but she had the feeling Nigel was not going to stop calling until she did. “I should answer,” she said.

“No, you shouldn’t,” Darrell said with a smile. “You know what you should do, though. You should send him a picture of you having a great time without him.”

Katelyn smiled as she leaned into him. “What do you suggest?”

Darrell picked up her phone as he dragged his chair around to her side of the table. He brought up her camera option and then put one arm around her shoulders as he held the phone out in front of them to take a selfie. He then turned his face toward hers. “Now give me a kiss, Baby,” he snickered.

Katelyn giggled as she leaned into him. “I don’t think this is a way of getting back at Nigel. I think this is just your way of stealing a kiss,” she purred as she brushed her lips over his.

“You want to kiss me.”

“Do I?”

“Oh yeah,” he whispered as he brushed his lips against hers in return. “Come on, Baby. Live a little.”

Katelyn kissed Darrell softly. His lips tasted like whisky. When he kissed her back, it made her head spin… or was that the whisky? The flash of her camera ended their kiss quickly, and Darrell was grinning triumphantly as he looked into her eyes. He then offered her back her phone, and she saw the picture of herself locking lips with the handsome cowboy.

“Go on, send it to him. I bet he blows your phone up afterwards.”

Did she dare send it to him? She was not sure. Suddenly Darrell jumped when a slender young woman with long blond hair jumped on him from behind, startling both of them. Her arms wrapped tight around his broad shoulders. “Fancy seeing you here,” she giggled and then stood up and stole his hat, placing it on her head as she pulled up a seat from another table.

Darrell shook his head. “Can’t you see I’m on a date?” He scowled at her.

“Ooo, a date?” She laughed. Then she looked at Katelyn. “He’s just trying to get in your panties.”

“And I was succeeding until you interrupted.”

“Am I cramping your style?” She asked mockingly.

“You are always cramping my style,” he smiled, and she rolled her eyes.

“Who is this?” Katelyn asked.

The woman extended her hand across the table as she introduced herself. “I’m Charlotte, Darrell’s baby sister,” a sense of relief washed over Katelyn when she learned that this pretty young woman was family and not competition.

“Katelyn, Darrell’s target for the night,” she said with a teasing look at Darrell, who just chuckled at her good-natured ribbing.

Suddenly Charlotte looked past them, and she waved her hand in the air calling someone over. Almost immediately, they were joined by six more people. They all said hello to Darrell, and Katelyn assumed they were all friends. The women were all very pretty, intimidatingly so. And one of the men made Katelyn tense with fear. He was a huge man, and he was scary-looking. He looked like a serial killer that could rip the arms of his victims off with his bare hands. The most confusing part was the young woman with who he had his arm around. She was breathtakingly beautiful. They seemed to be together, and Katelyn could not help but wonder just how these two ended up together.

Reluctantly Darrell introduced everyone. But as he was listing off their names, a middle-aged man walked into the bar and Darrell, and his friends took immediate notice of him. Katelyn could not understand why. He looked just like any other guy, but the whole table was fixated on him like they knew something she did not. A look passed between them all. It was as if they were communicating without saying a word.

Darrell and Charlotte both stood up, and they all turned to face the man that had come in. Katelyn turned around to see the man notice them. The stranger and Darrell shared a look, and Katelyn saw

raw hatred coming from both of them. The man exited the bar quickly, and then Darrell took out his wallet and tossed money on the table in front of Katelyn.

“Date’s over, Babe, take a taxi home,” he said as he and his friends walked away and followed the man out of the bar.

Katelyn sat alone at the table and picked up the money, annoyed by how Darrell had just abandoned her. Who the hell did he think he was? Ticked off, she stood up and took the money. She was going after that man to give him a piece of her mind. How dare he discard her like she was nothing?

Katelyn went outside, but she did not see them anywhere. She could still see Darrell’s truck in the parking lot. He was still around here somewhere. She heard a commotion coming from around the side of the building, and she decided to investigate. As she came around the corner, she stopped in horror as she saw Darrell and his friends literally ripping the man they had followed to pieces.

They growled like wild beasts as they tore at his flesh. Their eyes were glowing bright, their hands like claws. Their faces were twisted, and they looked like demonic monsters. She screamed when she saw who she assumed was Darrell rip out the man’s throat with his teeth. They all turned toward her when she screamed, and Katelyn stared with wide eyes as she saw the man’s blood dripping down Darrell’s chin and neck from the long sharp fangs he now had.

Katelyn stared at the dead man on the ground in the alley and then at all of them. “She’s seen everything,” the large one snarled. © 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.

“We have to kill her,” one of the women said.

“I’ll kill her,” one of the men said, stepping forward.

Darrell put out his hand to stop him as he fixed Katelyn with a stern glare. “No, I’ll do it,” he said. “I’ll kill her.”

He walked right up to her and looked Katelyn in the eye. “I’m sorry you should have stayed in the bar,” he growled, and Katelyn felt her knees buckle as she fainted.

***

Out of sheer reflex, Darrell reverted back to his human form and caught Katelyn as she collapsed before him. She was limp in his arms as he looked down at her. She had fainted. He had expected her to scream or run or maybe even fight. Her fainting had caught him off guard.

He did not want to hurt her; he liked Katelyn, but she had seen too much. She had seen them killing a man. He knew how it looked, but it was not what it seemed. The man they had killed was a Lycanthrope hunter. He would have killed them. He was a scout. He went around tracking Lycanthropes, and when he found one, he went back to his friends and brought back a hunting party.

Every Lycanthrope learnt to spot and identity hunters at a young age. It was the only way they survived. When it came to dealing with hunters, Lycanthropes only had two options… kill or be killed. They had to protect the pack. They did not like killing people, but it was him or them.

Darrell regretted that Katelyn had seen what she had. He wished she had stayed in the bar, but she had seen too much and to protect the pack, she had to be silenced. He could not allow her to run off and tell people what she saw. Only as he looked at her helpless in his arms Darrell could not do it.

“Kill her already,” snapped Aster, “before someone else sees us.”

“Kill her,” Kenneth growled.

“I will just give me a minute,” Darrell barked.

“Oh, for Christ's sakes, I’ll kill her,” Aurora said, starting toward him.

“Back off!” Darrell snarled, his eyes glowing with a violent warning bringing Aurora to a dead stop.

“Darrell,” Stanton piped up, “You know we can’t allow her to live. She saw us kill the hunter. She will lead the mortals right to our doorstep. We have to protect the pack. You know that as well as any of us.”

Darrell thought about his youth, about the night the hunters came for his family, the night his father died defending his children. Like most Lycanthrope children, Darrell and Charlotte were orphaned. They had lost both of their parents. Their mother had been killed by a hunter when they were small, and eight years later, they had lost their father. Darrell knew that if he allowed Katelyn to live and she brought the mortals to their door, the pack would suffer losses. Another Lycanthrope child would be orphaned, and it would be his fault for having not ended the threat right here and now when he had the chance.

He looked down at the woman in his arms. He knew what he had to do, but he could not bring himself to kill her, and he was not going to allow the others to do it either. Knowing he may regret his decision, Darrell scooped Katelyn up into his arms bridal style. He needed time to think, and he could not do it here.

“Where are you taking her?” Aster demanded as the others followed Darrell to his truck. “You have to kill her.”

“I’m not going to kill her.”

“She will tell others. You are risking all our lives,” Aster argued.

“I know what I’m doing,” actually, he did not. He had no idea at all what he was doing with her. All he knew was he could not kill her, and he could not let her go.

Aster grabbed Darrell by the arm, stopping him as he opened the door to his truck and put Katelyn inside. “You kill her now, or I swear to God I’m heading straight to my father and telling him about this,” Aster threatened. He knew Gordon would not like what he was doing. He would most certainly have issues with it. Gordon was Alpha, and Darrell knew Gordon would come for him if he thought Darrell was risking the safety of the pack, but he would cross that bridge when he came to it.

“You do what you got to do,” Darrell shut the passenger door and got into the truck. He backed out and headed for home, leaving the others behind.