Mara was waiting for him on the front porch. “What happened? There’s blood on your shirt and in the air.” She took a deep breath. “Did you kill someone?”
“A hunter.”
She lifted one brow.
As succinctly as possible, Derek told her of the night’s events.
“Lou McDonald? Why would she be hunting me after all this time? I never did anything to her.” Mara shook her head. “She helped your father find me when I was pregnant with you. And then Logan and I went to her for help when you were kidnapped.”
“Once a hunter, always a hunter.”
“Like Edna and Pearl.” Mara blew out an exasperated sigh. “If it’s the last thing I ever do on this earth, I’m going to get rid of that meddling twosome.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Derek had not dreamed since he was thirteen, but tonight his fears about becoming a werewolf followed him to sleep. This, however, was more of a nightmare, and even though he knew he was dreaming, he was helpless to escape. . . .
Unlike shape-shifting, transforming into a werewolf proved to be agonizing as bones, muscle, tissue, and flesh stretched and crackled. He writhed on the ground, howling in pain until it was over. Then, bounding to his feet, he raced through the dream’s darkness. Streetlights turned into trees, the pavement into earth. He ran tirelessly until he came to a clear pool. Pausing, he stared at his reflection. When he shape-shifted, the creature he became was a handsome thing, fur thick and black, eyes gray, body perfectly formed. But the creature that stared back at him now was hideous—the snout too long, the ears big and misshapen, the body out of proportion.
He whined low in his throat, then turned away and began to run again, his jaws dripping saliva as he scented prey ahead.
He found her caught in a thicket.
It was Sheree, as he had known it would be.
She screamed when she saw him, struggling with renewed effort to free herself from the briars that were tangled in her clothing and hair.
Snarling softly, he padded toward her, the scent of her fear magnifying his lust for her life’s blood. For flesh . . .
In his sleep, Derek recoiled at the thought of consuming human flesh. But the werewolf in his dream would not be denied its prey.
Sheree screamed again as he sank his teeth into her throat, her hoarse cry of pain and fear mingling with his own.
It was the sound of his own tormented cry, and that of his mother calling his name, that woke him. He stared up at her, his body bathed in sweat, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
“It’s all right,” Mara said, brushing a lock of damp hair from his brow.
“I had a nightmare.”
“You were dreaming?” Such a thing was unheard of.
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to talk about it? It might help.”
“I was a werewolf.”
“Go on.”
“Sheree . . .” He took a deep breath. “She was my prey.”
“A nightmare, indeed. But it’s over now.”
Sitting up, his back propped against the headboard, he wiped the sweat from his brow with a corner of the sheet. “I shouldn’t be with her. I’m a predator. She’ll always be prey.”
“I disagree. Your dream was a reflection of your fears. You told me yourself that being with her calms you.”
“What if that’s no longer true when I’m a werewolf?”
“If you’re afraid of what you might do, I can lock you up before the full moon. Then we can see how it affects you. Perhaps nothing will happen.”
“And if I turn into a ravening monster?”
“Let’s worry about that if and when it happens.”
“Tell me about Susie McGee.”
Mara sat on the edge of the mattress, ankles crossed. “She was your typical wife and mother until she was bitten by a werewolf. Her husband, Rick, was part of a gang of hunters. Pearl’s grandson was also one of them. They didn’t hunt just vampires, but any and all supernatural creatures. Edna and Pearl had captured several of them so they could experiment with a serum they had invented. It was intended to make all supernatural creatures revert to human.”
Her brow furrowed as she called up the past. “As I recall, it worked on a couple of newly turned vampires, but it had no effect on the shape-shifters. Since they’re born that way, they had no true humanity to revert to. Its effect on the werewolves was mixed. Susie was one of their guinea pigs. She would have died if Rafe hadn’t turned her. She never really got the hang of being a werewolf, but being a vampire seemed to suit her. She fell in love with a shape-shifter and they got married.”
Leaning forward, his mother kissed him on the forehead. “Get some sleep now.”