Ann leaned back against the wall when Elric released her and pulled his phone out of his pocket to make a call. His dark hair flew about his face in wild disarray, his clothing wrinkled and rumpled from the fight. His expression was resigned as he dialed the number and held the phone up to his head, looking more than a little irritated as the line rang.
Who is he calling? she wondered silently. She felt as if she might be close to seeing a lot more of his world than her own.
She watched his face change and heard the loud, monotone ringing stop as someone answered the other end of the call. "Hello? Yes, I am located within your jurisdiction. I need to report an incident and will also need transport… About ten… I know… Call the Oracle… Yes, fine… Sure." His hand went through his hair, disheveling it further then his head snapped up and he looked right at her. "No. Why?" He looked ready to punch someone. "Yes, that is a human involved… No, I will not bring her… We shall see whether or not I have a choice." His mouth shut and he listened intently for several moments before his face turned down in an irritated scowl. "Fine…" He gave the address of the salon and directions to their location from there before hanging up. He began dragging the bodies of the fallen wolves behind the dumpster he told Ann to hide behind earlier. Lucky for them it was a small alley and no one looked down it as they walked by.
"What's going on?" she asked anxiously.
"They're coming," he replied with a shrug.
"Who?"
"The Enforcers henchmen. I believe they are working with other shifters to do these kinds of collections. Cats of some type, I think. They want us to come over and speak with them, it does not appear to be voluntary."
"Couldn't you take them?" she asked.
He laughed, "Definitely. However, I am currently in their zone. I know the Oracle would say I need to do what they request of me, whether I agree with their request or not."
Excitement rushed through her, flushing out the remnants of fear. "I'm coming, too?"
"Yes," he said calmly. "Fear not, I will not allow them to lay a hand on you. Besides, they have a mate, and a young, as I understand it which is rare for shifters of our caliber." He absentmindedly touched his ring and she wondered what that meant. "This is a big enough issue that someone else has to get involved. This is not what I am supposed to be doing while I am here… blending in."
She giggled, "I'm not so sure you will ever, truly blend in."
His leveled his gaze on her, a flat stare, his jaw taut, "Thanks."
She looped her arm through his and walked to the front of the alley after he finished stacking the wolves. They leaned against the corner of the building to wait for whoever was picking them up. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, "So, I guess I'm going to get to learn a lot more about shifters, aren't I?"
He nodded looking unhappy about the whole situation, "I will as well. While I have been somewhat apprised of what they are like now, I have never met an Enforcer. The Oracle kept me on a tight leash, literally."
She glanced at the collar. When he had been fighting, even wearing the collar, he looked like a wild animal. Yet she knew he didn't have full access to his shifter powers.
Who exactly is this man?
She could only judge him by how he treated her, and that was very, very well thus far. Last night he had given her the best sex of her life. All the tenderness and passion. The raw strength and power he exhibited were things she could never forget in a million lifetimes. She wanted him to be hers, but she also wanted to know just what was inside him. Never in her wildest dreams did she think such a gorgeous man would waltz into her life and be crazy about only her. At times it seemed too good to be true.
She wrapped one arm around her waist and wrapped the other around Elric. After a few minutes, a van pulled up. Men in dark suits jumped out. They were all tall and strong and had the wolves loaded within a couple of minutes, but instead of talking to them, they saluted and pulled off. She looked at Elric questioningly, but he just waited, putting up a finger.
Another car pulled up, a limo with blacked out windows. Elric nodded, "That will be them. They will want to meet us before taking us home."
She swallowed, "Enforcers?"
He nodded, "Enforcers."
The back door opened and a hand beckoned them in. Elric went first, crawling into the large car and then handing her in behind him. Once she was seated in the well-lit, spacious seat next to him, she looked around to see she was surrounded by cup holders with glasses of ice in them. The door shut, making it easier to see and she gasped seeing the men across from them. If Elric hadn't told her, she still would have guessed these men were shifters. There was something different about them, much like Elric. They had that same cocky charisma, the mystery, it all reminded her of Elric. Neither were as tall or broad as he was, but both were large enough to be frightening.
The shorter one, who was likely just over six feet tall, was lean muscled and had a face that could almost be called beautiful with how handsome and striking. His skin tanned, his hair golden waves that grazed his shoulders, still shorter than Elric's. The other man, who was a few inches taller yet shorter than Elric, had short, dark hair and ice-blue eyes that were pinned on her and Elric.
"So, you're a gargoyle," he said, glaring.
The man beside him leaned forward, tapping his partner lightly on the shoulder, "Calm yourself, Jurian."
Jurian sat back with a huff, "Ten wolves. He dropped ten wolves in our territory. Do you know what the fallout will be? How busy we already are?"
"Busy enough to complain, obviously," Elric retorted sarcastically.
The golden haired man let out a musical laugh. He was muscular and charismatic in the same masculine way as the other two, but his beauty was really something. Although, Elric's hard, chiseled face was the most perfect to her, if she were being honest.
"I'm glad you find this funny, Kieran," Jurian said, folding one leg over the other.
"I like him," Kieran said. "He's the only shifter I've met who seems grumpier than you."
"I have reason to be grumpy," Elric said. "They were attacking my mate. In fact, since I have met her, all that seem to happen is humans and shifters attacking her."
"Interesting," Jurian commented, looking her over in a way that made her curl back into the seat. It wasn't that he was being disrespectful; just that his eyes were so very sharp and all-seeing.
"Who are you?" she asked. "You ordered us into your car. Shouldn't you at least introduce yourselves?"
"Sure," Kieran said. "I'm Kieran, and this is Jurian. We're the Enforcers of the Northeastern Coast. I'm not sure how much you know, but we patrol in different areas. While we aren't as impressive as an awakened Ancient Gargoyle, we aren't underwhelming to be modern gargoyles." He looked at Elric, "How were humans protected in your time?"
"We were never there to protect the humans," Elric said darkly. "We were there to rule them."
"Ah, right," Kieran said lightly, leaning back in the seat.
"Awakened Ancient Gargoyle," Jurian said. "What does that even mean?"
"What do you think it means?" Elric asked growing more combative as the limo pulled onto the freeway.
"I'm not sure," Jurian said. "Typically, it would imply you've had some sort of an epiphany. All I know, is you were cyrogenically frozen and then revived. Perhaps we should call you thawed gargoyle." A small smile quirked his lips and Ann squeezed Elric's knee, just in case.
"Or Grandpa," Kieran quipped, his green eyes sparkling as he waited for a reaction from Elric, who sat there unamused. "Since we're apparently descended from you somehow."
"Could be," Elric said. "What are your powers?"
"Jurian has shielding, I have toxic fire," Kieran said.
"He definitely came from me," Elric said, nodding to Jurian. "You got some from Aloys, poor bastard."
"Fascinating," Kieran said, leaning forward. He looked over at Jurian, "What do you think? Safe to take home?"
Jurian cocked his head and slowly nodded, "He didn't respond much to being provoked. From what I heard of the ancient gargoyles, they didn't react well to being mocked."
Kieran nodded, "He seemed to do okay, though."
"Stop talking about me as if I am not sitting here," Elric snapped. He pointed to his collar, "If you did not notice, I am also restrained at this point in time."
Kieran and Jurian stared at the collar, intrigued. Jurian shook his head, "I'm sorry, but that's just wrong."
Elric let out a long breath and looked out the window. "A week ago, I would have agreed with you. I used to think so, but there is enough violence in me that I am beginning to think it is not such a bad idea after all."
"Should we not take him, then?" Kieran asked.
"I told you. I am unable to harm anyone unless they attack or have ill motives toward a human."
Kieran's eyes moved to Ann, "I'm terribly sorry, my dear, what was your name?"
"Ann," she replied.
"And you're his mate?"
She glanced at Elric, who put a possessive arm around her. "He'd like me to be."
"Do you think she's a stone heart?" Jurian asked.
"Not sure. He said she gets into trouble a lot, that's a sure sign of one," Kieran said.
"Or she could just be stupid."
"I'm not stupid!" Ann scoffed, offended. "I don't like leaving people in trouble or not helping someone who needs it."
"Stone Heart," Kieran and Jurian said in unison. She looked up at Elric, but he seemed as confused as she was.
Jurian leaned back, "Don't worry about it."
Kieran smiled, "You'll like Michelle, our mate. You two have something in common."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" she asked.
"Putting up with stubborn gargoyles," he said.
She laughed, beginning to like Kieran and his grumpy partner. She could see the benefits of having two different men to take care of someone. But for her, leaning against Elric, feeling his warmth, his possessiveness, that was all she needed. She let out a contented sigh and let Elric's arms fall around her, trying to relax and prepare herself for wherever they were going.