On the Prowl by Kate Rudolph

11

Andre watchedfrom the wings as Em began her sound check. No one except a few crew members were in the audience, but it would have been impossible to tell from the intensity of her performance. She gave it her all. And it was amazing to watch.

Andre hadn't been to a concert in years. After being turned he had been concerned that his heightened senses would be set off by the sensory overload that came from a performance.

But his entire being was focused on Em. All of his senses attuned. And he was doing fine.

Or perhaps not fine.

Being captivated by her meant he was shirking his duty. He was supposed to keep her safe. He was supposed be watching for suspicious activity or ghost werewolves, not listening to her belt out a chorus about getting revenge after being cheated on.

Who the fuck would cheat on her?

Whoever she was singing about, he was glad they were gone. Not that he should be thinking like that. She wasn't his, no matter how much he lusted after her.

He forced himself to turn away. He walked deeper backstage to try and get a feel for her security. And as suspected, it was a nightmare.

They weren't focused the way they needed to be. But Andre looked at this through a soldier's eyes. A civilian security force had different goals. But he had a feeling he would need to talk to Darlene. He couldn't tell her exactly why he was around. She wouldn't believe him if he uttered the words ghost werewolf, but she should've never let that paparazzo upstairs.

Had someone been paid off? Was it negligence? He wanted to get to the bottom of it, but it wasn't his job. He would tell Darlene about what had happened. She needed to know. But he had to leave it at that.

For now.

And that was a duty he could do later. First he had to report back. This wasn't an official job, but the others needed to know what was going on, especially the supernatural angle.

Ever since Stasia had been changed, they were paying more attention to the ways they were changing and the realities of being werewolves in this world. Gibson had put out feelers to some of his old contacts and they were trying to gather as much information as possible, even if it was coming in at a snail’s pace.

This development was the biggest thing that had happened since they were turned, and Andre had no way of knowing if werewolves had anything to do with it.

He went back to Em's dressing room since it was quiet enough to make the call and tried to get in touch with Gibson. But the major didn't answer, and this wasn't something that Andre was going to leave in a message. He could call back later, but he had to talk to someone. And Stasia would be desperate to know if things were okay with Em. So he gave Owen a call.

He absently traced over the gouges in the table that matched the torn outfit and the bedsheets. They weren't that deep. They could have been made with a knife or maybe even a pen, given enough time. But Andre doubted it.

His friend answered on the first ring. "I expected to hear from you sooner," said Owen, but there wasn't any accusation in his words. He was a chipper guy, almost always upbeat and expecting it from everyone else.

Andre had no idea how the two of them had become best friends. "It's been an interesting couple of hours." He told Owen about the torn up costume and the bedding and about the strange lack of scent.

For half a moment he considered mentioning the explosive attraction between himself and Em, but he held that back. That had nothing to do with the ghost werewolf. And it wasn't like Em was his mate.

His wolf grumbled at that denial; it had other ideas.

It was none of Owen's damned business. So Andre kept quiet on that front.

"A ghost werewolf?" Owen was skeptical, and if Andre wasn't mistaken there was a hint of laughter in his tone.

"I know it sounds fucked up. What else would you call it? It looks like it has claws and it doesn't smell like anything. No one's seen anything." But Andre would need to see if there was security footage.

"Are you sure it's not just Febreeze?" Owen asked gently.

"I know what Febreeze smells like. Everyone knows what Febreeze smells like. Why do you keep asking that?" He'd had this nose on his head for thirty-three years. He knew what things smelled like.

"Keep asking? I only asked that once." There was a smile in Owen's voice. Maybe that was why they were friends. He didn't get mad when Andre lashed out.

"Em asked the same thing. It's not Febreeze. It's not anything. It is a void of scent. I don't know if the ghost did it or if there is some sort of magic spell that could erase a scent. I'm working in the dark here." He didn't know what kind of magic existed. Clearly there was some type that could turn people into wolves. But beyond that, it was a mystery.

Owen let out a whistle. "You think we turn into ghosts when we die?" he mused.

Now was not the time for jokes. "Are you suggesting that she's being haunted by a werewolf?"

"You're the one that said werewolf ghost." Of course Owen had to point it out.

Indeed he had, but Andre was pretty sure this wasn't an actual ghost, if such a thing even existed. "Run it by the others," he requested. "Maybe we'll get some ideas out of them."

Owen let the jokes drop. "Will do. Do you need backup? Rowe is eager to head out and help you."

Andre didn't growl, and he was proud of that. But he was quiet for longer than he should have been. And Owen definitely noticed.

"I'm fine," Andre finally said.

"Anything else you want to tell me?" Owen prodded, and Andre could hear the annoying grin on his face. The bastard.

"Nope," and the P popped as he said it. Emphasis enough that that line of questioning was closed.

"You sure?" Owen just had to poke and poke and poke.

There were a lot of things Andre could say, each more incriminating than the last. So instead he pulled his phone away from his ear and clicked the button to hang up harder than he needed to. Thankfully he wasn't strong enough to crack his own screen. That would be annoying.

And even though the connection between them was broken, he was almost positive he could hear Owen's laugh. Yeah, Owen suspected something was going on. And eventually he would start questioning things.

But Andre wasn't going to let anything happen. Not between himself and Em, and especially not letting any danger get to her. It meant he had to stay close by her. But he was a professional. It wouldn't be a problem.

His phone dinged with an incoming text message. "Will check in on evil werewolf ghost. Remember to use protection."

And then another text. "Condoms. I mean condoms. Don't know what protection you need from an evil werewolf ghost."

"Fuck you, dude." Andre silenced his phone and shoved it in his pocket before he could send any sort of reply.

Yeah, he wasn't hiding his feelings at all. And he couldn't imagine what Stasia's opinion on all of this would be.

But Em could handle her sister. And with that thought in mind, he headed back to the wings of the stage to watch the end of her sound check.

This was the kind of temptation he would let himself give in to. Hopefully it would allow him to stave off his worst desires.