Leala Linney Chapter 6

A child yells close by, breaking the spell Phil’s skilled lips put Leala under. Phil’s eyes meet hers and it’s pretty clear her frustration matches how Leala feels. She chuckles in spite of herself, and Phil quirks her brow in reply, making Leala laugh even more. Phil tries to frown to cover up her own humor.

“Ha! Nice try with that grumpy face, but I see your funny bone.”

“Funny bone? I’ll show you a funny bone. How much you want to bet I can find your funny bone on the first try with one finger?”
Leala grins. “Just that one finger? No digging around until you find the sweet spot?”

Phil’s eyes flash.

Leala blushes. “Oh, you know what I mean. You get one shot.”

Phil manages to look both like a rascal and sheepish at the same time. “I only need one shot to find your sweet spot. What do I get when I win?”

Leala blushes harder but narrows her eyes. She can think of several things she rejects immediately. They may have been headed in that direction a few minutes ago, but now that reality has dampened her ardor, she doesn’t want to encourage things. Not too much anyway. “How about this; if you win, I’ll cook meals for you for a week. Anything you want. But if I win, you’ll wash my car, not just the outside and the wheels and what not, but detailing the inside, too.” It’s a bet she’ll win either way because not only does she love to cook, she’s eaten way too many lunches driving from one meeting to another. Her car is filthy.

A slow smile lifts the corners of Phil’s mouth. “You have yourself a deal, ma’am. I’m going to enjoy my meals.” Phil twirls her index finger in a circle and with eerily unerring precision, goes directly to that most ticklish spot just below Leala’s left ribcage. Shock at Phil’s apparent clairvoyance doesn’t stanch Leala’s helpless reaction. Phil proceeds to drive Leala mad with laughter, making her squeal, and squirm beneath Phil until tears run into her hair and she can’t catch her breath. 

 

“Mercy!” Leala pants. “I,” pant, “plead,” pant, “Mercy!”

 

Taking pity on Leala at last, Phil stops tickling her and runs her hand up Leala’s side with just enough pressure to help her calm. Then Phil cups Leala’s face and starts kissing her again.

 

When a ball bounces off of Phil’s back, Leala cracks up at the look on her face. She’s still laughing while struggling to get up from their prone position. Cursing quietly, Phil plants a gentle kiss on Leala’s nose before helping Leala gain her balance. Once steady on her feet, Leala quickly straightens out her dress. She laughs when she catches Phil watching her with hooded eyes that don’t quite hide the glimmer they took on when Phil and Leala started making out. The iris color is fading back to normal now, but there for a while Phil’s eyes shone like...the only comparison she can come up with is bug lights. And looking in them, Leala felt like a predator had her in its sights. It was thrilling. Exciting. And a little unnerving.

 

Leala isn’t sure what the color signifies, but her intuition tells her Phil wouldn’t want Leala to notice. She’s learned she can trust her gut so she decides to wait until they have some privacy before asking Phil about it. Phil clasps her hand and Leala squeezes it as she turns to look around for the kid who was playing under the same tree. 
She finds the little guy a few feet away, sitting up and studying a bloody knee as if deciding if he should start wailing or not. A young man runs up and squats down in front of him. A moment later the boy giggles, grabs his ball, and runs off, the adult following him.

 

Leala looks around, but it doesn’t seem like anyone noticed their ardor. Bushes block them from the picnic tables, and besides the kid, no one else is anywhere near them. She’s turning back to Phil when her gaze snags on the largest raccoon she’s ever seen. Someone’s been feeding it or it’s a really good scavenger. It’s not totally odd to see a raccoon in the middle of the day, but something about this one sets off her internal alarm. Maybe it seems so huge because all of its hair is standing on end. It’s walking straight to her. No, that’s not right. It’s stalking toward her, though it looks a little drunk the way it staggers. The raccoon pauses not 10 feet away and seems to be whimpering or something. Leala almost feels sorry for it. Then it draws back its lips, pushing up its little black nose. Any cuteness is wiped away by the full view it gives of its mouth full of wicked-looking teeth. Saliva runs from its open mouth and drips into the grass.

 

She can sense Phil’s strong presence standing behind her. Phil speaks in soft, soothing tones, but Leala doesn’t miss the officer’s command. She certainly heard it enough growing up. “Leala, stop moving.” Leala didn’t even realize she had started to get up. She freezes.

 

Copying Phil’s tone of voice, Leala says, “It’s rabid.”

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

Movement behind the raccoon catches Leala’s attention. Two young kids throwing a ball for what looks like a big golden retriever puppy. “Oh, no. Those kids. If it bites anyone, it means that awful series of rabies shots. And the puppy might not even survive getting bitten.”

 

“I know.”

 

“We have to do something.”

 

The raccoon jerks its head to focus on a spot to her left at the same time Leala hears a twig snap in that direction. The volume of growly whimpering rises and the raccoon takes an unsteady step. 

 

“That’s right. I’m a threat. Focus on me, you poor creature.”

 

“Phil, unless you have a weapon I didn’t notice, I don’t think drawing its ire onto you is a very good idea. It’s noble, but not brilliant. What if it bites you?”

 

“Leala, I know what I’m doing. Just please stop moving, okay?”

 

Fear for Phil spikes higher than her fear for herself and she can feel her heart start to pound in her ears. 

 

“Leala? Take a few deep breaths for me, okay? Nice and easy. I really need you to calm down right now.”
What does she mean calm down? Calm down? That animal could kill a pet or child and seriously affect either of them. “We need to call someone to come and euthanize it!”

 

The raccoon spins back to her and rushes forward a few feet, but Phil lunges to the side and draws its attention again.

 

Oh, god, oh god. Please don’t let that poor animal hurt any of us. Leala knows her nerves aren’t helping anyone. Animals can sense fear, can’t they? She takes a couple of slow deliberate breaths, trying to get a hold of her shaking. If she isn’t careful, she’s going to make things worse.

 

“That’s better. Keep breathing. I’m not going to let it hurt anyone, okay?” Phil takes another step and comes into Leala’s peripheral vision. “Do you trust me, Leala?”

 

Leala takes a few seconds to think about it. Oddly enough, she realizes she does trust Phil, though they hardly know one another. “Yes. I trust you.”

 

“Good. Now listen to me very carefully. When I say go, I want you to take off running for those bushes, okay? No matter what you hear, just keep running.”

 

“Absolutely not. No. I’m not going to let you sacrifice yourself, here. I’m not abandoning you. Are you crazy? That’s a deathly ill raccoon driven mad. What on earth are you thinking?” It feels weird yelling in a soothing tone, but Leala manages it just fine.

 

“I’m thinking I can take care of myself. Now you said you trusted me.”
So nice to see that soothing tones don’t hamper Phil’s ability to sound cocky. “Phil.”

 

“Leala.”

 

“Gah. Damn you. I just found you. I don’t want you to die.”

 

“If you think I’m going to let this poor beast get in the way of having a relationship with you, you don’t know me at all. But you will.”

 

Before Leala can answer, the raccoon rushes for Phil.

 

“Run Leala! I don’t want you to see this!”

 

Leala assumes Phil means something about the raccoon and she has no intention of running away and leaving Phil to her fate. She’s completely unprepared when Phil’s body becomes blurry and is replaced by a massive black wolf and a pile of torn clothing.

 

If she hadn’t been looking right at Phil, she wouldn’t believe it. As it is, she blinks rapidly and then rubs her eyes. But the vision doesn’t change. Phil became a wolf. She’s in such shock she misses what happens with the raccoon. It was just a rush of movement and sound and then silence. In fact, it isn’t until the wolf walks up to her and she realizes it’s head is higher than hers, that Leala knows she’s sitting on the hard ground. Her knees must have collapsed and she didn’t even feel it.

 

“Ph—” She clears her throat and tries again. “Phil?”

 

The wolf bobs its head once and Leala notices a dash of white on its—her—chest, like someone splashed her with a paint can. And looking into those yellow eyes, the same ones she saw when they were getting hot and bothered, things suddenly click into place.

 

“Okay. You’re a wolf. I’m talking to a wolf. I kissed a wolf. I’m dating a wolf.”

 

The wolf, Phil, opens its maw and lolls its long pink tongue.

 

“Are you seriously laughing at me right now?”

 

Phil licks Leala’s hand. Suddenly she remembers and jerks her hand out of the way, rubbing it on her skirt. “Uh, the raccoon? Did you—did you eat it?”

 

If a wolf could roll its eyes, that’s what it would look like. Phil walks over to the body. 

 

Leala scrambles to her feet and joins Phil. “Poor thing. It didn’t ask to get rabies. Thanks for putting it out of its misery. And saving those children and their dog.” Speaking of...Leala looks around them, but after turning in a complete circle, she can’t believe no one is running around shouting, “Wolf!”. The bushes are tall enough to hide the raccoon, but the wolf towers head and shoulders over them. Not one single person is paying them the slightest bit of attention. “Weird.”

 

While she’s wondering about it, Phil pads over and starts digging into the soft earth under one of the bushes. “Are you kidding me right now? You’re a digger? I thought that was something bored dogs do.” Phil ignores her and keeps digging her paws into the same spot. Leala notices she’s careful not to scatter the dirt as the hole widens. “Phil, what are you doing?” But the wolf just keeps digging, forming a neat pile of dirt. When the hole is about four feet square and even deeper than that, Phil walks to the raccoon, grabs its tail in her massive jaws, and drags it to the hole. In no time, the hole is filled in and Phil noses brush and sticks around until you can’t tell the earth was disturbed.

 

“You are perplexingly good at that.” The only answer she gets is another canine laugh. Phil sits down and Leala follows her eyes to a couple of strangers walking up to them. Since Phil is still relaxed, Leala figures they’re friends. Both about average in height, the male is a little taller, though something tells Leala the shorter woman is in charge. Both are dressed in neat jeans and pressed dress shirts complete with ties. The woman wears a plain hunter green tie, the guy has a blue one peppered with white frogs.

 

“Heard your call to the pack, but it looks like you’ve got it all under control.” The woman tosses a wad of clothes she was carrying near the bushes. “We’ll keep the pack magic going until you can get changed and dressed.” Phil ignores the clothes and takes a menacing step toward her. “Peace, Phil. She’s in no danger, right now.”

 

The stranger looking right at Leala suggests it was about her. She watches the black wolf lope to the bundle. “Well, I would hope not. Phil didn’t save me from one threat to have you show up and threaten me.”

 

“I think we started off on the wrong paw.” She holds out her hand and Leala shakes it. The firm grip doesn’t surprise her. Like Phil, this woman is tough. But she’s far more intense than Phil. And her eyes look tired. “I’m Addie, this is Caleb. Phil was concerned because Pack law says we aren’t supposed to show our other selves to anyone unless we intend to marry them.”

 

Leala throws back her shoulders. “What about extenuating circumstances? There was a rabid animal here. She didn’t have much choice. She shouldn’t be punished for protecting kids.”

 

“Oh, I’m aware of what happened. It isn’t her that she’s worried about being...punished.”

 

Leala’s painfully aware that “punished” is not the word Addie would have chosen. Before she can stop sputtering and form coherent words, Phil is at her side, still tucking the casual black button up into jeans. Phil drapes her arm around Leala and she leans into Phil. “She’s mine. I thank you for coming so quickly with the clothes. But I have it from here. I’ll see you both later.”

 

Caleb smirks and salutes them, then turns to leave. Addie exchanges a loaded look with Phil. “Yes. Later.” Then she nods to Leala, says, “Ma’am, it was a pleasure meeting you,” and turns to join Caleb.

 

Leala gets the sense Addie doesn’t waste niceties. Still, seeing them walk away, she lets go of the tension in her shoulders. She looks up at Phil who meets her gaze. “So.”

 

Phil’s eyes twinkle. “So?”

 

“What exactly are you?” It came out shakier than Leala meant it to.

 

Phil squeezes her shoulder. She nods. “You want to know what I am?”

 

“Yeah?” She also didn’t mean that to be a question.

 

“Hungry. I’m hungry. And you owe me a week’s worth of meals, right?”

 

Leala slumps, relief warring with her desire to know everything right now. But honestly, she feels like she’s had enough for one day. If things are going the way she thinks they are, she’ll have plenty of time to find out the rest. “I sure do. You won that bet fair and square. Would you like to cash in day one of seven right now?”

 

“I would.”

 

“Would you like to come over and keep me company while I cook for you?”
Phil grins. “I thought you’d never ask.”

 

Leala lays her head against Phil’s shoulder. “Perfect.” Arm in arm, they start walking. “And maybe while you’re keeping me

company you can tell me more about that whole ‘she’s mine’ thing.”

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Phil starts humming and after a second, Leala recognizes the Indigo Girls' song. When she comes to the chorus, Leala sings quietly, "Multiply life by the power of two."

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The End​