Werewolves of Bloomfield Hills

Chapter 18

The first night at the Druid's wasn't as boring as Penny had thought it'd be. Matter-of-factly, it was fun, thanks to Jane and Topher who kept her company and enlightened her about the things she didn't know about werewolves. They had clarified a few things that helped ease her burden. According to them, the Paranormal Bureau was working to ensure that things were settled amicably between werewolves and reptiles, so as Selene's host, much wasn't expected of her. And as a werewolf, she could simply forget about that and just be human if she wanted to. The only catch was that she had to be careful so people wouldn't figure out what she was, and that any time she wanted to feed she would ensure she followed the Hunting Regulations. She laughed at that because she thought it absurd that one day she'd crave for flesh.

Piecing the puzzle together, she understood now why Topher had a hard time telling her what he was. True, he had tried to come clean a few times but eventually, he got cold feet at the last moment. Not that it justifies his actions, but she understood that everyone couldn't be like her dad.

Resigning from those thoughts, Penny stared at her knee-length denim pinafore dress through a dressing mirror, and after concluding that it was "Okay," she left her apartment for Hendell's office. She had an appointment with the druid.

On getting to Hendell's office, Penny found the druid huddled behind a voluminous old book with its title 'Encyclopedia' boldly inscribed on its grey cover back.

"Good morning" she greeted him, earning herself an icy stare from the druid who felt disturbed.

"Mrs. Aubrey" he glanced at his watch then his face softened. "have a seat please" he motioned her to a seat opposite him. Walking towards the seat, Penny took her time as she studied the opulently furnished room. Judging from the oriental rug to the executive chairs and the Ashton ESG cigar case placed on his finely polished walnut table, she knew the druid had quite a taste. But among all these things, what fascinated her the most was the shelf of antiques behind him.

"Your collections are quite interesting" she confessed, unable to hide her discovery.

"Thank you." The druid replied with a smile then handed her a pamphlet titled 'Hunting Regulations'

"What's this?" Penny arched an eyebrow at him.

"A hunting guide. It tells you how and what to feed on. Study it. It's your first assignment for your one-week stay here" he explained.

"What?" Penny's face turned sour. "One week?! Why do I have to stay longer when I'm okay now?"

"It's the rules, Penelope. But you can leave sooner or stay longer depending on how you fair on your assignments. This is just the normal protocol for handling Dormants." the druid explained.

"Protocol? Arrgh c'mon for chrissake!" Penelope was still whining before her nose caught something. "What's that smell?" She asked the druid, her eyes glittering with excitement and confusion.

"What smell?" the druid looked at her, puzzled.

"I don't know if there's an exact word I can use to describe it. It's like petrichor and pine and ... oh wait. It's a man? I can hear his heartbeat" Penny looked muddled. And in that moment of confusion, Hendell's doors flung open and Bale walked into the druid's office.

"Bloody Hell!" He exclaimed when his eyes landed on Penny.

—

WITH A PENMANSHIP almost as fine as she was, Cecilia scribbled furiously on a Journal. Her face was grim as she did her job. These past few days had been the ultimate test of her leadership skills because inasmuch as her people depended on her for survival, she was still tasked to account for the things happening in her city. Notwithstanding these problems, she multi-tasked efficiently. This served as evidence that she didn't get to her position just by mere birthright but because no one was more worthy. Cecilia was still penning some things down before her door opened and Stephan entered her office.

"I thought we agreed not to meet at implicating locations?" she narrowed her eyes at the man who sauntered about her office.

"Yes, we did. And I recall it was my idea too" Stephan replied then took a seat without asking.

"Then what do you want?" Cecilia was curt. She didn't want the werewolf around her in public. She feared it might blow her cover somehow.

"The peacekeeping" Stephan enunciated the word slowly

"What about it?" Cecilia became impatient to get rid of the werewolf. "Look, the peacekeeping will hold as long as we want it to, okay? I know the Bureau more than you do. It takes them a lot of paperwork to get a single thing done. In essence, that's a lot of breathing space for us, thanks to me. Or are things still moving a little too fast for you?" she inquired.

"No, not really," Stephan replied. "I think I'm ready to take things to the next level."

There was excitement in Cecilia's eyes when Stephan said those words. "When?" she inquired.

"In a few days. And I have the perfect distraction!" he answered, then passed her a card.