The Werewolf Assistant

Chapter 5

The leader raised his weapon.

"Stay down."

Mia barely had time to understand what he meant before Adrian moved.

He reached her in a single step and pushed her gently but firmly toward the floor between the seats.

"Stay down, Mia."

His voice was different.

There was no embarrassment in it, no hesitation, and none of the awkwardness she had grown used to whenever they were alone together. It was calm, firm, and serious enough that she obeyed without arguing.

Mia crouched low behind the seats, keeping her head down as another passenger screamed.

A gunshot cracked through the bus.

Mia flinched and covered her ears.

Another shot followed.

The passengers panicked, some ducking beneath the seats while others pressed themselves against the windows. Someone shouted for everyone to stay down, and another passenger began crying.

Mia could barely see anything from where she was.

She saw Adrian's shoes.

Then they disappeared.

"Get him!" the leader shouted.

Several men rushed toward Adrian.

What happened next became a blur of movement.

Adrian did not transform.

He did not grow claws or reveal the creature he had spent so long hiding.

He simply moved.

His body reacted faster than any ordinary person's should have been able to. He caught the first attack before it reached him and twisted the man's arm away from his body. The weapon dropped, striking the floor with a metallic clatter.

The former security guard charged next.

Adrian stepped aside.

The man crashed against one of the metal poles beside the seats with enough force to bend it slightly.

Someone screamed again.

Mia kept her head down.

She could hear the struggle but could not see what was happening above the seats.

Another man shouted.

A heavy impact followed.

Then another.

The bus shook as someone slammed into one of the seats.

Mia squeezed her eyes shut.

She didn't know who was winning.

She only knew Adrian was still somewhere above her.

"Stay down!" he shouted again.

Mia obeyed.

She heard several passengers moving around her. Some were helping others get away from the aisle while others tried to pull frightened passengers toward the back of the bus.

The confusion gave Adrian exactly what he needed.

He moved through the attackers before they could coordinate.

The mechanic swung at him.

Adrian caught his wrist.

For one brief second, the man stared at him in disbelief.

Then Adrian drove him backward into a seat.

The metal frame groaned under the impact.

The man collapsed.

The leader fired again.

Adrian moved before the gun was fully aimed.

The shot struck the ceiling.

Adrian reached the leader and knocked the weapon from his hand.

The leader stared at him.

For the first time, his calm expression disappeared.

"What are you?"

Adrian said nothing.

He grabbed the man's arm and forced him down.

The leader fought desperately, but Adrian's strength overwhelmed him so completely that there was almost no contest.

A passenger near the front suddenly rushed forward and helped pull the leader away from Adrian.

Another man grabbed the dropped weapon and kicked it beneath a seat.

The bus erupted into more shouting.

Mia heard people yelling that the guns were gone.

Someone shouted that the criminals were down.

Another passenger told everyone to stay calm.

Mia slowly lifted her head.

She saw several men struggling with the attackers, but the view was blocked by the seats and the bodies crowding the aisle.

She never saw Adrian finish the fight.

She never saw exactly what he had done.

All she knew was that the attackers were no longer standing.

Adrian remained near the aisle, breathing heavily.

His shirt was slightly wrinkled, and his expression was hard.

A metal pole beside him was bent.

One of the bus seats had a deep dent in its frame.

Another seat had been pushed sideways from its original position.

Nobody seemed to understand how the damage had happened.

The former security guard looked at Adrian with fear.

"You..."

He stopped.

He seemed unable to find the words.

The mechanic was sitting against a seat, holding his arm.

The leader was on the floor, staring at Adrian as though he had just encountered something he could not explain.

But before anyone could question what had happened, several passengers moved forward to help restrain the attackers.

The bus driver finally brought the vehicle to a stop.

People began shouting for the police.

Mia looked at Adrian.

He immediately looked back at her.

"Are you hurt?"

She shook her head.

"No."

His shoulders relaxed slightly.

That tiny reaction frightened her more than anything else.

He had been terrified for her.

She could see it now.

Not anger.

Not pride.

Fear.

The same fear she had seen in his eyes when the leader first raised the weapon.

Adrian crouched beside her.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

He studied her face for another second before finally nodding.

Around them, the passengers were helping one another out of the seats. Some were crying. Others were speaking quickly into their phones. A few men had helped keep the criminals restrained until authorities arrived.

Nobody seemed to have a clear picture of what had happened.

There were too many people moving at once.

Too many gunshots.

Too much confusion.

Mia had only seen pieces of it.

And none of those pieces explained the dents in the bus.

---

The crisis ended without serious casualties.

By the time the authorities secured the area, the passengers were being guided away from the bus while emergency workers checked everyone for injuries.

Mia stood beside Adrian, still trying to understand what had happened.

She could hear people talking about the criminals.

Some said Adrian had confronted them.

Others said several passengers had helped.

Nobody could agree on exactly how the attackers had been overpowered.

Mia herself couldn't explain it.

She had been on the floor for most of the fight.

She had heard Adrian moving, but she hadn't actually watched him defeat anyone.

That was probably for the best.

Adrian knew that.

He glanced toward the growing crowd outside.

News cameras had already arrived.

Bright lights moved across the street as reporters gathered near the bus.

Adrian's expression tightened.

"We're leaving."

Mia looked at him.

"What about everyone else?"

"They're being taken care of."

He gently guided her away from the bus before the reporters could reach them.

A camera turned in their direction.

For a moment, Adrian and Mia appeared together in the footage.

The billionaire in his dark clothes.

The young woman beside him.

Neither of them noticed exactly when the camera captured them.

Adrian did.

He immediately changed direction.

He led Mia through the crowd before any reporter could stop him.

"Mr. Vale!"

"Mr. Vale, were you involved in the rescue?"

"How were the passengers saved?"

"Who stopped the attackers?"

The questions followed them.

Adrian didn't answer.

He kept moving.

He knew that the more attention he attracted, the greater the chance someone would start asking questions he could not safely answer.

Mia followed him, still shaken.

Eventually, the noise of the reporters faded behind them.

Adrian looked at his watch.

It was already past two in the morning.

He looked at Mia.

"You need somewhere quiet."

"I'm okay."

"I know."

His voice softened.

"But you don't have to pretend."

---

The café was small, bright, and almost empty.

A twenty-four-hour place that stayed open for taxi drivers, night-shift workers, and people who had nowhere else to go at that hour.

Mia sat across from Adrian with both hands wrapped around a cup of coffee.

Her fingers were still trembling slightly.

She hated that he could probably see it.

Adrian noticed anyway.

"You don't have to be embarrassed."

"I'm not embarrassed."

"You were shaking."

"So were you."

Adrian paused.

"I wasn't."

Mia raised an eyebrow.

"You were."

He looked away.

For the first time since the bus, Mia almost smiled.

It felt strange.

She had been terrified only minutes earlier, yet sitting across from Adrian in a quiet café made the fear slowly begin to fade.

The memory of his expression when the gun was pointed at her remained in her mind.

He had looked genuinely afraid.

Not for himself.

For her.

That thought made something warm move through her chest.

And that was exactly what frightened her.

She had spent so much time trying to convince herself that her feelings for Adrian were harmless.

She teased him.

He blushed.

She laughed.

He denied everything.

That had been their game.

But the bus had changed something.

His concern was no longer hidden behind awkward excuses.

It had been visible.

Serious.

Almost impossible to mistake.

Mia looked down at the table.

She was excited by that realization.

And scared of it too.

She wasn't sure what to do with feelings that were becoming harder to ignore.

Adrian reached across the table and took her hand.

Mia looked down.

His fingers closed gently around hers.

He spoke before she could say anything.

"You don't have to tease me anymore."

She looked at him.

"What?"

"You heard me."

His expression remained serious.

"I'm only taking care of my employee."

Mia almost laughed.

"That's your excuse?"

"It's the truth."

It wasn't.

They both knew it.

Adrian looked down at their hands.

"I know you're still shocked. I know you're frightened."

His voice became quieter.

"When I saw that man point the gun at you, I..."

He stopped.

Mia waited.

He didn't finish.

But she understood anyway.

He had been afraid for her life.

That realization softened something inside her.

She smiled.

"Mr. Vale, you know I'm not a weak kind of woman. I can take care of myself."

Adrian looked at her.

The smile on his face disappeared slightly.

Mia noticed.

For a moment, she wondered if she had said something wrong.

Adrian looked away.

She had returned to her old attitude.

That was good, he told himself.

That was what he wanted.

Wasn't it?

If Mia went back to teasing him, he could pretend everything was normal again.

He could continue telling himself that his feelings were temporary.

That they were caused by the curse.

That they would eventually disappear.

But after tonight, that reasoning was becoming harder to believe.

A waiter arrived with Adrian's second coffee and placed it carefully in front of him.

"Here you go, sir."

"Thank you."

The waiter walked away.

Mia glanced down at the table.

Then at her hand.

Then at Adrian's hand.

She blinked.

He was still holding hers.

Her eyebrows lifted.

"Mr. Vale."

Adrian looked at her.

"Yes?"

"You seem to have forgotten something."

He looked down.

His expression changed immediately.

He released her hand.

"I..."

Mia smiled.

"You keep forgetting that unexplained affection of yours."

Adrian said nothing.

"And holding your employee's hand like that is probably crossing the physical boundary a little."

His face became noticeably uncomfortable.

The memory returned instantly.

Mia sleeping on the office sofa.

His hand near her shoulder.

The boundary he had crossed while she slept.

He cleared his throat.

"You're right."

Mia smiled.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

Then she laughed softly.

"Don't worry. I won't report you to HR."

Adrian stared at her.

"You find this funny?"

"A little."

She leaned back.

"Besides, I think you're probably scared too."

"I'm not."

"Mr. Vale."

She pointed at him.

"There were a lot of gunshots."

He looked away.

Mia's smile widened.

"You're allowed to be scared."

"I'm not scared."

"Sure."

She laughed again.

The old Mia had returned.

Adrian noticed.

And despite everything, a small part of him felt relieved.

---

They waited outside the café for Adrian's car.

The rain had returned, falling lightly beneath the streetlights.

Mia folded her arms.

"You really don't need to take me home."

"I do."

"I'm capable of getting home myself."

"I know."

"Then why?"

"Because you're my employee."

Mia looked at him.

He looked straight ahead.

She smiled.

"That's a terrible excuse."

"I know."

She laughed.

Adrian rolled his eyes.

"You have a very irritating habit of arguing with everything I say."

"You have a very irritating habit of pretending you don't care."

He looked at her.

Neither spoke for a moment.

Then Adrian's car arrived.

He opened the passenger door for her.

Mia shook her head, smiling.

"Such a gentleman."

"Get in."

"Yes, sir."

He gave her a look.

She laughed as she climbed inside.

---

By the time they reached Mia's apartment, the rain had become heavier.

Adrian stepped out first and opened the passenger door.

Mia looked at the rain.

"Oh, great."

Adrian opened his umbrella.

"Come on."

He held it over her as they walked toward the entrance.

Mia glanced at him.

"You really don't have to do this."

"You forgot your umbrella."

"I know."

"And your shoes."

"I know that too."

"You forget things too often."

She smiled.

"Maybe I have a lot on my mind."

Adrian looked at her.

"That's exactly why you need someone to take care of you."

Mia laughed.

"I can take care of myself."

"You were nearly taken hostage tonight."

"That's not exactly something I planned."

He sighed.

"And now you're standing in the rain."

"I'm under your umbrella."

"Exactly."

She looked at him.

He was completely serious.

"You need someone to take care of you," he repeated. "You forget your umbrella. You forget your shoes. Now you're standing outside in the rain after a hostage situation, and I don't want you getting sick."

He paused.

"I don't want you taking sick leave for a month."

Mia stared at him.

Then something inside her suddenly became too full.

She stepped forward and hugged him.

Adrian froze.

He had not expected it.

Mia didn't seem to know what else to do.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Adrian looked down at her.

His arms remained at his sides.

He wanted to hold her.

He wanted to tell her everything.

But he knew exactly what would happen if he did.

She would laugh.

She would tease him.

And he still had no idea how to explain what he felt.

So he simply stood there beneath the umbrella while Mia held him.

Neither of them noticed someone watching from nearby.

One of Mia's relatives had seen the entire thing.

Her uncle stood near the apartment entrance, staring at the tall man holding the umbrella over Mia.

Something about him felt familiar.

But there was nothing obvious.

No strange eyes.

No unusual smell.

Nothing that told him what Adrian really was.

After a moment, he looked away.

---

Later, Mia was preparing to leave for Olivia's house to continue helping with the preparations for the pre-wedding dinner that night.

Her uncle stood nearby with a faintly amused expression.

"I saw you hugging that handsome tall man."

Mia immediately looked embarrassed.

"You did not."

"I did."

She sighed.

"He's just my boss."

"Your boss?"

"Adrian Vale."

Her uncle's expression changed.

Only slightly.

But Mia noticed.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He looked toward the door.

"Adrian Vale."

The name bothered him.

He couldn't explain why.

It had been nearly half a century since he had left the werewolf hunters.

Half a century since he had stopped studying the old records, abandoned the weapons, and decided that hunting monsters was no longer the life he wanted.

Maybe that was why the memory was so difficult to reach.

He frowned.

Adrian.

The name kept circling through his mind.

Then something clicked.

An old book.

A fraternity record.

A name written beside stories of an unusually powerful werewolf leader.

Adrianus.

He remembered the old hunters calling him something else.

*The powerful one.*

Her uncle stared toward the street.

His expression slowly hardened.

"Adrianus..."

He said the name so quietly that Mia couldn't hear him.

Then he frowned.

Why did Adrian Vale sound so familiar?

And why did an old werewolf-hunting record suddenly come back to him after nearly fifty years?