Undercover Werewolf

Kidnapped

"So, how are things working out with The Sygrid Chronicles?" Rosa asked, resting her hands on the desk in front of her.

Palmer grimaced, rubbing his right shoulder. "Adalyn threw a dagger at me, Rosy. Hit me with it when she wasn't supposed to."

"She did." Bailey confirmed.

"That doesn't surprise me." Rosa replied with a sigh. "She's known for being rough with her co-actors."

"How does she get away with it? If I went around beating up the actors I worked with, I wouldn't have a job."

"You've seen her public appearances, you tell me."

"...Her acting skills."

"Yes. She's very good at playing the sweet, friendly actress when she wants to. Plus, she pays for the healers on set."

"Still doesn't give her a right to just beat on me when she isn't supposed to."

"You're right. But you knew that if you only took gay roles that you'd be considered less important to filmmakers. Especially when you work with women." Rosa reminded him. "It's not fair and it's not right but that's how it is in the film business."

"I really wish you'd stop shoving that in my face."

"And I really wish I didn't have to."

"Um, why are we here, Rosa?" Bailey asked before Palmer could reply. "Not that it isn't nice to see you again, I mean."

Rosa shot him a quick smile before pulling out a folder. "Well... Lewys has made another move." She opened the folder, laying two pictures on the desk.

The first picture showed the small house that Palmer had lived in before, the front door forced open, wood splintered on the edges. The second picture showed the door - now closed - marked with a bright red X sprayed across the wood.

"He thought I still lived there." Palmer groaned.

"Yes, he did. A woman with two young children live there now. Luckily they weren't home when this happened."

"Do you think he would have hurt them?" Bailey asked, studying the pictures. He could see a shoe print on the door but only the one. Did he get the door open with one kick? Or maybe it hadn't worked and he'd used a tool to open it.

"Honestly, I don't know." Rosa told them. "You've got all the information on him that I have."

"I would hope that he wouldn't." Palmer leaned back in his chair, looking weary. "I can't do this anymore, Rosy... I can't live my life wondering if he's going to find me or wondering if he'll hurt people to find me."

"We'll catch him, Palmer." Rosa promised.

"But you haven't."

"We didn't know that he was a supernatural before. We know that now."

"You also have me now." Bailey reminded him. "Your very own supernatural, werewolf-"

"Boyfriend?" Palmer cut him off, one corner of his lips turning up.

"Bodyguard." He finished, a smile forming on his own lips.

"You're no fun."

"And you're no fun when you're feeling sorry for yourself."

"Go home." Rosa told them both. "I just wanted to let you know about what was going on."

"What about Sygrid? Can I still go in to film?"

"Yes, Palmer."

"Cool. I'll see you later then."

"Yes, you will."

"Why work with her if you don't like her?"

"You heard Rosy. Filmmakers don't take me seriously because I'm gay and - so far - have only taken gay roles. It's pretty big that I got the role of Karnas."

"How so?"

"Because he doesn't have any love interests in Sygrid, no romance options. He's not a character that anyone would fall in love with." Palmer replied. "Don't get me wrong, I love doing romance movies and shows but I don't want to be known as the 'twink actor' throughout my career."

"I think Adalyn is the only one who calls you that." Bailey replied drily.

"Doesn't matter. Remember what I said about being typecast? I can't confirm it but I bet if I leave this role, I'll be the pretty boy love interest for the rest of my career and I don't want that."

"Yeah, well, seems you're the pretty boy love interest in real life as well."

Palmer stopped at the top of the steps, turning to face Bailey. "Is that really what you think? That I'm a pretty boy?" He made a face as he talked. "That's not at all what I wanted."

Yeah?" Bailey raised one eyebrow. "And what is it that you want?"

"You know what I want."

"Well, I'm guessing it's not a genie in a lamp."

"Only if that genie is you."

"And we're back to the flirting."

"I can't help it with you. You just make me want to flirt."

Bailey hummed, tilting his head a little. "Oh? And why's that? Wanting to impress me?"

"No, I don't." Palmer replied before shaking his head. "Actually I do but not by flirting. We've already established that I flirt too much."

"Yeah? And how do you plan on impressing me?"

"By showing you that I'm not just a pretty boy." Palmer stepped closer to him, his brown eyes darkening.

Bailey swallowed at the intense look. He'd seen Palmer look like that before but that look was never directed at him. Unwittingly, he took a step back, his back hitting the side of the porch. "What are you planning to do?"

"Just this." The next step brought Palmer pressing against him, his hands settling on Bailey's waist as he leaned in to kiss him. The first kiss was a soft brush of their lips, just a light touch. Then they both surged forward, their lips pressing together.

Bailey's hands clenched in Palmer's shirt, pulling him closer as he kissed him back, nipping at his lower lip, delighting at the growl he heard from him.

Palmer returned the favor, tugging on his lower lip before letting go to break the kiss, resting his forehead against Bailey's as they both caught their breath. "Geez, Bailey-" He didn't get to finish, hearing a loud crack and watching as a splash of blood appeared on Bailey's shirt.

Bailey's eyes widened, looking down at the blood on his shirt before looking back at Palmer as his knees buckled beneath him. "S-Silver..."

"What? Bailey, what are you saying?" Palmer caught him around the waist, helping him to sit down.

"It's... It's a silver bullet..." Bailey replied, coughing. A trace of blood appeared on his lips as he spoke, his hands clenching in Palmer's shirt. "Y-You need to run.."

His warning came too late as a shadowy figure walked up the porch steps, a gun held in one hand. The figure raised the gun, there was a popping sound and Bailey jerked as another bullet hit him in the side. He tried to push himself up, the muscles in his arms giving in before he could move more than an inch.

The last thing he saw was Palmer reaching out for him as the figure grabbed him, dragging him off the porch.

Palmer thrust his elbow back into the man's solar plexus as he was dragged away from his house, his gaze locked on Bailey's slumped figure. The man grunted, his hand tightening on his arms.

"Try that again and you'll regret it." The man growled into his ear.

"Yeah, what'll you do? You've already killed the guy I like, you can't do anything worse than that!" Palmer shouted, yanking on his arms in an attempt to free himself.

"He's not dead, you i***t. Silver weakens werewolves. Keep struggling, though, and I'll put one in his brain. He won't recover from that, I assure you."

"What?"

"He's not dead. His body is shutting down to conserve energy. Now, let's go." The man dragged Palmer around the side of the house, towards the forest.

Palmer struggled with him, digging the heels of his shoes in the dirt. "You expect me to just go with you?? You must be insane!"

The man freed one hand to slap him across the face.

He reeled back, his cheek throbbing from the slap. "Wha-?"

"Romero only said to bring you back alive." The man grumbled. "There's a lot of things I can do to you, pretty boy, and you won't die from it." His hands tightened on Palmer's wrists, compressing the bones painfully until he cried out.

"F-Fine, stop!"

"Thought you'd see it my way. Now let's go."

"Bailey! Bailey, wake up!"

Bailey groaned at the shouting, trying to turn away from the noise. A sharp pain in his side kept him from turning too much though, startling a cry from him as his eyes opened. He was greeted by the sight of a wide-eyed Rosa, her hair messy and hanging around her face. "Rosa?"

"Oh, thank god." She let out a strangled laugh. "Can you stand?"

He shook his head in answer. "Silver..."

"Oh, crap... Um, give me a moment." Her dark brows furrowed, one hand hovering over the already healing bullet wound on his side. "This is going to hurt." She chanted a few words, a dark blue sphere of light forming in her palm.

'Hurt' was an understatement, he thought as his body arched, feeling the bullet traveling through the wound until it popped out of his body and into her hand.

She placed it in her pocket, her hand moving to the hole in his chest. "Still with me?"

Bailey nodded, gritting his teeth. He knew this one would be even worse, considering it had punctured his lung. "G-Get it over with..."

Rosa nodded, the blue light forming in her hand again. She held it over his chest, his body arching involuntarily. He felt like he was going to vomit as the bullet pulled out of his lung, travelling through his chest. He screamed as the bullet left his body a few inches away from where it had originally entered. His body collapsed back against the porch, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Rosa looked like she was going to cry as she put the second bullet in her pocket. "I don't know any healing spells. I've never had a talent for healing. Please don't die on me..."

Bailey wiped his mouth, shaking his head. "Were-werewolves are quick healers... I'm not going to die."

"You're still bleeding.." Her gaze flicked from his chest to his side, the patches of blood on his shirt growing.

"You pulled bullets out of my body... It'll look bad for a while but you did good..." Bailey coughed again, more blood splattering against his chest before wiping his mouth. "Punctured lung..." He explained, seeing Rosa's worried look. "It's healing. Don't look so scared..."

"Did you see who took Palmer?"

"It wasn't Lewys. All I can tell you..."

"What did he look like? Anything you can tell me?"

Bailey closed his eyes, thinking about what had happened. They'd just broken apart when he'd felt a sharp pain shoot through the left side of his chest. He hadn't noticed anything, not even a smell. Even as distracted as he'd been, he should've heard something, should've smelled something. "I couldn't smell him." He replied, opening his eyes again.

"What?"

"I couldn't smell him. Or hear him. He was very quiet. That on it's own doesn't mean anything; humans and supernaturals can be quiet when they have to be. But put it with the fact that I couldn't smell him..."

"Ghost." Rosa groaned. "Of course he'd have to be one of the rarest supernaturals out there. We know almost nothing about ghosts."

"You break his amulet, he won't be able to interact with anything solid, including us."

"How do you know that?"

"My grandmother. She was friends with a ghost and they told her about how their amulet is made. It can only be made once."

"Why?"

"It's connected to them. It's really powerful magic, can only be done once." Bailey explained, sitting up a little further as he healed. "I'm gonna shift."

"You won't smell the ghost."

"No, but I'll smell Palmer. I can follow his scent."

Rosa nodded, turning around as he removed his shirt. "Won't that interfere with your healing?"

Bailey paused briefly before he continued removing his clothes. "It could. But I'll be alright. It'll continue when I shift back to human." He closed his eyes, focusing on his wolf as black fur sprouted over his body, his bones shifting under his skin until he was a full grown wolf.

"You good?" Rosa peeked over her shoulder, turning around when she saw him. "Alright. Let's go get him."

Bailey looked at her quizzically, wondering what she was going to do. His unasked question was answered when she waved her hands over her body, her body shifting to a silver fox.

He huffed, stepping down the porch, nose to the wood as he tracked Palmer's scent. The sound of scrambling paws alerted him, making him dodge as Rosa tumbled down the porch, landing on the ground with a yelp as she shifted back to human. "Oh, ouch... I hate shapeshifting spells, I've never been good at them. I'll let you do the tracking." She pushed herself up. "Come on. I hope you have his smell."