Louisa's POV
"I'm sorry... Where's Jack?" The young man who stood at the entrance was in his early twenties. He had a fair complexion, with cropped crew-cut brown hair and a pair of charcoal black eyes. He was holding a toolbox in his hands and looking around. When he saw the two giant salamanders, he jumped up while shouting, "Zowie guacamole! What is that?!" Then, he threw his toolbox and ran out of the yard. ... Darren and I looked at each other and felt very confused. "Who's that guy? Who's Jack?" I asked. Darren picked up the toolbox, opened and checked. "I guess we can ask him when he comes back," he said. "Are you sure he's coming back?" I asked. Darren nodded and said, "Yes. These tools are very expensive." Then, we heard a trembling voice from outside - "Sir, could you please throw the toolbox out for me? I'll be on my way as soon as I get my toolbox." I walkedLouisa's POV The whole yard became very quiet almost instantly. "Darren, please pull Colt out of the water before he drowns to death. Ms. Salamander, I know it sounds weird but you look pretty inside out. You're welcome to our place but you ought to promise me that there will never be fights again in our yard. And I need you to release your brother because I kind of need him to help me repair the watermill. And you, mister..." I paused because I shifted my sight to Colt, who had just regained consciousness after being half pulled out of the water by Darren. He looked very confused and... gratuitously hot. His shirt was damp and wrapped very tightly over his perfect pectorals. OK. He looked like a drowned rat. Indeed. But he looked like a damn good-looking rat in his damn revealing shirt. I took a deep breath and continued, "Well, you, mister. You need more buttons on your shirt and..." Darren pulled all of him out of t
Louisa's POV "OK, I like boys and there's nothing to be ashamed about," Colt said and flung his arms open. "Oh, no!!!" I heard Ms. Salamander wail. Mr. Salamander said, "Come on, sis. You're a salamander. If he wasn't gay, he would still be way out of your league." "I will never ever fall in love with anyone again in my life!" Ms. Salamander said. "What happened? Why are the salamanders hissing like that?" Colt asked. "Nothing. They're just goofing around." I said and passed him the bowl of porridge and said, "Were you close to Jack?" He sipped the porridge and nodded. I saw tears in his eyes. "He was very kind to me. All the other people in the village hate me, but Jack would stick up for me all the time. He wasn't gay, but he encouraged me to be who I am. We enjoyed each other's company. We practically built this small cottage together. Now that he's dead, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Maybe I should l
Louisa's POV "You're a werewolf, aren't you?" I asked Colt as we were walking in the forest. "Yeah, but I didn't tell anyone in the village about it. Mountainside is a very conservative place. The villagers have already been put through a really hard time to finally accept the fact that a queer is living in their neighborhood. I don't want to push their limit by telling them I'm that type of queer who can shift into a giant beast and growl at night." "Did you use to live in a tribe?" I asked. "Yeah. It was a long time ago. I was kicked out of my tribe for obvious reasons." Colt lowered his head and said, "My tribe didn't need me, no matter how skillful I am and how hard I worked. I begged them for me to stay, but they just wouldn't listen. There're other ways for a wolf to make a contribution to the tribe other than reproduction. Human beings understand this, but somehow wolves don't." "I'm so sorry to hear that," I said. Darren was walking in front of us, but I knew he
Louisa's POV Colt smiled and said, "Don't worry, Mrs. Flynn. I guess there are some strings inside the bird that needs to be fine-tuned. I'll take a look at it for you in the future." Mrs. Flynn gently nodded her head and said, "OK. Do you want to stay here for lunch? I can cook some meat pies for you." Colt walked the old lady into her yard and said, "You're very kind, Mrs. Flynn. I've just had a big breakfast. I have to go to the village and run some errands." "OK. But please come back for some meat pies later," Mrs. Flynn insisted. "I will. I will," Colt waved at her and walked out of the yard. "What was that? You've made that intimidating iron bird for the old lady?" I asked. "I sure did," Colt smiled proudly and rubbed his nose. "But isn't that a bit dangerous...?" I frowned. Colt curled up his lips and said, "Well, talking about real danger, you should see the way her nephews asked for the lease of her house." I tightened my lips. "Do they want this old l
Louisa's POV Having spent an hour in Colt's studio, I became overwhelmed by the large volume of his innovative ideas and his great craftsmanship. Colt's really a man of extraordinary talents. He was able to bring basically everything in his mind to life through the dexterity of his hands. At the same time, I had to admit that I didn't see any of them could be put to use in real life, though. I wasn't sure if people would buy a pair of scissors that couldn't cut anything or a pair of roller skates that couldn't roll. I knew they could sing beautifully to you when you're alone and help you clean the floor faster than ever, but still... The only thing I was sure of was Darren looked much more comfortable when he was around Colt. I could even see sparks of amusement in his eyes when Colt was showing off his designs in front of him. That was definitely a good sign. Anyway, the enthusiasm in Colt's eyes made me wonder if I was being too s
Louisa's POV As we were walking out of the village, a giant girl walked towards us and blocked our way. "Colt, where are you going? You've promised to help me fix the chimney in our house today," she said. "Sorry, Ms. Dumbarton. My friend's sick and I'll have to take her to the doctor." Colt pointed to me and said. I hid my face behind Darren's neck. I had to pretend to be sick. The giant girl folded her arms and said, "The doctor? We've got a doctor here in our village." Colt explained patiently, "Ms. Dumbarton, we don't have a doctor in our village. All we've got is a vet. Vets aren't supposed to treat people." The giant girl thought for a while. I could literally see her brain running at full speed for a while before it jammed. "OK... So, when are you coming back? We can't cook with a blocked chimney," she said. Colt said with a sparkling smile, "Why don't you move the stove in the yard and cook in the open air?"
Louisa's POV After the rain stopped, we quickly got back to the cottage. Darren set up a fire to dry my clothes. Colt just couldn't wait to start working on the shed. Darren stopped him and said, "We just need a simple shed. Four walls. A roof. That's it. No watch tower. No observatory. No fancy underground maze or hanging garden. Are we clear?" Colt rolled his eyes and said, "You're so boring, Darren. You go on working on your ordinary shed, I'll help Lisa to fix the watermill." Then, he spread his tools on the ground and started to wipe them carefully, one after another. "Do you need my help?" I asked Darren. Darren wiped the water from my face and said, "Please go into the room and take a nap, Lisa. I'll brew you some tea, so you don't get cold." I stood in front of him and didn't want to go away. He looked at me and asked, "What's wrong?" "Can you... give me a twirl?" I was a bit embarrassed. D
Lucas' POV What the fuck?! I felt pierced in my chest as if something was ripping my heart out. The slut underneath my body moaned and screamed because I almost crushed her ribs. I flipped off her body and sat at the edge of my bed. What the fuck is this? Cardiac arrest or something? What the fuck is wrong with me?! "Lucian!" I shouted before falling to the ground. The door was pushed open and Lucian rushed in. Seeing me rolling on the floor, he kneeled beside me and asked, "What happened?" "Beta Lucian, I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't do anything! I was just serving Alpha and..." The prostitute cried out with fear in bed. "Shut up. Don't make another sound." Lucian said in a cold voice and supported my head with his hands. Another wave of shooting pain struck my chest. This time was ten times worse than before. Fuck! My body started to twitch. I had never experienced thi