The Werewolf Mega-Bundle 2 Part 7

"Whatever, babe. I've been over you for ages. One of the only reasons I didn't leave before is because it's been nice having someone to do everything for me and pay for everything for a while."

"The drugs... you used my money for that? I gave you money to spend on things like groceries and gas! Oh my G.o.d, Jack. Get out!" Gemma yelled, unable to believe that this was really happening. "Both of you!"

He laughed and leaned back on the sofa, ignoring her as he kissed Ana.

"Seriously, Jack, this is my house. Get your things and get the h.e.l.l out. Not that any of this is yours anyway. The only thing you own here is your clothes. Seriously, get out or I'll call the police! How would you and Ana like to spend some time in prison for possession of illegal substances, or whatever it is?"

That seemed to motivate him into at least standing up, and he looked down at her, smirking again.

"Okay, I'll go. But you're wrong about one thing. Half of everything in this house is mine. It's the law. We've been living together for six months now, and legally, that ent.i.tles me to half your stuff. Including half your savings, which I've already gotten my hands on. That's the other reason I stayed with you so long, you stupid fat b.i.t.c.h," he snarled.

"You cleared out my savings account?" she replied, hot tears filling her eyes and spilling down over her cheeks. "That's bulls.h.i.+t. You can't just take my money and half my stuff!"

"Actually, I can. Look it up. I even have a lawyer. Paid for by you, so thanks for that, babe," he said, his smirk turning into a twisted grimace.

Gemma sank to the ground and sobbed as Jack and his new girlfriend left. Apparently, he had already packed his bags, so he had clearly planned this. He wanted to be caught tonight. Why? she wondered. Did he just want to hurt me as much as possible? Or is it actually really all about trying to take my money and my things?

She couldn't believe how blind she'd been to all the signs. G.o.d, how did I let this happen? For months now, this has been going on and I didn't even see, she thought, cursing herself. Sure, things had been difficult, but she must be stupid to not have noticed what he was doing, and where all her money was going. That's it. I am officially the stupidest person alive.

When she had finally managed to stop crying for longer than two minutes, she got onto her computer and tried to search for information on the laws that pertained to where they lived; West Van Lykan county. She couldn't find anything, so she called her best friend, Liza Morris. Liza was a lawyer, so she would know what Jack had been talking about; if he hadn't just been making the whole thing up.

"Hey, Gem, what's up?" Liza said cheerfully on the other end of the line.

Gemma sniffed and then told her everything that had happened. By the time she had finished, tears were streaming down her face, and she realized that she must look like an absolute mess.

"Oh, s.h.i.+t, Gem. I can't believe Jack would do that! I mean, he has been sponging off you for a while now, but I thought that he'd been looking for a job," Liza said. "What an a.s.shole! If I see him, I'll kill him!"

"He said he was. Apparently he was just off doing drugs and G.o.d knows what else with Ana. I even hate her name!"

"I don't think it's the name you hate, it's just what those two are doing to you. Sorry to have to tell you this, sweetie, but what he's saying is true. In West Van Lykan, we have these laws. If you live with someone in a de facto relations.h.i.+p for a period of 180 days or longer, then technically, you are ent.i.tled to half their things."

"What? I thought he was just making that up!"

"No, sorry. It's a real law. I think it was originally brought in to protect stay-at-home mothers who weren't married to the father of their child, in case he tried to leave them with nothing. I can't believe that he's using this against you, though. What a sc.u.mbag."

"He said that it's my fault. That I'm fat," Gemma said, before bursting into a fresh set of tears.

"Oh, Gem... it isn't your fault. a.s.sholes like him always say things like that because they don't want to face the truth; the fact that it's all their fault. Not yours. And you, fat? Come on. I wish I had your curves," Liza said, trying to console her.

Gemma continued to sob, and Liza waited for her to calm down a bit before speaking again.

"Look, I'm still out of town at this conference, but I'll be back later tonight. Why don't I call my secretary and get her to push back all my meetings tomorrow? Come to my office at eight A.M., and we'll see if we can fight this thing."

"Okay. That would be great. Thanks, Liza. You're a good friend," Gemma replied as she wiped her face.

"So are you. You're a good person. I won't let Jack get away with doing this to you. I'll make him pay back every cent he stole from you, and then some!"

After she hung up the phone, Gemma took a long, hot shower and then crawled into bed, feeling utterly miserable. I can't believe this happened. On our anniversary. Not that there's really an 'our' or 'we' anymore. It's just me, all alone again, she thought bitterly, remembering what it had been like to be single for so long before meeting Jack. He had been so nice and gentlemanly when they had first met. What the h.e.l.l happened? Is it me?

As she cried into her pillow, she prayed that Liza would be able to help her with her legal troubles in the morning. Finally, sleep came, and took away the pain for a few blissful hours.

Feeling miserable all over again when she woke up, Gemma got dressed, not even bothering to wear anything particularly nice or do her hair and makeup. I'm only seeing Liza today. Who cares? She had called in sick to work, and as she pulled into the parking lot of Liza's law firm, she took in a deep breath. Please, she prayed, this has to go well. I've worked too hard to lose half of everything I own to that sc.u.mbag user.

The pet.i.te blonde receptionist greeted her warmly as she entered the main administration area of the firm.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Gemma Wondolowski. I have an appointment to see Ms. Morris."

The receptionist's face fell.

"Oh, Ms. Wondolowski. I tried to call you, but you must have already left the house before I left the message. Ms. Morris has food poisoning from a bad buffet at the conference, but she wanted to know if it would be alright to set you up with one of her colleagues. Mr. Van Lykan is free. Would that be alright? If not, we can reschedule."

Gemma chewed on her lip as she thought about it. She had only really wanted to talk to Liza about her problem, but time seemed to be of the essence.

"Okay, I'll see him. Van Lykan, you say? Is he descended from Ron Van Lykan?" she asked.

Ron Van Lykan was the founder of the county that they lived in, and the one next to it as well; both had been named after him.

"Yes," the receptionist replied, smiling. "He's something like, a great-great-great-grandson, I think. I'll just let him know you're on your way in."

Gemma thanked her and then followed her directions to Mr. Van Lykan's office. The door was slightly ajar, and she drew in a deep breath as she saw the man sitting at the large mahogany desk that stood on one side.

He was absolutely gorgeous. He had perfect, even features that appeared to have been carved by Michelangelo himself, dark hair that seemed to have the stylish 'just-got-out-of-bed' look down pat, and well-defined muscles almost straining against the fabric of his expensively-cut white s.h.i.+rt. As he smoothed down his tie he suddenly looked up, his nose twitching and his lips quirking up as if he had just smelled something divine. Noticing her at the door a second later, he grinned and beckoned her in.

"Hi, I'm Paul Van Lykan. Sorry, I didn't see you standing there. Next time just come on in. Sit, sit," he said, waving his hands at her.

As he continued to speak in his deep, confident voice, Gemma felt like melting into the floor. The one day I don't bother doing my hair and wearing makeup, and I meet the s.e.xiest man alive. Murphy's law, right?

"Liza called me this morning and explained what was going on, and I've been in contact with your ex's lawyer. He's just faxing over the relevant doc.u.ments. Real snake, huh?"

"Hmm?" she said, realizing that she had been daydreaming.

A crimson tinge started to creep across her face as he repeated himself. She realized how inappropriate it was to be fantasizing about another man so soon after a breakup, but hey... Jack was a complete snake, as Paul had just said. Besides, a little fantasizing is okay. Anything that takes my mind off Jack at the moment is probably a good thing, she thought, picturing the gorgeous lawyer naked and writhing underneath her.

A moment later, a younger man knocked and then strode into the office.

"Here's those doc.u.ments, Paul," he said.

"Thanks, Chris. Chris, this is my new client, Ms. Wondolowski," Paul said, gesturing to Gemma. "Ms. Wondolowski, this is my wonderful a.s.sistant."

Gemma smiled and shook his hand.

"Call me Gemma, please. Both of you."

He smiled and left, and Paul scanned the sheaf of papers that his a.s.sistant had just handed to him. Frowning for a moment, he looked up at her.

"Well, Gemma, the laws are pretty airtight. We might have to get a little creative. Don't worry, though. There's a reason I charge so much by the hour. I'm good," he said, a devious smile creeping across his face.

Seeing the look of horror on her face at the mention of expenses, his smile grew wider.

"Don't worry. This one's a freebie. Any friend of Liza is a friend of mine. But don't tell my other friends that," he said, winking.

Gemma found herself smiling for the first time since the night before as she thanked him. G.o.d, he's s.e.xy, funny AND nice. Perfect man, she thought, surrept.i.tiously checking out his left hand to see if he was married. No wedding ring. Although... he'd never be interested in me. Especially in the state I'm in right now. I literally just crawled out of bed and look like I was dragged through a hedge before I got here.

"I can't believe he actually planned this," she said. "He literally waited until he'd been living with me for 180 days before revealing who he really was. Just so he could take my money and half my things."

"I know. When Liza told me, I couldn't believe that someone like him actually exists. To me, if you're going to be with someone, then it needs to be for the right reasons," he said. "Hold on a second. You just gave me something!"

"What?"

Another wide grin spread across Paul's face as he handed her a calendar that had been inserted in with all the other doc.u.ments. It had all the days that Jack had been living with her circled in red pen, from the day that he had moved in until yesterday.

"Are those the right dates?" Paul asked, motioning to the first and last dates.

"Well, it says he moved in on the fourteenth of January... it was the day after my birthday, so yes, that's right. And yesterday was the eleventh of July, so again, that's right. Why?"

"Humor me. Count the days."

She pored over the calendar for a moment, and then looked up.

"It's 180 days. I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Look again," he said. "I can't believe your ex is so stupid that he thinks we'll fall for this. There's no way his lawyer hasn't noticed this, but he's probably hoping that we don't so he'll win his case."

Gemma gazed at the calendar in confusion, and then comprehension finally dawned on her.

"Oh! This is last year's calendar!"

"Yep. And last year was a leap year. He's counted February the twenty-ninth as a day, but it didn't happen this year. Really, he was only living with you for 179 days. The drugs were probably affecting him so much that he didn't even notice which year it is," Paul said, chuckling. "I thought this would be a hard case, but it's the easiest I've ever had. Open and shut. He gets nothing. The end."

"Oh my G.o.d! Just like that, I win?" Gemma asked, elated. "I get to keep my stuff? And I'll get my money back?"

"Yes. You win. Well, we win," he said, giving her a wolfish grin. "Anyway, you look like you need some more sleep. Why don't you head home, and I'll sort the rest of this out. I'll give his lawyer a call right away and tell him what a joke I think he is."

"Okay," Gemma said breathlessly, unable to believe how easily this gorgeous man had made her problems go away.

She stood up, and he escorted her to his office door. Just as she reached the door, every hair on the back of her neck stood up, and she instinctively turned and looked over her shoulder. Paul was leaning in close to her, his eyes closed and his nose twitching again as if he were trying to inhale her entire body.

"Um. Paul?"

His eyes flew open.

"Oh, sorry. Your perfume is just so amazing. Sorry if I freaked you out," he said, looking less-than confident for the first time.

"It's okay," she said, smiling.

After thanking him again and then bidding him goodbye, she headed back to her car, and as she pulled out of the parking lot, something occurred to her. Hang on. I didn't bother wearing perfume or anything this morning. What the h.e.l.l was he talking about?

Mulling it over, she came to the conclusion that Paul was probably just a bit of a weirdo. He's smart and good-looking, so there has to something wrong with him, she thought with a wry smile. Oh well, the distraction from Jack was nice.

Several hours later, Gemma was curled up on the sofa in front of the TV, watching a re-run of an episode of her favorite show. She had just finished a very late dinner, and was now sipping at a gla.s.s of wine as she watched, her eyelids drooping with tiredness.

Suddenly, a noise startled her to full alertness. What the h.e.l.l was that? It sounded like someone was cras.h.i.+ng around outside, knocking over garbage bins. Her heart pounded, but then she remembered that it was Friday. a.s.suming that it was probably some drunken neighbor stumbling home and accidentally knocking a few things over on their way, she shrugged and returned her attention to the television.

Seconds later, she heard the sound again. This time, it was even louder, and she thought that she heard someone faintly calling her name. Puzzled and slightly scared, she grabbed a nearby cardigan and wrapped it around the plain purple cotton nightie that she had changed into earlier.

As soon as she stepped outside, her heart sank. It was Jack. He was obviously drunk and high as he stumbled around her front lawn, and he had not only knocked both of her bins over, but also her mailbox.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing, Jack?" she hissed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. The moon was hiding behind clouds, making it impossible to see more than a few feet ahead.

"You b.i.t.c.h! You think you can get away with this?" he slurred. "I stayed with you and put up with your fat a.s.s for so long. I deserve something for that!"

"Are you out of your f.u.c.king mind?" she asked, incensed.

Stomping towards him, she gave him a piece of her mind. He had made her feel lower than dirt yesterday, but her encounter with the s.e.xy lawyer today had filled her with a new sense of confidence.

"For the last several months, I've worked sixty hours a week to support us both while you sat on your a.s.s and smoked G.o.d-knows-what drugs, as I found out last night. You used me! You're a cheating, lying sc.u.mbag, and if you don't get the h.e.l.l off my property, I will call the police! You aren't ent.i.tled to anything!" she shouted.

He glared at her and dropped the can of beer he had been holding, and Gemma continued her tirade.

"I'm glad that you did this, because now I know what a lowlife you really are. I can't believe I didn't notice where all the money was going. I did wonder why there was hardly ever any food in the house, even though I gave you all that money to buy groceries while I was at work."

"That's probably a good thing. You could do with less food," he sneered.

"f.u.c.k you, Jack. Seriously, get the h.e.l.l off my lawn!" she screamed furiously.

He advanced towards her with a menacing glare on his face, and she shrank back from him in fear, afraid of what he might do. She had seen people in drug-induced rages do all kinds of crazy things on TV, and she suddenly realized that provoking him probably hadn't been such a good idea.

"You stupid b.i.t.c.h," he said, grabbing her by the throat. "You were lucky to have me. Why don't I give you a taste of what you'll be missing?"

With that, he pushed her down onto the lawn, and she screamed for help. None of the neighbor's lights were on, so she a.s.sumed that they were either all out for the night or already fast asleep. Either way, there was no help in sight.

Jack tore off her cardigan, and she screamed and kicked, trying to fight him off as she finally understood what he was doing. His breath reeked of bourbon and cigarettes, and when she realized that she couldn't stop him, Gemma closed her eyes and whimpered, terrified and furious at the same time. It wasn't fair that he was so much stronger than her. She had had every right to tell him what she thought of him, and now she was being punished for it.

He grabbed both of her hands and dragged them up behind her head, pinning them there as his rough hands ran all over her thin nightie. Suddenly, a low growl came from somewhere nearby, and Jack's hands released her wrists. Gemma opened her eyes and saw an enormous wolf lunging towards them, and seconds later, Jack was being dragged away in its ma.s.sive jaws.

The wolf snarled ferociously as it tore and bit at Jack with its sharp claws and teeth, and Gemma watched with her mouth open as she saw the blood begin to flow from a deep gash on his chest.

"Help me!" he shouted, but she was frozen in place, terrified that the wolf was going to come after her next.

She hadn't even been aware that wolves lived in this part of the country, and as it drew its head back and bared its teeth in fury, she caught a glimpse of its eyes. They were glowing a bright amber color, and she gasped, having never seen anything quite like it. If she hadn't been so afraid, she would have admired the beast's rugged beauty and bright eyes.

Jack whimpered and moaned, and finally, the wolf sat back on its haunches, seemingly admiring its handiwork. Gemma's legs were still frozen, and she watched in horror as it began to undergo some strange and awful transformation.