Harriet and the Wolf

First of all, apologies to those who want the next installment of the Trading of Freya...I haven't finished with her yet...but I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the Easter holidays!

Anyway, I wrote this piece because it was meant to be a five minute, gratuitous sex kind of story, but as usual with my stories, it managed to develop a life of it's own!

I hope you like it!

---------------------------------

Harriet had known that he would be coming for her. But not now, not this soon.

She stared at her friends, human and otherwise, sitting on sofas and stools all around her; all talking, drinking and laughing. None of them had noticed the man who had just walked into her favourite pub, The Black Castle. Harriet smiled at Juliet, the bubbly looking witch sitting next to her.

"I'm just going to the toilet; I'll be back in a sec." Juliet smiled, said "Ok." and then resumed her conversation with their other flatmate, Simon.

Harriet made her way to the bar, as if heading towards the toilets. As she walked by the dark-haired man, he reached out to grab her arm. "Not here!" she hissed, ignoring his frown "Outside."

Thankfully the street was almost empty, something Harriet was immensely grateful for as she lit her cigarette with only slightly shaking hands. She tensed as she saw that the man had followed her out of the pub, and was now standing next to her, looking at her cigarette in disgust.

"Why are you here, Seth? You said I could complete university before I had to come to you."

Seth looked down at her, his dark brown eyes flashing amber for a second. "You have finished university, Harriet. Your last exam was weeks ago."

"No!" Harriet calmed herself quickly. She didn't want him to see how desperate she was feeling "The graduation ceremony is in six days. You cannot expect me to miss that. Can you? It'll be my last chance to say goodbye to all my friends." She pleadingly looked up into Seth's eyes "Please?"

Seth sighed and then leaned down and grabbed her cigarette. Harriet watched him grind it out on the floor beneath his heel "Hey, I was still smoking...oomph!" Seth suddenly slammed Harriet against the wall, pressing his body hard against hers, trapping her hands between them and making her very much aware of how much bigger and stronger he was than her.

He leaned in and whispered "Fine, you may have one more week." Harriet then found it very hard to breathe as he pressed his lips against hers, forcing her mouth to open and accept his tongue. One hand tangled in her hair, holding her head in place; as his other hand slipped up, finding her breast; squeezing and massaging. She whimpered as her nipple hardened, almost painfully.

He finally released her bruised lips and stared at her flushed face. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing heavily. "Harriet," He whispered in her ear. Her eyes opened and stared up into his "In seven days you will be mine and there will be no further delays or excuses." He shook her a little "Do you understand?" Harriet nodded, staring at the shirt button at his throat "And be warned, if you decide to...do anything silly and I have to track you down, I will be....most displeased."

Seth gave her an almost gentle kiss and then stepped back to allow Harriet to straighten her clothing. His face softened as he smiled "I could always come meet you at your graduation, since your parents won't be there?"

Harriet stared at him for a second, before bursting out laughing "Yeah right, can you imagine it? And I'd introduce you to my friends as...what?" she sneered at him "The werewolf my parents sold me to? My master and owner?" Harriet lit another cigarette, her hands shaking quite a lot more this time.

Anger showed on Seth's face as he stepped closer, his eyes again flashing amber. "You have known about this agreement for years. It's not like it's come as a shock, at least try to be a bit more gracious about it! I could have taken you when you were eighteen, but I thought that you'd be more willing to come to me if I gave you a few years of freedom, but the reverse has happened, hasn't it?"

"This 'agreement' was made without my knowledge or consent years before I would even have understood what it meant. Do not expect me to make this easy for you!" Harriet spat through gritted teeth "My parents sold me. You bought me. And I utterly loathe all of you. It's that simple!" Harriet threw her cigarette on the ground and walked towards the entrance of The Black Castle "Now if you'll excuse me, I think you'll find that I have another seven days before I have to start suffering your company." As Harriet flounced back into the noisy pub, she failed to notice the appreciative grin spreading over Seth's face.

Juliet groaned as she looked at her alarm clock. 7 o'clock? What the hell was that noise...? Stumbling, she made her way down the stairs, only to stare at Harriet hauling a huge suitcase out to her car. A bleary-eyed Simon then appeared by her side, clutching a large glass of warm blood. "Don't ask! I swear, she has officially gone nuts today!" The vampire took a sip as Juliet turned away, gagging.

"God Simon, how many times do I have to tell you? Put your blood in a sodding cup in the mornings! You know I can't stand looking at it so soon after I get up!"

Simon sighed "Sorry, but the early morning wake-up call caught me by surprise." He nodded his head toward the struggling figure of Harriet before heading back into the kitchen. "I'll get you a coffee. When she comes back in, make her sit still long enough so we can find out what's going through her obviously disturbed head this morning."

Juliet waited until Harriet came back into the house. "Alright, stop!" Harriet stared at her in surprise. "I, well, Simon really, will get you a cup of coffee and a cigarette if you'll just sit down for five minutes and explain what the hell you're doing!" Harriet said nothing, just nodded and headed into the living room. Juliet yelled for Simon to make one more coffee before sitting down opposite Harriet. A few minutes later they were all huddled over their cups of coffee, or blood, and cigarettes.

Simon examined Harriet through narrowed eyes "Harriet, you've been acting weird for the last three days and today you've just obviously taken leave of your senses! What's happened?"

"I can understand you wanting to run away from Simon," Simon bared his fangs at Juliet, pretending to be offended "but at 7 o'clock in the morning? On today of all days! We didn't even leave the grad party until 4 o'clock this morning!" Juliet thought back to the last time they were at the pub, when Harriet had started acting strange "Three nights ago. What happened at The Black Castle?"

Harriet closed her eyes and leaned her head back against a cushion. She had known that she would have to explain herself to her two best friends one day, and she guessed that she had better do it today, before she disappeared. And on reflection, she didn't need to be in such a hurry as Seth wasn't going to come looking for her for another three days.

Reluctantly, she explained about her parents, Marie and John Winter, getting heavily into debt when she was sixteen years old. Both her father and her mother had developed unhealthy gambling habits and had ended up owing a substantial amount of money to some rather unfriendly vampires. Her father's boss, Seth Beringer, had then found out about the debts through some contacts and had tried to help them out, making them swear that they would stop gambling. When the full sum of their debts was disclosed though, it was clear that they would never have the kind of money needed to pay back their debts. Marie and John had something to bargain with though. Eventually, they decided on, and signed, a legally-binding agreement, in which Seth would pay their total debts that one time, and in return, he would have 'ownership' of their daughter from that day onwards.

Harriet was at boarding school at the time and remembered being confused when her parents had suddenly informed her that they were going to work abroad and she was to stay with her guardian, Seth, during the holidays. They had never been the most concerned or loving of parents anyway, and after relinquishing their parental rights, had never bothered to contact or come and see her again. She was, obviously, very hurt by this, but then she had found out that within two years, they had managed to get themselves into massive debt yet again and had vanished from the face of the earth. No-one, not even Seth, had been able to find out whether they had vanished deliberately though, or if their disappearance had been 'assisted'.

Juliet stared at Harriet "So, this man Seth. He 'owns' you? Like, body and soul?" Harriet nodded, staring at the carpet.

"And when I left school, he told me that he'd decided that I was to be his mate."

"Wait a second," Simon butted in "he's a shape-shifter?"

Again Harriet nodded, still looking down. "Werewolf. He's the Alpha of the Southern Pack and an Elder on the Shape-shifter Council."

If this had been any other situation, Harriet would have laughed at the stunned look on Simon and Juliet's faces. Simon was the first to speak "But that means that you'll be the alpha female? And that means that you...you'll become...oh no." he looked horrified "He's going to turn you."

Tears began gathering in Harriet's eyes "And I don't want to become a werewolf!" she lit another cigarette, sucking the smoke into her mouth almost desperately. "I want to carry on travelling to other countries. I want to work abroad and go on lots of holidays." Tears were rolling down her cheeks now. She got up and began pacing the room, trying to stop herself from losing control "It's bad enough that I'm supposed to mate with someone I barely know, who's over four hundred years old and that I'll be tied to him forever, but he's also got to turn me into a bloody wolf to do it and then he's going to make me have puppies! I don't even want to have a baby, let alone a litter of puppies! And just to make my life REALLY unbearable, the Council have just forbidden shape-shifters to leave the country because of too many 'incidents' overseas." As the last words were wailed, Juliet and Simon both grabbed the hysterically crying girl and pushed her down on to the sofa, hugging her, one on each side. Being the best friends that they were, they knew to just hug her, without saying anything until she had calmed down.

Half an hour later, a much calmer Harriet was slurping a fresh cup of coffee and sucking on a new cigarette and a plate full of incredibly unhealthy but tasty Danish pastries had appeared on the coffee table.

"So," Juliet was determined to get the full story "bearing in mind the fact that Seth and your parents are arseholes, you still haven't explained what you were doing packing your car so early this morning."

Harriet told them about Seth's visit to The Black Castle.

"Except that I told him that graduation was six days later, not three. My plan was to escape as soon as possible after the grad party, which would give me three days before Seth finds out that I'm gone." Harriet looked at her soon-to-be-ex flatmates expectantly, hoping for their approbation. "I've got plenty of money to keep me going for quite a while. I've been saving it for the whole time I've been in uni, as Seth's always been more than generous."

She knew she could always count on Juliet's support "Sounds like a good plan. I just wish you could've told us about it sooner; we could all have disappeared together!"

"Speak for yourself!" said Simon "My parents would literally kill me if they found out that I'd gone against a Werewolf as powerful as Seth! You two are so lucky, having no parents or a family reputation to worry about"

"Well, as there's no-one to worry about me, I can still come with you, Harry!" Juliet's eyes were sparkling "Simon, you can cover for us when Seth comes looking and Harriet, we'll do the best vanishing act since your parents!" Harriet couldn't stop herself bursting into laughter when Juliet winked at her outrageously.

"Alright, done! If you're serious?!" Juliet nodded enthusiastically "Let's go get your stuff in the car then. And Simon can send on the rest when we're settled somewhere safe." Harriet smiled, suddenly feeling like her future was brightening up a little. At least she wouldn't have to face it alone now.

An hour later, the two girls waved at Simon as they drove away from the home they'd shared for two years. They had refused to tell him where they were going, so that he couldn't get into trouble with his parents or Seth, but they had promised to keep in touch by e-mail, so that he knew they were safe.

Six months later Harriet and Juliet walked out of Heathrow Airport, tanned and happy. They'd found an excellent place to hide from Seth; volunteering for a wildlife conservation charity in Botswana! Harriet had hastily sold her car in London for much less than the car was worth, but the buyer was prepared to pay her in cash. When they had the money, Juliet had cast a spell to hide their tracks, just in case anyone tried to trace their footsteps. She and Juliet had then gone to Heathrow and found the first flight to South Africa. It was while they were in Cape Town that they had discovered the volunteering opportunity in Botswana. There, they had done so well that the supervisors of the Botswana branch of the charity had asked them both to apply for some job openings in their Borneo branch. The only snag was that they had to be in London for the interviews.

It would be ok though, they figured. It had been six months and Seth was bound to have given up by then. Probably. Maybe. And the jobs sounded so good that they figured it would be worth the risk.

Sitting in the black cab, heading towards their hotel, the girls were quiet. Juliet eventually turned to Harriet and said quietly "Do you think there's any chance that he'll find out that you're here?"

Harriet gazed at the sights of London flying past the window "I don't know. I hope not." She smiled at her friend "its ok, I'll protect you if from him!" They both laughed, but sobered up quickly, as they both wondered what Seth would do to Harriet if he found her. And what would he to Juliet, her accomplice?

The next day saw them both jittery and nervous. They called the charity's headquarters and were told that they were both scheduled for interviews between 2 and 3 o'clock.

A few minutes before 2 o'clock saw them presenting themselves to a receptionist. They looked around the waiting room and were a bit taken aback to see that there was no-one else there. Juliet was a bit un-nerved when she felt the receptionist was giving them a strange look.

"I'm not sure I like this." Juliet muttered to Harriet, so the receptionist couldn't hear her.

Harriet frowned and looked around. There were no posters, no signs, no information on the company and she couldn't actually hear any sounds from the offices surrounding them. "Neither do I. You don't think Seth...he has a few companies under his thumb...uhh...and maybe a couple of charities...?"

Juliet paled as she considered the possibility. "Shit. You know what, screw this. Let's go."

As she stood up, a man hurried up to the receptionist, apologising profusely "I hope I'm not too late for the interview. I should have known the blasted trains would be late, as usual! Have I missed my slot?" He was panting as if he had just run all the way from the train station.

The receptionist laughed "No, no, you're not late at all. Please have a seat and get your breath back."

The two girls relaxed as the man sat down opposite them. Ok, so maybe the interviews were legitimate after all. Juliet sat down again as the receptionist came over to them.

"It seems that Mr Anderson is going to be a little longer than he thought with the current interviewee. Would you care for some refreshment while you're waiting? Some water? Coffee? Tea?"

"Ooh yes, I'd love a coffee!", "Mm, yes please, me too." Coffee was always welcome to the two caffeine addicts! The man sitting opposite smiled and also asked for a coffee.

Seconds after the receptionist had disappeared, the office door nearest to them opened and a smartly dressed lady walked out, thanking a kindly looking older man. The lady walked towards the lift and the man came over to the trio in the waiting area.

"Hello, I'm Mr Anderson. Sorry to keep you waiting. You must be Mr Guthrie?" He shook hands with the man opposite and gestured for him to go to his office. Before leaving the waiting area he turned to the two girls, eyes twinkling as he smiled at them "I'll try not to be too long, but while you're waiting do try Jessica's coffee. I don't know what she does to it but it's the best coffee I've had in London!"

After he had vanished into his office, Jessica the receptionist re-appeared with a tray of coffee. She gave the girls their coffee and then went into Mr Anderson's room with the two remaining cups.

"Mmm, he was right, this does taste good!" Harriet sighed. There really was nothing to beat a cup of good coffee, except maybe a coffee accompanied by a cigarette! Juliet nodded in agreement, finishing her coffee so quickly that Harriet doubted that she'd even tasted it!

"It could have been hotter." Grumbled Juliet, suddenly stifling a huge yawn. Harriet agreed as she finished her cup too. And then she yawned as well. She leaned back against the wall and tried to keep her suddenly heavy eyes open. She felt Juliet lean against her shoulder and knew she should make her sit up, but she just couldn't find the will to move. Much better to just close her eyes and rest them for a second....

Harriet opened her eyes and then shut them again. Maybe she would try again when the room stopped spinning... She realised that she was lying down, in a comfortable bed with incredibly soft sheets and blankets. Nice. Was she back in her and Juliet's hotel room? She couldn't remember getting there. Hang on, she couldn't remember the interview either. What had happened? And where was Juliet?

Harriet sat up, slowly, and opened her eyes. Looking around, she thought the style of the room looked vaguely familiar. And this room was very...masculine. Oh no. Her eyes widened in horror, and then widened some more as she realised that she was also totally naked under the sheets. Ohgodohgodohgod, please don't let this be Seth's room!

Harriet winced as she tried to get out of bed; her legs were semi-asleep and were refusing to obey her. She staggered a few steps from the bed before collapsing to the floor in an undignified heap.

"Shit!" Harriet winced again as she swore much more loudly than she'd intended. She didn't want anyone coming in while she was prone on the floor! She managed to stagger/crawl to a chest of drawers and was just rummaging for some clothing to cover herself with when she heard someone coming in. She stared at the opening door, wide eyed, suddenly terrified.

Seth walked in and stopped when he saw the empty bed. Glancing around quickly, he saw her sitting on the floor, her hands still in an open draw. Sighing, he merely walked over to her, pushed the draw shut and picked her up, ignoring her embarrassment at being caught naked.

Harriet was deposited gently on to the bed and covered with the sheet. She looked up at Seth through her eyelashes, confused.

"You're not angry with me?"

Seth smiled down at her "I'm absolutely fucking furious with you sweetheart!" he said cheerfully "and, trust me, I'm going to make you pay for running away like that. But at the moment you need some rest, the sleeping drug we gave you is still in your system. That's why your legs won't work."

"You drugged me! How could you?" She began to remember falling asleep in the waiting room "Wait, what about Juliet? Where is she? Is she ok?"