The Mating (The original Law of the Lycans story)

Chapter 21

Elise hummed to herself, thinking of how nice it had been to see Bryan again and to have things worked out between them. The confusing feelings she'd harboured for him over the past few weeks were finally straight in her mind, allowing her to focus on Kane without any guilt or ambiguity. Kane was her future and she was pretty sure she was beginning to love him. Mind you, she'd thought she'd loved Bryan, but this felt totally different. Hugging Bryan had been familiar and comfortable, while being with Kane gave her a sense of security and completeness along with an interesting, tingly excitement that just seemed right.

Stopping at a traffic light, she glanced down at the dashboard and grimaced. That warning light was on again. Rolling her eyes in exasperation, she altered her course and headed towards the nearest garage. Thankfully, it wasn't too late and the mechanic was still on duty. He took the car back into the service area to check it, while Elise sat waiting in the front office.

It wasn't the cleanest place she'd ever been; the smell of old oil and gasoline assaulted her nose. A coffee maker was in one corner on an old Formica counter, while the cash register beside it sported a sign offering a complimentary cup of coffee while you wait. Elise poured herself some and took a sip, grimacing at the taste. It was several hours old and as thick as tar. She left the coffee and perched uncomfortably on the edge of one of the old vinyl chairs. Its plastic surface was cracked and sadly in need of cleaning. A dog-eared magazine was lying on the chair beside her and she flipped through it. Unfortunately, it was several years old and focused mostly on sports cars and motorcycles that were draped with scantily clad, buxom beauties. Dropping the magazine in disgust, Elise stood and looked out the window.

There wasn't much to see. The sky had darkened to a dull grey that threatened rain or possibly even snow. Cars zoomed by on the highway that ran in front of the garage, a billboard advertizing insulation was to the right, and a parking lot with cars for sale occupied the space to the left. Idly, Elise studied the cars, her gaze skimming over the shades of brown, blue, and grey until coming to a stop on the lone flash of red. It was a sports car, bright red in colour and strangely familiar.

Drawn like a magnet, Elise pushed open the outer door, the bell above jingled merrily to signal her exit. Walking over to where the car was parked, she circled it, studying the vehicle from all angles. She'd be the first to admit that she knew nothing about cars, but she'd bet her last dollar this was the one that had sprayed gravel at her two weeks ago. It wasn't a common make, possibly an import.

Tugging at the door handle, she was surprised when it opened; usually people kept their cars locked. Leaning over, she examined the interior. It was clean, with no papers or garbage lying around. She wondered who the owner was and sniffed but didn't detect any recent scents. Thoughtfully, she closed the door and made her way back to the customer waiting area. Once inside, she glanced towards the door that led to the service bays. It was ajar and she could see the mechanic was still working on her car; the noise from the engine obviously had kept him from noticing her brief departure. Casually she strolled over to the counter and leaned against it. Ostensibly pouring herself more coffee, she peered at the labelled binders that were stacked on the other side of the counter.

Keeping one eye on the door, Elise picked up a binder entitled 'Auto Sales' and began to flip through the listings. About half-way through, she came to a snapshot of the red car. There was a write up about its age, engine size, and number of miles. The date on the page indicated that it had been brought in about a week and a half ago and the owner was listed as Ryne Taylor!