The Halloween Collection by Indie Eclective Page A

wouldn’t be too distraught when she saw him
with a new mate.
    Ralphie increased his strides while pulling
on Raven’s rock solid, yet petite hand. He shivered as the numbing
cold radiating off her skin permeated his flesh and chilled him to
the bone. He wondered why she was so cold on this unusually balmy
night, but he knew exactly how to warm her up once they got to the
den.
    “Hey Ralphie, going trick or treating?”
    Ralphie jerked his head at the familiar
nasally taunt of the grade-school mortal. He stopped and turned to
see fat little Loogie Boy dressed as a pirate and sporting a heavy
sack of candy. He knew it was well past the youth’s bed-time, and
he silently prayed some bloodsucking demon would find Loogie Boy
before he made it home.
    “No,” Ralphie sneered. “Trick or treating is
for little bratty mortals.”
    “What’s the matter?” the kid laughed. “They
don’t give out sofa cushions?”
    A low growl broke from Ralphie’s throat. Damn Buster is
telling everyone .
    Raven tugged his hand. “Forget about him,
Ralphie.”
    Just as Ralphie was about to turn his back,
the brat bent over and picked up a stick.
    He swung his arm and tossed the stick across
the street. “Hey, Ralphie. Fetch the stick, boy.”
    Ralphie’s focus was suddenly drawn to the
projectile that was flying through the air. It was long and pointy
and it was getting away!
    He salivated. Must! Get! Stick!
    Using his superior animal speed, he ran
after the stick and caught it mid-air with his teeth. He happily
trotted back across the street, but the kid who’d thrown the stick
had vanished.
    Damn.
    His chest deflated when he realized Loogie
Boy had tricked him. His face flushed as he looked over at Raven.
At the heavy and horrified frown that marred her brow.
    He whimpered while removing the stick from
his mouth and slipping it inside his pocket.
    Finally, she straightened her features while
heaving a sigh. “Mortals are so annoying.”
    He cocked his head. “But you’re a
mortal.”
    “Oh, yeah,” she shrugged. “Right.”
     
    * * *
     
    Raven walked a slow circle around the den
while Ralphie scrolled through Alpha’s parents’ CD collection.
After he’d found the CD he’d been looking for, he slipped Rush’s
Hemisphere’s into the disk player. Even though he usually preferred
Heavy Metal, he wanted something more soothing to set the mood. The
Trees was his favorite classic rock song ever. Though he didn’t
understand the cryptic message within the lyrics, he really liked
the banging of the drums and the singer’s high-pitched tenor.
    The song went perfectly with a big fat
doobie, but Ralphie hadn’t contributed to the pot fund in over two
weeks. He knew Alpha would find out if he ripped some weed from the
stash. Thankfully, the pack was probably still trick-or-treating.
He hoped he could at least make it to second base with Raven
without them watching and salivating all over the carpet.
    Grinning, he looked over at Raven. She was
sitting on the sofa with her hands over her ears.
    His chest deflated. “Don’t you like the
music?”
    Her features contorted into one massive
scowl, making her look like she’d just eaten a lemon or maybe gone
down on another girl who needed a good douching.
    “Not really,” she griped. “Don’t you have
any Donna Summer?”
    “Disco?” he gasped. “Hell no, that’s vamp
music.”
    “Oh, yeah.” She pulled her hands from her
ears and slowly straightened her face. “I forgot.”
    He sat down beside her, and deciding he
didn’t want to waste any more time he reached over and squeezed one
soft velvety thigh. She scowled, then grabbed the black sofa
cushion and clutched it to her chest.
    “Where’s the rest of your pack?” she
hissed.
    “Trick-or-treating, I guess,” he responded
breathlessly, unable to pull his gaze from the defenseless cushion
caught in Raven’s grasp. Images of a threesome swirled in his brain
and he began salivating.
    Both black brows dipped beneath