Free Beauty and the Brute [Werescape III] by Skhye Moncrief

you?"
    He shot me a mask of disbelief over his shoulder and turned back to the trees.
    Maybe I shouldn't have been so nosy. But far worse things could happen than Brutus clam up.
    "Thirteen."
    Another answer. Maybe the future's endless trip wouldn't be so boring after all.
    "Nobody ever saw my parents again. I swore I'd make the Normals who captured them pay."
    And he had. He was legendary. “So you did and continue to mete out justice."
    "Some call it that. Others say I'm insane."
    He didn't have to tell me. I'd heard the tales when elders spoke to children who needed a strong dose of coercion to modify their behavior. But what about my situation brought Brutus to my aid? “Why are you helping me?"
    His unreadable stare locked on me for a moment then turned back to observe the stallion's progress.
    The ground continued rolling beneath us.
    Nothing. Not one grunt. Not him groaning from my obviously redundant question I'd uttered.
    We just moved forward. Me stuck behind his saddle, gripping the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen, who couldn't stand me. The highlight of the day's westward effort occurred around two in the afternoon. Long after passing individual looted homes set in the middle of nowhere.
    Homes with gaping holes for windows. Each remnant structure's paint had been gnawed away by fifty years worth of summer's baking sun and searing cold of winter snow.
    Just where were we? And why did the horizon look like rows of manmade peaks marched toward it? I'd never been out this far from civilization. I'd never seen a subdivision. Never even heard of one until Brutus stopped his horse short of the outer row of houses.
    Did anyone live here?
    Could they be trusted? I leaned a forward a little to whisper. “Does anybody live here?
    "I don't know,” he whispered again.
    The last thing I want to do is find out. I shoved up to the back of his ear. “Can we go around?"
    I whispered.
    "Less time to cut through."
    Was he crazy? “What do I do if we're separated?"
    "We won't be.” He kicked the horse into a walk.
    Forcing my butt back on the horse's rocking rump.
    The hairs on my neck jumped to chilly attention.
    Not good. This was a big mistake. Extremely wrong according to my intuition. Couldn't he sense it with those Wolf senses? I could tell him I feel these things. Sense things in my own way. Although he probably would appreciate my intuition as much as Normals. But this venture across an ancient village could go bad. Very bad.
    But how did you argue your point with a guy who held the reins and was a hell of a lot bigger?
    Maybe he knew what he was doing. Yes. He did. And he'd save my ass. But what if his foolish decision landed me in the clutches of another male? I wasn't ready to just hand my virginity over to the first disgusting bastard who pinned me against the ground. Not because Brutus decided to take a shortcut.
    The horse stepped between the first two houses.
    The skin on my arms began to crawl.
    Why? Overgrown with shrubs, vines, and trees who had managed to snag a foothold and bully their way toward the sky, the dead village looked like a sea of rotted boxes. Decomposing with time like the houses we passed on our way to this place. Homes so many people chose to occupy so very long ago.
    So terminally deceased. Or more like crypts. Homes for the dead.
    The horse halted.
    Something niggled in the back of my mind, so deeply, my gut somersaulted.
    Another warning. Someone watched from the buildings. “This is wrong, Brutus. Please, let's go back,” I whispered.
    He turned the horse in a blink.
    Not one word. Not one second of hesitation. Before we passed the second row of houses. I
    couldn't help but watch behind us. Watch for any movement supporting my fears. Wise elders always said it's better to be safe than sorry.
    Skirting the suburb's rows of boxy hills, Brutus kept us hidden among the trees. Good thing because when we turned the corner of the enormous village, we saw what must have bothered me. Fields. Row