#thekastlediaries

She was trying to come up with a way to get out of this ticket - she was definitely speeding - when she noticed his profile as he looked at the other side of the street. That’s… That’s that guy, she realized, watching the way he walked. It was definitely him. From the coffee shop. She saw him every single day, every morning, when she stopped by to get her breakfast. Damn, what’s his name....?

“Evening, ma’am”, came his voice, for the first time, and she looked out the window, up to his face.

“Hello, officer. Was I going too fast?”

Trish had batted her eyelashes once and got away from a parking ticket. Karen was awful a this kind of stuff, but what the hell. Didn’t hurt to try.

He let out some sort of sarcastic chuckle and she found herself annoyed.

“Yeah, I’d say you were. License and registration, please.”

“Oh, yeah, sure thing, hold on.”

Turning to fish her purse from the back seat, she lifted her leg slightly, making the hem of her dress move a little bit, and immediately felt horrible. Ugh, how do people do this? Turning back around, she took her wallet out of the mess that was her purse and, in her haste to get the things he asked for, she flung it out the window. Her license hit his stomach and fell to the ground.

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

The officer looked at her, unimpressed, and then slowly crouched to pick it up, lighting it up with a torch.

“Miss… Page.”

“That’s right”, she said, smiling, carefully handing him the rest of the documents. Maybe a bit too slowly.

“You been drinking tonight, ma’am?”

...What?

She blinked at him, surprised at the question.

“If you count five cups of coffee too many, yes I have.”

The guy supported a hand on the car and bowed his head to stare at her, unimpressed as he ever could be, a frown in place and Karen smiled. Be nice to the cops, be nice to the cops. But, also, a little bit, because he was a very… Present man. If that makes any sense.

“Let me rephrase that. No, I haven’t.”

“You sure?”

Taking a page out of Trish’s book, she blinked at him and nodded.

“I promise.”

He inspected her a little longer and gave her documents back to her.

“You were about ten over the limit, there.”

“Oh. I’m sorry”, not even thinking about it, she moved her hair out of her face, placing it above her head, and she caught as his eyes followed as the strands fell back down.  

Huh. So maybe he likes blondes. Ok.

Feeling silly, she went on, catching the end of a lock, twirling it around her finger, keeping her tone serious. “It’s been a long day at work.”

“Yeah?”

Geez, dude. It’s not a leg, it’s not a smile, it’s not blue eyes. You’re all about the hair, aren’t you?

She nodded, feeling a little more confident.

“Oh yeah. Boss just cut my deadline in a week.”

A hand on the nape of her neck, a twist and oops. Hair flying and falling around her collarbone, the tips grazing the low but flattering collar of her dress.

“What is it, that you do?”

“Reporter.”

“Have I seen you in anything?”

“I doubt it”, she smiled again, because it couldn’t hurt. And, what the hell, she felt like it. “I work in print. The Bulletin.”

“Bulletin. You know Ben Urich?”

She raised her brows.

“Yes, I do. He’s the one that got me writing in the first place. You read him?”

“He’s neighbors with my mother”, he explained, and that frown wasn’t there anymore. He wasn’t exactly smiling, but she could almost see it happening. “Is he the one pressuring you?”

“That he is. Since he made editor, it’s been… tricky.”

A curl around her ear and boom. There it was. A tiny smile.

“Ok”, he said, looking to his left and then his hand was on the roof of her car again, and he was bowing his head to look at her. “See, I’ve got a problem.”

Karen blinked up at him.

“This isn’t what I normally do, traffic. I’m here covering for a friend.”

“What do you do?”

“Not traffic. And, see, I don’t wanna give you a ticket.”

That, right there, officer, earns you a smile. There you go.

“And I don’t want to make your day worse, see. But you were going really fast, ma’am.”

She sat back against the seat, letting her head rest on the support, making sure her hair touched the whole length of her neck, looking up at him.

“Would it help if I promised I wouldn’t do it again?”

“Not really.”

Come on, guy. Play ball.

“What if”, she tried, leaning towards him now, lowering her voice. “Your coffee was on me tomorrow morning?”

He raised his brows, no doubt misunderstanding what she meant and she squinted her eyes at him. “Double espresso, right?”

He clicked his tongue and touched his closed fist to her door.

“I knew it. From Arlene’s.”

She nodded, hand moving a big, big portion of her hair around, now, purposely throwing it a bit towards her face, pulling a strand that stuck to her mouth.

“What do you say?”

He stared at her for a bit longer and she held his gaze.

“Well, don’t tell anyone”, he said, low, just for her and she felt herself smiling at him again.

“You got it.”

“And I’ll definitely hold you on that coffee.”

“I insist you do.”

Eyes landing on her lips quickly, he got back up, voice going back to it’s normal tone. “So that’s a warning, Miss Page. Don’t let me catch you speeding again.”

“Cross my heart”, she said as her finger drew an invisible cross above her left breast.

“Drive safe, now”, he turned to walk back to his own car. “And I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yes, you will, Officer… Castle”, she said, making a show of reading his name tag.

“Frank”, he offered.

“Frank”, she repeated, holding his gaze a little longer, and then he walked away.

He tapped the roof of the car twice and she watched him walk through the mirror, turning the key on the ignition and starting the car up.

When they both reached the corner, he flashed his lights at her and she stretched her hand out in a little wave. He turned left and she went on straight.

So. No speeding ticket plus a date.

Karen sat there in bed, blanket precariously wrapped around herself, and looked at him.

“I should have told you sooner, I’m sorry”, he said, deep voice and he really was serious, this wasn’t a joke. “It’s just… I never planned this, you, I never... “

He looked nervous, tortured, so she scooted closer to him, feet touching the cold floor and took one of his hands.

The look he gave her almost broke her heart, so she pulled him off the chair he had sat after bringing her snacks from his kitchen, because she had told him, while he was still naked with her and his hands wandered up and down her back, among kisses and nibbles, that she was hungry. Now, with his pants back on, she brought him back and he leaned his face into her hand, closing his eyes, breathing out.

The news about werewolves had broken about two years ago. There was a panic, there was an emergency meeting at the White House and all forms of government in the world, to decide what should be done about this new development.

They were still figuring it out. Hunting was now illegal, everywhere. No more recreational shooting of foxes and ducks for rich people. Farmers were in uproar, the campaigns of “Go Vegan!!!” gained new force, it was all a mess. New world order and what not.

Karen had been, so far, unaffected. It’s not as if New York had seen many of them. They learned early on that the vast majority of werewolves tended to live deeper into the country.

Frank explained to her that while yes, most of his kind usually avoided big cities like New York, there were some here. In Chicago. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami. There was a big concentration in Louisiana, for some reason. The ones in New Orleans were responsible for dealing with the government.

Karen had never thought about them as less than human. And it was clear, from the beginning, that they did not hunt humans, so she never felt afraid. And now, looking at Frank, apprehensive, wondering if she was going to leave, having known him for the total of six months before tonight, that didn’t change.

“Can I see it?” was the first thing she blurted out when he asked if she had any questions, which made him let out a breath of laughter, sounding relieved. He picked up one of her hands and kissed it, lifting his face and looking at her.

“Is… Is that something you want?”

She nodded, looking into his eyes, curious, so curious, like she haven’t been so far.

“We can arrange something”, he said, leaning in to press his forehead against hers, pulling her closer to him, moving to run his right cheek on her left one, and Karen’s hands lifted to run from his elbows to his shoulders, hugging him to her, but pulling her face away from his after he kissed her for a few seconds.

“You can’t show me now?”

“No”, he said. “I’d break everything, it’s not practical.”

“Why would you break everything?”

He frowned at her.

“You’ve never seen a werewolf, have you?”

She shook her head.

“We’re big, sweetheart. I could barely fit in here, let alone let everything in one piece.”

.:.

It was almost a month before he finally took her on that trip.

It was a house his father had built before he was born, he explained, so he could have a place to run and not worry about running into people. It didn’t really have easy access, so it was hidden enough from the town it belonged to, a small hike being necessary to reach it. He filled the truck with supplies, and they drove off on the weekend, both taking Friday off work.

They spent the entire day wrapped in each other, enjoying the quiet of the lake, and she almost forgot the purpose of the trip. She remembered quickly when, suddenly, there was the loud thud of something running, heavy, she could feel the ground shake under it’s weight, and then there he was, jumping from behind the house, running all the way to the lake and back towards the porch, towards her, slowly, and she was floored.

There was no light, except for the one he had left on inside, bleeding through the open door and glass windows. Other than that, there was the moon, full and big, shining down on him, this big, huge wolf, but not a wolf, so much bigger.

He had told her he was big. And she had seen some pictures, but she had no idea. No idea.

He was bigger than a bear, and she found herself looking at him with big eyes, her mouth hanging open while he stood there and looked at her.

After a moment, she shook herself out of her stupor and got up from the bench she had been sitting on. Slowly, she made her way down the five steps that separated the high porch from the front lawn, Frank’s pitbull running past her towards him, looking like a small puppy in comparison. He jumped up in greeting, not even reaching the huge creature’s snout, circling a paw until it lifted and bumped against him.

While Karen walked to him, Max lied down a few paces away, watching the whole thing. When she was close enough, she lifted her hand and he leaned in and felt the rough fur on her palm.

She laughed out loud, her heart pounding, when he leaned into her hand, just like he did, like he always did.

He took a step closer and she had to look up. He was taller than her. Karen closed her eyes and, for some reason, felt like crying when he closed his own eyes and touched his forehead to hers, again, that touched that was his, he loved that, and then his face slid to the left, and she raised her arms to touch him with both hands, to feel strong muscles under skin, warm skin.

She was looking in his eyes again when those tears finally came down.

“Frank”, she breathed out and he bowed his head, taking another step forward, making her take one back, arms around his head again, looking at the rest of him, she couldn’t believe just how big he was.

And then he was shrinking, slowly, and then fast, and then he was standing up on his back paws, and then he was Frank again, her Frank, the one she met all those months ago, the one that fascinated her, the one that she was pretty sure she was falling in love with, and his arms were around her, a hand on her back and another on the back of her head, his skin still warm, so warm, hot, feverish, and she closed her eyes, lifting her arms the best she could to hold him back.

“I’m sorry”, he was saying against her hair. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you, I’m sorry, I’m sorry-”

“What? No”, she said, moving back to look at his face, and his eyes still had a different color, brighter than usual. “You didn’t scare me.”

He searched her face brought the hand that held her head around, thumb caressing her cheek like that.

“You’re crying.”

“Oh”, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, smiling up at him. “I think I’m just… Overwhelmed, that’s all. You didn’t scare me.”

That seemed to relax him. He relaxed his hold on her, bringing his arms down, settling his hands on the curve of her hips, and she ran hers around his bare chest.

“I didn’t know you were this… Huge.”

“I told you.”

“No, you didn’t tell me. You told me you were big, you’re big right now. That’s not big, Frank, you’re… I’ve never seen anything like that.”

With that charming chuckle, he pulled her to him again and she closed her eyes, holding him, looking at the lake behind them, her heartbeat finally slowing down.

“Let’s get in, you’re naked.”

And then her heart was speeding up again at the sound he made in the back of his throat.

It sounded a lot like a growl.

Small nod to True Blood and The Vampire Diaries (or The Originals. Anyway, hello Klays and Elijah). I’ve never watched Teen Wolf, so I took inpiration from those.