Chapter 9: Silverclaw Masquerade

The shower Silvana took in Bruce's house was thrilling. She sensually slid the bar of soap over her luscious skin, and the entire time, locked in the bathroom beside Bruce's room, Silvana felt this hammering in her chest, as if she was seeing into the future, where she and Bruce lived together, married and happy.

Silvana dried off and applied makeup from her handbag while peering at Bruce's investigation board. It was clippings from newspapers and articles of murderers and other evil people from the city's history; chief among them, the Axeman from the red lightning that Bruce had saved Silvana from. Across the old sepia photo of the Axeman was a large red X made by a marker on the desk.

"He must be hunting evil spirits," she thought.

"That must be why he was training to become the Alpha," she mumbled to herself, patting her shaved and smooth legs dry.

Silvana brushed her hair and dressed herself in the white satin lingerie and stockings on the bed, then slid into her beautiful ball gown.

She felt exotic as she slipped an arm through the furled, elegant sleeve of the gown.

Then, she heard a knock at the door.

"Bruce?" she asked, covering her round breasts with her bare, crossed arm. The last thing she wanted was for Kurt to ruin this evening.

"It's me," Bruce said, his voice tickling the hairs on the back of Silvana's neck. "Are you ready for me?"

"Always," Silvana responded, tucking her other arm through her sleeve. She turned around as the door opened.

"Would you zip me?" she asked.

Bruce's fingers made their way from her hips and to the zipper, and he kissed the corner of her ear as he zipped the back of the gown.

"Close your eyes," he whispered. She shut them at his command and smiled as he fit a jeweled white masquerade mask over her face.

He turned her around and said, "Open."

Silvana gasped. Bruce was absolutely dashing in his tuxedo, and he had on a similar silver mask that covered his eyes. Their lips, however, were still unconcealed, and Bruce wasted no time pulling Silvana close to him and pressing his lips to hers.

"You look incredible," he said.

Silvana blushed, grinned, and licked her finger. She wiped away a smudge of scarlet lipstick from Bruce's clean shaven face.

He checked his watch. "If we hurry, we can still make it in time."

Bruce grabbed Silvana's hand and the two rushed to his truck. In no time they were well into the glimmering lights of the city, and Silvana kept her hand on Bruce's as he maneuvered the truck's stickshift. The engine thundered and they arrived at the gates of an enormous manor.

"When we get inside," Bruce said, parking in a rounded lot encircling a fountain depicting howling wolves, "stay by my side."

When they exited the truck, Silvana noticed other couples dressed immaculately in silver, white, and black gowns, and white and black tuxedos. It seemed for a moment that everybody was staring at her, and as Bruce and Silvana walked towards the large marble steps leading to the estate's main entrance, Silvana watched several men and women sniff at her from behind their masks.

Bruce put his arm around her shoulder and from the corner of his mouth whispered, as heads turned their way, "Ignore them."

Silvana clutched Bruce's arm, and even through his tuxedo, his bicep felt like stone.

They entered through two huge open wooden doors into the dining hall, where decadent crystal chandeliers illuminated silver cracked marble floors that were emblazoned with the symbol of a full moon. Enveloping them were long tables filled with flutes of champagne and ingredients for cocktails, and gorgeous couples spun around dancing and smiling.

For a moment, Silvana forgot she was in a nest of what she had been trained to recognize as her enemy.

But she followed Bruce's instruction and kept close to him, burrowing her body as close to his as able.

"We need to lose your scent," Bruce said, as a waitress holding a platter of cocktails glared at Silvana.

"How can we do that?" Silvana asked, in that innocent voice that Bruce adored.

"By getting closer," Bruce told her, whisking her towards the dance floor and under the gigantic crystal chandelier. To the most stunning and incredible romantic music, the two danced slowly, arm in arm, waving their bodies back and forth melodically.

Bruce got so close to Silvana that she could feel his pulsing manhood from under his tuxedo pants, and it took every ounce of her being to not cry out in pleasure in the middle of the dance floor. She rested herself as close to his stiffness as she could, and took deep breaths between long kisses on his lips.

"Other than us, what are we celebrating?" Silvana asked.

Bruce leaned into her ear and pressed a hand to her hip. "They're celebrating me. The new Alpha. But we have a festive night with masks so everybody can remember that they have the strength of an Alpha inside them."

"Except there's no one like you," Silvana whispered, following Bruce's lead in the sensual slow dance.

The two sashayed to a slow orchestra, and their movements commanded the attention of the ball. Others tried to keep up, though Silvana and Bruce carried themselves in a way only a couple perfectly attuned with one another could do.

"Look around," Bruce said, nodding his head in the direction of other magnificently adorned couples. "There's nobody like us."

Together, they rocked back and forth gently, and Silvana rested her head on Bruce's chest, and in that moment was filled with such a perfect calmness she could have fallen asleep.

Bruce kissed the top of her head and said, "I think we've earned ourselves a drink. The banquet is beginning."

Everybody in their radiant masks and attire seated themselves at the long wooden tables, and before them were heaps of cooked meat, roasted vegetables, and fresh, colorful cuisine. Silvana and Bruce sat between other werewolf couples who no longer sniffed and snarled towards Silvana, but who all clinked glasses of champagne with her as a cheers to the new Alpha was made.

For a while they dined and shared stories with the people to their sides and across from them, and even Silvana felt as though she was a part of one big family.

On her second glass of champagne, Silvana felt a tug at her stomach. Had she eaten too quickly?

Bruce's ears perked and his teeth clenched, as if he was privy to a noise far in the distance.

"Excuse me," he said calmly and charismatically to the table. He rose, unbuttoned his tuxedo jacket, and told Silvana, "I'll be back, dear. Stay here with our new friends."

"Is everything alright?" Silvana asked.

But Bruce was already marching away like a man on a mission, tearing his cuff links out from his shirt and scattering them to the marble floor.

The werewolves around her continued to talk and joke, and they generally adored her presence. But with each bolt of laughter came a jolt in her stomach, and she finally excused herself to visit the restroom.

Inside a bathroom as large as Bruce's home, she inspected her abdomen. A stitch from the gash Bruce had patched together had come undone, and a speckle of blood had dotted the front of her gown.

Just then, she got a phone call from Amelia.

Silvana couldn't get a word out before Amelia sprang into conversation, "Sylvie, you will never guess what happened. So I'm driving home after we had our little espionage mission and this creature darts out in front of my car. I'm thinking, oh my gosh, I can't hit this poor thing! So I swerve and my tire pops."

Silvana waited for and smiled past other women powdering their faces and washing their hands. Once the restroom was empty, she held a finger to the stitch and muttered the spell, "Tu Fui, Ego Eris," as quickly and quietly as she could. The stitch laced back together, but Silvana checked all around to make sure she hadn't blown her cover by casting a spell.

"And anyway," Amelia continued, still yacking, "I'm in a rundown diner with this hunk who repaired the tire, and I'm just oh so happy. How's your night, darling?"

"Everything has been incredible," Silvana said. "I'm so happy you're getting a little action."

"You should see him, Sylvie, my god. The action isn't so little! Oh, here he comes. Let me go, bye!"

Silvana smiled at herself in the mirror. It wasn't the mask that made her unrecognizable to herself, but that she'd never seen herself so happy.

Before she put her phone away, another call from Bruce.

"I need your help," Bruce grunted.

Lightning cracked over the phone.

"I'm outside," he struggled. "Help."