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  Unknown Touch

  Werewolf Series - Book One

  by

  Gina Marie Long

  Black Rose Writing

  www.blackrosewriting.com

  © 2009 by Gina Marie Long

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a newspaper, magazine or journal.

  The final approval for this literary material is granted by the author.

  First printing

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-0-9825542-5-8

  PUBLISHED BY BLACK ROSE WRITING

  www.blackrosewriting.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  Unknown Touch is printed in 12-point Times New Roman

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I would like to sincerely thank the following who have helped make this book a reality: my husband for enduring the constant chatter of my werewolf plot ideas and even "tossing me a few bones" for inspiration; my parents for their support, reading through my first draft and all my phone calls; my sister-in-law, Lynne Boekhout-Phoomsathan, for devoting her time, proofreading skills, suggestions and brainstorming about future books; teenagers Kelsey and Maddie for being my test readers for Chapters 1 and 2; my wonderful beauty salon customers for letting me rattle their ears off; Maddie James, author, for all her writing knowledge and extremely helpful advice; Emily Kirkpatrick for her honesty and skills in creating the book cover; and my publisher, Black Rose Writing, and Reagan Rothe for accepting Unknown Touch for publication.

  FOREWORD

  Werewolves...they just don't get enough credit or attention quite like vampires do. Now don't take me wrong - I have no problem with vampires, the good ones, of course. As a matter of fact, I even know several of those mesmerizing vampires and consider a few to be close friends. Most of them mean no harm to the average human being. Some have accomplished miraculous deeds throughout the centuries. But, stories about werewolves just aren't as popular or common. Most are pictured as dirty, hairy, evil, snarling beasts that want to rip your throat out then savagely feast on your body. Sadly, that is true for some of the uncivilized werewolves who have struggled to find a balance in this modern world and slipped to the dark side. I have personally come to know many well-mannered, gentle and caring werewolves that just want to blend in with society. Of course, they do occasionally have to deal with those in the pack that have become too aggressive, that have committed violent crimes and are heading down a path of destruction. Attempts are made to get the wild ones under control (one way or another) and to keep the existence of werewolves hidden from society. That is all easier said than done...let's go back a bit and I'll explain where I fit into this intriguing little story.

  Chapter 1

  Introduction

  It was a dreary, cold November morning. I hadn't slept soundly through the night. In fact, I'd been having trouble sleeping for several weeks. My dreams seemed so vivid and realistic that when I woke up, it took a couple of seconds to force myself into recognizing I was actually awake and not still dreaming. One particular dream I had every night involved a mysterious, exceptionally masculine man who seemed to be very disturbed with life...but I just couldn't remember it all...

  "Kara! Are you eating breakfast here this morning or not?" my overly-concerned mother shrieked from downstairs. I knew Dad was lounging at the kitchen table sipping his usual cup of black coffee, munching on buttered, half-burnt toast while reading the morning paper. Mom had already finished eating, cleaned up her mess, and was pacing the floor wondering why I hadn't come downstairs yet.

  As I am the only child in my family, my parents had a tendency to treat me as if I was still 14. They hated to see me grow up. Well, in another few weeks, I would turn the ripe old age of 21. Yippee. Perhaps since I was still living at home, had chosen not to attend college, basically had a dead end, low-paying job and no steady boyfriend, my folks felt they had the right to treat me like a teenager.

  As far as boyfriends go, I had gone through several over the years, but none held my attention and most frustrated me to the point I always did the breaking up. The dating would start out normally with their trying to impress me. After about a month I'd notice their true boring, egotistical sides. I would try to drop hints and ideas hoping they could miraculously change their personalities to specifically suit me. Sometimes this persuasion actually worked…for a while. But then the whole relationship took on a very phony tone that made me uncomfortable and eventually I'd break up with the poor, unsuspecting losers.

  I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror as I meticulously brushed my teeth and hair and tried to hurry myself along. My dark, blonde hair could have used some highlights but I just didn't want to bother with it lately. And my bloodshot brown eyes looking back at me in the mirror did not appear at all well rested from sleeping. I looked like I had experienced a nightmare.

  Finally, I wandered downstairs to eat my lukewarm oatmeal at the kitchen table. Soon, I'd be heading out the door to my lovely little job at the local bakery. Exciting... Oh boy, another fun-filled day whipping up nice calorie-ridden cakes, pies and cookies. I didn't even like baking.

  Glancing up from his newspaper, Dad inquired, "So, are you coming directly home from work tonight to help me with raking and burning the leaves?"

  "Gee, I suppose that's the plan. What else have I got to do?" I sarcastically replied.

  "You can drop the attitude, Missy. Just wanting to know if I can expect you or if I should tackle it myself."

  "Yep, I'll be here." I grabbed my purse and with a sigh, mumbled, "See you guys later. I'm off to work."

  I trudged out to my trusty (and rusty) Chevy Cavalier which was parked outside while my parents' vehicles sat all toasty warm in the garage. During the month of November in the tiny town of Marine, Illinois, you had a 50/50 chance of having to scrape your windows off in the morning, which I fully hated with a passion. On those days I was forced to scrape frost, I would end up with four ridiculous and dangerous one foot by one foot circles of cleared off glass that allowed me to peer through on all sides of the car. At least there wasn't any frost to be found that morning. It didn't take long to drive the whole six miles to work in Highland; sometimes I wished for a few extra miles of driving just to get my head on straight for the day. I would attempt to relax and listen to some music, if you could find any broadcasting at that time of the morning.

  As I crossed the dam which stretched over Silver Lake, it seemed like my steering was not under my control anymore. It felt as if someone else had remotely taken over my car and rendered me totally useless as the driver. I was absolutely terrified as I attempted turning the wheel left and right but nothing was working at all. The brakes, gas pedal – nothing responded. I knew I was in trouble and everything was happening so fast I didn't know how to react. My car veered off to the left, crossed the opposite lane that luckily had no oncoming traffic, crashed through the guard rail and plunged head first into the lake. The impact of the car hitting the water caused the airbag to deploy. I was brutally forced backwards into the seat. Terror flooded my mind, while water slowly flooded the car. I was absolutely freaking out and saw no possible escape.

  Suddenly a dark image passed near the passenger side window. Was someone trying to rescue me? How could anyone have found me so fast? Then with a loud explosion, the window burst inward from the pressure of the water, or had something smashed into it? I wasn't sure. I just knew I was going to drown in this freezing cold water. That's all t
hat kept bouncing around in my head. I was going to die. My heart was pounding so hard I felt like it was going to jump out of my chest...and then at that point, I must have passed out.

  I'm not sure how long I was unconscious, probably about an hour if I had to guess. An unfamiliar voice was trying desperately to awaken me. "Kara? Can you hear me? Are you alright?" a person next to my right ear kept repeating the questions. There was a sense of urgency in his voice and I responded to him immediately.

  "I'm okay, I'm okay, I think. What happened? Where am I?" I felt like I'd run a four hour marathon and had collapsed from total exhaustion.

  "I'm Dominic. We rescued you from your car in the lake. I know you're terrified but everything will be explained to you in detail. This is a special underground facility that is completely safe and very private. You are here because we need your help…To be blunt - you can be very useful to our group," he stated with complete honesty.

  I stared at this man as if he was truly insane. What in the world was he talking about? I just about drowned for heaven's sake and he's telling me some group needs MY help?! I thought I was the one needing help here.

  It appeared I had been placed on an old hospital bed of sorts, completely covered with thick blankets. I was drenched from head to toe and felt cold and clammy in my wet clothes. I did not understand what had happened to me and felt at a loss for words. The last I recalled, my car took a nose dive into Silver Lake and since I was not much of a swimmer...well, drowning seemed pretty evident at the time. Now here I was with a stranger staring at me assuming that I should just casually accept what was occurring and what he was telling me as the truth. Dominic handed me dry, fresh clothes and pointed to a restroom about twenty feet away.

  "Here – take these and get yourself cleaned up. I'll explain everything when you return."

  I didn't question him at that moment as I headed to the restroom. I was wondering, though, how could he have known what size clothes I wear. Just the fact that there were extra clothes sitting around this place to begin with seemed odd. As I stared at myself in the bathroom mirror, I noticed a large, red bump on my forehead, obviously from the accident. Otherwise, I appeared unscathed, just smelly from the mucky lake water and suddenly realizing I was freezing from the wet clothes.

  There was a shower in the far corner and Dominic did say to get freshened up. Maybe the hot water would warm me up and clear my head. My brain kept asking itself, should I be screaming for answers or running for my life? And yet, my curiosity level was piqued as if on some great adventure. I assumed this was the local hospital and some hero brought me here after saving my life. I ought to be grateful for the rescue but instead felt an unnerving twinge of doom. Wait! Dominic mentioned this place was underground. Hospitals are not normally built underground and I knew the local one definitely was not buried in the earth. That doom feeling was definitely calling my name loud and clear. Panic was setting in.

  After I emerged from the restroom, Dominic was waiting faithfully and patiently at a nearby counter.

  "Kara, come with me to a conference room and you'll get your explanations."

  I followed him obediently. What else was I going to do? We walked down a long, dimly lit hallway. This was not a hospital by any means. I stifled the urge to take off running because I didn't know where I would go. My heart was racing and my head was pounding. I felt sure an anxiety attack was coming on since I was prone to have anxiety issues. I tried to breathe deeply and focus on my surroundings. We entered a large room with an oblong table at which three people were seated. They all abruptly stood up when we approached. They were complete and total strangers to me.

  "Let me introduce ourselves to you, Miss Kara McBride." A rather tall, thin, pale man stepped forward. The mere fact he knew my name sent chills down my spine. Maybe they located my driver's license during the rescue and learned who I was. "I'll just keep with first names for now. Easier to remember. My name is Eli. And this is Zac and Tessa. You've already met Dominic, of course. We call ourselves The Liaison. I'm sure your mind is shooting off in a million directions wondering the purpose of all this. Well, I'm not going to sugar-coat this or baby you about anything. I think in order to gain your trust, it's best to be honest with you up-front. So, first, let's all sit down."

  Eli jumped right in with the details at that point. "Kara, you have an ability - a special gift - that you may not be completely aware of yet. It is considered a type of mind reading plus a suggestive thought implanting process. If you think back in your life, you should recall incidences where this ability has come into play. Most of the time it occurs when you sleep. But, also, if you really want something to go your way in particular, or someone isn't reacting the way you want them to, you may be using your gift to influence their behavior even while awake. It's usually very subtle…so subtle that you may not have realized what you were doing to them."

  "Oh...my...God!" Memories flashed through my head of those old boyfriends and how I had wished they could just change a few of their ridiculous habits which would then make them more suited to me. And then for a period of time it did seem like the relationship went along smoothly. Obviously it never lasted very long since here I was all alone again. Could Eli be telling me the truth? Had I been influencing their behavior?

  I blurted out, "Yeah - I guess there have been some weird things going on with me now that you mention it. And I should point out that I've had a horrible time sleeping over the last couple of weeks. I keep dreaming of some man. I haven't a clue who he is. He's really ticked off or upset over something happening in his life."

  Eli continued, "Well, I'll get to that soon. As I was saying, we have been monitoring you - shall I say, keeping an eye on you - for about six months. But you were still fairly young for this venture and we disliked the idea of disrupting your life too early until we absolutely had to. More recently, though, we had become aware that you were not happy with yourself and felt lost and depressed. We also knew your abilities had grown stronger. In the meantime, our "situation" had gotten much more serious. So, we all took a vote and agreed this would be the best time to introduce you to our group.

  "I'm sorry, this sounds harsh, but you cannot go back to your old life. At least not right now. To all your family and friends, it will appear that you have run away. I know it seems like we're holding you captive, but we are desperate and greatly need the help we believe you could provide. Please listen with a totally open mind because you are in for quite a shock and more than likely won't want to believe us."

  I sat there speechless; feeling completely helpless and all alone. Tears welled up in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. I really, truly was being held captive no matter how they worded it. There was a terrible foreboding feeling deep inside me that my entire life as I knew it was literally on the brink of being turned upside down. And what was Eli referring to every time he mentioned their "situation?" It didn't sound positive and yet here I was being forced to go along on this wild ride.

  Eli readjusted his chair to find a more comfortable position. He was definitely tall, probably 6'4" if I had to guess. He obviously was the person in charge of this group by the way he took command of the conversation. He remained very calm while I undoubtedly looked as if I would burst at the seams in hysterics. Eli truly seemed concerned about my well-being by the look on his face. He was so much older than the rest of them, perhaps in his 60s whereas the rest looked to be anywhere from 23 to 35 years old. His eyes, his face radiated with the immense amount of knowledge I knew he possessed.

  Dominic had been sitting right next to me during Eli's introduction and was now attempting to console me, hoping to prevent any nervous breakdowns. His warm hand reached out and gently touched my shaking arm for a few brief seconds. I wiped at my tears and somehow felt a slight connection to Dominic. I wasn't sure why at the time but his concern for me actually did relieve a tiny bit of my tension so I started to breathe a little easier. He had adorable wavy, brown hair, studious looking glasses, was of ave
rage build and carried a deep, serious look on his face. No malice in it, just a seemingly all knowing, penetrating gaze.

  After a few moments of gathering his thoughts, Eli went on, "I am a physician and a scientist. I've had several successful inventions and the profits have provided me with a very comfortable lifestyle. I own this facility here. And, yes, you are still in the Highland area, just underground. It is part of an old military base built in the 1950's. There are tunnels going for miles in several directions connecting unused, vacant missile silos. If you can imagine, one of those silos is under Silver Lake. Very few people are even aware this base ever existed.

  "Anyway," he continued, "getting back to who we are…Dominic has psychic abilities similar to yours along with some telekinetic skills that he has greatly developed over the years."

  Dominic broke in at that point, "And I used to be a Special Agent with the FBI in a secret department best described as The X-Files - if you remember that TV show. I dealt with investigating the odd and unusual cases and many times was required to use my psychic skills. I also had to be involved with some of the cover-ups when they didn't want the general public knowing certain things. A few years ago, Dr. Henderson...uh...Eli as he prefers to be called, was brought in to help me with one of my investigations for a couple of weeks. Then about a year ago he contacted me on his own and requested I join him on a very private mission."

  Dominic sensed that I was completely overwhelmed, shocked and wondering what in the world they wanted from me. What was this all about? He stated, "Kara, we really are trying to get to the point of all this as quickly as we can for you."