“Thanks,” said Jenna chagrined for assuming the aging librarian’s age and appearance placed her in the category of ignorant and senile.
She sat down in the wooden chair and scrolled to read the first article.
Two Local Men Missing: Twin brothers Derrick and Mark Wolfgang have been declared missing by police. It’s unknown exactly when the inseparable pair disappeared, for they were often known to take camping trips of a week or more. A friend of the two men says he hasn’t seen or heard from them in at least a month, which is unusual behavior for the reliable duo. The house appears undisturbed. Their camping gear remains in the basement, while the fridge is fully stocked. At this time police don’t suspect foul play but ask if you’ve seen or heard from the Wolfgang brothers to call…
A few more articles related the same tale, but the last one, dated a year ago, had something new to say.
Wolfgang Brothers Declared Dead: Even though their bodies have never been found, the local judge has declared twin brothers Mark and Derrick Wolfgang dead. No one has seen or heard from the pair since their unusual disappearance five years ago around Halloween. Their home, which has remained vacant since that time, has been seized by the county in order to pay for back taxes owed on the property and will be put up for auction…
Jenna sat back in her seat, pensive. The boys could have run off for many reasons. Make that men, she thought, looking at the picture of two robust males with wide builds. She refused to examine the fact that they seemed familiar, and that they reminded her of her dream lovers. Instead, she reasoned they were probably the same boys as those in the pictures in the attic. Pity they went missing though, because damn are they hot!
A thump on the table startled Jenna and she looked to see the librarian dropping several books in a stack.
“Here are all the books we have on the Wolfgang place. The boys aren’t actually mentioned in them, but that house was owned by their ancestors going back to when the town was first settled.”
“Thank you.” After printing copies of the newspaper articles, Jenna checked the books out.
Heading for her car, she thought on what she’d read. Missing brothers? Could they have died in the house? Jenna wanted to smack herself for considering the stupid ghost theory. Besides, the cops hadn’t found any signs of foul play and, judging by the picture, the brothers had been big, capable fellows. Evidence of violence or foul play would have been obvious.
Only partially paying attention to the world around her, Jenna bumped into a woman on the sidewalk and her books went flying.
“Shoot. I’m awfully sorry,” said Jenna blushing at her clumsiness, especially in front of the golden woman she’d smashed into. Statuesque and more gorgeous than a cover model, Jenna bet she’d never had an awkward moment in her life.
Ice chip eyes looked her up and down, and a cool smile tilted her lips. “Perhaps you should watch where you’re walking.”
“Yes. You’re right.” Jenna stammered like a student under a disapproving teacher’s stare. And that annoyed her. The sidewalk was plenty wide enough for the ice queen to have just as easily stepped around her. Screw apologizing. Instead, Jenna dropped to her knees to gather up the books, hoping the fall hadn’t damaged them.
Slender fingers beat her to one and a perfectly arched brow rose in interest. “The Wolfgang house? What interest do you have in that old place?”
Jenna snatched the tome and added it to her stack. “I own it.”
“Really.” The blonde drew out the one word and looked at her speculatively. “So, has anything odd happened in the house?”
Jenna wasn’t about to confide her silly notions in a stranger who had suddenly turned from bitch to sweetheart. “Nope. Nothing weird. Just interested in the history of the place. It might be neat to restore some of its period features when I renovate it. If you’ll excuse me.” Jenna sidestepped the woman and continued on to her car.
At home, she parked and went into the house, barely shivering when the usual cold chill shot through her as she entered.
She dumped the books on the living room table in favor of making some dinner. They looked like dull reading and she didn’t want to put herself to sleep till later. Besides it wasn’t like a pile of old books was going to help with a mold and draft problem.
Mark wandered over to look at the books Jenna had brought home and almost did a little jig. Containing himself, he instead went looking for his brother and found him lying on Jenna’s-or could it still be considered Derrick’s?-bed.
“I think it’s working!” he exclaimed.
“What is?” asked Derrick opening his eyes.
“Our haunting. She has a pile of books on the family downstairs. She’s researching us.”
Derrick didn’t seem to find the news as exciting. “And how exactly does that help us? It’s not like any of those books say a witch cursed us and we need a reverse spell to get us out again.”
Mark frowned. “What the hell is wrong with you? Since when are you the pessimistic one? I thought that was my job.”
Derrick rubbed his face. “I’m tired of this existence. I want to touch her for real. I want to smell her and bury my face in her hair. And I don’t see how that’s going to happen. We can’t even talk to her.”
Mark lay down on the bed beside his brother and stretched out. “I know it’s been hard. I’m not saying we’ll get out of here tomorrow, but we’ll escape this prison. We’ll have our revenge and claim our mate. As eldest, I promise.”
Derrick snorted. “Eldest by like five seconds.”
Mark grinned. “Still counts, which means I get her first.”
“Wrestle you for it.”
“Not likely.”
Mark intended to be the first one to take her from the front. He wanted to look into her eyes, flushed with passion as he penetrated her velvety sex. Besides, he knew Derrick didn’t care. He’d be taking her from behind in her even tighter and probably virgin hole.
When they got their solid bodies back, they’d make up for lost time.
Chapter Three
The books weren’t as boring as Jenna expected. Dinner eaten, dishes washed, and the lights dimmed, except for the one by the wing chair, she settled down to read.
The Wolfgang’s had a long history with the town, starting back in the seventeen hundreds when the first Wolfgang had settled in the area and built his home-a single room structure that had grown over the years. In 1871, a fire burned down that original house and they’d replaced it with the home she lived in now.
However, the house, while historically imbued, was nothing compared to the rumors surrounding the Wolfgang family, according to an unauthorized memoir published about twenty years ago. They were a completely male line with not a single recorded daughter ever born, and pretty much every generation, they sprouted twins. Not all that strange until you considered the fact that only the twins inherited the house, and that the pair always lived in it, even when one of them got married.
Unverified rumors by townsfolk, which the author included, claimed the brothers shared the one wife. Jenna found the idea of belonging to two men at once titillating, but it had to have been utterly shocking, especially a hundred or so years ago when puritan values held sway.
As if these allegations weren’t astounding enough, the insinuation about what the brothers were was asinine. The author claimed they were natural born werewolves.