Wolves in the Shadows (The Wolf Clan Chronicles) by Sharon McLaughlin Page A

noticed that he wore a silver hilted sword at his hip that contrasted jarringly with his dark jeans and collared shirt.  She hadn’t remembered seeing it the night before, but then again she had been too surprised by their sudden meeting to really notice what he might have been wearing.  She was happy at least the she had chosen not to wear her old university sweater.  Her roommate may have had a point about that old thing. 
    Romulus trotted up to her through the trees and licked her hand.  She patted his head in greeting. 
    Sir Marcus greeted her warmly, but then wrinkled his nose and said, “The smell of garl ic precedes you.” 
    “I brushed my teeth,” she said.  She was not sure if she should be offended ; he hadn’t sounded like he was trying to be rude. 
    Sir Marcus chuckled. 
    “Forgive me, I’m not laughing at you,” he said.  “It just brings back memories.” 
    “I didn’t even think about it,” Elizabeth said, embarrassed in spite of what Sir Marcus had said.  “ It was Italian night at the commons, and I love the garlic bread.” 
    “I’ve never cared for it myself,” Sir Marcus replied.  “Even when I was human.” 
    “So, garlic really does repel vampires?”
    Sir Marcus let out another snort of laughter before he replied, “garlic repels just about everything .”
    “Sorry,” Elizabeth said.  She dreaded that he would send her home for the night all because she had been too ignorant to realize that eating garlic bread would make her smell bad. 
    “It suits you oddly enough,” Sir Marcus said.  He tilted his head to the side and frowned ever so slightly.  “I think it will be a good way to keep us from forgetting that you are human.” 
    Elizabeth tilted her head and mirrored his expression without even realizing it. 
    “Garlic doesn’t actually repel us,” Sir Marcus said.  “It just makes the blood smell and taste different, but so does just about everything else that people put in their bloodstream.  I’ve known a number of vampires who actually like the taste.  The idea that it’s so repellent probably came from hunters using garlic to mask their scent.” 
    “How would it mask their scent though,” Elizabeth asked .  “Wouldn’t you think as soon as you smelled the garlic that there was a hunter around?” 
    “ Once we figured out what they were doing.  But smell of garlic is so strong that it makes it harder to tell which hunters are around, and the smell spreads so quickly that it becomes harder to pinpoint their exact location.” 
    “So it’s like a sensory overload?” 
    “Indeed,” Sir Marcus said.  “Shall we go?” 
    “So did you think that I was a hunter?” Elizabeth asked mischievously as they began to follow Romulus through the grove. 
    “Not even for a moment,” Sir Marcus said.  “The garlic might disrupt my sense of smell, but my other senses work perfectly.  I know the sound of your breath and footsteps, and I can feel the beating of your heart as if it where my own.” 
    Elizabeth was not sure how to respond to his words. 
    “Did you have that sword last night?” she asked, feeling the need to change the subject.  “I feel like I would have remembered it.” 
    “I did,” Sir Marcus said.  “I always carry it, but most people cannot see it.” 
    “How come I can see it?” 
    “You are not most people.” 
    “Why can’t most people see it?  What’s so special about me?” 
    Sir Marcus laughed. 
    “Most people would be too terrified to speak in my presence much less notice that I bear Aldo Der Siberschmeid’s sword,” he said.  “But you are forever overflowing with questions.” 
    “I can’t help it,” Elizabeth said with an apologetic shrug.  “I’m just curious, and I hate feeling so completely ignorant about everything.”  She didn’t add that he was less intimidating than his father. 
    “You’re still young,” Sir Marcus said.  “The longer you live and the more you