Not just a robber

Deno sat forward and turned the volume higher on his television "Astounding" he said in a hushed tone.

Paula placed the tray of cups down and also looked at the firefighter on the news.

"I don't care what anyone says and I know what I saw, that baby got rescued by the wolf, I saw her ears, one was badly burned yet still she managed to save the kid"

The reporter brought the mike to his mouth "Where did she go? Back into the building?"

"Yes, I told her to come out as well but she shook her head and vanished back into the smoke"

The reporter thanked the man and turned to the mother holding the baby "Mam, did you hear that?"

She nodded wiping her tears "I know everyone has been cruel to you wolf, so if you're watching this, please accept my greatest thanks for saving my baby, I hope the world sees this, you do not deserve to be hunted down"

The reporter looked at the camera "And there you have it, thanks to an unexpected turn of events a baby was saved by the werewolf here from this burning building, it just brings up more questions, should she be trusted? Should the world give her a chance? Only time will tell, this is Angelo Wilson reporting..."

Deno turned the television off and chuckled.

"You okay sire?" Paula asked.

"Of course I am... No not really" he said picking up his cup of tea and sipping at it slowly.

"What's wrong?"

"You saw that didn't you?"

"Yes sir, she saved a baby"

"Is it right for me to go kill her?"

"I... Uh~?"

Deno looked at Paula who held a finger to her lips.

"I can't kill someone, something, that has the heart to save a child, risk their life to do so, I just can't" he said placing the cup down and standing up.

"But, is that why Miss Le Blanc was here?"

"Yes, she wants me to track down this wolf and end her"

Paula gasped.

"Yes, no offence my dear Paula, but I will not be labeled human and hunt her down, no... I have a better idea" he said and turned to her.

She tilted her head.

"I will offer this wolf sanctuary, yes, I will bring her to safety, so she can stop running from man who still can't see the beauty in her, I'll ensure they keep their dirty mitts off her caring fur pelt if its the last thing I do"

Paula smiled "And who said vampires don't have hearts?"

Deno smiled back "Just because my heart has ceased to beat doesn't mean it isn't there anymore, prepare my car dear Paula, the fastest one, I'm off to England"

~~~

Nicolas drove silently giving Bella a glance every now and then, her wolf ears are normal again but he still had to bandage her burnt face, that and many of the burns she received from her reckless little rescue operation.

They just heard the mother's thanks over the radio and she was sitting with a warm smile on her face, her eyes on the bottle opened and ready to receive her lips.

"My little hero" he said and she blushed glancing at him.

"It, its... You know..." She shrugged and sighed "Anyone woulda done it" she said and drank from the bottle.

"No Bella, this world lacks bravery... I'd know"

She looked at him "You mean to say you're a coward?"

He smiled "Yes, the biggest"

She giggled "Said the man who set his arm on fire for a werewolf, I'd say you're my hero"

He shook his head and drank, not really turning the mutual joy, she felt that off vibe from his staring down the road demeanor and leaned forward.

"You okay?"

"Oh, yea I'm fine"

"Care to explain why the first human I came to trust calls himself a coward?"

Still no smile, not even a shrug.

"I, killed my two partners out of fear"

She frowned.

"I was on drugs, drank a lot, man I could say I lived a larger life than I was cut out for, and one thing was for sure, with the abuse came paranoia, I always thought I was being watched, always thought someone was out for my neck, even Timothy and Leon, my two trusted friends"

Bella realized se saw another side of him now, another person... He looked at her and she blinked.

"Never mind"

"No!" She said placing a hand on his leg but quickly retracted it "No, please, I know it sounds like dark days, but please be aware that I haven't had any real conversation in two years... I long to hear someone's story, something, just say anything, it doesn't have to he the truth"

He finally smiled "Why lie to you Bella? It won't benefit me..." He said.

"Then? You'll tell me more?"

He sighed "We were in the clouds after that robbery... No it was a burglary, we broke in at the dead of night, the perfect heist, we studied that bank along with two others for months, and that one had the most slack, the chains around their security was not tied properly, we even found a safety record stating that bank hasn't been robbed in five years, meaning they would never expect it, it was a mint plan"

"And then?" She asked like a little girl hearing a fairytale.

"We found a way to bypass the alarm system for exactly one hour, the signal that would be sent to the security room I hacked and changed its code from 'Tamper' to 'Test' so whatever the guards saw was merely the alarm sending a signal to test itself, they never expected it to be an actual heist" he told the story and drank from his vodka.

"Cameras bypassed, alarm bypassed, into a back door with the inside codes, yes, Timothy worked the vault area, he had all the codes, I had the hacking skills, and Leon was the one with the master plan.

After we each raked up well over a million we climbed into the roof, had our two days of food, each of us even had a small bottle of whiskey and a bag of dope to celebrate"

"You three celebrated in the roof of the very bank you robbed?"

"Yes, Leon was a mastermind, he said the guards at the bank were fat and lazy, we could have popped off that burglary and scrammed but then it would be too obvious, we could bypass the bank cameras but not those on surrounding buildings, so we stayed put, left the vault door open so the next day they immediately realized they were burgled"

He drew into a gas station and requested a fill up, as they waited Bella also did, a story, she remembers little of her mother's little bed time tales, how she missed it so.

"In that roof we lied listening to the fatties quarrel, deciding who to blame for the stolen money, but it took them an entire day to realise it was Timothy, we struggled not to laugh too loudly.

The police came to take statements and the forensics took prints, but we left none, we had latex on..." He looked at Bella and smiled halfly "Of course, we had our pistols, complete with silencers for incase we needed to fight our way out... But... Never thought we'd turn on each other"

She gasped softly.

Nicolas paid the fuel attendant and set off again "We laughed in whispers, we played little games up there, drinking, getting high, then the last few hours of our second day arrived, everything panned out so smoothly, until that paranoia kicked in with Timothy, saying if they leave the other cameras will catch us"

"The ones across the street?"

"Yes..." Nicolas chuckled "Fuck we were so stupid, we planned it, Leon planned it, that night the cameras across the street would have been off for maintenance, which is why we chose to stay in the roof, but thanks to the mix of drugs and alcohol, we lost plot and freaked out" he said and looked at her.

Her blue eyes wide in wonder, star struck by this story, Bella felt like she was listening to a blockbuster.

"So there in the roof, at twelve o clock, we got into a fight and a shootout"

"In the roof!?"

"Yes, but I found myself in a favourable position where the weapon could come out quicker than theirs, I got wounded but won the fight, so I took their money and left the roof just the way we found it, left the back alley, and ordered me an uber to a small town just outside Los Angeles. I slept the night, barely, worrying I'd still be caught, but after the drugs wore off the next day I cried knowing the mistake we made"

She hung her head "Oh, I'm, I'm sorry"

"Its fine, so I didn't kill them in cold blood, I killed them because we were afraid of getting caught, the makings of a master plan coming unraveled thanks to substance abuse, that's why I say I might be a coward, even if it was the fault of the drugs"

She said nothing, only running what she saw in her head over and over again, she looked up with wide eyes "Are they...? Your friends?"

"Probably still in that roof, once the smell draws those fat guards there, then the real manhunt for me begins, I'm not just a bank robber, I'm a murderer as well"

"Dear God Nicolas"

He shrugged "Guess I'll just keep on running..." He said and smiled at her "Right my wolf friend?"