But Aspen hadn’t been as alone as she’d thought. Someone was hiding in the shadows, watching her as she walked home. And that someone couldn’t have been more admiring of her pretty face and her full, ripe curves. She reminded him of a peach, just about ready to drop off the tree.
Chapter Three
Brad woke up and rolled over, sighing drowsily and stretching. It was such a huge bed that he could stretch out fully without bumping into Chase. No, hold on. Brad opened his eyes. Chase wasn’t next to him. He had the bed to himself. Chase wasn’t in the room, or in the bathroom either. Where was he? He sat up, rubbing his eyes. Although, there was a tray of food on a table by the cabin door, which smelled a lot like steak and fried eggs. The delicious scent filled his nostrils and he salivated. It had to be intended for him. There was no way Chase would have left food lying around uneaten. But why would he bring him food when they’d been arguing so badly? It was most likely his way of saying sorry, he decided. Chase didn’t have a bad heart, he’d just been shaped by his father being too hard on him and having crazy-high expectations of him, and this had turned him into a self-serving, competitive and angry person. Brad was still a way from forgiving him, but there’s no point wasting good food, he concluded, hopping out of bed, and picking up the tray.
It tasted as good as it smelled, and he was half way through the huge portion, when the cabin door burst open and Chase came in.
“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” he said.
“Thanks for the breakfast, dude.”
“It’s not a big deal,” Chase replied.
“Ah, I wouldn’t say that. It’s not often I get to enjoy breakfast in bed.”
“I was getting my own, Chase said. “So I had them bring another tray over.”
“Should I take this as an apology for last night?” Brad said, unable to resist. Chase looked down at his feet, and Brad could’ve sworn he saw some color coming to his cheeks.
“If you like,” he said. Brad shrugged.
“Apology accepted,” he said, and shuffled himself into a more comfortable position, propped up on pillows.
“This isn’t the start of a bromance, you know?” Chase said gruffly.
“You’ve brought me steak and eggs for breakfast, dude. It can be anything you want it to be!” Brad replied, with a lecherous wink.
Chase went to prepare himself for the day, while Brad finished his breakfast, chewing slowly, dreamily, reminiscing about the night before. Chase wouldn’t have been so conciliatory this morning if he’d known that Brad had snuck out while he was sleeping. Chase had woken him up, whining and yipping in his dreams, and he couldn’t get back to sleep again. Eventually, he’d decided to get up and take a look around the town.
He’d shifted for speed. It was risky to be seen, but he figured the town would be deep asleep by now. He’d only planned to get a feel for it, to understand the lay of the land, but then he’d scented her. He had a piece of cloth, a tiny red morsel of fabric that had been caught in his teeth the day that he and Chase had run after the girl and toyed with her dress. His mother had given it to him before he began the long journey to Williston, and it was impregnated with the girl’s smell. He’d sniffed it several times during the long, long bus journey from New Mexico, and her scent was imprinted on his brain. As he wandered the streets, he hadn’t expected to pick it up, but, suddenly, there it was, right in the center of the small town, and overpoweringly strong. It wasn’t a scent that had rubbed off from something she’d touched. It was actually her! His heart leaping, he followed on its trail, quickly tracing it to a bar. And there she was, walking out of the bar. The girl of his destiny, and more beautiful than he could’ve imagined. She wasn’t skinny and rangy like the females of his pack; she had lush, soft, human curves. Her hips were full and rounded, and her breasts were more than a handful each. He fantasized about nibbling at the flesh of her generous thighs, or burying his face in the valley between her breasts, which was exposed so temptingly. As he watched, she rounded a corner and was waylaid by a wasted dude. Brad’s muscles tensed, ready to attack, as the guy looked to be making a grab for her, but she easily outwitted him, making him slam into a wall, and crumple in a heap on the ground. Brad stared in admiration. This girl was strong. She didn’t take any shit. He hadn’t known that human females could be so aggressive. But then, she wasn’t a human. There was a good chance she didn’t know it yet, but she was about to become one of them.
Careful to keep a couple of blocks back, Brad tailed her all the way home. His ears pricked up at the snuffling sounds she was making, like a mole searching for food. Humans made some weird sounds sometimes! He watched until she was safely in her house, with the door locked. Then he loped all the way back to the hotel, where Chase was deeply asleep, snoring on his back.
*
“What’s your plan?” Chase asked, bounding into the cabin. Brad licked his lips.
“Great breakfast, dude,” he said.
“Good,” Chase muttered. Brad knew he was starting to feel embarrassed at his unusual act of generosity. Brad was silent for a moment. He wasn’t going to mention that he’d already seen the girl, of course. And there was no way he was about to tell Chase that he had the piece of cloth.
“I mean, there’s no saying the girl is actually in this town, is there?” Chase said. “Feasibly, she could be anywhere. Not just in the state, but across the whole country.”
“The National Federation seems pretty confident that they’ve pinpointed her here,” Brad replied.
“But how? They don’t have a name, because her parents changed it. It was like they went into witness protection or something. According to my mom, within days of us playing with the girl, they were all gone, without a trace.”
“Who knows how they get their information, but they have a great record of locating bitten humans,” Brad said.
“There’s only been like three in the past 20 years.”
“They found all of them, which is a 100% success rate,” Brad said slowly. Chase scowled at him. He was always so calm and reasonable.
“So we have a town, but no address,” Chase said, with a groan. An idea sparked in Brad’s brain.
“Maybe we should find the nearest Federation office, and see if they have any more information?” he suggested. Chase’s eyes lit up.
“That’s a great idea!”
“But how are we going to find out where it is?”
“I’ll call mom,” Chase said, and picked up his phone. There were no details about the Federation – and, actually no information about werewolves at all – on the Internet. Werewolves weren’t the most technologically-advanced bunch. One day a geek would come of age, smart enough to create a second, secret Internet, to safely contain werewolf information. But, until then, they had modern technology for human things, and the technology of 30 years ago for werewolf things.
Chase called his mother, and then made a second call.
“They won’t give me details on the phone,” he said, throwing his cell down on the bed in disgust. “They say I have to go to the office so they can ‘verify’ me. It’s nowhere near here, and it’s going to take me most of the day to get there and back.”
“Can I come with you?” Brad asked, knowing what the answer would be. Chase stared at him, his earlier softness gone, and his typical pugnacity back in full force.
“No offence, but you’re competition. And I’d be an idiot if I gave you a leg-up right now.”
“Ok.” Brad shrugged, shuffled further down on the bed, folded his hands behind his head and gazed out of the window. From time to time, his gaze flickered onto Chase, watching him getting ready, face lit up with purpose and excitement at getting one over on his rival.
Soon, Chase was ready to go.
“What are you going to do today?” he asked Brad, looking at him with suspicion.
“Oh.” Brad sighed. “I guess I’ll look around the town, make some enquiries. That kind of thing.”
“Good luck!” Chase
said sarcastically, and slammed out of the cabin, whistling to himself.
Brad got up and checked himself into an empty cabin. His wolf had been on high alert the whole time, being constantly in the presence of another Alpha-to-be. He needed to fully relax, to know that he was in his own territory. He lay down on the new bed and resumed his hands-behind-head position. He kept replaying his first sighting of the girl. It was a moment he’d thought about for so long. His parents had been telling the story of the day he and Chase had played with her ever since he was small. It was like a fairytale. He had always known that there was only a one in two chance that it would come true, but that was enough for him to dream. He pulled the piece of fabric out of his pocket and took a deep sniff of it. Immediately his brain was imbued with her scent, and she became so present to him that she could have been in the room. He kept thinking of her shiny dark curls. He couldn’t tell the exact shade of her hair in the darkness, but it was healthy and radiant. And her cheeks – they were so lovely, like fresh apples on pale honey skin. Her lips were those cute, pursed ones that reminded you of raspberries – narrow from one side to the other, but really full. And what a body! So curvy, with all the parts of it defined. He had known instinctively that she was ripe for mating. He hoped against hope that she would be the one for him.
He sniffed at the fabric again, and, suddenly, a memory flashed across his mind. She’d been laughing. Her dress was billowing in the wind, and he and Chase were gamboling after her. They were taking turns to lick any exposed patches of skin, and she was laughing in delight. After that, they’d been too playful with her dress, and it had ended up a little shredded, and one of them, unused to the softness of human skin, had sunk his teeth into her arm, giving her a significant bite. The bite was very unfortunate. But, up to that point, she’d been happy, and not terrified. It wasn’t the ‘wolf attack’ that had been reported in the newspapers! The snatch of memory filled him with happiness.
Brad was bursting to go into the town and look for her, but it was still early, and he felt that he needed to bide his time, come up with a convincing plan for meeting her. Instead, he went for a run around the national park to blow off some steam. This time, he took his clothes with him. There was no way he’d get away with striding across the hotel complex naked in broad daylight. In the forest, he was cautious, sniffing for humans. Wolves weren’t native to this area, and people would freak out if they saw him. But there was no-one in the entire park. On a weekday, all the humans were most likely occupied by their boring jobs, filing, photocopying, and slaving their lives away. He ran lazily, not needing to catch anything, his belly still full with the giant breakfast Chase had brought him, and he watched with amusement as the rabbits exploded into sprints of terror at the sight of him. He chased a few, half-heartedly, but let them go.
He came back to the hotel both full of energy and totally relaxed. He got himself together and left, walking in the direction of the town.
It was so frustrating walking as a human! It took at least four times as long to get anywhere as when he was in his wolf form. But he had no other option, so he loped along, trying to get to know the life of the little town as he went. The girl had spent her life here – well the last 15 years anyway. She must’ve walked every inch of these streets, must know every building, every corner intimately. It was a cute town, with its pretty brick buildings and neat gardens. Maybe it was the kind of town he would’ve been happy living in if he was human. He passed a laundromat and imagined her sitting in there, watching dreamily as her clothes tumbled around in the machine. He wondered if she sat in the nearby café, chatting to her friends, or maybe curled up with a book. There was an incredible smell coming from a diner further down the street. Did she go in there to celebrate good news, or for a nice lunch with her mom? He loved the feeling of being immersed in her life, the life of someone he so far knew nothing about. Well, he knew that she was a ballsy girl, which was a great start. And she wasn’t mean. With the boots she’d been wearing the night before, she could’ve given that loser a nasty kick in the ribs, but she’d just walked off, head held high. He was sure she had a good heart; he just knew it!
Almost without realizing, he’d walked all the way to her house. There it was: an adorably pretty cottage, with a red door, and boxes of flowers sitting in front of the windows. The scent of her was so strong; she was definitely at home. Was she doing housework? Or working at something? Did she study? He stood on the opposite side of the road, staring at the door, burning to go and tap the knocker. But, eloquent as he usually was, he had no idea what he would say to her. I’m the mate you’re destined to be with. Uh, because I bit you a long, long time ago? Umm, that’s unless my friend bit you, and he’s actually the one who’s destined to be with you. What a moron! Before he’d arrived in Williston, he’d had a vague plan of tracking her to a bar, getting talking to her, and gradually winning her over. Intruding on her like this would just be weird. His wolf’s tail dropped between its legs and he slunk away. Later, he told himself. He retraced his steps back to the café he’d seen, and went to get coffee.
Chapter Four
It was happening again. Aspen’s whole body was wracked with pain, far worse than anything she’d experienced before. It was even worse than the first time it had happened. She clutched her bedclothes as another lightning bolt seemed to go through her. All of her bones ached unbearably. Her muscles felt like they were being stretched, almost to the point of breaking, and her chest burned, as if invisible hands were trying to tear her sternum apart. She moaned and cried as the sensations rose up and subsided in waves. Her sheets were soaked. She had no idea how long this had been going on. Was it minutes, or hours?
“Momma,” she called weakly. But she knew that her mother was at work. So was her father, and her sister, Venus. She was all alone, wracked by whatever agony had taken hold of her body.
The first time it had happened, it was in the middle of the night, and her parents had come running when she screamed. They flicked the light on, and for a moment, before they ran over to her, they stood by the door, clinging onto the jamb for support, and stared at her, faces ghostly pale.
“What is it?” she’d wailed, scared by the fear in their expressions.
“It’s just terrible to see my baby in pain,” her mother had answered, wiping Aspen’s damp forehead with the sleeve of her nightgown.
“Will you take me to the hospital?” she said.
“If it happens again, sweetheart,” her father replied. “It’s probably just growing pains.”
“But I’m 22,” she said in a trembly voice.
“Maybe it’s one of those one-off things that happen. You remember that time I had such a bad stomach-ache, I thought I’d poisoned myself with something really bad. But then it just went away by itself? These things happen,” Her mother said, stroking her forehead. Aspen frowned in confusion. Her parents were usually so caring when she was sick, never forcing her to go to school when she didn’t want to go. But now they seemed to be playing down what was absolutely the worst pain of her life.
“It’s all better now, sweetheart,” her father said. “Just go back to sleep, and this’ll be the end of it.”
“Ok,” she said uncertainly, as they tucked her in like she was a little kid, turned the light out, and closed the door.
But it hadn’t been the end of it, because here it was again. Aspen lay on the bed, breathless from the last spasm, panicking. She’d never heard of a weird pain that popped up like this from nowhere, and engulfed your whole body. Even her skin hurt, like it was too tight for her.
The tearing sensation took hold of her again. She felt like her shoulders were being dislocated from their sockets, and the same with her hips. Invisible hands were trying to break the bones in her feet, and in her hands. With an effort, she lifted up her left hand. The room was dark, but, when it came into the sliver of light slipping between the curtains, she gave a long, ear-splitting scream of pure terror.
She screamed
and screamed in pain and fear, not even aware that it was she who was screaming. There was something wrong with her hand. Her fingers had become a lot shorter, and her hand and wrist seemed to be popping with muscles, the skin clinging to them. Had she imagined it? She had squeezed her eyes shut tight, and she didn’t dare open them again and look.
Now there was another sound mixed in with her screaming. She quieted her voice and listened. It was the doorbell. It was ringing relentlessly.
“Go away!” she bellowed. But it didn’t stop. It continued patiently: brrrring!..... brrrring!.....brrrring! Who the fuck would ring a doorbell for that long? She’d just wait it out. She lay on her back as a minute passed, and another. As the noise continued, she discovered that her pain had gone. Her body was flooded with painkilling endorphins, and she even felt a little high.
“Ok, I’m going to answer the door and make this jerk-off sorry he ever thought about ringing the fucking doorbell!” she muttered. She pulled herself into a sitting position and stood up. Her feet were shaky, the bones cracking weirdly. She pulled on a black silk kimono, and staggered out of her room, down the stairs and along the hallway. She stumbled against the front door, barely capable of standing up straight. What the fuck? This is like being wasted, but way, way worse! Her parents, for no reason she could understand, especially since they lived in an extremely safe town, had five different types of locks on the door. She paused to unfasten them all as the doorbell continued to ring, then yanked the door wide open, ready to scream at whoever was standing there.
Once Bitten Twice Smitten: BBW Werewolf Shifter Menage Romance Page 3
