by C. J. Pinard
The hot shower had relaxed me so much, I slept for a good six hours. A glance at my phone told me it was now almost one p.m. Stretching, I sat up and checked my phone.
I had two missed calls from my home phone from after midnight last night. Obviously my mom or dad trying to call me. Great, how would I explain that one?
I sighed and looked at my text messages.
Gemma: Im getting worried you’re not answering ur phone.
Gemma again: Party at Luke Bond’s house tonight. I’m picking you up @ 8.
I laughed and texted her back immediately: Sounds like fun, I will be waiting with slutty clothes on.
Her immediate response: Yassss!
I laughed and tossed the phone on my bed. Twisting my hair up into a ponytail, I wandered downstairs to get something to eat. I was beyond starving.
Guess the raw venison wasn’t enough to sustain me…
Gag.
I shuddered at the thought, hoping to just find a nice can of Spaghetti-O’s to devour.
“Ayla, you’re alive,” I heard my mother say quietly as I entered the kitchen. She hadn’t even turned from the sink where she was loading dishes into the dishwasher.
“Yes, I am. And how did you know it was me?” I asked.
She put the last plate in, added some detergent, closed it, and hit the power button. With a towel, she dried her hands and turned to look at me with light-brown eyes. “Because your brothers stomp. You barely make a sound, but I always know it’s you. Plus, you smell better than they do.”
I laughed as I found an Oatmeal Cream Pie in the pantry and unwrapped it. “This is true.”
“So, you’re gonna follow in your brothers’ footsteps and stay out all night, huh?”
I was just about to bite into the sweet goodness when I paused the cookie at my mouth. “What?”
My mother sighed, and said, “Ayla, I heard you and Aden come in this morning. While he and Austyn are adults, and I really don’t need to know where they are every second of the day. But you, young lady, are still a minor and in high school. The only reason I didn’t flip out was because Aden said you were with him.”
I had managed to take a bite of the Oatmeal Cream Pie as she’d been rambling, but it sure didn’t go down well as I attempted to swallow it. I felt like the lump of sugar was combined with the guilt trip she’d just accosted me with was stuck in my throat.
“Um, I’m sorry. I will make sure to text you next time.”
She snorted and put the dish towel back on the oven’s handle. “Text? No, Ayla Rose. You have a curfew of midnight, and I expect you adhere to it.”
Crap, she used my dreaded middle name. Managing to swallow down the cookie, I put on my most charming smile and said, “Of course, Mommy. I’m so sorry.” I walked toward her. “I love you.”
That disarmed her a little, and she melted against me as I hugged her. “I love you, too, honey. But I’m serious about the curfew.”
I smiled, knowing she was… and I was grateful I had a mother who gave a shit about where I’d been. A small shudder ran through me as I thought about what my life could have been like had my biological parents—wolves—raised me, raised us. I needed to be more considerate of Alicia and Rick, our adoptive parents. They’d saved our lives, I was convinced of it.
.
Jealously oozed out of Ryder as he stood brooding in a corner of the party. I probably shouldn’t have had a glass of that delicious red punch spouting from the beautiful punch bowl fountain, but how do I not try something so pretty?
Gemma said she’d seen Luke pouring bottles of booze into it. Of course, she told me this after I’d already downed half a glass. So by the time I’d learned of its spikeage, I actually couldn’t muster up a shit to give.
Sauntering over to Ryder, I put a hand on his chest, my other hand holding my near-empty red Solo cup. “What’s wrong?”
He eyed the glass, then me. “Nothing, but you should not be drinking.”
I lifted an eyebrow at him, and then downed the rest of the contents of my cup. Then I asked, “Why not?”
His beautiful eyes shifted around the room briefly until they landed on mine once again. “Alcohol is not good for… us. If you get what I’m saying.”
I laughed, then hiccupped. “Well, I see Austyn drinking all the time.”
“Consider the source,” he quipped with a half-grin.
I shrugged.
“I don’t like what you’re wearing,” he suddenly said, eyeing me up and down.
I felt instantly hurt. I thought I looked good in this outfit. It made me feel pretty. I looked down at the ripped jeans that contrasted with the pink, flowery, flowy top. “What’s wrong with it?”
“Too sexy, especially those shoes,” he came back, staring down at my pink-heeled sandals.
Too tipsy to try to analyze his words, and realizing he was in a mood, I just laughed and shook my head, turning to walk away.
Ryder grabbed my hand. “Where are you going?”
I lifted my cup. “More punch. And maybe some of those yummy jalapeno popper things.”
He snatched the cup from my hand and crushed it in his fist. “No more punch for you.”
Uh… well, this was getting awkward, and overall annoying. Yanking my hand from his grip, I twisted out of it and stepped back, walking fast toward the kitchen where I hoped Gemma and Kiera still were.
I know I didn’t know Ryder that well yet, and I definitely wanted to get to know him better, but right now, his whole possessive behavior was very off-putting. I didn’t want some guy to control me. I wanted to have a fun, easy-going, and flirtatious relationship with him. I wanted to support him as much as he would support me in all of my dreams and aspirations. No way was I going to let a guy tell me what I could and could not wear, and what I could and could not drink.
I walked in to see Gemma’s hand on some guy’s butt. She was laughing, her head tilted back while the guy watched her in amusement. This guy was way too built for a high-school boy, which was why, I’m sure, Gemma had sniffed him out. Then I recognized him as one of the players on the football team.
“Nice ass,” I heard a voice say, and I was afraid to turn around. But of course, I did anyway. Nate Powell stood not three feet from me, leaned up against the countertop, a drink in his hand, and a smug as hell smile on his face.
“Ugh,” I said, walking toward the dining room where the booze fountain was.
Yes, I was totally calling it a booze fountain now.
Plucking a red cup from the stack, I dipped it into the punch and then downed a big swig.
“What the hell!” I heard a male voice yell from the kitchen.
“Don’t try that shit again!” I heard another male voice growl.
I went back into the kitchen to see Ryder had Nate by the throat.
“What are you doing, Ryder?” I hollered, my fist balling up at my side.
“Do not comment on her ass again, hear me?” Ryder said to Nate, who was clawing at Ryder’s hands around his neck.
I instantly knew Ryder was using unnatural strength to pin him to the cabinets behind him, judging by the fact that Nate’s feet weren’t touching the ground.
“Stop it!” I yelled. “Just stop. You’re being asshole, Ryder!”
He spun around and saw me standing there, letting go of Nate, who immediately gasped in a big breath of air and then shoved Ryder out of his space.
I grabbed Ryder’s hand and led him out back, where a large yard greeted us, a colorfully lit hot tub encased in a gazebo in its center.
Ryder’s hand was burning up. But then again, so was mine.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, upset but concerned by the sweat breaking out on his forehead.
He shook his head and squeezed my hand. “I’m sorry. I just get so… so… crazed. Like too much testosterone is flowing through me or something. I need to learn how to control—”
I put my finger to his lips. “It’s okay.”
“No, it
’s not, but I’m sorry,” he said again.
“We have to get out of here,” I said, not sure where I’d set my new cup of booze-punch.
“Yes, we do,” he said, shuddering a little.
“When is it gonna happen?” I asked quietly, now concerned for Ryder, as he seemed to be shaking and sweating.
By the way I couldn’t stand or sit still, I knew I would be, too, in a matter of minutes.
He glanced at his fitness watch-thing, and said, “A few hours. Time to go.”
Believing him, I let him escort me out of the party, a little tipsy, a little pissed off, a little happy, and a lot ready to be alone with him.
“Are you drunk?” he asked, his hand up my shirt, fumbling with my bra clasp.
I shook my head, sure the booze had worn off by now. Well, mostly sure. I was feeling happy and carefree still. “I am not. But what are we doing, Ryder?”
We had somehow ended up at his house, in his bedroom. I don’t really remember the ride here.
“Kissing,” he replied, his other hand in my hair.
“But why here? Shouldn’t we be—”
“Quiet,” he said, running kisses over my neck, and I didn’t object. It felt sooo good.
I groaned at the feel of his tongue and lips on my neck. “Where are your parents?” I panted out, barely able to breathe through our heavy kisses.
He laughed under his breath. “They’re wherever they go for their shift.”
Happy with his response, I continued to kiss him. It didn’t surprise me that he was such a good kisser. I could get lost in his kisses forever.
With my body on fire, I arched my back as he teased the button on my jeans, looking at me questioningly, seeming to need permission to pop the snap and take them off.
I wanted him to. He was hot, and so was I. Nodding, I licked my lips, encouraging him on.
Then I suddenly remembered something, and as I broke the kiss, I shyly asked, “When is the shift?”
“Soon, baby,” Ryder replied. But since he’d already said that at the party, I wasn’t satisfied with that answer.
“Like, in the next few minutes?” I asked.
I felt him grin into my mouth. “A couple hours at the earliest.”
Strange, I thought. We were about to turn into horrible, snarling, deer-murdering beasts, and all he was thinking about was sex.
Not that I wasn’t.
As he removed my shirt and placed his lips on my nipple, I cried out at the exquisite pleasure it caused me. And when Ryder opened his nightstand drawer and pulled a condom out and set it on top, I knew this was it. We continued to kiss and explore each other, my hands running over the hard planes of his backside, his fingers reaching down to touch me where I’d never been touched before. I gasped at the sensation it caused and opened my legs wider so he could touch me some more. A feeling like something between stress and pleasure began to curl in my belly and work its way down between my legs, and then it washed over me, causing me to cry out and lose my breath as he kissed me during my first orgasm.
Ryder looked up at me and smiled. “I want you now.”
I smiled, knowing this was my last night as a virgin.
Trying to relax like my friends had told me to, and focusing on the mood, I blew out a breath and let my body invite his in with my legs wide open. He rolled the condom on and placed himself at my entrance, looking down into my eyes. Ryder slowly entered me, and once he was all the way in, I bit my lip as a pinching pain inside made me gasp. Grateful it had only lasted a few long seconds, I took my friends’ advice and just completely let my mind go elsewhere, trying to enjoy what I knew was a life-changing moment for me.
As soon as he began to work himself in and out, I felt the familiar twitch that signaled my body’s change.
Slamming my eyes open, I saw Ryder’s eyes turn to yellow, and his mouth widen into a grin. Soon I felt him stop his thrusts and still inside me, and that was the moment I knew I had finally done it. The blasted virginity was gone. Now I needed to go find somewhere cool and breezy, because I was burning up.
Chapter 5
That shift, and many after it, were all the same. Then, about six months after my first shift, I had a strange one.
It was during the summer solstice. The full moon lined up perfectly with the shadow of the sun. It was a shift I will never forget.
Per the usual, my body trembled with a strange energy, and then burned with fever. Knowing the signs, I made my way to the mountain of Wolfe Point—with Ryder driving. And then the bone-breaking pain began. As with every shift, I was thankful it was so much less painful and drawn-out than it had been that first time.
As soon as my body transformed into the wolf, I felt extremely relieved and aware. Every pinprick of heat and hair on the surface of my skin had been an acute alertness. Now feeling comfortable and happy, I followed the wolves around me as we ran in a pack, hunting for food and blood. I’d learned early on that we needed blood to survive, just like a vampire. But just the mention of the word ‘vampire’ made an ire grow wildly in my chest, but I could never figure out why.
This particular shift, as we were in the woods hunting small animals, we found ourselves in a small clearing. Being that I could hear my wolf brothers and sisters inside my head—it was how we communicated—I listened to their voices, almost as one.
“What’s that smell?”
“There’s one nearby!”
“We need to get rid of it!”
I lifted my snout and sniffed the air. There was not only something delicious nearby, there was also something repulsive.
“Vampire,” I heard Aden’s voice in my head as he warned me.
It freaked me out. But then I grew angry, and thought, why am I angry? Not analyzing the emotion, I committed the scent to memory, because honestly, it was nothing like I had ever smelled.
“Kill it,” I heard Ryder’s voice in my head.
“Why are we killing the vampire?” I wondered in my head.
I heard a few growls inside my head, and then my brother’s voice. “Because they are evil, vile creatures. Undead and unnatural… they need to die forever.”
Um, I had not asked that of anyone particular. I had just been wondering. Now, I was officially freaked out.
“Stay outta my head,” I thought, my furry wolf body shuddering.
“You are part of the pack now, beautiful. We hear you, you hear us,” came a voice I recognized as Ryder’s.
I remember panicking that the wolves could hear my inner voice. Had they heard all my inner thoughts this whole time? Why was I hearing them now? And why was I remembering the shift when I usually shifted, then woke the next morning covered in mud and blood?
“Why now?” I whispered.
“The solstice must have awakened your awareness. Congratulations, girl,” came Aden’s voice.
“Thanks,” I replied, unexcited.
“Unfortunately, there’s also an eclipse tonight, so it should be extra fun for you,” said another voice I didn’t recognize. I looked around the clearing, and for some reason was able to identify the wolf who had spoken. It was Benson.
“Why?” I asked.
“Guys!” came Ryder’s voice. “Vampire at ten o’clock!”
I followed Ryder’s big, black wolf’s gaze and saw something move fast through the trees. I had pristine eyesight, so I was able to see that it appeared to be the form of a man moving quickly through amongst the trees. What is he doing here? I wondered.
Moving in a slow, calculated circle, I could feel the hatred for this creature emanating in waves from my wolf brothers and sisters. I felt the hatred too—and I hated the hate. Why did I feel such disdain for this creature? He had done nothing to me—to us. I should not feel anything for him.
“It’s a natural instinct,” came Aden’s voice.
Dammit! Stupid wolf telepathy.
I heard Ryder’s wolf chuckle. “I heard that.”
Mary had a little lamb, a little lamb, Mary had
a little lamb… I sang.
“Stop singing,” Benson growled.
“Why are you singing about lambs when you’re around a bunch of wolves?” Aden asked, laughing.
“Tryin’ to keep my head clear!” I volleyed.
“Get it!” I heard Benson shout, and then we were all running toward the vampire, who had scurried up a tree like vermin.
The growl that burst from the back of my throat surprised even me. Looking up, I could see the vampire at the top of a very tall pine tree. He was so far up, I wondered what the hell we were doing chasing him. There was no way any of us could reach him. As I growled, my long tail swished back and forth behind me.
“What now?” I asked to no one in particular.
“We wait for it to come down.” Ryder’s voice.
I watched as the vampire looked down at us. His skin was as white as the moon that shone down on us, and looked to be completely flawless as if his skin were etched from stone. His eyes were a very light color, and his hair as black as night. He wore dark but regular clothes. As I stared at him, I wondered what kind of power these creatures possessed. I also wondered what he had been thinking climbing that tree. I could see that they could move very fast—probably too fast for the human eye to see. So why not just run away?
“Because they’re not smart,” Aden said.
Dammit!
“He couldn’t smell a bunch of wolves around?” I asked my brother.
“They don’t have as sensitive of a sense of smell like we do,” he replied. “So we probably surprised him, and he panicked and climbed the tree.”
“What a dumbass,” I thought to myself.
I heard laughs and snickers as my reply.
Whoopsie.
I watched as the vampire looked over his shoulder, to the east, and I followed his line of sight. I smiled when his face looked worried. The horizon held a slight pink hue to it, indicating sunrise was coming soon. I was obviously not wearing a watch, but I could feel the sun coming soon.
I wondered if vampires were allergic to the sun like in the books and movies?
“They are,” Ryder said.
