by Sky Winters
“Not by a long shot,” he told her with a smile.
It took hours to explain what had happened to the police, who took statements from witnesses that had watched as Grandma had met Little Red Riding Hood on stage. At first, they had thought it was just part of the costume competition as Grandma morphed into a Big Bad Wolf right before their eyes, but then Little Red Riding Hood had done the same. It quickly escalated into a horrible fight before the two large beasts had gone running outside, chasing one another.
The crowd had abandoned the contest, chasing the two of them outside to see what happened next, thinking the fight was something that had been put on by the club for entertainment purposes. When it ended, they all filed back inside to continue their night of fun. Cameron had apparently not been aware that Weston was also a shifter when he had decided to take him on and refused to back down once he learned that he was. His demise was his own doing.
Chapter Eleven
It took months to clear Weston of any wrong doing, but in the end, it was ruled self-defense. Though they had missed their planned holiday vacation, the two of them had only gotten closer since the night that Cameron had attempted to abduct her and kill Weston. Follow up interviews by the cops had revealed a man that was much sicker than she had ever realized. He was a classic sociopath, hiding it well until he finally crossed a line. She was lucky to be alive and probably wouldn’t be if not for Weston.
“I’m sorry that we haven’t been able to go anywhere with all my legal troubles,” Weston told her one night as they sat curled up listening to music.
“Oh, Weston. You don’t seriously think I’m worried about that do you? I wouldn’t even be here if not for you.”
“I was just looking forward to it and I know you were too. Instead, we’ve been stuck here until everything was over. Plus, there’s all the scrutiny now that everyone knows what I am.”
“I know. It’s been hard, but we’re getting through it. People seem to be more accepting of it than you expected.”
“Yes. There is that. It’s a relief really not to have to hide it anymore.”
“So, we’ll go to Paris some other time.”
“Well, I hear it is beautiful in the spring. I will find a way to squeeze in some time for us to go anyway.”
“That would be nice, but I completely understand if we can’t.”
“I know you do, but I really think we deserve a vacation after all of this.”
As it turned out, they did make it. On a warm spring day in April, the two of them boarded a plane bound for France, spending a week just taking in the city and enjoying the sites. Stepping into a small sweet shop as they walked down the street, the couple sat at a small table in back and ordered a small plate of mixed petit fours and wine.
“Look at the size of that French Poodle,” he marveled.
Mandy turned her head but saw nothing. Turning back to him, she found that he was kneeling beside the table, holding up what appeared to be a small cake toward her. He reached up and flipped open the top of the faux petit fours to display a large diamond ring.
“Will you marry me?” he asked, looking a little nervous as several onlookers watched with smiles on their faces.
“Yes. Of course, I’ll marry you!” she said happily as he pulled the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger.
They kissed as the crowd around them cheered loudly. Moments later, they stepped out into the sunlight again, a newly engaged couple. It was only the beginning for them as they began to plan the rest of their lives together. Though neither of them knew it at the time, they were already well on their way. A tiny seed inside Mandy was already growing into a baby who would become one of the most powerful wolf shifters in the history of the world.
Young Wolf
CHAPTER ONE
The Divorcee
“This app is great, just trust me,” Isabelle Grant’s best friend Ramona told her as she clicked and swiped around on Isabelle’s phone.
Isabelle’s divorce had just been finalized and, though the marriage had been pretty much the definition of ‘loveless,’ she was still broken up about it. She’d put years of her life into that relationship, and still somehow things had soured. Now, thirty-six years old, she had to start again.
And Ramona thought the best way to do that was to sign up for the ComeShift app, a dating service that connected people with shifters. Werewolves, werebears, even dragons, apparently. Isabelle was mystified by the whole thing, and she didn’t think it could possibly even be real.
“There.” Ramona smiled proudly at Isabelle’s phone before handing it back over to its owner. “Your profile is all set up. You even have a picture already. You’re good to go. And you’re so hot that I bet the messages come flooding in.”
Isabelle laughed, then realized something. “Where did you get a picture for it?”
Ramona got a bit shifty-eyed. “I used one that was on your phone.”
Eyes widening, Isabelle clicked her phone back on and stared at her profile picture. It was one of her in some black lingerie. She’d taken it, and sent it to her ex-husband in a vain attempt to get him in the mood.
“I thought I deleted that!”
Ramona giggled. “You can change it if you really want to. But the guys on there are wild and sexy, and into kinks. I’ve heard that sex with werewolves is the hottest thing ever. Just have fun with it.”
When her friend told her that she wanted to come over to visit her after work, Isabelle hadn’t expected this. Isabelle was a leasing consultant. She was successful in her own right. She felt that if any good came out of this divorce, it would be that she had more freedom now. Rebounds weren’t really her thing. But she appreciated that her friend cared, and she humored her so that Ramona would feel like she’d helped in some small way.
As soon as Ramona was gone, Isabelle sank into her couch. She doubted very much that anything good was going to come out of this app. She’d heard horror stories about guys on things like this. She was so much older than the generation that used these things. When she’d last been in the dating game, dating apps did not exist. In fact, cell phones merely existed as ways to call and maybe, maybe text people if you had a fancy plan that included limited texting.
But now apparently, you could pick up your phone and browse singles in your area. Single werewolves, no less.
She still thought that was a load of shit.
Setting her phone down on the coffee table, Isabelle stood up and went into her bedroom to change out of her work clothes. She threw on some pink pajama bottoms and a Jem and the Holograms t-shirt. Nothing would give her age away better than this. Well, aside from the odd gray hair she found peeking around amidst her black-dyed hair. Whenever she saw one of those forming at her roots, she plucked and touched up her coloring.
She supposed that she had good looks going for her. She was short at five foot two, but she was curvy with large breasts, and a sizeable ass to go with it. Her body wasn’t quite an hour-glass shape, but she certainly wasn’t overweight. Well, maybe a pound or two.
Isabelle sat back down on her couch, folding one of her legs underneath her, and started watching TV. She checked out the news for a moment, but that was too depressing, so she turned on a channel that was predominantly cartoons, and allowed herself to feel more like a child again.
She didn’t need a man to be happy or whole. But she did sometimes think how nice it would be to spend time with a man who cared about her. She wished she could kiss someone again. She wanted to sleep with a man again… It had been over a year. It was something she didn’t want to talk about of course, but it bothered her. A lot.
Right as she was about to consider one of the more ‘normal’ dating apps, her phone lit up with a notification from ComeShift.
“Great,” she sighed. “Which Hot Topic-wearing weirdo is this going to be?”
She looked at her message and saw that it was from a guy named Devon Howard. He was surprisingly and thankfully gorgeous, with dark brown hair that was combe
d into an almost 1950’s style, hazel eyes like the sky during a storm, and scruff on his cheeks. He wore a leather jacket in a lot of his pictures, and revealed in one of them that he had a motorcycle. He was also, sadly, only twenty-eight years old.
Isabelle felt awkward even thinking about going out with a guy who was almost ten years younger than her. Ten years was a decade, after all! But she didn’t want to deny him one date, since he had taken the trouble of messaging her…
She went from his profile to the message and smiled at how sweet and fun he sounded.
BigBad666: Hey cutie. Want to get a drink sometime?
Isabelle blushed. This werewolf guy thought she was cute. Of course, she didn’t think he was actually a werewolf. Surely the people who used this app were just in some sort of Halloween-themed cult, right? Also, his username was ridiculous. She would have cringed more if he wasn’t so good looking…
Nevertheless, she wrote him back. Why the hell not?
IzzyGrant80: Hi! That sounds nice. What sort of place did you have in mind?
She told herself that this would serve as a test. If he told her the name of some seedy place, she’d maybe change her mind. But if he still came off as fun and carefree as she thought he was, she’d go. She’d only live once, and he could prove to give her a good time. At least for one night.
BigBad666: There’s a place in San Bernardino called The Crazy Cactus. Want to meet there tonight at ten? Or is it a school night? ;)
She knew that he was kidding, but Isabelle was not one to take such a jab lightly.
IzzyGrant80: You’re on, biker boy.
Meeting him at ten would give her enough time to change. She didn’t want to show up in her PJs, though she decided to keep the Jem shirt on. At the very least, she could see if this Devon had any idea what the animated TV show was.
Devon Howard was not a bad guy. Deep down, he could be rather sweet. He just did not want any of his friends to know that. He was a part of a motorcycle club, though the times they rode together had become less and less frequent. He was starting to hit that stage in life where a lot of his friends were going off and getting married, and he didn’t want to be a lone wolf, in any sense of the phrase.
He was already a wolf, but did he have to be a lonely one?
According to him, he had everything a girl could want. He was young, handsome, and muscular with an interesting backstory and unique hobby. Shifting into a wolf was not exactly a hobby, though. He just chose to look at it as an interesting quirk of his, not as a curse.
He joined the ComeShift dating app with the express purpose of finding Miss Right, if such a person existed. He thought that, maybe, if he found a lady for himself, things could go more or less back to normal with the guys. After all, they had united due to their common interests. What could be better than adding a girlfriend to the list of their similarities?
And, sure enough, at last, he thought he had found the one for him. This woman named Isabelle Grant showed up on a profile search. She had black hair, blue-green eyes, and quite a voluptuous figure. There wasn’t much to not like about her… She was thirty-six years old, but he felt like that didn’t exactly matter. She was more experienced than him, maybe. That thought excited him. This Isabelle looked like she might like it dirty, and that was the sort of girl he liked.
So he messaged her. It did not take long before they had some plans for ten o’clock that night. In the intervening time, Devon went into his bathroom and added some hair spray to his mass of dark curls that he’d already formed into a 50s style Teddy Boy. The young wolf had an antiquated view of what it took to be attractive, but then again Isabelle was taken by him. If the look didn’t have anything to do with it, it would have fooled him…
Devon hoped that Isabelle wouldn’t mind driving from L.A. to San Bernardino that late at night. If the date went smoothly, he had the idea in his mind that they could stay the night there at his place.
That is, if she didn’t mind sleeping with werewolves.
As the hour of their date approached, Devon hopped onto his black Harley, and rode in the direction of The Crazy Cactus. The bar also had food, so they could get a midnight snack if Isabelle so chose. He did not pick out a crapshoot of a place; he hoped she would appreciate that at least.
Maybe he was pressuring himself about this more than he knew. It was just hard being the last of his friends to be single.
Isabelle paid close attention to the map on her phone as she drove from her apartment in Los Angeles to this bar in San Bernardino. She’d actually never been to the smaller town before, though she’d heard good things about it. It amused her that a werewolf had been living in San Bernardino this whole time, and this was the first she’d heard of it. But, then again, she did not hear about anything paranormal going on in her boringly normal life.
She still expected to just find some goth wannabe in the bar instead of a ‘sexy, hot werewolf’ like Ramona had professed she would encounter.
God, she really needed to stop thinking up these ancient references.
When she finally arrived at the bar, she parked her car next to a black Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Isabelle wondered if that was Devon Howard’s bike. If so, it looked pretty awesome. She’d been on a bike a few times in her life, though she was not brave enough or crazy enough to get one for herself.
She went into the bar and looked around for any sign of the leather-clad werewolf. All she saw around was a bunch of normal-looking people who were having drinks and chatting in groups in some of the booths. The place Devon had picked out seemed nice enough. It was slightly wild west themed without seeming too much like a movie.
But it took her a few moments to find the guy she was there to meet.
When she did find them, they locked eyes. That was how she knew it was him. He had the prettiest eyes she thought she’d ever seen. Though his body was definitely not that of a giant, blood-thirsty beast. She supposed that it was only because the moon was not full.
Smiling, Isabelle went over to meet him at his table for two near the bar. He stood up and they shook hands. At least he behaved like a gentleman. That was a pleasant surprise, and also not very werewolfian.
Isabelle began to wonder if she was relieved or disappointed that she had not met a vicious beast from the Internet.
CHAPTER TWO
The Vicious Beast
Sitting across from Devon, Isabelle looked him over without giving it away too much that she was doing so. He was definitely as handsome as the pictures made him out to be. She hoped that he thought she was pretty, and was not disappointed in her. She reminded herself that she was just a little older than him; she wasn’t a dinosaur. It was terrible how often she fell for the classic ageism thoughts. No one really should care how old someone is, as long as there is a real connection.
And she could definitely still connect.
Devon smiled at her as if he could read her mind.
“Hello,” she said to him. “Sorry I’m a little late. This place is off the beaten path.”
He chuckled. “It’s okay. I hope you don’t mind that I picked a place closer to me… To be honest, L.A. scares me a little.”
Isabelle grinned at that. “Really? Why?”
Devon shook his head and shrugged. “No particular reason. Well, I guess it has something to do with it being a big city. I do better in smaller cities. I’m not really from San Bernardino, even. I have a cabin in the woods.” He held up his hands defensively. “I promise I’m not a serial killer.”
She laughed. “No,” she said. “You’re not. You’re just a werewolf.” She whispered that last part, almost as if she had said a bad word.
Raising an eyebrow at her, he smiled slightly, revealing a perfect set of teeth.
God, was he gorgeous or what? She almost didn’t feel so bad about robbing the cradle because he looked like a star from the 50s. And he definitely didn’t look like Lon Chaney, Jr. He looked more like Elvis.
“You don’t have to lower your voice
about that,” he said. “I’m not shy about it.”
She leaned forward and was all set to ask him more about that when the waitress came over and took their drink orders. Isabelle ordered a Bloody Mary, and he ordered a Guinness. “Ooh,” she said. “A dark drink for a dark man.”
Devon continued to grin at her, leaning towards her a little himself. “You looked like you wanted to ask me something.”
Isabelle nodded. “Is it actually true?” she asked him.
“Of course it is,” he said. “I’ll shift for you later, if you want. But not here. I don’t want to be banned from The Crazy Cactus.”
That made her cackle. He was a werewolf who was worried about being banned from a bar. And she thought she was hooking up with a bad boy…
The waitress brought them their drinks, and he asked for the check. “I’m trying to drink responsibly,” he told Isabelle. “So, what brought you to the ComeShift app if you don’t believe in shifters?”
Isabelle laughed, embarrassed to be called out like that. But it was true. She thought it was a strange app for people with weird fetishes, but she wasn’t going to tell Devon that. “Well, I didn’t want to be prejudiced. My friend signed me up for it, actually. She thought it would do me some good after my—” She broke herself off, not wanting to get into her divorce with her hot young date. “…I had been going through some crap lately, so she thought it would help lift my spirits, I guess.”
Devon tilted his head at her a bit, wondering what she had been about to say but not wanting to push her since they were still strangers to each other. “Is it working?”
Looking at him and feeling sort of shy, she nodded. “It is.”
“Then let’s drink to that,” Devon said, raising his glass of dark beer. She raised her Bloody Mary. “To spirits being lifted.”
They clinked their glasses together and drank.
“So where is this cabin in the woods?” Isabelle asked him curiously.
