Once Bitten Twice Smitten: BBW Werewolf Shifter Menage Romance (5 page)

“Well, you didn’t seem fine.” The stranger’s frown deepened. “I heard you screaming from the street.” She gasped.

“You could hear me, from all the way out there?” He nodded. “I know you were in terrible pain. And believe me, I understand exactly how that feels.”

“How could you? You don’t know me! You don’t know what’s wrong with me!” Aspen said loudly.
Who the hell did he think he was?
Pain and shock were making her grouchy, and, despite the stranger’s totally-off-the-scale good looks, she didn’t appreciate him turning up at her door and claiming he could empathize with her. Hurt flashed in his eyes, and then he seemed to pull himself together.

“I know it’s going to sound weird, but I know how you feel, because I had exactly the same pain when I was young, a few years younger than you are now,” he said.

“What? All you heard was that I was in pain. There’s no way you could know what was causing it!” she said. The stranger’s eyes were full of sympathy.

“It’s not the first time this has happened, is it?”

“No, it’s not.” She shook her head. “Are you saying I’ve got an illness or something?” He gave a short bark of laughter.

“No, quite the opposite. I’m sorry to say that you will probably feel like this a couple of times more. But then you’ll start to feel better. Much better than you’ve ever felt before.”

“I don’t understand.” She leaned against the doorframe. The man could be a threat to her, he could mean her harm, but something about him made her feel comfortable. “You’re not trying to save me are you?” she said. His brow furrowed again.

“Save you?”

“I mean, you’re not a Mormon or something?” He laughed again, more easily this time.

“Oh, no, I’m not trying to convert you to a religion. I just heard you suffering, and I came to your door, wanting to offer you some comfort.”

“Ok.” She straightened up. Her body was back to normal again. “So you’re saying you know what’s wrong with me? Please explain?”

“Your family is from New Mexico, right?” Aspen gaped at him.

“Yes, but how did you know?”

“And you left as a small child?”

“Yes we did,” she continued, her voice questioning. “My parents said they felt like a complete change. I was sick for a while, and when I recovered, they decided they wanted to bring me up someplace else.”

“And that’s all you know?” he asked. She shrugged.

“What else is to know?” He let out a long breath.

“I’m not the one to tell you. But it is important that you understand what’s happening to you. Please, ask your parents about why you moved to the opposite end of the country. And, when you understand more, come and find me.”

“But – ” she stammered, a hundred questions swirling around in her brain. “How will I find you?” she asked at last.

“I’m staying at The Pines Hotel. Cabin 10. Come and knock on my door anytime.” He bowed his head a little. “Now, I won’t intrude on your time any longer.” He turned to walk away.

“Wait! What’s your name?” she said.

“It’s Brad. And yours?”

“Aspen.” He smiled.

“What a beautiful, natural name,” he said, and began to walk along the pathway. “Please come and see me soon. I’ll be waiting for you, Aspen,” he called, over his shoulder.

Aspen watched until he was out of sight. She realized that she’d been very aware of his smell the whole time he was there. It seemed to linger behind him – fresh and outdoorsy, yet rich and spicy and exciting. He was unbelievably good-looking, with these amazing dark eyes, and bone structure that came straight out of a romance novel. She hadn’t known that guys like that existed in real life. But the weirdest thing was that, while he left guys like Luke Maslin in the shade, he wasn’t a jerk. He hadn’t mocked her, looked her up and down disparagingly, or made her feel like the sight of her was an offence to him. He was really nice, with kindness in his eyes. And, she could have sworn – no. She stopped that ridiculous thought dead. Guys who looked like him were not into girls who looked like her.

She locked the door up again, went into the kitchen and looked for the cookie jar. She was still weak from the stress her body had been under, and badly needed a sugar hit. After several frustrating minutes, she found it wedged behind the fridge, where her mother had hidden it from her and her sister. Cookies were her downfall. Ice cream and cupcakes too, but mostly cookies. They were so small and harmless-looking. She’d have one, then two, then three. And once she’d started, she couldn’t stop. She grabbed half a dozen, took them through to the living room, and sat down to think.

Something not only very painful, but totally weird had just been happening to her. The strange guy at the door claimed to know exactly what it was, and, apparently her parents knew too. These three thoughts ricocheted around in her mind, not making any sense at all.

By the time her parents arrived home, the cookie jar was empty, and Aspen had worked herself into a panic. The way they’d reacted the first time she’d felt the pain had been bizarre.
Almost like they’d been expecting it to happen
, she realized now. They’d been really scared, like their worst nightmare was coming true. She stayed on the sofa, listening to the locks on the front door opening…one, two, three, four, five… and the familiar sound of them bustling along the corridor. It was a sound she’d been listening to since forever, and it usually filled her with excitement. She’d rush to meet them and see what produce they’d picked up for their organic food business. But today, she waited until they’d gone out to the room where they kept their big, industrial fridges, and put their stuff away. She was trembling with nerves, not wanting to ask them the question that might change everything.

Eventually, they came into the living room, looking for her. Her mother looked relieved when she saw her.

“Hi, baby, you’re quiet today! We thought you’d maybe gone out.”

“No. I haven’t been up long. I got woken up by the same pain I had before. But this time it was worse,” Aspen said, watching her parents’ faces turning into identical masks of horror. “Am I sick?” she demanded.

“No, sweetheart – ” her father walked over to her. She knocked his comforting hand away from her shoulder.

“Dad! Don’t bullshit me. I know there’s something wrong with me!” she shouted, fear making her aggressive. Her parents exchanged meaningful glances. Aspen looked at them, feeling like she was watching a tennis game.

“Tell me why we moved here! I’m pretty sure that has something to do with it!” Suddenly, she had the strongest urge to bare her teeth and snarl at them.
What the hell?

“Baby, I just need a moment with your father. Is that ok?” her mother said.

“Yes. It’s fine. Go and get your story straight in the kitchen,” she said. They hurried out of the room, and Aspen sat, glowering at her cuticles as she waited for them to return.

They were gone for at least ten minutes. When they came back in, they sat down on either side of her, taking a hand each. Aspen looked from one to the other again, her fear growing by the second.

“Ok, spit it out,” she demanded. “I’m listening.”

“Before we moved up here, we used to live in a small town in New Mexico,” her father began.

“Yes, I know that,” Aspen said, irritably.

“Do you remember that just before we moved, you were very sick?” her mother asked.

“I think so. I was in hospital, right? I remember tubes going everywhere, and I was really hot, like burning hot.”

“You nearly died, sweetheart,” her father said. “But the doctors did an amazing job and saved your life.” Her mother’s eyes glistened with tears at the memory.

“What was wrong with me?”

“You were bitten. By a wolf.” Her father indicated the scar that lay beneath her new tattoo. She’d always hated it and covered it up at the first opportunity. It was a jagged, zigzag shape.

“But – you told me it was from an accident in the playground?”

“We didn’t want to freak you out,” her mother said. “The truth is that we took you and Venus to play in a national forest. She was being a bit of a handful, and we got distracted dealing with her. You were running around as usual, and, somehow, we lost track of you for a moment. The next thing we knew, you’d been attacked by a wolf. Your clothes were all torn, and it had bitten your arm.” Tears started to roll down her mother’s face.

“So? It doesn’t make you sound like parents of the year, I agree, but what’s the big deal?” Aspen demanded. Her father took over speaking.

“We took you straight to the hospital, and got the wound stitched up and you had some shots. You should’ve been fine after that, and for a couple of days, you were. But then you started to get really sick. You had a burning fever, you were having hallucinations, and you were getting weaker by the minute. The doctors couldn’t explain it. It wasn’t rabies or blood poisoning. According to all the tests, you were perfectly healthy. We feared the worst. But, five days later, you pulled through. You woke up and you were fine again. We were
so
relieved to have our baby back.”

“But we were also terrified about what your serious illness and spontaneous recovery indicated,” her mother said. “In that region of New Mexico, people believe there are creatures that live in the forest, which are half-human and half-wolf.”

“Werewolves?” Aspen said.

“Yes. They live among the wolves. And occasionally, they attack humans, and bite them. Most of the time, people die from the bite, but a very few recover.”

“So you think I was bitten by a werewolf. And?” Aspen said. Her father squeezed her hand more tightly.

“The legend goes that the people who survive the bite become werewolves themselves,” he said, his voice a whisper. Aspen looked at him in disgust.

“And you believe this crap?”

“The people who live around Gila believe it very strongly. We’d grown up hearing these stories, and kind of believed them, but thought it was the kind of thing that would never happen to us.”

“But then you got bitten,” her mother interjected.

“And the way you recovered was incredible, just like the legend says. People believe that the transformation process brings you near to death, as it’s a very difficult thing for your body to cope with. But when the transformation is complete, your body receives a huge burst of energy, and you are immediately restored to full health.”

Aspen looked at each of her parents. This was crazier than any of the fairytales they’d told her as a kid, but they had never looked more serious.

“So, what is this pain I’ve been having?” she asked.

“Your father and I have been worried that you’re coming up to your first change.” Aspen shook her head.

“What do you mean, my first change?”

“Apparently, people who have become werewolves take on their wolf form for the first time when they’ve gone through puberty.”

“And then they become wolves, and spend their lives running around on four legs?”

“No, as far as I understand it, they can change back and forth at will,” her father said. Aspen stared at her left hand, remembering how strange it had looked. All knotty and sinewy, and – a bit like the leg of a big animal, really. Her breath became fast and uneven, and, suddenly, she was hyperventilating. Her mum wrapped her arms around her, and her father squeezed her knee.

“Sweetheart, it’s ok, it’s ok,” her mother whispered, but her usually soothing voice didn’t have any effect on Aspen just then.

“I saw something happen to my hand,” she managed to say, before bursting into tears. “It changed, right in front of my eyes.” She sensed her parents looking at each other over her head, and she broke into loud sobbing. Her mother rocked her back and forth, as she had done when she was small, making comforting sounds. Little by little, Aspen regained control of her breathing. She pulled away and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. Her father handed her a tissue, and she blew her nose.

“Why did you move away from Gila? There was a man at the door today, who told me to ask you,” she demanded. Her father’s eyes filled with fear.

“Who was this man?” he almost shouted.

“I don’t know. I was in bed, screaming in pain, and he rang the doorbell.”

“And you opened the door to him?” She nodded. “Aspen, we’ve been telling you your whole life not to answer the door to strangers!”

“Dad, I’m not a child anymore. And, anyway, I was in so much pain, I hardly knew what I was doing.”

“It’s ok, sweetheart,” her mother said, rubbing Aspen’s fingers, her face contorted with empathy at her daughter’s suffering. “What else did the man say to you?”

“He said he’d had the same pain when he was younger, and that I’d soon start to feel better than I’d ever felt before. He knew I was from New Mexico, and he said you should be the ones to explain everything to me. And he was really kind,” she finished. The air was heavy with silence.

“Aspen, the reason why we left New Mexico, and moved as far away as we could was because we were terrified that the werewolves were going to snatch you,” her father said.

“People say that they’re very protective of their own kind,” her mother added.