Just One Bite: Dances With Werewolves Book One Read online

  Annabelle? He’d told her he was going jogging. Could she have figured out about him running with Rosie? But there still wasn’t much point unless…

  Lucas stopped himself before he jumped in the car. He had to go in wolf form or Rosie wouldn’t trust him. When he got to her apartment there was no sign of her. He ran along her most familiar route until finally he spotted her a block away. She turned to push the cross button at the corner and that’s when he saw Annabelle. She was racing toward Rosie from the other side. Lucas sped forward, hoping to cut Annabelle off.

  With a ferocious growl, Annabelle leapt at Rosie using her paws to push her into oncoming traffic. Lucas leapt against Rosie’s other side and spun her back facing forward onto the sidewalk. A shooting pain swept through his hind leg as he scrambled up off the road. The car that had sideswiped him continued on without even slowing.

  All the air rushed out of Lucas as Annabelle slammed him against the pavement, her teeth snapping at his throat. He pushed her away but couldn’t get any leverage to protect himself from her onslaught. Then he saw Rosie pulling back on Annabelle’s fur. He howled, but too late as he saw Annabelle sink her teeth into Rosie’s forearm. The two wolves looked at each other, frozen in shock. Then with a yelp of fear, Annabelle beat a hasty retreat.

  Rosie didn’t seem aware of the blood dripping down her arm as she slumped down onto the sidewalk beside him. “You okay, Buddy?”

  He reached up and licked her face. She didn’t seem too badly scraped from her fall, but the bite was another matter.

  “I think I’ll have to take you to the vet,” Rosie commented as she checked where Annabelle had drawn blood.

  Lucas jumped away from her and yelped at the pain as his foot touched the ground. Not likely! He didn’t want to leave her, but he wasn’t going to risk going to the vet. One eunuch in the wolf pack was more than enough.

  “Hey, Buddy. It’s okay.”

  Lucas could hear the concern in her voice as he ran away, trying not to limp when his bad leg hit the ground. He just needed to get home and transition and the pain would go away. Then he had to figure what to do about Rosie.

  ****

  Almost the wild dingoes, Rosie thought, as she gathered herself up from the sidewalk. Her life had flashed before her eyes as she’d felt herself falling into traffic. Funny that the main thought had been how badly she’d miss Lucas. God, she was such a loser. And where had Buddy come from? It was as if he’d come to rescue her then was nearly killed by the other dog. Weird.

  She looked around and was surprised to see yet another of the same breed of dog watching her from across the street. What was this, the new trendy crossbreed after Labradoodles and Portuguese Water dogs? At least this one didn’t look ready to attack her and it walked away, too.

  Her arm had stopped bleeding, but it looked yucky. Rabies shots again. One of the hazards of jogging. Well she’d go home, put some hydrogen peroxide on it and go to the hospital. Figures she’d get bitten on a Sunday night when the doctor’s office was closed.

  Rosie started to walk home and winced at the shooting pain in her leg. Great. Fantastic. She must’ve banged up her knee when she hit the ground. She wiggled her leg a bit and prodded it with her fingers. Nothing felt broken so she slowly limped home. In fact, either she’d gotten used to the pain in her leg, or had managed to walk it out by the time she got to her apartment.

  First things first, a hot shower. If she was going to spend all evening in Emergency, she should at least be clean. She ran the soap gingerly over her wound washing away the dried blood. Then she watched astounded as the hole from the last tooth mark closed together and disappeared right before her eyes. What the hell? Looking down at her knees, she saw that the scrape marks from the cement were also gone. She stumbled out of the shower in confusion.

  She looked again at her arm. Not even a bruise.

  A strange ringing noise interrupted her thoughts and it took a moment before she realized it was her phone. Should she answer it? She picked up the receiver and held it to her ear.

  “Rosie?” Lucas sounded worried.

  “Hello.”

  “Oh good you’re there.” He rushed on, “I know you’re going through some weird things right now.”

  How? How could he know? Rosie felt her head going fuzzy and sat down quickly on the sofa.

  “Rosie? I can help. I’m right outside your apartment and I can explain everything.”

  “But…”

  “Please, let me in.”

  The buzzer for the door seemed so far away but eventually she got there and pushed it then she stood there waiting by the open door.

  “I’m so sorry, Rosie.” Lucas enveloped her in a big hug. Rosie stiffened at the unexpected contact then softened into his embrace. Hell, after a day like she just had, why not enjoy a hug? She almost purred as his hand stroked down her back and he murmured into her hair. She turned her face into the crook of his neck and inhaled. Mmm.

  With reluctance, Rosie pushed herself away from him. “So, what’s going on?”

  “I think you’d better sit down.” He led her to the couch and sat her down. “This is going to be difficult to explain,” he wavered. “Have you heard of werewolves?”

  “Yeah… Oh, don’t be ridiculous.” Rosie felt like hitting him. Here she was wanting—no needing—a serious explanation and he was playing around.

  He took her hand. “Look Rosie, I know it’s hard to believe. I’m a werewolf and after today, I believe you’re one, too.”

  “Why the hell are you doing this? Is this some sort of sick game? Is there a camera somewhere?” Rosie stood up and pointed shakily toward the door. “Get the hell out of my apartment.”

  “I can prove it.”

  Rosie watched stunned as he stripped off his clothes and knelt on her floor in some sort of yoga position. Why was she still standing here? She should’ve called the police long ago, certainly before he got naked. She didn’t want the cops coming and seeing him in her apartment like that.

  There was a strange popping noise. Like a group of people cracking their fingers at the same time. She rubbed her eyes as his size began to diminish and his skin changed color with the emerging fur. When his head changed shape, Rosie could see black and yellow at the edges of her vision and sank onto the couch. She put her head between her legs so she wouldn’t pass out.

  This couldn’t be happening. She looked up when she felt a wet nose on her hand. Good God, it was Buddy! She leaned back into the couch wondering what to do. The dog jumped up and laid its head on her lap. Without thinking about it, she scratched his ears. Then she looked at her hand in confusion. This dog couldn’t be the same guy she’d slept with. Ewww.

  Rosie shoved the dog away as she lurched for the bathroom. Her eyes streamed with tears as her stomach tried to eject what little food she’d ingested that day. This couldn’t be happening. She stumbled from the toilet to the sink and rinsed her mouth and face. First, get that thing out of her apartment.

  When she came out of the bathroom, Lucas was sitting on her couch again, looking contrite.

  “Get the hell out of here.” Her voice was unnaturally high-pitched.

  “But Rosie…”

  “I’m calling the cops if you aren’t out of here in three seconds.” Rosie grabbed the phone and waved it threateningly. “One, two…”

  “I’m going but…” he turned to add something in the doorway.

  “I’m dialing.” Rosie started punching until he had disappeared from her doorway.

  Relief swept over her as she ran behind him to lock the door. She leaned her back against the door and slid to the floor. Now what? This was too weird, it couldn’t be real. Could she be hallucinating from something she ate? Maybe he’d somehow slipped drugs into her system. What if he was telling the truth? No. That was just stupid. Werewolves didn’t exist. This was all a nightmare. She was so upset about his engagement, in her dreams she’d turned him into a monster.

  Rosie got to her feet and s
tumbled into her bedroom. She’d go back to bed and everything would be normal when she got up again.

  CHAPTER 6

  Lucas ran for several miles trying to figure out what he should have said or done differently. Obviously she must know he was telling the truth. She saw him transition. But maybe it was like going through death where you have the emotional stages that you have to mentally go through. Or maybe he should’ve stayed and argued with her until she believed him.

  She had to accept it soon though because there was a full moon coming up tomorrow and if she started going through changes without someone to guide her, she might freak out and hurt herself. He didn’t know if it was just an old were-tale but his mother had always warned him and Robert, “If you boys aren’t more careful in transition, your body might stick that way.” Supposedly his great-great-uncle Charlie went through life with one foot stuck in paw form.

  He still was avoiding his worst fear. Would she hate him when she accepted that he was telling the truth? If she’d never met him, she wouldn’t have to deal with all this. Now because of him, everything in her world would change and she’d have to lead a secret life. He’d initially actually been happy when Annabelle bit Rosie, thinking now they could be together, but that had been based on the assumption that Rosie loved him, too. Her reaction to him had quickly disabused him of that idea.

  She hated him and watching him transition had made her physically ill. Regardless of her feelings for him though, it was his duty to help her deal with her new lifestyle. Somehow he didn’t think Annabelle would step up to the plate.

  ****

  “Hey, Rosie.” Eva’s voice carried over the din in reception. From the look of the perky, smooth-faced guys reading from sheets of dialogue, they appeared to be casting for a teen show. “You look fabuloso. Didja lose more weight? Get a haircut, or what?”

  “Nope, same old.” Rosie waved over the crowd and made her way to the elevators. Well that was different. Usually when she felt good Eva told her she looked like crap. Now after a night of consuming any alcohol she could find in her apartment, she apparently looked “fabuloso.” Go figure. Maybe with a few shots of espresso she could fake it through the day after all.

  Her boss caught her at the coffee machine. “Good. You’re here. I need a list of the kids we sent to the Permanence commercial last week right away. And their…” He stopped confused.

  “What?”

  “You look different. Did you have something done to your face?”

  “No. Of course not.” Rosie flushed under his close scrutiny. This was ridiculous.

  “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. It obviously worked. Dermabrasion? Your skin positively glows.” He looked sternly at her. “You’re not pregnant are you?”

  “No!” Thank heavens her coffee had finished brewing. “I’ll have the list of kids with their pics on your desk in a moment, Peter.”

  “Botox?”

  “No.”

  Rosie chuckled as she ran for her desk. Somehow she couldn’t imagine people in other offices being interrogated for cosmetic enhancements. She swallowed a couple of painkillers and began to feel normal again. In fact, better. It all had just been a bad dream… or maybe food poisoning causing hallucinations. Now she could return to getting over Lucas and forget about letting her imagination go wild.

  By eleven she was stir crazy. Why was everyone in the office wearing so much perfume? And the noise level seemed excessive, as well. When Peter told her to take an early lunch she jumped at the chance. She thought it would be better outside in the fresh air, but instead she was appalled at how loud, smelly, and downright obtrusive she found all the strangers on the concourse. Even though they didn’t talk to her, it still seemed like each one was intruding on her space and senses. She left the concourse and hid out in the handicapped washroom on the fourth floor where it was blissfully quiet and relatively scent-free.

  “You’re late.” Peter caught her as she slunk back into her cubicle.

  “Um, yeah. Sorry. I was just feeling a little weird after…”

  “Ah. Surgery after-effects.” He smiled knowingly.

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s fine. You’ll have to tell me who did your work. It’s amazing. You look so much better, but natural, as if you didn’t have anything done.”

  “I’ll get you his card,” Rosie promised, trying to get him out of her space. Men seemed to have a particularly bad odor today and not just their blatant colognes. She kept her head down for most of the day and seemed to avoid most human contact. At ten to five she ran for the elevator. This time outside seemed fresher until…

  “What are you doing here?” Rosie tried not to notice the way his scent made her tingle from head to toe. And he looked incredible. Luscious. Focus on what a jerk he is and not on his sensuous lips. She could almost taste—stop it.

  “I wanted to make sure you were all right.” Lucas looked at her strangely. Surely he couldn’t know what she was thinking.

  “Of course I’m fine,” Rosie answered. She remembered the hot texture of his fingertips on her waist, his teeth scraping across her neck, his tongue—what was wrong with her?

  “It’s natural,” he said.

  “What?”

  “The heightened awareness. The hyper-sexual attraction.” His eyes burned into hers and she couldn’t look away.

  “Don’t be ridicu—”

  His hand ran up her arm and every thought in her brain shut down. As if in a trance, she melted into his embrace, her hand reaching up to guide him to her lips. It was electric. His kisses weren’t enough, she needed to possess him entirely and yet they were still swathed in material. She growled in frustration as she tried to rip off his shirt.

  “Hey.” His hands pulled hers away. “Not here.”

  Rosie looked at him in confusion then at the crowded concourse around them. The realization set in. “Oh my God. What is wrong with me?” She covered her face with her hands. “I hate you. You’re not even… I have to go.”

  He grabbed her hand before she could leave.

  “Look, Rosie, we need to talk. I can help you with this, but it won’t go away.”

  Her brain disconnected again as she felt the warmth of his hand and the rhythm of his pulse calling to her. She licked her dry lips.

  “Rosie.” His voice broke through the fog. “You’ve got to concentrate.”

  “I… I can’t seem to. What is happening to me?”

  “We need somewhere quiet where we can talk. My car’s over there.”

  His hand on her shoulder sent erotic messages flying through her body. Rosie shook her head in frustration. This wasn’t normal. She pushed away the urge to throw him on the ground and rip his clothes off with her teeth, but instead followed him to his car. She could feel waves of sexual heat emanating from his body as he stood beside her to open her car door. Rosie slid into the cream leather seats. Would they make love in his car? She checked to see his expression but his face was impassive.

  “Are we going to your place?” Rosie tried to conceal her neediness.

  “No. Do up your seatbelt.”

  “Why?”

  “I don’t want you attacking me while I’m driving.” His voice was matter of fact. “Look Rosie, what you’re feeling now is the result of the full moon. Unfortunately, because you’ve come to this werewolf status later, you’re now experiencing a backlog of twenty-six years’ worth of full moons. I know it’s overwhelming.”

  “But I was fine until…” Rosie was distracted by his scent.

  “I know. I probably triggered some of it. But the good news is I know how to get rid of your headache.”

  “Oh.” She hadn’t realized until he mentioned, but her head was throbbing again. “And then we’ll go back to your place?”

  “We’ll see.” He seemed about to pat her hand and then reconsidered. Even the intention to touch her brought goose bumps to her flesh. They drove for a long time in silence and then suddenly Lucas turned the car into a parking lot
in the middle of nowhere. “We’re here.”

  “Where?”

  He smiled and opened the car door. “You’ll see.”

  They walked up to a non-descript wooden building with a faded sign on the door. Before she could make out the words, Lucas was ushering her inside the dark cavern. He led her straight to a table in the back.

  “Two sixteen ouncers, bloody rare,” Lucas told the disheveled looking waiter before they’d even sat down.

  “I’m not really thirsty.” Rosie looked around the gloomy room. There weren’t any other customers and the server didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the place. Still, maybe they could have sex in a back room…? Wow, his hands were really beautiful. Strong, but delicate. Could she just kiss that little bone above his wrist and then lick up the inside…?”

  “Ah, good. This will help some.”

  Rosie was shocked to see a huge, practically raw steak plunked down in front of her. “I don’t think I can…”

  “Just try.” He cut a large piece from his own steak and held it out to her. As it neared her mouth Rosie suddenly grabbed it from his fork and demolished it, not even bothering to properly chew it.

  “My God, that is…” Rosie didn’t bother to say more and, instead, dove into her steak.

  “I thought you’d like it.”

  Before long, Rosie was battling to get the last scrap of flesh from the bone. At last she managed to strip the bone bare. Still, when the waiter reached for her plate she emitted a low warning growl until Lucas kicked her under the table.

  “Thanks, that was great.” He handed the confused waiter his credit card.

  The man slunk away.

  “How’s your headache?”

  “Much better, thank you.” Rosie shook her head in confusion. “Did I just eat a whole sixteen ounce raw steak?” He nodded and she continued, “But I don’t usually eat steak with any red in it.”

  “Full moon.” He shrugged.

  “Oh God. This really is happening, isn’t it?” She suddenly felt the weight of the huge steak hit the bottom of her stomach. “I’d almost convinced myself… Um… what else should I expect?”