First Moon (New Moon Wolves) BBW Werewolf Romance (24 page)

The whole thing creeped Audrey out. Magic alone was hard enough to accept, but Kai compounded it with his aloofness. He never had a straight answer for anything and specialized in cryptic, weird responses and conversational surprises that his brothers took in stride, but left Audrey trying to figure out which end was up.

She liked Leo, when he was around. The leonine wolf kept to himself, but was pleasant company with a wry sense of humor when she did see him. But she wondered about Kai. A lot. Except Tao loved him and Kai seemed to almost worship his brother in return. That made her feel better. Sometimes. Mostly when Kai’s mouth was shut. The second he opened it and shot out some strange weirdness, she got all anxious again.

“Try not to worry.” Finishing his circuit of the clearing, Tao came up behind her and laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be fine.”

She shook her head. “It’s just still hard to believe I’m going to be a werewolf tonight.” Without Nick menacing her every step, she could sometimes convince herself that it wasn’t real. For a nanosecond anyway. Once she caught sight of her still bandaged hand, denial didn’t work so well. “Are you sure I’ll change?” Another thing that worried her was how injuries kept werewolves from shifting. They’d put pins in her hand at the hospital and closed the wound left when Nick tore off her pinkie. Surely, that had to mess a werewolf up?

Tao cupped her injured hand in his. “It’ll be fine. Remember you heal faster now than regular humans. That wound you gave Nick was deeper and more serious and it only took him a few days. You probably don’t even need that bandage anymore.”

Audrey just shrugged. She’d been too chicken to even look at her injury and had no idea what lay under the bandages. It was her shield, the thing that protected her from having to face the reality of her injury.

Tao folded her into his arms and she relaxed into him, enjoying the warm strength of his embrace. “After everything we’ve been through, this is the easy part, baby. Trust me.” He pulled away when the rustle of underbrush signaled that someone was coming.

A young woman burst into the clearing, her eyes wide and chest heaving. Audrey recognized her as Charlotte by the bandage on her leg. A group of women and men filed into the clearing behind her. They were all there; Richard, Annie, Danielle, Christine, Andrew, Mike, the sheriff and Charlotte. Everyone looked panicked.

“What the fuck is going on?” yelled a broad shouldered man with short blond hair.

Audrey leaned over and whispered to Tao, “That’s Andrew Marksman, the business mogul of Glen Vine.” Tao gave a slight nod to indicate he’d heard her.

“Is this some kind of joke?” asked Christine, a rail thin woman with sharp cheek bones and dark framed glasses. Her voice was a trembling mess of anxiety.

“Calm down everyone.” Tao raised his hands, his voice deep with authority. “Yes it’s all true. No joke. You’ve had the dreams of your wolf, right?”

There was a long silence where everyone pretended not to know what he meant. Audrey rolled her eyes. She hadn’t expected people to be so afraid, although she had to grant they didn’t have her experience with werewolves. This was all brand spanking new to them while she’d had the benefit of seeing Tao shift several times.

She stepped forward. “There’s a wolf running in my dreams every night.” She ran a hand through her hair. “We have the same hair color and eyes.”

At her admission, the rest of the group grudgingly admitted they, too saw wolves in their sleep. No one looked happy about it though. Everyone’s eyes were so wide the moonlight made their whites shine. If their hands weren’t clenched into fists, their arms were crossed defensively across their chest. Tough crowd.

“And my skin tingles,” Audrey went on. “Like there’s hair deep inside trying to push its way out.”

“That has been driving me
crazy
,” said Danielle as she stepped forward. Her dark hair was pulled back into a practical pony tail. “I’ve been taking Benadryl and using a steroid cream for over a week now trying to make it stop.”

“It’ll get better once you shift,” Tao said.

“Oh my god, we’re monsters,” Charlotte suddenly cried, raising her arms and looking at them in horror.

“Not monsters,” Tao said, his voice calm and steady. “We’re pack.”

“And what does that mean?” Charlotte glared at Tao. The rest of the crowd joined in the glaring and edged closer together, a united front of skepticism.

“We’re in this together. We’ll find a way to make it work,” he said patiently.

Sheriff Martin stepped forward, shaking his head. “Calm down everyone. Werewolves don’t exist. This is some kind of hoax or delusion.” He shot a suspicious look at Tao and Audrey. “Are you taking drugs?”

Audrey shook her head. “Sorry. I’m not high.”

“I think you two should come down to the police station with me. We should talk.” Sheriff Martin gave them an amicable smile.

“Sorry, can’t do that,
Sheriff,” Tao said and then he shifted, seamlessly transforming from man into wolf. His clothing ripped and shredded in some spots, while in others, it became too big as his form shifted. When he was fully a wolf, he shook off the remnants of his clothing and stared at the sheriff, his eyes unblinking.

Everyone took a step back, but no one spoke. Not even a scream or gasp. They were too stunned for that.

Finally, Charlotte spoke. “So we were all bitten by a werewolf?”

Audrey nodded. “Yes.”

Charlotte took a second to absorb that. “Even you?”

“Yes,” Audrey said again.

“But why?” The young woman’s voice was anguished and full of fear.

“It’s a long story, but the wolf who bit you wanted to make his own pack,” Audrey explained.

“There was never a rabid wolf, was there?” the sheriff asked.

“No there wasn’t.” She gave the sheriff a weak smile as she wrapped her fingers in Tao’s hair. The big wolf leaned into her, panting softly. “I couldn’t tell you the truth then. You wouldn’t have believed me.”

“I’m not sure I believe you now.” The sheriff looked grim.

“This is crazy,” Richard muttered. “It has to be some kind of group psychosis or delusion. Maybe we’ve been drugged.” The doctor looked at everyone, his eyes wide, as if trying to spot evidence to support his theory.

The underbrush rustled again as Leo and Kai joined them in the clearing. Catching the sheriff’s words, Leo said, “You’ll believe soon enough.”

“So where’s the wolf who bit us? Is he here?” The sheriff scanned the dark shadows, a hand hovering over his holster.

“He’s gone and not coming back,” Audrey said. Fortunately, Kai intervened, saving her from having to explain further.

Kai pointed to the moon. “She calls our blood and blesses it with change.” He lifted his shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground. When his hands went to his pants, someone gasped.

“What are you doing?” asked Annie, a stocky blonde with a short crew cut. She wore her customary Glen Vine Fire Department t-shirt.

Kai flashed a smile at her, the well-developed muscles of his abs rippling as he breathed. “Sparing my clothes and my wallet the need to replace them. I suggest you do the same.”

“No way. Oh hell no.” Charlotte backed away along with several other women. Predictably, the men looked vaguely interested at the prospect of everyone stripping down, their eyes focused on the women with speculative gleams.

Charlotte waved her hands in the air. “I’m not dancing naked under the full moon with anyone.”

“If you’re shy, step behind a tree,” offered Leo also casting off his shirt. The man’s golden skin rippled over solid muscle and matched his golden hair. All the women stared at him, transfixed.

Audrey cleared her throat. “How about ladies to the left and men to the right?” She pointed in each direction. Slowly, people moved to do as she suggested. As they went, she called after them, “Remember you’re going to want something to wear when you shift back. If you take it off now, you won’t have to go home naked later.”

“Breathe in your wolf, fill yourself with moonlight,” Kai said.

People just stared at him and Audrey joined them.

“What he really means is we’ll stay human in case anyone gets tangled in their underwear,” added Leo with a chuckle meant to lighten his brother’s weirdness. Audrey noticed Leo did that a lot, trying to diffuse Kai’s peculiarities. No one else laughed, though, and he rolled his eyes. “This isn’t going to be easy, is it?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Audrey said. “Humans aren’t pack animals. They don’t become wolves. It’s a lot to process.”

“Well these humans are a pack now,” Kai said, peeling off his pants.“Whether they like it or not.”

Audrey averted her eyes and edged toward a large pine, Tao moving with her. “I think I’ll go behind this tree.”

“Just howl if you need help,” Leo called out.

Audrey ducked into the shadows behind the tree. The moonlight didn’t penetrate as deeply there and it felt almost as if she was walking into a dark nightmare.

I’m about to become a werewolf. Oh my god.

Now that she didn’t have to hold it together for anyone else, she fell apart. She sat on the ground, back pressed against the tree and buried her hands in Tao’s ruff. “I can’t do this. I can’t.” She made to stand, ready to bolt, but Tao pressed against her with his massive weight and pinned her down. With a soft whine, he licked her cheek.

“I’m scared, Tao,” she whispered. Burying her face in his neck, she inhaled the clean scent of earth and sky that clung to his fur.

He shifted under her hands, his hair melting in her fingers as it molded itself into sleek skin. Given the lack of light, she didn’t see the shift so much as feel it. Along with the skin came the hardness of muscle and then Tao’s human voice shivered in the night air, rumbling deep.

“It’s only scary until you do it and then you’ll wonder what you were ever scared of.”

“You’re sure it won’t hurt?” She thought about her injured hand and grimaced at the idea of the pins popping out of her bones during a shift.

Sensing her concerns, Tao took her injured hand in his. “Your hand might hurt but the rest of it will be fine.”

“Tell me what it’s like,” she whispered. Then, maybe she wouldn’t be so afraid.

“Your body becomes soft and almost liquid. Things grow and shrink and then you’re done.”

She gripped his arm with her good hand.“That’s it?”

“That’s it. Nothing to it.” He drew her into his lap. “I know one way to deal with all this anxiety.” He moved to kiss her, but Audrey pushed him away.

“There are other people here.” The last thing she wanted, on top of everything else, was to be caught making out with a naked Tao.

“Sh.” He put an admonishing finger on her lips.

“But we’re not alone,” she said, her lips moving around his finger.

Tao ducked his head until his mouth was at her ear. His breath warmed her neck. “No one can see us and I want you.”

“Now?” she squeaked.

“Now,” he said, his voice firm.
He set her to the ground and stood, offering her a hand up that she could barely see.

Once she was on her feet, he said, “Take off your clothes.”

Audrey couldn’t even talk, just squeak helplessly. Panic skittered over her skin like little bugs. Or maybe those really
were
bugs. She smacked her thigh, feeling the familiar sensation of a mosquito sucking her blood. Were mosquitoes more or less likely to go after werewolves? Did they turn into weresquitoes? A nervous giggled escaped her at the thought.

Tao reached for her shirt then and pulled it over her head. Casting it under the tree trunk, he said, “You can’t stop this by keeping your clothes on.”

Realizing there was no going back, Audrey finally began to take off the rest of her clothing. She tucked it all in a neat pile under the tree going on faith that she would be able to find everything again. Maybe her sense of smell would lead her if her eyes couldn’t. It did seem she could catch her own scent from the fabric. Tao was right, she did smell like strawberries. Weird.

Capturing her good hand in his, Tao tugged Audrey after him, leading her deeper into the forest.

“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice hushed. The velvet night pressed in around them, making it seem appropriate to whisper.

“Somewhere quiet.”
He yanked on her arm until she whirled into him like a ballroom dancer. Hugging her close, he gave her a kiss that tingled its way down to her toes. “I don’t want anyone to interrupt us when you scream.”

“No, Tao,” she protested. “No screaming. Okay?”

He chuckled, a low sound that rumbled in his chest like a diesel motor. “Don’t worry, everyone else will be howling too loud to worry about you.”

As if to prove his point, a forlorn howl sounded in the distance. The sound made the hair on the back of Audrey’s neck stand up and she felt odd. Kind of melty in fact, as if her body was losing its borders.

She put her injured hand over her stomach. “I think I’m starting to shift.”

He squeezed her close. “No, not yet, baby. Not until I say so.”