First Moon (New Moon Wolves) BBW Werewolf Romance (6 page)

Audrey startled at the sound and looked up from her menu to see a sandy blond man with bright green eyes standing to the side of the table. He settled in the chair across from her, plucking the menu from her hands and setting it aside.

“Excuse me?”

At her surprised look, he chuckled. “You don’t recognize me, do you?” He tapped the side of his nose. “Why don’t you see if you remember my scent? Go on. Take a deep breath.”

Audrey did as he asked and caught the faint smell of...fur? And...blood? “I-I’m sorry, I don’t know you and you don’t smell like anyone I’ve met before.”

He snapped his teeth at her. “How’s your bite? Tingling much?”

Audrey’s jaw dropped. “You’re Nick?” He was awfully good looking for someone who changed into a wolf and ran around biting innocent women. Now that she thought about it, he did bear a passing resemblance to Tao in terms of body build and facial features. It had been the blond coloring that threw her off; Tao’s was dark as obsidian at midnight.

“I see you know my name. I assume I have my brother to thank for that?” At the mention of Tao, he flushed and his eyes hardened.

Audrey just nodded, not knowing what else to say.

“Where is Tao? I can smell his scent.” Nick scanned the room.

“Across the street,” Audrey said, pointing to where Tao now stood in front of the ATM that sat outside the only convenience store (and pizza joint) in Glen Vine.

That made him smile. “Ah, so we have some time then.” He grabbed her hand and caressed the back of her knuckles with his thumb. “Sorry, but I didn’t catch your name the other day.” He stared intently into her eyes.

“Audrey.” She pulled against his hand, but he held firm. “Why did you bite me?”

“Because you looked good enough to eat, Audrey.” He released her hand and leaned back in his chair. “And you smell good. Real good.”

She glared at him.“So does that mean Bob smelled bad?”

“Bob?” He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know any Bobs.”

“The guy in the house. You killed him, right?”

Nick cocked his head and regarded her silently for a moment, as if she’d surprised him. Finally, he said, “Oh, his name was Bob? He was a problem. Tracking me all over the place and setting traps. I needed him out of the way.”

“That’s murder,” she said, her voice flat. Audrey struggled to contain the panicked horror she felt at sitting across from a murderer. A man who could kill someone and not even care.

Nick just shrugged, unconcerned.

“I don’t want to be...” She trailed off and looked around the restaurant, worried about being overheard. The waitresses were watching them, openly curious about hunk number two. Ha. If only they knew the truth. Whispering, she said, “Whatever you are and you don’t own me either.”

“You can fight me, Audrey, but you can’t win. Bob fought me and look what happened to him. You’re mine to claim now.” He beckoned her over to him. “Come, give me a kiss.”

She shook her head. “No, absolutely not.”

He went deathly still and stared at her, his green eyes gleaming like cold, polished stone. A compulsion hit Audrey, hard as a stone wall, forcing a grunt from her at the impact. It yanked her out of her chair and forward with a stiff lurch. She fought as hard as she could, her muscles straining until she thought they might snap, but she couldn’t keep herself from going to him.

He’s controlling me! I can’t stop myself!
Sweat beaded on her forehead and her breathing quickened. Excitement gleamed in Nick’s eyes as he watched her try to resist and fail. From the way he smirked, she could tell he was enjoying himself.

I hope I puke on him.

Audibly gagging, she leaned down and pressed her lips on his. His mouth opened and he forced his tongue into hers, one hand going to the back of her head, holding her firmly in place as he explored her mouth.

After a long moment, he released her. “Mmm. You taste as good as I thought you would. I can’t wait to make you mine.”

And just like that, the compulsion evaporated. Audrey staggered back, moving away from him as fast as she could. Collapsing into her chair, she wiped her mouth with a napkin, frantic to remove any traces of Nick on her skin. Revulsion churned in her stomach.
I’ve just kissed a cold-blooded murderer. Ew. Ew. Ew.

Nick stood then and moved to stand next to her, his height looming like a dark cloud despite his sunny looks. Bending down to her ear, he whispered, “When your first moon comes, you won’t even be able to protest. Everything I say will be your desire and I will take you as my mate.” He tucked her hair behind her ear, fingers lingering on her neck.

Audrey shivered but remained silent, too horrified to speak.

“Enjoy what little time you have left as a human. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to do my part to make sure you’re not the only new wolf to greet the full moon.”

Audrey’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide as she processed his words. She wanted to scream, to call the police, to do
something
to stop this madness, but Nick was gone before she could decide on a course of action.

Sudden anger burned through her. How
dare
he do that to her? Did he think she was just going to roll over on his say so? She wasn’t his to claim and she sure as hell wasn’t his mate. Jumping from her seat, Audrey ran after the bastard. She wasn’t going to let him get away, but when she burst out of the restaurant, he was nowhere to be found.

Shielding her eyes from the sun, she tried to spot him, but the quaint streets of Glen Vine only held pudgy middle-aged tourists wearing flip-flops and red faces from too much sun. Audrey went to the center of the road, turning in a slow circle, hoping to spot him. She sniffed the air, but smelled nothing.

Well, so much for werewolf superpowers.

Tao came rushing over a second later, his expression anxious. “Everything okay, Audrey?”

Her mouth worked for a moment as she tried to speak but couldn’t decide on the words. Some mad werewolf had marked her as his territory, there was a wolf with her strawberry blonde hair running around in her head, and, apparently, she wasn’t going to be alone in her predicament.

The adrenaline surge that had carried her thus far dissipated with no warning. Her knees went weak and sagged, causing her to stumble.

Tao was there in an instant, a strong, steady hand under her elbow, his other arm wrapping around her shoulders. He led her off the street and to a weathered bench by the restaurant entrance. “What happened?”

Audrey shook her head as tears pooled in her eyes. “Nick was here.”

“Are you all right? Tell me everything.” His voice was terse and his eyes tracked her every movement with anxious intensity.

She put a hand to her lips, feeling violated. “He kissed me. I didn’t want to, but he made me do it.”

“What did he say?”

“That I was going to be his mate.” Audrey looked up at Tao. “He’s going to bite more people. It’s not just me.”

Her breath caught and no matter how she strained, she couldn’t take in any air. All she could manage were shallow little sips that came faster and faster. Audrey put a hand to her chest as she fought to breathe.

“You’re hyperventilating. Calm down. It’s going to be okay.” Tao’s voice was soothing and he rubbed her back, trying to help, but her breathing was still way too fast.

Tao put a finger to her chin and forced her to look at him. “You have to slow down your breathing. Focus, Audrey. You can do it.”

She frowned at him and tried to talk, but her attempt at ‘easy for you to say’ came out sounding like a really breathy foreign language from another planet. Tao shook his head and then leaned in.

Before Audrey knew it, his lips covered hers. His warm, spicy musk clouded her senses. She decided it must be all pheromones or something because Tao’s scent made her head spin and her nether regions tremble. The man undid her with just a smell. Throw in the kiss and desire exploded in her like illegal fireworks.

Tao explored her mouth with a demanding sweep of his tongue. His lips nibbled hers and just before he ended the kiss, he sucked the whole of her bottom lip into his mouth.

Audrey blinked dumbly as he pulled away. The horrible pressure in her lungs had eased somewhat, allowing her to finally take a deep breath. She put her hands to her lips again. Unlike Nick, she missed the feel of Tao against her skin. The thought startled her. Tao was a stranger in a strange situation, and yet, he’d just kissed her like a man starved of air himself.

She looked at him with wonder. “Why did you kiss me?”

“It was either kiss or slap you.” Tao smiled at her, but his eyes were uneasy as if he wasn’t sure of his reception. “You were losing it and you need to keep your wits about you.”

“Oh.” Audrey continued to run her fingers over her lips.
Wits? What are those?
She felt stunned and somewhat senseless. She’d been kissed before, many times, but Tao’s kiss was the first one that ever mattered. It was the only kiss that had ever been real. She had no idea what that meant, but the truth of it stupefied her.

“You okay?” Tao’s rich baritone broke her train of thought. The man had a beautiful voice...among other things. A picture of him naked the day she’d found him in the cage flashed through her mind once again. It was amazing to think Tao and Nick were brothers. One repelled her, the other tempted her with desires she didn’t dare put in words.

She gave a slow nod. “Yes. I think so. What’s next?” She could breathe now at least, but everything else was still a mess.

His expression grew serious. “We have to find Nick.”

“I’ll call the sheriff and the park ranger station.” She nodded toward the shoreline, its blue edges visible even from town. Glen Vine sat just a couple hundred feet from the lake, which was what made it such an attractive vacation destination. “We need to get people off the trails and beaches.” Audrey shuddered at the thought of Nick attacking more innocent people. Most of them were tourists and would be home when the full moon came. If this werewolf thing was for real, they would turn hairy alone with no one to help them.
Thank God, I have Tao to help me make sense of this.

***

Tao watched Audrey and did his best to hide his concern. Somehow, Nick had snuck up on him. Tao hadn’t even smelled his brother coming.

What was his brother up to? Threatening Audrey and running off to make more wolves was crazy. Surely Nick knew the pack wouldn’t allow it. The attacks put them all at risk. The world didn’t need to know werewolves were anything but legends.

Audrey had been so terrified, the scent of her fear had filled the air. He’d started to run the second he knew something was wrong. When she hyperventilated, he did the only thing that made any sense, he’d kissed her. He just hadn’t expected to enjoy it so much.

She was soft, so soft and her lips were delectable. Her mouth tasted like mint and sugar. It had taken all his self-control not to scoop her up into his arms and take her someplace private to properly ravish her. His groin ached with the need to plunge her depths, to take her as his own.

He clenched his fists.
I can’t have these feelings for her. I can’t. What if I have to kill her?

“Tell the sheriff to kill him if they can.” His words were clipped, he had to force them out through a clenched jaw. He was at war with himself, full of conflicting feelings. What did he owe his pack? His brother? Audrey? What did he owe himself?

“Are you sure?” She gave him a confused look.

Tao felt his mouth thin into a grim line as he nodded. “Tell them he has rabies.”

“But…he’s your
brother
.” Her expression went from confused to completely lost.

“If there’s going to be blood on my hands, let it be his, not the blood of innocents like you.”

“Oh God, Tao,” she breathed, now fully aware of the awful choice he had just made. “I’m so sorry.” She rubbed his arm, but he jerked away from her.

“I’m going to hunt for him.”
Maybe if I find him first, I can end this without any more bloodshed.
Although the last time he’d tried to talk sense into his brother hadn’t gone so well, but he had to try. He couldn’t give up on his brother. Not yet.

“I’ll tell the sheriff not to shoot you.”

“Maybe it would be better if he did.” Tao couldn’t stop the words from coming out and Audrey’s jaw dropped in shock.

“Is there anything I can do to help? Anything at all. Just tell me.” Her tone was anxious and he regretted his bitterness. He shouldn’t be adding to her worries.

“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. “It’s not your fight.”

“It became my fight the second your brother bit me,” she said quietly. “If you need my help, I’m here.”

Tao shook his head. “You saw how Nick played you. I take you out with me and he’ll do it again, only against me.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” She looked worried again and he almost ducked his head to kiss her a second time, but dug his nails into his palms to keep himself in check.

“Go home. Lock your doors. I’ll be there when I can.”