Just One Bite (5 page)

Chapter Four

Liv stretched in bed and groaned. She ached all over as if
she’d worked out for too long at the gym. Last night had been a revelation in
more ways than one and she smiled. When neither of her roaming hands made
contact with a hard male body, Liv opened her eyes and sat up. No noise from
the bathroom. No clothes on the floor. Cal had gone. He’d warned her he had to
leave early because he had a lunch date he couldn’t miss and promised he’d see
her later. Liv hadn’t asked questions, though she’d wanted to.

Lunch date with whom?

Did he have a girlfriend?

I should have asked. Why didn’t I ask?

What was his mobile number?

What did he do for a living?

Did he have a family?

Where did he live?

Could she move in with him?

Well, no, she wouldn’t have asked that one.

When Liv caught sight of the time, she groaned. She was in
danger of being late for lunch with her father. Liv levered herself out of bed
and shrieked, and kept on shrieking until she slapped a hand over her mouth. No
hope of pretending last night hadn’t happened because part of it was still with
her. She had a long, bushy tail.

Liv rushed to the mirror and turned in a circle. Thank God
that was all she’d kept. There was a chance of hiding this, but not a wet,
black nose or pointed ears or fur. She wagged her tail and let out a sickly
laugh.

After her shower, she had to dry the thing with her hair
dryer and it ended up looking twice the size. Damn it, she should have used a
frizz-ease conditioner. No time now. How was she going to hide it? Liv verged
between tears and hysterical laughter as she tried to wrestle her appendage
into submission. In the end, she tucked it down the back of her panties,
dragged it up between her legs—slightly concerned to find that rather
sensual—and then let it poke over the top of her underwear. She tried walking
and the tail slipped down. Maybe she could keep yanking it up and pretend she
was pulling at her belt? Except every time she did it, she’d be rubbing—
Oh
God.

Loose pants, an untucked shirt and a long jacket worked
wonders, but the tail tickled, and as Liv sat on the bus, she had to fight the
urge to laugh. Or cry.

When her father let her into the house, he hugged her harder
than she ever remembered him hugging her before. Harder than when he’d seen her
a week ago and the strength of that hug had shocked her. At this rate, he’d
break her ribs next time.

“I love you,” he said.

Liv’s eyes widened. “Twice in two weeks? What have you
done?”

He frowned. “Why do I have to have done something? I’m
allowed to love my only daughter, aren’t I? Want to take off your jacket?”

Liv clutched it to her. “No, I’m cold.”

“It’s the middle of summer.”

“Yes, weird, isn’t it?” She sniffed. “Roast beef, Yorkshire
pudding, parsnips, peas, roast potatoes, apple crumble. Oh yum.”

“Anything else?” Her father smiled.

“Homemade horseradish sauce.” Liv gulped.

Super sense?

Her father shuffled from foot to foot. “I’ve—um—invited a
guest for lunch.”

“A woman?” Liv’s eyes widened. She was about to say it was
about time when her father shook his head.

Liv glared at him and mouthed, “For me? Why?”

“Come and say hello. He’s a really nice man. A
veterinarian.”

“A guy who gets paid for putting his hands up animals’
backsides?” she whispered. “Ewww…I don’t—”

“He knew your mother.”

Liv straightened. Twenty-three years ago, her mother had
died giving birth to her. Liv had always felt it had to be her fault because
her three elder brothers had been born without problems. A difficult delivery
was all her father would ever tell her. She hadn’t pushed because she knew how
much he missed his wife.

“He has something to tell you,” her father said, and nudged
her forward.

When Liv walked into the dining room, she stopped so
suddenly, her father walked into her back.

Cal jumped up. Liv couldn’t move. Her feet appeared to be
set in cement.

“Hello, Liv,” Cal said.

She looked from Cal to her father. “What’s going on?”

Her father pulled out a chair. “Sit down, Liv.”

She slumped on the chair and winced when she crushed her tail.
Cal sat down again and her father took the chair on her other side.

“How are you feeling?” her father asked.

Oh God, he knows. Not about the tail, but…

“Fine,” Liv muttered.

“I did know your mother,” Cal said.

She stared at him. “How? You’re not that much older than
me.”

“I’m forty-two.”

No way.
She’d guessed late twenties.

“I knew your mother because she was a werewolf too. We were
members of the same pack.”

Jaw-drop time. Liv was amazed the thing was still attached.
Probably hung by a thread. She tried to say something but no words came out of
her mouth. Instead, she looked at her father.

He shook his head. “I’m not a wolf.”

Cal caught hold of her hand and held it tight. “Your
brothers didn’t inherit the gene but you did.”

“Inherit the gene? But you bit me. You said your body
fluuu…you bit me.” Not a good time to mention potent body fluids. “You mean
I’ve always been a wolf?”

Her father sighed. “I didn’t know until you reached puberty
whether you’d be like your mother. I could have disappeared with you, but the
pack would have found us. They’re fiercely protective of their own. Your
brothers tested negative. Not that they know they were tested. Cal told me he
could sense, smell the wolf in you when you were a young girl. You should have
gone to live with the pack from that moment, but I wouldn’t let it happen. I
bargained for time. The tablets that you took until a month ago suppressed your
wolf.”

Liv frowned. “The doctor said they were for a blood clotting
disorder.”

“A pack doctor,” Cal said.

Liv was having difficulty getting her head around this. “You
mean, if I’d kept taking the tablets that the doctor oh so helpfully informed
me were no longer needed, I wouldn’t have turned into a wolf?”

Cal stroked the fingers he held. “Eventually you would. The
older you grow, the stronger the wolf grows too. It can only be suppressed for
so long. Left alone, you might have shifted and died, or you might have shifted
and not been able to shift back. My bite gave you extra strength to help you
transform.”

Liv yanked her hand free. “And if I’d shifted last night and
not been able to change back, what would you have done?”

Cal didn’t answer but she saw the truth in his face. “You’d
have killed me.”

“I might have had to. If you’d gone mad, you’d have been a
danger to the security of the pack.”

She glared at him. “I might not have gone mad, but I’d have
been pissed off.” Liv shivered. “Oh my God. You’ve both lied to me. You can’t
be turned into a werewolf by biting.” She stared at her father. “Otherwise my
mother would have bitten you.” She turned to Cal. “And you pretended to bump
into me so you could make me a werewolf like you.”

“Cal had to bite you to give you the best chance of
survival,” her father said. “His saliva helped you shift. He waited because I
asked him to. He promised to stay away, not to approach you until you were
twenty-one. I begged for two more years. I wanted you to have a human life for
as long as possible.”

Liv’s heart pounded.

Cal held out his hand to her. “You’re my mate, Liv. I love
you. You’ve been mine since the day you were born. I promised your mother
before she went into labor that I’d look out for you. I’ve asked your father
for your hand and he said—”

“I said yes. I might not be a werewolf, but I understand
pack dynamics. If Cal says you’re his mate, then you are. Simple as that. Your
mother knew the instant she saw me that I was the man for her, even though I
wasn’t one of her kind.”

“It’s the way the pack introduces new blood into their
midst,” Cal said. “You’re not a purebred wolf because only one of your parents
had the gene. It meant the dangers of your first shift were greater, but our
children will bring new life to the pack.”

Cal wants me because I’m new blood?

Liv’s head spun faster than a fairground ride but with the
same results. She felt sick. With fear, but mostly with anger.

“Your brothers must never know about your mother or you,”
her father said. “One day, you’ll have to say a private goodbye to them because
there’ll be no way to explain why you’ve aged so little.”

“Oh God,” Liv blurted.

Cal made another grab for her hand and missed. “We’ll marry
next week, and—”

“Oh no we won’t,” Liv snapped. “And you can take that look
off your face.”

“I’ve waited years,” Cal said.

“But I haven’t. You can’t drop this bombshell on me and
expect me to just accept it.” She pushed her chair away from the table and
stood. “I need a minute.”
Or a year or two.

She’d not reached the front door before Cal was on her. He
pushed it closed and pressed his hands on it either side of her head. Liv
turned to face him.

“I love you,” Cal whispered. “I’ve spent years aching for
you. I’ve had to watch you date and have boyfriends, knowing that you were
mine. I let you have as long as I could, but the risk was growing too great. I
was so scared of losing you.”

“I’m really angry,” she blurted. “Why didn’t you just
explain everything yesterday morning?”

Cal raised his eyebrows. “You kneed me in the nuts.”

Liv frowned. “Yep, okay, I can see that wasn’t going to
work.”

“What could I say? What was the perfect way to break this to
you? Go out with you for a few months and then tell you the truth? Believe me,
Liv, I’ve had a long while to think about this. I know it’s a shock. I know you
don’t feel it’s what you want, but give me time to show you that it is.
Please.”

Cal dropped his arms and held out his hand. “We have a
lifetime to talk. Dinner’s getting cold.”

“Turn round,” Liv said.

“Why?”

“Do it.”

The moment his back was turned, Liv bent and bit him as hard
as she could on the backside.

“Yow!” Cal lurched forward, and then turned to face her.

The glare on his face faded and changed back into a smile.

“That makes you mine, doesn’t it?” she asked. “Though not
sure I drew blood. I’ll try again later when you’re not expecting it.”

Liv grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the dining room
where her father was putting dishes on the table.

“We can honeymoon in Vegas,” Cal said.

“Have I said yes to getting married?”

“Not yet but we’ll honeymoon in Vegas.”

“Hawaii.”

“Hawaii’s fine.” Cal shrugged.

Liv coughed.

“Hawaii’s perfect.” He bit back his smile.

She sighed. “I’ve never been to Vegas.”

“We can do both. Can we eat now?”

Liv harrumphed and sat down.

“We’ll talk later,” Cal whispered, and slid his hand onto
her knee.

She slammed her knees together and trapped his fingers.

“I cooked your beef separately,” her father said, and slid
three slices of well-done meat onto her plate.

“Thanks, Dad.”

Liv averted her gaze from the plates either side. Both her
father and Cal were eating beef that looked as though the grill had given it no
more than a chaste kiss.

“You still like your meat well done?” Cal asked.

Liv glanced at his plate and heaved. “Appears so.”

He sighed. “Remind me to take a disposable BBQ when we go
hunting.”

After lunch, Cal drove her back to his place. It turned out
to be a pretty cottage on the edge of the Sussex downs. He tugged her straight
through the house without giving her the chance to look around, picked up a
blanket from a chair and led her out into the garden and down the path into a
wood.

“I own the land around too. The pack comes here to run.
You’ll meet them all tonight.”

“What if they don’t like me?”

“Stupid question, but they wouldn’t dare not like you.” Cal
sighed. “Have you forgiven me yet?”

“I’m thinking about it. I might have to do some more
biting.”

He smiled. “By the way, I did need directions yesterday
morning.”

“Oh yes, where to?”

He tilted his head to one side. “To your heart.”

Liv grinned. “That is so corny, but I’m a sucker for a man
who’s not too pig-headed to ask for directions.”

Cal pulled her into his arms and Liv snuggled against him.
When his hands slid down her back, she pulled them higher.

“Why do you smell of mint chocolate chip ice cream?” she
asked.

“Life mates smell of your favorite things.”

“Then why don’t you smell of Jimmy Choo shoes?”

He rolled his eyes, slid his hands toward her butt and Liv
yanked them up.

Cal made a sound of exasperation. “I know about your tail.”

“How?” she squeaked.

“Saw it poking out the top of your pants. Since I already
know you’re not
that
hairy down—”

“Stop right there. I want it to go,” Liv wailed.

“I have just the cure.” Cal spread out the blanket and
started to strip.

Liv had taken off her blouse before she realized what she
was doing, but when Cal stood there, all long and lean and luscious, she
slipped out of the rest of her clothes.

“Have you ever known anyone just to keep a tail?” she
whispered.

“Er…”

“If you want me to say yes when you ask that question I want
posed in the most romantic possible way, don’t lie.”

“No. I’m sure it will go when you shift again.” He pulled
her down onto the blanket.

It took a moment before she registered what he’d said. “You
mean I have to wait a month until the next full moon?”

“Possibly.” Cal dropped his head to her breast, and Liv’s
mouth filled with moisture. His hand slid between her legs and she began to
groan.