Once Bitten (5 page)

“Maybe
she’s busy.”

Biting
her lip, she shook her head. “She usually texts me if that’s the case. I haven’t
heard anything out of her since yesterday.” Retrieving her phone from her
pocket, she double checked it. No texts, no missed calls, no voicemails. She
couldn’t help the bad feeling that crept over her skin.

“Have
you tried calling her at work?”

“No. I
don’t even know if I have the number. Do they still have operators?”

He
shrugged. “Just call information. They should be able to look it up for you.”

Getting
up from the couch, she wandered over to the kitchen and dialed the number for
information. She answered the automated questions and was finally connected to
Sunny Child Development Center.

The
phone rang several times before one of the girls answered and identified
herself as Millie.

“Hi Millie.
My name is Lila. I’m Andrea’s cousin. Is she at work today?”

“No.
She called me this morning at like seven and said she wasn’t going to be in
today,” the girl told her in an annoyingly chipper voice that reminded her of a
shrill squawking bird.

“She
did?” That surprised her. Andrea seldom missed work, especially when she was
behind.

“She
said that she wasn’t feeling well and was going to be out for several days, at
least. I told her to take her time and feel better. I’m covering things here.”

Several
days? That wasn’t Andrea at all.

“Thanks
Millie. If she calls back again, can you let her know I’m trying to get in
touch with her?”

“Sure
will.”

Lila
clicked off the phone and stared out the kitchen window. The sun was shining
and the last traces of winter were fading away and turning into a beautiful
spring, but that was the last thing on her mind. How could it be so beautiful
and peaceful outside when she was feeling like she was screaming on the inside?

She had
heard Gabriel come up behind her and jumped when his voice interrupted her
thoughts. “Well?”

“She’s
not there. Millie told me that she called this morning and said she doesn’t
feel well and that she’s going to be out for several days.”

Frowning,
Gabriel’s hands landed on his hips. “That sounds odd. Does she do that often?”

“No.”
That wasn’t Andrea at all. Andrea went to work when she had to go to work,
regardless of the day or how many hours she had already put in for the week.

“Call
her again and if she doesn’t answer I’ll call Declan and have him pop over
there to see if she’s there.”

Nodding,
Lila dialed Andrea’s cell phone again while Gabriel waited. Again, it rang and
rang until her voicemail picked up. Ending the call as soon as she heard Andrea’s
familiar message, she looked over at Gabriel and shook her head.

“Can I
use your phone?” She dropped her phone in his outstretched palm. Large fingers
flew over the touch screen and he held the phone up to his ear.

She
listened as he spoke to someone on the other end and when he looked
questioningly at her, she rattled off Andrea’s address for him. He ended the
call a few seconds later, handed her phone back to her, and leaned against the
kitchen counter.

“He’ll
check it out. If she’s home, you and I will head over there and knock on her
door. If she’s not there, he’ll go in and see if he can figure out where she
went.”

“Breaking
and entering is something you guys do often?”

“No,
only when it’s necessary for our protection.”

Leaning
against the counter opposite him, she raised a brow. “Your protection? I would
think a big strong werewolf like yourself wouldn’t need protection.”

“Protection
against discovery. The last thing we need are for humans to find out about the
Netherworld.”

“But
you told me. I’m human and you’re about to tell two more people in addition to
me.”

His
brown eyes turned hard when he looked at her. “And that’s something that’s not
done. I don’t know what the council’s reaction is going to be if they ever find
out, but let’s just hope they don’t.”

Lila
had never thought Gabriel would be putting himself in jeopardy with his people
by revealing his werewolf side. He was in danger from the warlocks, but she
never realized the full extent of what he would be risking to keep her and her
friends alive. It just reinforced that there was so much she still didn’t
understand about him and his life.

“How
long until they’re supposed to be here?” He asked her, changing the subject.

“Like
twenty minutes, if that.”

“Good.
Kaleb should be here around that time, too.”

Silence
lapsed in the room, the only noise coming from the ticking clock on the wall
and the low volume of the television in the living room Gabriel had left on
when he had followed her into the kitchen.

“So,
how are you going to approach telling them? Are you planning on just turning
into a werewolf in my living room?”

He
shrugged. “I might as well. Like you said, I doubt they’d believe us otherwise.
Seeing is believing.”

“True.”
After a moment’s hesitation, when her overwhelming curiosity got the better of
her, she asked, “What do you look like when you turn? I saw the crazy teeth and
claws last night, but there’s more to it than that, isn’t there?”

“You
want to see.”

It was
more of a statement than a question, but she answered anyway. “Yes.”

He
sighed. “All right. This is something you need to see anyway, so you know what
you’re dealing with.”

He took
a few steps away from her to put some distance between then. Her back straight,
Lila watched him carefully, not wanting to miss anything.

“I won’t
hurt you, but don’t run from me. Do you understand? It’s in our instinct to
give chase, so please don’t run. If you act like prey, I’ll lose control of the
beast. Anything could happen then.”

When
she didn’t immediately agree, he demanded, “Tell me you won’t run.”

“I won’t
run,” she said, folding her arms over her chest.

Gabriel
unbuttoned his jeans and pushed them down his hips. Startled by his sudden
nudity, Lila’s jaw dropped and she tried to take a step back only to bump into
the edge of the counter.

He
stepped out of the clothes and kicked them to the side. She honed in on his
cock first. She couldn’t help it. It was soft, yet still thick and long. If he
had been aroused… Her belly clenched and whatever blood hadn’t immediately
rushed to her pussy rushed to her face.

Feeling
him stare at her, she forced her gaze to his chest, embarrassed at being
caught. The defined muscle of his chest and the light sprinkling of hair only
led her eyes south, ending up where she had just been. When his cock twitched,
she forced herself to meet his gaze. He still stared at her, seemingly
oblivious to anything else except her and not recognizing that she had just
been ogling him.

“I’m
serious Lila,” he said, his voice gruff, “Don’t. Move.”

He
closed his eyes. Even from a few feet away, the heat that suddenly radiated
from his body made her skin prickle with sweat. His head fell back as his chest
barreled out, the bones popping and cracking as they gave way.

He
lifted his arms, making room for the already large muscles of his chest and
arms to expand. They bulked out to an outrageous size, his arms falling
slightly from the added weight. His golden skin darkened slowly to a shade of
brown that matched his hair. The hair on his body thickened and lengthened
until most of the skin disappeared.

His
fingers grew out from his palms and curled into claws, his nails turning black
and growing long with sharp points that looked like they could tear through
anything as if it were tissue paper. His feet lengthened and his heels lifted
from the floor so that he was standing on the balls of his feet, his toenails
shaping into claws that mimicked his hands. He shot up at least half a foot in
height, reaching over seven feet tall.

What
had happened to his face unnerved her. His normally straight nose widened and
grew out with his cheekbones, away from his face; his chin moved out with his
nose until he had formed a muzzle. His forehead and brows jutted out. His ears
lifted and the tips pointed. His face looked like an animal, although different
from any animal she had ever seen before. When he opened his mouth she saw his
teeth had already grown and sharpened. They were lethal and looked capable of
tearing the throat out of any man. Or woman.

He
straightened his head and his arms fell to his sides. After taking several deep
breaths, his eyes opened. His pupils encompassed the entire iris. They narrowed
suddenly, shrinking back to reveal the same shade of brown that his eyes had
been before. He focused on her and a low growl escaped his snout.

Her
heart pounded in her chest, threatening to break through the confines of her
ribs. The color drained from her face. She didn’t know what she had expected
him to turn into. Maybe some fluffy big dog that she could take for a walk. The
man who stood in front of her was no longer a man, but neither was he a dog.
She understood now why he had referred to this form as his ‘beast’. That was
what he was.

Taking
a deep, shaky breath, Lila took a step toward him. She watched as his entire
body tensed at her sudden movement. She knew he saw everything when he looked
at her from the gooseflesh of her arm to the small beads of sweat that had
formed on her brow to the trembling that had started in her hands.

Hesitating,
she watched him lift his nose and sniff the air. A long, slow exhale followed,
his body relaxing slightly and she hoped that in the back of his mind he
realized who she was. She didn’t know how much of Gabriel the man was still in
there and judging by how he watched her every movement, she guessed not very
much.

She
took another tentative step toward him, although she couldn’t explain why. In
the back of her mind she knew that approaching a werewolf probably wasn’t the
best idea she ever had, but she couldn’t seem to stop herself. One day her
curiosity was going to get the best of her. She just hoped that day wasn’t
today.

He
watched her as she approached, never blinking. He was no longer looking at her
as if she was his next meal. His eyes surveyed her as if trying to gauge her
motives, his curiosity just as strong as hers. He was wary and she held her
hand out to him as if he was an unknown dog she was trying to approach.
Laughing inwardly at the lunacy of it all, she was amazed when his hot nose
tickled her palm.

She
could feel air coming out in sharp bursts as he smelled her skin, his eyes
never leaving hers. When a long, low growl escaped through his teeth, she
jerked her hand away and took a step back. He mimicked her movement, taking a
long step toward her.

 
Lila hadn’t been prepared for that. She
instinctually took another step away and then another when he followed her.
With each step he closed the distance between them a little more. Icy fear
curled up her spine, chilling her to the bone.

When
his chest rumbled and he bared his teeth, she lost it. Turning on her heel, she
bolted for the back door. She didn’t get more than a few feet before he tackled
her, his body landing on top of hers. She hit the hardwood with a yelp, belly
down on the floor with his heavy body pinning her.

A
menacing growl vibrated against her skin as he pressed his nose to her neck. He
jerked her arms behind her back and held them there with an iron fist. His
claws didn’t bite into her as she thought they would. She tried kicking her
legs, but his knees dug into her calves, rendering them useless. His nose moved
away from her neck and he nudged the side of her crushed breast and down the
length of her side.

When
his nose pressed sharply against her backside, she yelled. He didn’t hurt her
but she didn’t want to know what he intended to do down there. Using his knees,
he removed them from her calves and pushed her legs apart. His nose came down
to push against her fabric-covered pussy. When he sucked her scent in through
his nose, her stomach clenched and she felt his body vibrate against her when
he growled again.

The
sharp points of his teeth caught hold of her lounge pants and she screamed when
she felt the jerk and heard the fabric tear. She shuddered when his nose nuzzled
against the thin fabric of her underwear. A burst of hot air escaped his nose
and she jerked.

He
howled. The sound was deafening, rattling her eardrums. His body slid up hers.
Grasping her hip, he pulled her bottom into the air while keeping her upper
body pinned against the cold floor with his hands. When his teeth scraped
against the juncture of her neck and shoulder, a sharp tingling sensation shot
down her spine. Opening his mouth, his teeth gripped her shoulder and she knew
he was only seconds away from sinking his long canines into her flesh.

Lila, you dumbass! Why did you
run after you were told not to?

Her
mind raced as she tried to figure out how she was going to get out of this and
get Gabriel back to his human self. It was impossible to get away from him as
he had her now and she knew he wouldn’t let her go now that he had her.