Howling at the Moon: The Complete Series (7 page)

“Dammit, this is my fault.” He leaped from the bed, pacing back and forth. “You're going to turn now for sure. I know it.”

“Turn into what? I just sucked your cock, is all.” I didn’t understand until he stopped walking. Facing me, Warren said words, but it took a minute for my brain to comprehend. I laid back, my head spinning and the room moving like the effects from a wild hangover.

“Did you hear me?” he asked. “You’re going to turn into a werewolf.”

*****

I
woke up shivering. Frantic, I turned and reached for Warren, but the bed was empty. Night had turned into day, and everything that happened had to be a dream. The room felt cold and distant, and I was wrapped under the blankets, shielding my naked body from the cold.

Glancing out the window, the sunny sky was now overcast and filled with clouds. The beating raindrops mixed with the sound of thunder shook the house. Sticking out of one side window was a newly installed air conditioner. I blamed my now aching and freezing body on the cold air, or maybe it was something else.

Warren’s revelation from last night instantly came to mind. Everything he said about me turning became a blur. He insisted that I lay down and get some rest, and he would explain in the morning. With the dizziness, it wasn’t hard to persuade me to close my eyes.

I’d forced my brain to shut down and stop thinking of the million possibilities that fogged my mind, hoping that the crazy side effects would go away.

You are going to turn.
I heard his voice in my head, but after he’d said that, I didn’t remember much else.

Getting out of bed, my body didn’t feel like my own. My skin felt scratchy and dry as I put on my robe. Walking out towards the kitchen, I felt disoriented, as if I couldn’t walk in a straight line.

Holding my head, I followed the sound of clanking pots and the smell of food. Glancing into the living room, in place of the tarp from last night was now a new window. A full view of the bloated rain drops and dreary front lawn was clear through the new glass. I wasn’t sure how long I was asleep, but in that time there was no more broken glass anywhere. Maybe I have dreamt all of this.

Turning towards the kitchen, I saw that Warren was there, fully clothed and freshly shaven. His head was in a book that he put down when he saw me.

“Good morning,” I said with a smile, but his face was still held that sad expression from last night.

“How do you feel?” he asked, immediately coming over to me and putting his palm to my forehead.

“I’m cold, achy, and hungry. But besides that, I’m fine.” Looking around, I saw another air conditioner.

“Thanks for the air conditioners, but it’s freezing in here,” I said, turning the cold air machine off.

Not paying my words any attention, Warren began examining me again.

“I figured you would be hungry. You’ve been asleep for most of the day.” He motioned for me to open my mouth and suspiciously looked around like he was a dentist.

“What the hell is going on?”

“Do you remember last night?” I recalled back the memories the good and the bad of the evening.

“Yes, but... I thought maybe some of it was a dream.” The slow shake of his head indicated everything that I supposedly dreamt was really true.

“Do you remember me saying anything about you turning?” I nodded.

“I just don’t understand why, or how.”

“It’s me. It’s my fault. I should have watched the moon more closely and not let myself get out of control.” He was making no sense today, just as he made no sense last night.

Sitting me down on one of the kitchen chairs, he began speaking slowly.

“On a full moon, when a wolf takes a human female, she turns into a wolf, especially when she takes his seed in her mouth.” The sounds of the raindrops falling against the house magnified, as if there was a speaker amplifying the sound.

He must have read the confusion on my face. I didn’t understand what any of this had to do with me turning into... one of them.

“Its age-old rules that I haven’t thought about in years. Every other woman I have been with was already a shifter.” My eyes widened with the introduction of a new word. All of this terminology was foreign to me.

“What does that have to do with Katina, Mo, and I?” I asked. I remembered how he didn’t act strange until I mentioned Mo’s wife was back in town.

“Mo was trying to change you—make you into his new wife.” I tried to keep track of all this, but it was unbelievable how a week ago, I was excited about coming here, and now I was ready to run.

“What does that mean for me?”

“To remain an alpha of his pack, Mo needed a bride. He tried to change you because Katina left.”

“But now she’s back, so why the broken window?” I stood up, walking to the living room. Looking outside, I saw remnants from the window repair, Tools, the tarp, and other items sat on the porch away from the rain.

“The window didn’t come from him. It was from her.” I whipped around to face him. Now I was more confused than ever.

“She must have followed your scent; tracked you. Now that you are... one of us, I have to prepare you. But I can fix it.”

Now that was the only sane thing I’d heard since he started talking. “You can leave and live your life somewhere else.” Out of his pocket appeared the same envelope I used to pay him a year’s worth of rent.

“I can get you out of town, and you can live your life without anyone knowing. Controlling your transforms is easy once you practice.”

He’d made love to me, argued with me, and now he wanted me to leave like none of that happened?

My life was ruined, and every day I lived it seemed to get worse. First I lost my boyfriend and my job, then I came here and met this gorgeous man that turned out to be an animal, and now I was turning into one, too.

My legs buckled underneath me and I fell back onto the couch.

“Are you okay? You have to leave at once, and I need you to be strong. Let me get you something to eat,” he said, pulling me into an embrace and rubbing my arms.

“No!” I didn’t mean to shout as I pushed him away.

“I’m sorry I did this. It’s my fault—I should have known better I know it is scary, but I will fix it.”

“No... I’m not leaving,” I told him, feeling stronger now, as if I had gotten a shot of caffeine. “I’m not leaving this town.”

Warren’s brow furrowed. “This is not what your grandmother would have wanted.”

“Dammit, quit bringing her into things.” I was tired of him mentioning her. My grandma had nothing to do with this situation. Maybe this was my destiny to be like them. Grandma knew about them, and she wasn’t afraid. It was my fault for ever coming here and allowing my damn hormones to rage out of control.

“No, you must hear this. She wouldn’t have wanted it because it goes against all that she fought against in keeping you safe.”

He wasn’t making any sense again, and I’d had enough.

“I’m not leaving, and that is that.”

“Your grandmother would want you to leave so you wouldn’t be like her.” I stopped in my tracks. Slowly turning around, I let the words sink into my brain.

“Your grandma was a werewolf, too.”

*****

“W
hat do you mean, my grandma was a werewolf?!” I felt the anger rising in me. How dare he make up some damn lie about my grandma—and she was dead!

“Calm down, or you’re going to turn.” He said the words, but I didn’t care if it meant I would turn into some hairy beast. I stepped closer to him; my cold, shivering body now increasing in temperature.

“All those times you went to the lake; that picture of her at the lake with my grandfather; she was trying to help others not turn. And your trips to the lake were to stop you from turning.”

I thought back to how insistent she was that I go with her on those mini-vacations to the lake; how we spent all day swimming and playing games in the water. Even when the other kids were gone, Grandma had insisted that we stay.

“But my mom isn’t a werewolf.” I tried to reason with this information.

Warren sighed. “Sometimes it skips a generation.”

Shit... My world just got tipped upside-down. I wanted to be as far away from Warren as possible, yet I also wanted to cry on his shoulder. Looking down, I realized that I was still in this damn robe with no clothes underneath.

“So you mean to tell me last night having sex with you and swallowing your cum has now caused me to be able to... shift into a wolf?” He nodded as if it were that simple.

A trillion questions shot through my head. Namely, how was this even possible, and why should I believe him?

“Stop scratching your arm.” Warren came to my side, pulling my hand away. Looking down, I saw that I now had red scratches that were so deep they had begun to bleed. My nails were now claws jutting out from my fingertips. “You have to calm down. Take a deep breath.”

Anxiety was always a problem for me.
Inhale and exhale slowly, Jaime, this is just a dream.

But I couldn’t calm down. I was shaking and I couldn’t stop. My body was on fire.

“Easy, easy,” Warren cooed. “Let’s get you back to bed...”

“No, no... I need to cool off. Take me to the shower.” I needed water on my skin.

We made our way to the bathroom with Warren’s strong arms lifting me with every step. Him hoisting me up was the only way I could stay standing. The brief adrenaline rush I’d had was now gone.

Warren turned the water on cold. Undressing was easy since I was completely naked under the robe.

“Let me sit down in the tub. Can you get me some water?”

He helped me in, and in a flash, he was gone.

I didn’t wince when the cold water hit my skin. The faucet was all the way down in the blue, yet I felt as if the water was warm.

As Warren returned with the glass of water, I took a huge gulp, drinking the entire glass.

“Dehydration is one of the beginning signs of turning. You have to keep yourself hydrated.” He patted my scratched arm with a washcloth.

“I wish I could just take you to the lake and heal you before you completely turn.”

The water ran over my body as I cooled down. Now I was intensely hungry, amongst other things.

“God, I’m starving.” I got up, turning off the water. Warren looked afraid to let me go, apprehensive that maybe I might fall or start tearing up my skin again.

“I’m fine,” I assured him. “I’m going to get dressed, and maybe we can figure this out.”

“Okay. Let me finish cooking. It’s almost dinner now, so I know you're starved.”

I hadn’t slept this late in the day in years. I must have surely been sick. But before Warren left the bathroom, I had to ask him one thing.

“Warren, is it normal for me to feel intensely horny?” Maybe I was going crazy instead of turning into a wolf.

“Dehydration, hunger, and yes, sex cravings, are common for us. Especially during mating season.” He licked at his lips seductively, teasing me before disappearing for the kitchen.

All the harm seemed to have been done; I didn’t think that if I had sex with him again it would make me change into a werewolf faster. Even if it did, I wanted Warren. Wolf or not, my pussy wanted some cock.

*****

I
ate in bed—beef stew with some fresh baked bread—as I snuggled under the covers. Warren sat in a chair eating as well, with no sound between us except the beating of rain outside.

It was dark now, and it had rained off and on since I had been up.

I ate, but I wanted to talk more about this problem and what this meant for me. Would I stay here and have some sort of fight with Katina, or leave Hillston and go somewhere else?

I had only been here a few days, but I felt so connected to the town now, as if this was all meant to be. Scraping the bottom of the bowl, I felt as if I hadn’t eaten anything at all. For a wolf, he was a damn good cook.

In the living room played some music that was supposed to calm me. Today just seemed like a waste. I had planned on unpacking the house, cooking a nice dinner, and doing some writing. Instead, I ended up sleeping most of the day, arguing, and then recuperating from this new transformation my body was destined to take.

Warren stood up, looking out the window as if he had heard something. I wondered what was on his mind. How did he handle living like this? If he told me that leaving was the best choice I should probably go, but being without him seemed crazy at this point. Only a few days, and I had grown fond of this man.

“What are you thinking about?” I asked him. He seemed to be on full alert, looking out the window and sucking his soup from the side of the bowl.

He didn’t answer right away. Peering out the window, he seemed to be fixated on something.

“I’m wondering how do I protect you and keep you here, when really, this is probably all my fault.”

Now he was blaming himself for things that I did. Placing my bowl on the nightstand, I grabbed for his hand.

“This has nothing to do with you. This is all my fault.”

Warren looked away, unconvinced. He placed his bowl next to mine he took a deep breath.

“Katina... she used to be my girl,” he admitted. “Actually, she used to be
our
girl. We... shared her.” I looked at him, his eyes still following the raindrops outside. I wasn’t sure what to say to that revelation. I didn’t know it was possible to share a person, but my mind wandered and my intuition began thinking of what sharing could mean.

“You shared her...?” Naughty thoughts filled my head. Did he mean in the way I thought he did? Thoughts of her fucking Warren while Mo watched and vice versa filled my consciousness. That could be the only way that he meant—what else was left besides that?

“It wasn’t supposed to be that way. She told me that she left Mo and wanted to be with me.” Warren paced back and forth near the window.

“What is the truth? Why are you not friends with him?” He sucked in air, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

“It’s very complicated, Jaime.” His eyes were pleading with me not to make him tell me the truth, but it was too late for hiding. I was now entwined in this mess, and I needed to know what it was about—what it was
really
about. The last time he told me things were complicated, I’d found out I was going to change into a wolf.