Beauty is the Beast: Beasts Among Us - Book 1

by Jennifer Zamboni

  I decided to tuck one of the glasses between my arm and my body, carrying the other two in hand. I was about to walk off when I remembered to pay. Sheepishly, I reached into my top and pulled out my wad of money and plopped some bills down on the counter before tucking the rest away again.

  “Beer for you, rum and coke for me.” I set my prizes down on the table and slid down onto the seat next to Doug.

  “Good girl.” Austin raised his drink to me, then took a swallow.

  We were soon joined by the pack and the rest of my boys. We were a rowdy bunch, but no one wolfed out. I was especially proud of my deceptively convincing humanity.

  As the noise level grew, I found myself with an opportunity to talk to Doug without anyone paying attention. “So the alpha—” I started.

  “Yes, I’m scared shitless.” He shrugged his shoulders and pursed his lips tight between his teeth.

  I was surprised by Doug’s uncharacteristic cursing.

  “Are you having second thoughts?” I asked hopefully.

  “Not at all. He’s just intimidating, and I don’t like what he does to you.” Doug slid down in his chair so his shoulder blades came to rest on the back. He looked totally at ease with his feet stretched out under the table and crossed at the ankles. I envied him.

  “How can you just throw everything away?” I leaned towards him, trying to convey the full weight of my worry to him.

  “Throw what away? I have nothing, Gretchen.”

  “Don’t be an idiot.”

  “I’m not. I want this. Besides, who are you to talk?”

  “I was a sex slave, you ass! I thought becoming a were would be an escape. It wasn’t. I’m still the same girl. I’ll always be. Plus the fact that I have to live with being the murderer who massacred dozens of innocent people.”

  “Innocent? Listen to yourself. One moment you’re a slave, then next you love your captors.” He shifted upright.

  “They didn’t deserve to die. I didn’t have someone to tell me what I was signing up for. It’s a lifetime membership to a life that never ends.”

  “Sounds pretty great to me. Besides, I know you don’t really hate it.”

  “I accept it, and sometimes I enjoy it, but if I had a chance to take it all back, I would. Life is full of choices. I made a bad one. Don’t make my mistake.” I was getting riled up, and I could feel my wolf pull closer to my surface.

  Doug wasn’t perturbed at all. “It’s my mistake to make, and I don’t think it will be a mistake. Besides, you could use a friend.”

  I could, yes. “I have friends.”

  “Yes, you do, but wouldn’t it be nice to have someone who could understand you?”

  He needed to stop making sense, or my defenses would break down.

  I didn’t reply, and his smile grew. He obviously knew I was done arguing.

  If he was that set on being changed—and when it came right down to it, it was his choice—then I wouldn’t stand in his way. I would support him. I would be there for him. And that would make all the difference. When I was changed, I had no one. I would be his someone.

  “Are you done trying to talk me out my decision?” Doug asked.

  I nodded, drumming my fingers on the sides of my glass.

  Scott took the seat to my other side. “How’s it going?” he asked.

  “Fine,” I lied, getting up. I just couldn’t take his mournful looks.

  Maybe that made me a terrible friend, but I’d known Penny for longer than he had, and I still found it easier to deal than he did. Yes, I was sad she was dead, but shit happens, like death. I’d been dealing with it for years, and I didn’t know how to respond to people who hadn’t. Especially someone like Scott who was depressed about it one moment and hitting on me the next.

  Kaine followed me out. I couldn’t shake the guy.

  “What?” I turned on him as soon as we made it outside.

  “Just out getting some fresh air. It’s a little cloy in there with all the scent going on.”

  I nodded in agreement, though I didn’t believe him.

  “What’s up with you and the hairy guy?”

  “Absolutely nothing.” I found myself wishing it were a lie.

  “I don’t think it’s nothing to him. You need to stop leading him on.” Kaine ran a calloused hand over his stubble-covered face.

  I stood tall, trying to out-intimidate him. “That’s none of your business.”

  “You are my pack. It is very much my business. And even if the alpha decides to change him, he won’t be.”

  That startled me a little. “Why not?”

  “Because his genetic code is no good. We want to strengthen the pack, and his mutation indicates a weakness in his blood.”

  I didn’t believe that for a second. Who cared if a werewolf was hairy? “That’s bull.” My pulse picked up tempo.

  “Oh? Ask the alpha. He’s very picky about who he changes. He’s not a vampire to bite purely for the thrill of it. He chose you specifically for your strength. Apparently he didn’t take into account your stubbornness.”

  “If you object to me, why do you insist on pursuing me?” I snarled.

  “You’re hot, babe, and your genetic code is excellent. I think you’ll settle down after mating. You might actually be satisfied.”

  I growled at him, “Not a chance, buddy.”

  It was time for me to go back inside. I didn’t know if I was going to last for a meet-up with the alpha changer. I found myself saddled with the intense desire to go home and lock myself away, but I resumed my seat between Doug and Scott instead. I’d take both their company, in any temperament, to Kaine’s any day.

  Even if I chose to stay with the pack, there was no way I was mating with that guy. He was a good leader, but terrible with women. I couldn’t imagine that the ladies in the pack liked him. Respected him, perhaps, but like? No way.

  I was presented with a terrible smelling shot, tossed it back, and turned to Doug.

  “Are you absolutely sure of your decision?” I asked.

  “Oh, no. I thought we were done with that.” He leaned away. I could tell he didn’t want to argue.

  Neither did I. “We are. I’m just thinking you might want to get a bit smashed. From what I remember, the bite hurts like hell. If he really is going to change you, then a were constitution will kill any hangover possibilities.”

  “Werewolves can’t get drunk?”

  “We can, it just takes a lot more all at once, the whole metabolism thing. We burn through alcohol really fast.”

  “Really fast what?” Scott asked from my other side, obviously feeling good.

  “My metabolism,” I supplied, blinking innocently.

  “I don’t doubt it. I’ve seen you eat before, and I’ve never seen you drunk.”

  “And you never will, I promise.” I let an impish smile grace my features.

  “Aw, come on, I think you’d be fun. Loosen you up a bit.”

  “That doesn’t really sound like a brilliant idea to me. You didn’t drive yourself here, did you?” I could drive him home, then run to wherever the weres were meeting.

  “’Course I did.”

  “I’ll get him home. Our boss really wants to talk to you tonight.” Quintavious interrupted our conversation.

  I nodded. If he was the one to normally deal with the humans, then I supposed I could trust him not to wolf out on Scott. Huh, I almost liked the guy. I hadn’t been prepared for that.

  I ordered a round of shots for everyone and a double for Doug. Mine tasted a little better than the first one I’d sucked down.

  He was more than a little sloshed when Kaine appeared once again behind us.

  “Time to go,” he said. “I’ll take you to the alpha.”

  Kaine’s vehicle wasn’t as nice as I’d expected. Perhaps he hadn’t been as wise with his investments as I’d gotten other people to be for me over the years. It was a rental, and I wondered how the rental place would like the obvious dog smell that it would b
e returned with.

  We didn’t drive too far out of town, just enough away from people that no one would hear the screaming. Doug and I got out as soon as the car stopped, but Kaine remained in the driver’s seat.

  “He wants to see the two of you alone. He isn’t going to hurl, is he?”

  I looked at Doug, who did look a little off.

  “Nah, he’s just prepared.” I was pretty sure his ill look was more from nerves than alcohol. “Uh, are you going to give us a ride home?” I hated to ask, but I didn’t really want to carry Doug back to the caravan if he passed out.

  “Of course. I’ll be right here enjoying my music.” Kaine turned up his radio, and I shut the passenger side door.

  “Ready?” I asked, purely for the need to say something.

  Doug just nodded.

  “I can smell him. Follow me.”

  The scent of magic and wolf caused me to stumble. Doug caught my arm and kept me moving.

  We found him sitting on a boulder, looking bored.

  Bored or not, he still had the power to make me crumple. Down on my knees I went. My upper body disobeyed my will, and once again I was face down in the dirt.

  Doug wasn’t faring much better. He couldn’t feel the alpha’s influence, but the alcohol was having a similar effect. I shoved a hand out to keep him from tipping over.

  “Thanks,” he slurred.

  “Welcome, children. I’m mostly here to speak with Doug. As he is your friend, I thought you should be here. Is that acceptable, Maude?” The alpha climbed to hind feet, still awkwardly clad in boots as if to fit in with human imaginings.

  “It is,” I whispered into the dirt.

  “Good. You may rise.”

  I hurried to do his bidding, knowing there was no way I could have stood had he not demanded it.

  “I have come to a decision. I will change you. I find your condition pitiable. However, you will be condemned to the life of a lone wolf, as the pack has spoken of their unwillingness to take you in. I must warn you, I don’t know what effect the magic will have on your particular abnormalities, and it will hurt. Are you willing, human pup?” The alpha towered over Doug, his eyes glowing creepily in the dark, as I’m sure mine were.

  “I want it. I don’t care if I’m part of the pack.” Doug swallowed his fear and stood tall.

  Bravo for him. Despite my apprehension of his decision, I was proud of him.

  “Good. I let all my children choose the location where I bite as it will scar.” The alpha grinned. and I was truly creeped out. The guy had way too many teeth.

  “Where were you bitten, Gretch?” Doug asked, looking at me instead of the teeth.

  “Here.” I lifted my left arm and indicated a spot just below my armpit. The scar was hidden beneath clothing, but I could feel it with the alpha so close.

  “Bite me there.” Doug rolled up his sleeve.

  I shook my head. “Better rip that. You don’t want it falling down over the wound later.” I stepped up to Doug and lifted his sleeve to my teeth to tear it, ripping it until it split up to the shoulder seam. I’d use it to bandage the wound later.

  I stepped back, allowing the alpha space. He took Doug firmly in his arms, lifting him and pressing his body against his massive barrel of a chest, just as he had done with me so long ago. He pinned him there with one alien arm and held Doug’s left arm up with his free hand.

  The alpha looked me in the eye, and I immediately glanced away. I couldn’t watch him bite Doug or meet the alpha’s stare.

  I turned my back when Doug screamed as the alpha’s grotesque teeth ripped into his underarm. I winced in sympathy but kept my position.

  Doug’s scream escalated in volume and pitch, and I was forced to look when the alpha beckoned me with a yip.

  I caught his body as he dropped to the ground, finally passed out from the pain.

  “How long will he be like this?” I asked, lifting my friend in my arms.

  “A couple of days, probably. It varies. Take care of my pup. I’ll check on him someday.”

  I wasn’t sure if I’d understood him. He had made it very clear that the pack wanted nothing to do with Doug. Why did he want me to look after Doug if he wanted me to be a full member of the pack?

  I carried Doug over my shoulder to the car, where Kaine stood waiting. Kaine went so far as to open the back door so I could shove Doug in feet first, then follow him in.

  My hand against Doug’s forehead revealed a raging fever. I hadn’t filled him on the little fact that not everyone survives the bite. It burns you with a fever so hot that you could die as your insides cook themselves. There was no point. It wouldn’t have changed his mind.

  I tore his ripped sleeves into strips and bandaged the bite as tightly as I dared. I didn’t want to get blood all over Kaine’s rental. Had it been a normal bite, I’d have been forced to take Doug to the hospital, but being as it was, I was taking him straight to Percy. She was bound to have some kind of herbal or magical goodness to at least make him comfortable.

  I propped Doug’s wounded arm up in the air with my shoulder, keeping it immobile. I didn’t know what the chances were of him bleeding out, not being a medical expert, and I didn’t want to take any chances.

  “How’s it going back there?” Kaine asked as we coursed down the road.

  “I have no idea.” I hadn’t been conscious for my change, so I had no clue how ‘going well’ looked.

  “Is the blood flowing or seeping?” he asked.

  I tipped my head to look at the bandaged covered wound. “I think it’s oozing.”

  “He should be fine. If it isn’t gushing, then most of the saliva will stay inside to work its magic. Otherwise, the fever will kill him.”

  No shit, Sherlock.

  “I’m not a bad man, Gretchen.” Kaine watched me in the rearview mirror, and I met his eyes, staring him down. To look away would be to admit his dominance over me. As much as it irked him to do so, he looked away first, having to watch the road.

  Free to turn my attention back to Doug, I was happy to see that he had yet to break a sweat. It was magic versus body chemistry. Sweat would cool a fever, which would halt the transformation. This was just theory and conjecture on my part. I didn’t really know how it all worked. My research had been mostly speculation, not having any contact with the pack since my own change.

  There was no way Kaine was driving the speed limit. I had to keep from sliding from side to side as we wound around corners and swooped over hills.

  “We going back to your home?” Kaine asked, taking the turn for my road.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  Doug’s blood seeped through the bandage and soaked into my top. I pushed my hand against it, hoping to keep as much blood in him as possible. I didn’t care about my outfit, just the fact that blood did more good inside a body than out.

  The tires made a different noise as Kaine turned the car onto our paved driveway, which was smoother than the public road.

  Lacey-Marie met us at the front door, her nose fluttering in response to the scent of Doug’s blood. Her eyes opened wide, and her pupils dilated. I saw her take a deep breath and hold it, trying to keep the scent of blood at bay. A paper cut, or a cut from someone’s sheers, she could deal with, especially with the house’s peculiar type of help, but the amount of blood that stained both my and Doug’s clothing was too much for her.

  “Percy!” she shrieked as soon as she got the door closed behind us. She backed away, taking quick, shallow breaths as she retreated, her fists clenching and releasing.

  I stood in the entryway, one arm under Doug’s knees and the other around his shoulders, cradling his burning body to my own. It was uncomfortable, but I was unwilling to put him down.

  Out of the kitchen ran not Percy, but Fern, Meredith, and Toni. I hadn’t realized they were around, else I’d have carried Doug directly up the stairs. I couldn’t imagine this was going to go well. Fern knew about us, and as far as I knew, she had kept her mouth shut.
Percy and Mem dashed in right on their heels.

  Great, a party.

  “Can you get him to the attic?” Percy asked, rushing over and peeling back his eyelids.

  “Yeah, if someone can pull the cord. Probably not Lace.” I glanced in the vampire’s direction who didn’t have much visible cornea left, her tongue snaking out to lick her lips hungrily. “She’s not taking the blood too well.”

  “I’ll get it,” Fern volunteered, separating herself from the group.

  I was shocked. She seemed pretty freaked out when she discovered us, but the bleeding man in my arms didn’t phase her. Maybe she just performed well under pressure?

  “All right, it’s upstairs in front of my room.” I started for the foot of the stairs and moved up them carefully, not wanting to jostle too much.

  Fern ran up ahead, and I heard the thud of the stairs falling, followed by a soft string of swears. I’d forgotten to warn her how easily the ladder released once the trap door was pulled.

  I ran up the unsteady ladder into my favorite hideout. If the girls followed us, they would be fully exposed to everything we were. From the clatter coming from behind me, there would be no avoiding it.

  “Whoa,” Meredith gulped upon pulling the string connected to the light in the ceiling, revealing the open area.

  It spanned the entire length of the mansion, and it was full of stuff we’d collected over the years, plus spell books, and the herbs hanging from the ceiling. I was seeing it with them, though I knew exactly what to expect.

  I wondered how Toni had gotten away with staying out so late. Percy must have invited all the girls over for drinks. It had to be at least one in the morning.

  Fern hurried ahead of me, looking around for a clean surface. “Where are you going to put him?”

  “If you guys could clear off the big table, that would be best.” I jutted my chin the direction of Percy’s big old oak work table.

  She got busy setting things on the floor and scattered chairs. The others joined in as soon as they were finished gawking.

  “Why didn’t you bring him to the hospital?” Meredith asked, eying the blood-soaked strips.

  “Doctors can’t help him. All we can do is make him comfortable until the change is complete.” I laid Doug on the table and held his arm in the air, scarlet staining my hands and darkening my sleeves. Kaine had said it was okay for it to ooze, but now the blood trickled out at a pretty steady rate. The sodden t-shirt bandage probably needed to come off, but I was leaving that to Percy.