“That's terrible.”
Jim reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Shit.”
“What happened?”
“It's family business. Can I take you back to your car?”
“Sure. Is everything alright?”
“Yeah. I just gotta get back.” They sped down the dirt road at almost sixty. When they got back to the restaurant, he gave her his number and sped off as fast as possible.
Chapter 5
It was nice to sit back at the bar and sip on a margarita while Rita ran around helping the customers, sending Sophie hateful glares every few minutes. Rita couldn't cook, but she made wonderful drinks. The restaurant wasn't packed, there were only a few customers, so Sophie didn't feel too bad.
Rita walked back after giving her customer a drink refill. “You enjoying yourself there?”
“Yes,” Sophie smiled. “That guys pretty cool. His family owns Grinlo.”
“Oh yeah?” Rita's grin said a lot. “You guys hit it off?”
“I guess. He took me to the field and we had lunch.”
“Did you get dessert?” She laughed.
“No.” Sophie hid her smile inside her drink, and Rita went to help the customers. The dinner rush was short and easy, so it didn't take long for the place to clear out. Rita was in back doing the dishes while Sophie sat on her phone for a little bit.
The front door swung open and slammed into the wall. Sophie turned around and ran to the back of the room. A white wolf the size of a car ran in with a curved back and fangs twice the size of Sophie's hands. She tried not to breathe in a futile effort to keep it from coming after her, but it dashed her way, swiping table aside by the forth of its momentum.
Rita ran out of the kitchen with a shotgun in her hand and cocked it. “I don't know what you are, but you get the fuck back!” Her eyes were wide, and the whole room was filled with the force of her anger.
It obviously understood her, because it stopped and turned around, then started running at her.
“Rita! Run!” Sophie shot up from under the table and grabbed a cue off the pool table and snapped it in half. Sophie didn't hesitate. She clenched her teeth and ran towards the beast. It was almost on top of Rita.
Time stopped when the blast of the shotgun ripped through the room, right before the creature slashed into Rita's chest. The bullet hit him in the shoulder, and the ensuing roar was enough to shatter Sophie's eardrums.
That woman got Sophie through early adulthood, one of the hardest times in her life. They might not have always gotten along, but she was there, and she put up everything Sophie pulled regardless of how much it cost her. Rita made sure that Sophie had food every night when she knew the tips wouldn't put her through. Sophie never realized how much she owed Rita.
Sophie ran up before the creature could react and shoved the pool cue straight through its back. It roared and flipped around, barely able to stand up straight. Its paw snapped up to hit her in the face then a bullet hit it in the face, and it fell to the ground.
“Are you OK?” Jim was standing next to the cop that arrested her.
“What was that?”
Jim put his arm around her shoulder and led her outside. Her whole body was surging from the adrenaline. He took her over to her truck, silently. His face was dark, and somber, completely different from his jovial attitude before.
“Can I take you home,” he asked.
“If you give me answers.” They climbed into his truck and they pulled out of the lot without saying anything.
“Alright. I've had it with this. What was that? Why aren't you talking?” He didn't respond. “Talk to me!” He slammed his hand down on the steering wheel and made a right onto a dirt road, stopping as soon as they were out of sight of the highway. He couldn't even look her in the eyes, and his chest was moving up and down from the way he was breathing.
“I can't tell you,” he mumbled.
“Yes you can. You have to because I just saw something, and I need to know what it is, or I will be wondering for the rest of my life. Please, Jim.”
“There are just some things you don't talk about.”
“Why?”
“Because it's dangerous, because people talk.”
“It was a man that turned into a wolf and killed two people.”
“More than two.”
“Why protect somebody like that?” Sophie felt the cabin get colder and a chill pass down her back.
“You don't. You protect people like him.”
“Are you like him?” He stayed silent. “What does that mean? Is it dangerous?”
“No.” He shook his head. “We think something happened to him.”
“Is this why I was framed? To protect your secret? The prosecutor's office knew?”
“Yes,” Jim's voice broke. “I'm sorry,” he turned to her and took her by the shoulders. “You have to understand. If people found out about us, what would happen? We'd be killed, caged and studied.”
She nodded her head. If that's what happened, and she didn't get hurt, then she could accept that. “It's a terrible burden. I can't imagine what it would be like to carry it around.”
“It's amazing.”
“I wanna see.”
“I-I don't want you to see me like that.”
“Are you afraid?”
“No. I'm not afraid of anything,” he was being defensive.
“Are you afraid I won't like you, is that it? I wanna know you—all of you.” Goosebumps sprouted up all over Sophie's arm.
“You really wanna see?”
“Yes!”
“Alright,” they got out of the car, and waded through the grass to the front of the truck.
She put her arm around his shoulder and pecked him on the cheek. He had gone from a hulking beast to a blushing angel then he grabbed her around the back and slammed her in, forcing his lips onto her own. He slammed him tongue inside her mouth and the world spun.
When he pulled back, he tore off his black shirt, revealing his massive chest and shoulders twice as wide as she was. He stepped back and met her eyes with a smirk, slowly unbuttoning his pants so that his white boxer briefs took form. He reached down, unzipped his pants and slowly pulled them down. The bulge of his cock stuck out of his boxer briefs, and even though it was soft, it looked like it was almost half as long as her forearm. He lifted his eyebrows and swayed his hips mockingly as he teased the elastic band of his white underpants, then he stuck his under the band and began peeling them away.
His stomach curved down in the right shape showing off his prized asset, which was almost two inches thick.
“Damn,” she whispered, and he chuckled in response then turned around to take off his underpants. His butt was firm and tight. It curved down over his thighs with a sensual crease.
“You like what you see?”
“I wanna see more.” He turned around and walked towards her, a perfect model of masculinity, then used his thumb to pull up her chin softly.
“Do you really wanna see everything?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure you won't freak out?”
“I won't.” Sophie was certain.
“Alright,” he backed up and gave her a good amount of space.
He closed his eyes and softly clenched his fists. At the base of his feet, Sophie a tiny shadow crept up, less than an inch, then faster, over the arch of his foot. It wasn't a shadow, it was fur growing thicker, covering his whole body. He hunched over and there was the sharp, unsettling snap of bones cracking, His fingernails grew into vicious claws. The top of his face receded and his ears grew until they were sticking at the top of his head, then his mouth grew longer to form a muzzle. He was as black as black could be with glimmers of light reflecting off his fur—graceful than the wolf she saw before. He was there, in the shape of his eyes and the way he moved. He wasn't a beast. He was magnificent.
When you're sentient, you can recognize self-awareness in others. You notice the way a creature
s movements fall and see how they are fuelled by intention rather than emotional instinct.
The change was slow, and it looked natural, like the seed of change was always inside of him, and he was just letting it sprout. She walked over, without hesitation to where he was standing, and even though he shrunk back, she put her hand on his head and scratched right behind his ears, on that spot that every canine love. He sat down and stared right at her with his tail wagging.
“I've never seen anything like this.” She sat down, put her arm around his shoulders and dug her head into his luxurious fur. He was the ultimate comfort.
Slowly his fur receded, and she held him closer as he changed into human form. His skin was warm, warmer than a normal man's, and as the night grew colder, it was nice to have that shelter.
“I've never changed in front of a normal person before,” he whispered. “It's exhilarating.”
She pulled her head back. “You think you're excited, huh?”
“Yeah,” he grabbed her behind the back and slammed her down on top of him then shoved his tongue down her mouth, pushing her head down.
He reached down and pulled off her shirt. He used his hands to lift her up just enough for it to go over her head so he could throw it aside. Then he grabbed her bra unhooked it and threw it aside. When her body was exposed and their chests met, he dove his head down to nibble on her neck.
His teeth hit nerves she didn't know she had, pulling up little bits of skin, a catalyst for waves of sensation magnified by his fingers trickling down her side and over her breasts.
“You're so hot,” he whispered in her ear as he rubbed his thumb along her nipple, like a feather enveloping her body. She gasped softly, and he pinched it, whipping fire against her sensitive skin. The burn passed down her stomach and settled between her thighs, a live flame scorching like their passion.
He turned her over, and reared up so that he was kneeling above her. His cock was rubbing against her belly pulling energy down so that it grabbed drops of moisture that slowly collected, first into a puddle, then a pool that was threatening to fly out.
He squinted softly and dipped down to peck her on the lips. His fingers found her button, and undid it, then began working at her zipper. He sat up and crawled back, sliding his cock along with him, down her belly. He reached the top of her lips and started swaying his hips back and forth, taking in her shuddered cries as she rolled back her head.
“Oooh.” It was an electric pulse that turned the moisture into a raging storm of torrents, slamming into her weakening muscles.
She couldn't stop it. It was going to come out, and that would be it. “Do it!”
“Huh?” He put his hand over his ear, pretending like he didn't hear her.
“Fuck me.”
“Oh,” he chuckled and stroked his cock, “you want me to fuck you?” He snapped the band on her panties, and her whole body snapped back with it.
He used one hand to flick at her nipples, sending her reeling, and used the other to pull her pants down lower. He stood up and whipped them off along with her panties and looked down at her bursting lips, which were glistening already from the intense pressure. She was holding it in, trying to make it stop, but he was parting her legs and it was getting harder.
“Do it!” If he didn't slam inside of her soon, she was going to cum. Then he flicked her clit and she jolted up, receiving a hefty dose of the his thick cock.
She exploded as he pounded her, drilling her and grunting. “You like that, huh?” He smacked her ass softly and she threw back her head.
He was slipping in and out, past her inner sanctum to the spot, pulling back and forth, slamming into it each time.
The pressure was building again, a sweet trickle, a pulsing fire, something that could never be contained, especially with the way his lips crashed into hers. The force of his thrusts was overwhelming, and their grunts and moans synchronized, pulling it out. The world was spinning.
He slammed into her good and curved up so that his dick was right on her g-spot.
“Oh god,” he cried softly.
They melded together, her body throbbing, and his fountain shot in at the exact moment that she cried out. Sophie was being slammed down a roller coaster of ecstasy, as her body rippled and her cries echoed throughout the field.
They rolled over on their sides and held each other close, thoroughly enthralled by the experience. Neither one wanted to move. They just wanted to fall into each other.
Chapter 6
Rita saw something in Sophie, and it didn't make sense to the girl, not after all of their bickering and fighting. She thought for certain that Rita hated her.
They'd known each other for years, but Sophie never expected to be sitting in her apartment waiting for the lawyer handling Rita's estate to stop by.
He called earlier that week, not long after the funeral, telling her that there was something in the will he wanted her to talk about. Sophie didn't understand. Why would she be in her will?
When the man came to the door, he was nice enough. He went in and sat down on the old couch, keeping his eyes averted from the obvious signs of poverty around him.
“So what'd you want to talk to me about, Mr. Hanson.” Sophie was sitting in a chair across from him.
“Well, Rita added a provision into the will, in the unlikely case that the she died before she was able to sell the restaurant off.”
“What provision was that?” Sophie didn't want to hope.
“She left the restaurant to you.” He pulled something up on his laptop and took out a piece of paper.
“She did!?”
The man handed her the paper transferring ownership of the restaurant. She signed it eagerly and handed it back to him.
“There's one more thing, and Rita was very insistent on it.”
“What's that?”
“She said that if you don't work fast, she's going to haunt you. She also said that you have to dedicate your etouffee to her on the menu.”
Sophie laughed. “I think I will.”
The End
Back to Table of Contents
Mated
Scarlett Leblanc
Mated
Chapter 1
Delilah
The large husky stuck his head out the window as Delilah drove through the streets. The sun was high in the sky, illuminating everything in its glorious light. It made it hard to see, but nonetheless, Delilah was able to make it to the park safe and sound.
The dog looked at her in excitement, sniffing the air, smelling other dogs nearby. His tail wagged in happiness as he tried to make his way out of the still half open window. Delilah chuckled a moment, before opening the door. “Stay,” she commanded before the dog could jump out of the car. He whined and looked up at her with his big blue eyes, pleading with her to hurry. He had to get to the park as soon as possible!
She quickly placed a harness on its chest, securing it in place with a loud click that made the dog’s ears twitch. His tongue lolled out of his mouth, giving him a goofy look. She smiled and rubbed his head, before clipping a lead to the ring on his harness. Moving away, she allowed him the space to jump out of the car.
The moment he was on the ground he started to tug on the leash, pulling her along, toward the closest tree. Delilah tried to control her pet, but it was no use. “Alpha!” She called out to him, trying to make him heed to her wishes, but when they were at the park it was always like this. He took control and called the shots, dragging her wherever he liked. Even though Delilah was a heavier set girl, the dog still managed to pull her as if she weighed nothing at all.
However, after his initial excitement, he calmed down, walking by her side now. Delilah sighed and smiled as they walked along the cement path that made its way through the park. The sun continued to shine down on them, making her strawberry blonde hair dazzle in the sun. She basked in its warmth, enjoying the time with her dog.
When Delilah had first moved to Graycott she hadn’t expected m
uch from the little town, but to her surprise, it was finally feeling like home. She had landed a nice job at a local clinic as the head nurse and the community was pretty friendly. Despite this, however, she hadn’t really made any friends as of yet, but she was sure that in time she would come to meet some really interesting people.
With this thought in mind, she continued to walk around. All of a sudden Alpha pulled her along until she almost fell over. She ran after him, trying to keep a strong grip on the leash, but it soon slipped away and Alpha was running across the grass at full speed.
“Alpha!” Delilah yelled out, trying to get the dog’s attention, but his mind was too focused on the task at hand. He followed his nose until he eventually ran into a man sitting down by himself on one of the park benches. As Delilah huffed a bit from the amount of running she was just forced to do, her dog rubbed himself around the stranger.
Eventually, Delilah looked up, noticing the man that was her dog’s center of attention. As she did, she was a little shocked. He looked to be about her age, but he had an intense look in his eyes as if he had just gone through something traumatic. His angular face gave him an almost mean expression, making Delilah feel a little nervous to be in his presence. She gulped a bit, trying to compose herself in front of this mysterious man.
“Uh… sorry, he isn’t usually like this…” Delilah whispered, trying to pull Alpha away from the man, but the dog laid down by his feet, refusing to get up. The man chuckled, before reaching down and rubbing the dog’s ears. Alpha panted in content, before rolling over, exposing his stomach to the stranger, in an act of submission. The man smiled, before looking up at Delilah with icy blue eyes.
“He’s a beautiful dog. Wolf-like.” He said, his eyes sweeping over her body for a moment. Delilah smiled and nodded looking at her companion.
“He’s a good dog.” She agreed. Before she knew what she was doing, she sat down beside the man. Her cheeks colored a little at their proximity, but she tried not to think about it. “And he seems to like you…” She commented, seeing Alpha laying there, wagging his tail as the man scratched his stomach.
ROMANCE: Paranormal Romance: The Valley (Book One) (Fun, Sexy, Mature Young Adult Vampire Shape Shifter Romance) Page 32