Wolves Gone Wild [Werewolves of Forever, Texas 12] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting)

by Jane Jamison

“I doubt you’d feel anything yet because the sun hasn’t gone down. Like I said, once it does, who knows?”

  She pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Anyway, as I was going to tell you, Miss Clara said an unmated werewolf doesn’t have a chance trying to ignore its influence. So you can try hiding out at home and going crazy, or you can face the facts and come into town. Either way, you take a risk.”

  She thrust a finger at them. “Just beware. If you come here, my men and I will do anything necessary to protect what’s ours. Got it?”

  “Hell, Milly, we wouldn’t do anything wrong, much less to you or your diner.” The diner was the first place they’d come to when they’d found the small town. Not only was Milly’s a favorite hangout of theirs, it was where most of the residents liked to gather.

  She passed by Lance and put a hand on his shoulder. “I know you wouldn’t. At least not in your right mind. But under the influence of the amber moon? There’s no telling what you might do. Just you beware.”

  They let her warning sink in. Milly was a lot like Miss Clara in that respect. She meant what she said and was ready to back up her words with action.

  “What more do you want, Duncan?” Grant took a sip of his coffee. “I’d rather run crazy all night in the wild where I can’t do any real damage.”

  He made a good point. “I get that and it makes sense. But I still say we have to give it a chance. If nothing else, we’ll have some fun and blow off some steam. I’m sure Milly and the Hudson boys will keep the place safe.”

  “Most of the mated werewolves are headed out of town for the night.”

  Sure. Now Lance pipes up. “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. I heard that the nonshifters are leaving, too. They don’t want to be around when we unmated werewolves go nuts.”

  “They’re probably doing the safest thing.” Duncan popped a French fry into his mouth but kept on talking. He had to drive home his point. “Don’t you get it, Grant? Everyone’s getting ready for the amber moon. We’ll be fine in town.”

  Grant leaned back in his chair. “What’s your decision, Lance?”

  His cousin may straddle the fence a lot, but in the end he always came down on one side or the other. “I say we give town a shot.”

  Duncan slapped his hand down on the table and let out a whoop of triumph. Eyes, some with flecks of amber in them, darted their way. “Now you’re talking.”

  * * * *

  “Damn it. Don’t you die on me.”

  Christy Smith slapped her hand against the steering wheel of her 2000 convertible Volkswagen Beetle. The engine hiccupped again but kept on going.

  “Come on, Sally, don’t give up the ghost yet.” There hadn’t been a single car on the two-lane road she’d taken off the highway. Worse, there wasn’t any sign of a gas station.

  The car lurched forward, then gave yet another rattle. She imagined that it kept going more from her force of will than from anything mechanical. Her heart leapt at the sight of the small road sign.

  “See, Sally? It says Forever is up ahead. I don’t know what it’s like, but at least it’s somewhere. Please, just hang on for another few miles. Once we’re there, I’ll give you a big drink of gas and let you rest up. I swear I will.”

  It was ridiculous talking to a car, but she loved her silver-blue Beetle with whitewall tires. But with over two hundred and thirty thousand miles on the Bug, she knew the inevitable was close at hand. She’d nursed it for the last year, eking out every mile it would give. The furry white ball of dice hanging from the rearview mirror did a dance as the car continued to jerk its way forward.

  She squinted into the setting sun. “I see it. Forever’s just ahead, Sally. Keep on going, girl.”

  The town was quaint and charming with shops lining the main road. Pickups dominated the parking spaces, making her Beetle stick out, while trees dotted the sidewalks. The local pharmacy boasted that it was open “twenty-four-seven, 365 nights a year,” while other shops had pretty baskets of flowers hanging from their awnings. An older lady paused in her hunched-over walk to watch her drive by, then lifted a hand in a friendly greeting.

  “See, Sally? They’re just like the folks back in Greensburg. Friendly even to strangers.”

  She’d left her hometown of Greensburg, Indiana, three months earlier. After having spent six years working at an insurance company—and going crazy from the boredom of the day-in-and-day-out, monotonous routine of her desk job—she’d decided that if she was ever going to go on the road trip she’d always dreamed of taking, that was the time. She’d saved as much money as she could and her lease was up. Both were sure signs that she was making the right decision.

  After driving to Washington D.C., then taking the southern states one at a time, she’d started heading west. Sometimes she’d stay one night in a place, then in others she’d stay for a week or two, taking a temporary job whenever she could find it. It didn’t matter. She was free and playing it by ear. From the start, planning hadn’t been a major part of her decision to undertake the trip. If it had, she might’ve thought better of doing it in a car that was sure to stop running at any time.

  Not that she could’ve left Sally at home, or God forbid, sold her. Christy admired loyalty and devotion. Even if that loyalty and devotion were to an inanimate thing like a car.

  “Oh, look, Sally. It’s a diner just like The Greasy Spoon back home.”

  Her stomach growled, putting its bid in on stopping to get dinner. Christy pulled into the parking spot just as Sally gave one last forward jerk, sputtered, and died.

  “Nooo, Sally. Say it ain’t so.” Christy turned off the ignition and patted the dashboard. “Come on, baby, please start.” Yet when she turned the key, nothing happened.

  She laid her head against the steering wheel. It was over. She could feel it in her bones. Nothing was going to bring her beloved car back.

  After a minute or so of wallowing in despair, she lifted her head. The older lady who’d waved to her was standing in front of her car. She had a nice smile with sparkling green eyes, and if she looked only at her eyes and not at the wrinkles, Christy would’ve sworn the sweet old girl was as young as her own twenty-seven years.

  She lifted her hand and called out in a strong voice in case the woman was hard of hearing. “Hello. How are you?”

  The lady lifted her hands and wiggled her fingers in an almost childish wave. “Hi, sweetie. You comin’ inside?”

  Yet the woman didn’t wait for an answer. Instead, she pivoted around, and moving faster than Christy would’ve guessed anyone her age could move, darted inside Milly’s Coffee Spot.

  “Okay, Sally. I’m going in. Let’s just hope I can find someone who can help me get you running again.” She grabbed her purse, slid out of the car, and slung the purse over her shoulder.

  She turned around, taking in the town again. “Okay, then. Forever it is for the night. Who knows? Maybe it’s more interesting here than it looks.”

  She was halfway inside the diner when she realized that everyone inside was already aware of her presence. Coming to a stop, she put on a smile. “Uh, hi, everyone.”

  They look like they want to either eat me alive or hug me to death.

  A couple of older gentlemen seated at a table in the back of the place gave her toothy grins.

  Wow. Some dentist sure went wild with their dentures. They even have eye teeth. Big eye teeth. Almost like…fangs.

  She’d already started backing out of the place when a pretty blonde woman took her by the arm and stopped her.

  “Don’t let these folks scare you. They’re just curious, is all. We don’t get many visitors.” Her smile widened as she tugged Christy toward the bar and urged her to take a seat at one of the many stools lining the counter from one end to the other. The blonde hurried back behind the counter. “What’ll it be, honey?”

  She was already there so she might as well eat. But the menu didn’t help her much. Like many of the small town diners she’d eaten at
over the past few months, vegetarian options were few. She’d had to make adjustments to her diet, eating foods she didn’t like. Still, the diner’s menu was heavily laden with meat and she wasn’t about to go that far off the vegetarian diet. “I guess I’ll have the salad. And maybe the peanut butter sandwich.”

  “Okay, but are you sure you wouldn’t rather have a hamburger? We make the best ones around.”

  “Thanks, but no.” It was sometimes a sticky subject, especially in Texas, but she was sticking to her guns. “I’m not much of a meat eater.”

  She would’ve thought she’d just announced that she had a bomb in her purse. Chatter broke out around her, all of which was about her. And not necessarily in a good way.

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  The two old men who’d given her smiles scowled at her. A couple of teenagers at a nearby table shot her dirty looks.

  She jumped when the blonde put her hand on top of hers. Trying not to be obvious, she slid her hand out from underneath.

  “Again, don’t let them bother you. We’re in the middle of cattle country, so they tend to think anyone who doesn’t eat meat is strange.” She glared at her patrons, then spoke again in a louder voice. “It’s perfectly okay to not eat meat. Even if it is a little odd.”

  Christy wasn’t sure if she was helping her or not. “Thanks.” I guess.

  “Anyway, my name’s Milly and I own this place. You can have anything you want as long as we have it to offer. No judgment. One salad and peanut butter sandwich coming up.”

  “Thanks again.”

  When Milly appeared to be waiting for her, she took the hint. “Oh, I’m Christy Smith. And yes, my last name really is Smith. We Smiths really do exist.”

  Milly’s laugh was infectious. “Of course Smiths exist. A lot of things people don’t think are real actually exist.”

  What’d she mean by that?

  “What brings you to Forever, Christy?” Milly turned and placed the order ticket on top of the pass-through into the kitchen. A big, burly man snatched it up, then took one look at it before snorting his disgust.

  “My car just died out front. I hope that’s not going to cause you a problem as far as parking goes.”

  “Naw, don’t worry about it.”

  “Would you know a good garage? Or maybe a mechanic who could take a look at it?”

  Milly pulled a phone out of her back pocket. “He’s not a mechanic by trade, but folks around here call Brigham Scollow whenever their vehicles need fixing. I’ll give him a holler for you.” Her eyes shifted to the others then back. “After all, we wouldn’t want you staying.”

  “I’m sorry?” She couldn’t believe the woman could say something that rude.

  Milly hurried to cover her mistake. “Oh, not that we wouldn’t welcome you. Forever’s a friendly town. It’s just that now’s not a good time for visitors.”

  Christy was about to ask why—even though she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know—when Milly put her back to her and walked off, her phone to her ear.

  Christy tried to resist glancing around her but failed. When she did and found the townspeople watching her with frank appraisals, she wished she hadn’t.

  Shit, shit, shit. What did I get myself into?

  Chapter Two

  “Brig’s tied up right this minute, but he’ll come as soon as he can.” Milly scooped up Christy’s order off the pass-through and put it in front of her. “If anyone can get your car going again, it’s Brig. We call him the Miracle Worker when it comes to fixing things.”

  “Great. I appreciate you calling him.” She tried to keep an optimistic view of things most of the time, but she had a sinking feeling that no one, not even Brig the Miracle Worker, could get her car going again.

  She nibbled at her food, but her appetite was gone. It wasn’t easy to eat when people were staring. Yet, aside from waiting in her car, she didn’t have anywhere else to go. “Milly?”

  “Yeah?” Milly mopped up the counter area. “What can I do you for?”

  “What did you mean when you said this isn’t a good time to visit?” She hoped she wasn’t getting too personal or stepping on anyone’s toes, but it had been a strange thing for Milly to say. If nothing else, she was a curious person.

  Curiosity killed the cat. And it can get girls like you into trouble.

  Her parents had told her that every time she’d stuck her nose in where it didn’t belong. Absently, she rubbed the end of her nose, noticed what she was doing, and jerked her hand back to her lap.

  Milly’s furtive glance around the room didn’t make Christy any less nervous. Whatever Milly was talking about had to do with other people, possibly even the entire town. Images of the horrific deaths from the monster movies she loved flashed through her mind. But she dismissed her worries. Those were movies and not real life. Even if real monsters existed, there couldn’t be a whole town of them. Could there?

  She took another bite of her sandwich and thrust the ridiculous idea away.

  Her attention drifted to a table of three men and one woman. What was so different about them? And then it hit her. They all had strange eyes that seemed to glow with hints of amber. She shifted her focus back to Milly and lifted her eyebrows, telling her that she was waiting for an answer.

  “Oh, well, let me see if I can put this the right way. It’s just that a lot of people tend to leave town right now.” Milly frowned, still having trouble figuring out exactly what to say. “You know. On vacation.”

  “Really? I wouldn’t think that would happen that much in a small town.”

  Milly’s shrug seemed forced. “What can I say? People in small towns like to go on vacations, too. Be right with you, Hector.” Milly lifted a hand to the man sitting alone near the front window, then moved away at a fast clip.

  It’s like she’s trying to get away from me so she doesn’t have to answer any more questions.

  Christy took a swig of the water Milly had placed in front of her. “You’re being paranoid,” she whispered to herself.

  “Miss Smith?”

  She jerked her head up and spun around on the barstool. A huge, burly man that reminded her of a grizzly bear she’d once seen at a zoo wiped his massive, dirty hands on his even dirtier shirt. His beard was scraggly and his hair unkempt and she had the feeling that his present appearance wasn’t unusual. His eyes were bloodshot and his breath could’ve knocked a real bear off its feet.

  “Yes?”

  “I looked at your car.”

  “You did? But didn’t you need the keys?” She hadn’t locked it, but he’d need a key to try and start Sally.

  “Nope. All I needed was a look under the hood. It was pretty plain and simple to find the problem.”

  “And what is it?” She didn’t bother asking how much. She’d have to pay the cost no matter what.

  He went into a long discourse and used words she didn’t understand, punctuated once in a while with a word she remembered from listening to one of her ex-boyfriends. Nodding at “carburetor” and “pistons,” then “fan belt,” she acted like she knew what the hell he was saying. She remembered that she’d dumped the boyfriend because of his constant infatuation with his car and the endless hours she’d had to endure while he discussed the finer points of his vehicle.

  She only wanted to know one thing. “I’m sorry, but does that mean you can fix Sally?”

  He tilted his head at her personalization of the car, then shook his head. “Nope. Least wise, not tonight I cain’t.”

  “You cain’t? I mean, you can’t?” It wasn’t like she hadn’t expected it, but the news still hit her hard in the stomach.

  “Nope. Don’t have all the parts I need. We don’t have many furen cars around here.”

  Furen? He had to mean foreign. “So when can you get it fixed?”

  “Once I get the parts, I can try and fix it. If you’re lucky, I could give it a shot on Monday.”

  Milly took his arm. “Brig, that’s too late.”<
br />
  “Cain’t help it.”

  “But you’ll try and get it done before then?”

  It was almost as though Milly wanted her back on the road more than she did.

  “Maybe. But I ain’t promisin’ nothing. That car’s on its last legs. If’n it was a horse, I’d put it out of its misery.”

  It was like hearing about a dear friend going into the hospital. She wasn’t, however, ready to give up lifesaving measures. “But you’ll try, right?”

  “If you want. Still, I gotta warn ya. It won’t be cheap.”

  She wasn’t sure she wanted to know how much it’d cost. After all, that’s what credit cards were for. “I understand. Just let me know, okay?”

  “Don’t worry none. I’ll give you a heads-up before I start workin’ on her. Course, you’ll have to pay for the parts I’m gonna have to order, plus labor. That okay?”

  “I understand. So when do you think you’ll get what you need?”

  He ran a hand over his beard and she almost expected to see food crumbs fall out. “It’s Friday night so I cain’t order nothing until tomorrow morning.” He studied her like she was a bug under a microscope. “I reckon since you don’t want to be hanging around, I’ll check with a friend and see if he can get them to me tomorrow afternoon. I ain’t promisin’ nothing, though.”

  “Right. I understand. No promises, but I’d appreciate whatever you can do.”

  Milly had sidled up closer to her to listen in on the conversation. She didn’t look happy. “So you’re saying she’s stuck here for tonight and maybe tomorrow night, too?”

  Brig hefted his body around to scowl at Milly. “Maybe Sunday, too, or longer. Like I told her. Cain’t say. Unless you want to give her your car to use, then that’s the way it is. I ’spect you might want to come up with a plan to keep her squared away.”

  She couldn’t ignore his ominous tone. “What’s going on that’s making everyone so nervous?”

  Brig and Milly exchanged a look that didn’t make her feel any better. Just as Milly was about to answer her, the double doors of the diner opened. Christy’s mind blanked as her gaze fell on the three men who sauntered in.