by Kate Wendley
Untamed Darkness
A
Forest of Darkness
Novella
Kate Wendley
Titles by Kate Wendley
Forest of Darkness Novels and Novellas
Untamed Darkness, Novella .5
Mastering Darkness, Book 1
Abandoned Darkness, Book 2
Resisting Darkness, Book 3
Shifting Darkness, Book 4
Untamed Darkness
A Forest of Darkness Novella
Copyright copyright 2018 by Kate Wendley
Cover by PreMadeEbookCoverShop.com
Moonlight Magic Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-944538-10-1
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead, or undead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any manner whatsoever.
Chapter 1
Helena was more entertained by the scruffy, though gorgeous tall guy across the bar with his rowdy group of friends than by her well-groomed date and his stories of how much money he’s made on the side as a day trader. With her overdeveloped werewolf senses, she also knew Erik had eaten smoked salmon and butter drenched asparagus for lunch and put on extra cologne before meeting her tonight. And it didn’t take any extra senses to see he was practically bursting with anxious energy.
If only Erik were more personally interesting, her attention wouldn’t keep wandering to the immature antics of hot guy’s group of friends. It looked like some of them were playing a drinking game, and then… arm wrestling. She smirked and tried harder to pay attention to her date as he rattled off all his accomplishments in life and all the bigwigs around town he knew. Her grandma would be proud of her for going out with someone so responsible, but it felt like pure torture being here with him.
It made her miss her mom, in a way. Back when she’d sometimes been around, when Helena was still a kid. She’d listen to anything Helena wanted to talk about and always had something funny to say to cheer her up when she was down. Unlike Mr. Narcissistic here. But also unlike Erik, her mom wasn’t around anymore.
It’d been confusing growing up in a three generation household, while it lasted, anyway. She hadn’t fully comprehended what it meant that her mom was her mom. She thought it was normal that her grandparents were the only constant in her life. As far as caregiving, all Helena remembered of her mom was wondering when she’d be home next so they could play.
It wasn’t until she was much older that she found out she was the byproduct of her mother’s one night stand, and that her mom never really grew out of that fly by night lifestyle. Which was why her grandparents gave her an ultimatum when Helena was only five. Either get her act together and start being a real parent to Helena, or get out and don’t come back.
She’d chosen to leave and Helena hadn’t seen her since. And once Helena learned that story, she was mad at her grandparents for about a month. It felt like they’d killed any chance she’d ever had at having a mother. But sometime within that month of anger, denial, apathy and regret, she realized her grandparents were the best parents a person could ever wish for. They’d stood by her thick or thin and made sure she always had a home and a good, responsible upbringing.
Which was why Helena could never tell them about her own one night stand that ended with her being bitten by a werewolf. She now had a hairy, mythical creature trapped inside her, always fighting to get out. And thanks to her mom’s flightiness, Helena’s grandparents raised her with constant lessons of self-control and taking responsibility for her own actions. So when she realized something was wrong after her careless one night stand with Will, a guy from her college finance class, she put on her big girl panties and dealt with it herself.
First she confronted Will, but chewing out a human was a much different thing than standing up to a bully werewolf, especially one that was more dominant than her and would enjoy tearing her apart rather than listen to her gripe about how he’d ruined her life.
She’d always been a quick learner, though, so with her tail between her legs, and the heavy feeling of barely controlled violence positively vibrating all around Will, she scampered away that day. She went to only enough of her remaining finance classes so she wouldn’t get dropped from the class, and from then on did her best to stay far away from him.
Her moods were all over the place for a while, her temper especially short all of a sudden, but she learned control. She had to. She’d made a mistake with Will and refused to make those she loved pay for it. Not like her mother had done to the family all those years ago.
Restraining her inner monster was hard, though. After a few rough months, and somehow convincing her grandparents that her missed visits and surly attitude were due to stress from school and looking for a job, she finally felt like she had a thread of control over her new life.
It helped to stay away from others like herself. Her wolf already influenced her behaviors more than she liked, and usually before she even realized what was happening, but being around others made her animalistic urges even stronger. And it wasn’t long before she realized there were way too many ‘others’ in Atlanta.
Back when she’d first turned wolf, the need to run was so strong that at full moon she ended up in one of the national parks surrounding Atlanta and didn’t even remember going there. She’d stripped out of her clothes and had a painful shift into her animal, then simply shook off the lingering tingles of magic and ran all night long, no longer upset by the pain she’d just endured.
How could she be upset when she was wild and free, just like everything else in the welcoming night? How could she hold a grudge while inhaling all the sharp scents around her for the first time ever? And seeing more clearly than she ever had in her life? She was swift and alive as she ran through the forest with such excitement and lack of worry about anything human in her life. Even her first kill, a raccoon of all things, was the most incredible thing she’d ever experienced. Everything about being a wolf was incredible.
Until she woke up the next day as a human, naked in the woods. She puked, then had a panic attack. Ever since then, she never let her wolf have as much control as it’d had that night. Six years of tightly binding this restless beast inside her and only letting her out on full moon nights was enough to make her lose her mind some days. But she refused to give up what little normalcy she had in life for a once a month feeling of reckless exhilaration, or for the horrible chance that her wolf would go overboard and do something that would ruin her life completely, once and for all.
So here she sat with Erik, perfectly calm and composed while pretending to be the human she no longer was.
**
“Are you coming with to Noah’s party later?”
“Nah, I’m heading home after this.” Marc took a swig of beer and waited for Rio’s scolding.
“Come on dude. You never go out with us anymore.”
He smirked. “I’m out now, idiot.”
Rio snarled in disdain. “You need to get laid, man. You’re so uptight lately.”
Getting laid wasn’t the problem. It was after sex that Marc had an issue with. He was tired of feeling no real connection with any woman he got physical with. So yeah, he was bored with life and didn’t feel like hanging out with the crew like he used to. And Rio, his best friend, didn’t like to talk about how they were getting too old to still be doing nothing but chasing down wild women and even wilder parties. Not that twenty nine was old, but still.
Trying to keep things lighthearted, he said with a smile,
“I promise I’ll meet you all for the show at the Tabernacle next Friday. Ok?”
Rio didn’t look impressed. “You already bought your ticket. Why wouldn’t you go?”
The thought that flicked like hyperspeed through Marc’s brain was, ‘because I’m sick of this life’, but he kept that to himself.
Instead, it turned into a tense stare down before Rio mumbled under his breath, “Jesus. Do I have a best friend or don’t I?”
Rio pointedly glanced away from him and took a swig of his beer as guilt ate at Marc’s insides.
“Hey Marc.”
The sexy voice almost made him turn his head, but he already knew who it was. Her all too familiar scent caught up to him before she did.
Rio said with mustered enthusiasm, “Natalie! Who’s the new girl?”
Marc turned around finally to see five women making their way over, all eyes on him. Being six foot four made it impossible for him to blend in to the background, though maybe meeting someone new was what he needed to get out of his funk.
Being werewolves, needing and sometimes all out craving the familiar, reassuring touch of the pack, all the girls made sure to brush against him and the other guys as they walked around and settled in at the tables they’d pulled together.
All except for the new woman in their group. She plopped down in Marc’s lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. He let her because he felt guilty for not always acting like part of the group anymore.
“Hey now.”
“Hi. I’m Lyndsey.”
“Nice to meet you Lyndsey. I’m Marc.”
Lyndsey was beautiful, and she smelled good, too. When she playfully leaned forward and kissed him, his old ways were too easy to slip back into. He immediately relaxed and let her have her way with him.
For a time, anyway.
He could feel the pulse and crackle of people’s auras, an apparently rare power for a wolf, and Lyndsey’s aura was just like everyone else’s in their group of friends. A scattered, unsteady mess. The only time he’d ever felt a solid, even flowing one on a woman he was interested in, his wolf refused to accept her. Not that his wolf talked to him, it was more of a deep, gut feeling.
Marc’s wolf might not care about Lyndsey, but it’d been a while since he’d been with someone due to his own self enforced celibacy, and her body was warm, curvy, soft and willing. She moved in just the right ways, her warm tongue teasing his, making this languid, spontaneous kiss a sensuous game. Her body suddenly stiffened and resisted his touch as she coyly pulled away, only to quickly melt back into his arms again.
**
Helena couldn’t look away as a sexy woman plopped down in hot guy’s lap and kissed him. When he snaked his arms around her like there was no one else in the world except the two of them, a weird feeling of disappointment filled her.
Not that she was jealous of his girlfriend. Hot stuff wasn’t her type. He was a party boy and if she had one purpose in life, it was to not turn out like her train wreck of a mother. She’d long ago decided she’d never go down that road. Ever. She wouldn’t abandon her responsibilities to those she loved for random lovers and the excitement of a good party. And except for her one wild night of indiscretion, she hadn’t.
But one night of carelessness was all it took to change her life forever.
She focused on the happy couple again to get her mind off her own failings. Hot guy looked too carefree for her tastes, but the way his body moved as he kissed his girlfriend put a little fire in her belly. He was tall and in great shape… his long arms enveloping the woman, holding her like he knew exactly what he was doing… Oh the look on his face as he kissed her. He was sure and steady and not at all embarrassed by this public display of affection. It turned Helena on just to see their physicality. Yes, very clinical. Great one, Helena.
At this point she was seriously regretting agreeing to meet Erik for dinner no matter how witty he was when he’d introduced himself at last week’s marketing networking event. She sometimes considered that being eternally single wouldn’t be all bad, but she refused to let her life be ruined by her stupid, stupid mistake, so she was here to test her control. To test her humanness.
Besides, now she could tell her grandma that she had in fact gone on a date. She was forever pestering her about when she was going to settle down with someone. Helena didn’t think she ever would, not with this creature living inside her, but it’d been hard enough to see the loneliness in grandma’s eyes after granddad died. It seemed like it hurt her even more to see Helena alone, so she pretended she wasn’t.
She sometimes wondered if dating a werewolf would eliminate her problems, but every time she thought that, she had a panic attack. No. She refused to lose all the extra control she’d so carefully crafted in her life in the years since she’d been bitten. Being with another werewolf would push her ability to cope with this nightmare curse too far. Just being close to another one was sometimes more than she could bear. And it terrified her to think of completely losing herself to her wolf, so she kept pretending to be a normal person. The only way to do that was to do what normal people did… go to work, socialize, even date normal, completely human guys.
Like Erik, who finally noticed she was still there. He abruptly stopped talking about himself and zeroed in on her. “Let’s get out of here. I have a hot tub back at my place. What do you say? A little skinny dipping?” He gave her a suggestive smile that sent a creepy chill down her spine.
“Uh, no. I should get going actually. It’s been a long day.”
“If you’re not interested in a little wine in the hot tub, let me at least show you my place. I just got it remodeled with new hardwood floors, granite counters in the kitchen and bathrooms, and the sexiest mood lighting you’ve ever seen in the master bedroom.” She wasn’t sure his grin could get any sleazier at this point, but he quite easily proved her wrong.
“Thanks Erik. Maybe some other time.”
His expression cooled. “Derek.”
“What?”
“My name’s Derek.”
“Oh, right. Derek.”
He slowly eyed her up and down. “I bet you’re a tiger underneath that frumpy school teacher look you’ve got going on, aren’t you?”
“Excuse me?” Her temper flared maybe more than it should have, and she wasn’t sure if it was because Derek only had sex on the brain, or because he’d insulted the way she looked. There was nothing wrong with dressing conservatively.
He leaned closer. “Come on, admit it. I bet you’re an animal in the sack.” His eyes trailed down to her chest as her pulse thumped in anger. Oh, he had no idea how close he was to getting his face bitten off. If only she could let herself do it.
She snatched her purse and stood. “Goodnight Derek.”
“Now wait…”
She grabbed money out of her wallet as he tried to convince her to stay. Finally he just got mean. “Whatever. You’re too much work anyway.”
Helena was now just as mad as she was self-conscious about his stupid comments. She was not too much work, and she did not look frumpy.
As she left the bar with her head held high, trying not to let him see he’d wounded her ego while simultaneously riling up her wolf’s bad temper, she couldn’t help sparing a glance at Mr. Tall and Gorgeous, the guy every woman in the bar had been eyeing all night. He looked so relaxed and at ease, his girlfriend no longer in his lap, but the whole group of friends looking quite comfortable with each other.
A rush of air brought scents to her nose and she caught a whiff that told her they were all ‘others’. Probably wolf. It made sense. ‘Others’ seemed to be more touchy feely than regular humans. She’d seen it when she ran as her wolf, on the outskirts of everyone, of course. And she normally didn’t have a problem not being part of a group like that, but tonight it stung in more ways than one.
She stopped on the way home for a pint of Ben and Jerry’s to drown her sorrows in and to help cool off in this stifling Atlanta summer heat.
**
Marc regretted kissing Lyndsey. Moments into the kiss he knew it’d been a mistake when her jumpy aura got too distracting for him to deal with. His interest in her now dead and gone, his mind meandered all on its own to wondering how bad traffic would be if he left right now. Lyndsey’s childlike pouting when he helpfully nudged her off his lap didn’t win any brownie points with him, either. She sat near him now, trying desperately to keep him in her conversation.
Rio seemed more than happy to distract her by pulling her over to him. “Hey sexy! Let’s get a drink in you.”
With Lyndsey’s attention now on the other guys, Marc slid out of his chair. “I’ll catch up with you at the gym this weekend. See ya’.”
Rio shot him a death glare as he left and Marc pretended not to notice.
Chapter 2
It was Saturday morning and Helena stood in front of the mirror staring at her freshly washed face. A little eyeshadow and darker eyeliner would make her eyes pop. She used a heavier hand than usual with her makeup, then self-consciously pulled on a shirt that had gotten just a little snug over the last year and was just a little too low cut in the front. She normally wore a camisole underneath so she didn’t show any cleavage, but she decided to hell with it. She was a woman and people could deal with seeing some curves.
After running her usual errands and feeling like everyone was staring at her, she rushed home, washed the makeup off her face, and put on a shirt that didn’t advertise all her assets to the world.
**
Marc liked coming out to Brookhaven because everything here was so nice. He supposed if he was the Master Vampire of the Atlanta territory and was head of a family as big as Anthony’s was, he’d have a nice place to live, too. Not that Marc couldn’t live here since he was part of Anthony’s family, but he liked not being so close to a ton of people with extra sensitive senses. Plus his own apartment was closer to work and places he liked to hang out.
Maybe that’s why he’d never actually seen Anthony. Vampires only came out at night, and Marc was usually out of here by then, for a few reasons. Being a werewolf was hard enough since regular humans didn’t know about them and weren’t supposed to, and it sometimes messed with his head if he thought too hard about how he wasn’t really human. Most shifters tried not to think about it at all. Problem solved. But put vampires in the mix… they were even further from human than the wolves were.