by Renee George
Even so, I could sense a nervous tension in my parents when we went out in January not normally present. But this was the third full moon since their arrival, and the first two had came and went without any issues. So, what was Cal doing here in the prey animal territory?
"It is Dakota, right?" he asked. The smooth, low tones of his voice sent a thrill through me.
"Yes," I confirmed. “I remember you. You’re Cal Rivers.” I'd first laid eyes on him the day before Chavvah and Doc Smith’s wedding. My ex-boyfriend Luke Dwyer, who'd I'd broken up with at the end of December, had started a fight with Cal because he didn't like the way the wolf had looked at me. But I had liked it just fine. As a matter of fact, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about Cal since. I'd seen him around a couple of times, but even though Peculiar was small, it wasn't so tiny that chance encounters happened all the time. Regardless of my feelings, the werewolf shouldn't have been here. My family ran on Tom Hackenstraw's property on the full moon just southwest of town, a hundred-acre area reserved for the non-predator animals. Non-predator being the word of the day. This guy, especially the way he was looking at me, definitely fell into the predator category.
A brisk breeze stirred my hair over my face, and I finger combed it out of my eyes. "What are you doing here?"
He gave me a crooked smile. "I think I'm a little lost. Where is here?" He ran his large, callused hands through his thick, sandy-colored hair.
Therianthropes weren't uncomfortable with nudity, after all, clothes didn't magically reappear when we shifted back to human, but everything about Cal made me self-conscious. He was a werewolf, and up until his group had shown up to town in December, my only experience with lycanthropes was Doctor Smith, so my knowledge was limited.
The way Cal stood in front of me without even a token attempt at covering up told me he wasn't self-conscious at all. And why would he be? His body was rocking hot.
I focused on keeping my eyes at his chest level as I sat down, giving him side view only, and pulled my knees to my chest. "You are on the opposite side of town from where you're supposed to be."
The corner of his mouth quirked up in a half-smile that I found charming. "I must have taken a wrong turn somewhere."
"You sure did," Lukas Dwyer said as he entered the clearing. He looked from Cal to me. "Are you okay, D?"
Ugh. I squeezed my knees tighter. "Yep. I’m ooh-key doh-key." My parents seriously approved of Luke. He filled all the requirements of a good girl’s boyfriend. His dad, Jonathan Dwyer, owned the local grocery store where Luke worked as the manager. Good job. Check. Mr. Dwyer had been a friend of my parents in high school. Good background. Check. Mr. Dwyer had met his wife, an integrator, which was another word for therianthropes who were raised among humans, when he'd gone away to college. Both were deer shifters. Good genes. Check. Problem was, I didn't feel any sizzle and heat when I looked at him. Uncheck. Uncheck. Uncheck.
Not like I felt when I looked at Cal. I glanced at the lycan through my lashes. He vibrated with an intense energy. I bet he was all kinds of naughty. He must’ve seen me checking him out because he flashed me a grin that I read as: You bet I am.
I swallowed hard and cast my gaze elsewhere.
Luke grabbed my bag from where it hung and handed it to me. Luke's chest puffed out as he glared at Cal. "Do you mind?" he snapped.
The posturing irritated the crap out of me. I wasn't an object to be possessed and Luke’s attitude made me bristle, especially since we were no longer a couple. "Excuse me. Would you both leave so I can get dressed without an audience?"
Cal lowered his eyes. "I apologize if I caused you any distress. It was not my intention." With a quick nod, he shimmered, hair sprouting along his skin, his body reshaping until he was in the form of a large, gray wolf. He locked gazes with me, his ice blue eyes startling against the dark gray fur around his eyes.
Then he turned and loped away.
"The nerve of that jack ass," Luke said. "I'm going to report him to the town council about this. He shouldn't be anywhere near here this morning."
I cast Luke an annoyed glance. "Just drop it. No one is hurt, and he left of his own accord."
"Why are you defending him?"
The hair on the back of my neck bristled. "I'm not defending him. I just don't understand why you're so eager to ruin other people. The lycanthropes have not gotten into any trouble since they arrived in town. Please don't be the reason they get thrown out. Don't be that guy."
Luke shook his head. "Sorry, D. But he broke the rules. The ones they agreed to."
"The werewolf isn't the only guy who shouldn't be here. I told you it was over. So why come?" I asked as I pulled my shirt over my head.
"Don't be like that. We're good together."
"I can't be with someone who goes out of his way to hurt someone else."
"That's not fair."
"Maybe not, but it's the way I feel. I don't want to see you anymore. Now, go, so I can finish getting dressed." In a way, I agreed with Luke. It wasn't fair. I wished I could magically find him attractive, but I didn't, but one look from Cal revved my engines to full throttle. I’d never had that same kind of reaction to Luke. Good girls don’t date werewolves, I told myself firmly. But I couldn't date Luke, either.
Once my ex was gone, I dressed quickly. I scanned the woods for more therians. Unfortunately, as a deer shifter, my eyes were no better than a human's. Worse in some respects, because I, like most my species, was mildly red-green color blind. However, my sense of smell was pretty damned good, and I could still detect the faint aroma of Cal's dense fur and musk. He hadn't been in wolf form long, so how was the scent of him so strong, and why did I know to my core that it was him and not some other shifter? How long had he been lying near me before I awakened? I pulled my hair into a pony tail, and the scent became even more potent.
I sniffed my palms. My stomach dipped as I inhaled deeply. My hands... they were covered in the werewolf's scent.
Chapter Two
I'd traveled straight home from the woods and right up to my room in an effort to avoid conversation. My mom had a way of making people want to talk even when they didn't feel like it. I worried what would happen to Cal and the other wolves if Luke decided to report him for being in a prey area after the full moon. Would the town council really force all thirty-seven werewolves to leave town? Would Chavvah and Doc Smith go with them? Our town would be ten-kinds of awful without both of them here. Was this my fault? After all, I'd had to come into contact with Cal shortly after I turned back this morning, during twilight, that moment when my animal consciousness left my body and my human consciousness returned. Otherwise, my hands wouldn't smell like him.
I clenched my hands to my sides and made a real effort not to sniff them again, but what did it say about me that I hadn't washed them, yet, either. I was a mess, that's what.
"Hey, Kota," my youngest brother Linus said. He leaned his slender hip against the frame of my open bedroom door and ran his fingers through his buff-blond hair. "Can you take me to baseball practice after school today?"
I smiled at Linus. "Sure, squirt." He had grown two inches over the school year, but he was still small for a twelve-year-old.
He grinned. "You're the best." He took off down the hall toward the stair. "Mom!" I heard him holler. "Dakota said she'd take me to practice!"
A minute later, mom poked her head in the door. "Don't forget you are closing this afternoon for your dad and me. We have a town council meeting we have to attend."
"I haven't forgotten. I'll only be gone for about forty minutes or so. Linus gets out of school at three-fifteen. I'll have him dropped off by three-forty-five. That leaves me plenty of time to get back to the garage by four."
She walked over to me and kissed my forehead. "Thanks, baby girl. You're a life saver." She smelled of vanilla, cinnamon, and freshly peeled apples.
I took a moment to enjoy the aroma then said, "Whatever you need, Mom. You know that."
My p
arents had nine children, and they worked hard to provide for us. My older brother Tyler had moved out at eighteen when he married his high school sweetheart, and Taylor had moved out to go to college the same year. When he came back, he'd rented an apartment, and now he owned his own home. I didn't begrudge either of them, but their absence left it to me to help Mom and Dad with the day-to-day running of the house and the business. Michele, who was twenty-two, two years younger than me, helped out sometimes, but she'd made a tidy little business out of baby-sitting. Between Sunny Trimmel's and Willy Boden's kids, she kept pretty busy.
My phone dinged. I picked it up from my nightstand. I had a text message from an unfamiliar number. It said, I'm sorry about this morning. Will you let me buy you lunch to make up for it?
Who is this? I texted back, though the way my heart raced, I was pretty certain I already knew the answer.
Cal. Sorry. Should have led with my name.
I typed, How did you get my number?
Your sister Michele.
Of course. Michele would have no qualms handing out my number to a hot werewolf. She thought Luke was as boring as dry toast, and I didn't disagree with her. I looked at the phone’s display. It was ten-fifteen. It's a little early for lunch, don't you think? All the same, I wanted to talk to him, if for no other reason than to warn him about Luke, but the idea of meeting with him made me nervous.
Then how about dessert? he asked. Sunny's Outlook makes some pretty good cinnamon rolls.
Sunny's made great cinnamon rolls. I know, because I'd helped them several times over the past couple of years when Sunny and Chav had been short of help, and I'd eaten a lion's share of their desserts. Still, I couldn't miss the opportunity to brag about the best dessert in town. I smiled. Not as good as my mom's apple pie.
Are you inviting me over for apple pie?
"Are you texting with Luke?" Mom asked.
I pressed the face of my phone to my chest, and Mom gave me a weird look. I hadn't told her that I had broken things off with Luke. I was pretty sure she and Luke's mom had planned our wedding along with our next twenty years when they'd found out we were dating. "Uhm, why do you think I'm talking to him?"
"Baby girl, you are practically glowing. I remember what it was like to be young and in love." Her large brown eyes brightened. "Only, your father used to write me notes." She smirked. "Some of them were very naughty."
"Oh." I held up my hand in a stop motion. "No, Mom. Just no."
She giggled. "You know, I'm just happy your happy again."
"What do you mean?"
"A mom knows when her child is down. You don't have to tell me what happened between the two of you. I'm just glad you've managed to get it sorted out. You are happy, right?"
She looked at me with such love, I couldn't bring myself to tell her the truth about Luke and me. "I'm happy."
"Do you want to come down and help me do some baking?"
I peeked at my phone then shook my head. "I'm going to go into town for a little bit if you don't mind."
"You tell Luke I said hello."
"Okay," I said, the word thick in my throat. I never lie to my mom. That wasn't me. Ever. And, while technically, I hadn't told her that Luke was the one texting me, she'd taught me well enough that a lie of omission was still a lie. "Mom..."
She tilted her head. "What is it, sweetheart?"
How could I tell her about Cal? Especially, since, at this point, there wasn't really anything to tell.
"Do you need me to pick up anything for you while I'm in town?" I finally asked.
"Yes, actually. Could you grab some flour and sugar from the grocery store?"
My stomach clenched. Since Luke's family owned the Dwyer Fresh Market, it was the last place I wanted to go. "Sure, Mom. I'll pick that up for you." Great. Maybe I'd get lucky, and Luke wouldn't be at the store. If I ran into him, I could always just say I had to run an errand for Mom.
My phone buzzed. Pie or cinnamon rolls?
"I'll let you get back to sexting."
"Mom!"
She wiggled her brows at me. "You're young, Dakota. It's okay to act like it."
Thank heavens she left my doorway before I could respond. As I stared at the screen, I gripped my phone tight enough to make my fingertips ache.
After a few seconds of internal debating, I texted Cal back.
Cinnamon rolls. Maybe lunch if you play your cards right. One hour.
I'll bring the whole deck, he replied.
Guilt niggled at me, as I searched the baking aisle for self-rising flour...just not enough to make me change my mind about meeting Cal at Sunny's Outlook. I'd left the house a little early, so I could stop by the grocery first. I rationalized that if I ran into Luke, I could tell him I'd come to town to run an errand for mom, and it wouldn't be a total lie.
"Can I help you?" a man asked.
I turned and saw one of the store's employees, a guy named Jack Trevors. Jack had been an integrator before moving to town a few years back. He was tall, lanky, with brown hair and dark eyes. I knew of him, but I didn't know him.
"You all seem to be out of white flour. Unless, I'm just blind, which might very well be the case." But I'd traveled up and down the aisle twice and couldn't find it.
"Sorry, miss. We're out of stock right now. Supposed to get some more in tomorrow." He pointed at a whole wheat flour and said, "Will that work?"
"Only if I'm trying to upset my mother. She's particular about her pie crusts, and that wholesome stuff is not going to cut it for her."
"D!" I fought back a groan as Luke walked toward me. "What are you doing here?"
"Mom needed flour for baking, but you all seem to be out."
He furrowed his brow. "I signed the new shipment of dry goods in from Springfield about an hour ago. It should be in the back. I'll go get you one."
"I don't want to be any trouble."
He smiled at me, as if we hadn't been arguing first thing this morning. "It's no trouble for you."
"Thanks."
Jack said, "I'll go get it."
"No," Luke told him. "I'll get it. I need you in the deli. Marcus just took a break, and I need someone on the slicer."
"Are you sure, Luke?” Jack said. “I’ll can bring it up.”
An ugly look of annoyance passed over Luke's face before he said, “You didn’t even know it had come in. Pathetic. Besides, I need you in the deli."
Jack put up his fingers. "You got it, Mr. Dwyer,” he said angrily.
I looked at the many flavors of frosting while I waited. I bet the coconut pecan frosting tasted really good with a spoon and nothing else. The double whipped chocolate fudge sounded delicious as well. I counted twenty different flavors. I could easily make my own smorgasbord out of the bunch.
"Here you go," Luke said, handing me a five-pound bag. "Is this the one you want?"
"That's exactly what she wants," I said. When I accepted the bag from him, a dusting of loose flour sprinkled my jeans and my brown boots. "Shoot."
Luke reached down and swiped at my pants with his hand.
I stepped back from him. "It's okay."
He frowned. "Tell me what I need to do, D. I'll do what it takes to win you back."
What he didn't understand was he'd never won me in the first place. There was nothing to get back. "I'm not a prize to be collected or had, Luke." I put the flour in my grocery basket. "I'm sorry I hurt you, but it would be crueler to lead you on."
"I can't believe you'd prefer that Neanderthal of a werewolf to me."
"That's not why I broke up with you."
He snorted derisively. "Whatever. I have invested a lot of time in you. In us. We are perfect for each other. Why can't you see that?"
"Stop it, Luke."
"I'll tell you what," he rubbed my cheek with his thumb. "I won't report the lycanthrope for being off the Smith property if you come out with me tonight. Just one night and your boyfriend and his kind won't have to worry about me getting them kicked out."
>
I moved his hand away. "I can't stop you from doing what you're going to do, Luke, but maybe I'll tell the council you're jealous so your making up lies." I wouldn't. At least, I didn't think I would. But the thought of Cal being kicked out of town because my ex was a jerk who couldn't let go made me ache.
He shook his head. "You wouldn't." He leaned toward me. "All you have to do is go out with me. Jackson Smart is having a party tonight."
"On a Thursday?"
"Every night is a weekend when you're the boss," he joked. "Come on. Say you'll go."
I'd never been to any of the parties out at Jackson's new place. I heard they could get wild. Michele had stumbled home a night or two after one of his shindigs, but the idea of crowds of people, being forced to socialize with drunken yahoos, well, it lacked any appeal for me. "I'm sorry, Luke. The answer is no."
"So, this is it? We're done?"
Yes! I thought. For the second time today. Why was he holding onto the idea of us so tightly? "You know this can't work between us. I'm not sure it ever did."
His fingers curled into fists as he quietly asked, "And what about your wolfman?"
In a moment of really bad timing, Cal Rivers walked around the corner. My eyes widened. Luke must have seen something on my face because he whipped around and cast and accusing glare at Cal. I reached out to stop Luke as he moved a step in the werewolf's direction.
He rounded on me. "Him? I can't believe you dumped me for that guy?"
"No," I told him. "I didn't break up with you because of him."
Luke huffed. "Yeah, right. Things were fine with us, D, until he showed up in December. You have been pulling away from me ever since."
I shook my head. "If you had really been paying attention, you'd have noticed much sooner than December." Though meeting Cal had brought home just how much I didn't want to be with Luke.