Chelle Hunting

Everybody kept saying Kyle was my boyfriend, but I knew the deal right from the start. He was there just to get me acclimated to my new life as a werewolf, to teach me how to hunt safely and to fuck me when I was about to go out of my mind with sexual desire. That's it. There was no love there, and even after months of him being my only lover, had I come across another werewolf during the full moon or felt sure I wouldn't kill a human male, I would have taken another lover. Sexual desire like I experienced my first year wasn't conducive to a monogamous relationship. So I wasn't too sure if I was just missing a lover or missing him in particular when his ass went missing.

I knew something was up the first of the three nights we always went away together. I had been trying to get a customer settled. I kept checking my watch. If this bitch didn't back off before the sun went down, I was going to rip her throat out for sure. Mr. Nowicky, my boss, knew better than to put me in customer service. Since becoming a werewolf, my aggression was so high, there was zero ability to deal with bullshit from others. Kyle had said I would learn self-control, but even after all this time, I hadn't seen the evidence.

For the hundredth time in the last hour, I rolled my eyes. "Look, miss, you're not getting your money back for this dress. I can see the arm pit stains right here. You wore it. And," I lifted the dress nearer to my nose, "I can smell your scent all over it." I had a nose like a bloodhound. If I knew a person's scent, even if I was in the back of the store, I could smell when they entered at the front. And that's how I knew, right in the middle of arguing with this woman, that a werewolf was inside Wicky-Mart.

All of my kind had a similar smell. Kyle had been training me to pinpoint the subtle differences, and I could pick his out from others, but I couldn't define other werewolves. I just knew they were my kind.

"I'm telling you I didn't wear this dress!" the woman screamed at me. "It's too big. I want my money back!"

I let my gaze rove over her short plump figure. "No, it's the right size."

She turned red, like I was insulting her body. "How dare you? I want to speak to your supervisor."

I rolled my eyes again. I glanced at my watch. Shit! Sundown in minutes. Right while she was still fussing, I flipped out my cell phone and dialed Kyle again. He hadn't been answering. Every single month, like clockwork he would pick me up and we'd head out to our hunting ground for sex and food. Where the fuck is he?

The cell rang and rang until the voicemail picked up. His sexy voice made chills run over my body, remembering how hot he was. The beep sounded. I turned my back on the customer. "Kyle, where the fuck are you? It's about sundown. I told you I was running late, but you know what happens. Please, I don't want to hurt anyone. Call me!" I whispered as much as I could. It was the same message I had left repeatedly.

Right from the start, Kyle had made it plain, fuck around on your needs and you will hurt someone. Simple. I could not miss going away for anything, and I had been a fool not to leave work on time so I could be packed and ready to leave.

Another glance at my watch was unnecessary. Someone had opened the door to the back of the building. Through a narrow space, I saw the moon. My lycan blood sang for release. I gripped the counter and breathed heavily. If I moved back slowly, maybe the woman wouldn't make me angry enough to attack her.

For a good ten minutes, I stood willing my fingers to let go of the counter. The woman was shouting, but I fought not to hear her. Not an easy thing. And then the bitch had the nerve to reach out and grab my arm to gain my attention. A rumble started in the back of my throat. It was low. With all the yelling and people coming and going, the loud speaker announcing a sale, maybe she didn't hear the threat to her life. I was two seconds off her, envisioning ripping the blond hair out of her head, biting her throat, whatever it took.

Inside my mouth, my teeth sharpened. I could feel the tickle of hair growing in my ears. Before I would have been grossed out by this, but it was wolf nature by now. My growl increased and I knew my eyes switched color like they did when the change came over me. I leaned toward the woman. For the first time, it was coming through to her thick mind that she was in danger.

My nails grew out sharp and hard. I curled them in, ready to rip at her flesh. I launched myself forward to jump across the counter. A breeze blew my hair across my face and I slammed into stone, my nails barely penetrating the flesh beneath the hot pink top in front of me.

Ree turned with a sweet smile. "Hey girl, you were just leaving right? I got this."

I could have kissed her. Ree, my best friend. I had forgotten my girl only worked at night, and that she drank blood infrequently so she was able to come straight to work the moment she woke. Was I ever thankful, the woman could move almost as fast as light. She had stepped in front of me and made me crash into her brick hard body, a weird phenomenon of vampires.

Still on the edge of losing control, I just nodded and fled. I moved through the store at a clip, to get to the employees section to pick up my purse and some other things. Again, I smelled the other werewolf. He was moving with me, somewhere. He was hot on my scent. From the looks of it, he would meet me before I made it to my destination. Ever since that time the werewolves invaded our store and took down a sick werewolf, I was kind of scared of the others. Kyle hadn't been joking when he said they would kill to keep humans from confirming their existence. I wasn't planning on getting in their way.

Picking up speed, I zipped through the aisles. I resisted the temptation to allow my bones to crack and reform into the werewolf. I was a good six inches taller when that happened, and if I thought my coarse black and brown hair was a problem before then, it was really out of control when I changed.

The employees' private area came into view and I gave another burst of energy to get to it. Too late. I slammed hard into a male unyielding chest. I was going down, but I dug my nails into his sides to drag him with me. We landed in a heap on the floor with him on top of me. His eyes were so black, I almost thought he was one of the sick ones, until I realized he had been excited by chasing me through the store. Just like I was, this man was on the brink of losing control.

His huge muscled body pinned me down, and I can't say I wasn't getting off on the tight dick pressing against my stomach. He growled, focusing on my mouth. I fought not to open up with an invitation to his tongue. His breathing was rough and ragged. "Chelle?"

"You know who I am," I snapped. I was really hoping no one had spotted our head on collision and the fact that we hadn't decided to get up off the floor yet. "What the fuck do you want?" I demanded, when what I really wanted to say was 'my hunting ground or yours.'

The black eyes flashed, and he lowered his mouth until it was a fraction of an inch off mine. "I want to kill you."