It was a textbook bad day.
Sadie woke up with her hair in a mess, missed the bus and was late for her first class. Her cell phone went off in the middle of class, pissing off the professor, and her knee ached all day from running for the freaking bus. She ordered spaghetti from the cafeteria, and the congealing mess had apparently been badly prepared because it had her running to the bathroom in the middle of family law, once again pissing off the professor.
It was dark when she finally made it off campus, and Sadie was exhausted and pissed. She needed some air, so she walked past the bus stop and into the night.
The street was under construction so most of the streetlights were out. Sadie didn't care. She figured the darkness and cold would help clear her head.
She made it all of two blocks when she saw it.
It was a wolf, but far larger than any she'd ever seen before.
Sadie wasn't exactly a dog lover, but she didn't hate them either.
She thought of offering the wolf her hand.
With dogs, one sniff and they knew if you were hostile.
One look in the wolf's eyes squashed that idea.
It looked hungry, and it wasn't for love.
"Nice doggie..."she said, trying not to show fear.
She tried to go past it, but it growled and stepped in her path.
Sadie took a step backward, and then another, watching the wolf lick its chops.
She realized she had only one option.
She dropped her bag, turned, and ran.
Behind her she thought she heard a laugh, or at least the wolf equivalent. She knew the wolf was following her, and she cursed her bum knee as she ran down the street.
She saw the opening to a parking lot and turned, hoping the wolf would lose her, but no sooner had she moved when something barreled into her from behind.
She fell to the ground, feeling asphalt scrape her knees through her jeans. Sadie tried curling her into a ball, but the wolf was much stronger, its paws ruthlessly spreading her limbs and pinning her into place. It licked its chops, its bloody breath in her face, but before its teeth sank into her throat, Sadie managed to free one arm. The move had her jerking to the side, but it wasn't far enough. Razor sharp teeth sank into her flesh right above her clavicle and she screamed in pain as the wolf pulled away and chewed, its mouth covered in her blood.
With her free hand she punched the wolf with all her might, but all it did was the make the wolf angrier and with a snarl it whacked her in the head with its paw and chomped down on the offending arm.
It was about to deal what Sadie was certain was a killing blow when it suddenly raised its head and growled.
She heard another in response and managed to turn her head.
Though dizzy from blood loss and the knock on the head, she saw another giant wolf. This one was larger, bulkier, and a magnificent silvery gray.
Sadie watched the two wolves face-off, the tension in the air almost tangible, when suddenly, the silver one leapt.
The Big Bad Wolf (that was what she'd dubbed her attacker) jumped off of her.
The two tangled, paws flying, jaws snapping. The silver wolf knocked the Big Bad Wolf to the ground and raised its head, clearly ready to tear out its throat when suddenly the Big Bad Wolf leapt to its feet and ran. The silver wolf ran off after it, while Sadie lay on the ground bleeding from what she guessed were two enormous bites.
She tried to get up, but she was so light headed from the knock to the head and blood loss that it was hopeless.
So Sadie lay there, feeling her blood drain.
She was on the brink of losing consciousness when she saw a gorgeous naked man lean over her.
She's alive.
Sadie nodded at his words, though for some reason, she didn't see his lips move.
He was tall and muscled, with a fine mat of dark hair across his chest that narrowed over washboard abs and disappearing into a patch of hair surrounding some rather impressive equipment. She couldn't tell the color of his eyes, but they were surprisingly effeminate in an otherwise hard face.
She wondered why a naked man would be standing in the middle of a parking lot asking her if she was ok.
It was her last thought before she passed out.
***
John Parris didn't know what to do. He'd been on the trail of Jason Void, rogue pack member and murderer. As chief pack enforcer, it was his responsibility to put the wolf down. Jason had been working on his next victim, a young woman, when John finally caught up to him.
He'd tangoed with Jason, a rather pathetic opponent, and had been on the brink delivering the pack's version of justice when the coward literally turned tail and fled.
John had lost his trail a mile away when he'd passed through an alley laden with garbage and the scent of stale piss.
With a snarl he knew the chase was over for the night, so he ran back to check on the victim. John knew that at this point she'd rather see a naked man than a wolf, so he changed and rushed to her side.
She was young, no more than twenty five, and on the slender side; hardly a filling meal for wolf with a taste for human flesh.
John figured she'd looked easy. After all, she was a female walking alone at night. If that wasn't temptation for a coward like Jason Void, he didn't know what was.
She wasn't pretty, but she
was
beautiful: honeyed skin covering strong bones and accented by full lips and slightly slanted dark eyes. Her nose was a little broad; her forehead high, her face wide, her hair was dark, chin length, and her limbs long. Height wise, he placed her at about five six, but it was hard to tell given her prone position. Though he'd smelled her fear, she was no coward. He had to admire the way she'd tried to keep fighting, even though a human, even a tough one, was no match for a werewolf.
Not that she was human anymore.
Her wounds, while gruesome, were by no means fatal, and she was already healing.
John wanted to call the pack leader, but he knew exactly what Rolf would say.
"You didn't get there in time, so she's
your
responsibility. Tell her what happened; guide her through the change blah blah blah blah blah,"
It's what he said to every enforcer when this sort of thing happened.
So John found his clothes and dressing quickly, he picked up her knapsack and her, and went home.
***
Sadie woke up in a strange bed.
She knew it was strange because the mattress wasn't hard like the one in the room she rented, or small and narrow like the one at her parents' house.
This one was...
Just right.
Then she realized something else.
Naked; she was naked.
Or almost naked anyway; whoever put her in this bed had thankfully left her bra and panties on.
The room she was in was distinctly masculine. Everything was almost absurdly neat, and the comforter and curtains were a simple dark green. In front of the bed was a massive stone fireplace, and there was a box of wood beside it. There were no floral patterns anywhere, and the scent in the room was woodsy not sweet.
It was daylight, and in that instant Sadie remembered what happened.
In a panic, she looked at her arm.
There were huge bite marks, but they'd healed considerably. She tested her neck and shoulder, but where she should have felt severe pain, she felt only a dull ache.
How long had she been out?
Oh good, she's awake.
"Well of course I'm awake!" she snapped looking towards the door.
Standing in the doorway was the naked man... only he wasn't so naked, and Sadie realized that despite her confusion, she was disappointed. He wore jeans and a plaid flannel shirt, and in his hands he carried a tray. He was just as gorgeous as she remembered, and his eyes, she realized, were a sparkling turquoise with heavy dark lashes. His hair was longish, but neatly trimmed, and a dark brown, almost black.
His lips twitched as he watched her.
Wow, she is CRANKY in the morning!
"Screw you!"
His eyes widened with shock.
"I didn't say anything," he said with perfect innocence.
I'd better give her this before she takes a chunk out of me.
"I'm not going to take a bite out of you," she said irritably, then she heard a telltale growl. "Though I admit, I am hungry... starving actually,"
He paused en route to bringing her the tray.
"Wait a minute! You
heard
that?"
This is bad, this is very bad.
"What's bad? What are you talking about?" she demanded.
And then she realized what he was talking about, or rather
not
talking about.
