Chapter One: Magnificent Creature

The last time Santiago Salazar killed and ate a man, he got terrible heartburn.  That had been almost ten years ago and that guy really had deserved a lot worse fate.  

The man had been a drug dealer who preyed on young children and Santiago had put a stop to that.  It had been the right thing to do but the man’s blood was so full of chemicals that it had made Santiago sick for days.

After that, he’d decided to turn over a new leaf…so to speak.  He’d become a practicing vegan with a new lease on life.  Of course, since wolves were carnivores by nature, Santiago still had cravings that required serious impulse control management.

Frankly, he found it easier to deal with if he kept to himself.  Other than his bartending job, Santiago had become a bit of a home body.  Being on the outs with his pack since that appetite suppressing death of the drug dealer, he didn't talk to much of anyone other than his nosy landlord.

Today, he was off work and was spending the day lounging on the sofa snacking on his third tofu burger and flipping through the channels.

As the television landed on the Meal Network, Santiago’s eyes focused on a small pair of delicate hands massaging a large piece of steak.  He pushed the volume up button on his remote and found himself sitting straighter and leaning towards the screen as her lovely voice wafted through the room and filled his ears.

She was describing how she made the spice rub that she was currently spreading onto the meat.  Santiago felt his tongue jut out from his mouth and run around his lips in a circular motion.  He was almost panting over this petite woman and it wasn’t just because of the way she was handling that steak.

Santiago felt a carnal need begin to surge through his body and it surprised him with its intensity.  He hadn’t felt this way about anyone in a long time--much less a human.  Somehow he'd not only shut off his cravings for meat, but he'd also shut of his desire to search for his mate.

Shaking off that old internal battle over family, duty, and instinct, he re-focused on the screen. Who was she? Why was he feeling his wolf starting to prowl around under his skin?

The phone rang then, startling him out of his thoughts.  Without taking his eyes from her chiseled face and long blonde hair, he snatched the phone up off its base.

“What?” he snapped into the mouthpiece.

“Hey, man!”  The voice of Tenny Rodriquez spilled through the phone.

“I’m busy,” Santiago replied in an attempt to keep the conversation as short as possible.  

He wanted to get back to the program that he suddenly found irresistible.

“You need to get out of the house, man.  You gotta come check out this hype new club downtown,” Tenny rattled off with a huge amount of enthusiasm.

“No, I’m not going,” Santiago was barely hearing Tenny’s voice as he strained to focus his ears on the words that the lush, pink lips were saying on the screen.

“This club is kickin’.  It is absolutely chock full of young, delicious co-eds and get this…they have to come wearing a bikini top or they can’t get in!”

Tenny Rodriguez was a werewolf just like Santiago and they’d known each other their whole lives. Even though Tenny was from another pack, they'd always gotten along and his friend didn't hold it against him when he'd abandoned his ancient duty for a relatively human existence.

And while his friend spent a large part of his time pursuing college-aged human girls, he was still playing the "pack game" and living up to his duties.

Santiago was long past those games. He spent his nights working in a bar and had no desire to spend his time off in yet another club.

“Not interested, Tenny.”

“Awe man, you never want to hunt with me anymore.”

Santiago thought that his friend sounded wounded.  It was a pathetic thought to realize that a werewolf as tough as Tenny would have hurt feelings.

“Tenny, do you ever watch this Meal Network channel?”

His question was followed by silence.  He imagined that Tenny was trying to figure out where this conversation was headed with such a drastic change of conversation.

“Uh, sometimes…” Tenny sounded puzzled.

“Who is this tiny little blonde woman on here?”  Santiago asked as he watched her adjust an apron around her waist and then smooth her hands down her abdomen and upper legs to press out the wrinkles.  He was actually getting turned on while watching a cooking show.  Perhaps he was the pathetic one and not Tenny.

“Yeah, uh…I think I might’ve seen that,” Tenny sounded as if he didn’t believe his own words.

Just then, the show went to a commercial break and the words Grilling with Gabbi scrolled across the bottom of the screen.

“Her name is Gabbi something,” Santiago said out loud more to himself than to Tenny.

“Oh yeah, man…she’s a hot little blonde, right?”  Tenny sounded thrilled that he was finally connecting with his friend’s train of thought.

“Will she be at this club?”  Santiago asked as he could barely contain his patience while waiting for the never ending commercials to cease.

“I doubt it.  She’s like totally famous.”

Santiago let out a small growl.

“Find out where she’s going to be and I’ll be there,” he said as he punched the off button on the phone without waiting for a reply.  The show was returning and the camera was focused on Gabbi’s smiling face.  Her white teeth glistened in the light and Santiago felt a heat rise through his body.

He had to find this magnificent creature.